s the reply.

"Then you know an honest, upright gentleman," declared Mr. Tyler warmly.
"His friendship is well worth having and a possession to be proud of.
Take care you do not disappoint him."

"I do not mean to disappoint him," was Peter's quick reply. "He told me,
though, that after he got me the place he should not do anything more
for me. I've got to make good myself. He's the president of the company
and I am just a boy in the works."

Unconsciously the lad repeated his father's very words.

"That's right. That's the way to go at it," the superintendent assented
cordially. "It is very kind of Mr. Coddington to bother his head about
you at all, for he is such a busy man that he has more things to
remember in a day than most of the rest of us have ever thought of in
all our lives. After you once get in here he, of course, can't take the
time to follow you up. Having done you the favor of giving you a start
he will drop you from his mind. You cannot expect anything else and I am
glad you have common sense enough to see it."

At the thought of his father "dropping him from his mind" Peter smiled
inwardly. Of course Mr. Tyler could not see the smile, and even if he
had he would not have understood it. As it was he now cut short the
interview by touching a bell at his elbow in response to which a
messenger appeared.

"Take this boy down to the yard, Johnson," he said. "Introduce him to
Carmachel and tell him he is to help unload skins. His name is Strong.
Good luck to you, young man. Remember the world is a large place and
there are plenty of fine positions waiting for the men who prove
themselves big enough to fill them."

Peter took the superintendent's hand but he forgot to answer. Somehow
Mr. Tyler's words awakened a train of thoughts which were so entirely
new that he could not immediately drive them from his mind. So the great
universe of work demanded that you should fill your position, not rattle
round in it! The mere fact that one had a rich father did not help much
then after all. It might aid you in keeping your job, to be sure, but it
could not aid you in doing it. Evidently at the Coddington tanneries
there were plenty of men ready to take your chance if you were not smart
enough to hold on to it yourself. Peter decided that it behooved him to
"hustle." It was a novel sensation to feel this spur to action.

As he thus philosophized he was following his guide, who now turned down
a flight of steep