llow these little trials
to discompose or discourage him.

By one o'clock on the first day of his service he had sold eighteen
books, which far exceeded even his most sanguine expectations. By this
time he began to feel the want of his dinner; but there was no tavern
or eating house at hand, and he could not think of leaving the harvest
to return to the railroad station; so he bought a sheet of gingerbread
and a piece of cheese at a store, and seating himself near a brook by
the side of the road, he bolted his simple meal, as boys are very apt
to do when they are excited.

When he had finished, he took out his account book, and entered,
"Dinner, 10 cents." Resuming his business, he disposed of the
remaining six books in his valise by the middle of the afternoon, and
was obliged to return for another supply.

About six o'clock he entered the house of a mechanic, just as the
family were sitting down to tea. He recommended his book with so much
energy that the wife of the mechanic took a fancy to him, and not only
purchased one, but invited him to tea. Bobby accepted the invitation,
and in the course of the meal, the good lady drew from him the details
of his history, which he very modestly related, for though he sometimes
fancied himself a man, he was not the boy to boast of his exploits.
His host was so much pleased with him, that he begged him to spend the
night with them. Bobby had been thinking how and where he should spend
the night, and the matter had given him no little concern. He did not
wish to go to the hotel, for it looked like a very smart house, and he
reasoned that he should have to pay pretty roundly for accommodations
there. These high prices would eat up his profits, and he seriously
deliberated whether it would not be better for him to sleep under a
tree than pay fifty cents for a lodging.

If I had been there I should have told him that a man loses nothing in
the long run by taking good care of himself. He must eat well and
sleep well, in order to do well and be well. But I suppose Bobby would
have told me that it was of no use to pay a quarter extra for sleeping
on a gilded bedstead, since the room would be so dark he could not see
the gilt even if he wished to do so. I could not have said any thing
to such a powerful argument; so I am very glad the mechanic's wife set
the matter at rest by offering him a bed in her house.

He spent a very pleasant evening with the family, who made him