automobile accident that might account for it. I walked the streets day
after day, hoping some acquaintance would accost me. I waited patiently
for some impulse to direct me to my former haunts. I searched the
newspapers persistently for a clue; but nothing rewarded me.

"After spending all my money and the proceeds of my watch and diamond, I
began to seek employment; but no one would employ a man without
recommendations or antecedents. I did not know what work I was capable
of doing. So finally I left the city and for more than two years I have
been wandering from one part of the country to another, hoping that some
day I would recognize a familiar spot. I have done odd jobs, at times,
but my fortunes went from bad to worse until of late I have become no
better than the typical tramp."

"How did you secure employment as a book-keeper for Skeelty?" asked
Uncle John.

"I heard a new mill had started at Royal and walked up there to inquire
for work. The manager asked if I could keep books, and I said yes."

"Have you ever kept books before?"

"Not that I know of; but I did it very well. I seemed to comprehend the
work at once, and needed no instruction. Often during these two years I
have encountered similar curious conditions. I sold goods in a store and
seemed to know the stocks; I worked two weeks in a telegraph office and
discovered I knew the code perfectly; I've shod horses for a country
blacksmith, wired a house for electric lights and compounded
prescriptions in a drug store. Whatever I have undertaken to do I seem
able to accomplish, and so it is hard for me to guess what profession I