David, "he druv up to the office the next mornin', 'bout ten
o'clock, an' come into the back room here, an' after we'd passed the
time o' day, he says, clearin' his throat in a way he's got, 'He-uh,
he-uh!' he says, 'my daughter tells me that she run off with a hoss of
yours yestidy in rather a summery manner, an--he-uh-uh--I have come to
see you about payin' fer him. What is the price?' he says.

"'Wa'al,' I says, more 'n anythin' to see what he'd say, 'what would you
say he was wuth?' An' with that he kind o' stiffened a little stiffer 'n
he was before, if it could be.

"'Really,' he says, 'he-uh-uh, I haven't any idea. I haven't seen the
animal, an' I should not consider myself qual'fied to give an opinion
upon his value if I had, but,' he says, 'I don't know that that makes
any material diff'rence, however, because I am quite--he-uh, he-uh--in
your hands--he-uh!--within limits--he-uh-uh!--within limits,' he says.
That kind o' riled me," remarked David. "I see in a minute what was
passin' in his mind. 'Wa'al,' I says, 'Mr. Verjoos, I guess the fact o'
the matter is 't I'm about as much in the mud as you be in the
mire--your daughter's got my hoss,' I says. 'Now you ain't dealin' with
a hoss jockey,' I says, 'though I don't deny that I buy an' sell hosses,
an' once in a while make money at it. You're dealin' with David Harum,
Banker, an' I consider 't I'm dealin' with a lady, or the father of one
on her account,' I says.

"'He-uh, he-uh! I meant no offense, sir,' he says.

"'None bein' meant, none will be took,' I says. 'Now,' I says,' I was
offered one-seventy-five fer that hoss day before yestidy, an' wouldn't
take it. I can't sell him fer that,' I says.

"'He-uh, uh! cert'nly not,' he says.

"'Wait a minit,' I says. 'I can't sell him fer that because I
_said_ I wouldn't; but if you feel like drawin' your check fer
one-seventy-_six_,' I says, 'we'll call it a deal,'" The speaker
paused with a chuckle.

"Well?" said John.

"Wa'al," said David, "he, he, he, he! That clean took the wind out of
him, an' he got redder 'n a beet. 'He-uh-uh-uh-huh! really,' he says, 'I
couldn't think of offerin' you less than two hunderd.'

"'All right,' I says, 'I'll send up fer the hoss. One-seventy-six is my
price, no more an' no less,' an' I got up out o' my chair."

"And what did he say then?" asked John.

"Wa'al," replied Mr. Harum, "he settled his neck down into his collar
an' necktie an' cleared his throat a few times