He was willing to take for
granted that Littleton, as a gentleman, would give him the order in case
he decided to buy, which would add another customer to his list. But his
suggestion was chiefly disinterested.
"I'm afraid I know very little about such matters," Littleton responded
with a smile. "I never owned but ten shares of stock in my life." Then,
by way, perhaps, of showing that he was not indifferent to all the good
things which the occasion afforded, he said, indicating a picture on the
opposite wall: "That is a fine piece of color."
Williams, having discharged his obligations as a host, was willing to
exchange the stock-market as a topic for his own capacity as a lightning
appreciator and purchaser of objects of art.
"Yes," he said, urbanely, "that is a good thing. I saw it in the
shop-window, asked the price and bought it. I bought two other pictures
at the same time. 'I'll take that, and that, and that,' I said, pointing
with my cane. The dealer looked astonished. He was used, I suppose, to
having people come in and look at a picture every day for a fortnight
before deciding. When I like a thing I know it. The three cost me
eighteen hundred dollars, and I paid for them within a week by a turn in
the market.
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