"Well, I've always thought I should like to do work of that sort, and I think I could do it well."
"Stage-struck, eh?"
"Not a bit of it, Mr. Wattles. Now, will you listen to me a few moments, sir?"
"Go ahead."
And the manager assumed an air of resignation.
"I generally keep my eyes open," began the boy, "and I have had a chance to watch the movements of most of the theatrical people who come to this town, particularly the advance agents."
"Why the advance agents in particular?" interrupted Mr. Wattles.
"Because I have been in the editorial office of the Boomville Herald, and have had a chance to see how they work the press. Some of them are very slick, but I think that if I had a little experience I should be as slick as any of them."
"Ah," said the manager, "that's the point. You haven't had experience."
"Well, I've got to begin some time, sir. If all managers had talked like you the race of advance agents would have been extinct long ago."