Antique dealers -- Fiction; English fiction -- 20th century
Mr. Hunsaker bowed politely. Posy perceived that he was very
nice-looking, an out-of-doors man, bronzed by wind and sun, a typical
Westerner, probably a rider of bucking bronchos, a man of flocks and
herds. He was quite at his ease with the two women, and—unlike young
Englishmen of his age (he looked about thirty)—able to appreciate what
he saw in words culled from a copious vocabulary. Quinney was delighted
with him. He liked most Americans because they were strivers and
pushers, and free with their dollars. He saw, too, that Posy had made
an immense impression. Hunsaker stared at her with flattering
intensity. Posy, equally at ease, asked him if the town of Hunsaker was
called after him. This mightily pleased her father, because it
established the right atmosphere at once. The "shop" was downstairs.
From beginning to end the little comedy about to be played had been
rehearsed between Tomlin and Quinney. Tomlin had found Hunsaker and
introduced Quinney to him, as the proud owner of the chairs which he,
Tomlin, had wanted to secure. Tomlin had said sorrowfully: "They’re
just what you’re after, Mr. Hunsaker, but this Quinney, queer little
cuss!—bought ’em, I do believe, for himself. He won’t part with his
very best things. He’s quite potty about it!" This had challenged
Hunsaker’s interest. Quinney, seemingly, was a man after his own heart.
He, too, hated to part with certain possessions. He did not as yet know
much about articles of _vertu_, but he wanted to know. An unslakable
thirst for such knowledge consumed many dollars. He answered Posy
breezily—one had a whiff of the prairie, of the Wild West.
"Shall I tell you, Miss Quinney, how that great and growing town came to
be called by my name?"
"Please."
"Well, most of the towns and villages in New Mexico used to be called
after the names of saints and saintesses. When it came to christening
this particular village the boys wanted to name it San Clement, but my
father was of opinion that we were fed up with saints, so he said: ’Hold
hard, why not call this little burg by the name of a sinner!’ And, the
drinks were on the old man, for then and there they called it Hunsaker."
"Was your father a sinner?" asked Posy demurely.
Hunsaker laughed.
"He was a tough old nut when up against the wrong crowd. Ah! the
chairs!"
"Yes," said Quinney carelessly.
"Elegant!" He glanced at the beautiful room with enthusiasm. It made
inordinate demands upon his vocabulary. He racked his brains for the
right words which came. Very solemnly, he observed:
"You have here, Mr. Quinney, an incomparable reservation."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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