"
"A hundred dollars!" repeated Jimmy, awestruck at the magnitude
of the sum.
"What shall we do about it, Paul?" asked his mother. "A hundred
dollars will do us more good than the ring."
"I know that, mother. What I propose is, to carry it to Ball &
Black's, or Tiffany's, and sell it for whatever they say it is
worth. They are first-class houses, and we can depend upon fair
treatment."
"Your advice is good, Paul. I think we will follow it. When
will you go?"
"I will go at once. I have nothing else to do, and I would like
to find out as soon as I can how much it will bring. Old
Henderson wanted me to think, at first, that it was only
imitation, and offered me twenty shillings on it. He's an old
cheat. When he found that I wasn't to be humbugged, he raised
his offer by degrees to twenty-five dollars. That was what made
me suspect its value."
"If you get a hundred dollars, Paul," said Jimmy, "you can buy
out the stand."
"That depends on whether mother will lend me the money," said
Paul. "You know it's hers. She may not be willing to lend
without security."
"I am so unaccustomed to being a capitalist," said Mrs. Hoffman,
smiling, "that I shan't know how to sustain the character.
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