Page:Tales in Political Economy by Millicent Garrett Fawcett.djvu/96

 be had at any price. Not only were the goods that were sent away much dearer, but the things that were intended only for home consumption had gone up in price also. Many of the people who had been cultivators of a kind of plantain that was eaten raw, and which was a very favourite food in the island, had given up selling the fresh fruit; they were now busy in making it into a rich preserve which they intended to send away in the Carrier Pigeon; so of course those that were sold raw were much dearer: first, because their owners would have sent them all away if they did not receive a higher price at home than formerly prevailed; secondly, because those who wished to buy them had now more money in their possession in consequence of the gold brought back in the ship, and therefore they had it in their power to give the increased price demanded.

Although everyone worked away with great energy to provide a second cargo for the Carrier Pigeon, the delight that had been caused by the return of the ship had now quite