"Just so," he went on, "our friend Heins has been afloat himself, and setting the country afloat, and he comes back, taking for granted that all is as he left it." "And is it not?" asked Heins. "What has happened?" "Only such a variation in the exchange with England as will frighten you, if you are no wiser than our Bank Directors. You should see their emissaries peering about on 'change----" Vanderput put a stop to this mode of exemplification of the state of commerce. He would allow no disrespectful mention in his presence of the body of which he was a member. It was the business of the reigning burgomasters to ascertain daily the course of exchange: but they could see an inch before their noses, as well as any bill broker on 'change, and left it to women and the superannuated to tremble at the sentence, that the exchange had turned against Holland. "What becomes of our profits now?" said Heins. "Must we let them be swallowed up by the premium which I suppose bills on England now bear in the market?" "Only your extraordinary profits. You are not going to be rich so soon as you dreamed you should be: but neither are you going to be impoverished." "By the variation in the exchange," added Vanderput, gravely. "If Mr. Snoek is to be impoverished, it will be by other accidents." Before Heins had time to ask the meaning of this, Mr. Visscher went on. "You should see the bustle of the exporters on our quays. There are Toll and Co., who so lately stood enviously watching the briskness of your doings, you remember, Mr. Snoek; their time is now come. You and your brethren imported at such a rate that you made bills on England scarce in the market. Toll and Co., of course, got such a premium on those which they held, as to be able to ship off many more kinds of goods than they could have ventured upon while they had to part with their bills at a discount. They have been lading ship after ship; and you may now have time to see them clear out; for I conclude you will not go on to import as you have done of late." "To be sure not," said Vanderput. "Our profits on many articles are not such as to afford the premium on bills made necessary by the present scarcity. We must, for the present, confine our business to exporting only those articles which will afford the usual profits, after the premium is paid." Heins sighed deeply at the prospect of his grand schemes remaining in abeyance at the very time that he fancied he should be making all Amsterdam stare at the magnificence of his importations. The cool, sagacious Vanderput rebuked the sigh.