and a foothold in whose Chicago office he had been fortunate enough to
secure. The salary connected with the place was but so-so; yet the place
itself, as agreed to among the Englishry of Chicago, was in no degree
unsuited to a young man of good family, fair education, small resources,
and limited prospects, and a desire to make a decorous and
self-respecting figure in society--such society as Western conditions
offered. They said the position was as good--socially--as any in one of
the branch Canadian banks; some of the more intensely English (the
Canadians themselves) were fain to acknowledge that it was even better.

So Paston did his "office work" of whatever kind during the day, and
distributed his cards through the evening hours, and dined out with a
good-will whenever occasion offered. This was often enough; he soon
became known as one of the most persistent diners-out in town, and one of
the most accomplished. His animal spirits were overflowing; his plump and
ruddy person seemed to be at once grace, appetizer, and benediction; his
fund of stories and anecdotes (constantly replenished from the most
approved sources) was inexhaustible; he carried everything through almost
single-handed, by reason of his abounding vitality and never-ending
good-nature. Everybody wanted him who could get him; his presence
lessened by half the rigors of entertaining. He therefore lodged quietly
in a retired little house in the edge of a good neighborhood; they gave
him his breakfast there, and warded off those who came to spy out the
leanness of the land. He was thus seldom called upon to take thought
for the morrow--having once passed, that is to say, the crucial hour of
lunch.

He led germans and promoted other social industries. His vacations he
could have spent six times over at all manner of desirable places. On
Sundays, through the summer, he was possessed briefly of the freedom of