It was a day or two later that Tom was again summoned to the office in a slack period. Mr. Cummings was there alone.
“Sit down a minute, Tom,” he said. “I want to talk about that department of yours. It’s done pretty well this winter. Did you know it?”
“I thought maybe it had,” answered Tom modestly. “I know we sold a good deal, sir.”
“We certainly did. And the profits in those goods are high, too. Now, look here, why don’t we go into the thing in earnest? I’ve talked to Mr. Wright about it and he’s agreeable. Why not put in a regular sporting goods department, eh? Aren’t there lots of things boys use in summer as well as winter?”
“Oh, yes, sir! You see, they’ll begin playing baseball pretty soon; and golf, too, although I don’t know if there’s much of that played around here.”
“Of course there is! There are three clubs within ten miles of town. What else?”
“I guess that’s all, sir, in summer, isn’t it?”
“You ought to know better than I, son. Well, could we sell bats and balls and golf things, do you think?”
“I don’t see why not,” replied Tom eagerly. “I’m sure the high school fellows would get their things here if they knew we kept them.”
“We’ll advertise then. We’ll announce in the papers that we’ve added a sporting goods department, eh?”