"I'd be glad to put two or three more
ex-convicts to work on our place if I could get them. And so would my
friends; they can't get workmen of any kind."
That afternoon the picture dealer came. Miss Sherwood introduced Larry
to him as Mr. Brandon, her cousin, and then left the two men together.
Larry appraised Mr. Graham as a shrewd man who knew his business and
who would like to score a triumph in his own particular field. He
decided that the dealer had to be handled with a great deal of
frankness, and with some stiff bluffing which must appear equally
frank. The secret of Larry's earlier success had been to establish
confidence and even enthusiasm in something which had little or no
value. In selling an honest thing at an honest price, the first and
fundamental procedure was the same, to establish confidence and, if
possible, enthusiasm.
From the moment of introduction Larry quietly assumed the manner of an
art collector who was very sure of himself; which manner was abetted
by the setting of the Sherwood library. He felt something of the old
zest when wits had been matched against wits, even though this was to
be a strictly honorable enterprise.
"You know the work of Mr. Jerome Hunt?" he asked.
"I have handled practically all his work since he began to sell,"
replied Mr.
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