Goods were ordered in this way frequently which could not be supplied, and an inferior grade was almost invariably substituted. When this was done the "mail order clerk's" methods were simple—either he or the firm were profiters through the transaction.
Mr. Denton finally thought out the solution of this unpleasant matter, and on this particular morning he summoned the advertising manager for the firm to his office.
Picking up a daily paper, he pointed to one of their attractive "ads."
"Bring me a sample of these goods, Green," he said, a little sternly; "you can get them of Billings, the buyer in that department."
"Oh, that's only a blind, sir," was the startling answer, "Mr. Billings has some old goods that he is trying to work off. They are not quite up to the mark, but that 'ad' will sell them."
"Do you mean by that, Green, that we are misrepresenting our goods?" asked Mr. Denton; "or, in other words, that we are advertising one grade of goods and selling another?"
"That's about it," said the manager, looking a little puzzled, "but it's nothing new, sir; we've always done it!"
Mr. Denton looked at him for a moment before he spoke. He could not censure him for what they had "always" done, neither could he blame the man for his own previous indifference on the subject.
"Don't do it again, Green," he said very sadly, "and send Mr. Billings to me the minute you see him."
As Mr. Green went out Mr. Denton groaned aloud: "Would he ever get to the end of his own dishonesty, or was he to be confronted daily by such contemptible trickery?"