Conference maketh a ready man.--Lord Bacon.
Now stirs the lated traveler apace
To gain the timely inn.--Macbeth, Act III., Sc. 3.
What is there about going to a strange town on business
which should make a man's heart feel like a cold biscuit inside of him?
A young man may have been to a certain village on endless excursions of
pleasure, when his pulse beat as gloriously as the bass drum on a grand
circus-entry into town, yet when he has to go to the depot to take the
cars for that same town to sell goods there for the first time in his
life, it is harder to carry his heart to the train than it is to lug his
grip-sacks. When you feel that way, do not feel ashamed. All the "old
heads" on the road have been in that predicament. Talk to your heart the
way you think about a mother when she mourns for her child. You say "Let
her feel bad. It's natural. It'll do her good." Now when your home
begins to drop out of sight behind, and the conductor comes along to
punch your ticket rather than to comfort you, say to your heart "Go it,
you you old ninnyhammer! It's natural for you to thump, but you can't
interfere with business, you know!" Your mind is all right. It's your
body. Now, while