1887. Portraying the peculiar incidents, comic situations, failures and successes of a man who tries almost every kind of business and finally wins. Johnston writes that: After finishing all that I had intended for publication in my book, The Auctioneer's Guide, I was advised by a few of my most intimate friends to add a sketch of my own life to illustrate what had been set forth in its pages. This for the sole purpose of stimulating those who may have been for years pulling hard against the stream, unable, perhaps, to ascertain where they properly belong, and possibly on the verge of giving up all hope, because of failure, after making repeated honest efforts to succeed.