d doubtful of my sincerity, and
when he called on Monday morning as requested, and closed the deal as
agreed upon, he looked me over carefully as though not quite certain of
my sanity, and finally said:

"Well, Mr. Johnston, I have been in the real estate business for a long
time and have transacted business with many different men, but there are
two things I have done with you that I never did before."

"What are they?" I asked.

"Well, I never sold a house in the dark before, nor have I ever closed a
deal of this kind in fifteen minutes before, and never heard of a
similar case, especially with entire strangers."

We took possession on the first of September, and immediately began the
building of a barn which was completed in due time.

We very soon became dissatisfied with suburban life, and anxious to
return to the city; but having expended considerable money in building
the barn, and other improvements, we decided to remain at all hazards.

Six months later one of my most valuable horses was taken sick, and died
on a Saturday morning. On the following Monday, just as I had gotten
settled down to business in my office, I received a telephone message
from a friend at Woodlawn Park, to the effect that my barn was on fire,
but that my horses, harnesses and carriages were all safe.

I immediately said to my wife:

"Well, you can get ready to move now. A horse died Saturday, the barn
burned Monday and we'll move Tuesday."

So saying, I called up my printer, Mr. G. M. D. Libby, by telephone, and
dictated a hand-bill to be printed _immediately_, advertising all of our
household furniture to be sold at auction.

The bills were run off at once, and before the fire engines and crowds
had left the scene of the fire, I was on the ground distributing
circulars.

The question was frequently asked, who was going to be the auctioneer.
I would reply that I thought of trying it myself. This amused the
questioners and I had a large crowd in attendance, many of whom no doubt
came to hear me in my first effort at auctioneering. The evening after
the sale I called at of the grocery stores in the town, and several men
were discussing me as an auctioneer, and all agreed that for a beginner
I did mighty well. One man said that a person would naturally suppose
that the fellow had had years of experience as an auctioneer.

We moved immediately after making the sale, and found a tenant for the
house without any trouble; and as I