She herself would never have asked the stranger for the bottle if she had had the slightest suspicion of its value; but now it certainly belonged to her, and if she had given it back again she would have given no one any pleasure; on the contrary, she would have offended the stranger, and probably have lost the greatest pleasure that she had ever enjoyed.
What was to be done now?
She was still perched on the table; she had taken her left foot in her right hand, and sitting in this quaint position, she looked down on the ground as gravely as if she were trying to find an idea, or a way out of the difficulty, in the pattern on the floor.
The dealer for a moment amused himself in studying her bewilderment, which he thought charming--only wishing that his son, a young painter, were standing in his place.

At last he broke the silence however, saying: "Your father, perhaps, will not agree to our bargain; and yet it is for him you want the money ?" "Who says so ?" "Would he have offered me his own treasures if he had not wanted money ?" "It is only--I can--only--" stammered Arsinoe, who was unaccustomed to falsehood.

"-- I would merely not confess to him--" "I myself saw how innocently you came by the phial," said the dealer, "and Keraunus never need know anything about such a trifle.

Fancy yourself, that you have broken it, and that the pieces are lying at the bottom of the sea.

Which of all these things does your father value least ?" "This old sword of Antony," answered the child, her face brightening once more.