recently hewn by Hakkabut himself, gave access for the present to the
gangway, but it was evident that some different contrivance would
have to be resorted to when the tartan should be elevated perhaps to a
hundred feet.

A thin curl of blue smoke issued from the copper funnel that projected
above the mass of snow which had accumulated upon the deck of the
_Hansa_. The owner was sparing of his fuel, and it was only the
non-conducting layer of ice enveloping the tartan that rendered the
internal temperature endurable.

"Hi! old Nebuchadnezzar, where are you?" shouted Ben Zoof, at the full
strength of his lungs.

At the sound of his voice, the cabin door opened, and the Jew's head and
shoulders protruded onto the deck.

CHAPTER VI. MONEY AT A PREMIUM

"Who's there? I have nothing here for anyone. Go away!" Such was the
inhospitable greeting with which Isaac Hakkabut received his visitors.

"Hakkabut! do you take us for thieves?" asked Servadac, in tones of
stern displeasure.

"Oh, your Excellency, my lord, I did not know that it was you," whined
the Jew, but without emerging any farther from his cabin.

"Now, old Hakkabut, come out of your shell! Come and show the governor
proper respect, when he gives you the honor of his company," cried Ben
Zoof, who by this time had clambered onto the deck.

After considerable hesitation, but still keeping his hold upon the
cabin-door, the Jew made up his mind to step outside. "What do you
want?" he inquired, timorously.

"I want a word with you," said Servadac, "but I do not want to stand
talking out here in the cold."

Followed by the rest of the party, he proceeded to mount the steps. The
Jew trembled from head to foot. "But I cannot let you into my cabin. I
am a poor man; I have nothing to give you," he moaned piteously.

"Here he is!" laughed Ben Zoof, contemptuously; "he is beginning his
chapter of lamentations over again. But standing out here will never do.
Out of the way, old Hakkabut, I say! out of the way!" and, without more
ado, he thrust the astonished Jew on one side and opened the door of the
cabin.

Servadac, however, declined to enter until he had taken the pains to
explain to the owner of the tartan that he had no intention of laying
violent hands upon his property, and that if the time should ever come
that his cargo was in requisition for the common use, he should receive
a proper price for his goods, the same as he would in Europe.

"Europe,