"Mr. Waddington," he said, "this is a queer thing that has happened to
us."
"Not a soul would believe it," the auctioneer assented. "No one will
ever believe it. The person who declared that there was nothing new
under the sun evidently knew nothing about these beans!"
Burton leaned across the table.
"Mr. Waddington," he continued, "I was around at Idlemay House this
morning. I went to see what had become of the flower-pot. I found the
little room swept bare. One of the workmen told me that the things had
been stolen."
Mr. Waddington showed some signs of embarrassment. He waited for his
companion to proceed.
"I wanted the rest of those beans," Burton confessed.
Mr. Waddington shook his head slowly.
"I haven't made up my mind about them yet," he said. "Better leave them
alone."
"You do know where they are, then?" Burton demanded breathlessly.
The auctioneer did not deny it.
"I had them removed," he explained "in a somewhat peculiar fashion. The
fact of it is, the new tenant is a very peculiar man and I did not dare
to ask him to give me that little tree. I simply did not dare to run
the risk. It is a painful subject with me, this, because quite
thoughtlessly I endeavored to assume the appearance of anger on
discovering the theft.
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