laundry and one particular bar, both situate in the
same city, well, then, all he had got to say was that knowledge and
wisdom were clearly of no practical use in this world whatever.

"Well, it did seem a simple thing to advise a man about. Surely as to a
matter of this kind, I, a professed business man, must be able to form a
sounder judgment than this poor pumpkin-headed lamb. It would be
heartless to refuse to help him. I promised to look into the matter, and
let him know what I thought.

"He rose and shook me by the hand. He said he would not try to thank me;
words would only seem weak. He dashed away a tear and went out.

"I brought an amount of thought to bear upon this thousand-dollar
investment sufficient to have floated a bank. I did not mean to make
another Hannah job, if I could help it. I studied the papers Josiah had
left with me, but did not attempt to form any opinion from them. I went
down quietly to Josiah's city, and inspected both businesses on the spot.
I instituted secret but searching inquiries in the neighbourhood. I
disguised myself as a simple-minded young man who had come into a little
money, and wormed myself into the confidence of the servants. I
interviewed half the town upon the pretence that I was writing the
commercial history of New England, and should like some particulars of
their career, and I invariably ended my examination by asking them which
was their favourite bar, and where they got their washing done. I stayed
a fortnight in the town. Most of my spare time I spent at the bar. In
my leisure moments I dirtied my clothes so that they might be washed at
the laundry.

"As the result of my investigations I discovered that, so far as the two
businesses themselves were concerned, there was not a pin to choose
between them. It became merely a question of which particular trade
would best suit the Hacketts.

"I reflected. The keeper of a bar was exposed to much temptation. A
weak-minded man, mingling continually in the company of topers, might
possibly end by giving way to drink. Now, Josiah was an exceptionally
weak-minded man. It had also to be borne in mind that he had a shrewish
wife, and that her whole family had come to live with him. Clearly, to
place Josiah in a position of easy access to unlimited liquor would be
madness.

"About a laundry, on the other hand, there was something soothing. The
working of a laundry needed many hands. Hannah's relatives