Jack frowned angrily. "I suppose that darned old high-boy I just bought for a top-notch figure, could have been purchased at this man's city shop for half the price! Now I have to pay to have it crated and shipped back to New York." "Oh, this 'fixer' will move it back in his trucks for a neat sum," said Eleanor. Her companions laughed. Polly then reminded him: "I said _not_ to bid on it! I knew it would go too high for us to bother with." Carl now drove up to the house, and Mrs. Courtney bid them good-day, having reminded Polly that she and Eleanor were to telephone her at their first opportunity. Polly could not help speaking of the "fixed" sale of antiques, and Eleanor said: "That is why everything brought such awfully high prices. The articles must have had a set price on them to begin with, and when Mr. Van Styne offered a thing, the dealer was there to run it to a figure beyond the given price on the books. I am surprised that the old auctioneer would do such a thing." "I don't believe he knew the sale was what we call 'padded'; for he seems too conscientious a man to lend himself to such a deception," remarked Mrs. Fabian. "If he was just hired to sell the stuff, regardless of how it got out to Parsippany, and told to follow book-orders, he had no choice, had he?" asked Polly. "He looks such an honest old fellow, I don't believe he even knew the goods came from a New York dealer. Just because he _is_ so honest, is one reason why people who knew him will listen to his advice and for the same reason a clever New York dealer would hire him. I wouldn't be surprised, if you girls hear from him, some day, to the effect that he is shocked to learn that this sale was not on the level as far as the yarn went," said Jack. "Well, I'd feel better if he did. I really feel hurt, now, to think he might be as tricky as that other dealer," said Polly. "But it would not be called 'tricky,' Polly, in clever business circles," said Mrs. Fabian. "Maybe not, but to me it looks a lot like selling goods under false representations. I'd rather not sell anything than have to sell that way." "When you come right down to 'brass tacks' and study out the whole scheme of things, Polly, we might be accused of tricky works, too," remarked Eleanor. "What do you mean?" demanded Polly, astonished. "Well, when you think of how we got that pair of old candle-sticks in exchange for a brass lamp! We had no lamp to exchange, but Mrs. Fabian rushed off to a store and got one. Then there were those old pictures at Van Styne's. We were afraid he'd suspect them of being valuable, so we dusted them well again, as they had been originally, and placed them with two others to make a 'job lot' of them, to hide the facts about them."