"I am lucky to have such a friend," reflected Andy, as he finished reading this letter. "I will try to make myself worthy of such good fortune."
At the end of six months Andy had acquired a large practical acquaintance with the real estate business. He displayed a degree of judgment which surprised Mr. Crawford.
"You seem more like a young man than a boy," he said. "I am not at all sure but I could leave my business in your hands if I wished to be absent."
This compliment pleased Andy. He had also been raised to seven dollars a week, and this he regarded as a practical compliment.
One evening on his return from West Fifty-sixth Street he strayed into the Fifth Avenue Hotel, where he sat down to rest in the reading room.
Two men were sitting near him whose conversation he could not help hearing.
"I own a considerable plot in Tacoma," said one. "I bought it two years since, when I was on my way back from California. I should like to sell the plot if I could get a purchaser."
"If the Northern Pacific Railroad is ever completed, the land will be valuable," replied the other.
"True; but will it ever be completed? That date will be very remote, I fancy."
"I don't think so. I would buy the land myself if I had the money, but just at present I have none to spare. How much did you invest?"