“No, indeed! We’ll eat as we drive along, Carl,” said Mrs. Fabian, then turning to the girls, she told the tale[A] of the old pictures and what she paid for them.
“Why!” gasped the wondering girls. “It can’t be possible!”
At that, Mrs. Fabian produced the bill of sale and said: “I got this in case there ever should be any dispute over the legality of this negotiation. The two awful pictures we can give to some family along the road, but the two precious ones we will cherish as if they were the Koh-i-noor Diamond.”
When the Ashbys and Mr. Fabian heard the story, and saw the validity of the two pictures, they sat astounded. Mr. Fabian then said:
“Polly really ought to immortalize her name by presenting this missing scroll to the Metropolitan Museum, but she can keep the letter and newspaper. That ought to be worth the price she paid for the ‘glass’.”
“That’s just what I’ll do, Mr. Fabian. I would never feel happy if I kept a thing that is considered so rare, and has been sought for by the Museum’s collectors.”
So Polly Brewster’s name is to be found ticketed as the donor of the twelfth valuable picture in that set.
True incident in author’s experience.