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"Island for sale! island for sale!" repeated in shrill tones again and again Gingrass, the crier, who was threading his way in and out of the excited crowd closely packed inside the largest saloon in the auction mart at No. 10, Sacramento Street.
Twice!" repeated Gingrass, quite accustomed to this little dialogue with his chief. "Going!" "Going!" "For twelve hundred thousand dollars Spencer Island com plete!" "For twelve hundred thousand dollars!" "That is so? No mistake?" "No withdrawal?" "For twelve hundred thousand dollars, Spencer Island!" The waistcoats rose and fell convulsively.
If not, it would scarcely be the fault of the public crier, who tried his best to tempt buyers by his shoutings and gestures, and the flowery metaphors of his harangue. People laughed at him, but they did not seem much influenced by him. "An island! an isle to sell!" repeated Gingrass. "But not to buy!" answered an Irishman, whose pocket did not hold enough to pay for a single pebble.
It is giving it away!" And one can well believe that, carried away by the jargon of his profession, he was about to add, "The frame alone is worth more than that!" When "Seventeen hundred thousand dollars!" howled Gingrass, the crier. "Eighteen hundred thousand!" replied William W. Kolderup. "Nineteen hundred thousand!" retorted J. R. Taskinar.
"No volcanoes," replied Dean Felporg, "if there were, we could not sell at this price!" An immense shout of laughter followed. "An island to sell! an island for sale!" yelled Gingrass, whose lungs tired themselves out to no purpose. "Only a dollar! only a half-dollar! only a cent above the reserve!" said the auctioneer for the last time, "and I will knock it down! Once! Twice!" Perfect silence.
"Going at twelve hundred thousand dollars!" repeated Gingrass the crier. "You could safely bid more than that," said Oakhurst, the bar-keeper; "William Kolderup will never give in." "He knows no one will chance it," answered the grocer from Merchant Street. Repeated cries of "Hush!" told the two worthy tradesmen to be quiet. All wished to hear. All hearts palpitated.
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