“Then thou wilt not refuse in advance?”
“No; if thou give it cheaply, I may even take the forest myself. But in such matters I need to calculate the possible profits or losses; I want also to know thy terms. Make thy own estimates. Send me thy list; how many trees there are, and what kinds.”
“I will send it in an hour.”
“In that case I will give thee an answer in the evening.”
“I advise thee beforehand of one thing,—thou wilt not have the right to cut oak for two months.”
“Why is that?”
“Because Kremen will lose greatly by losing that ornament; hence I propose that it be resold to me after the marriage, of course at a good profit to thee.”
“We shall see.”
“Besides, I have marl in Kremen; thou hast spoken to me of this. Plavitski reckoned it at millions,—that, of course, is nonsense; but in the hands of clever men it might be made a paying business. Think that over, too, with Bigiel; I would take thee into partnership.”
“Should the business seem good, we may take it; our house exists to gain profit.”