"There"s a lot of work to do here," he said, going from box to box, flashing the light across the contents. "There must be a million needles in that packing case. Poor Morton"s apple corer--there"s several thousands of those. And here"s a great jumble of lawn mower repair material."
Frank stood mapping out how he would handle the ma.s.s of stuff. About to leave the room, he set down the lamp and curiously inspected the zinc box that had apparently been the burned-out hardware man"s safe.
It was filled with papers of various kinds: receipted bills, statements of accounts and letters. Many of these latter were from mail customers who had bought the apple corer and were dissatisfied with its operation.
Many of the papers were partly burned away. All were grimed with smoke.
Finally from the very bottom of the box Frank fished up a square package. Opening this, he found it to be some part of a mail order office equipment.
Frank"s eye sparkled. There were several sheets of cardboard. On each of them a colored map of a State of the Union was printed. Each town had a hole near it. This was to hold minute wooden pegs of different hues, each color designating "written to," or "first customer," or "agent,"
and the like.
At a glance Frank took in the value and utility of this outfit. As he drew some typewritten sheets from a big manilla envelope, he grew positively excited at the grand discovery he had made.
"Fifty thousand names!" exclaimed Frank--"possible mail order customers all over the country! Oh, if this outfit were only mine! Can I get it, or its duplicate? Why," he said, in a fervent, deep-drawn breath, "circ.u.mstances seem absolutely pushing me into the mail order business!"
CHAPTER IX
SENSE AND SYSTEM
Frank was up and stirring before six o"clock the next morning. He felt like a person beginning life brand-new again.
When his mother appeared half-an-hour later, she found everything tidied up, including Frank himself, who hurried through a good, hearty breakfast with an important business engagement in view.
"You will excuse me for calling at your home instead of the office,"
said Frank to Mr. Buckner, a little later.
"That"s all right, Frank," declared the insurance man, shaking hands heartily with his early caller. "Time is money, and of course you want to utilize it to the best advantage. Well, what"s the news?"
Frank recited the progress of the day previous. When he came to tell of the sale of the old junk at Riverton, his host laughed till the tears ran down his cheeks.
"You"ll do, Frank," he observed with enthusiasm--"decidedly, you"ll do!
You got the moving done at just half what I expected to pay, and collected twenty dollars and a half we never knew a word about."
"Then you want me to go on getting the burned stuff in order, do you?"
inquired Frank.
"Certainly--that was all understood, wasn"t it? I"ll try and drop around to-day or to-morrow and take a look at the plunder, just out of curiosity. As to getting it in shape for my client"s inspection, I leave that in your able charge exclusively."
"Thank you," said Frank.
Nelson Cady was piping a cheery whistle in front of the store when Frank got home.
"Got no letter yet," he announced in his old important way, "so I reckon I can give you a lift, Frank."
"Good for you," commended Frank. "You know how to work all right when you want to, Nelson."
Frank unlocked the store door with a proud sense of proprietorship. Both entered the long, rambling room.
"Now then, Nelson," said Frank, "I offer you ten cents an hour, and make you superintendent of the little plant here."
"What am I expected to superintend?" asked Nelson.
"Did you notify any of the boys?"
"Oh, yes--I could get an army of them, if needed."
"I think about half-a-dozen will answer," said Frank.
"They"ll be here shortly all right," responded Nelson. "It"s vacation, and--there"s the first arrival now."
A curly-pated, eager-faced little urchin popped in through the open doorway.
"Hey, Nelse, am I early enough?" he asked anxiously.
"Five cents an hour," announced Frank, with a welcoming smile.
"Oh, my!" cried the little fellow--"five times twenty-four is, let me see--a naught and two to carry, a dollar and twenty cents. Whoop!"
"Here, here, you don"t suppose we"re going to work all day and all night, too, do you?" said Nelson. "Eight hours will tire you out soon enough."
"Forty cents a day, then," cried the little fellow. "Say, I"ll be rich!"
Within the next ten minutes as many as a dozen other boys arrived. The news of Frank Newton having work to be done, had spread like wildfire among juvenile Greenville. All hands begged for employment, but Frank could not hire all of them. He engaged first boys whose families needed help, and promised the others they should work as subst.i.tutes when any of the original employes dropped out of the ranks.
"Now then, friends," said Frank, as soon as the hiring business was disposed of, "Nelson Cady will direct what you are to do. You had better all of you go home first and put on the oldest duds you can find, for this is going to be dirty work. Look here, Nelson."
Frank had got a big piece of chalk at a carpenter"s shop on his way home from the interview with Mr. Buckner.
With this he now divided the floor s.p.a.ce of one whole side of the store into sections about six feet square.
"You see, Nelson," he said to his superintendent, "first you tip over one of those big packing cases onto the floor."
"All right, Frank."
"Then begin picking out an article at a time. Suppose it is a hammer comes first: write with chalk on the edge of a section "Hammers," and then group all the hammers you find by themselves."
"I understand," nodded Nelson.
"Label all the squares plainly. Ma.s.s everything of its cla.s.s in distinct heaps. That is the first start in your work."
Frank had some of his regular village ch.o.r.es to do. He was gone over an hour attending to various duties.
As he came back to the store again, Frank was spurred up by the busy hum of industry. Half-a-dozen urchins peering enviously in at the open front door made way for him. He gave them a kind word and stepped inside to take a sweeping view of his juvenile working force.
A great rattlety-bang was going on as the boys pulled over the heap of debris. Hands and faces were grimed. There were some blistered fingers, but the boys were working like bees in a hive.