The young chap didn't seem to take kindly to this advice. The frown on his face was still there. But he bowed and said:
"All right, sir."
Then the old man—for it was his busy morning—called another young fellow in and said:
"Look here, young man; I don't want you to be so genial. You're always telling funny stories around the place and waiting on the girls. Your sunny smile is all right, but you carry it too far. Why, when you come around everybody stops work. Get down to business."
"That reminds me, sir," said the young chap—but his employer waved him off.
"Do as I tell you," he said sternly, "or—"
At the end of another week the old man called them both into his office.
"Neither of you seems to be improving in the way I want. But I have an idea. I'm going to put your desks next to each other. That ought to do it. You're both good men, but you lean too far in the opposite directions. Run away now and act on each other."
At the end of still another week, however, when once more they both stood in front of him, he betrayed his disappointment.
"It doesn't seem to work," he exclaimed. "What's the matter with you boys, anyway? I thought my experiment would cure both of you, but it doesn't seem to work."