54 AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND 



pipe hat. Can I go in ? yes you can ; he was hardly 

 in when he noticed our Vanda, though he did not know 

 then a Yanda from a Dendrobium. Is not that an Or- 

 chid ? I told him it was. Have we got it ? I do not know; 

 you ought to. No! but you know better than I do 

 what we have, for we get almost every thing from you; 

 how much is it worth ? I d id not believe he wanted to 

 buy any thing any more than I wanted to drown my- 

 self, so I told him I suppose that to-day you could buy 

 one in London for about what I paid, $15 or 20. Well, 

 he said I will take it ; very well ! but I do not want to 

 sell it. I have only this one ; I keep it. By J . . . . or 

 some other expression, I ask you how much it is worth; 

 I give you the maximum price, $20, and you say you 

 do not want to let me have it. It is mine ; so saying 

 he put his hand in his vest pocket to pay me, but he 

 had no money. When I saw him in that mood I thought 

 it was no use arguing, and I told him you will pay me 

 with a few other items you owe me. No ! I want to 

 pay it right away, so he called one of his two friends 

 and said J. B. C. lend me $20. What ! he answered, 

 you must have a good reputation for solvability if yon 

 cannot be trusted for such an amount. He will trust 

 me, but I see that if I do not pay him he will not send 

 me the plant ; he was right ; when I found he had no 

 money I made up my mind at once that I would not 

 send the plant, thinking after he would be gone he 



