He was greatly aided by the custom of doing business on time, which then prevailed, but he never allowed one of his notes to be protested, and never asked for an extension.  When he began business, he did so with the firm resolve that he would conduct his most insignificant transaction as a Christian man of honor.  If he could not make money honestly, he would remain poor.  Every body saw the energy and judgment with which he conducted his affairs, and the strict integrity which marked them all, and he was not long in building up a reputation as a business man of which any one might have been proud.  The promptness and apparent ease with which he met every contract, and took up every note, caused it to be generally believed that he was a very rich man.  Further than this, it was known that he was a zealous and earnest Christian, one who carried his religion into his business, and who lived up to his professions.  He was an active member of the Methodist Church, and the business man of the congregation to which he belonged.  In his hands its finances prospered as they had never done before.  Such was the reputation of this young man, who had not yet attained his majority.

He held his position in the public school for several years after his appointment to it, but the requirements of his business at length compelled him to relinquish it.

In the midst of his prosperity Mr. Stout made one mistake.  A friend with whom he had been interested in building wished to procure some money from the bank, and Mr. Stout was induced, with considerable reluctance, to indorse his note for five thousand dollars.  One false step in business, as in other affairs of life, leads to another, and, in order to save this money, Mr. Stout was forced to renew his indorsements until his liabilities amounted to twenty-three thousand dollars.  To his dismay he was now informed by the builder for whose sake he had incurred this risk, that he (the builder) had failed, without making provision for the payment of the notes, and that Mr. Stout would have to account to the bank for them.

“Several methods of relief were open to Mr. Stout.  He was worth seventeen thousand dollars, which he had earned by nights of toil, by economy, and by daily and earnest attention to business.  To pay the notes would not only sweep away every penny that he had, but would leave him six thousand dollars in debt.  He had never realized one cent from the money, and his name was used simply to accommodate the builder.  Besides, he was not of age, though nobody suspected that fact, and he could repudiate his debts as a minor.  He took no counsel, made no statement of his affairs to any one, shut himself up in his own room, and considered thoughtfully what he should do, and then followed out the decision that he had reached.  Having become bankrupt in money, he concluded he would not be so in character.  He had earned seventeen thousand dollars, and could earn seventeen thousand dollars more.  He did