“You are in business here?”
Mr. Naylor turned toward him, looked at him, and hated him.
“No,” he said.
“Perhaps you are looking for an opening?”
“No; there’s an ‘opening’ for me when I’m ready for it,” he answered haughtily.
“It should not be at all difficult to find an opening in this country. The requirements are so small,” Mr. Hassler announced, with tact. “Here they will willingly employ a man who knows nothing. Even hard work they don’t expect. With us in Germany all is very different. It is necessary to work very hard. We are all trained to work very hard. A young fellow starting in business with us would never ask, ‘What are the hours?’ Certainly not. We realise that you have got to work very hard, in order to get somewhere.”
“We don’t need to work so hard in England,” said Mr. Naylor. “We are somewhere.”
“Yes, where!” cried the other, raising his voice.
“Where you’d like to be,” Mr. Naylor replied with a smile.
“Bah! You’re getting left behind. We’re beating you everywhere, in every line. Your British trade—where will it be in ten years’ time?”