"All of which means that you expect a raise, eh, Skinner?"
"I was only going to suggest—"
"You don't have to suggest. We've already decided to raise you twenty-five dollars a week. How does that strike you? Just as a mark of appreciation."
"I can't see any appreciation in it unless you take me out of the cage—for this reason," said Skinner. "As a 'cage man' I'm not worth much more than I 've been getting. In order to earn that extra twenty-five dollars a week I 've got to have a chance to show what I can do further. Take me out of the cage."
"Skinner," said McLaughlin, "you didn't for a minute think that we were going to keep a man that could pull off such a trick as that in a cage, did you? We're going to make you a salesman."
The idea of going on the road did n't appeal to Skinner.
"To be frank, Mr. McLaughlin, I want something better than that."
"Better?"
"Yes. I want to be put in charge of the sales department. You see, I not only know the business from beginning to end, but I want to show our salesmen that selling goods means something more than rattling off a list of what you've got, dilating like a parrot. I want to teach them the value of knowledge of the personal equation and how to apply that knowledge effectively. Does n't that telegram from Jackson show that I know something about it?"
"What do you think of Skinner's proposition?" McLaughlin said to the junior partner.