"I envy no man what he fairly wins;
In life's hard battle each must fight his fight;
But some, methinks, are honoured for their sins,
And some ignored because they do the right;
Some seem to find their fortune ready-made,
And others miss it, howsoe'er desired--
The man's a fool who thinks that he can grade
Society by what it has acquired:
The noblest souls are often least renowned;
In humble homes God's greatest men are found."
_Prairie Born._
A month's experience in the general store business brought much new
light to Burton. He had imagined that a man who stood behind the
counter, wearing good clothes, talking pleasantly to ladies and joking
with men, commencing work at eight in the morning and quitting, well, he
didn't just know when--such a man surely was a favoured individual. He
had contrasted a business career with life on the farm: Up at five;
breakfast by lamplight; cows and horses to care for in evil-smelling
stables; innumerable chores before the day's work was properly begun;
then the long, heavy labour, in crackling frosts, in suns that burned
the flesh like a searing iron, in miserable, damp, murkiness; in dust
laden winds that filled the eyes and choked the lungs, in all the
numberless vagaries of climate; the coarse clothing demanded by such a
vocation; the plain fare and simple home comforts; and then, tired to
the point of exhaustion, bed, which was alike the end of one day's
labours and the starting point of another round of continuous toil,
irksome and often ill-requited. Such comparisons had, to some extent,
influenced his decision to seek his future in a life of commercial
activity; and, while he had not admitted any regret, there now were
nights when he felt that a good day's labour in the harvest field or on
the plough would be a welcome and refreshing diversion. He had not
guessed that a business career demanded so much physical energy; it was
a new discovery to him that the closing of a difficult sale was more
exhausting than forking to the top of a stack. Nevertheless, he had set
his hand to the plough, and he was determined to finish the furrow, and
the very knowledge that physical energy played so great a part in the
commercial battle of the age came to him as an encouragement and a fresh
hope. But where bodily strength and a fair degree of intelligence might,
unaided, win success in agricultural pursuits, he had discovered that
another element was absolutely essential in the business world. It was
tact. No energy was sufficiently indomitable, no brain sufficiently
farseeing and alert, to win success in the surroundings in which he now
found himself without the magic touchstone of tact. Energy,
intelligence, and tact; these three, but the greatest of these is tact.
It was in the middle of winter, the dull season after the Christmas
trade, and before the spring activity begins, and Gardiner had allowed a
higher priced clerk to go, believing that he could handle all the
business with the assistance of Burton. This, although it entailed more
work, was to the young man's advantage, as it brought him into close and
almost constant contact with his employer, and forced him to attempt
many things that he would otherwise have left to more experienced hands.
Already he found it unnecessary to summon Gardiner when a lady asked for
three-quarters of a yard of velvet, cut on the bias; could discuss the
merits of Dongola and calf with the assurance of an expert, and tell at
a glance whether goods would "wash." But there were other things he
found more difficult to learn.
Mrs. Mandle was in search of cotton--good, strong cotton, not too dear.
Burton showed her an eight-cent web which he thought conformed to her
specifications. After a lengthy examination, the good lady admitted that
it satisfied her in some ways, but not in others. "The price is about
what I wanted," she said, "but the quality is very poor."
"Indeed, we have sold a great deal of that cotton, and it seems to give
good satisfaction."
"Oh, so it might, for some work, but it hardly suits me. I guess I will
just step around to the Sempter Trading Company and see what they can
let me have."
"Well, look at this," said Burton, producing another web.
"Yes, that's about what I wanted. And what will the price on that be?"
"Ten cents."
"Ten cents! What a dreadful price for a piece of cotton. My, everything
is getting so dear, I can't see what we farmers are comin' to. Mrs.
Winters sent to Winnipeg for hers, and you ought to see it--the very
loveliest cotton, and only six and a half cents, and a box of slate
pencils thrown in for the children. No, dear me, I couldn't pay such a
price as that. I might, yes, I would be willing to pay eight cents for
it, the same as the other, now, an' you're makin' a good profit on it at
that."
"I am sorry, Madam," said Burton, trying not to be annoyed at her
attempt to take charge of the firm's business, "but our prices are as
close as we find it possible to handle the goods, especially on staples
like cotton. That is a really good article; may I cut off the amount you
require?"
"Yes, at eight cents----"
Burton returned his scissors to his pocket, and the lady started for the
door, when Gardiner, who had finished with his customer and stood
listening to the dialogue, called her back.
"Don't be in a hurry, Mrs. Mandle," he said, in a winning voice that
appealed to the lady's instinct for flattery, "there is a web here that
Mr. Burton didn't know about, and perhaps it will suit you."
Gardiner went behind the counter and pulled out the very eight-cent
piece that had been already shown.
"Now here is a ten-cent line that I can recommend to you," he said,
leaning well across the counter and speaking in a confidential voice.
Burton was about to point out his mistake, when something in the eye of
his employer warned him that the transaction had been taken out of his
hands. "This is a regular ten-cent line, and extra value at that, but I
got something a little special on it by taking an unusual quantity from
the factory at one time. Of course, we generally figure when we get a
snap on a purchase that at least part of the bargain should be ours, but
with an old and valued customer like you hard and fast rules don't
always apply. It's something I really should not do, but under the
circumstances I will let you have anything up to twenty yards off this
web for eight cents."
Mrs. Mandle beamed with pleasure. "That's like you, Mr. Gardiner, I
always find that I can deal with you. Not that I have anything against
this young man----" she continued, as though anxious not to place Burton
in an unfavourable light.
"Oh, that's all right," laughed Gardiner. "Mr. Burton has general
instructions applying to our regular customers, but when he knows you
better he will meet your requirements as well as I do, I am sure. Now
shall it be twenty yards?"
"I only wanted twelve," Mrs. Mandle confessed, "but since it is what you
might call a bit of a bargain, I believe I will just take the twenty."
Gardiner smiled genially and measured off the cloth, but Burton observed
that as he did so he had a crook in each thumb, which allowed about a
half an inch of over-lap on each yard measured. Mrs. Mandle paid for her
purchase, and left with a smile to Gardiner and a friendly nod to
Burton, and said she would probably be in in a few days with a case of
eggs and some other produce.
"Bring them right in here, Mrs. Mandle," said Gardiner, as he closed the
door after her. Coming back to the counter, he said to Burton,
half-apologetically, "I forgot to tell you, Burton, to put up all prices
on Mrs. Mandle. She is one of those dear souls who, as a matter of
principle, will never buy unless they think they are getting some
concession in price. It's a simple matter to raise the price and drop it
again, and it pleases them."
Burton flushed a little. He had been brought up to believe that strict
honesty was the best policy, and it seemed to him that the very
foundations of his conception of business success were being swept away.
These great merchant princes, who were lauded in the papers and welcomed
in the most distinguished circles, were they men of high standards and
noble principles, or were they consummate liars and cheats?
"I do not mean to question your methods," he said, at length, "but--is
it, such a transaction as that, I mean, exactly honest?"
If he expected Gardiner to be angry at his frankness his fear was soon
dispelled.
"Why not?" laughed his employer. "The cotton is ours; we can sell it for
what we like, can't we? If we ask fifty cents for it that's our
business, or if we choose to give it away, that's our business. These
people who are always trying to beat us down really don't mean any harm,
and we don't do them any harm. We just make them happy. Take Mrs.
Mandle, for instance. She thinks she saved forty cents, and that thought
will lighten her troubles for a week. As a matter of fact, she bought
eight yards more than she needed, but no doubt it will come handy
sometime."
"I think I would give a real cut, if I pretended to," persisted Burton.
"You can't afford to. See, that ten-cent cotton costs me six and
three-quarter cents. You may think I could sell at eight and get out on
it. I can't. Let me explain my position, so you will understand it
better. Last year I sold thirty-seven thousand dollars worth of goods.
My net profits were four thousand five hundred dollars, or just about
thirteen per cent. Now, no matter what an article may cost me, if I give
fifteen per cent. off the established selling price, I am losing money.
Isn't that clear? And as some people have the bargain mania, we have to
give them fictitious bargains, just as the doctor prescribes fictitious
drugs for patients who think they can't get well unless they take
something."
Burton said no more, but he was not convinced.
A few days later a customer asked for a pound of fifty-cent black bulk
tea. Burton found the fifty-cent bin empty. "I'm sorry," said he, "but
we appear to be out of the fifty-cent line. How would this suit?" and he
was about to offer another brand when Gardiner, who had overheard the
remark, called across the store, "That's fifty-cent tea in the left-hand
bin."
Now the left-hand bin contained thirty-five cent tea, and Burton knew
it.
To refuse to fill the order from the bin indicated would amount to
resigning his position, yet he was determined not to take advantage of
any customer. For a moment he hesitated. Then he weighed the tea out of
the thirty-five cent bin, but he gave the customer a pound and seven
ounces.
Under the grocery counter were a number of swinging standards on which
sugar and salt barrels were swung in and out as desired. The reserve
supply was kept in a warehouse at the back, and on a quiet day it
occurred to Burton to bring in a number of barrels and fill all the
standards. Gardiner observed him and suggested that the barrels should
be left outside until needed. Burton answered that he thought it would
be an advantage to have them in; besides, it was damp in the shed, and
the sugar showed some disposition to cake, while the salt became very
hard.
"Yes," admitted Gardiner, "but it will weigh two per cent. more as it is
than after it stands in here for a week, and we handle sugar on less
than five per cent."
In selling a gallon of coal oil Burton discovered that the oil pump
brought rather less than a gallon at a stroke. He reported the matter,
thinking the pump needed repairing.
"How much do you estimate it is running short?" asked his employer.
"About five per cent."
"That's too bad. It should be ten."
"But surely you don't mean to short-measure our customers? When we sell
a gallon, we sell a gallon, do we not?"
"Theoretically, yes. But some things do not work out in practice quite
the same as in theory. Look here, Burton," and Gardiner's voice took on
a serious tone, "I have sold coal oil for ten years, for myself and
others, and in all that time I have never opened a barrel that gave the
merchant full measure. If he gets off with a ten per cent. loss he can
consider himself lucky. I have seen barrels that were quite empty, yet
we had to pay for full measurement. It's all very well to have
principles and theories, but what are you to do when you are face to
face with such conditions?"
"Raise the price until it will show a profit, but give full
measurement."
Gardiner laughed. "You wouldn't sell a barrel in a year," he said. "The
public would refuse to pay your price. They would rather be cheated, and
not know it, than pay an honest price, and know it. The public bring
these things upon themselves. They place a premium upon dishonesty. They
will actually coax a man to lie to them. Tell a man, or better still, a
woman, that you are selling a two dollar article for a dollar, and she
will fight her way to the counter; but tell her the truth, that you are
selling an article worth a dollar for a dollar, and she will pass your
store in search of a merchant who has fictions more to her liking. If
the public want us to play fair, why do they refuse to set the example,
or at least show some appreciation of fair treatment? They are never
tired of telling of the dishonesty of their merchants; I could relate
deeds of trickery resorted to by customers which make the devices we
practise look like the harmless sport of little children. But, to return
to the subject, we could adulterate the coal oil and give them full
measurement, if that would please you better."
"But isn't adulteration against the law?"
"So are turkey raffles."
Burton winced. He had attended one of these country gatherings the
previous evening, and come home considerably lighter in pocket although
without any feathered trophies.
"I do not mean to be personal," Gardiner said, kindly enough. "I merely
want to show that, after all, the law takes very little notice of the
man who steals in a gentlemanly way. Robbery is an art, and it is the
crude thief that gets into trouble."
"Speaking of adulteration reminds me of one of my employers, who was a
druggist as well as a general store keeper. He was an honest,
well-intended fellow, but he didn't propose to let any one get very much
the better of him. Now it happened that the rural municipality required
a thousand ounces of strychnine, put up in half-ounce bottles, for
gopher poison. The drug at that time was worth fifty-eight cents an
ounce wholesale, and when the council came to the boss for his price he
quoted seventy-five cents, which was not unreasonable, seeing that he
had to furnish the bottles and labels and do the bottling--not a job to
be desired. But these councillors, being anxious to safeguard the
interests of their good friends the ratepayers, and incidentally give a
lesson in good bargaining, sent to the city for prices. When they came
back and told the boss they could get their supply for sixty cents I
expected he would tell them to go and get it, and to make certain other
calls while they were about it, but he just laughed and said if the city
firm could do it for that he guessed he could, and he took the order.
And he cleared three hundred dollars on that transaction."
"How could that be possible, if the strychnine cost him fifty-eight
cents, and he sold for sixty?" queried Burton.
"Because Epsom salts cost him four cents a pound and the gophers never
knew the difference."
Both men laughed, and at that moment the store door opened, and a
farmer, furred and frost covered, struggled in with a case of eggs.
"Where will you have the eggs, Mr. Gardiner?" he called, kicking the
door shut with his heel.
"Just set the case down, Mr. Mandle, we will attend to them," but the
obliging Mr. Mandle insisted on carrying it to the rear of the store.
"The missus will be in in a minute, an' fight it out with ye," announced
Mr. Mandle. "She got off at the post-office. She's wantin' a bit coat,
an' she's been writin' to the city for prices, an' I'm thinkin' she's
expectin' an answer to-day. But just let me have half a pound of
MacDonald chewin' an' she can do as she likes with the rest."
In a few minutes Mrs. Mandle appeared, and was promptly taken in hand by
Gardiner. The selling of the coat was, as he expected, a difficult
matter, but she was finally persuaded that a regular $24.50 coat at $20
was good buying. The price-tag, which Gardiner had deftly slipped off
the coat before showing it, was marked $18.
"I suppose it isn't necessary to ask you," said the merchant, after the
purchases had been wrapped up, "but, just to assure ourselves, those
eggs are all quite fresh, aren't they?"
"Fresh? My goodness, there isn't one of them ten days old. Our hens are
laying wonderful for this time of the year."
"That's what comes of understanding poultry," remarked Gardiner. But as
soon as his customer was gone he told Burton to take the eggs down to
the cellar and candle them.
"She sold me a six-pound block of ice in a tub of butter once, and I've
watched her ever since," he explained.
When Burton had finished his task he reported.
"Two dozen and a half bad, and six dozen short. There were two layers
without any eggs in them."
Gardiner made a rapid calculation. "Eight-and-a-half times thirty--is
two-fifty-five. And I did her two dollars on the coat. There's
fifty-five cents coming to me yet."
"What shall I do with the bad eggs, Mr. Gardiner?" asked the clerk.
"Put them under the counter and sell them to the restaurants," were the
instructions.
"That last barrel of vinegar seems to be very strong," remarked Gardiner
one day.
"I should say it is," Burton agreed. "I took down a quart for Mrs. Goode
yesterday, and she said it was the strongest she had ever bought since
she came West."
No more was said on the subject, but in the afternoon Burton, who was
standing at the front of the store dreamily surveying the wintry
landscape, saw his employer tip the vinegar barrel on end, knock out the
faucet, substitute a funnel, and pour in two pails of water. At that
moment the merry sound of sleigh bells was heard, and a cutter and
dashing team swung down the street. Burton caught a hurried glimpse as
they passed. It was Mr. Grant and Miss Vane.
And then, by some strange law of telepathy or suggestion, the words went
throbbing through his brain:
"Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,
As the swift seasons roll----"
The door opened, and with a smothered execration the young man turned to
wait on a lady who was quite sure that in the city three spools were
sold for ten cents.