“That’s the best part of it. It is a splendid bargain. It didn’t cost a cent less than a hundred dollars. Now, what do you think I got it for?” “Sixty dollars?”
“Guess again.” “Fifty?”
“Guess again.” “Forty-five?”
“No. Try again.”
“But what did you give for it, dear?” “Why, only twenty dollars!”
“Well, now, that is a bargain.”
“Ain’t it, though? It takes me to get things cheap,” continued the prudent Mr Courtland, chuckling with delight.
“Why, how in the world did it go off so low?” “I managed that. It ain’t every one that understands how to do these things.”
“But how did you manage it, dear? I should like to know.”
“Why, you see, there were a great many other things there, and among the rest some dirty carpets. Before the sale I pulled over these carpets and threw them upon the sofa; a good deal of dust fell from them, and made the sofa look fifty per cent. worse than it really was. When the sale commenced, there happened to be but few persons there, and I asked the auctioneer to sell the sofa first, as I wanted to go, and would bid for it if it were sold then. Few persons bid freely at the opening of a sale.