The pawnbroker turned the brooch over in his hand and was examining it very closely and carefully.
Then he proposed,
“I’ll give you seventy pounds for it and I wants one hundred pounds back when you redeems it.”
Knowing the value of her mother’s diamonds, Aletha knew that she was being cheated, but she was not prepared to argue about it.
“I will accept that,” she said, “as long as you promise me that you will not sell it in the meantime. It belonged to my mother and I could not bear to part with it for long.”
The old man looked at her penetratingly as if he was questioning whether or not she was speaking the truth.
Then unexpectedly he smiled.
“I believe you,” he said, “but another time don’t be so careless. Young ladies of your age shouldn’t be patronising pawnbrokers.”
“It is som
