"They're beautifully glazed," said the owner proudly. "Yes, they'm nice and shiny. 'Tis done by baking 'em. Now you want me to tell you how much they'm worth?" "Suppose I asked you to buy them, how much would you offer?" "I might give ye eighteen pence vor the pair, though I should fancy I wur doing ye a favour. Some folks like these ugly things--I sell a lot o' they china cats wi' the eyes starting out o' their heads--but I would be satisfied if I got a shilling each vor these old vases." "A gentleman told me the other day they were worth a lot of money--hundreds of pounds in fact," said the astounded George. "I believe ye, sir. Plenty o' gentlemen, when they see a bit o' cloam that ain't quite the same as ordinary cloam, will tell ye it's worth money. Cloam is wonderful cheap just now, sir. I can show ye some amazing bargains in vases at half a crown the pair, and far better value than these old china things." "But the gentleman, who told me they were valuable, came from London," George protested. "Well, sir," replied the little provincial, smiling broadly, "ain't that just where all the vules do come from?" There was another china shop in the town, so George tried his fortune there. This shop was kept by a fat lady, who turned sour when George informed her he had not come to purchase anything; and passed into indignation when he had unveiled the vases. "Take 'em away, sir," she said sternly. "I wouldn't show such vulgar stuff in my window if you paid me for it. My establishment is noted for chaste designs--flowers, and birds, and butterflies--little lambs, and shepherdesses--and I deal wi' gentlefolk." "A thing can be ugly, and yet priceless," said George. "It's not the ugliness so much as the obscenity," replied the stout lady, who was herself no gracious object. "They were made, I fancy, by poor benighted heathens; though why people ship such stuff into England, when they can buy cheap and beautiful Christian home-made vases from such establishments as mine, I can't tell ye," she declared, handling one of the treasures so recklessly that George darted forward in great terror. "Oh, you needn't be alarmed," she went on. "If I did break it, I'd give ye another pair, and something to be proud of. I should smash these nasty old things into crocks and put 'em in my flower-pots." George returned to Highfield, wondering greatly. He knew nothing whatever concerning china, and apparently the local experts were no better informed than himself. Crampy, on the other hand, had valued the vases at a thousand pounds, although he admitted the possibility of their being forgeries; he was, however, prepared to pay the money and take the risk. Before reaching home George had fully decided to secure the thousand pounds before he commenced his pilgrimage.