In fact, he counted on it for what he was about to do.

No sooner had the storekeeper started down the cellar stairs than Bob pulled from his pocket a long, stout piece of cord.

He quickly fastened one end of it to the spigot of a molasses barrel, which stood about half way back in the store.

Then he ran the cord forward and across the doorway, about six inches from the floor, and fastened the other end to a barrel of flour as a sort of anchor.
By this time Mr.Hodge was coming upstairs with the lard in a thin wooden dish, a piece of paper being over the top.

Bob stood near the counter piling the scale weights up in a regular pyramid.
"Here, let them alone," growled the storekeeper.