In a short time
his other backers, who had agreed to endorse his notes to the amount of
two thousand dollars, arrived upon the scene, and he took occasion to
welcome them in a manner that could not escape the attention of the
crowd. It was now ten minutes of three, and the auctioneer stepped upon
the temporary platform that had been erected for him, and bringing his
hammer down upon the head of a barrel that had been placed in front of
him, he read, in a loud voice, which reached every portion of the
Square, the printed notice that for several weeks had hung upon the
fences, sheds, and trees of Mason's Corner, Eastborough Centre, West
Eastborough, and Montrose.
It was now three o'clock, for that hour was rung out by the bell on the
Rev. Caleb Howe's church. The auctioneer prefaced his inquiry for bids
by the usual grandiloquence in use by members of that fraternity,
closing his oration with that often-heard remark, "How much am I
offered?"
The Professor, who was standing by the side of Deacon Mason's team,
called out in a loud voice, "Fifteen hundred!"
"Well, I'll take that just for a starter," said the auctioneer, "but of
course no sane man not fitted to be the inmate of an idiotic asylum
thinks that this fine piece of ground, this long-built and
long-established grocery store, filled to overflowing with all the
necessities and delicacies of the season, a store which has been in
successful operation for nearly forty years, and of which the good will
is worth a good deal more than the sum just bid, will be sold for any
such preposterous figure! Gentlemen, I am listening.
Pages:
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403