the firm of C. F. Garman really was in want of money,
Jacob Worse had plenty at hand, and could procure more. But he never
could muster up courage enough to put the question.

It was the established custom at Sandsgaard, that whenever Worse's
boat was seen entering the bay, Zacharias, the man at the wharf, was
ordered to take a large cod out of the fish-tank; for this was Jacob
Worse's favourite dish.

The Consul's two sisters-in-law, the spinsters Mette and Birgitte,
were always delighted when he came, although they were prodigiously
angry with him when he teased them, as he always did.

After paying his respects to the ladies, Jacob Worse always made for
the office, which, with its door usually open, was close to the
sitting-room. Here he conned the almanac and when he found that it
was the day of Saint Crispin or Saint Hieronymus, or some such other
saint, he used to rub his hands saying:

"Is it, indeed? I remember him when I was in Italy--one of the
grandest of the lot. Yes, we must certainly have some toddy this
evening."

Consul Garman would smile, and the old book-keeper, Adam Kruse,
seated behind his desk, would prick up his ears. He was always
invited to take a glass when the captain was there.

Worse, who was free of the house, would then take the keys of the
office cupboard, and bring out certain old-fashioned square Dutch
flasks.

In the evening, he played cards, with the spinsters, the Consul
looking on and laughing heartily, whilst the captain played so
unfairly, and so befooled the good ladies, that their very capstrings
quivered with rage.

At other times, the Consul and Worse would talk politics, and discuss
the Hamburg "Nachrichten," whilst the old book-keeper, with his
tumbler and his long clay pipe, sat in silence in his humble corner
behind the big clock.

In the old sitting-room, which looked out upon the harbour, two
tallow candles were placed every evening on the table near the sofa,
where the Consul was wont to sit; and when there were guests, two
more were placed on the toddy-table by the stove.

Above the white panelling, which was carried up as high as the tops
of the straight-backed chairs, the walls were covered with canvas,
painted green. The grey window-blinds which had lately come from
Copenhagen, were decorated with representations of Christiansborg,
Kronborg, and Frederiksborg. A tall wayfarer under a tree in the
foreground gazed across the water at the castle, while thr