"
"How much is it worth?"
"I'll give you three dollars."
"That won't do. I want to raise twenty dollars, and if I can't get that,
I'll keep the ring."
The pawnbroker saw that he had made a mistake. Paul was not as much
in need of money as the majority of his customers. He would rather pay
twenty dollars than lose the bargain, though it went against the grain
to pay so much money. But after pronouncing the stone an imitation, how
could he rise much above the offer he had already made? He resolved to
approach it gradually. Surveying it more closely, he said:
"It is an excellent imitation. I will give you five dollars."
Paul was not without natural shrewdness, and this sudden advance
convinced him that it was, after all, a real stone. He determined to get
twenty dollars or carry the ring home.
"Five dollars won't do me any good," he said. "Give me back the ring."
"Five dollars is a good deal of money," said Eliakim.
"I'd rather have the ring."
"What is your lowest price?"
"Twenty dollars."
"I'll give you eight."
"Just now you said it was worth only three," said Paul, sharply.
"It is very fine gold. It is better than I thought. Here is the money."
"You're a little too fast," said Paul, coolly. "I haven't agreed to part
with the ring for eight dollars, and I don't mean to. Twenty dollars is
my lowest price.
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