"Well, I'm helping you this time, and I'm going to make some profit on it, as well. There'll be room enough for you and me, Black, don't worry." Finally it was agreed that I should see these two firms which Alex Cantling mentioned to me, and try to arrange for three hundred and fifty dollars' worth of accessories, with the account guaranteed by Barlow. He said it might not be necessary for him to put in any money, but that if he did, I must give him my note for whatever he put in. I got a bit scared when he told me that, but he said all he would ask, as security, was the stock of automobile accessories, so that I didn't stand to lose anything. I was not going to put in the supply until the beginning of April. Barlow said he would be glad if I would not mention a word of it to any one until that time, so I agreed not to have my automobile accessories delivered until the oil tank was ready. Just as I was picking up my hat to leave Barlow's office, he called me back and said, "Do you know why your friend Stigler isn't getting on very well? It's because he's always talking about what he is going to do." "Yes, he is always shooting off his mouth," I said, "but--" "But what?" he asked, smiling. "Oh, nothing," I answered, "except that, when I hear he's going to pull off some stunt, I try to get there first!" "Exactly; if you want to make a real success of yourself, never tell any one what you are going to do until you really do it. It's much better to have people find out what you do by showing results, than have them know beforehand what you are planning to do and see you fall down." "I'll take the hint," I said; then I left him. I wondered what Barlow's real reason was in encouraging me to go into automobile supplies. I didn't think it was the profit he expected to make on gasoline. I was beginning to have more respect for Barlow than I ever had in my life, and, frankly, I was beginning to have less fear of Stigler. Stigler's five-and-ten-cent store had been very slack the last few weeks, and really it was helping, rather than hindering, me, for, while he displayed cheap kitchen goods and was selling them just because they were low-price, cheap articles, I was displaying similar kinds of goods of real merit and quality, and selling them at a good profit. Any one, looking into his window and mine, could see no competition, for, while the goods were similar in kind, they were so different in quality as to preclude any possibility of comparison. At the last meeting of our Merchants' Association, we had had a speaker who was the advertising manager for a chain drug-store organization. He had interested me very much in the need for increasing the amount of sales per customer. He said: