rm of youth,
attracted him more than he knew or cared to admit.

The Fraeulein was still invisible when Schnetz arrived. He found the
uncle seated at breakfast, and was forced to listen to his account of
his experiences of the excursion, and of his evening at the club. The
baron may possibly have been a good dozen years older than the
lieutenant, whom he still continued to treat in his frank and jovial
manner, just as he had formerly treated the young fellow who, in
Africa, had felt flattered to be kindly taken under the wing of his
more experienced countryman and initiated into the mysteries of
lion-hunting and other noble pastimes. Sixteen years had passed since
then. The baron's hair had grown thin, the little rakish mustache on
his upper lip had turned gray, his nervous, thick-set figure had
rounded out, and, seen from behind, looked almost venerable; while
the long, lank figure of his younger comrade had grown even more
spindle-shanked, his face more like parchment, and his movements
clumsier than before. For all that the baron let his eyes rest with
fatherly satisfaction upon the officer, whom he still called "Schnetz,
my dear boy," and patted him encouragingly on the shoulder; all of
which Schnetz, who would have grimly resented any such familiarity from
any one else, received with great patience from him.

"_Bonjour, mon vieux!_" cried the baron, with both cheeks full, when
Schnetz entered. "My little highness is still resting from the fatigues
of a musical entertainment given by a Russian lady here in the hotel.
Come, light a cigar. No?--don't be afraid! On neutral ground smoking is
allowed. That is the only thing which I, the best guarded of guardians,
ever succeeded in carrying through against my ward's wishes. Positively
I have regretted a hundred times that I didn't marry, and bring a few
lively boys into the world. If they had tyrannized over me, I should
know well enough for what sins I had to suffer. Now don't wink for me
to speak lower. She is accustomed to hear these sighs of agony from me.
She knows that her slave lets his hands and feet be put in chains,
but not his tongue. To be sure," he continued, concluding this
lamentation--which he had pronounced with far too jolly an air for it
to excite serious sympathy--"to be sure, my dear Schnetz, my yoke was
never so bearable as it is here in your blessed Munich: before all
else, because you have lent your shoulder to the wheel, and I have a
substitute