“And I will give you twenty-five for this one,” said the young man, holding up the one that he had first looked at. “It is a gem, and I will get you to frame it for me,” he added, turning to the dealer. “Do it for me as soon as you can, for I want to give it away for a Christmas present.”
He took out a roll of bills from his pocket, and counting out twenty-five dollars he handed the money to Victoria, taking off his hat as he did so.
“Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity of securing such a prize,” he said.
Victoria hesitated and blushed scarlet.
“I don’t exactly like to take it,” she said simply, as she looked up at him. “You are giving me too much. You could buy it of the shop for twenty dollars. Please don’t give me more than that.”
“I prefer to pay five dollars more for the privilege of—of having first choice,” he said, abruptly changing the termination of his sentence.
Victoria said no more, but took the money, and at the same time one of the clerks brought her forty-five dollars for the remaining three. She thanked them all and hurried from the shop.
“Rather an odd case,” said the picture-dealer to the young man. “The man who bought those etchings in the first place knew what he was about. I daresay I shan’t sell them, but I didn’t want to let such good things go; and besides, she seemed like a nice little girl. I have a daughter just about her age and—well, no matter. Now, sir, what kind of a frame do you wish, and how about those other pictures you were looking at?”
The young man turned to look at samples of frames, but his mind was more occupied with the incident which had just taken place than with his purchases. He, too, felt sorry for the girl. She was unmistakably a lady, and it must have been a trying position for her. He would not care to have his sister in such a predicament, he said to himself.