To borrow money is a hard piece of work, and he who writes this knows
it by many years' experience, and can speak of it accordingly; but it
makes a difference whether one appeals to the kindness of an old
friend, or turns to a man who makes a business of this business. The
Kammerrath had debts on his estate, quite a number of debts; but they
were not significant bills of exchange, and his money affairs had
usually been arranged by writing, or through the medium of lawyers or
merchants; he was now for the first time not in a situation to raise
money easily, in the old way, he had been obliged to go himself to a
money-Jew--for so he called this sort of people; the repulsion which he
felt for this course, the very different place, and manner, and
disposition which he found here, the anxiety caused by the objections
of Moses at the outset, and now at last the speedy help which relieved
him from his pressing emergency, had overpowered the sick man; he
turned pale and sank back in his chair, and Habermann called for a
glass of water.
"Herr Kammerrath," cried Moses, "perhaps a little drop of wine, I can
have half a pint brought from the merchant, in a moment."
"No, water! water!" cried Habermann, and Moses ran out of the door, and
nearly upset David,--for David had been listening a little to the money
business, in order that he might finally become ripe,--"David what are
you doing, why don't you bring some water?"
And David came, and the Kammerrath drank water, and recovered himself,
and Moses told out the louis-d'ors on the table, and the Kammerrath
picked them out of the dirt, and looked at his hands, and they seemed
quite as clean as before; and as he got into the carriage, and looked
back from it into Moses' entry, it seemed to him as if among Moses'
pelts and mutton bones, there was a great bundle, and that was his own
trouble. And Moses stood in the door, and bowed and bowed, and looked
round at his neighbors to find whether they saw that the Herr
Kammerrath had been to him.
But for all the great honor, he did not sink under it. He held up his
head, and got Habermann aside, and said, "Herr Inspector, you are an
honest man; when I agreed to this business, I did not know the man was
so sick. You must promise me that the money shall be secured on the
estate. It is a matter of life and death. What am I doing with a sick
man and a note!"
The Kammerrath was relieved from his embarrassment; his agitation
subsided, his health improved, he looked at the world with quite
different eyes; and as Habermann, a few days later, again mentioned the
renting of the Pastor's field, he listened, and gave Habermann
permission to talk with Pastor Behrens. He did so, and during the
interview the little Frau Pastorin bustled about in the room, and it
sounded in the ears of the Pastor and Habermann continually,--"A higher
sum! A higher sum!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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