erms of that
man's work, and he tries to sell only where he believes the sale will
result in mutual satisfaction. He never says anything about serving
humanity, but his life is shaped around this idea, which is, when all is
said and done, the biggest idea that any of us can lay ourselves out to
follow.

He is working for a firm that he knows is honest--no self-respecting man
will work for any other kind--and he wants its financial rating to stand
solid. He does not sell to every man who wants to buy. He investigates
his credit first, and if there is to be a delay while the investigation
is under way he frankly tells the man so, and assures him that it is for
his protection as well as for that of the house that is selling the
goods. "It is a form we go through with every new customer," he says.
"If we did not we'd find ourselves swamped with men who would not pay.
And that would work hardship on those who do." Every business man knows
that this is the only way in which reliable business can be carried on.
And it is reliable business that we are interested in.

XIII

TABLES FOR TWO OR MORE

A young banker from Smithville is in New York. It is his first trip.

You would like him if you could see him. Tall, sun-burned, clean-cut,
well-dressed, thoroughly alive and interested in everything. He is a bit
confused by the city but he is determined to learn everything that it
has to teach him. He does not hesitate to ask questions but he likes to
find out without, whenever possible.

He goes into the dining room of the great hotel where he is staying, and
for the first time in his life is confronted with an array of silver on
both sides of his plate. At home he always has a knife, fork, and spoon
laid together at the right of his plate, by which you can see that he
has not lived among people who place much emphasis on having food
daintily or correctly served. He is not exactly prepared for this. When
he left Smithville he was thinking more of his business connections than
of what he was going to eat, and how. He is embarrassed because, like
every sanely balanced person, he likes to do things as they should be
done, and not just blunder through them. There is no one he can ask
except the waiter, and the waiter seems such a superior person that he
is afraid to ask him (though it would have been perfectly correct for
him to do so). He gets through the meal the best way he can and finds
that when the ice cream is broug