"High C Lady; nightingale; your little Donna"s mother--Rantzau, isn"t it?"
"Hermansen and Mrs. Rantzau?" Holm looked at him earnestly.
"Aha, had an eye on her yourself, what? Well, you"ve had some experience of widows, so you"re not a new hand at the business."
"What"s all this nonsense you"ve got hold of to-day, Vindt?"
"Why, I"m sorry to crush the budding flower of love within your heart, but so it is. You"ve always come off second-best with Hermansen--and now he"s snapped up Mrs. Rantzau under your nose. A marriage has been arranged--etc. etc."
Holm"s face was flushed--no doubt with his efforts to open the bottle.
"Come along!" said Vindt. "What about that little drink? I"m sure I want something to console me."
Holm could not get the cork out. He sat down, and was unusually silent.
Vindt began to feel conscience-stricken. Surely Holm had not been in earnest, then?
"Holm! You don"t mean to say you"re--you"re...."
"Hurt, you mean? No, no, my boy--but I"ve been had all the same....
Well, never mind. What with the Spaniard, and now the widow, I should say he"d soon find he"d got his "hands full.""
"Well, here"s to the happy pair!"
"Oh, by all means. But can you tell me, Vindt, how he managed it? I"d give five bob to have heard him in the act. Hermansen proposing...."
"Oh, that"s easy enough. This is the style." Vindt b.u.t.toned up his coat, put his stick under his arm and held his hands behind his back.
"Honoured Madam, allow me to draw upon your indulgence to the extent of craving your protection. I am not altogether a worthless doc.u.ment, have never before been discounted for anyone"s account, but have lain untouched as a sole bill of exchange in my portfolio. Having ascertained that you had established yourself here, I ventured, honoured Madam, to apply to you, with a view to learn how far you might be disposed to open a joint account, free of all commission, to our mutual advantage."
"Bravo, Vindt! I"ll take my oath it"s the first time in his life he"s ever done anything free of all commission--poor devil, I declare I"m almost sorry for him myself."
They talked over the affair of the engagement for some time, and Holm grew so thoroughly cheerful after a while that Vindt was convinced his heart was not involved.
"Holm, will you do me a favour?" Vindt judged that Holm was now in the best of tempers, and proposed to utilise the opportunity. He was anxious to lay hands on a couple of hundred pounds. It was worth trying at any rate.
"Well, what is it?"
"Give me your signature on the back of a piece of paper, that"s all.
A couple of hundred."
"My dear Vindt, I should be sorry to lose an old friend like you."
"Lose an old friend?"
"Why, yes. You see, I"ve had some experience of backing bills. Take a couple of instances out of many. You remember young Lieberg? Smart, well-got-up young fellow, with a taste for the good things of life, but a trifle thin in the wearing parts. I backed a bill for him, and we were first-rate friends. At the first renewal I had to remind him, with all respect, of the paper"s existence, and he was mortally offended--although I offered to lend him interest and payment. And in the end I had to pay up myself. Well, I thought after that he"d look on me as his best friend. Whereas now, when I meet him in the street, he cuts me dead. That"s what you get for it!
"Then there was Kautz, the shipowner. He went bankrupt, as you know, and let me in for 800, but in spite of that I signed, and helped him to come to an arrangement. A very nice little piece of business it turned out for him, for the year after he was a richer man than he"d ever been before, and he gave a thundering big party, invited all the town--excepting me!"
"My dear Holm, if it ever should happen to me, I"d take care you were invited too."
"Very good of you, I"m sure. But I"ll tell you another little story.
Consul Pram was a big man, with a big position, as you know, but a jovial soul, and easy to get on with. I"ve a liking for men of that sort. Well, it was in 1875, when things were at their worst all round, for shipping and trade and everything else we get our living by. I don"t believe there was a business in the town that wasn"t eternally worried about how things were to turn out.
"Then one day Pram came up to me. "Puh," said he, "it"s hot," and sat down, puffing. It was midsummer and pretty warm.
""You"re right there," said I, putting away my balance-sheet. I"d just tacked 200 on to the valuation of the premises to make it come out.
""Times are pretty bad," said he.
""Not for a nabob like you, surely," said I, feeling a bit anxious all the same. There was a matter of 150 between us. And I"d no idea where to rake up any funds beyond.
""I"m not sure if I"ll pull through myself," said he.
""Nonsense, Consul--with your credit----"
""Still...."
""Hermansen at the bank will let you have all you want. _You"re_ safe enough."
""I"ve lost courage altogether now. It"s hopeless to keep going any longer in this place."
""But Lord save us, man, _you_ mustn"t go under. If you did, there"d be more than myself would have to go too."
""Well, you"ll have to keep me out then, Holm, that"s all."
"Only fancy me backing a bill for a man like Pram when I was barely hanging on by my eyelids myself.
"Well, it was then the wonderful thing happened. Just in the middle of the day, after Pram had gone, came a letter enclosing 150--anonymous! I"ve never felt so glad in all my life, Vindt--it was like a message from Providence telling me to keep up my pluck--and Consul Pram as well!
"That afternoon I went round to his office, and backed a bill for 500. And next day Pram told me, laughingly, that he had got the bank to discount it, and Hermansen had said, "Shouldn"t have too much to do with that Holm if I were you, Pram. Not first-rate paper, really.
But of course I"d take anything with _your_ name on!"
"Some time after I backed another bill for Pram, and helped him in various little ways, for the man was almost out of his senses with worry; I"m sure he"d have gone smash if he"d been left to himself. I met his wife, too, about that time, with the boy. She is a woman of commanding presence, as you know, and handsome, to look at, anyway.
She gave me her hand most cordially, and said, "My sincerest thanks, Mr. Holm, for all you have done for us. _I shall never, never forget it._"
"Six months after, the trouble was over, and young Pram was getting up a sledge party, inviting all the young people in the town. Marie"s name was on the list. "No, leave her out," said his mother. "He"s quite a common person really, is that Holm."
"And later, I understand, young Pram complained to the bank manager that his father had had dealings some time back with Knut G.
Holm--bill transactions, but in future he would not hear of anything of the sort.
"The bank manager had good sense enough to answer that there was hardly any danger now in having dealings with Knut G. Holm!
"Well, my dear Vindt, you can see for yourself that all this doesn"t incline one to further obligations. There are one or two honourable exceptions, of course, but as a general rule, I must say, grat.i.tude is a delightful quality, but forgetfulness is far more commonly met with!
"Still, I"ve never said no to a friend. One must run the risk of losing both friend and money, and if by some miracle both can be kept, why, so much the better. Now, where"s your bill?"
Holm took the doc.u.ment, scrutinised it closely, and said: