“Well, Para, perhaps, then south again. The South American ports are worth seeing.”
A clerk entered while he was speaking. Ascher handed him the list he had written.
“Look out the names of our agents in these places,” he said, “and have letters of introduction made out to them for Sir James Digby.”
The clerk left the room and I thanked Ascher warmly. It seemed to me that he was taking a great deal of trouble for which he could expect no kind of reward. He waved my gratitude aside.
“I think,” he said, “that our agents will be able to make your trip interesting for you. They can tell you what you want to know about the trade and the natural wealth of the places you visit. They will put you in the way of finding out the trend of political feeling. It is their business to know these things, and in visiting new countries—new in the sense that they have only lately felt the influences of our civilisation—it is just these things that you will want to know. If you were going to Italy, or Egypt, or Greece——”
Ascher sighed. I felt that he would have preferred Italy to Brazil if he had been travelling for pleasure.
“Ah, there,” I said, “an artist or a scholar would be a better friend to have than a banker.”
“Even there,” said Ascher, “the present and the future matter more than the past, perhaps. But are you tied at all by time? The tour which I have indicated will take some months.”
“I am an idle man,” I said. “I shall go on as long as your introductions last, gathering knowledge which will not be the slightest use to me or any one else.”
“I had better provide you with a circular letter of credit,” said Ascher. “It is never wise to carry considerable sums about in your pocket.”