After this confession has been made and The Boss accepts it completely, the two men walk toward the hamlet, talking. In the village, The Boss makes the acquaintance of a number of people and learns what he can about the matter of wages here. One of the things that he discovers is that the new coins which he introduced are being used widely.
As they talk to various people, The Boss invites a number of them to come to Marco's (the charcoal burner) on Sunday for dinner. Lest Marco become too upset, he insists that he will pay for the whole thing, and he makes a lavish provision for the dinner. He also has Marco buy new clothing for himself and his wife, saying that it is a gift from Jones (the king), who is too shy to say anything himself.
Sunday is a beautiful day, and the guests arrive at the Marco's about noon. They gather under a huge tree outside and spend a good deal of time talking and becoming better acquainted. Dowley, the blacksmith, has been doing well, and he is in an expansive mood, telling about how he has worked his way up in the world and how he can now afford to give his family such luxuries as fresh meat on the table twice a month and salt meat eight times more.
About this time, as The Boss had planned, the Marcos bring out a number of chairs, some other furniture, and a great variety of provisions. In addition, the storekeeper's son arrives with the bill, which The Boss treats casually, even though it seems like a horrible sum to all those present. He pays it easily, and the blacksmith is crushed by this show of wealth.
The Boss now thinks that he has these men at a psychological advantage, so he begins a discussion about wages and buying power. He tries to get them to see that wages are important only in relationship to what can be bought with those wages, that a man with high wages and a man with low wages are equally well off if they can both buy the same amount of goods with what they earn. He fails totally.
