I could see Barlow was really exasperated; but he controlled his temper and said:
"Very well, let us leave that. Would you be willing to join us in a circular to try to counteract the effect of mail-order competition?"
"I'm kinder suspicious, anyhow," replied Stigler. "How do you mean?"
"Why," said Barlow, "we could, perhaps, have a folder printed, quoting our prices against the mail-order prices, with a strong suggestion that people should buy from us as long as we can do as well as anybody else for them."
"Yer mean," said Stigler, "to just send that out as if from the three of us?"
"Exactly."
Stigler thought for a minute, and then said slowly: "And have everybody in town think that we fellers was probably workin' together to boost up prices? No, sir-ree, I think that's the most damfool suggestion I've ever heard! K-ha," he snapped out his laugh again. "Just think of anybody getting hold of a circular with three competitors' names on it! Why, they'd naturally think at once that competitors don't work together unless they're gettin' something out of it."
"We are getting something out of it," I broke in. "We are going to get the mail-order business out of it!"
"Yer can't make me, and won't make the public, believe that. They'll believe we're just puttin' our heads together to do away with competition so's we can get fancy prices."
He stood up, and said, with a little boast in his manner: