A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court by Mark Twain Chapter 36 Page 4

from the time I was first enslaved was exorbitant, and always provoked either anger or derision, yet my master stuck stubbornly to it — twenty-two dollars. He wouldn’t bate a cent.

The king was greatly admired, because of his grand physique, but his kingly style was against him, and he wasn’t salable; nobody wanted that kind of a slave. I considered myself safe from parting from him because of my extravagant price. No, I was not expecting to ever belong to this gentleman whom I have spoken of, but he had something which I expected would belong to me eventually, if he would but visit us often enough. It was a steel thing with a long pin to it, with which his long cloth outside garment was fastened together in front. There were three of them. He had disappointed me twice, because he did not come quite