“Perhaps that is the way I should turn out,” he said.  “I might not rise any higher than your friend Mr. Bolton.”

“Oh, yes, you would.  You’re smart enough, I’ll guarantee.  You might not get on so fast as I have, for it isn’t every young man of twenty-six that can command four thousand dollars a year, but you would rise to a handsome income, I am sure.”

“I should be satisfied with two thousand a year at your age.”

“I would be willing to guarantee you that,” asserted Mr. Coleman, confidently.  “By the way, where do you propose to put up in Chicago?”

“I have not decided yet.”

“You’d better go with me to the Ottawa House.”

“Is it a good house?”

“They’ll feed you well there, and only charge two dollars a day”

“Is it centrally located?”

“It isn’t as central as the Palmer, or Sherman, or Tremont, but it is convenient to everything.”

I ought to say here that I have chosen to give a fictitious name to the hotel designated by Mr. Coleman.

“Come, what do you say?”

“I have no objection,” answered Luke, after a slight pause for reflection.

Indeed, it was rather pleasant to him to think that he would have a companion on his first visit to Chicago who was well acquainted with the city, and could serve as his guide.  Though he should not feel justified in imparting to Mr. Coleman his special business, he meant to see something of the city, and would find his new friend a pleasant companion.

“That’s good,” said Coleman, well pleased.  “I shall be glad to have your company.  I expected to meet a friend on the train, but something must have delayed him, and so I should have been left alone.”

“I suppose a part of your time will be given to business?” suggested Luke.

“Yes, but I take things easy; when I work, I work.  I can accomplish as much in a couple of hours as many would do in a whole day.  You see, I understand my customers.  When soft sawder is wanted, I am soft sawder.  When I am dealing with a plain, businesslike man, I talk in a plain, businesslike way.  I study my man, and generally I succeed in striking him for an order, even if times are hard and he is already well stocked.”

“He certainly knows how to talk,” thought Luke.  In fact, he was rather disposed to accept Mr. Coleman at his own valuation, though that was a very high one.

“Do you smoke?”

“Not at all.”

“Not even a cigarette?”

“Not even a cigarette.”

“I was intending to ask you to go with me into the smoking-car for a short time.  I smoke a good deal; it is my only vice.  You know we must all have some vices.”

Luke didn’t see the necessity, but he assented, because it seemed to be expected.

“I won’t be gone long.  You’d better come along, too, and smoke a cigarette.  It is time you began to smoke.  Most boys begin much earlier.”