The business of which he now became the owner was very heavy and extensive. Soon after the beginning of his connection with Captain Mackay, the firm erected a large factory for the purpose of carrying on their business. One hundred hands were employed in it when opened, but in a few years it was necessary to employ more than twice that number, so rapidly did the business increase. The supply of materials needed was ample and of the very best quality, for Mr. Chickering never allowed an inferior article to be used. The warerooms were large and handsomely fitted up, and were filled with instruments ranging in price from a thousand dollars downward. It was generally believed that while Mr. Chickering's genius had created the demand for the pianos, it was Captain Mackay's business knowledge and experience that had placed affairs on their present footing, and when Mr. Chickering proposed to buy Captain Mackay's interest from his heirs, which was valued at several hundred thousand dollars, there was a very general belief, which found expression, that he was incurring certain ruin. The condition of the sale was that the purchase-money should be divided into installments, for each of which Mr. Chickering should give his note, secured by a mortgage on the premises. At Mr. Chickering's request each note was made payable "on or before" a given day. The lawyer who conducted the transaction smiled skeptically as he inserted this clause, and asked the purchaser if he ever expected to pay the notes at all.
"If I did not expect to pay them promptly, I should not give them," was the simple reply. He was as good as his word. The notes were met promptly, and although Captain Mackay's family requested that they might stand as an investment for them, Mr. Chickering took up the last one at its maturity.
With the business in his own hands, Mr. Chickering continued its operations, displaying an ease in his mercantile transactions which