such was the case.

While I revolved these thoughts with myself, my fat friend issued from
the mist, followed by a tall, thin man, dressed in deep black, with
tights and hessians of admirable fit; a pair of large, bushy whiskers
bisected his face, meeting at the corners of the nose; while a
sharp, and pointed chin tuft, seemed to prolong the lower part of his
countenance to an immense extent.

Before the short man had well uttered his announcement of the "Herr
Director," I had launched forth into the most profuse apologies for my
unwarrantable intrusion, expressing in all the German I could muster,
the extent of my sorrow, and ringing the changes on my grief and my
modesty, my modesty and my grief; at last I gave in, fairly floored for
want of the confounded verb one must always clinch the end of a sentence
with, in German.

"It was to see the play then, Monsieur came?" said the Director,
inquiringly, for alas! my explanation had been none of the clearest.

"Yes," said I, "for the play--but----" Before I could finish the
sentence, he flung himself into my arms, and cried out with enthusiasm,
"Du bist mein Vater's Sohn!"

This piece of family information, was unquestionably new to me, but I
disengaged myself from my brother's arms, curious to know the meaning of
such enthusiasm.

"And so you came to see the play?" cried he, in a transport, while he
threw himself into a stage attitude of great effect.

"Yes." said I, "to see the 'Junker,' and 'Kraehwinkel.'"

"Ach Grott! that was fine, that was noble!"

Now, how any man's enterprising a five-franc piece or two
gulden-muentze, could, deserve such epithets, would have puzzled me
at another moment; but as the dramatist said, I wasn't going to "mind
squibs after sitting over a barrel of gunpowder," and I didn't pay the
least attention to it.

"Give me your hand!" cried he, in a rapture, "and let me call you
friend."

The Director's mad as a March hare! thought I, and I wished myself well
out of the whole adventure.

"But as there's no play," said I, "another night will do as well, I
shall remain here for a week to come, perhaps longer----"

But while I went on expressing the great probability of my passing a
winter in Erfurt, he never paid the least attention to my observations,
but seemed sunk in meditation, occasionally dropping in a stray phrase,
as thus--"Die Wurtzel is sick, that is, she is at the music garden with
the officers; then, Blum is drunk by th