“I know they are.”
“Oh, you do.”
“Yes, I know all about spoons, for I used to be in the plating business. I only asked to see what you would say. That man next door tried to sell my friend some single plated ones for triple plated. I brought him in here to see what you had to say about your stock.”
“Well, I have not misrepresented, have I?”
“No; you have told the exact truth. John, if you want any spoons, you might as well buy them here, for I see they are put at a very reasonable figure.”
Upon this, the man who had first spoken began to pick out some of the goods. What his friend had said had been heard by the crowd, who now began to feel more like trusting in what the young auctioneers might have to say.
Matt sold the spoons, and in the meantime Andy put up a number of other articles at auction, and sold them at fairly good prices.
They managed to keep busy until two o’clock in the afternoon, when trade fell off once more. Seeing this, Andy prepared to go out to dinner. He had just put on his hat when Gissem, the rival auctioneer, rushed in.
“See here, I want to talk to you two fellows!” he blustered.