courtroom. It was a fact, Hessling was the largest shareholder in Gausenfeld and had been made general director of the company. … The crowd gazed at him with great curiosity, and contrasted him with old Buck, at whose expense he had prospered. He now got back with a hundred per cent, interest the last twenty thousand which he had lent the old man, and yet retained his reputation for virtue. That the latter should have invested the money in Gausenfeld precisely, was regarded as a good joke on Hessling's part, and was a momentary consolation to many for their own losses. When Diederich left he did so amidst a respectful silence. He was greeted with that degree of respect which is almost servility. The cheated were saluting success.
They were by no means so lenient with old Buck. When the presiding magistrate pronounced the verdict, there was applause. The newspaper was fined only fifty marks! The case was not proven and the plea of good faith was admitted. The legal view was that this was damning to the plaintiff, and as Buck left the courthouse even his friends cut him. Humble folks, who had lost their savings in Gausenfeld, shook their fists after him. This verdict convinced them all that they had long since formed their own opinion of old Buck. A deal like that of the site for the Infant Asylum ought, at least, to be successful; the utterance was Diederich's, and it fitted the case. But that was just it. All his life nothing had ever succeeded with old Buck. He thought himself a wonder because as a city father and party leader he was retiring in debt. There were plenty of other good-for-nothing customers. His questionable business capacity had its counterpart in morals, the proof of which was that still unexplained story of the engagement of his son, who was now hanging around the theatre. And Buck's politics? An international standpoint, always demanding sacrifices for demagogic purposes, and on the worst terms with the government, which in its turn, had a bad effect on business. That was the policy of a man who had noth-
