Page:Zangwill-King of schnorrers.djvu/46

32 32 THE KING OF SCHNORRERS.

" Excuse me ! " he cried, and hastened towards the door.

"What's the matter? " exclaimed Grobstock, in astonished apprehension. Was his gift to be flouted thus ?

" I'll be back in a moment," said Manasseh, and hurried down the stairs.

Relieved on one point, Grobstock was still full of vague alarms. He ran out on the landing. " What do you want ? " he called down as loudly as he dared.

" My money ! " said Manasseh.

Imagining that the Schnorrer had left the proceeds of the sale of the salmon in the hall, Joseph Grobstock returned to his room, and occupied himself half-mechanically in sort- ing the garments he had thrown higgledy-piggledy upon the bed. In so doing he espied amid the heap a pair of panta- loons entirely new and unworn which he had carelessly thrown in. It was while replacing this in the wardrobe that he heard sounds of objurgation. The cook's voice — Hiber- nian and high-pitched — travelled unmistakably to his ears, and brought fresh trepidation to his heart. He repaired to the landing again, and craned his neck over the balustrade. Happily the sounds were evanescent ; in another minute Manasseh's head reappeared, mounting. When his left hand came in sight, Grobstock perceived it was grasping the lucky-bag with which a certain philanthropist had started out so joyously that afternoon. The unlucky-bag he felt inclined to dub it now.

" I have recovered it ! " observed the Schnorrer cheer- fully. " As it is written, ' And David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken.' You see in the excitement of the moment I did not notice that you had stolen my packets of silver as well as my salmon. Luckily your cook had not yet removed the fish from the bag — I chid her all the same for neglecting to put it into water, and she opened her