ll, one Saturday I went into a men's furnishing store on Fulton Street.
There wasn't anything doing there, they told me. But as I was going out a
fellow was bringing in some fresh stock, carrying a high-piled heap of
collar-boxes. He over-balanced them, and over they went on the sidewalk.
It was raining, and I made a quick dash and picked up the lot, carrying
them back into the store.

"Of course, the proprietor couldn't very well ignore this, and as I had
put in a very earnest plea for a job he now came forward and said that he
would give me two dollars if I cared to stay and help them through that
busy Saturday. On Monday morning I reported for duty again. The proprietor
wasn't there when I arrived, and his brother asked me if I had been
regularly engaged.

"'I think so, sir,' I said shamelessly.

"When the boss turned up, he looked at me in amazement.

"'I didn't hire you regularly,' he said.

"'But I need the job,' I told him.

"He looked at me hard for a minute, then he said: 'See here, Selwyn, I'll
tell you what I'll do. I'll give you five per cent on all the goods you
sell to-day.'

An Energetic Salesman.

"Well, I didn't need any more than that. I started in to work, and any man
who came in that store to buy a collar was lucky if he escaped from my
clutches without leaving a dollar or two behind him for several other
articles--shirts, neckties, any old thing. Whether he needed them or not
was all one to me, so long as I got my five per cent. When the day was
over, the proprietor found he owed me three dollars and eighty-five cents.

"Accordingly, he proceeded to make a new deal.

"'I engage you,' he said, 'at eight dollars a week.'

"He raised me later to ten dollars, and then to twelve. At length the firm
failed; but meantime I was getting into the theatrical atmosphere. That
came about in this way:

"Among the chaps I met where I boarded was one who knew somebody who knew
somebody else who was connected with the Herald Square Theater, which was
about to be opened. I needed the money, so I decided to put in a plea for
the job of usher in the new house. I got it, and used to linger after the
show to watch any rehearsals that might be put on.

"Then I took to imitating the actors for the benefit of my comrades on the
usher staff--and sometimes to the enjoyment of those higher up in the
government of the theater. I remember that once while Mansfield was
playing in the house I was doing a travesty