The Go-Getter | Page 7

as Peck's Bad Boy. I was often tempted to quit, but
whenever I'd reflect on the number of American lives I was saving daily, a commission
was just a scrap of paper to me."
"If you'd ever started in any other branch of the service you'd have run John J. Pershing
down to lance corporal. Bill, listen! Have you ever had any experience selling skunk
spruce?"
Comrade Peck was plainly puzzled. He shook his head. "What sort of stock is it?" he
asked.
"Humboldt County, California, spruce, and it's coarse and stringy and wet and heavy and
smells just like a skunk directly after using. I'm afraid Skinner's going to start you at the
bottom--and skunk spruce is it.
"Can you drive nails in it, Mr. Ricks?"
"Oh, yes."
"Does anybody ever buy skunk spruce, sir?"
"Oh, occasionally one of our bright young men digs up a half-wit who's willing to try
anything once. Otherwise, of course, we would not continue to manufacture it.
Fortunately, Bill, we have very little of it, but whenever our woods boss runs across a
good tree he hasn't the heart to leave it standing, and as a result, we always have enough
skunk spruce on hand to keep our salesmen humble."
"I can sell anything--at a price," Comrade Peck replied unconcernedly, and continued on
his way back to the office.
* * * * *
IV
For two months Cappy Ricks saw nothing of Bill Peck. That enterprising veteran had
been sent out into the Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas territory the moment he had
familiarized himself with the numerous details regarding freight rates, weights and the
mills he represented, all things which a salesman should be familiar with before he starts
out on the road. From Salt Lake City he wired an order for two carloads of larch rustic
and in Ogden he managed to inveigle a retail yard with which Mr. Skinner had been
trying to do business for years, into sampling a carload of skunk spruce boards, random
lengths and grades, at a dollar above the price given him by Skinner. In Arizona he
worked up some new business in mining timbers, but it was not until he got into the heart
of Texas that Comrade Peck really commenced to demonstrate his selling ability.
Standard oil derricks were his specialty and he shot the orders in so fast that Mr. Skinner

was forced to wire him for mercy and instruct him to devote his talent to the disposal of
cedar shingles and siding, Douglas fir and redwood. Eventually he completed his circle
and worked his way home, via Los Angeles, pausing however, in the San Joaquin Valley
to sell two more carloads of skunk spruce. When this order was wired in, Mr. Skinner
came to Cappy Ricks with the telegram.
"Well, I must admit Comrade Peck can sell lumber," he announced grudgingly. "He has
secured five new accounts and here is an order for two more carloads of skunk spruce. I'll
have to raise his salary about the first of the year.
"My dear Skinner, why the devil wait until the first of the year? Your pernicious habit of
deferring the inevitable parting with money has cost us the services of more than one
good man. You know you have to raise Comrade Peck's salary sooner or later, so why not
do it now and smile like a dentifrice advertisement while you're doing it? Comrade Peck
will feel a whole lot better as a result, and who knows? He may conclude you're a human
being, after all, and learn to love you?"
"Very well, sir. I'll give him the same salary Andrews was getting before Peck took over
his territory."
"Skinner, you make it impossible for me to refrain from showing you who's boss around
here. He's better than Andrews, isn't he?"
"I think he is, sir."
"Well then, for the love of a square deal, pay him more and pay it to him from the first
day he went to work. Get out. You make me nervous. By the way, how is Andrews
getting along in his Shanghai job?"
"He's helping the cable company pay its income tax. Cables about three times a week on
matters he should decide for himself. Matt Peasley is disgusted with him."
"Ah! Well, I'm not disappointed. And I suppose Matt will be in here before long to
remind me that I was the bright boy who picked Andrews for the job. Well, I did, but I
call upon you to remember. Skinner, when I'm assailed, that Andrews' appointment was
temporary."
"Yes, sir, it was."
"Well, I suppose I'll have to cast about for his successor and beat Matt out of his cheap 'I
told you so' triumph. I think Comrade Peck has some of