"And," he continued to Fellows, for he knew that Fellows was the opposition and not I, "when Mr. Black takes up our agency, _no_ other hardware man in town will be able to get it. . . . In fact," he said, with a sudden burst of generosity, "so that there will be absolutely no question of full protection and no competition, we will not _even_ supply a glass and china store, a five-and-ten-cent store, a cutlery store, or a novelty store--in fact, _any_ other store which might compete with him in _any_ way. "Thus, you see, I am offering you something, Mr. Black," he said with an ingratiating smile, "which is a _wonderful_ advantage to you. It will really put _your_ store in a class by itself." "Fine!" broke in Fellows, before I could say anything. "A thought has just occurred to me, however. While you promise that no other hardware man shall have the _Garter_ stamps, can you promise that no _other_ trading stamp concern will offer stamps to any other hardware man in Farmdale?" Bidder replied with a deprecating smile: "What other concerns are there of our importance and size?" Fellows came back with the names of two concerns which were better known to me than the Garter trading stamp. "Why, yes," drawled Bulder, "of course, they _might_ offer stamps to some other hardware man. But, my dear sir, think a minute--what are the value of _their_ stamps compared to _ours_? Why, my good friend, you _can't_ compare them! Every woman in town knows that Garter stamps have a higher premium value than _any_ others." "Exactly," replied Fellows. "By the way, what other stores have you in this town at present?" Bulder slowly turned until he was facing Fellows. Leaning his elbow on the desk, he asked: "Didn't I tell you that I was giving Mr. Black the opportunity to reap the _big benefit_ of being the first with our stamps here?" "That's funny!" I broke in impetuously, but a look from Fellows stopped me. I had been going to say that I didn't see how his last two remarks gibed; for in one breath he had said that every woman in town knew that Garter trading stamps were better, and in the next he had said that I was to reap the first big benefit of having the stamps. Fellows had leaned forward and was saying to Bulder: "Mr. Bulder, do you really believe it is good business to offer something for nothing?" "Surely," cried Bulder, "you are not going to bring up that worn-out argument? Everybody knows that it is not something for nothing. . . . Look here, my good friend," said he, turning to me, "if you buy some goods and pay cash you _expect_ a discount for paying cash, don't you?" "Yes," I replied hesitatingly. "_Surely_ you do! And if you didn't get the discount for cash, you would take all the credit you could, _wouldn't_ you? . . . Very well," he continued, without waiting for a reply, "that's what our stamps will do. They are not something for nothing. They are merely a discount for cash. People that don't pay cash don't get the stamps. . . ."