"Vot a fool!" said he; "but they won't all be so. Herrings for
nothing!" A little child came out to look at him, and he called to
her, "Here, my dear, take these in to your mother, and tell her how
cheap they are--herrings for nothing." But the child was afraid of
him and them, and ran in-doors. So, down the street, in the snow,
slush, and mud, went the cheap fish, the vender crying loudly as he
went, "Herrings for nothing!" and then adding savagely, "Oh, you
fools." Thus he reached the end of the street; and then turning to
retrace his steps, he continued his double cry as he came.
"Well," I said to him calmly, as he reached me at the corner.
"Well!" he repeated, "if yer think so! When yer gave me the money for
herrings as yer didn't want, I thought you was training for a lunatic
'sylum! Now I thinks all the people round here are fit company for
yer. But what'll I do with the herrings if yer don't want 'em, and
they won't have 'em?"
"We'll try again together," I replied; "I will go with you and we'll
both shout."
Into the road we both went, and he shouted once more, "Herrings for
nothing!"
Then I called out loudly also, "Will any one have some herrings for
tea?"
They heard my voice, and they knew it well; and they came out at once,
in twos and threes and sixes, men and women and children, all striving
to reach the welcome food.
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