Trust me, I will get the best price I
can for them."
The next day he came up to their room.
"I have had a good offer for the horses," he said. "Two gentlemen,
who arrived yesterday from France, and are staying at the inn of a
friend of mine, are requiring horses for themselves and their
servants, and I have promised my friend a slice of my commission,
if he will bring them round hither. Will you name your price for
them?"
"No, I would rather not," Mr. Jervoise said cautiously. "If we
asked too high a figure, we might frighten the purchasers away. If
we should ask too little, we should be the losers. I daresay they
have named, to your friend, the price they are willing to give. You
had better ask from them a good bit above that, then you can come
down little by little, and maybe, seeing the horses are really good
ones, they may advance a bit. I am not used to a horse deal, and
will leave it to you to make the bargain. We are sorry to part with
the animals, but they might die on the voyage, or get so injured as
to be worthless; and, moreover, we shall have no use for them
there. Therefore, as we must sell, we are ready to take the best
terms we can get."
When they returned to the inn, after an absence of two hours, they
found that the landlord had sold the horses, for a sum nearly
approaching their value, the gentlemen being as anxious to purchase
them as they were to sell.
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