“Whew!” Archie whistled. “Sixteen days to the first of September!”
“What’s the matter, anyhow?” Skipper Bill inquired.
“The Black Eagle’s the matter,” said Archie, 231 angrily. “She’s swept these harbours clean. She cleaned out Englee yesterday.”
“Stand by, all hands!” roared the skipper.
“What’s up, skipper?” asked Archie.
“Nothin’,” replied the skipper; “that’s the trouble. But the mains’l will be up afore very long if there’s a rope’s end handy,” he added. “We’ll chase the Black Eagle.”
They caught the Black Eagle at anchor in Conch that evening. She was deep in the water. Apparently her hold was full; there were the first signs of a deck-load of fish to be observed. In a run ashore Archie very soon discovered the reason of her extraordinary success. He returned to the deck of the Spot Cash in a towering rage. The clerk of the Black Eagle had put up the price of fish and cut the price of every pound and yard of merchandise aboard his vessel. No wonder she had loaded. No wonder the folk of the French Shore had emptied their stages of the summer’s catch. And what was the Spot Cash to do? Where was she to get her fish? By selling at less than cost and buying at more than the market price? Nothing of the sort! Topsail, Armstrong, Grimm & Company were not going to be ruined by that sort of folly. Topsail, Armstrong, 232 Grimm & Company couldn’t have any fish. The powerful firm of Armstrong & Company of St. John’s was going to put the poor little firm of Topsail, Armstrong, Grimm & Company out of business––going to snuff ’em out––had snuffed ’em out. The best thing Topsail, Armstrong, Grimm & Company could do was to get to cover and call cash trading as big a failure as had ever been made in Newfoundland business.
“Isn’t fair!” Archie complained, aboard the Spot Cash. “It’s dirty business, I tell you.”
“Let’s fire away, anyhow,” said Jimmie Grimm.
“It isn’t fair of dad,” Archie repeated, coming as near to the point of tears as a boy of his age well could. “It’s a low trick to cut a small trader’s throat like this. They can outsail us and keep ahead of us; and they’ll undersell and overbuy us wherever we go. When they’ve put us out of business, they’ll go back to the old prices. It isn’t fair of dad,” he burst out. “I tell you, it isn’t fair!”