prevented. Perhaps Fritz
Nettenmair had a suspicion that he would soon have a great deal more
to forgive the newcomer.

They found the rest of the meeting, two strange master-slaters and the
official builders of the council, carpenter, masons, and tinsmiths,
waiting for them at the tower-door. Several scaffoldings had already
been fastened to the roof so that it could be examined; the conference
took place in the church-loft nearest the largest of them. Apollonius
stood modestly a few steps away in order to hear and, if he were
asked, to speak. He had carefully examined the roof beforehand and
formed his own opinion of the matter.

The two strange slaters stated that they thought extensive repairs
were necessary. Fritz Nettenmair, on the contrary, was convinced that
with a few patches which he enumerated, nothing more need be done for
years. The builders, carpenter, masons and tinsmith eagerly agreed
with him; all of them jovial and prominent men at yesterday's ball who
conscientiously believed that if you drank a man's champagne, his was
the opinion you must hold. The strange slaters knew very well that the
Council feared the expense of more extensive repairs and had postponed
those that had long been highly necessary from year to year. As,
moreover, they had no prospect of being intrusted with the repairs
themselves, they did not give themselves unnecessary trouble to aid in
forcing upon Herr Fritz Nettenmair work and profit for which he
himself seemed to care nothing at all. Hence in the course of the
discussion they became more and more convinced that, whatever way you
looked at the matter, Herr Fritz Nettenmair too was right. The
inspector, a good man, perhaps grasped their motives and those of the
prominent men. For a time he had listened in silence with a
dissatisfied face, when he remembered Apollonius. He saw something in
the latter's expression that seemed to correspond to his own opinion.
"And what do you say?" he asked, turning to him.

Apollonius modestly came a step nearer.

"I wish you would look at the matter as carefully as possible," said
the councilman.

Apollonius replied that he had already done so.

"I need not draw your attention to the fact that the matter is very
important," continued the councilman.

Apollonius bowed. The councilman repressed what he had been about to
say. With all its softness and mildness, such strict conscientiousness
and obstinate honesty was expressed in the young