"Yes, of course it is," answered the Jew, ironically. "I paid a hundred
and nineteen pounds and eighty-five piastres for it. I only ask fifteen
piastres profit. Small profits. Get rid of everything quickly. Who sells
cheaply sells soon; who sells soon earns much."

"I told you from the first that I did not want your Rhodes," said
Balsamides. "I came here to see what you had. Have you nothing else that
is good?"

"Everything Marchetto has is good. His carpets are all of silk, and of
the finest colors. His embroideries are the envy of the bazaar.
Marchetto has everything."

He did not finish folding the Rhodes, but thrust it aside upon the
matting, and began to pull down other stuffs and carpets from the
shelves. From the obstinacy Gregorios displayed, he really judged that
he meant to buy the tapestry, and to make a good bargain he would
willingly have turned everything in his little shop upside down.

Gregorios admired several pieces very much, whereupon the Jew threw them
aside in disgust, well knowing that his customer would not buy them. The
latter had now been an hour in the shop, and showed no signs of going
away. Marchetto returned to the original question.

"If it is worth so much, why do you not take it to one of the
embassies?" asked Balsamides at last. He had resolved that he would
prolong the discussion until twelve o'clock, judging that by midday the
negro would be on his way back to Yeni Koej, and that there would be no
further chance of seeing him. He therefore broached the subject of
Marchetto's trade with the foreigners, knowing that once upon this tack
the Jew would have endless stories and anecdotes to relate. But
Gregorios was not destined to stand in need of so much ingenuity. He
would never have made the attempt in which he was now engaged unless he
had anticipated success, and he was not surprised when a tall,
smooth-faced negro, of hideous countenance but exceedingly well dressed,
put his head into the shop. He saluted Gregorios and entered. Marchetto
touched his mouth and his fez with his right hand, but did not at first
rise from his seat upon the floor. Balsamides watched the man. He looked
about the shop, and then approached the old glass case in the corner. He
had hardly glanced at it when he turned and tried to catch Marchetto's
eye. The latter made an almost imperceptible motion of the head.
Gregorios was satisfied that the pantomime referred to the watch, which
was no longer in it