list, or solicited offers, except locally, as yet. But one gentleman has
expressed a willingness to pay up to twenty-five thousand dollars."

Gwinnett's face expressed polite skepticism. "Colonel Rand!" he
protested. "You certainly don't take an offer like that seriously?"

"I think it was made seriously," Rand replied. "A respectable profit
could be made on the collection, even at that price."

Gwinnett's eyes shifted over the rows of horizontal barrels on the walls.
He was almost visibly wrestling with mental arithmetic, and at the same
time trying to keep any hint of his notion of the collection's real value
out of his face.

"Well, I doubt if I could raise that much," he said. "Might I ask who's
making this offer?"

"You might; I'm afraid I couldn't tell you. You wouldn't want me to
publish your own offer broadcast, would you?"

"I think I can guess. If I'm right, don't hold your head in a tub of
water till you get it," Gwinnett advised. "Making a big offer to scare
away competition is one thing, and paying off on it is another. I've seen
that happen before, you know. Fact is, there's one dealer, not far from
here, who makes a regular habit of it. He'll make some fantastic offer,
and then, when everybody's been bluffed out, he'll start making
objections and finding faults, and before long he'll be down to about
a quarter of his original price."

"The practice isn't unknown," Rand admitted.