The book opens with the author's early life on an Ohio farm, where his constant desire for speculation and trading clashed with traditional farm labor. After a brief and unsuccessful trip to New York City to learn music, the young protagonist launches into a series of commercial ventures, starting with a flock of sheep, which quickly collapses due to inexperience and bad luck. He moves through various enterprises, including selling butter, eggs, and chickens, trading pelts, running a restaurant, and dealing in patent rights. Each failure teaches him a concrete lesson, though he repeatedly finds himself broke and relying on the financial and moral support of his generous step-father.
The narrative details numerous horse trades, encounters with suspicious characters, and adventures as a traveling salesman and auctioneer. Johnston describes his brief career as a telegraph operator, his ventures into insurance, and his experiences selling government surplus goods after the war, during which he falls into extravagant habits and billiards. After marrying, he continues his itinerant commercial journey, operating in various states, managing a hotel under comical circumstances, and continually bouncing back from financial ruin through sheer energy and resourcefulness. The work concludes as a testament to persistence, illustrating that success comes not from avoiding mistakes, but from maintaining credit, learning the mechanics of trade, and continuing to push forward regardless of setbacks.
