"Well," said I, "I don't suppose you will object to looking at it, will you?" He made no reply. I then began laying my trays out on his counter.
After displaying them nicely, I stepped back to where he was sitting and still reading, and said to him: "I have them ready now, sir."
He stepped behind the counter, gathered up the trays, piled them in a heap, stepped to the front door, pitched the entire outfit into the middle of the street, and returned to his newspaper without a word.
My first impulse was to "have it out with him, then and there," but I suddenly thought of my stock in trade lying in the middle of the street, and "hus'led" to gather it up.
It took me a whole day to clean and re-card and get it in good shape, which work I did at the hotel, in the same town. I remained there over night and prepared for a new start the following morning.
The more I thought of the treatment I had received at his hands, the more I felt like having the matter settled before leaving. So after making all preparations for a start, I drove to his store, and just as I stepped from my buggy, he came around the corner from his residence and was about to enter the door.
I headed him off and said, "Mr. ——, I am about to leave this town, and before doing so, I propose to have a little settlement with you. Now, sir, you can have your choice of three things. Either make an apology for your beastly conduct yesterday, take a good thrashing or look my goods over in a gentlemanly manner. Now which do you prefer?"
At this I began laying off my coat.
He said he had no desire to look at my goods and didn't crave a thrashing, and guessed he would rather apologize, which he did, and I went on my way rejoicing, and I dare say in much better shape than I might have been in, had he shown as much fight as he did meanness the day before.
On account of my extremely small stock I found it up-hill work to succeed as a wholesaler. My first large sale had so completely turned my head, that I was unable to return to my former successful plan of peddling from house to house and continued on as a wholesaler, wending my way homeward.