“Good morning, Herr Captain! I must beg you to excuse me if I interfere with your liberty for a moment, but a very pressing matter induces me to ask of you a great favor.”
“You astonish me. What is the matter? Is it anything of importance?” retorted the captain.
“This afternoon the colonel will doubtless mention the unpaid Casino bills, and it would be extremely painful to me, especially in the presence of the junior officers, to have my name spoken of in that connection.”
“My dear fellow,” said Captain König, “you’ll have to go elsewhere for the money. It was difficult enough for me to raise that hundred for you a week ago.”
“And if I repeat my request, nevertheless, Captain, it is because I find myself in a horribly embarrassing situation. For if I don’t succeed in procuring four hundred marks till this evening, I shall have to face the most annoying, possibly disastrous consequences.”
“All very well, but I simply haven’t the money,” said the captain, shrugging his shoulders.
For a moment or two there was silence, and each avoided looking at the other. Then Borgert murmured, hesitatingly:
“May I make a proposition, Herr Captain?”
“Well?”
“But I must ask you not to misunderstand me. Would it not be possible to borrow so small a sum from the funds of the squadron, since it would be only a question of a few days?”