So Gridley stood there and shouted and perspired till the sun went down; and when the crowd dispersed he had sold the sack to three hundred different people, and had taken in eight thousand dollars in gold.

And still the flour sack was in his possession.
The news came to Virginia, and a telegram went back: "Fetch along your flour sack!" Thirty-six hours afterward Gridley arrived, and an afternoon mass meeting was held in the Opera House, and the auction began.

But the sack had come sooner than it was expected; the people were not thoroughly aroused, and the sale dragged.

At nightfall only five thousand dollars had been secured, and there was a crestfallen feeling in the community.

However, there was no disposition to let the matter rest here and acknowledge vanquishment at the hands of the village of Austin.