"'Well, it costs so much to live,' he says, 'an' the wholesalers have kept liftin' the prices on me. Now there's the meat trust—their prices are up thirty-five per cent.'
"'Of course,' I says, 'the directors have to have their luxuries. You taxed us for yer new house an' yer automobile an' yer daughter's education, an' they're taxin' you for their steam-yachts an' private cars an' racin' stables. You can't expect to do all the taxin'. The wholesalers learnt about the profits that you an' others like ye was makin', an' they concluded that they needed a part of 'em. Of course they had to have their luxuries, an' they're taxin' you—they couldn't afford to have 'em if they didn't. Don't complain.'
"'I'll come out all right,' he says. 'I'm goin' to raise my whole schedule fifteen per cent.'
"'The people won't stand it—they can't,' says I. 'You'll be drownin' the miller. They'll leave you.'
"'It won't do 'em any good,' says he. 'Bill an' Eph will make their prices agree with mine.'
"'Folks will go back to the land, as I have,' says I.
"'They don't know enough,' says Sam. 'Farmin' is a lost art here in the East. You take my word for it—they'll pay our prices—they'll have to—an' the rich folks, they don't worry about prices. I pay a commission to every steward an' butler in this neighborhood.'
"'I won't help you,' says I. 'It's wicked. You ought to have saved your money.'
"'In a year from now I'll have money to burn,' he says. 'For one thing, my daughter's education is finished, an' that has cost heavy.'
"'How much would it cost to unlearn it?' I asked. 'That's goin' to cost more than it did to get it, I'm 'fraid. In my opinion the first thing to do with her is to uneducate her.'