Avenue. But public opinion is different, of course, in Aurungnugur. What more seemingly was there for a resourceful young business man like Lambert to yearn for over a deal than the indifferent manner in which his Highness regarded the estimated figure of $50,000—thus far the record price in automobiles. His Highness waved the money question aside with a lofty gesture.
“The King of Aurungnugur does not consider the price of what he desires like a one—eyed man in the bazaar," remarked the Raja by the lips of an interpreter. “The design of the American Sahib is satisfactory. That is enough. As to the money, let the American Sahib go and talk with Dunkar Rao, the prime minister. His Highness is impatient to ride in the automobile.”
So Lambert went to talk with the prime and only minister of Aurungnugur. If the treasury was little better than a cellar-like hole in the wall of one of the palace courts, the ample waistband and sleek crafty features of the minister suggested that his office kept him in easy comfort. He greeted Lambert with the officer of a fat hand, ornamented with a large square cut emerald and invited him to a seat at the table which served as the receipt of custom. In one corner a group of babus (clerks) with ink-horns and sand-blotters toted up the finances of the state in a lively chorus. When Lambert began to speak, Dunkar Rao gave an attentive ear, and smacked his thick lips approvineg over the Raja’s decision.
“Wah! Wah!” he exclaimed. “Very good! It shall be settled at once as his Highness wishes."
“You see,” Lambert explained. “Fifty thousand dollars may seem a big price, but with all that silver and expensive stuff the car couldn’t be turned out for less.”
