"Is it fair," asked Irma timidly, "to beat them down?"
"It's fair to me," he replied. "In this way I stand a chance of getting things at something near their value."
"How much is that?"
"Usually one half the asking price. Listen."
So Irma listened while a lady near by was bargaining with the Hindu salesman.
"Never in my life has such a price been known," he protested, as the lady held up for inspection a spangled Egyptian scarf. The lady advanced reasons for her price.
"I cannot make my bread," cried the man, "if I throw my goods away." Yet he thrust the scarf into the lady's hand, and then sold her a second at the same price, without a word of argument.
"These men are Orientals," explained Uncle Jim, "and this is their way of doing business. They mark a thing double or treble what they expect to get, and would be surprised if you should buy without bargaining. This man probably goes through this process a dozen times a day after an ocean liner has come into port, and doubtless congratulates himself on the extent of his trade."