Within a week a suitable building had been found, and the stock of shoes were arranged on their shelves. The rent of the store was moderate.

Text 9

Shoes and Ships

After “ Cabbages and Kings"

by O. Henry

I

SHOES

John Atwood plunged into his work. He tried to forget Rosine.

With a bottle between them, he and Billy Keough usually sat on the porch of the little consulate at night and sang songs.

One day Johnny's servant brought the mail and threw it on the table. From his hammock Johnny took the letters. Usually different kind of information was wanted from him. Citizens in various parts of the United States who probably regarded the consul at Coralio as an encyclopedia wanted to know all about raising fruit, and how to make fortune without work. They asked questions about the climate, products, possibilities, laws, business chances, and statistics of the country in which the consul had the honour of representing his own government.

On that day one letter was from his own town — Dalesburg. The postmaster wrote that a citizen of the town wanted some facts and advice from Johnny. That man wanted to come to Coralio and open a shoe store...

" Shoe store! " exclaimed the consul, laughing. " What'll they ask about next, I wonder? Overcoat factory, maybe. Say, Billy — of our 3, 000 citizens, how many do you sup­pose ever put on a pair of shoes? "

Keough thought a little.

" Let's see — there's you and me. And there's Goodwin and Blanchard and Geddie and old Lutz and Doc Gregg and that Italian agent for the banana company, and there's old Delgado — no; he wears sandals. And, oh, yes; there's Madame Ortiz, that keeps the hotel — she had on a pair of red slippers the other night. And her daughter, that went to school in the States — she brought back several pairs. And there's the commandant's sister that wears shoes on holidays, and that's about all."

" You are right, " agreed the consul. Not more than twenty out of three thousand ever felt leather on their feet.

Oh, yes; Coralio is just the town for an enterprising shoe store — that doesn't want to part with its goods. I wonder if old postmaster is trying to jolly me! He always liked to play jokes. Write him a letter, Billy, I'll dictate it. We'll jolly him back."

The night programme in Coralio never changed. The recreations of the people were always the same. They walked about, barefoot and aimless, speaking in low voices and smoking cigars or cigarettes. By nine o'clock the streets were almost deserted.

Every night Keough came to the consulate. They usually drank glass after glass of brandy and before midnight the consul became sentimental. Then he always told Keough the story of his ended romance. Each night Keough listened patiently to the story, and was ready with sympa­thy.

" But don't you think for a moment" — thus Johnny always concluded the story — " That I'm sorry about the girl, Billy".

" Not for a minute, my boy."

At this moment Johnny usually fell asleep, and Keough left him.

In a day or two the letter from the Dalesburg postmaster and its answer were forgotten by the Coralio friends.

On the 26th of July a fruit steamer entered the Coralio harbour.

An hour later Billy Keough came into the consulate. " Your shoe-store man has come, " he said to Johnny, who was lying in his hammock. " He came with a stock of good big enough to supply the continent. They are taking cases to the custom-house now."

Johnny turned and looked astonished.

" Don't tell me, " he said, " that anybody was fool enough to take that letter seriously."

" Four-thousand-dollar stock of goods! " said Keough. " I saw the old man on the beach."

" Are you telling the truth, Billy? " asked the consul weakly.

" Am I? You must see the gentleman's daughter he brought with him. A fine-looking girl! His name is Hemstetter, " went on Keough. " He's a — Hello! What's the matter now? "

Johnny was trying to get out of his hammock.

" Get up, you fool, " he said, " or I'll kill you with this inkstand. That's Rosine and her father. God! What an idiot old postmaster is! Get up, here, Billy Keough, and help me. What are we going to do? Has everybody become crazy? "

Keough rose and dusted himself.

" The first thing to do is to get them comfortable rooms. I'll run to Goodwin's and see if Mrs. Goodwin won't take them. They have the best house in town."

" I knew you wouldn't desert me, Billy! " said the consul.

Keough went to Goodwin's house. Johnny put on his coat and hat. He took up the brandy lying on the table, put it down again immediately without drinking, and went down to the beach.

Near the custom-house he found Mr. Hemstetter and Rosine surrounded by a crowd of citizens. Rosine blushed a little when she saw her old admirer. Mr. Hemstetter shook hands with Johnny in a very friendly way. He was an oldish, unpractical man — one of the numerous class of business men who are never satisfied, and looking for a change.

" I'm very glad to see you, John — may I call you John? " he said. " Let me thank you for your immediate answer to our postmaster's letter. I asked him to write to you. I was looking for some business in which the profits would be greater. I had noticed in the papers that this coast was receiving much attention from investors. I am much thankful for your advice to come. I sold out everything that I possessed, and invested the money in a fine stock of shoes. You have a beautiful town here, John. I hope business will be as good as your letter promises."

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Keough, who said, that Mrs. Goodwin would be much pleased to let Mr. Hemstetter and his daughter have some rooms. So Mr. Hemstetter and Rosine were at once taken to the house and left to rest after the voyage, while Johnny went down to see that the cases of shoes were safely stored in the customs warehouse until their examination by the officials. Keough went away to find Goodwin, to instruct him not to tell Mr. Hemstetter the true state of Coralio as a shoe market until Johnny had been given a chance to save the situation, if such a thing were possible.

That night the consul and Keough had a long consultation at the consulate.

" Send them back home, " began Keough, reading Johnny’s thoughts.

" I would, " said Johnny, after a little silence; " but I've been lying to you, Billy. I've told you hundreds of times, that I had forgotten that girl, haven't I? "

" About three hundred and seventy five times, " said Keough. " I lied, " repeated the consul, " every time I never forgot her for one minute I was a fool to run away just " because she said " No" once. I talked with Rosine a few minutes this evening at Goodwill's. I found out one thing. You remember that farmer who was always after her? Pink Dawson is his name. He doesn't mean anything to her. But that letter which we sent ruined the last chance I had left. She'll hate me when she finds out that her old father has been the victim of such a joke. Shoes! Why, he couldn't sell twenty pairs in Coralio if he stayed here for twenty years. You put a pair on one of these brown boys and what would he do? He would stand on his head and scream until he had kicked them off. None of them ever wore shoes and they never will. If I send them back home I'll have to tell the whole story, and what will she think of me? I want that girl more than ever, Billy, and now when she is here, I've lost her forever."

" Don't worry, " said the optimistic Keough, " and let them open the store. I've been busy myself this afternoon. We can make a temporary boom in foot-gear. I'll buy six pairs when the doors open. I've been everywhere and seen all the fellows and explained the situation. They'll buy shoes as if they were centipedes. Frank Goodwin will take cases of them. The Geddies want about eleven pairs between them. Clancy is going to spend all his savings on shoes, and even old Doc Gregg wants three pairs of shoes. Blanchard saw Miss Hemstetter; and he is a Frenchman, he will buy no less than a dozen pairs."

" A dozen customers" said Johnny, " for a $ 4, 000 stock of shoes. It won't work. There is a big problem to solve. You go home, Billy, and leave me alone. I must think it all over. Take that bottle with you — not another drop of booze for the United States consul. I'll sit here tonight, and work out the problem."

Keough left. Johnny put a box of cigars on the table and sat down in a chair.

At nine o'clock in the morning he walked down to the little post-office and spent about half an hour there filling a blank. The result was the following telegram which he signed and sent at a cost of $ 33:

To Pinkney Dawson,

Dalesburg, Ala.

Draft for $ 100 comes to you next mail. Ship me immediately 500 pounds dry cockleburrs. New use here in arts. Market price twenty cents pound. Further orders likely. Rush.

II

SHIPS

Within a week a suitable building had been found, and the stock of shoes were arranged on their shelves. The rent of the store was moderate.

Johnny's friends kept their promise. On the first day Keough walked casually about once every hour and bought shoes. The other English-speaking residents also bought often and liberally.

Mr. Hemstetter was pleased with the amount of business done so far; but was surprised that the natives were so slow with their purchases.

One afternoon Keough came into the consul's office.

" If you have any ideas, you must hurry up with them. The boys have bought enough foot-wear to last them ten years. And there are no customers in the store now. I just passed by there. Your victim was standing in the door looking through his spectacles at the bare feet passing by. Only one pair of shoes has been sold today. Blanchard went in and bought a pair of fur-lined house slippers because he thought he saw Miss Hemstetter go into the store. I saw him throw the slippers away afterwards."

" There is a fruit steamer coming in tomorrow or next day, " said Johnny. " We can't do anything until then."

" What do you want to do — try to create a demand? "

" You are not good at Political Economy, " said the consul. " You can't create a demand. But you can create a necessity for a demand. That's what I am going to do."

Two weeks after the consul sent his telegram, a fruit steamer brought him a big mysterious brown bale of some unknown commodity.

Johnny used his influence with the custom-house to get the goods without the usual inspection. The bale was brought to the consulate and placed in the back room. That night he opened it and took out a handful of cockle-burrs. He examined them carefully. The cockleburrs were as sharp as needles.

Later in the night, when Coralio was asleep, he and Billy went out into the deserted streets with all their pockets full of cockleburrs. They went up and down the streets putting the sharp cockleburrs carefully in the sand between the silent houses. No place where the foot of man, woman or child might step was missed. And then, early in the morning, they went home to sleep.

With the rising sun came the sellers of fruits and meat and arranged their wares in and around the little market-house. The market-house stood at one end of the town near the beach and the cockleburrs had not been carried so far. The dealers waited long after the hour when their sales usually began. None came to buy. " What is the matter? " they began to exclaim, one to another.

At their usual time from every palm hut came women — black women, brown women and lemon-coloured women. They were the marketers, going to purchase the family supply of food. They were bare-armed and bare-footed. They stepped from their doorways into the streets. The first that went out began to scream, and raised one foot quickly. Another step and they sat down with cries of alarm to pick at the new and painful insects that had stung them upon the feet. They sat down in the grass and began to complain together with their sisters in the paths. The sellers in the market still wondered why no customers came.

Then men, lords of the earth, came out. They too, began to hop, to dance, to limp and to curse. And then the children ran out to play. And now to the noise the cries of the children were added. Every minute brought fresh victims.

The first to find the cure was the barber, an educated man who travelled a lot.

" Oh, my friends, these are the insects of devil. I know them well. They fly through the skies in swarms. These are the dead ones that fell during the night. In Yucatan I have seen them as large as oranges. Yes! It is shoes— shoes that one needs! "

He limped to Mr. Hemstetter's store, and bought shoes. Coming out, he walked down the streets, cursing loudly the insects of the devil. The suffering men, women and children looked at the immune barber and began to cry: " Shoes! "

The necessity for the demand had been created. The demand followed. That day Mr. Hemstetter sold three hundred pairs of shoes.

" It is really surprising, " he said to Johnny, who came up in the evening to help him straighten out the stock, " how trade is improving. Yesterday I made only three sales. I think I shall order a dozen more cases of goods to keep the stock up, " said Mr. Hemstetter.

" I wouldn't send any orders yet, " advised Johnny. " Wait till you see how the trade continues."

Each night Johnny and Keough went out to work. At the end of ten days two-thirds of the stock of shoes had been sold; and the stock of cockleburrs was exhausted. Johnny send a telegram to Pink Dawson asking him to send 500 more pounds, paying twenty cents per pound as before. Mr.. Hemstetter wrote an order for $ 1, 500 worth of shoes from Northern firms. But Johnny succeeded in destroying the order before it reached the post-office.

That night Johnny took Rosine under a tree by Goodwin's house and confessed everything. She looked him in the eyes, and said: " You are a very bad man. Father and I will go back home. You say it was a joke? I think it is a very serious matter."

But at the end of the half-an-hour's argument the conversation had changed. The two were speaking about the colour of the wall-paper with which the old colonial house of the Atwoods in Dalesburg was to be decorated after the wedding.

On the next morning Johnny confessed to Mr. Hemstetter. The shoe merchant put on his spectacles and said through them: " You are an extraordinary young bad person. If I had not managed my business so well, I might have lost all my money. Now, how do you propose to sell the rest of the stock? "

When the second invoice of cockleburrs arrived, Johnny loaded them and the remainder of the shoes into a schooner, and sailed down the coast, where, in the same manner, he repeated his success: and came back with a bag of money and no shoes.

And then he wrote to his government to accept his resignation.

The services of Mr. William Keough as acting consul were suggested and accepted, and Johnny sailed with the Hemstetters back to his native shores.

Three days after Johnny's departure, two small schooners came to Coralio. Some time later a boat from one of them brought a young man ashore. He found on the beach someone who showed him the way to the consul's office, where he went.

Keough was sitting in the official chair, drawing caricatures. He looked up at the visitor.

" Where is Johnny Atwood? " asked the young man, in a business tone.

" He's gone, " said Keough.

" Will he be here soon? " asked the visitor.

" I don't think so, " said Keough.

" And who runs his business? "

" I'm looking after the business just now, " said the acting consul.

" Are you — then, say! — where's the factory? "

" What factory? " asked Keough, with a polite interest.

" Why, the factory where they use cockleburrs. God knows, what they use them for, anyway! My both ships are loaded with them. I'll give you a bargain, in this lot. Every man, woman, and child around Dalesburg was picking them for me for a month. I hired these ships to bring them here. Everybody thought I was crazy. Now you can have this lot for fifteen cents a pound, delivered on land. Agreed? "

Joy appeared in Keough's face.

He dropped his pencil. " Please, tell me, " said Keough, " are you Pink Dawson? "

" Yes, my name is Pink Dawson, " said the cornerer of the cockleburr market.

Keough dropped to the floor in uncontrollable laughter, while the young man looked at him with wonder and amazement.

***