"I guess that is clear enough?"
Ole stepped back a pace.
"So much?" he exclaimed. "This is a big order, Andreas."
"It is big. But I hope the results will justify it," answered Tidemand quietly. And unable to control a feeling that overwhelmed him at the moment, he looked toward the wall and whispered as if to himself: "I don't care how it turns out or about anything any more."
Ole looked at him and asked:
"Any news?"
"No—"
"Well, we'll see how it turns out."
Tidemand put the telegram in his pocket.
"I should have liked us both to be in this enterprise, Ole. I must confess that I am in deep elsewhere, too, but—I have my ice to realise on. When the warm weather comes I'll make money on that, don't you think?"