OSSEP [_alone, buckling his belt and holding his cap in his hand, comes
in through the right-hand door, stands awhile in deep thought while he
wrings his hands several times_]. Give me money! Give me money! I would
like to know where I am to get it. It is hard for me to give what I have
promised. And what if it cannot be arranged for that sum? Am I, then, to
make a mess of this!--I who have always been willing to make any
sacrifice for my children? It must, indeed, lie in this--that the suitor
does not please; for I could not find 2,000 to add to the 6,000 that I
have promised. Yes, that's it! The man is not the one I want for her. If
he were an ordinary fellow, he would not treat with me. At any rate,
what he is after will show itself now; yes, we shall soon see what kind
of man he is! Up to this day I have always kept my word, and the best
thing I can do is to keep it now.
_Enter Gewo_.
OSSEP [_meeting him as he enters from the right_]. Oh, it is you, dear
Gewo! What brings you to our house? [_Offering him his hand_.] I love
you; come again, and often!
GEWO. You know well that if I had not need of you, I would not come.
OSSEP. How can I serve you? Pray, sit down.
GEWO [_seating himself_]. What are you saying about serving? Do you
think that this confounded Santurian has--
OSSEP [_interrupting him anxiously_]. What has happened?
GEWO. The dear God knows what has happened to the fellow!
OSSEP. But go on, what has happened?
GEWO. What could happen? The fellow has cleared out everything.
OSSEP [_disturbed and speaking softly_]. What did you say, Gewo? Then I
am lost, body and soul; then I am ruined!
GEWO. I hope he will go to the bottom. How is one to trust any human
being nowadays? Everyone who saw his way of living must have taken him
for an honest man.
OSSEP [_softly_]. You kill me, man!
GEWO. God in heaven should have destroyed him long ago, so that this
could not have happened. But who could have foreseen it? When one went
into his store everything was always in the best order. He kept his
word, paid promptly when the money was due; but what lay behind that, no
one knew.
OSSEP. I have depended on him so much. What do you say, Gewo? He owes me
10,000 rubles! I was going to satisfy my creditors with this sum.
To-morrow his payment was due, and the next day mine. How can I satisfy
them now? Can I say that I cannot pay them because Santurian has given
me nothing? Am I to be a bankrupt as well as he? May the earth swallow
me rather!
GEWO. I wish the earth would swallow him, or rather that he had never
come into the world! I have just 2,000 rubles on hand; if you wish I
will give them to you to-morrow.
OSSEP. Good; I will be very thankful for them. But what do you say to
that shameless fellow? Have you seen him? Have you spoken with him?
GEWO. Of course. I have just come from him.
OSSEP. What did he say? Will he really give nothing?
GEWO. If he does not lie, he will settle with you alone. Let the others
kick, he said. Go to him right off, dear Ossep. Before the thing becomes
known perhaps you can still get something out of him.
OSSEP. Come with me, Gewo. Yes, we must do something, or else I am lost.
GEWO. The devil take the scoundrel!