The House of The Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne Chapter 5 Page 22

“What can a little country girl know of such matters?”

“Oh, I have done all the shopping for the family at our village store,” said Phoebe. “And I have had a table at a fancy fair, and made better sales than anybody. These things are not to be learnt; they depend upon a knack that comes, I suppose,” added she, smiling, “with one’s mother’s blood.

You shall see that I am as nice a little saleswoman as I am a housewife!”

The old gentlewoman stole behind Phoebe, and peeped from the passageway into the shop, to note how she would manage her undertaking. It was a case of some intricacy. A very ancient woman, in a white short gown and a green petticoat, with a string of gold beads about her neck, and