I have all dese yeah clean sole out 'fo' two 'clock--clean sole
out 'fo' two 'clock."
I interrupted him, asking the cost of each article, and then proving to
him by calculation that he lost money on each sandwich he sold at five
cents. But I could not convince him--he received the twenty-five cents
which I insisted on paying him with many expressions of gratitude, but
he left me reiterating his belief in "quick sales and small profits."
"Be back yeah clean sole out by two 'clock, sine die," he exclaimed,
brightly, as he departed.
This venture brought him six dollars in debt at the expiration of a
fortnight, and after that, by my advice, he abandoned peddling,
condemning it as a "low-life trade," and agreeing to stick to legitimate
business for the future.
One of his famous expressions, the most formidable rival of _sine die_
(which, as the reader has doubtless discovered, he intended as an
elegant synonym for _without fail_), was entirely original--this was
"Granny to Mash" (I spell phonetically), used as an exclamation, and
only employed when laboring under great mental excitement.
As I was proceeding homeward one evening, I spied him standing on a
street corner, holding forth to a select assemblage of his own color,
who were listening to him with an appearance of the profoundest respect.
His back was toward me, and I stopped and caught his words without
attracting observation.
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