_Miss D._ [_entering country general store because she has seen
through the window a magnificent 1804 Seneca grate-burner stove with a
fire-back showing the arms of Massachusetts which she wishes to add to
her collection_]: Have you by chance seen a lost Mexican hairless dog
with one white forefoot, three brown, and a slight limp?
_Storekeeper_: Who?
_Miss D._: I am looking for a lovely little dog without any hair and
very susceptible to low temperatures.
_Storekeeper_: We don’t handle none.
_Miss D._: He is lost, but I should fear to find him here because your
store is so chilly and he would lack warmth. I wonder you do not buy a
new stove. Permit me to send you one.
_Storekeeper_: Who be ye?
_Miss D._: I will give you my address. [_Hands him her card._] I fear
if my lost little hairless dog should wander in here he would find the
air too cold. On that account I wish to offer you a modern stove in
place of that fearful old thing yonder. When the new stove arrives,
will you be so kind as to have this old one shipped to me, express
charges collect, as a slight compensation for the trouble I am taking
on account of my dear little dog’s health?
_Storekeeper_: If you send me a new stove, I’ll _do_ it, by ’Ory!
_Miss D._: That is all I wished to ascertain. Thanking you—[Exit
_laughingly_.]