Robert picked it up, it was a check for two hundred dollars.
During the jubilation which followed, a telegraph boy pounded
vigorously at the door, but he might as well have kept still, since his
efforts were unheard. Finally he opened it, and utterly unabashed by
the spectacle of a gentleman kissing a lady, and the lady seeming to
enjoy it, he fairly shrieked: "TELEGRAM."
Katherine vanished instantly, and Carroll read the despatch.
"Picture sold for highest price. Purchaser unknown.
"STANLEY & BROWN."
The mythical "quail on toast" became a reality that night, and the
house seemed far too small to hold so much exuberant joy. In the
morning, they went together to Stanley & Brown's to collect the picture
money, and start a "really truly bank account," as Katherine said.
The firm was quite at a loss to know who the purchaser was, as he took
the picture away with him in a carriage, and paid cash instead of
by check, but the man who helped him put it on the back seat of the
carriage reported that he had muttered to himself, as he was climbing
in: "That's her! That's the girl what done it!" This may have given Mr.
and Mrs. Carroll some clue to the identity of the unknown benefactor.