The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1909-09-03
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
/ AN AUCTION BARGAIN. !
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BY r. E. c. ROBBINS.

k1dEQHdck corner Uncle 6l1an Neal
paused before a large poster, which
he recognized as something new
among the advertisements and notices
that adorned the dingy wall.
Then, after a leisurely reading Of
the announcement, the old man made
his way over to the group near the
stove with an expression on his face
that showed that his mind was work
| ing.
Uncle 'Bijah is going to be re-
minded of some auction that he went
to one time up In Pooduck," was the
whispered prophecy Of a young man
conspicuous among his fellows by his
knowing look and his gaudy red neck
tie.
"Its curious, the old man began,
as he accepted seat on nail keg,
what an attraction an auction always
has for the majority of folks. I've
chased up good many of EN- myself
in my time, and bought a lot of truck,
but never got what should call
real good bargain but once, and that
was by accident, you might say"
"How was that?" asked one Of the
! company, encouragingly.
well, that was lifetime Cap'n Sam
owens household goods were auc-
toned off, about three years before /
moved down here from Pooduck The
cap'n had died rather suddenly
short time before, and his nephew
George, that had got the property, be-
ing next of kin, was an old bachelor,
and had no use for the things.
There was quite crowd at the
auction, and the bidding was mid
| ding brisk. OF course some things
went for little or nothing, and then
| again others fetched full all they
were worth, so it averaged up pretty
we'll didn't seem to see any great
bargain going begging, and don't
know as | should have bid at all if 1t
hadn't been for Lucy Sanborn.
Lucy was the capn's niece, and
/! had kept house for him ever since he
buried his wife. Or, rather, she was
his wife's niece, but the old cap'n
thought lot of her, and everybody
i
OF a girl Lucy was, and pretty.
swell, long toward night Lucy got
me one side, and said she wished that
when the cap'n's old buffalo coat
came to be put up I'd bid it off. The
cap'n had set good deal by the coat,
putting it on early in the fall and
wearing 1t till late in the spring, and
Lucy said it wasn't everybody that
she could bear to see wearing it
round.
"She'd tried to get George not to
put it up, but George was bound to
get every cent out of the sale he
could. You see, the cap'n had left
1pretty good property-three or four
houses in the village, and the grist
mill, and two good sized farms, but
George had expected that there was
quite lot of ready money besides,
and all he could find was about $40,
though he had searched the house
thankful for what he had got, he was
feeling kind of poor on account of
what he hadn't got That is just the
way with folks whose hearts are set
on worldly possessions.
"Well, Lucy was one of the kind
that you can't seem to say no to, and
l promised that I'd buy the coat if it
didn't come too high, though l really
didn't want it. So when the auction
eer took the coat and tried to praise
1t up, and wanted to know what was
offered, spoke up pretty prompt and
said, A dollar and quarter!' And
at that Jim Hoyt sung out, "A dollar
and half
"That riled me, for I knew Jim
wouldn't have bid if he hadn't seen
that was after it. The coat wasn't
any fit for him, for he was as thin as
rail, while the cap'n was stout, like
me. So said, Two dollars!' and
Jim said, Two and quarter!'
"By that time folks were sort of
laughing, and we went at it, and in
less than a jiffy we had run it up to
Sill. Then Jim quit, and had the
coat
Lucy came round after the sale,
and said she was sorry that l had to
pay so much, but she was glad l got
the coat, and she hoped, after all,
that I'd get more than $11 worth of
good out of it.
II didn't by any means think /
should, although didn't tell her so.
The coat was coming to pieces, and
the fur was good deal worn of in
spots. However, I thought / could
get my wife to rip out the old lining
and put in a new one, and maybe it
would come in handy sometimes.