But then--it may be too late before I get here again--" "What money ?" asked Vjera, anxious to get at the truth without delay.
"Oh, it is an absurd thing," he answered, growing nervous again.

"Quite absurd--and yet, it is fifty marks--and until they come, I do not see what to do.

Fifty marks--to-day it seems so much, and to-morrow it will seem so little!" He made a poor attempt to smile, but his voice trembled.
"But these fifty marks--what do you need them for to-night ?" Vjera asked, not understanding at all.

"Will not to-morrow do as well ?" "No, no!" he cried in renewed anxiety.

"It must be to-night, now, this very hour.