The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1874-09-25
VOLUME 2.

was apparently increased when we ex
cused ourselves for troubling him agair
so soon, and begged that he would have
our tired horses we'll attended to.
"Oh, you are very welcome, gentle
men," he replied, rubbing his hands
with a sort of satanic glee. "You de-
my little house great honor!" ("Here
have the eight Ounces again" he thought
to himself.)
We made ourselves as comfortable al
possible, and, in our endeavors in thi;
direction, we were ably seconded by oul
host. When he asked US how many
rooms we wished, we modestly replied
that We were by no means particular
how many we had; whereupon he hast
ened to allot to our occupancy eight
rooms in row, up two flights of stairs
which, he assured us, were as comforta-
BILE as any rooms in his house, and
have no doubt that, in making the state
ment, he was not very wide of the truth
Of ordering our supper, we made equal
ly light work, leaving the selection oi
the bill-of-fare entirely to him. Yes
we even went so far in evincing our
confidence in his judgment and discre-
tion as to allow him to select our wine
for us.
"Perhaps 1 shall put bottle of cham
pagne on ice?" he suggested. 81 hope
Messieurs les Prussiens found my wine
to their taste the other evening"
"If you choose, you may put two on
ice," 1 replied.
perhaps three, messieurs?"
"Four if you like"
"Bon, let US say six"
"You are very kind, monsieur"
"My duty, my duty! think know
what is due to such guests as you are,
gentlemen"
And so we continued to compliment
each other until our jaws were busy
with supper, which, thanks to the gen
erosity of our host, was truly Lucullian
in its character.
Our host watched our glasses with
Argus eyes, and hardly were they emp
ty, when the walters, in obedience to his
wink, filled them again; this We gave
him an opportunity to do very frequent
ly, especially when he brought on the
champagne, which, to do the Shark
justice, 1 confess was very good, and,
unlike his claret, had not been watered.
We swallowed with heroic courage
whatever was set before us-and it is
astonishing what eight healthy, willing
fellows can accomplish in this direction
under proper encouragement, after a
hard days march, especially if they
have been on plain fare for few days.
We repeatedly drank the Sharks health,
an honor the significance of which he
was destined not to learn until the next
morning. Finally, at a late hour, with
heavy heads and timber knees, leaving
formidable battery of empty bottles
behind US, we retired to sleep the sleep
of-the averagers.
The next morning, bright and early,
late as it was when we went to our beds,
we were all assembled round the table
enjoying our cafe aH Eait, and in all the
better humor in consequence of the sue
cess of our little plot. 1t was with a
sort of triumphant satisfaction, that l
watched our host, as we drank our eof-
fee, making copy of what seemed to
be an interminable list of entries IN a
big account book before HIM.
"Now he is slaughtering u.s." l whis-
pered to my comrades, just as one of our
drivers, a stalwart Pomeranian, present.
ed himself at the door, and cried out,
"The wagons are ready, gentlemen"
Before our landlord could recover
from his astonishment, we were out of
his house and in our seats. But he was
close upon US with his bill, which could
have been measured with yard-stick.
I glanced at the sum. 1t was, as we
intended it should be, larger than the
previous one.
What is it you wish?" 1 asked,
with all the naiUete could command.
"The amount of my little bill, mes
sieurs, if you please" repeated the
Shark, in his blandest tone.
"Your bill! how? why, we were quar-
tered with you"
"Eh! wh-what! qua-quartered
with me?" he stammered, and at each
syllable his under jaw fell lower and
lower.
Certainly! Is it impossible that l
forgot last evening to give you our bill
let? Why, here it is now" and 1 drew
the document from my pocket and hand
ed it to him. 81 beg thousand par
dons, mon cher monsieur!-Driver, go
on!'
And away we drove, laughing heart
lily. The Shark, however, did not seem
to relish the joke. AS long as we were
in sight he stood still, "with murder in
his mien," looking now at us, and now
at his "little bill"
We, however, for the thousandth time
struck up our favorite song, which rang
out merrily on the morning air:
'Lieb vaterland, magst ruhig sein,
Fest steht und treu die Wacht am Rhein. -
Does anybody doubt that the landlord
of The Shark looked after the Quarter
billete little more closely after this ad-
venture?
Probably not!