"I see," said Frank.
"What he has engaged me to do, is to go or send to Riverton and get the stuff carted over here. Then he wants the rubbish gone over, and the good stuff selected and sorted out. It seems that Morton had been neglecting his regular hardware business for some time. He invented an apple corer that wouldn't core very well. He bought a lot of little stuff, such as initial buttons, needles and the like, and was trying to get into the mail order business, when the fire came along."
"The mail order business?" said Frank in a quick breath.
"Yes. Now he's going to take his insurance money and buy an interest in some publishing business in the city. Well, you can see that a little time and care may result in picking out quite a lot of really valuable stuff from the mass, brushing it up and all that."
"Yes, indeed," murmured Frank.
"We can store the plunder in the Cedar Street building. You take charge of it, hire what help you need, and I'll divide with you what I charge my client for my services. Pretty liberal, ain't I now, Frank?" asked Mr. Buckner, with a smile. "You doing all the work, and me getting a full half of the pay."
