pocket, and, hiding his face in it, blew a long, sonorous blast with his nose.
Then J. T. Maston looked at him, and Mrs. Scorbitt’s eyes took the same direction. And by the paleness of their features it could be seen how keen was the excitement they were striving to subdue. Why did Forster hesitate to outbid the Major?
Forster blew his nose a second time; then, with an even louder blast, he blew it a third time. And between the blasts he quietly observed—
“Two hundred cents!”
A shudder ran through the hall.
The Major seemed overwhelmed, and fell back against Todrin. At this price per square mile, the Arctic regions would cost 814,000 dollars. The Canadian limit had evidently been passed.
“Two hundred cents!” said Gilmour. “Once! Twice! Any advance?” he continued.
The Major looked at the Professor, and the Colonel, and the Dutchman, and the Dane; and the Professor, and the Colonel, and the Dutchman, and the Dane looked at the Major.
“Going! Going!” said the auctioneer.
Every one looked at the codfish man.
“Gone!”
And down came Gilmour’s hammer.
The North Polar Practical Association, represented by William S. Forster, had become the proprietors of the North Pole and its promising neighbourhood. And when William S. Forster had to name the real purchasers, he placidly drawled—“Barbicane & Co!”
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