Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1851-01-09
sloriod. bargain had slipped between his

S'oi' udi iSdiu Hau sllTpeu between his
fingers Nj" M --la
Go round TO the desk,' said the auction.
eer, handing the watch and chain to his ac-
conplice behind the counter. The clerk
VIII receive the money aud give you a re-
ceipt and The watch. 1t is too bad that prop
erty should be titus sacrificed, but the unior-
iuIiate subject Of Queen Victoria must have
the money!
But havn'r the money now said Peter
Funk IN a we!l-iuned voice i'm here from
the West, purchasing goods, and shall hav e
ihe money Tomorrow III the forenoon
what business have You thus 10 bid, and
retard our sales, and interrupt our business,
wlien you have no money! replied the auc-
'ioneer, appearing quile angry, and much
netlled. 'Didn'i tell you the money must
te paid before o'clock this afternoon 2
VIII give you Il ten dollar bill as a for
felt il ! do not pay the whole in the morn
ing answered Peter Funk IN voice which
seemed 10 tell how much he wanted the
watch. s..r,. -tf
No boys play here. SIR said The auction
GER the articles must be sold Tor the mon
ey. ] shall put them up again. Who bids
for this watch, one of Tobias best 2
Several Peter Funks now start the watch
"SaH, anu out Sdp'dtu SIuNS IHOfe dIAlOuS
to have the Tobias watch. lie bids less
cautiously Than lie did at first, and Mr. Funk
who hadn't the money, acts his part very
| adrOitly. Again lie examines the watch, and
becomes The fast friend and adviser of our
captain, regrettmg his want of funds, and
whispering in the captains ear The great
value OF the watch, and pronouncing it more
Than eighteen carcIs fine gold The bait
faEn Il l.II
while the other Peter FunkS are running him
up, and appearing determined TO have tie
article. Tie captain had bid as high as
| S32 at ille first mock sale, but he now ven
lures as hugh as SIS. The watch and chain
are struck oil TO him, aud the business is
! hurried through. The captain pays the
| money, aud receives the articles winch are
| not worth five dollar gold piece.
| The auctioneer. during the whole process,
never pronounced the watch and Cham TO
be gold, bur his Peter Funks did that for
| him most essentially The watch was gal
vanlzed, and Tobias name engraved upon
the inside. | watched The proceedings, and
thought The captain was an Eastern man.
| When lie went ont followed him down in
| TO Broadway, overlook aud conveIsed with
! him. asked hlm where he was from, and
|
less:on. then recolecied him, and ex-
| pressed my surprise that lie could he thus
lumbugged in New York We then exam :
med the watch and found i, to be almost
worthless.
We'll, he said, that man who bid il off
| first would have got shaved worse than
| have
Not bit Of it, replied, giving him a
| full description o! the varied characters OF
the Peter Funks who tigdre at these moe
auctloas, and he thanked me and we parted.
The above s plain unvarnished tale. Ii
a man who has travelled all over the xorld
can be thus humbugged in this metropolis
| | think II Is besI TO give warning TO all
/ Now Ills captain knew tins was mock
auction, and that they were great cheats
but lre vaniy hoped he might get one good
bargain. at least. He frankly acknowledg geo
| that he dad not understand, at the time, the
character Of Mr.. Funk, who so kindly adj
vlsed him. Such is The way these mock
auctions are conducted. If The eastern sea
captain reads his, lie will at once remember
| all the facts in the case