“Some say that it is all luck,” I ventured to suggest.
“Oh, pshaw!” said Mr. Sage, with great disgust. “There’s no such thing
as luck. I’m sure there was none of it about my career. I know just how
I earned every penny, and the reason for it, and I never got anything
I didn’t work for. I never knew anyone to obtain lasting wealth without
lots of hard work.”
[Illustration: CHILDHOOD]
“Do you think there are as good opportunities for getting rich to-day
as there were thirty years ago, or when you made your start, Mr. Sage?”
“Undoubtedly. I think there are even greater opportunities, for new
industries are being established all the time, and there are broader
fields to work in. But then, the old fields of business are not
overworked, by any means. I always say that there is room for good men
anywhere and at any time. I don’t think there can be ever too many of
them. It is true that there are many applicants for every place in New
York, but if I were unable to get a place in an eastern city, I should
go west, for there are great opportunities there for everyone.”
“People say, though, that the west is not what it is supposed to be,” I
remarked.
“Yes, there are always pessimists,” said Mr. Sage. “The people who say
the west has no opportunities are the same persons who used to call it
foolish for any young man to come to New York. When I decided to come
here, I was told on every side that I would regret my action; but I
never have. Some people never see opportunities in anything, and they
never get along. I didn’t see any very great opportunity ahead of me
when I came to New York, but I knew that, if I had a chance, I could
make one. I knew that there are always openings for energetic,
hard-working fellows, and I was right.”