"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. I don't think
I shall be afraid to trust you, Paul."
Once more, with the ring carefully wrapped in a paper and deposited in
his pocketbook, Paul started uptown. Tiffany, whose fame as a jeweler
is world-wide, was located on Broadway. He had not yet removed to his
present magnificent store on Union Square.
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