"Thou hast a name and character?" observed the latter, with official
brevity.
"God help thee, friend!--I did not think Geneva had been so particular
with a Swiss;--and a Swiss who is so favorably known on the Aar, and
indeed over the whole of the great canton! I am Nicklaus Wagner, a name of
little account, perhaps, but which is well esteemed among men of
substance, and which has a right even to the Buergerschaft--Nicklaus Wagner
of Berne--thou wilt scarce need more?"
"Naught but proof of its truth. Thou wilt remember this is Geneva; the
laws of a small and exposed state need be particular in affairs of this
nature."
"I never questioned thy state being Geneva; I only wonder thou shouldst
doubt my being Nicklaus Wagner! I can journey the darkest night that ever
threw a shadow from the mountains, any where between the Jura and the
Oberland, and none, shall say my word is to be disputed. Look 'ee, there
is the patron, Baptiste, who will tell thee, that if he were to land the
freight which is shipped in my name, his bark would float greatly the
lighter."
All this time Nicklaus was nothing loth to show his papers, which were
quite in rule.
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