I often saw a potential customer stop before an untended stall, obviously debating within himself whether to wait for the return of the vendor or to move on to the adjoining stall-and invariably the neighbouring trader, the competitor, would step in to enquire after the customer's wants and sell him the required goods - not his own goods, but those of his absent neighbour - and would leave the purchase price on the neighbour's bench. Where in Europe could one have witnessed a like transaction?
