An Unconscious Bidder.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 10 July 1914, Page 2

An Unconscious Bidder.

Holding aloft a flashy timepiece,' the auctioneer exclaimed, grandiloquently :— "We have here a genuine goldfilled, Elgin-movement, full-jewelled, hand-engraved chronometer, made to sell at twenty guineas. To start the bidding I am going to offer it at the ridiculously low figure of five pounds." After waiting for the full Import of his words to be grasped by his hearers, the auctioneer began, in a monotone :— "Five—can I get five—can I get the five ?" A small man near the front of the crowd slightly inclined his head. "Five—can 1 get the ten ? Tencan I ; s?et the ten ? Five " To the surprise of everybody, including the auctioner, the same man signalled again. "Fifteen —can I get the twenty? Fifteen—can i get. the twent " Noticing that the little man appeared to be growing restless, and fearing to take any more chances on him, the auctioneer suddenly concluded :— "And sold to the little man in the brown suit." When, the watch was passed to him, the man in the brown suit indignantly refused it. , "I didn't bid for it at all," he said, "and I am not going to buy it !" "If you didn't intend to buy it," erie-el the auctioneer, "why did you keep nodding your head ?" "I couldn't help it," the man in the brown suit replied. "I've got the hiccoughs !"

There are seventy-five pyramids in

Fgypt ?