"Well, Leon," he said, "how's business?"
Leon's face wrinkled into a smile.
"It could be better, of course, Abe," he said, "but we done a tremendous spring trade, anyhow, even though we ain't got no more that sucker Louis Grossman working for us. We shipped a couple of three-thousand-dollar orders last week. One of 'em to Strauss, Kahn & Baum, of Fresno."
These were old customers of Potash & Perlmutter, and Abe winced.
"They was old customers of ours, Leon," he said, "but they done such a cheap class of trade we couldn't cut our line enough to please 'em."
"Is that so?" Leon rejoined. "Maybe M. Garfunkel was an old customer of yours, too, Abe."
"M. Garfunkel?" Abe cried. "Was M. Garfunkel the other?"
"He certainly was," Leon boasted. "We shipped him three thousand dollars. One of our best customers, Abe. Always pays to the day."
For the remainder of the subway journey Abe was quite unresponsive to Leon's jibes, a condition which Leon attributed to chagrin, and as they parted at Canal Street Leon could not forbear a final gloat.
"I suppose, Abe, M. Garfunkel does too cheap a class of trade to suit you, also. Ain't it?" he said.