Quote 1
He stood vexedly twitching at his cap-tassel, which fell over by his whisker, and continued: "Well, I am very sorry. In fact, I had something for him here."—Then drawing nearer, "you see, he applied to me for relief, no, I do him injustice, not that, but he began to intimate, you understand. Well, being very busy just then, I declined; quite rudely, too, in a cold, morose, unfeeling way, I fear. At all events, not three minutes afterwards I felt self-reproach, with a kind of prompting, very peremptory, to deliver over into that unfortunate man's hands a ten-dollar bill. You smile. Yes, it may be superstition, but I can't help it; I have my weak side, thank God. Then again," he rapidly went on, "we have been so very prosperous lately in our affairs—by we, I mean the Black Rapids Coal Company—that, really, out of my abundance, associative and individual, it is but fair that a charitable investment or two should be made, don't you think so?" (9, 10)
Want someone to think that your hot tip on a stock is something worth investing in? Drop into the conversation how much money you've made. Tassel super casually humble-brags about his company and how much it made on the stock market, so the scholar feels like he's getting secret info. The icing on the cake comes when Tassel says he made so much money he wants to donate some.
"Dear me, you don't think of doing any business with me, do you? In my official capacity I have not been authenticated to you. This transfer-book, now," holding it up so as to bring the lettering in sight, "how do you know that it may not be a bogus one? And I, being personally a stranger to you, how can you have confidence in me?"
"Because," knowingly smiled the good merchant, "if you were other than I have confidence that you are, hardly would you challenge distrust that way." (10, 51-52)
Hello, here's Tassel again. This shifty fellow has changed his tactic slightly. Instead of playing the innocent stockbroker type (isn't that an oxymoron?), he's playing hard to get. Rather than asking for confidence, he uses reverse psychology, and it works. The country merchant eats it up.