"The fact is," said Ukridge, "these tradesmen round here seem to be a
sordid, suspicious lot. They clamor for money."
He mentioned a few examples. Vickers, the butcher, had been the first
to strike, with the remark that he would like to see the color of Mr.
Ukridge's money before supplying further joints. Dawlish, the grocer,
had expressed almost exactly similar sentiments two days later, and
the ranks of these passive resisters had been receiving fresh recruits
ever since. To a man the tradesmen of Lyme Regis seemed as deficient
in simple faith as they were in Norman blood.
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