"I did not tell him any such thing."
"What! You mean to say you didn't tell me a moment or two ago that you made fifty dollars a week?"
"Never said any such thing."
"Why, you little liar! You—"
"What did you tell the gentleman?" put in Reid.
"I told him I earned fifty dollars a week; but you pay me only three dollars."
The visitor was so excited that he forgot his business with the managing editor. When he had taken leave of the office Reid raised the boy's salary to six dollars.
The late Jay Gould used to tell a good story of Mr. William M. Travers. As Mr. Gould related it, he described Mr. Travers's going downtown to a dog-fancier's place in Water Street, New York, in search of a rat-terrier. The dog-fancier scented the value of his possible customer at once, and cheerfully dilated upon the merits of the different canines in stock. Finally, he selected a ratter, assuring Mr. Travers that the dog would go for a rat quicker than lightning. Mr. Travers was rather sceptical as he observed the shivering pup, and the dog-fancier noticing this, said,
"Here, I'll show you how he'll go for a rat," and he put the dog in a box with a big rat. The rat made a dive and laid out that unfortunate terrier in a second. Mr. Travers turned around to the fancier and said,