"Very well, Herr Goebel. Those are my requirements. Will you agree to
supply them?"

"With great pleasure, my young and enthusiastic friend, provided that
you comply with one of the most common of our commercial rules."

"And what is that, mein Herr?"

"Before you depart you will leave with me ample security that if I never
see you again, the value of the goods, plus the thousand thalers, will
be repaid to me when the month is past."

"Ah," said the young man, "you impose an impossible condition."

"Give me a bond, then, signed by three responsible merchants."

"Sir, as I am acquainted with no merchant in this city except yourself,
how could I hope to obtain the signature of even one responsible man?"

"How, then, do you expect to obtain my consent to a project which I know
cannot succeed, while I bear all the risk?"

"Pardon me, Herr Goebel. I and my comrades risk our lives. You risk
merely your money and your goods."

"You intend, then, to fight your way down the Rhine?"

"Surely. How else?"