He was prepared to remain in this
position for some time, as he knew that promotion depends on many
things besides ability. Mr. Duncan had warned him against the delusion
that man is entirely master of his destiny. "Life, my boy," he had
said, "is fifty per cent. environment and forty per cent. heredity.
The other ten per cent. is yours. But that ten per cent. is like the
steering gear in an automobile; it's only a small part of the
mechanism, but it directs the course of the whole machine. Get a good
grip on the part of your life you can control, and don't worry over the
rest."
To economize both time and money Dave took his lunch with him and ate
it in the warehouse. He had also become possessed of a pocket
encyclopaedia and it was his habit to employ the minutes saved by
eating lunch in the warehouse in reading from his encyclopaedia. It
chanced one day that as he was reading in the noon hour Mr. Trapper,
the head of the firm, came through the warehouse. Dave knew him but
little; he thought of him as a stern, unapproachable man, and avoided
him as much as possible. But this time Mr. Trapper was upon him before
he was seen.
"What are you reading?" he demanded. "Yellow backed nonsense?"
"No, sir," said Dave, rising and extending his arm with the book.
"Why, what's this?" queried Mr. Trapper, in some surprise.
"Tea--tea--oh, I see, it's an encyclopaedia. What is the idea, young
man?"
"I always like to read up about the stuff we are handling," said Dave.
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