I wonder is A.J., the Chief of Police, still to the fore? Ye
gods, how that man tried to break my heart, and how nearly he succeeded!
I was a Mayor-domo then, and G. was my boss, standing in the place of
the owners to me. The boss had a mortal dread of the police and their
powers, seen and unseen. So that when the worthy Chief of Police
suddenly decided to add the trade of butchering to his many lucrative
businesses, I received orders to sell him cows at twenty-five per cent.
less price than I sold to any of his competitors. Thus, whereas I was
selling them at twenty dollars paper, then worth about one pound per
head, I had to sell him at fifteen shillings, with the inevitable result
that he almost immediately became master of the situation and the entire
local market became his, enabling him to charge what he liked for meat,
while I was forbidden to raise the price of the cows sold him.
Insatiable in his greed, he began to ask for cattle twice a week, always
taking from ten to twenty animals, until one day, after exceptionally
wet weather, I protested that it was not possible to round up the stock
in the then state of the camp and destroy so much grass for a small
bunch of cows. Unlucky thought and ill-judged protest! For when he urged
that the inhabitants of the town were starving, and that a small point
of half-breed heifers would do to go on with, I received orders to let
him part out from our best herd.
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