llowed an unpleasant time or suspense, made the
more unpleasant by the fact that he had to look out for the postman as
he did not want the return letter to fall into Julia's hands. At last,
after a longer time than he expected, the reply came safely to hand.
This was it--

"SIR,

"I am obliged to decline your offer of the streaked daffodil
bulb, the price you name being absurd. To tell the plain
truth, I would rather not do business with you in the
matter; I prefer to deal with principals, else in these
cases there is little guarantee of good faith.

"Yours faithfully,

"ALEXANDER CROSS."

"P. S.--If you should fail to dispose of your bulb elsewhere
and it would be a convenience to you, I will give you a five
pound note for it, that is, if you can guarantee it genuine.
It is not, under the circumstances, worth more to me.

"A. C."

So the Captain read and then re-read; anger, mortification and
disappointment preventing him from grasping the full meaning at
first. Five pounds, only five pounds! No wonder Julia would not sell
her bulb; no wonder she preferred to keep a present that would only
fetch five pounds! What was such a trifle? The Captain glared at the
letter as he asked himself the question proudly. His pride was badly
wounded. Cross had not set him right in his mistaken idea of the
daffodil's value too politely; at least he thought not. Why should he,
this tradesman, say he preferred to deal with principals? Did he
imagine that a gentleman would attempt to sell him a spurious bulb?
The Captain's honour was not of that sort and he felt outraged. He
felt outraged, too, almost insulted, at being told that the price was
absurd. The absurd thing was that he should be expected to know
anything about trade or trade prices. "The man can have no idea of my
position," he thought.

But there he was not quite correct; it was precisely because he had a
suspicion of the position that Cross had written thus. No one with any
right to it would offer the true bulb for twenty pounds; either, so he
argued, it was stolen or not genuine; which, he did not know, the odds
were about even. After making a few inquiries at Marbridge into
Captain Polkington's history he came to the conclusion that the chance
in favour of the true bulb wa