"I have secured the property on each side of you," said the agent composedly.
"What figures are you prepared to offer?" asked Rawson, with a look of business. "I don't want to be extortionate, but the claims are good ones, and we don't want to sacrifice them."
Then ensued a few minutes of bargaining, in which Dean took no part. Eben, though usually the most silent of the three, now developed the qualities characteristic of the New England Yankee, and it was due to him that the property was sold for six thousand dollars.
"I might have got more if I'd stood out a little longer," he said, half regretfully.
"We've done pretty well, though," said Rawson, complacently. "It's two thousand dollars apiece, say three, with what we've taken from it in the last six months. What do you say to that, lad? You'll go home with three thousand dollars."
"It doesn't seem possible, Ben. Why, Uncle Adin has been at work for forty years, and I don't believe the old place would fetch that."
"Money's easier to come at than in the old times. You'll astonish the old folks, lad."
"There'll be some others that'll be surprised," said Dean, smiling. "Squire Bates and Brandon among the rest."