“May I ask what firm you represent? Or, perhaps you don’t care to tell?”
“Oh, I’m perfectly willing to tell you, and if you want to try your luck with them go ahead. My name is Oscar Klemner, and I represent the Barry Marden Publishing Company, of Philadelphia—one of the largest publishing houses in the subscription book business. Here is their card,” and Oscar Klemner handed it over.
“Thank you. My name is Frank Hardy, and I come from Claster.”
“Glad to know you, Hardy, and if you take up books I hope you make a big success of it.”
“Will you tell me how they pay for the work?”
“Certainly. An agent gets twenty per cent. for getting an order, and twenty per cent. more if he delivers and collects.”
“Do you do both?”
“Sometimes; but at other times I merely take orders, and when I can’t get orders I take to delivering the orders some fellow more lucky than myself has obtained.”
“You wanted me to tell you about some folks here.”
“Yes. Here is a list of names. I want to visit the people in regular order, according to where they live, if I can. I don’t want to waste my time skipping from one end of the town to the other and back.”