“Well, I’ll tell you. To-night about closes up what business I have in hand. You know all my hopes and plans tend towards starting a mail order business. We would soon exhaust this district, selling on a small scale. I want to reach a wider one. I have found out what takes with the public. Next week I am going to gather together what we have, and move to another town.”
Markham’s face fell. He looked a trifle uneasy.
“Nearer the city?” he asked, in quite an anxious tone.
“No, nearly a hundred and fifty miles north of here. The fact is, Markham, I am going to move to Pleasantville. I have some rare, royal friends there. Two of them, Darry and Bob Haven, are in the printing business. They own and publish a weekly newspaper. They can help me immensely. Then there is a mightier reason, too, for locating at Pleasantville.”
“What’s that, Frank?” asked the interested Markham.
“A man named Dawes runs a novelty factory there—makes all kinds of little hardware specialties. It is just the place to manufacture my apple corer, if it is a success. If it is not, I can advertise the list he already manufactures, and get up something else.”
“There’s a good deal of money in those little devices when a fellow gets up the right thing, I suppose?” asked Markham.
“Sure, anything new and handy goes great,” responded Frank. “I have read of a dozen little simple inventions that have made a great fortune for the owners.”
Markham was studiously silent for a few minutes. Then he asked: