Ole Henriksen immediately grasped the situation: on account of the Russian
crop failure, in connection with the already low supplies, Russia was
preparing to prohibit all grain exports. Hard times were coming. Norway,
too, would feel the pressure, and grain would soar to incredible prices.
It was necessary to get hold of as much as possible at no matter what
figure. In spite of official Russian denials of the rumours in English
newspapers, it seemed as if America already had scented the danger, for
American wheat was rising daily. From eighty-seven and eighty-eight it had
risen until it now fluctuated between one hundred and ten and one hundred
and fifteen. Nobody could predict to what heights it would climb.
Tidemand's business with Ole was a proposition that the two friends and
colleagues join in a speculation in American rye while there still was
time. They were to join forces and import a mass of rye that should
materially assist in keeping the country fed during the coming year. But
it was a matter of urgency; rye, too, was soaring; in Russia it was almost
unpurchasable.
Ole left his desk and began to walk up and down. His mind was working; he
had intended to offer Tidemand some refreshment, but forgot it entirely.
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