The record-union., 1897-02-21

during his stay. He invites himself TO
dinner with you. stays the night, volun-
ters to bring his bag and stop a month.
and is so polite and suavely impervious
to hints that you can never get rid of
him. Even If you invent some fable
about being called out of town for a
month he will insist on staying to mind
your rooms while you are absent and
will probably tell you that he will not
be lonely, as he has a compatriot at
Islington who, he is sure, will come and
keep him company. And when he goes
home again at last he will tell his
friends how kind you were to him. and
| will give them letters of introduction
to you, and send them to you with the
full conviction that they will be SINH
larly accommodated. Perhaps 1t is not
| always so. Perhaps I speak slander
ously-but hear my tale out; then
judge.
| AS Karl's letter did not reach me till
the 13th-I know now that my old
nurse was right when she said thirteen
was a fatal number-I could not reply
to put him off, for he must be already
under way.
He arrived.
| They always do.
They never get in the wrong train and
wander off accidentally to Scotland or
the North Pole.
His cab drew up at my door. The
fare was three and sixpence, and he
had no English money.
They never have!
l paid.
He greeted me with effusion, and
| tad II; hnt ohp
he asked which was his room! What
could 1 say?
1 gave him my room, and slept on the
sofa in my study.
My landlady told me afterwards that
he had burnt seven holes in the sheets
| through smoking in bed, and I found
that he used to strike his matches on
the new wallpaper, and throw them,
| with his cigar ashes, on the carpet.
But he was so grateful and affable
with it all that 1 could not get angry
enough to raise any great objection l
said "Kismet!" and submitted.
Then began the search for the ap-
pointment in some good hotel in Lon
don," by means of which he proposed
to acquire that knowledge Of English
| HOlel- Keeping lldl Lt USSlIeO
He was a wonderful man! He could
make me pay cab-fares, and yet leave
me to feel that he was doing me favor
by allowing such thing. He could drag
me from hotel to hotel in that weary
quest till l wished 1 could fall ill and be
confined to my bed; and when each day
ended in failure it was my fault that 1t
was SO. He wore my ties and linen,
smoked my cigars, lived at my expense,
and nearly killed me with the worry
of it all; but thanked me every evening
with such delicate tact that at the time
L almost reproached myself myself with
not having done enough for him. He
began ambitiously. l knew nothing of
hotel-keeping-how sould I?-and had
no idea as to the best way to go to work,
so we simply decided to go from hotel to
hotel and see what we could do. He
took me first to the-(you will under
stand why mention no names), and de-
manded to see the proprietor. The hall
porter smiled.
Proprietor" he said. This hotel
is owned by company"
Then 1 will see the company"
"Oh, will you? Then you'll have to
go to a good many different towns to see
them ALL
/ meekly suggested that we might see
the manager. After some telephoning,
IcrosS-questioning, and much voluble re-
iteration by Karl, we were ushered
along passages, up stairs, and finally
into a stately office, where sat man of
lawe-inspiring dignity. He looked
sternly at us, and said tersely:
We'll, what is your business?"
If you please, SIR said Karl. II will
be manager here to learn"
What the devil are you talking
about? l am manager here"
Then I will be your assistant. I am
Karl Bronner, and I am the proprietor
of the Hotel Adler, which is the greatest
hotel in Unterberg. 1 shall be Burgo-
master of Unterberg when Stanislaus
Bauer dies, and he is already very old
and
Can you explain the meaning of all
this pack of nonsense?' asked the man
ager, turning sharply to me.
l explained Karl's wishes. For answer
the manager pressed a button on his
desk; page appeared, and was told to
Show these gentlemen the way out!
And don't bring any one else to me until
|
want; understand that"
And that wretched little jack-sprat of
a page grinned and sniggered all the
way to the door, and winked expressive
ly at every waiter and porter we passed.
1 wanted to go home as soon as we got
outside but Karl was unabashed He
wanted to know why I did not punch
that mans" head for his insolence, and
seemed to have a poor idea of my pluck.
He said he would go back and challenge
the manager to a duel, and would hard
ly believe that that form of recreation
was not popular in England. However,
at last / dragged him away from the
curb in front of the great portico, where
he was standing and shaking his fist
comprehensively at the whole building.
At the next attempt I thought it better
to open the subject myself in a less
point blank manner than Karl had done.
1 said to the manager:
This gentleman Indicating KarD is
the proprietor of an hotel in the Black
Forest"
"At Unterberg," interjected Karl.
"And he is over here with the idea of
taking some post in an English hotel.
so that when he returns to Unterberg
Where I shall be Burgonraster when
Stanislaus Bauer dies, and he is al
ready very DID," Kari added
80 that he can model his hotel on
English lines, and secure the patronage
of British tourists"
Because yes, the English are very
rich, and I will that they come to my