"And the Rothschilds, sixty thousand."
So much for public exaggeration. At this rate the prices offered would soon have exceeded the amount of the capital prize.
But if these gossips were not agreed upon the sum offered to Hulda Hansen, they were all of one mind in regard to the usurer of Drammen.
"What an infernal scoundrel Sandgoist must be. That rascal who showed those poor people no mercy."
"Yes; he is despised throughout the Telemark, and this is not the first time he has been guilty of similar acts of rascality."
"They say that nobody will buy Ole Kamp's ticket of him, now he has got it."
"No; nobody wants it now."
"That is not at all surprising. In Hulda Hansen's hands the ticket was valuable."
"And in Sandgoist's it seems worthless."
"I'm glad of it. He'll have it left on his hands, and I hope he'll lose the fifteen thousand marks it cost him."