Without adding a word more, the stranger, grasping tightly the gold, touched his hat, and walked off at a rapid pace.
Eric returned to Sonnenkamp in a meditative mood. Sonnenkamp invited him to be seated, in a very friendly manner, asking.—
"Did he take the money?"
Eric nodded.
"And of course, with hardly a thank you?"
Eric said that the man had acknowledged, of his own accord, that he had been drinking wine that morning, and was not used to it.
Pointing to a great packet of letters, Sonnenkamp said that they were all applications for the advertised situation. He expatiated very merrily upon the great number of persons who depend upon some wind-fall or other; if one should only open a honey-pot, suddenly bees, wasps, and golden-flies appear, nothing of which had been seen before. Then he continued:—
"I can give you a contribution to your knowledge of men."
"Anything about Herr Crutius?"
"No; of your very much be-pitied dwarf. It is really refreshing to find such a charming piece of rascality. I have known for a long time how smart he was in stealing the black wood-vetch from the hill above; but now the bite received in training the dog is nothing but a lie. I have already informed Roland of it, and I am glad that he can become acquainted so early with the vileness and deceitfulness of men."