Somebody knocked gently at the door, and the old baron entered, holding a bundle of papers in his hand. After the first words of polite inquiry, he excused himself on account of the unseasonable interruption, and said:
"You could do us (he never said me, since he was unable to think of himself without his wife), you could do us a great favor, doctor."
"I presume it is in connection with the papers which you hold in your hand, baron?"
"Yes, yes. You know that Grenwitz and Stantow will have to be rented again at Michaelmas. Now we should like to have the two farms surveyed anew, as the plats which were made twenty-five years ago are very indifferent. The first letter, therefore, which we would beg you to write for us, is to a surveyor. His name is Albert Timm, and he lives in Grunwald. You would ask him to come immediately, in order to make some arrangement. The second letter is for our lawyer, also in Grunwald. Anna Maria wants him to revise the contracts. Here is a copy of the last. Anna Maria has marked on the margin what changes she desires in the new contracts. If you could copy this document for us--it is asking a good deal----"
"Give it to me, baron. When do you want the papers?"
"If you could write them till dinner-time? We have told the boys that they would drive down to Stantow with us. You do not object?"
"I suppose it is all right."
"Well then, good-by, doctor, and pardon our troubling you with these matters. But you know, Anna Maria----"
"No excuse, baron."
Any one who has ever been in the state of mind in which Oswald had been, before the baron came to him with his formidable request, will readily understand why the young man hurled the whole package of papers contemptuously into a corner as soon as he was alone again.