Edward fell—­that is, he sat still; sat with a conscience which was not satisfied, but which was overpowered by circumstances.

Meantime a stranger, who looked like an amateur detective gotten up as an impossible English earl, had been watching the evening’s proceedings with manifest interest, and with a contented expression in his face; and he had been privately commenting to himself.  He was now soliloquising somewhat like this:  “None of the Eighteen are bidding; that is not satisfactory; I must change that—­the dramatic unities require it; they must buy the sack they tried to steal; they must pay a heavy price, too—­some of them are rich.  And another thing, when I make a mistake in Hadleyburg nature the man that puts that error upon me is entitled to a high honorarium, and some one must pay.  This poor old Richards has brought my judgment to shame; he is an honest man:—­I don’t understand it, but I acknowledge it.  Yes, he saw my deuces—­and with a straight flush, and by rights the pot is his.  And it shall be a jack-pot, too, if I can manage it.  He disappointed me, but let that pass.”

He was watching the bidding.  At a thousand, the market broke:  the prices tumbled swiftly.  He waited—­and still watched.  One competitor dropped out; then another, and another.  He put in a bid or two now.  When the bids had sunk to ten dollars, he added a five; some one raised him a three; he waited a moment, then flung in a fifty-dollar jump, and the sack was his—­at $1,282.  The house broke out in cheers—­then stopped; for he was on his feet, and had lifted his hand.  He began to speak.

“I desire to say a word, and ask a favour.  I am a speculator in rarities, and I have dealings with persons interested in numismatics all over the world.  I can make a profit on this purchase, just as it stands; but there is a way, if I can get your approval, whereby I can make every one of these leaden twenty-dollar pieces worth its face in gold, and perhaps more.  Grant me that approval, and I will give part of my gains to your Mr. Richards, whose invulnerable probity you have so justly and so cordially recognised to-night; his share shall be ten thousand dollars, and I will hand him the money to-morrow. [Great applause from the house.  But the “invulnerable probity” made the Richardses blush prettily; however, it went for modesty, and did no harm.] If you will pass my proposition by a good majority—­I would like a two-thirds vote—­I will regard that as the town’s consent, and that is all I ask.  Rarities are always helped by any device which will rouse curiosity and compel remark.  Now if I may have your permission to stamp upon the faces of each of these ostensible coins the names of the eighteen gentlemen who—­”

Nine-tenths of the audience were on their feet in a moment—­dog and all—­and the proposition was carried with a whirlwind of approving applause and laughter.

They sat down, and all the Symbols except “Dr.”  Clay Harkness got up, violently protesting against the proposed outrage, and threatening to—­