right.
For instance, he must learn to judge by the appearance of any woman who
entered the store, by her dress, her manner, her look, the tone of her
voice, whether she had much knowledge of the article she wished to
purchase; and if she had not, he must put the price higher, as high as
he thought she could be induced to pay. With one class of customers he
must _always_ begin by asking a half or a third more than the regular
price; and if any objection was made, he was to say, `We have never sold
it any cheaper,' or, `You cannot buy that quality of goods any lower in
the city.' In fact, a very large portion of the service expected of him
was just to lie for the purpose of cheating. When he expressed his
doubts about this being right, his employer laughed at him. `Everybody
does it,' he said; `You can't be a merchant without it. All is fair in
trade. You are too green.'--`I know I am too green,' the young man said
to the minister sorrowfully; `for I was brought up in the country, and
don't know much of the world. My mother is a poor widow, but I don't
believe _she_ would think it right for me to do such things.'--`And do
_you_ think it right?' asked the minister.--`No; but my employer is a
church member, and yet I believe it would make my old mother very bad if
she knew I was doing such things every day.'--`Well, then,' said the
good pastor, `take your mother's way, and refuse his.'--`I shall lose my
place then.'--`Well, lose your place; don't hesitate a moment; tell your
employer you will do all that you honestly can, but that you were not
engaged to deceive, to cheat, to lie.'--`If I should say that, he would
tell me to be off.'--`Very well; _be_ off, then.'--`I have no other
place to go to, and he knows it.'--`No matter; go anywhere, do
anything--dig potatoes, black boots, sweep the streets for a living,
sooner than yield for one hour to such temptation.'--`But if I leave
that place so soon, it will make my old mother feel very bad; she will
think that I am getting unsteady; she will be afraid that I am going to
ruin.'--`Not a bit of it; tell her just the truth, and you will fill her
old heart with joy. She will thank God that she has got such a son, and
she will send up into heaven another prayer for you, which I would
rather have than all the gold of Ophir. Now, go back to your store, and
do all your duties most faithfully and punctually without lying. If
your employer is not a fool, he will like you the bet