“Same line.”
Matt was taken aback somewhat by this unexpected reply, and his face showed it.
“Do you mean to say you are going to open an auction store here?”
“That’s it, and we are going to make it everlastingly warm for you fellows, too,” went on the boy triumphantly. “We’ve been a-watching how you run things, and we are going to scoop every bit of trade when we get started.”
Matt drew a long breath. Here was certainly a new experience. He and Andy had expected to 258 encounter rivals, but had never dreamed of having them at such close quarters.
“Well, I suppose we will have to stand it,” he said, hardly knowing how else to reply to the boy’s bragging statement.
“If I was you I’d pack up and try some other place,” went on the boy. “Gissem & Fillow will take every bit of trade—they always do wherever they go.”
“Gissem & Fillow? Are those the names of the men who run the concern?”
“Yes, and they are the slickest auctioneers in the country.”
“Perhaps you only think so.”