"I'm always cheerful. I've got too much business to do to mope. When a man's got enough to busy himself about, he hasn't time to be in the dumps."
"There's a good deal in that," said Walter.
"Of course there is. Push along, keep moving, that's my motto. Are you in business?"
"No, sir, not at present."
"I'm in the subscription-book business,—got an office in New York. We send out agents everywhere to canvass for our publication. Lots of money in it."
"Is there?"
"Yes. I used to be an agent myself, and, though I say it, I don't think there are many agents that can get ahead of me. Sometimes I used to make twenty dollars a day. At last I thought I'd like to settle down, so I bought a partnership, and now, instead of being an agent, I send out agents."
"Isn't twenty dollars a day pretty large for an agent to make?" asked Walter.
"Yes, there are not many do it, but plenty make from five to ten right along. You look as if you would make a good agent."
"What makes you think so?" asked Walter.