"How much is that?"
"Fifteen per week."
"Hah! what do you do with your money above your keep?"
"Send it to my parents."
"Hah! another point in your favor. With whom do you associate?"
"Have not been in the city long enough to acquire intimate associates."
"Hah! four good points in your favor. What is the extent of your education?"
"I attended the common schools of my district, then learned bookkeeping and stenography at a business college."
"Hah! five good points in your favor. That is enough. Would you like to be my private secretary?"
John was calm under the ordeal of this examination into his character and habits and ability, answering the questions as deliberately as if he were before a court-witness examiner. But when the last question was put to him he became unduly nervous, as is so often true of young men of sterling worth and latent capabilities. The question came so unexpectedly and from such an unexpected source that he could not, at first, clearly comprehend its meaning; nor could he frame an appropriate answer on such a momentous proposition. While he was ambitious and desirous of rising to an eminence in the world of business that would place him where he thought he deserved, he, at the same time, knew his failings, if any he had worth mentioning.