on which they fixed themselves, reading the characteristics of
others, but yielding nothing in return. His forehead was high,
accentuated by the thinness of his face, but suggestive of strong mental
capacity; and the straightness of his nose evidenced the strength of
will which had done much to give him his present reputation as a
business man.

But behind this impassive exterior much was happening. It was not so
great a change as it was an expansion of something which had always
existed. Covington had made his mark before Gorham discovered him. The
older man's attention had been attracted to him by the chain he had
developed of over six hundred separate retail stores, all dealing in
the same commodities and each one an individual business success. Gorham
watched him post his sentries at different street corners in the city he
was testing to determine the density of the traffic, finally selecting
the location where the crowd passed most steadily all day.

"I am never fooled by the noon-hour crowd," Covington confided to him;
"they spend all their time eating lunch. I always keep away from streets
where there are banks--after three o'clock in the afternoon you'll find
as much retail business in the morgue."

Gorham saw him rent whole buildings in order to get the particular
corner store he wanted, and then organize a real-estate business to
handle the rental of stores and offices which he could not use. He saw
him arrange his show-cases and goods in such a manner that customers
easily found what they wanted, were served promptly, and departed
satisfied, to return again. He studied Covington's system of turning
over each new store to a chief clerk to be operated on a percentage,
thus giving him all the dignity of a proprietor and stimulating him to
his maximum activity. Promotions were accomplished by transferring the
clerks from smaller to larger stores, which automatically raised their
salaries by the increased volume of business on which to draw their
percentage. Gorham listened to the instructions Covington gave them in
governing their relations with customers--original, forceful, and
sane--and then he witnessed in various stores the practical
demonstration and the results. This same genius, he reasoned naturally,
applied to a similar chain of large concerns, would enable Covington to
exercise his ability almost to an unlimited extent, and Gorham succeeded
in convincing him that it was worth while for him to join in