cene, and he took occasion to
welcome them in a manner that could not escape the attention of the
crowd. It was now ten minutes of three, and the auctioneer stepped upon
the temporary platform that had been erected for him, and bringing his
hammer down upon the head of a barrel that had been placed in front of
him, he read, in a loud voice, which reached every portion of the
Square, the printed notice that for several weeks had hung upon the
fences, sheds, and trees of Mason's Corner, Eastborough Centre, West
Eastborough, and Montrose.

It was now three o'clock, for that hour was rung out by the bell on the
Rev. Caleb Howe's church. The auctioneer prefaced his inquiry for bids
by the usual grandiloquence in use by members of that fraternity,
closing his oration with that often-heard remark, "How much am I
offered?"

The Professor, who was standing by the side of Deacon Mason's team,
called out in a loud voice, "Fifteen hundred!"

"Well, I'll take that just for a starter," said the auctioneer, "but of
course no sane man not fitted to be the inmate of an idiotic asylum
thinks that this fine piece of ground, this long-built and
long-established grocery store, filled to overflowing with all the
necessities and delicacies of the season, a store which has been in
successful operation for nearly forty years, and of which the good will
is worth a good deal more than the sum just bid, will be sold for any
such preposterous figure! Gentlemen, I am listening."

Suddenly a voice from the rear of the crowd called out, "T-o-o-t-o to
to-oo-two thousand!"

As if by magic, every head was turned, for the majority of those in the
crowd recognized the voice at once. There was but one man in Mason's
Corner who stammered, and that man was Hiram Maxwell.

They turned, and all saw seated in the Pettengill team Hiram Maxwell,
and beside him sat Mr. Sawyer from Boston.

"Oh, that's more like it," said the auctioneer. "Competition is the life
of trade, and is particularly pleasing to an auctioneer. The first
gentleman who bid now sees that there is another gentleman who has a
better knowledge of the value of this fine property than he has evinced
up to the present moment. There is still an opportunity for him to see
the error of his ways, and put himself on record as being an observing
and intelligent person."

All eyes were turned upon Strout at these words from the auctioneer; his
face reddened, and he called out, "Twenty-five hundred