Digitised Manuscripts and Books

confiding turn of mind and believe implicitly what the dealer tells them. On seeing a cabinet or a vase in such a one's 1€ be house the dealer says he knows the very companion of it in t hancs of one of his clients , who , to make a pair would give a far price than could otherwise be obtained , and the owner ht in the trap partly by his desire to please the dealer 169) aid, part byrtio Volease Anica -elident: Another favourite trick with a dealer is to pretend to the owner that his works of art 4 are not placed to advantage, and ermission to be — then beg allowed to rearrange them . He zealously sets to work , but kes care to eliminate the one article on which he has fixed ct iy) wy his greedy eye. Having completed his labours he carelessly o ¢ remarks that he will be glad to relieve his host of the incubus, and the latter is so well pleased with the improved arrangement that he too is victimised. I remember a case in which a dealer gave a remarkable proof of his adroitness and craft . To recruit after an urnished house at a water- sy) Kh arduous season in London he hired ing place for the autumn . There , put away in a remote corner he discovered a magnificent garniture of Sévres vases. He kept his discovery to himself , but after a time he loudly proeclaim- ed that the air of this particular watering place suited him and his children so well that he would visit it every autumn , 45 as the house answered his requirements perfectly he entered or an into negotiations for its purchase , together with all its contents . The negotiations were concluded to the satisfaction of all parties concerned , but as soon as the contract was signed the dealer found out that after all the air was not so