"What the devil does he want to buy an umbrella for?" muttered Mravucsán.
Then added aloud:
"Where are you from, sir?"
"From Besztercebánya."
Mravucsán was even more surprised.
Fancy any one coming all the way from Besztercebánya to Bábaszék to buy an umbrella! How proud he was it had happened under his mayorship! He nudged Galba:
"Do you hear?" he said.
"This is only a small village shop, sir," answered Rosália. "We don't keep umbrellas."
"Pity enough!" muttered Mravucsán, biting savagely at his mustache.
"But I heard," went on the stranger, "that you had second-hand umbrellas to sell."