Paddington Novels 1-3

sticky?” repeated the auctioneer, passing a hand over his forehead. It really was a most unusual day. Things hadn’t gone at all according to plan. Some items had been sold for far more than he had ever expected. Others – like the preserves stand -were fetching nothing at all. He had a nastyfeeling it had something to do with the young bear in the front row. He seemed to have a very powerful stare and he’d done his best up to now to avoid catching Paddington’s eye.
    “Come, come,” he said, giving a high-pitched laugh. “I’m sure we all enjoy a little joke. Let’s start again. Now – what am I bid for this valuable item?”
    “Nine pence,” said a voice at the back of the hall amid laughter.
    “Ten pence,” said Paddington firmly.
    The laughter died down and there was silence. “If you ask me,” whispered a voice behind Paddington, “that young bear knows something.”
    “It’s probably a fake,” whispered another voice. “After all – it’s not the first thing he’s bought this afternoon.”
    “He’s with old Mr Gruber, too,” whispered the first voice. “And he said he was interested in antiques when he came in. I wouldn’t touch it if I were you.”
    The auctioneer shuddered as he gazed at the preserves stand in his hand. “Any advance on ten pence?” he cried.
    There was another long silence. “Going…” he shouted, raising his hammer and looking around hopefully. “Going…”Still no one spoke. “Gone!”
    He brought his hammer down on the desk with a crash. “Sold to the young bear gentleman in the front row for tenpence.”
    “Thank you very much,” said Paddington, as he hurried up to the table. “I hope you don’t mind if I pay you in pennies but I’ve been saving up in case of an emergency.”
    “Pennies?” said the man. He mopped his brow with a spotted handkerchief. “I don’t know,” he said, turning to his assistant. “I must be getting old. Letting young bears get the better of me at my time of life.”
    “A very good bargain indeed,” said Mr Gruber admiringly, when they were outside the saleroom. He turned Paddington’s preserves stand over in his hands. “I should say it’s worth every penny of fifty pounds.”
    “Fifty pounds?” exclaimed Paddington, staring at Mr Gruber. “Fifty pounds for a marmalade stand?”
    “At least that,” said Mr Gruber. “I’ll put it in my window for you if you like, Mr Brown.”
    Paddington thought hard for a moment. “I think I would like you to have it as a present, Mr Gruber,” he said at last. “I don’texpect you’d have bought the carpentry tools if I hadn’t been at the auction sale.”
    Mr Gruber looked most affected by Paddington’s offer. “That’s very kind of you, Mr Brown,” he said. “Very kind of you indeed. But I know how fond you are of marmalade and I’d much rather you had it. Besides,” he added, “I’ve had a very good day and I think it was worth the price of the carpentry tools just to see the expression on the auctioneer’s face when you offered him ten pence for the preserves stand.”
    Mr Gruber chuckled at the thought. “I don’t think he’s had many dealings with young bears before,” he said.
     
    “I’ve said it before,” remarked Mrs Bird, later that evening, “and I’ll say it again. That bear’s got an eye for a bargain.”
    The Browns were having a late supper before going to bed. Paddington’s ‘antique’ stood in the centre of the table in a place of honour. He had spent most of the evening polishing it until he could see his whiskers in the side and Mrs Bird had opened a new jar of his favourite marmalade especially for the occasion.
    There was a blissful expression onPaddington’s face – that part of it which could be seen behind bread and butter crumbs and smears of marmalade.
    “I think,” he announced, amid general agreement, “preserves taste even nicer when they come out of an antique.
    “Especially,” he added, as he dipped his paw into the marmalade, “a ten-penny one!”

Paddington sat up in bed late that night writing his memories. He had a large leather-bound scrapbook given to him by Mr Gruber in which he kept a record of all his adventures, together with any interesting pictures, and he carefully pasted in the receipt for his ten pence which the auctioneer had given him.
    “When he did eventually fall asleep it was only to dream he was at the auction sale again. He was standing in the middle of the auction rooms