Mysteries - Knut Hamsun [24]
At this point a bell rings below in the hotel, and people can be heard walking down the stairs to supper.
“That’s the bell for supper,” Miniman says.
“Yes,” Nagel answers. But he doesn’t get up, nor does he show any sign of impatience; on the contrary, he settles back in his chair and asks, “Perhaps you also knew Karlsen, the man who was found dead in the woods recently? A tragic affair, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, a most tragic affair. I should say I knew him, all right. A fine person and a noble character. Can you guess what he said to me once? He sent for me early one Sunday morning, over a year ago now, in May of last year it was. He asked me to deliver a letter for him. ‘Sure,’ I said, ‘I’ll do it, but I’m wearing such terrible shoes today, I can’t very well show myself to anyone in these shoes. If you don’t mind, I’ll go back home and borrow another pair.’—‘No, that’s not necessary,’ he answers, ‘I don’t think it matters, unless you’ll get your feet wet in those you’re wearing.’ He even thought of that—that I might get my feet wet in those shoes! Well, then he slips a krone piece into my hand and gives me the letter. When I was already in the hallway, he tears open the door again and comes after me; his whole face is so radiant that I pause to look at him, and his eyes are watering. He puts his arms around me, presses himself close and gives me a real hug, saying, ‘Now, go and deliver the letter, my old friend; I won’t forget you. When I’m ordained and get a living some day, you’ll come and stay with me all the time. So, go now, and good luck!’ Well, I’m afraid he never got a living, but had he lived, he would surely have kept his word.”
“And so you delivered the letter?”
“Yes.”
“And was Miss Kielland happy to get it?”
“How do you know it was for Miss Kielland?”
“How I know that? You just said so yourself.”
“Did I? That’s not true.”
“Heh-heh, it’s not? Do you think I’m lying to you?”
“I’m sorry, you may very well be right; but I shouldn’t have said it. It happened by mistake. Oh, but did I really say so?”
“Why not? Did he forbid you to tell, perhaps?”
“No, not he.”
“What about her?”
“Yes.”
“That’s all right, it will be safe with me. But can you understand why he went and died just now?”
“No, I can’t. He was unlucky.”8
“Do you know when he is to be buried?”
“Tomorrow at noon.”
No more was said about that. For a while neither of them spoke. Sara stuck her head through the door to announce that supper was being served. A moment later Nagel said, “And now Miss Kielland is engaged. What does her fiancé look like?”
“He’s Lieutenant Hansen, a fine and truly excellent man. Well, she won’t suffer any deprivation with him.”
“Is he wealthy?”
“Yes, his father is extremely wealthy.”
“Is he a businessman?”
“No, he’s a shipowner. He lives a couple of doors from here. By the way, his house is not very big, but he doesn’t really need a bigger one; when the son is away there is only the old couple there. They also have a daughter, but she’s married in England.”
“And how much do you think old Hansen is good for?”
“He may be good for a million. Nobody knows.”
Pause.
“Ah yes,” Nagel goes on to say, “things are badly distributed in this world. What if you, say, had a little of that money, Grøgaard?”
“God bless you, no, why should I? We must be satisfied with what we have.”9
“That’s what they say.... Oh, I just thought of something I wanted to ask you: You don’t have very much time for other work, do you, since you must carry all that coal around? That’s quite obvious. But didn’t I hear you ask the hotel keeper whether he had something more for you to do today?”
“No,” Miniman replies, shaking his head.
“It was down in the café. You told him you’d brought the coal into the kitchen, and then you said, ‘I suppose that will be all for today?’ ”
“That was because of something else. So you noticed that, did you? No, the fact of the matter is that I hoped to be paid for the coal right away, but I didn’t dare ask him directly.10 That’s all. We are in financial difficulty right now and had