He offered them one hundred and fifty dollars for it, which they accepted on condition that they should have a day to remove their other possessions. He had no sooner bought it than he took a lump of charcoal and marked on the tent in large letters "For Sale," and in two hours had sold it for two hundred and fifty dollars, to the amazement of the previous owners, still sitting under its shade, who had not thought of the simple device of advertising their desire to sell.

When San Francisco harbor was filled with ships deserted by their crews, Huntington was offered large quantities of ship's bread at a very low price, and bought all he could get, foreseeing that some day all these ships would sail away home and would then need supplies; and when this came to pass, and he sold at a great advance, those who had thought him foolish wondered they had not foreseen the event also. Old Californians say that in those early days, when anybody in Sacramento was "stuck" with a consignment of something which had no sale, he went to Huntington, who was pretty sure to buy if the article was cheap enough, and very certain, after a while, to resell it at a handsome profit. Those who knew him in those days say that he was always content with a fair profit; that he soon became known as a man who never misrepresented the article he wished to sell, and that his customers increased rapidly because he left them also the opportunity to make a good profit. There is a story told of him that he once bought several hundred grain cradles, which had lain for a long time in the owner's loft. Huntington unpacked them, showed them on the street, and presently, as he had foreseen, there was a brisk demand for them.