The doctor was not by any means a lazy man, yet he believed, so long as business was prosperous, in taking his rest and ease for a fair share of the day. If he came in at night, after a good lot of sales on the street, he was ready for bed, unless he fell in with some congenial spirits, with whom he might spend an hour or two, “swapping lies.”
With me, it was different. I was on the hustle all the time, from the very moment I got together a little capital to invest in side lines. I was a younger man, you see, and had my fortune all to make, while, from some remarks he occasionally let fall, I was convinced that somewhere the doctor carried a very comfortable bank account and owned a home.
I have already spoken of a silver-plating blind. I was in the habit of working this for all it was worth, and I found my principal patrons at the hotels where I stopped. I never overlooked a chance at a hotel, and I believe that, taking into account only the places where we made temporary stops, my profits at such places sometimes overran our bills.
Everybody on the premises was fair game. To the waitresses, cooks and chambermaids I sold fancy-box paper, jewelry and different little trinkets which I knew were worth the offering, as they would catch their fancy. At night I would take the key to my room and plate it with the silver fluid, doing also the brass check attached to the key.
Bringing it down in the morning I would hand it to the clerk, without saying a word, and he would hang it on the key rack, or put it in the box.
The landlord, coming along in a few moments, perhaps, would notice the contrast and naturally mention it.
I would then speak up and say that I had silver-plated the key just for fun, and asked how he would like to have the balance of them fixed up in the same way. I would generally wind up by making a contract to plate all the keys, and sell him a large bottle of the fluid in addition.
Sometimes, at night, I dropped into the saloons and worked the gamblers there, improving an opportunity to sell them fake goods peculiar to their trade.
I carried in my pocket fountain pens, pencil sharpeners and other little novelties, and, when there was time, cornered any poor mortal I happened to meet and forced him to listen to an oration on their merits. I carried, also, tissue paper, which, when pasted on a pane of glass, gave it the appearance of being stained.
At another time I had a lot of little bird whistles and other noisy instruments. Without much trouble I became very expert in their use, and after that found them good sellers. Whenever I could strike a crowd and had leisure I sprung such things on them, and nearly always to my profit.