Then one of the strangers named a ridiculously small sum, which Steel, amid a burst of laughter from all those who knew the state of his finances, immediately doubled, whereupon the bidder advanced his offer by a hundred dollars.
"Another five hundred on to that!" cried Steel; and when my foreman, Thorn, followed his cue with a shout of, "I'll go three hundred better," the merriment grew boisterous. The spectators were strung up and uncertain in their mood. Very little, I could see, would rouse them to fierce anger, and, perhaps, for that reason any opening for mirth came as a relief to them. I had now drawn up close behind the table which formed the common center for every man's attention, and, scanning the faces about it, saw Lane's darken when the stranger called out excitedly, "I'll raise him two hundred and fifty."
Lane rewarded Thorn with a vicious glance, and growled under his breath. Next he whispered something to the auctioneer, who disregarded it, while a few minutes later the bidder, holding his hand up for attention, said:
"I withdraw my last offer. I came here to do solid business and not fool away my time competing with irresponsible parties who couldn't put up enough money to buy the chicken-house. Is this a square sale, Mr. Auctioneer, or is anybody without the means to purchase to be allowed to force up genuine buyers for the benefit of the vendor?"
"That's Lane's dummy, and I'm going to do some talking now," said Steel.
I was inclined to fancy that the usurer, perhaps believing there was no such thing as commercial honesty, had badly mistaken his man, or that the auctioneer, guided by his own quick wits, saw through his scheme, for he smote upon the table for attention.
"This is a square sale, so square that I can see by the vendor's looks he would sooner realize half-value than countenance anything irregular. I took it for granted that these gentlemen had the means to purchase, as I did in your own case. No doubt you can all prove your financial ability."
"One of them is still in debt," added the bidder.
I had moved close behind Lane, and fancied I heard him say softly to himself: "I'll fix you so you'll be sorry for your little jokes by-and-by."
A diversion followed. Goodwill to myself, hatred of the usurer, and excitement, may perhaps have prompted them equally, for after the would-be purchaser's challenge those of my neighbors who had escaped better than the rest clustered about Steel, who had hard work to record the rolls of paper money thrust upon him. Hardly had his rival laid down a capacious wallet upon the table than Steel deposited the whole beside it.