deceiving you I will just give you a little sample, a
sort of index or list of names."

"Please do, Geert."

"For example, we have, not fifty paces from our house, and our gardens
are even adjoining, the master machinist and dredger Macpherson, a
real Scotchman and a Highlander."

"And he still wears the native costume?"

"No, thank heaven, he doesn't, for he is a shriveled up little man, of
whom neither his clan nor Walter Scott would be particularly proud.
And then we have, further, in the same house where this Macpherson
lives, an old surgeon by the name of Beza, in reality only a barber.
He comes from Lisbon, the same place that the famous general De Meza
comes from. Meza, Beza; you can hear the national relationship. And
then we have, up the river by the quay, where the ships lie, a
goldsmith by the name of Stedingk, who is descended from an old
Swedish family; indeed, I believe there are counts of the empire by
that name. Further, and with this man I will close for the present, we
have good old Dr. Hannemann, who of course is a Dane, and was a long
time in Iceland, has even written a book on the last eruption of
Hekla, or Krabla."

"Why, that is magnificent, Geert. It is like having six novels that
one can never finish reading. At first it sounds commonplace, but
afterward seems quite out of the ordinary. And then you must also have
people, simply because it is a seaport, who are not mere surgeons or
barbers or anything of the sort. You must also have captains, some
flying Dutchman or other, or--"

"You are quite right. We even have a captain who was once a pirate
among the Black Flags."

"I don't know what you mean. What are Black Flags?"

"They are people away off in Tonquin and the South Sea--But since he
has been back among men he has resumed the best kind of manners and is
quite entertaining."

"I should be afraid of him nevertheless."

"You don't need to be, at any time, not even when I am out in the
country or at the Prince's for tea, for along with everything else
that we have, we have, thank heaven, also Rollo."

"Rollo?"

"Yes, Bollo. The name makes you think of the Norman Duke, provided you
have ever heard Niemeyer or Jahnke speak of him. Our Rollo has
somewhat the same character. But he is only a Newfoundland dog, a most
beautiful animal, that loves me and will love you, too. For Rollo is a
connoisseur. So long as you have him about you, you are safe, and
nothing can get at you, neith