He entered, and looking about him, attracted the attention of a clerk.
"Do you want something in our line to-day?" asked the clerk, pleasantly.
"Yes, I do," said Dan, "if you're giving things away; but as I've got a note of ten thousand dollars to meet to-morrow, I can't pay anything out."
"Your credit ought to be good," said the salesman, smiling, "but we don't trust."
"All right," said Dan; "I may as well proceed to business. My mother makes vests for amusement. Can you give her any work?"
"I will speak to Mr. Jackson. One of our hands is sick, and if your mother understands how to do the work, we may be able to give her some."
The young man went to the rear of the store, and returned with the proprietor.
"Has your mother any experience?" asked the proprietor, a big man, with sandy whiskers.
He was an Englishman, as any one might see, and a decided improvement on Nathan Gripp, whom he cordially hated.