How much
money have you? Hurry up, please! Don't stare!"
"In where? Who's in where?"
"He's in gaol!" with supreme scorn. "Haven't you heard?"
Mrs. Medcroft began to cry. "Mr. Brock in gaol? Good heavens, what shall
I do? I--I was depending on him so much. He ought to be here at this
very instant. What has he been doing?"
"Edith Medcroft, stop sniffling, and don't think of yourself for a
while. It will do you a great deal of good. Where's your money?"
Ruthlessly she began to rummage Edith's treasure trunk. The other came
to her assistance after a dazed interval. The family purse came to
light.
"I have a little over four thousand crowns," she murmured helplessly.
"Give it me, quick. There's no time to waste. I have about five
thousand. It's all in notes, thank heaven. It isn't quite enough, but
I'll try to make it do. Don't stop me, Edith. I haven't time to answer
questions. He's in gaol, didn't you hear me say? And I love him!"
"But the--the money? Is it to bail him out with?"
"Bail? No, my dear, it's to _buy_ him out with. 'Sh! Is there any one in
that room? Well, then, I'll tell you something." The heads of the two
sisters were quite close together. "He's in a cell at the--the
prison-hof, or whatever you call it in German. It's gaol in English. I
have arranged to bribe one of the gaolers--his guard. He will let him
escape for ten thousand crowns--we must do it, Edith! Then Mr.
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