"Is Brittan on the road now?"

"Guess not. The Big Three, Brittan, Rashgo, and Bond, work some kind
of a syndicate, though, and make a good thing out of it. I met Brittan
twenty years ago or so. He was a hard worker, good-natured, understood
human nature and was a success. He represented several concerns, and
used to make ten or twelve thousand clear a year. Finally he got into
the lock factory."

"Most traveling men are crazy to get into something."

"Yes; that's so. We think if we had a shebang of our own we'd just
make things fly; but we miss it oftener than we hit it when we do get
the factory."

"You're right. The man on the road with a good trade and a good salary
has a pretty good thing of it."

"Well, some men expect to strike it rich by silver stock. Do you know
Al Bevins?"

"The sleigh-bell man? Yes, I know him well."

"Has he told you about the silver stock?"

"No."

"He has been investing in Deming's--"