onged for the wheel which he hoped would some day be his; and every
evening, on his way home, he stopped to look in at Stark Brothers'
window, to feast his eyes on that bicycle inside.

One evening, as he stood looking in, Chicky Wiggins slipped up and
slapped him on the back in his friendly way. "Hullo, Todd," he called,
"admiring my wheel, are you? I'm letting it stay in there awhile to
accommodate Stark Brothers, but the truth is I've been thinking
seriously of having to take it out. The company sends me on such long
errands that I seem to be getting more walking than the doctor
prescribed. It doesn't agree with me."

"You mean _my_ wheel," laughed Todd. "I'll lend it to you sometimes,
Chicky, my son, if you'll promise to be good."

"I say, Todd," said Chicky, giving him a quizzical glance, "I'd give a
doughnut to know what motto you and Ab chose."

Todd grinned. "You won't have much longer to wait," he said. "Time is
nearly up, and we'll know our fate in another ten days."

The last week in August, the three men whom the boys had selected to
decide their case met in Judge Parker's office.

"If you want my opinion," said the grocer, when he was called upon, "I
think Ab Morgan has worked the hardest for this prize. He has proved
the truth of his motto beyond a doubt, for he has made a success of
his garden, and has never slacked up a day. He has made a nice little
pile of money, too, and I would recommend him to any business man in
this town as an example of diligence. I'll be glad to have him clerk
for me any time he gets ready to come."

"I think that little Todd Walters has made the best choice," said the
druggist. "You see, he has been selling fly-paper for me all summer on
commission, and I've had a chance to see the inner workings. People
are always coming to me with some pleasant thing to say about him.
He's certainly won the 'loving favour' of all he's had anything to do
with, whether they were his customers or not, and the good name he
has made for himself will stick to him all his life.

"He had a lemonade stand at the baseball game last week, and I heard
Doctor Streeter say to a friend: 'Come on, Bill, let's go over and get
a glass,--patronize the little fellow.' The man said, 'No, thank you,
doc, none of that weak circus stuff for me,--acid and colouring matter
and sweetened water. I've been an enterprising boy myself, and know
how it's done.'

"'I assure you it's all right if Todd Walters made i