Page:The Black Cat v06no11 (1901-08).djvu/9

Rh auctions. The home place was littered with objects of no particular use which a persuasive voice and all insistent hammer had forced upon him in more prosperous yearn. In his heart lie cherished a faint hope that a good horse, even though a circus horse, might be bought at the auction for little money. Horner after home was put up, and on each likely one Uncle Abner bid, and heard in every instance with sinking heart some one go above his fifty-dollar margin. A stout man with a hoarse voice, wearing a narrow-brimmed straw hat and a checkered vest and displaying a huge watch-chain, purchased most of the homes, listening to Uncle Abner's offers with a quiet smile. He noted the fifty-dollar limit.

The zebra and the sacred cow had gone cheap, and the monkeys were sold to a magic-lantern man who was branching out. Now only Gunga Din and two white ponies remained. Over these the auctioneer grew eloquent, obviously directing his remarks at the man with the red face and the checkered vest.

"I am going to bunch these three animals, because together they perform the most marvellous act ever witnessed in the sawdust arena. Each of them alone is a Solomon for wisdom in its line; combined, they beat a justice of the peace. I am not going to tell you all they know—for I don't know it all myself—and, anyway, I do not wish to make any of you blush for your ignorance. The two ponies are five years old and perfectly sound. Gunga Din is old enough and knows enough to vote, and if you don't think him in perfect condition, watch him eat.

"This the three will do: With clowns on their backs, the ponies start to race with Gunga Din. They gain on him, but as they pass he reaches out with his trunk and lifts the riders from the backs of the ponies to his own. Here they must remain until the ponies pass him a second time, when he replaces the riders upon their backs. So well grounded is Gunga Din in this trick that he will perform it under any circumstances; indeed, he insists on carrying out his part of the programme if the ponies pass him. Now, what do you say to this? How much in cash?"

The man with the watch-chain laughed.

"I don't want 'em bad," he said. "It would take the price of one of your townships to get 'em back to New York. But I hear