"Well I'll be gosh-hanged!" he exclaimed. "How did this happen? How much did they sting you for?"
"Eight hundred dollars," answered Mrs. Hardy gravely.
Joe whistled in surprise.
"How did it happen?"
"He came here shortly after you boys left for school," began Mrs. Hardy. "It must have been a little before two o'clock."
"Who came here?"
"The rug buyer. He was a queer little fellow, very short and dark. He was a foreigner, you could tell by his appearance. He didn't speak very good English. He was dark and swarthy, with little, keen black eyes. He came up to the front door and asked me if I wanted to buy rugs. When I told him that I didn't want to buy he asked if I had any to sell. He said he was a traveling rug merchant and that he went from city to city, buying and selling and trading rugs."
"So you told him about the living-room rug?" suggested Frank.
"I just thought of it then, and I thought it might be a good chance to get rid of it and perhaps get a better rug in its stead. I mentioned that I had a rug that I might sell, but I told him I didn't think he could pay the price."
"And he asked to see it anyway?" Frank went on.