“I will try very hard, sir,” answered Harry seriously.
“I think I can.” Teddy spoke more boldly.
Mr. Keene regarded him with a quizzical expression that was very near to a smile. In Teddy’s sharp little face and bright eyes he read the boy’s mischievous nature. But he also looked further and saw honesty and manliness in him.
“Remember, at first you will be only a very small part of this great business machine, but sometimes a defect in the smallest part will serve to clog the whole machine. If you faithfully perform whatever you are given to do, in a little while you will receive larger salaries and promotion. It rests with yourselves whether you will be indispensable to this store, or worthless. Let me see.” He picked up a memorandum on his desk. “Which of you is Theodore Burke?”
“Me,” answered Teddy with a fine disregard for English. “I—I—mean, I am, sir.”
“You are to go to the house furnishings, Department Number 40, in the basement. They need a bright, steady, obedient boy there very badly. Do you think you can fill the position?”
“I—think I can.” Teddy’s voice was not quite so confident as in the beginning. The idea of house furnishings did not appeal to him. He had secretly hoped to be put in the sporting goods department. Teddy’s whole soul was bound up in games and sports, and though slender he was strong, well-muscled and had considerable reputation among his schoolmates for running, leaping and swimming.
“And you are Harry Harding.” Mr. Keene consulted his memorandum, then glanced up at Harry.
“Yes, sir.”
“I am going to put you at the exchange desk, between the book department and the jewelry. Here is your card. Every boy in the store carries one. You must take care of it. Do not deface it or lose it. It is marked every day by your aisle manager and your teacher, and is a record of your behavior in the store, whether in school or on the selling floor.”