‚ÄúThat‚Äôs all right; you can get anything you want,‚Äù said Colonel Cresswell cheerily, for this to his mind was evidence of sense on the part of the Negroes. Bles showed his list of needed supplies‚ÅÝ‚Äîseeds, meat, cornmeal, coffee, sugar, etc. The Colonel glanced over it carelessly, then moved away.
‚ÄúAll right. Come and get what you want‚ÅÝ‚Äîany time,‚Äù he called back.
“But about the prices,” said Alwyn, following him.
“Oh, they’ll be all right.”
“Of course. But what I want is an estimate of your lowest cash prices.”
“Cash?”
“Yes, sir.”
Cresswell thought a while; such a businesslike proposition from Negroes surprised him.
“Well, I’ll let you know,” he said.
It was nearly a week later before Alwyn approached him again.
“Now, see here,” said Colonel Cresswell, “there’s practically no difference between cash and time prices. We buy our stock on time and you can just as well take advantage of this as not. I have figured out about what these things will cost. The best thing for you to do is to make a deposit here and get things when you want them. If you make a good deposit I’ll throw off ten percent, which is all of my profit.”