Well, and what about the business now?  Was Geissler prepared to accept a reasonable offer today?  It wasn’t every day he had a chance of fifteen or twenty thousand—­what?  Unless, of course....  If the money were nothing to him, why, then....

This last suggestion was not to Geissler’s taste at all; he was offended.  A nice way to talk!  Well, they would not have said it, perhaps, if they had not been annoyed at first; and Geissler, no doubt, would hardly have turned suddenly pale at their words if he had not been out somewhere by himself and got red.  As it was, he paled, and answered coldly: 

“I don’t wish to make any suggestion as to what you, gentlemen, may be in a position to pay—­but I know what I am willing to accept and what not.  I’ve no use for more child’s prattle about the mine.  My price is the same as yesterday.”

“A quarter of a million Kroner?”

“Yes.”

The gentlemen mounted their horses.”  Look here,” said one, “we’ll go this far, and say twenty-five thousand.”

“You’re still inclined to joke, I see,” said Geissler.  “But I’ll make you an offer in sober earnest:  would you care to sell your bit of a mine up there?”

“Why,” said they, somewhat taken aback—­“why, we might do that, perhaps.”

“I’m ready to buy it,” said Geissler.

Oh, that Geissler!  With the courtyard full of people now, listening to every word; all the Sellanraa folk, and the stoneworkers and the messengers.  Like as not, he could never have raised the money, nor anything near it, for such a deal; but, again, who could say?  A man beyond understanding was Geissler.  Anyhow, his last words rather disconcerted those gentlemen on horseback.  Was it a trick?  Did he reckon to make his own land seem worth more by this manoeuvre?

The gentlemen thought it over; ay, they even began to talk softly together about it; they got down from their horses again.  Then the engineer put in a word; he thought, no doubt, it was getting beyond all bearing.  And he seemed to have some power, some kind of authority here.  And the yard was full of folk all listening to what was going on.  “We’ll not sell,” said he.

“Not?” asked his companions.

“No.”

They whispered together again, and they mounted their horses once more—­in earnest this time.  “Twenty-five thousand!” called out one of them.  Geissler did not answer, but turned away, and went over to talk to the stoneworkers again.

And that was the end of their last meeting.

Geissler appeared to care nothing for what might come of it.  He walked about talking of this, that, and the other; for the moment he seemed chiefly interested in the laying of some heavy beams across the shell of the new cowhouse.  They were to get the work finished that week, with a temporary roof—­a new fodder loft was to be built up over later on.

Isak kept Sivert away from the building work now, and left him idle—­and this he did with a purpose, that Geissler might find the lad ready at any time if he wanted to go exploring with him in the hills.  But Isak might have saved himself the trouble; Geissler had given up the idea, or perhaps forgotten all about it.  What he did was to get Inger to pack him up some food, and set off down the road.  He stayed away till evening.