"The wretch!" he hissed. And then he sat staring fixedly in front of him for some time.
How did he get to know of it? was the question he was revolving in his mind. It was very simple. That sly Prepelicza had easily found out in Besztercebánya that Pál Gregorics had more than one brother living, and he decided that if one of them paid him 250 florins for the secret, the other would perhaps be inclined to pay something too. So he got into the train, travelled to Besztercebánya, and looked up Boldizsár. There was nothing surprising in that except, perhaps, the fact that Prepelicza was not such a fool as he looked.
"Oh, the wretch!" Gáspár kept on saying. "But he shall not have it, I will buy it. I'll give you 25,000 florins for it."
Sztolarik smiled and rubbed his hands.
"It will belong to the one who gives most for it. If it were mine, I would give it you for the 15,000 florins you offered at first, for I always keep my word. But as it belongs to a minor, and I have his interests at heart, I must do the best I can for him. Now don't you think I am right?"
Gáspár agreed with him, and tried to make him promise to give him the preference. But what was the good of it? Sztolarik met Boldizsár that evening at the club, and made no secret of the fact that Gáspár had been to see him that morning, and offered him 5000 florins more for the orchard. But Boldizsár was not surprised, and only answered:
"Well, I will give 30,000."
And this mad auction went on for days, until the attention of the whole town was drawn to it, and people began to think the Gregorics must have gone mad, or that there must be some important reason for their wishing to have possession of "Lebanon."
Gáspár came and offered 32,000 florins, and as soon as Boldizsár heard of it, he came and offered 3000 florins more; and so on, until people's hair began to stand on end.
"Let them go on as long as they like," thought the lawyer.