When the man with the red mustache started down the stairs his wife ran to the door and called him back.
“Donald,” she said, “I want you to go into a hardware store to-day and get a saw. Don’t forget it, please. We need one badly.”
Being an accommodating person, the man with the red mustache said he’d get it. He chose the luncheon hour as the most opportune time for making his simple purchase. He was in a good humor and he smiled blandly when he went bustling into the store and said: “I want a saw, please.”
The clerk who had come forward to wait on him had a merry twinkle in his eye and the twinkle overflowed at the question and spread all over his face in dimples.
“What kind of a saw?” he asked.
The prospective purchaser began to perceive what an intricate business the buying of a saw really is.
“Why,” said he, “I don’t know. Just a saw. Any kind will do, I suppose.”
The clerk sighed. “If you only knew what you want to use it for, perhaps I could advise you,” he suggested.
(more…)
