The Bessemer indicator., 1894-04-07
TWO MEALS

very strongly built, because It has to
stand the fierce storms of winter In
that region. 1t 7.l6O feet above tho
level Of the sea on the Sttlvio pass,
the highest road pass In Europe. and
which runs from Italy into the Tyrol.
From the tavern In Franzensliohe
can be seen the snowy peak of the
| Ortler, the highest mountain In the
| Tyrol. The hostelry Is constructed of
stone. and there Is large dining room
at the eastern end of It. In this din
Ing room IL huge stove, built hp-
parently Of bricks and plasteIed over.
1t Is like a steamboats tubular boiler
set on end, and the fire kept going in-
side sends u genial heat out into the
room that is much needed. imagine
that even II the fire went out the pecu-
liar construction of the stove would
enable 1t to give out heat for some
time.
The one building at FranIenhohe Is
very grandly situated: but this story
does not deal with mountain scenery
nor adventure. In fact. am somewhat
doubtful whether there is a story Mt
all to tell. am merely going to relate
two Incidents that happened while 1
was staying Mt this hostelry. have
4 dim idea that somewhere hereabouts
there 10 a moral. or lesson to be learn
ed, or perhaps = concealed sermon II
any one takes the trouble to hunt 1t
out l wish / hnd time to think about
1t myself and find out whether there is
anything to be learned from the two
incidents I mn going to relate. IL the
reader. however. searches In vain. then
all have to do is to apologize for tell
ing 20 trivial and thin . yarn; only
do 80 because OF my belief In a con-
cealed moral.
A very fine carriage aud pair drove
up to the door of the tavern at Fran
zenshohe 1t was not the ordinary
hired carriage thnt could be had at
Bormio, or down in the Tyrol valley.
The two men who were inside evident
ly owned 1t, and they were travelling
In style. Each of them had fur over
coats on of the most expensive kind,
and they were both attended obseQui-
orlsly by two servants who came with
them In the carriage. They came into
the big dining room where 1 sat, and
spread out their hands before the huge
stove. complaining Of the cold.
took 1t from their conversation that
they cnme from Vienna. When the
rather buxom Tyrolese girl came in
TO take their order. the elder Of the
two men asked:
What can we have for dinnerW
She replied that they could have
soup and steak. with bread and vege-
tables.
Have you my wineY' he asked.
YES" she answered.
Then bring me q wine cnrd."
So, ~nr ri
"but We have red and white wine.
Which will you have!'
'.Oh. bring the white wine, that 10
usually the least vile"
Having warmed themselves, the two
men threw of their overcoats, and
presently the girl came In with soup
aud two TASKS OF white wine, placing
one at the side of each plate. The
men sat down and tasted the soup.
One of them made n wrv face. and
looked Mt the other. The elder man
snid:
This Is pretty bad. IL 1t notg'
Yes" assented the other, II don't
think 1 can take It," with which he
pushed away his plate. To console
he poured out some of the
white wine in his glass and slipped It,
Judging from his expression the wine
seemed to be even worse than the
soup. The other now tnsted his wine,
und said This is awful
I'VE can get nothing better" put in
his companion, until We reach Bor-
milo. and that will be hours and hours
yet; in fact. we have 1000 feet or
more to go before we get to the top
of the pass
Tho other growled and tasted his
coup once more. but he could not stand
1t, and finally pushed the plate away
from him and rang the bell on the
table. When the girl appeared, he
said:
Take this stuff away: and haven't
you any other wine?"
''None," she replied. except the red
wine"
'Ah, well, bring us steak"
The steak was brought and the two
men tried It: they said nothing. but
looked at each other mournfully 1t
was evident that the steak was no
more TO their taste thnn had been the
wine or the soup: the meal had become
too bad even for comment. One of the
tons of It; the other tried to sip his
wine, but he finally rclInquished the
effort with sigh.
I'VE were foolish" he said, mot to
have at leust brought some wine with
u.s."
Yes" nssented the other.
AT last the two men arose, put on
their overconts again and ordered the
servants to get the carriages ready as
speedily as possible. The girl came
and they paid their bill without grum-
bling any over the meal they had
scarcely tasted. When the carriage
was ready they got in and drove on
ward over the Stelvio Pass 1t was
an unusual thing to see a private car
riage on this road. 10 MI. the hotel