I would have been very glad to go straight home and let Tucker get
along without bull-dogs, but my silly head had brought me into this
business and I must keep on. Probably he saw I was a good deal
disappointed, for he added, in a rather kindly tone, "Every pistol of
that kind I have ever sold came back on my hands for repairs, and I
swore I'd never buy another."

"You are making a mistake," said I. "When the double action first came
out they did get out of order easily, and manufacturers were obliged
to take back broken ones and replace them at great expense to
themselves. In self-defense they were obliged to make them better, and
they are just as reliable as any other to-day."

"Well, I don't want any."

"All right, we will pass it. But I wondered what one of your
competitors meant when he said he had the pistol trade; now I
understand."

"Does he sell these?"

"Yes, he had some from us not long ago, and gave me an order for more
to-day."

"What's the best you can do on them?"

How many times a day does every traveling man see men act as Tucker
did? Here was a line of goods he was cocksure he did not want, but the
moment he heard that his competitor had a trade on them he began to