Swaggering suddenly in,
he walked to where Joe was at work and slapped him roughly on the back.
"Come, cheer up, old daddy," he said. "Get the gloom out of you. I'm tired
of your muttering and growling at things."
The employee stepped back and watched his employer. Had Joe ordered him out
of the shop he would not have been surprised, and as he said later when he
told Ben Head's bartender of the incident, would not have cared very much.
The fact that he did not care, no doubt saved him. Joe was frightened. For
just a moment he was so angry he could not speak, and then he remembered
that if Jim left him he would have to wait on trade and would have to
dicker with the strange teamsters regarding the repairing of the work
harness. Bending over the bench he worked for an hour in silence. Then,
instead of demanding an explanation of the rude familiarity with which Jim
had treated him, he began to explain. "Now look here, Jim," he pleaded,
"don't you pay any attention to me. You do as you please here. Don't you
pay any attention to me."
Jim said nothing, but a smile of triumph lit up his face. Late in the
afternoon he left the shop. "If any one comes in, tell them to wait. I
won't be gone very long," he said insolently. Jim went into Ben Head's
saloon and told the bartender how his experiment had come out. The story
was later told from store to store up and down the Main Street of Bidwell.
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