"Now I knew Dr.
Transome intimately, and he was, without the slightest doubt, a rare
judge of old furniture. I wouldn't mind following him anywhere, or
accepting his judgment about anything. He was very set upon not having
anything in his house that was not genuine. Now under any other
circumstances, mind you, I should have had my doubts about that suite,
but if you can assure me that it came from Dr. Transome's house, why,
there's no more to be said about it. I'm a bidder."
Burton shook his head gravely.
"I am sorry," he declared, "but the frontispiece of the catalogue is
certainly a little misleading. To tell you the truth, sir, there are
very few articles here from Dr. Transome's house at all. The bulk of
his effects were distributed among relatives. What we have here is a
portion of the kitchen and servant's bedroom furniture."
"Then where on earth did all this dining-room and library furniture come
from?" the old gentleman demanded.
Burton looked around him and back again at his questioner. There was no
evading the matter, however.
"The great majority of it," Burton admitted, "has been sent in to us for
sale from dealers and manufacturers."
The little old gentleman was annoyed.
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