Each girl trudged back and forth a few times until most of the portable things in the room were piled up on the table and sofa at the end where the boys were, and then the auction was prepared.
The boys themselves had taken down many of the larger pictures from their hooks, and the room looked, on the whole, as if a cyclone had struck it.
"They ought to be numbered," said Flip, stepping gingerly about among the things.
"Hold on a minute! I've got it!" shouted King, and rushed upstairs at top speed.
He returned with a large calendar, two or three pairs of scissors and a paste-pot.
"Cut 'em out," he directed, giving each girl a page of the calendar.
The numbers were large, more than an inch square, and soon lots of them were cut out. These, the boys pasted on all the goods for sale, making them look like real auction goods.
"Won't it hurt the things?" asked Delight, who was not used to such high-handed performances.
"'Course not! They'll wash right off. Now the auction will begin. Now, you must be rich ladies, different ones, you know."
"Here you are!" cried King, who was auctioneer by common consent; "here you are! number 24! a fine large statuette by one of the old masters. What am I bid for this?"