"I don't want any to-day. If I should want some next week, I
will come in."
"It will be older next week," said Eliakim, not wanting to lose
the bargain, for he hoped it would not be redeemed.
"Never mind; I can get along till then."
"Can I do no business with you this morning?" asked Eliakim,
disappointed.
"I don't know," said Paul, looking carelessly around. "My friend
here would like a fiddle, if he can get one cheap. What do you
ask for that one up there?"
Eliakim took down the fiddle with alacrity. He had had it on
hand for a year without securing a customer. It had originally
been pawned by a poor musician, for a dollar and a quarter, but
the unfortunate owner had never been able to redeem it. Among
his customers, the pawnbroker had not found one sufficiently
musical to take it off his hands. Here was a slight chance, and
he determined to effect a sale if he could.
"It is a splendid instrument," he said, enthusiastically,
brushing off the dust with a dirty cotton handkerchief. "I have
had many chances to sell it."
"Why didn't you sell it, then?" demanded Paul, who did not
believe a word of this.
"Because it was only pawned.
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