TheagentthoughtthatUncleEthanwasaftermorepay，butinrealityhewasthinkingofwhathislittleoldwifewouldsay。
“Itsimplyputsafamilybitterinyourhomethatmaysaveyoufiftydollarsthiscomin’fall。Youcan’ttell。“
JustwhatthemansaidafterthatUncleEthandidn’tfollow。Hisvoicehadaconfidentialpurringsoundashestretchedacrossthewagonseatandtalkedon，eyeshalfshut。Hestraightenedupatlastandconcludedinthetoneofonewhohascarriedhispoint：
“So!Ifyoudidn’twanttousethewholetwentyfivebottlesy’rself，why!sellittoyourneighbors。Youcangettwentydollarsoutofiteasy，andstillhavefivebottlesofthebestfamilybitterthateverwentintoabottle。“
ItwasthethoughtofthisopportunitytogetabuffaloskincoatthatconsoledUncleEthanashesawthehideousblacklettersappearingundertheagent’slazybrush。
Itwasthehotsideofthebarn，andpaintingwasnolightwork。Theagentwasforcedtomophisforeheadwithhissleeve。
“Say，hain’tgotacookieoranything，andacupo’milk，handy？“hesaidattheendofthefirstenormousword，whichranthewholelengthofthebarn。
UncleEthangothimthemilkandoookie，whichheatewithanexaggeratedlydaintyactionofhisfingers，seatedmeanwhileonthestagingwhichUncleRipleyhadhelpedhimtobuild。Thislunchinfusednewenergyintohim，andinashorttime“DODD’S
FAMILYBITTERS，BestintheMarket，“disfiguredthesweet-smellingpineboards。
Ethanwaseatinghisself-obtainedsupperofbreadandmilkwhenhiswifecamehome。
“Who’sbeena-paintin’onthatbarn？“shedemanded，herbeadlikeeyesflashing，herwitheredlittlefacesetinanominousfrown。
“EthanRipley，whatyoubeendoin’？“
“Nawthin’，“herepliedfeebly。
“Whopaintedthatsignonthere？“
“Amancomealongan’hewantedtopaintthatonthere，andIlet’im；andit’smybarnanyway。IguessIcandowhatI’mamin’towithit，“heendeddefiantly；buthiseyeswavered。
Mrs。Ripleyignoredthedefiance。“Whatunderthesunp’sessedyoutodosuchathingasthat，EthanRipley？IdeclareIdon’tsee!
Yougitfooleran’foolercv’rydayyoulive，Idobelieve。“
UncleEthanattemptedadefense。
“Wal，hepaidmetwenty-fivedollarsf’rit，anyway。“
“Did’e？“Shewasvisiblyaffectedbythisnews。
“Wal，anyhow，itamountstothat；hegivemetwenty-fivebottles-“
Mrs。Ripleysankbackinherchair。“Wal，IswantoBungay!EthanRipley-wal，youbeatallIeversee!“sheaddedindespairofexpression。“Ithoughtyouhadsomesenseleft；butyouhain’t，notoneblessedscimpton。Whereisthestuff？“
“Downcellar，an’youneedn’ttakeonnoairs，ol’woman。I’veknownyoutobuythingsyoudidn’tneedtimean’timean’agin-tinsan’things，an’IguessyouwishyouhadbackthattendollarsyoupaidforthatillustratedBible，“
“Go’longan’bringthatstuffuphere。Ineverseesuchamaninmylife。It’sawonderhedidn’tdoitf’rtwobottles。“Sheglaredoutatthe’sign，whichfaceddirectlyuponthekitchenwindow。
UncleEthantuggedthetwocasesupandsetthemdownonthefloorofthekitchen。Mrs。Ripleyopenedabottleandsmelledofitlikeacautiouscat。
“Ugh!Mercifulsakes，whatstuff!Itain’tfitf’rahogtotake。
What’dyouthinkyouwasgoin’todowithit？“sheaskedinpoignantdisgust。
“Iexpectedtotakeit-ifIwassick。Whaddyyes’pose？“Hedefiantlystoodhisground，toweringaboveherlikealeaningtower。
“Thehullcartloadofit？“
“No。I’mgoin’tosellpartofitan’gitmeanovercoat-“
“Sellit!“sheshouted。“Nobuddy’ilbuythatsick’nin’stuffbutanoldnumskulllikeyou。Takethatslopouto’thehousethis’minute!
Takeitrightdowntothesinkholean’smasheverybottleonthestones。“
UncleEthanandthecasesofmedicinedisappeared，andtheoldwomanaddressedherconcludingremarkstolittleTewksbury，hergrandson，whostoodtimidlyononeleginthedoorway，likeanintrudingpullet。
“Everythingaroundthisplace’udgotorackan’ruinifIdidn’tkeepawatchonthatsoft-patedolddummy。Ithoughtthatlightnin’-rodmanhadglvehimalessonhe’dremember；butno，hemustgoan’makeareg’lar-“
Shesubsidedinatumultofbangingpans，whichhelpedheroutinthematterofexpressionandreducedhertoagrimsortofquiet。
UncleEthanwentaboutthehouselikeaconvictonshipboard。
Onceshecaughthimlookingoutofthewindow。
“Ishouldthinkyou’dfeelproudo’that。“
UncleEthanhadneverbeensickadayinhislife。Hewasbentandbruisedwithnever-endingtoil，buthehadnothingespecialthematterwithhim。
Hedidnotsmashthemedicine，asMrs。Ripleycommanded，becausehehaddeterminedtosellit。ThenextSundaymorning，afterhischoresweredone，heputonhisbestcoatoffadeddiagonal，andwasbrushinghishairintoaridgeacrossthecenterofhishigh，narrowheadwhenMrs。Ripleycarneinfromfeedingthecalves。
“Whereyougoin’now？“
“Noneo’yourbusiness，“hereplied。“It’sdarnfunnyifIcan’tstirwithoutyouwantin’toknowallaboutit。Where’sTukey？“
“Feedin’thechickens。Youain’tgoin’totakehimoffthismornin’
now!Idon’tcarewhereyougo。“
“Who’sa-goin’totakehimoff？Iain’tsaidnothin’abouttakin’himoff。“
“Wal，takey’rseifoff，an’ify’ain’theref’rdinner，Iain’tgoin’togetnosupper。“
Ripleytookawaterpail，andputfourbottlesof“thebittermtoit，andtrudgedawayuptheroadwithitinapleasantglowofhope。
Allnatureseemedtodeclarethedayatimeofrestandinvitedmentodisassoeiateideasoftoilfromtherustlinggreenwheat，shininggrass，andtossingblooms。Somethingofthesweetnessandbuoyancyofallnaturepermeatedtheoldman’swork-callousedbody，andhewhistledlittlesnatchesofthedancetunesheplayedonhisfiddle。
ButhefoundneighborJohnsontobesuppliedwithanothervarietyofbitter，whichwasallheneededforthepresent。Hequalifiedhisrefusaltobuywithacordialinvitationtogooutandseehisshoats，inwhichhetookinfinitepride。ButUncleRipleysaid：“IguessI’llhaft’begom’；Iwant’ogituptoJennings’beforedimier。“
Hecouldn’thelpfeelingalittledepressedwhenhefoundJenningsaway。Thenexthousealongthepleasantlanewasinhabitedbya“newcomer。“Hewassittingonthehorsetrough，holdingahorse’shalter，whilehishiredmandashedcoldwateruponthegalledspotontheanimal’sshoulder。
AftersomepreliminarytalkRipleypresentedhismedicine。
“Hell，no!WhatdoIwantofsuchstuff？Whenthey’sanythingthematterwithme，Itakealunkin’ol’swigofpopplebarkandbourbon!Thatfixesme。“
UncleEthanmovedoffupthelane。Hehardlyfeltlikewhistlingnow。Atthenexthousehesethispaildownintheweedsbesidethefenceandwentinwithoutit。Doudneycametothedoorinhisbarefeet，buttoninghissuspendersoveracleanboiledshirt。Hewasdressingtogoout。
“Hello，Ripley。Iwasjustgoin’downyourway。Jestwaitaminute，an’I’llbeout。“
Whenhecameout，fullydressed，UncleEthangrappledhim。
“Say，whatd’youthinko’paytentmed-“
“Someof’emareboss。Buty’want’oknowwhaty’regittin’。“
“Whatd’yethinko，Dodd’s-“
“Bestinthemarket。“
UncleEthanstraightenedupandhisfacelighted。Doudneywenton：
“Yes，sir；bestbitterthateverwentintoabottle。Iknow，I’vetriedit。Idon’tgomuchonpatentmedicines，butwhenIgetagood-“
“Don’twant’obuyabottle？“
Doudneyturnedandfacedhim。
“Buy!No。I’vegotnineteenbottlesIwant’osell“RipleyglancedupatDoudney’snewgranaryandthereread“Dodd’sFamilyBitters。“Hewasstrickendumb。Doudneysawitallandroared。
“Wal，that’sagoodone!Wetwotryin’toselleachotherbitters。
Ho-ho-ho-har，whoop!wal，thisisrich!Howmanybottlesdidyougit？“
“Noneo’yourbusiness，“saidUncleEthanasheturnedandmadeoff，whileDoudneyscreamedwithmerriment。
OnhiswayhomeUncleEthangrewashamedofhisburden。
Doudneyhadcanvassedthewholeneighborhood，andhepracticallygaveupthestruggle。Everybodyhemetseemeddeterminedtofindoutwhathehadbeendoing，andatlasthebeganlyingaboutit。
“Hello，UncleRipley，whaty’gotthereinthatpail？“
“Gooseeggsfrsettin’。“
HedisposedofonebottletooldGusPeterson。Gusneverpaidhisdebts，andhewouldoniypromisefiftycents“ontick“forthebottle，andyetsodesperatewasRipleythatthisquestionablesalecheeredhimupnotalittle。
Ashecamedowntheroad，tired，dusty，andhungry，heclimbedoverthefenceinordertoavoidseeingthatsignonthebarnandslunkintothehousewithoutlookingback。
Hecouldn’thavefeltmeaneraboutitifhehadallowedaDemocraticpostertobepastedthere。
Theeveningpassedingrimsilence，andinsleephesawthatsignwrigglingacrossthesideofthebarnlikeboaconstrictorshungonrails。Hetriedtopaintthemout，buteverytimehetrieditthemanseemedtocomebackwithasheriffandsavagelywarnedhimtoletitstaytilltheyearwasup。Insomemysteriouswaytheagentseemedtoknoweverytimehebroughtoutthepaintpot，andhewasnolongerthepleasant-voicedindividualwhodrovethecalicoponies。
Ashesteppedoutintotheyardnextmorningthatabominable，sickening，scrawlingadvertisementwasthefirstthingthatclaimedhisglance-itblottedoutthebeautyofthemorning。
Mrs。Ripleycametothewindow，buttoningherdressatthethroat，awispofherhairstickingassertivelyfromthelittleknobatthebackofherhead。
“Lovely，ain’tit!An’J’vegottoseeitalldaylong。Ican’tlookoutthewinder，butthatthing’srightinmyface。“Itseemedtomakehersavage。Shehadn’tbeeninsuchatempersincehervisittoNewYork。“Ihopeyoufeelsatisfiedwithit。“
Ripleywalkedofftothebarn。Hisprideinitscleansweetnewnesswasgone。Heslylytriedthepainttoseeifitcouldn’tbescrapedoff，butitwasdriedinthoroughly。Whereasbeforehehadtakendelightinhavinghisneighborsturnandlookatthebuilding，nowhekeptoutofsightwheneverhesawateamcoming。Hehoedcornawayinthebackofthefield，whenheshouldhavebeenbuggingpotatoesbytheroadside。
Mrs。Ripleywasinafrightfulmoodaboutit，butsheheldherselfincheckforseveraldays。Atlastsheburstforth：
“EthanRipley，Ican’tstandthatthinganylonger，andIain’tgoin’
to，that’sall!You’vegottogoandpaintthatthingout，orIwill。I’mjustaboutcrazywithit。“
“But，Mother，Ipromised-“
“Idon’tcarewhatyoupromised，it’sgottobepaintedout。I’vegotthenightmarenow，seein’it。I’mgoin’tosendforapailo’redpaint，andI’mgoin’topaintthatoutifittakesthelastbreathI’vegottodoit。“
“I’lltendtoit，Mother，ifyouwon’thurryme-“
“Ican’tstanditanotherday。ItmakesmeboileverytimeIlookoutthewinder。“
UncleEthanhitcheduphisteamanddrovegloomilyofftotown，wherehetriedtofindtheagent。Helivedinsomeotherpartofthecounty，however，andsotheoldmangaveupandboughtapotofredpaint，notdaringtogobacktohisdesperatewifewithoutit。
“Goin’topainty’rnewbarn？“inquiredthemerchantwithfriendlyinterest。
UncleEthanturnedwithguiltysharpness；butthemerchant’sfacewasgraveandkindly。
“Yes，IthoughtI’dtechitupalittle-don’tcostmuch。“
“Itpays-always，“themerchantsaidemphatically。
“Willit-stickjestaswellputonevenings？“inquiredUncleEthanhesitatingly。
“Yes-won’tmakeanydifference。Why？Ain’tgoin’tohave-“
“Wal-Ikindo’thoughtI’ddoitoddtimesnightan’mornin’-kindo’
oddtimes——“
Heseemedoddlyconfusedaboutit，andthemerchantlookedafterhimanxiouslyashedroveaway。