"Do you really mean that you wish to draw the whole sum at once, Mr. Christiansson?"
"If you please," said Christian Christiansson.
The banker began to laugh. "Certainly we have no highwaymen in Iceland, sir--I say we have no highwaymen--but unless the money is wanted for immediate purposes----"
"It is wanted for immediate purposes, Mr. Palsson."
"In that case, of course--certainly--may I ask you to wait a little?"
It took half-an-hour to find the money for Christian Christiansson's cheque, and when it came it was in three banknotes of fifty thousand each, signed specially by the Minister, and fifty other notes of a thousand. Christiansson put the whole of them in his pocket-book, and they filled it to its utmost capacity.
"I've given you a great deal of trouble, Mr. Palsson."
"It has been a pleasure, sir--I say it has been a pleasure. I only regret that I was unable to help you in that other matter. If you had come to me two days ago I should have sent a messenger to the Sheriff, and perhaps he----"
"Who is the Sheriff in that case, Mr. Palsson?"
"The Sheriff of Ames, sir. He lives at Borg."