, with a dexterity bordering on art and a stolidity
out of which nothing could shake them.

The wall behind the bar was studded within reaching distance with an
array of gleaming polished metal taps; back of the bar were the
passageways to the pantries and kitchen. Oil paintings hung above the
taps and doorways. Over the heads of the business men standing or leaning
at the bar, with derbies or silk hats shoved back from their foreheads,
Frederick saw a delicious woman's figure by Courbet; sheep by Troyon; a
bright seascape with clouds by Dupre; several choice pieces by Daubigny,
sheep on a dune landscape, a pool reflecting the full moon hanging low
over the horizon and two cud-chewing oxen; a Corot--a tree, a cow, water,
a glorious evening sky; a Diaz--a pond, old birches, light reflected in
the water; a Rousseau--a gigantic tree in a storm; a Millet--a pot with
turnips, pewter spoons and knives; a dark portrait by Delacroix; another
Courbet, a landscape; a small Bastien-Lepage, a girl and a man in the
grass with a great deal of light; and many other excellent pictures. He
was so fascinated that he almost forgot his recent experience and his
purpose in coming.

In his complete absorption, he was only vaguely annoyed by a rather loud
group, whose boisterous laughter and restlessness contrasted sharply with
the quiet demeanour of the other guests. Suddenly he felt a hand on his
shoulder, started, looked around and met the eyes of a man whose bearded
face seemed coarse and unfamiliar. Cocktails and other good drinks had
shot his peony complexion with a bluish tinge.

"What's the matter?" the stranger said. "Don't you know me--Captain
Butor?"

Captain Butor, the man to whom Frederick owed his life! And now he also
recognised the other members of the noisy group. There were Arthur Stoss
and his valet, Bulke, in inconspicuous black livery, sitting a little off
from the others. There were Doctor Wilhelm, and the painter Jacob
Fleischmann, and Wendler, the _Hamburg's_ engineer, and two sailors from
the _Roland_, wearing new suits and caps. They had already been engaged
on another steamer of the same line and had been presented with a fair
sum of money.

The men all greeted Frederick like an old friend. Arthur Stoss, for the
benefit of a New York gentleman, was retailing his old story, that he
intended in a short while to give up touring and retire. He made frequent
loud references to his wife, evidently considering it very