first hundred pictures, gave them to the Italian, and received his
first dollar.

"Now," said Edward, as he had visions of larger returns from his
efforts, "your books have pictures of only four or five kinds, like
apples, pears, tomatoes, and green peas. How much will you give me for
pictures of special fruit which you haven't got, like apricots,
green-gages, and pineapples?"

"Two cents each," replied the Italian.

"No," bargained Edward. "They're much harder to find than the others.
I'll get you some for three cents each."

"All right," said the vender, realizing that the boy was stating the
case correctly.

Edward had calculated that if he would search the vacant lots in back
of the homes of the well-to-do, where the servants followed the tidy
habit of throwing cans and refuse over the back fences, he would find
an assortment of canned-fruit labels different from those used by
persons of moderate means. He made a visit to those places and found
the less familiar pictures just as he thought he would. Thus he was
not only able to sell his labels to the Italian for three cents instead
of a cent apiece, but to give greater variety to the vender's
scrap-books.

In this manner Edward Bok learned to make the most of his opportunities
even during his earliest years in America.