But after he said he would use
a certain number of copies of a book, he jogged my memory on that
score with the question:
"'What sort of terms are you going to give me--the same I had last
year?'
"'No, sir; I will not,' said I. 'I'm not going to do business with you
that way.'
"'Well, if you've done it once, why don't you do it again? Other
people do it right along, and your house is still in business. They
haven't gone broke.'
"'Yes, you bet your life they're still in business!' said I, 'and
they'd make a whole lot more money than they do now if they'd do
business on the terms that you ask. Do you know what I did? You
wouldn't let me have things my way and be square with you, so I
skinned you on that little express order out of just ninety cents, and
did it just to teach you a lesson!' I said, planking down a dollar. 'I
don't want to trim you too close to the bone.'
"'Well,' said he, after I'd figured out and shown him the difference
between 50 off straight and 40-10-5, 'This dollar doesn't belong to
me.
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