l as he tumbled into the corner. And so there they lay, all
three.

Then the old gentleman spun himself round with velocity in the opposite
direction, continued to spin until his long cloak was all wound neatly
about him, clapped his cap on his head, very much on one side (for it
could not stand upright without going through the ceiling), gave an
additional twist to his corkscrew mustaches, and replied with perfect
coolness: "Gentlemen, I wish you a very good morning. At twelve
o'clock tonight I'll call again; after such a refusal of hospitality as
I have just experienced, you will not be surprised if that visit is the
last I ever pay you."

"If ever I catch you here again," muttered Schwartz, coming, half
frightened, out of the corner--but before he could finish his sentence
the old gentleman had shut the house door behind him with a great bang,
and there drove past the window at the same instant a wreath of ragged
cloud that whirled and rolled away down the valley in all manner of
shapes, turning over and over in the air and melting away at last in a
gush of rain.

"A very pretty business, indeed, Mr. Gluck!" said Schwartz. "Dish the
mutton, sir. If ever I catch you at such a trick again--bless me, why,
the mutton's been cut!"

"You promised me one slice, brother, you know," said Gluck.

"Oh! and you were cutting it hot, I suppose, and going to catch all the
gravy. It'll be long before I promise you such a thing again. Leave
the room, sir; and have the kindness to wait in the coal cellar till I
call you."

Gluck left the room melancholy enough. The brothers ate as much mutton
as they could, locked the rest in the cupboard, and proceeded to get
very drunk after dinner.

Such a night as it was! Howling wind and rushing rain, without
intermission. The brothers had just sense enough left to put up all
the shutters and double-bar the door before they went to bed. They
usually slept in the same room. As the clock struck twelve they were
both awakened by a tremendous crash. Their door burst open with a
violence that shook the house from top to bottom.

"What's that?" cried Schwartz, starting up in his bed.

"Only I," said the little gentleman.

The two brothers sat up on their bolster and stared into the darkness.
The room was full of water, and by a misty moonbeam, which found its
way through a hole in the shutter, they could see in the midst of it an
enormous foam globe, spinning round and bobbing up