For some time past, the chieftains in the chancel had been shaking their heads at the efforts of this official advocate of progress. To avoid being tortured by hearing, they had engaged in conversation. The auditors in the nave of the church were also growing restive. The speaker, however, continued blind to every hint and insinuation. At last a tall fellow in the crowd swung his hat and cried, “Three cheers for Mr. Seicht!” The whole nave joined in a deafening cheer. Seicht, imagining the cheering to be a tribute to the excellence of his effort, stopped for a moment to permit the uproar to subside, intending then to go on with his speech; but no sooner had he resumed than the cheering burst forth anew, and was so vigorously sustained that the man, at length perceiving the meaning of the audience, came down amid peals of derisive laughter.
“Serves the gabbler right!” said Sand. “He's a precious kind of a fellow! The booby thinks he can hoist himself into the chamber of deputies by means of the shoulders of progress, and thence to climb up higher. But it happens that we know whom we have to deal with, and we are not going to serve as stirrups for a turn-coat official.”
The chairman wound up with a speech in which he announced that the vote on the question of common schools would soon come off, and then adjourned the meeting.
The millionaires drew back to allow the crowd to disperse. Near them stood Mr. Seicht, alone and dejected. The countenances of the chieftains had yielded him no evidence on which to base a hope that his speech had told, and that he might expect to occupy a seat in the assembly. Moreover, Sand had rudely insulted the ambitious official to his face. This he took exceedingly hard. All of a sudden, he spied the [pg 543] banker in the chancel, and went over to greet him. Greifmann introduced Gerlach.
“I am proud,” Mr. Seicht asseverated, “of the acquaintance of the wealthiest proprietor of the country.”
“Pardon the correction, sir; my father is the proprietor.”
“No matter, you are his only son,” rejoined Seicht. “Your presence proves that you take an interest in the great questions of the day. This is very laudable.”
“My presence, however, by no means proves that I concur in the object of this meeting. Curiosity has led me hither.”
The official directed a look of inquiry at the banker.
“Sheer curiosity,” repeated this gentleman coldly.