richly dressed gentlemen stepped out, one of
whom was the old gentleman and the other probably the young Englishman,
who had had such a hard time in learning German, and who danced so
actively. Both men took seats in the coach, the footman sprang up on
the rack at the back, and the coach--just think of it!--had been driven
up to the mayor's door.

As soon as the ladies had heard these stories from their servants, they
tore off their kitchen aprons and caps, and dressed themselves in
state. "Nothing is more certain," they exclaimed to their families,
while all were running about to set the parlor in order, "nothing is
more certain than that the stranger is about to bring his nephew out.
The old fool has not had the decency to set his foot in our house for
ten years; but we will pardon him on account of the nephew, who must be
a charming fellow." Thus said the ladies, and admonished their sons and
daughters to appear polite if the strangers came--to stand up straight,
and also to take more pains than usual in their speech. And the wise
women of the town were not wrong in their calculations, as the old
gentleman went the rounds with his nephew, to recommend himself and the
young Englishman to the favor of the Gruenwiesel families.

Every-where the people were quite charmed with the appearance of the
two strangers, and felt sorry that they had not made the acquaintance
of these agreeable gentlemen earlier. The old gentleman showed himself
to be a worthy, sensible man, who, to be sure, smiled a little over all
he said, so that one was not quite sure whether he was in earnest or
not; but he spoke of the weather, of the suburbs, and of the Summer
pleasures in the cave on the mountain side, so wisely and elaborately
that every one was charmed with him. But the nephew! He bewitched
everybody; he took all hearts by storm. Certainly, so far as his
exterior was concerned, his face could not be called handsome; the
under part, the chin especially, protruded too far, and his complexion
was exceedingly dark; then, too, he frequently made all sorts of
singular grimaces, closing his eyes and gnashing his teeth; but in
spite of all this, the contour of his face was found to be unusually
interesting. Nothing could be more athletic than his figure. His
clothes, it is true, hung somewhat loosely and unevenly on his body;
but he was pleased with every thing; he flew about the room with
uncommon activity, threw himself here on a sofa and the