about half of
that quail, and I can't see how you expect to fix it."

"Well, if quail are in such great demand as to be worth a dollar apiece,
they will surely have use for any part of one, and if they wish to take
back what I have not eaten, and give me credit for it, I'll settle for
the balance. Otherwise I'll stand a lawsuit; for, ---- it, Johnston, I
tell you I can buy them by the car-load in Indiana for one dollar a----"

"All aboard going east!" shouted the conductor, and, quickly settling my
bill and bidding the Doctor good-bye, I left him and the waiter to
settle the quail question.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

A CO-PARTNERSHIP FORMED IN THE AUCTION BUSINESS--HOW IT ENDED--A NEW
FRIEND--HIS GENEROSITY--EXHIBITING A TALKING MACHINE--IT FAILED TO
TALK--HOW I ENTERTAINED THE AUDIENCE--IN THE ROLE OF A PHRENOLOGIST.

On my return home I met an old acquaintance who had just sold out his
grocery and was anxious to invest with me in the auction business. We
very soon formed a co-partnership, he furnishing one thousand dollars
and I five hundred.

We opened at Upper Sandusky, in a store room, with a stock of notions,
hosiery and underwear, but from the very first began losing money. The
roads were very muddy, and it rained day in and day out. The weather was
warm and there was no demand for our goods. We moved from one town to
another with but poor success, hoping for cold weather and a demand for
sox and underwear. However, "luck," as we called it, was against us, and
when spring came we invoiced and found ourselves with about six hundred
dollars' worth of stock on hand.

I then made clear to him that at the rate we had been losing money, we
would probably have about five hundred dollars cash after winding up
provided we commenced at once and sold out as soon as possible. I
suggested that we do so, and I would turn that amount over to him, which
would leave us each just five hundred dollars out of pocket for the
winter's work.

Hank said he was perfectly satisfied, and I should go on and close out,
and he would go home and attend to other business.

I worked into Indiana, and succeeded in finishing just about as we had
figured on, for after sending him the last remittance to make up the
five hundred dollars, I had about four dollars in cash and an old trunk
left.

Elkhart, Indiana, was the town I closed out in, and while stopping there
at the hotel I became acquainted with a physician and surgeon from
Chicag