it
comes to that point, a rich man knows how to get off, provided he
hasn't foolishly gone too far. It's very curious, that among other
nations, among the Romans and the Sclaves, men took the offered money,
and, under some form or other, gave an opportunity for competition in
bidding; but among the simpering Germanic people, the women are
employed in this business. Of course! Among no people in the world are
so many cows employed in agriculture as among the Germans, and in this
business, too, they harness in the cows. Here the lady must be applied
to in extremely gallant style, and I must confess that I would much
rather deal with the women, for they keep their word; there's nothing
more common than to give a bribe, and to have the bribee fail to keep
his promise, unless another is added just as large. My father----"

Pranken started. For the first time in his life, Sonnenkamp spoke of
his father, but he went on quietly,--

"My father was a connoisseur in the art of bribery, and in Poland his
way was, to give a man a note for a hundred or a thousand dollars, as
it might be, but he tore the note in two, kept one part himself and
gave the other to the person bribed, surrendering his own half only
when he had gained his end. You do not think it is necessary to divide
thus with the Cabinetsraethin?"

Pranken felt hurt to hear a lady of the nobility pointed out and
arraigned in this style. He gave Sonnenkamp the most conclusive
assurances, who said further,--

"All proceeds in a regular order, and what is designated by the
old-fashioned word bribery, is a necessary consequence of an advanced
civilization. As soon as a people enters into complex relations,
bribery is there, must be there, sometimes open, sometimes concealed;
and I know this, that nothing has a greater variety of forms than
bribery."

As Pranken stood there in fixed amazement, Sonnenkamp, taking his arm,
continued,--

"Young friend, it is the same thing whether I buy an agent or a vote
for my election as member of Parliament or of Congress, or whether I
buy an agent or a vote to make me a noble. In America we are more open
about it. Why should not this Cabinetsrath and his spouse make some
profit out of their position? Their position is their whole property
and capital. I am glad--it's all in order. In Germany you are obliged
to cloak matters over respectably. It's all the same. If you take up
the diplomatic career, as I hope you will, I shall be able