As it was, we didn't seem to
be getting anywhere.
No one spoke. The silence began to be even a little
uncomfortable. It was broken by my friend Rapley, who is
in wholesale hardware and who has all the intellectual
bravery that goes with it. He asked the Authority straight
out the question that we all wanted to put.
"Just what do you mean by the Ballplatz? What is the
Ballplatz?"
The Authority smiled an engaging smile.
"Precisely," he said, "I see your drift exactly. You say
what _is_ the Ballplatz? I reply quite frankly that it
is almost impossible to answer. Probably one could best
define it as the driving power behind the Ausgleich."
"I see," said Rapley.
"Though the plain fact is that ever since the Herzegovinian
embroglio the Ballplatz is little more than a counterpoise
to the Wilhelmstrasse."
"Ah!" said Rapley.
"Indeed, as everybody knows, the whole relationship of
the Ballplatz with the Nevski Prospekt has emanated from
the Wilhelmstrasse."
This was a thing which personally I had _not_ known. But
I said nothing. Neither did the other men. They continued
smoking, looking as innocent as they could.
"Don't misunderstand me," said the Authority, "when I
speak of the Nevski Prospekt.
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