"Now, come along and have some lunch with me," and he took me to a place near Faneuil Hall Market, where I had about the finest meal I ever had in my life.
After lunch, he advised me to go to see Barker. As soon as I entered the store, and looked up at the little mezzanine floor on which he worked, he looked up and called out cheerily, "Hello, Black, come right upstairs."
I was surprised that he should remember my name, for he had only seen me once before.
Well, he told me just about the same as Cantling, so I left him and went to see George Field, who said, "Well, if Cantling and Barker both tell you that, you may be pretty sure it's right."
When I got back to Farmdale I had a long talk with Barlow about automobile accessories. After I had told him how much money I wanted, he looked out of his office window, and leaned back in his chair a few moments, then said, "I'll lend you three hundred and fifty dollars toward your stock of those goods. I think that that should be sufficient to encourage you to work with me on this gasoline deal."
"There's one thing I'd like to ask Mr. Barlow, and that is, if I have to buy gasoline second-hand from you, shall I be able to sell it at the same price as Martin's Garage, and make a profit on it?"
"Quite as much, if not more," he replied. "You remember I told you I would supply it to you at half a cent above what it cost me. Now, by buying twenty-five thousand gallons' worth, I get a very low price, and can make four cents a gallon profit on it. You then buy what you need and make three and one-half cents profit. If you bought a small quantity yourself, you would not make more than two and one-half to three cents, so you really make more money, buying it through me, than buying it direct."
"I can't for the life of me," I said, "figure out why you are so anxious about selling gasoline."
"Can't you conceive of my wanting to make some profit on gasoline?" he said, smiling.
"Yes," I drawled, "but—"