I continued selling furniture polish as though nothing had happened, but never ceased making auctioneering a continual study.
Shortly after this I received a letter from an old acquaintance who had recently married a widow about forty years older than himself, expressing a desire to go into the auction business with me.
He said he was well fixed now (or at least his wife was) and if I would do the auctioneering he would furnish the capital and we would travel together and divide the profits.
I telegraphed him to have his money ready, as I was coming.
On my arrival Johnny showed me a large roll of bills and said "there was plenty more where that come from."
We ordered a nice stock of goods and started at once taking in the Western and Southwestern States.
Johnny was exceedingly gay and chipper from the start and seemed possessed with the idea that he had found a gold mine.
He led about the same life I did the winter I was selling government goods—only a little more so, and I frequently reminded him of the results of my experience and tried hard to convince him that his would result the same, but without success.
He was a jolly, good natured fellow, a true friend, kind and generous to a fault, which with his expensive habits made serious inroads on his capital and it diminished rapidly.