"
"Ah! You did not succeed in seeing his Lordship, I suppose?"
"Pardon me, Lieutenant, but I did. His Lordship is keenly interested in
both weapons and armor."
"Did he give you an order for swords?"
"No, Lieutenant; he seems to be a very cautious man. He asked me to
visit him in Cologne, or if I could not do that, to see his general, now
in Frankfort. You understand, Lieutenant, the presence of the three
Archbishops with their armies offers me a great opportunity, by which I
hope to profit."
The officer looked at him with a puzzled expression on his face.
"Where next did you go?"
"I went to the house of a merchant in the Fahrgasse."
"Ah, that tale doesn't hold! Merchants are not allowed to wear swords."
"No, Lieutenant, but a merchant on occasion can supply capital that will
enable a skilled workman to accept a large contract. If I should see the
general of his Lordship to-morrow, and he gave me an order for, say, two
thousand swords, I have not enough money to buy the metal, and I could
not ask for payment until I delivered the weapons.
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