sells horses for a penny, cash on delivery!" They laughed and crowded
nearer. Merchants forgot their dignity, and came running from the
streets of the town.

"Now, boy, this one," said the stranger, poking a mule; "but be careful.
Be careful to wait for the highest bid."

The stranger's warning came just in time. No sooner had Lewis called the
mule for sale than bids rained on him from every side. One after the
other, in rapid succession, the animals were sold; but no more went for
a penny.

His pockets stuffed with notes and silver, the stranger pushed his way
through the crowd, suddenly grown silent. On the way to the river he
paid off his men. He climbed into the canoe, and Lewis followed. The
boatmen shoved off.

The wag, leading Lewis's pony, had followed them to the river-bank.

"Show me thy hoof, partner," he shouted, laughing, to the stranger.
"Thou shouldst deal in souls, not in horses. I would I had shaken thy
hand. God go with thee!"

The stranger calmly counted his money.

"Boy," he said, "I have just given you a five-year life in five minutes.
Write this down in your mind. In high finance he who knows figures
starves on two dollars a day; success comes to him who knows men."

During the long hours in the dirty train that jerked them toward the