Nobody could hear anything, but here and there people could see some one standing on a chair gesticulating, and apparently making an attempt to speak; they drew the attention of their neighbours, and though silence was not attained, Herr Norberg, with renewed hopes, exerted the full force of his lungs, so far overpowering the noise as to make himself audible, at least to the circle which had gathered round him, and which was increasing every moment. "Ladies and gentlemen! Our German proverb says that every man forges his own fortune--" "Bravo! hear, hear!" "But, unfortunately, every one does not understand smith's work, and the work fails in consequence. For the smith's work we need a Schmidt--"[1] "Very good! Hear! Silence there!" "And if a smith forges his fortune, we may be assured that it is a work which he need not be ashamed of before masters or apprentices." "Capital! Bravo! Bravissimo!" "And, ladies and gentlemen, the masters, and more particularly we young apprentices who have still much to learn, and who wish to learn, will watch his fingers in order to find out how and with what tools he works; for the tools are the first consideration!" "Bravo! Bravo!" There was almost perfect silence. Herr Norberg, now sure of his effect, continued in a pathetic tone of voice: "But what are his tools? First, of course, the anvil--the immovable anvil, formed of the cast steel of honesty--" "Hear! hear!" "Of honesty, which can bear every blow and shock, because it rests on its own merits, and tested as it is by the enduring and flattering confidence of the initiated, and, if I may so express myself, polished by the good report of all honest people--" "Bravo! bravo!" "May laugh to scorn the rust of slanderous tongues which are raised against it and its like, if such there be, even should it proceed from the tribune of a certain great House--" The last words were scarcely to be heard in the indescribable uproar which arose at the first allusion to the great event of the day, with which the minds of all were still filled, or at least occupied. Whether the opprobrious word was approved or condemned by the majority of the company, it was impossible to decide. Encouraging, even enthusiastic acclamations, in which Norberg's particular friends were the loudest, words of dissatisfaction, of disapproval, even of the greatest indignation, all this buzzed, resounded, and reverberated, till almost suddenly the storm abated, as if all, friends and foes, were curious to hear what the man would utter further, as they all took it for granted that he would not rest satisfied with this one sally.