PAGE 6
The Square Deal Wins
by
“I sent the order in, but I thought that I would not have to call there again for a long time. The house shipped the bill, and the old gentleman discounted it.
“Next trip I was intending to give that point the go-by. I really felt that the old gentleman not only needed no more goods, but that he would shoot me if I called on him. But when I reached the town next to his, my customer there, who was a friend of the Colonel’s, told me that the old gentleman had sent him word that he wished to buy some more goods and for me to be sure to come to see him.
“When I came driving up to the Colonel’s store the back end of it looked peculiar to me. He had got so many goods from me that he had been obliged to take the wooden cases they were shipped in and make out of these boxes an addition to his store. Lumber was scarce in that country. The Colonel came out and shook hands with me before I was out of my wagon. I was never greeted more warmly in my life.
“‘Look heah,’ he began, ‘I owe you an apology, suh; and I want to make it to you befo’ you pass my threshol’, suh. When you were heah befo’ I fear that I allowed my indignation to arise. I am sorry of it, suh, sorry! Give me yo’ hand and tell me that you will pahdon me. I can’t look you square in the face until you do.’
“‘Why, Colonel, that’s all right,’ said I, ‘I didn’t want to abuse your confidence, but I fear that I myself was impertinent in trying to show you that I knew more about your business than you did. I want to beg your pardon.’
“‘No pahdon to grant, suh; and I want you to accept my apology. The truth is the cowboys in this country have been deviling me to death, nearly–ever since I started this sto’–to get them some good hats– good ones, suh. They told me that they couldn’t get a decent hat in this whole country. I promised them that I would buy some of the best I could find. When yo’s came some of the boys saw the wagon bound for my store, ten miles out of town. They fo’med a sort of a procession, suh, and marched in with the team. Every one of these boys bought one of those finest hats you sold me. They spread the news that I had a big stock and a fine stock, all over this country; and, do you know, people have come two hundred miles to buy hats of me? Some of my friends laughed at me, they say, because I bought so many that I had to use the cases they came in to make an addition to my sto’. But the more they laughed, suh, the more necessary they made the addition. If you can only get people to talking about you, you will thrive. Believe me in this, suh: If they say something good about you, that is good; if they say something bad about you, that is better–it spreads faster. Those fool merchants did not know, suh, that they were helping my business every time that they told about how many hats I had bought, until one day a fellow, when they were laughing about me, said: “Well, if that’s the case I’ll buy my hat from him; I like, anyway, to patronize the man who carries a good stock.” Now you just come back and see how empty my addition is.’
“I went back into my addition and found that the Colonel’s hats were nearly all gone. He had actually sold–and out of his little shanty– more of my goods than any other customer I had. When I started to have my trunks unloaded the Colonel said to me: ‘Now just hol’ on there; that’s entirely unnecessary. The last ones sold so well, you just duplicate my last bill, except that you leave out the poah hats. Come, let’s go up to my house and have a julep and rest a while.'”