“I have a wife and ten!” bawled a companion, in a voice of triumph that seemed to silence all competition.
“This way, sir!”
“No; this way!”
“The best goods!”
“The very best!”
“Mine are the cheapest!”
“Mine are much cheaper!”
And thus they went on shouting at and pulling the two young men about, till they were obliged to seek refuge in one of the shops; but immediately they entered the threshold, the whole body of eager applicants for custom left the strangers to the care of their more fortunate fellow-tradesman.
“Really you shopkeepers seem inclined to tear your customers to pieces,” observed Oriel Porphyry with considerable indignation.
“Merely the effect of competition, sir,” coolly replied the chapman, spreading out his wares for inspection.