“I went to the residence of that great Prince of the Church, the Archbishop of Cologne.”
“Ah! You did not succeed in seeing his Lordship, I suppose?”
“Pardon me, Lieutenant, but I did. His Lordship is keenly interested in both weapons and armor.”
“Did he give you an order for swords?”
“No, Lieutenant; he seems to be a very cautious man. He asked me to visit him in Cologne, or if I could not do that, to see his general, now in Frankfort. You understand, Lieutenant, the presence of the three Archbishops with their armies offers me a great opportunity, by which I hope to profit.”
The officer looked at him with a puzzled expression on his face.
“Where next did you go?”
“I went to the house of a merchant in the Fahrgasse.”
“Ah, that tale doesn’t hold! Merchants are not allowed to wear swords.”
“No, Lieutenant, but a merchant on occasion can supply capital that will enable a skilled workman to accept a large contract. If I should see the general of his Lordship to-morrow, and he gave me an order for, say, two thousand swords, I have not enough money to buy the metal, and I could not ask for payment until I delivered the weapons.”