t more than that from Rivers. Colonel Rand was talking
to Rivers, this afternoon. Colonel Rand doesn't have any confidence in
Rivers at all, and he doesn't care who knows it."

"You were talking to Arnold Rivers, this afternoon, about the
collection?" Dunmore demanded of Rand.

"That's right," Rand confirmed. "I told him his ten thousand dollar offer
was a joke. Stephen Gresham and his friends can top that out of one
pocket. Finally, he got around to admitting that he's willing to pay up
to twenty-five thousand."

"I don't believe it!" Dunmore exclaimed angrily. "Rivers told me
personally, that neither he nor any other dealer could hope to handle
that collection profitably at more than ten thousand."

"And you believed that?" Nelda demanded. "And you're a business man? _My
God!_"

"He's probably a good one, as long as he sticks to pancake flour,"
Geraldine was generous enough to concede. "But about guns, he barely
knows which end the bullet comes out at. Ten thousand was probably his
idea of what we'd think the pistols were worth."

Dunmore ignored that and turned to Rand. "Did Arnold Rivers actually tell
you he'd pay twenty-five thousand dollars for the collection?" he asked.
"I can't believe that he'd raise his own offer like that."

"He didn't raise his offer; I threw it out and told him to make one that
could be taken seriously." Rand repeated, as closely as he could, his
conversation with the arms-dealer. When he had finished, Dunmore was
frowning in puzzled displeasure.

"And you think he's actually willing to pay that much?"

"Yes, I do. If he handles them right, he can double his money on the
pistols inside of five years. I doubt if you realize how valuable those
pistols are. You probably defined Mr. Fleming's collection as a 'hobby'
and therefore something not to be taken seriously. And, aside from the
actual profit, the prestige of handling this collection would be worth
a good deal to Rivers, as advertising. I haven't the least doubt that he
can raise the money, or that he's willing to pay it."

Dunmore was still frowning. Maybe he hated being proved wrong in front of
the women of the family.

"And you think Gresham and his friends will offer enough to force him to
pay the full amount?"

Rand laughed and told him to stop being naive. "He's done that, himself,
and what's more, he knows it. When he told me he was willing to go as
high as twenty-five thousand, he fixed the price. Unless somebody of