“If I can keep behind her,” thought Egholm to himself as he rose, “I might get through. Just to thank him....”
“Thought it was her,” whispered Karlsen in his ear.
“Eh?”
With a look of unspeakable cunning, Karlsen brought his face closer, blinked his eyes, and whispered again:
“A goldfish! And, on my word, the best we’ve had up to now. The one I told you about before.”
Egholm forgot all else. “A lady, you mean? Who? Coming to-night?”
“A lady, yes,” said Karlsen, almost stifling with pride. “A real lady, and no fudge.” He made a gesture that might have been mere helplessness. “But whether she’ll come or not, well, time will show.”
A little after, he lapsed into his natural dialect, and said frankly:
“I’m simply bursting to see if she’ll come.”