"Couldn't we arrange," I offered, "to tell each other who we are charging goods to, and so prevent ourselves from running up unsafe bills?" "How d'yer mean?" said Stigler. "Well," I continued, "suppose there's a carpenter who has a bill of thirty or forty dollars coming to me which is overdue--why I tell you and Mr. Barlow that he owes me that money, and, when he comes to you for credit, you won't do business with him until he has paid me. That will make him pay me and save you running into danger with him." I saw those thin lips of Stigler's turn up with derision. "And," I continued hastily, "if anybody owes you anything, you let us know and we won't sell to him until he has paid you." "Listens very pretty, Black," Stigler sneered, "but I guess when you've been in business as long as I have, you won't talk so glib about lettin' your competitors know just what you're doin' . . . Hold on," he said, when he saw Barlow and myself about to protest. "I don't mean that you fellers ain't straight, y' understand, but you couldn't prevent that information leakin' out to yer clerks, and what's to prevent them going to my customers and sellin' to them? And, besides, how do I know I'd get a _complete_ list of yer creditors, and how do you know you'd get a complete list of mine? If that's your story, fellers, I'm goin' home!" and he rose to get his hat. "Wait a minute," said Barlow. "If you wish, we can hire an accountant, and pay him jointly, and have him draw off those figures, and we can refer to him when we want to know anything about any one." Stigler lay back in his chair, and nodded his head toward us several times sarcastically. "Of course Black, here," he said, "is a novice, and I don't give him credit for knowin' much; but you, Barlow, I thought you knew better than to put up a game like that on me. Nothin' doin', I tell yer. I wasn't born yesterday, and I ain't goin' to let you fellers get the inside pull of my business if I know it. Y' understand, I ain't got nothin' against you fellers, but I think if you just go ahead your way, and I go mine, we'll all be better friends in the end!" I could see Barlow was really exasperated; but he controlled his temper and said: "Very well, let us leave that. Would you be willing to join us in a circular to try to counteract the effect of mail-order competition?" "I'm kinder suspicious, anyhow," replied Stigler. "How do you mean?" "Why," said Barlow, "we could, perhaps, have a folder printed, quoting our prices against the mail-order prices, with a strong suggestion that people should buy from us as long as we can do as well as anybody else for them." "Yer mean," said Stigler, "to just send that out as if from the three of us?" "Exactly."