set upon not having
anything in his house that was not genuine. Now under any other
circumstances, mind you, I should have had my doubts about that suite,
but if you can assure me that it came from Dr. Transome's house, why,
there's no more to be said about it. I'm a bidder."

Burton shook his head gravely.

"I am sorry," he declared, "but the frontispiece of the catalogue is
certainly a little misleading. To tell you the truth, sir, there are
very few articles here from Dr. Transome's house at all. The bulk of
his effects were distributed among relatives. What we have here is a
portion of the kitchen and servant's bedroom furniture."

"Then where on earth did all this dining-room and library furniture come
from?" the old gentleman demanded.

Burton looked around him and back again at his questioner. There was no
evading the matter, however.

"The great majority of it," Burton admitted, "has been sent in to us for
sale from dealers and manufacturers."

The little old gentleman was annoyed. Instead of being grateful, as he
ought to have been, he visited his annoyance upon Burton, which was
unreasonable.

"Deliberate swindling, sir--that's what I call it," he proclaimed,
rolling up the catalogue and striking the palm of his hand with it.
"All the way from Camberwell I've come, entirely on the strength of what
turns out to be a misrepresentation. There's the bus fare there and
back--six-pence, mind you--and a wasted morning. Who's going to
recompense me, I should like to know? I'm not made of sixpences."

Burton's hand slipped into his pocket. The little old gentleman
sniffed.

"You needn't insult me, young fellow," he declared. "I've a friend or
two here and I'll set about letting them know the truth."

He was as good as his word. The woman who had departed had also found
her sympathizers. Mr. Waddington watched the departure of a little
stream of people with a puzzled frown.

"What's the matter with them all?" he muttered. "Come here, Burton."

Burton, who had been standing a little in the background, endeavoring to
escape further observation until the commencement of the sale, obeyed
his master's summons promptly.

"Can't reckon things up at all," Mr. Waddington confided. "Why aren't
you round and amongst 'em, Burton, eh? You're generally such a good 'un
at rubbing it into them. Why, the only two people I've seen you talk to
this morning have left the place! What's wrong with you, man?"

"I only wish I