Oh well, well!" he sighed, "it's a good thing somebody's lucky. The rest
of us shouldn't complain. But how about the other two--Klaus Brock and
Ferdinand Holm? What are they doing now?"
"Klaus is looking after the Khedive's estates at Edfina. Agriculture by
steam power; his own railway lines to bring in the produce, and so
on. Yes, Klaus has ended up in a nice little place of his own. His
district's bigger than the kingdom of Denmark."
"Good heavens!" Langberg nearly fell off his chair. "And Ferdinand Holm;
what about him?"
"Oh, he's got bigger things on hand. Went nosing about the Libyan
desert, and found that considerable tracts of it have water-veins only a
few yards beneath the surface. If so, of course, it's only a question of
proper plant to turn an enormous area into a paradise for corn-growing."
"Good gracious! What a discovery!" gasped the other, almost breathless
now.
Peer looked out over the fjord, and went on: "Last year he managed at
last to get the Khedive interested, and they've started a joint-stock
company now, with a capital of some millions. Ferdinand is chief
engineer."
"And what's his salary? As much as fifty thousand crowns?"
"His pay is two hundred thousand francs a year," said Peer, not without
some fear that his companion might faint. "Yes, he's an able fellow, is
Ferdinand."
It took Langberg some time to get his breath again. At last he asked,
with a sidelong glance:
"And you and Klaus Brock--I suppose you've put your millions in his
company?"
Peer smiled as he sat looking out over the garden.
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