condition!"

"You don't say I did! How so?"

"May I remind you, Mr. Shund, may I remind you of all the circumstances
by which this was brought about? How it happened that from a man of
means I have been brought to poverty?"

"Go on, dearest Holt--go on; it will be interesting to me!" The usurer
settled himself comfortably to hear the summary of his successful
villanies from the mouth of the unfortunate man with the same
satisfaction with which a tiger regales itself on the tortures of its
victim.

"Nine years ago, Mr. Shund, I was not in debt, as you know. I labored
and supported my family honestly, without any extraordinary exertion. A
field was for sale next to my field at the Rothenbush. You came at the
time--it is now upwards of eight years, and said in a friendly way,
'Holt, my good man, buy that field. It lies next to yours, and you
ought not to let the chance slip.' I wanted the field, but had no
money. This I told you. You encouraged me, saying, 'Holt, my good man,
I will let you have the money--on interest, of course; for I am a man
doing business, and I make my living off my money. I will never push
you for the amount. You may pay it whenever and in what way you wish.
Suit yourself.' You gave me this encouragement at the time. You loaned
me nine hundred and fifty florins--in the note, however, you wrote one
thousand and fifty, and, besides, at five per cent. For three years I
paid interest on one thousand and fifty, although you had loaned me
only nine hundred and fifty. All of a sudden--I was just in trouble at
the time, for one of my draught-cattle had been crippled, and the
harvest had turned out poorly, you came and demanded your money. I had
none. 'I am sorry,' said you, 'I need my money, and could put it out at
much higher interest.' I begged and begged. You threatened to sue me.
Finally, after much begging, you proposed that I should sell you the
field, for which three years previous I had paid nine hundred and fifty
florins, for seven hundred florins, alleging that land was no longer as
valuable as it had been. You were willing to rent me the field at a
high rate. And to enable me to get along, you offered to lend me
another thousand, but drew up a note for eleven hundred florins at ten
per cent., because, as you pretended, money was now bringing ten per
cent. since the law regulating interest had been abrogated. For a long
while I objected to the proposal, but found myself forced at last to
yiel