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charge of the inn in Cieszyn. Tadeusz would take the rest of his family and, later, one half of his staff
and go to Cracow.
There they would buy-if necessary build-a suitable building. The guilds in Cracow wouldn't allow me to
handle any construction work, which was just as well. I had my hands full as it was. Tadeusz had
definite ideas about what he wanted -something similar to our present facilities only larger and plusher.
After that, I wanted a small inn at Three Walls, and if the Cracow inn was a success, we might expand to
Wroclaw and Sandomierz. After that, who knew? Perhaps each of his sons would be an innkeeper.
Tadeusz, his wife, and five of their sons left for Cracow the next morning as I was leaving for Three
Walls. But of course they couldn't keep up with Anna.
A mile from Three Walls, I overtook Boris Novacek and a knight heading in the same direction that I
was. For a few days last fall, I had worked for the man, and most of my wealth had been gained while in
his employ. He had been treated rather shabbily by Count Lambert, to my profit, and I had always felt
guilty about it.
"Boris! I haven't seen you since last Christmas. Are your ventures profiting you?" I said as the horses
walked slowly down the trail.
"As well as can be expected, Sir Conrad. I thought I would visit your new lands and see what wonders
you were working there. This is my new companion, Sir Kazimierz, who now has your old job."
"A pleasure, Sir Kazimierz. I hope you last longer at it than I did." I turned back to my old boss. "You'll
always be welcome at my table, Boris. But the truth is that there isn't much to see yet at Three Walls.
We're just getting it built. I'm, pretty proud of the mill and factory I designed at Okoitz, though. You
should visit there."
"I've thought on it, but I fear that Count Lambert would decide that I wanted to gift him with all I own as
a birthday present, so I have avoided the place."
"He was pretty rough on you last winter. Nonetheless, he now has a cloth factory and more cloth than he
can sell. You once said that you wanted to get into the cloth trade. You might strike a good bargain
there."
"Another thing. I now own a brassworks in Cieszyn. They've been selling all the brass they can pour,
and are having a hard time getting enough copper. The price of copper in Cieszyn has doubled since last
spring."
"An interesting thought, Sir Conrad. To buy cloth at Okoitz, sell it in Hungary, and return with copper
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for Cieszyn. I think that would be profitable. The truth is that I have no goods just now but plenty of
money."
"Quite a bit of money, in fact. You remember that German who attacked us on the road just out of
Cracow last winter? Not Sir Rheinburg, the other German the day before."
How could I forget? He was the first man I had ever killed. "Yes."
"Then you will recall that I mentioned that if he had really purchased my debt from Schweiburger the
cloth merchant, and if he had no heirs, I would be forgiven that debt of twenty-two thousand pence."
"Well, that very thing has come to pass, and I am now richer because of it. I never had to pay the debt
and I even recovered my amber from Schweiburger. "
"You mean that man was an honest creditor?"
"A creditor, yes. Honest? Do honest men pull knives on others on the highway? He tried to kill me, and
then you as well. Anyway, my debt was not in arrears at the time. He had no fight to accost us like that."
"Still, it troubles me."
"Well, it shouldn't. You did no wrong, and now there is a bit of gold for you with which to salve your
conscience."
"What do you mean, Boris?"
"I mean that I said at the time that if he really had a deed of transfer, you would get half of my profits.
I've never gone back on my word yet, and I won't start now. Eleven thousand pence in those sacks is for
you."
"You have traveled three days to pay me a huge sum of money that I would never have known about if
you hadn't told me?"
"Yes, Sir Conrad. I suppose that's a true statement."
"I've never heard of -such honesty. Especially after Count Lambert took the much larger booty we won
from Sir Rheinburg and gave most of it to me, even though you actually found the treasure in
Rheinburg's camp. I was so concerned about that baby that I stepped fight over the treasure chest
without noticing it. I hate to speak ill of my liege lord, but I've always thought that you were robbed."
"I wasn't pleased with Count Lambert either. But his actions as regards the second booty have nothing to
do with my word as regards the first."
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"Boris, you still amaze me. But-there's no way that I can accept that money. It simply wouldn't be fair. if
Count Lambert hears about the business, well, it was all a legal matter in Cracow, and so is none of his
business. If he doesn't hear about it, so much the better."
"Now it is my turn to be amazed, Sir Conrad. No other knight in Christendom would have forgiven me
this debt."
"Let's just say that we're two honest crazy people who like each other."
"Done. But tell me, is there something that you need? Something that I can do for you?"
"You know, maybe there is. You travel all over eastern Europe. You meet a lot of different people. I
want to hire a special kind of a man."
"The truth is that I know very little about practical chemistry. I know quite a bit about theoretical
chemistry, but all of it was using packaged and bottled chemicals that were bought from a supply house.
Such places aren't available in this land, and I wouldn't know bauxite from phosphate rock. But there
must be somebody who knows how to take rocks and sulfur and what not and make acids and bases and
salts out of them. I think you would call such a man an alchemist."
"I don't understand much of what you said, but I have heard of alchemists. I will spread the word that
you want one. But most of those men are frauds and liars. How could I possibly know a good one from
an imposter?"
"I recall that the Moslems had-have-better alchemists than we do, so he might be a Moor. And if he
knows how to make the three strong acids, if he can show you a liquid that can dissolve gold, aqua regia
it's called, then he's my man."
"I will search for you, Sir Conrad. I cannot promise what I'll find."
"Thank you, Boris. Tell me, what became of the amber you recovered from Schweiburger?"
"I sold it at a good price to a caravan of Crossmen."
On arriving at Three Walls, I had to spend a few hours playing manager. The mining foreman reported
that they had found a seam of clay in the mine. This was expected, since clay is usually found in [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]