"Aye, probably, but tell them that it's only until the business is on its feet and then ye'll do better for them."

"Very well, so much for salaries. What about rent? I can't cut that down, can I?"

"No, that's an item ye canna reduce unless the landlord will give it, so leave that for the time being.

"Taxes and insurance ye had also better leave as they are at present."

"I have placed advertising at $300.00, I said."

"Ye can reduce that, of course, and ye can save something there."

"No, _sir_!" I exclaimed. "That's one item I certainly will not cut a penny!"

My firmness so surprised him that he said never a word more about it, but went on to the next item.

"General expenses," he commented. "These are 'way too high. Ye'll doobtless find waste rampant among your help and will hae to adopt stringent measures to prevent it. Most retail stores are neglectful o'

this item--they're careless and waste and misuse supplies. They no' seem to consider what kind of twine, paper, and such things are best and most economical for their particular needs, but buy in a haphazard manner whatever is offered tae them. Ye want to exercise the same care in buying supplies that ye do in buying goods."

"All right," I said. "We'll make a drive at that item of expense and try to put it where it belongs."

"Deleevery expenses," continued Jock, "are lighter in this town than the general average. Ye'll probably save something here, but if ye cultivate the better cla.s.s trade, which that mon Simpson did'na do, the present low delivery cost will rise.

"'Depreciation.' This item depends on yourself, how ye buy and how ye keep the stock.

"Heat and light expenses are verra low at preesent, but the store looks glower an' gloomy after dusk. Ye may want to improve that. People will always gravitate to the well-lighted shop.

"And bad debts," he concluded, pursing his lips--"that's an item ye'll hae to watch carefully. I should advise ye tae ha' some deefinite system of giving credit and some plan of encouraging cash business. At present your charrge sales are far too numerous for your pocketbook to carry."

Well, that's the gist of what was said. The upshot was that I determined to keep each item as near the estimate as possible, and (this was Betty's suggestion) if any one item proved to be less than the estimate, this should be saved and not spent to help some other lame dog of expense over the stile.

CHAPTER VIII

A WEDDING AND A CONVENTION

Barlow sent a copy of _Hardware Times_ over to me, in which he had marked an item about the State Convention the next week. I showed it to Betty and remarked:

"Of course I can't afford to go, because it comes the same day as we get married, and you remember, Betty, we agreed that we would not have our honeymoon until we had 'turned the corner'."

But to my surprise, she urged me to go. She said I might learn a whole lot there by meeting other hardware men and the new ideas I would get would help me very much under present conditions. So Betty and I decided to go to the Convention--and also make it our honeymoon. I telephoned Barlow and thanked him for sending the notice to me.

The salary adjustment I left until I should return. Even Jock agreed to that.

It was mighty nice of Barlow to send me that notice--and he a compet.i.tor of mine--or rather, I was a compet.i.tor of his, I guess!

Thirteen may be an unlucky number for some folks, but it sure was the lucky day for me, for on that day Betty and I were married. It was a quiet little home wedding. No one was there but mother, the two girls, and a cousin of Betty's from Hartford. Everything went off splendidly.

We went on the 12:30 train. Barlow went ahead of us on the 9:30. I extracted a promise from him before he left that he wouldn't tell anybody that we were just married, because if they did know they would tease the life out of us. He never let it out, and Betty and I had the time of our lives.

The only incident that marred the day for us happened at the station. We got there ten minutes before train time, and who was there, leaning against the newsstand, but Stigler. He made no attempt to come near us, but raised his hat and said in a loud, harsh voice, "Well, Mrs. Betty Black, so you've been and got married after all! I wish yer luck of your bargain!" He looked me up and down, turned his head, spat contemptuously on the floor, and stalked out of the station.

"Really, that man's 'narsty' temper will get him into trouble some of these days," so quoth I to Betty.

She, however, did not treat it as a joke. "Be careful of that man, boy dear," she said. "He really hates you. You know he--he--"

"Yes, I know," I laughed contentedly. "He wanted to get my Betty, but he didn't."

"Be careful of him, boy dear, anyhow."

The train then came in, and off we went to the Convention, as Betty said, combining business with pleasure.

Barlow met us at the other end, and turned Betty over to the Chairman of the Ladies' Entertainment Committee and took me over to Convention Hall.

"You two will have to endure the hardship of being parted for an hour or two," he said with a laugh.

"Look after him, Mr. Barlow," said Betty. "Remember he is down here for business, and he must not waste his time with nonsense."

"I never called you such a name as that _yet_," I said, and then we parted.

Barlow was an awfully interesting man to talk to! I never realized how human he was before. Certainly when I worked for him all the clerks at that time looked upon him as a creature outside of our world altogether.

I don't think it ever dawned on any of us that he was a real human being, with likes and dislikes just the same as ourselves, and we never credited him with any thought or consideration for us other than how much work he could get out of us!

I felt a little ashamed of myself, in talking with him, to see how really interested he was in the welfare of all his employees. The thought occurred to me, while he was talking, that, as he was interested in us, why in heaven's name hadn't he told us so?

In thinking over the matter later on it seemed to me that it would be a good idea for the boss sometimes to ask a clerk how his wife was, or how the new baby was getting along. In fact, I didn't think it would hurt to take a clerk home to dinner occasionally--not often enough to make him one of the family, as it were, but it seemed to me that a proprietor could develop a great feeling of loyalty in his people over a round of beef, or a good cigar, out of business hours, than in any other way. I decided to try it some time, when things got better settled at the store.

When we got to the Convention it seemed that Barlow knew everybody, and he appeared to be very popular.

A fussy little man, named Minker, who seemed to have something to say to every one, introduced himself to me, and we had some conversation. He asked me where I came from, and I told him.

"Oh," he said, "then you know Barlow?"

"Very well, indeed," I replied. "In fact, I used to work for him."

"If he was as fine a boss as he is a president, you were certainly fortunate," he returned.

"President of what?" I asked, in surprise.

He looked blank. "Why," he said, "president of the a.s.sociation!"

"I didn't know he had ever been president of the a.s.sociation!" I exclaimed. "He never said anything about it to us!"

"Hm!" he said, as he looked at me over his gla.s.ses. "Don't you ever read your trade papers?"

I felt a little bit small when I replied: