“Yes.”

He said, “I try to run a place which keeps within the law, but the men who come here like action, and I like to see that they get it, as much as I can give them and keep open. You know, I have to depend on customer good will and word-of-mouth advertising.”

“That’s right.”

“How long ago did you say it was?”

“Two or three months.”

“I like to have my customers come back — oftener than that.”

“I’m out of San Francisco,” I said, “a travelling man.”

“Oh, I see. What line do you handle?”

“Office safes,” I said.

He thought a moment and then smacked his hand on the table. “By George,” he said, “that’s a coincidence! The safe in my office is an obsolete old bread box, and sometimes our cash receipts run rather high. I’ve been figuring on getting a new safe. There’s nothing I’d like better than to do business with a customer.”