If, in passing a New-England farmhouse, you see a fine piece of old
furniture through the open front doorway [which is not probable, as
the front doors are seldom used], or if perchance you spy upon the
veranda, or in the fairway beside the barn, some rare old bit of glass,
a bow-backed pine Windsor chair, a tambo-door sideboard, or a hooked
rug, or any other article you may wish to purchase, it will be well for
you not to approach the subject directly, but in a somewhat roundabout
manner, as the peasants of this section are [on account of bitter
experience] extremely suspicious of strangers; and if they perceive
that you wish to buy anything of them, they are likely to become
instantly so fond of the object of your desire that they will decline
to part with it; or they may get the notion that you are connected with
the prohibition enforcement laws and are merely disguising your real
interest in how hard their cider has turned. Therefore the editors have
asked me to prepare a few model dialogues which may be found useful
in this connection. The form of approach suggested can profitably be
studied by the motorist collector.