satisfaction in living up to John P. Henderson's
first judgment of him. Through Fred Henderson and through his business
activities he had formed a little group of pleasant acquaintances.
Sophie Carr was growing shadowy--a shadow that sometimes laid upon him
certain regrets, it is true, but the mere memory of her no longer
produced the old overpowering reactions, the sense of sorry failure, of
a dear treasure lost because he lacked a man's full stature in all but
physical bulk.

It could easily have happened that Thompson would have embraced with
enthusiasm a future bounded by San Francisco, a future in which he would
successfully sell Groya cars until his amassed funds enabled him to
expand still further his material success. If that future embraced a
comfortable home, if a mate and affection suggested themselves as
possibilities well within his reach, the basis of those tentative
yearnings rested upon the need that dwells within every normal human
being, and upon what he saw happening now and then to other young
men--and young women--within the immediate radius of his observation.

But upon this particular May morning his mind was questing far afield.
The prime cause of that mental projection was a letter in his hand, a
letter from Tommy Ashe. Thompson had a lively imagination, tempered by
the sort of worldly experience no moderately successful man can escape. And
Tommy's letter--the latest in a series of renewed correspondence--opened
up certain desirable eventualities. The first page of Tommy's screed was
devoted to personal matters. The rest ran thus:

Candidly, old man, your description of the contemplated Henderson
car makes a hit with me. The line I handle now is a fair seller.
But fair isn't good enough for me. I really need--in addition--to
have a smaller machine, to supply a pretty numerous class of
prospects. I should like to get hold of just such a car as you
describe. I am feeling around for the agency of a small, _good_
car. Send me all the dope on this one, and when it will be on the
market. There is a tremendous market here for something like that.
I'd prefer to take up a line with an established reputation behind
it. But the main thing is to have a car that will sell when you
push it. And this listens good.

Aren't you about due for a vacation? Why don't you take a run up
here? I'd enjoy a chin-fest. The fishing's good, too--and we are