Page:Barbour--Captain Chub.djvu/334

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316
CAPTAIN CHUB

He went out into the back yard and rummaged around until he found a board some four feet long by ten inches wide. He brought it in and pulled a marking-pot and brush from under the counter.

“Now then,” he said as he dipped the brush and began to print, “here goes for the automobile trade!” Five minutes later the sign was done and they were nailing it to the corner of the store, where it was visible for a hundred yards up the road. Chub had lettered it as follows:


HEADQUARTERS FOR AUTOMOBILISTS
GASOLENE AND SUPPLIES


But Chub wasn’t yet satisfied. On the back of a piece of cardboard he printed “Midsummer Sale!” This he placed in one of the windows, saying, “I’m pretty certain that Mrs. Peel is asking a heap less than her husband did. You see, there’s a store some place near here that’s getting her trade away from her, and it’s safe to say she’s marked things pretty low.”

“How about your automobile supplies?” asked Roy. “What do you mean?”

“I didn’t say ‘automobile supplies,’” answered Chub. “I said ‘gasolene and supplies’.