He was not
personally known to the caretaker, and on making the usual inquiries,
found the man by no means enthusiastic as to the amenities of the
place, and particularly doubtful as to the drainage, so much so as to
make it plain that any otherwise likely tenant would be repelled.
Knowing that all the sanitary arrangements were in perfect order, he
disclosed his identity, much to the dismay of the caretaker who, of
course, was dismissed.
The person who asks damaging questions of the auctioneer or solicitor
at a property sale, though perhaps not declared the buyer on the fall
of the hammer, not infrequently proves later to have been so, having
employed an agent to bid for him.
At a sale of farm stock and implements I was examining a waggon
practically new, though with no intention of buying, when I was
surprised by a cousin of the vendor volunteering the statement that,
having lately borrowed the waggon, he noticed one of the wheels giving
out a suspicious noise when in use, as if something were wrong. This
was a particularly bad case of "crabbing," as the man eventually
became the purchaser at a high price.
It is an alarming sensation to see one's name on a waggon for the
first time, especially when the vehicle has been wholly repainted in
blue or yellow to represent the owner's supposed political tendencies,
for such was the custom in Worcestershire; but perhaps one's name,
address, and crest on a hop-pocket is more alarming still, when we
remember that twenty or more of these pockets, all marked alike, will
form each of several loads to be carted from a London railway station
to the Borough, the seat of the hop-trade, on the way to the factor's
warehouses, for all beholders to "read, mark, learn, and inwardly
digest.
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