"Without thinking what he was doing, Traugott handed him the sheet of paper which he had in his hand. On seeing it, Elias Roos struck his clenched fists together over his head, stamped with his right foot, slightly at first, then very violently, and shouted, till the hall resounded: "'Oh! good Lord! Oh! good Lord! Stupid, childish nonsense! Here's a partner for you! Here's a precious son-in-law! Damnation, sir, are you out of your senses? The letter of advice, the letter of advice? Oh God--the _post_!' "Herr Elias nearly went into a fit with anger. The two strangers smiled at this singular letter of advice, which certainly wasn't of much use as such, as it stood. Immediately after the words 'Referring to your esteemed order of the 20th instant,' Traugott had made a firm, bold outline sketch of the two striking figures of the old man and the page. The strange gentlemen strove to calm Herr Elias, addressing him in the most soothing tones; but he shoved his wig into various positions, banged his cane on the floor, and cried: "'The devil's in the fellow! Had a letter of advice to write; instead of that, goes and draws pictures! Five hundred pounds gone!--pht!'--he blew through his fingers; and then repeated, in a weeping tone, 'Five--hundred--pounds!' "'Don't distress yourself, Herr Roos,' said, at last, the elder of the two strangers; 'the post is gone, certainly, but I am sending a courier off to Hamburg in an hour's time. He can take your letter of advice, and it will reach your correspondent sooner that it would have done by the regular mail.' "'Most incomparable of men!' cried Herr Elias, with full sunshine restored to his face. "Traugott had recovered from his astonishment, and was hastening to the table to write the advice; but Herr Elias shoved him away, saying, through his teeth, with most diabolical looks: "Don't trouble yourself, my lad!' "While Herr Elias was writing busily, the elder of the strangers went up to Traugott, who was standing silent and abashed, and said: "'You seem to be a little out of your element here, my dear sir! It would never have occurred to a real man of business to sketch figures when he ought to have been writing a letter of advice.' "This Traugott could not gainsay. Much astonished, himself, at what had occurred, he said: "'I can't quite make it out. I've written plenty of letters of advice. It's only now and then that I make one of these mistakes.' "'My dear sir,' said the stranger, with a smile, 'I must say I don't think it seems to be a mistake at all. I should rather be inclined to suppose that very few of your letters of advice are worth as much as this admirable, accurate, and powerful outline sketch. There is true genius in it!'