An English auctioneer tells the following story:
I had eight acres of land to sell, and there was one landowner
in the district, whom I will call Mr. Robinson, who was very
anxious to secure this particular piece of land because it
adjoined his own estate. He had already attempted to acquire it
by private arrangement, but the negotiations had fallen through.
Being engaged at the funeral of a relative on the day of the
sale, he left very definite instructions with his butler, who
had only entered his service a day or two before, to attend the
sale and buy the land at any price. The butler duly came to the
sale and took up his station in the old chimney-corner, out of
sight of every one excepting myself. It so happened, however,
that Mr. Robinson was back from the funeral earlier than he
expected, and, going to the sale and failing to observe his
butler, began the bidding with an offer of $2,500. Up and up
went the price, the landowner and the butler bidding against
one another like Trojans, until at last the field was knocked
down to the latter at $7,500. The feelings of Mr. Robinson and
the amusement of the company may be easily imagined when the
purchaser remarked in a quiet voice, “For Mr. Robinson. Here’s
his check for you to fill in for the deposit.”
Fortunately, Mr. Robinson was anything but a poor man, and
he had benefited to the tune of $200,000 in the loss of his
relative, so the few extra thousands he paid did not hurt him.
(110)