not last for ever, and the time came when
once more the grim face of toil confronted me. I must own that I had now
little stomach for hard labour, yet I made several efforts to obtain it.
However, I had a bad manner, being both proud and shy, and one rebuff in
a day always was enough. I lacked that self-confidence that readily
finds employment, and again I found myself mixing with the spineless
residuum of the employment bureau.

At last the morning came when twenty-five cents was all that remained to
me in the world. I had just been seeking a position as a dish-washer,
and had been rather sourly rejected. Sitting solitary on the bench in
that dreary place, I soliloquized:

"And so it has come to this, that I, Athol Meldrum, of gentle birth and
Highland breeding, must sue in vain to understudy a scullion in a
third-rate hash joint. I am, indeed, fallen. What mad folly is this that
sets me lower than a menial? Here I might be snug in the Northwest
raising my own fat sheep. A letter home would bring me instant help. Yet
what would it mean? To own defeat; to lose my self-esteem; to call
myself a failure. No, I won't. Come what may, I will play the game."

At that moment the clerk wrote:--

"Man Wanted to Carry Banner."

"How much do you want for that job?" I asked.

"Oh, two bits will hold you," he said carelessly.

"Any experience required?" I asked again.

"No, I guess even you'll do for that," he answered cuttingly.

So I parted with my last quarter and was sent to a Sheeny store in
Broadway. Here I was given a vociferous banner announcing:

"Great retiring sale," and so forth.

With this hoisted I sallied forth, at first very conscious and not a
little ashamed. Yet by and by this feeling wore off, and I wandered up
and down with no sense of my employment, which, after all, was one
adapted to philosophic thought. I might have gone through the day in
this blissful coma of indifference had not a casual glance at my banner
thrilled me with horror. There it was in hideous, naked letters of red:

"Retireing Sale."

I reeled under the shock. I did not mind packing a banner, but a
misspelt one....

I hurried back to the store, resolved to throw up my position. Luckily
the day was well advanced, and as I had served my purpose I was given a
silver dollar.

On this dollar I lived for a month. Not every one has done that, yet it
is easy to do. This is how I managed.

I