Page:Memoirs of a Huguenot Family.djvu/152

 146 help her. I manufactured stuffs in the upper part of the house which she sold, at a profit, in the lower part. I went to Bristol and Exeter, once a quarter, to lay in a fresh supply of groceries and pay off the old debt. I procured direct from Holland linens of various qualities, galloons, thread, needles, and tin and copper ware, manufactured there by French refugees. These articles cost me much less than if I had bought them in England. I was supplied with beaver hats from Exeter, where they were made by Frenchmen, who furnished them to no one in Taunton but myself. I sold French brandy, pure and unadulterated, whereas the Englishmen generally played tricks with theirs. I drew custom by selling Malaga and Alicant raisins, at the price retail that I paid for them by wholesale. I sold needles on the same terms. Every one knew the value of these articles, and the sale of them did not amount to any great sum. One would say to another, "You can buy beautiful raisins from the Frenchman at such a price," and then they would come to see for themselves, buy some raisins, and probably ten or twelve shillings worth of other articles, upon which we made a profit, so we found our account in selling cheap raisins.

The other shopkeepers were very angry, and said I should most certainly be bankrupt soon, for I sold the raisins at the same price they paid in Bristol, without reckoning the cost of transportation and loss of weight. Their mode of talking about me only increased my sales, for the people came to get all they wanted before I was ruined. When my friends asked me privately why I sold so cheap, I told them that I found it to answer very well, and I repeated the common proverb, "Light gains make a heavy purse."

Stranger, as I was, I had more custom than any other shop