o make embossed leathers he made the inward
resolve that every penny he earned there should be put into the bank
toward a motorcycle for Nat.

The embossing department was indeed a wonderful place. Such magic as was
wrought here! Pieces of dyed leather of every imaginable hue were put
into great machines where heavy squares of copper, set in powerful
presses, stamped upon them various patterns or impressions. The designs
engraved on the dies were imitations of the texture of every known sort
of fancy leather. There was alligator, lizard skin, pigskin, snakeskin
and sealskin; even grained leather was copied. So perfect was the
likeness that it seemed impossible to tell the embossed and artificially
made material from the real.

"How is any one to know whether his card-case is real seal or not?"
queried Peter, aghast at the perfection of the dies.

The foreman shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess you'd have some trouble," said he. "Comfort yourself, though,
that you are not the only one. Just this fall Mr. Coddington himself
came in here to compare our leather with some pieces of seal he had had
sent him. He put his samples down on the table and later on when he went
to get them he could not tell for the life of him which they were. We
had a great laugh about it, I can tell you. Yes, we do pretty good work
here, and we have about all the orders for pocketbook and bag leather
that we can fill. At present we are so busy that we are running all the
dies, and that is why we need extra men."

Peter and Nat found that the department was indeed busy. All day they
were upon their feet feeding pieces of leather into the presses, and it
was their fatigue--a fact unimportant in itself--which led to a
remarkable chain of events in the Coddington tanneries.

It happened that one morning Peter was sent up to the shipping room on
the sixth floor of the factory with a bale of finished leather, and when
he was ready to return he found that the elevator which he had used in
coming up was out of order, and that he must now walk down the many
flights of stairs. Accordingly he started, whistling as he went. When he
reached the fifth floor he was much surprised to discover that it was
vacant. A great expanse it was, flooded with sunshine. Peter paused to
look about. Some unused packing-cases littered one corner of the room
and instantly the thought flashed into his mind--what a warm, quiet,
secluded spot for him and Nat to eat their lunch!