Page:The Young Auctioneers.djvu/121

Rh them. I'll show those ladies the jewelry, and try to make some more private sales."

To this Matt agreed, and he was soon playing a lively air that caused all of the young men and boys to gather around him.

"Any one can play if he has music in him and such an instrument as this in his possession," he argued, after he had finished. "To show that it is all right and in perfect tune, I will put up the one I have been playing upon. How much am I offered?"

"Ten cents!" cried a boy standing close at hand.

"Ten cents I am offered. Ten ce"

Matt got no further, for at that moment a loud cry upon the street drowned out every other sound.

"Look out for the bear! He is mad!"

"He is coming this way!"

"Scatter for your lives!"

These and a hundred other cries rent the air. Then came a crash of window glass, and the next moment a huge brown bear leaped into the show window, not over two yards away from where Matt was standing.