this very day you shall cease to belong to my
establishment!"
"Excuse me, General," I interrupted, "but did he make an express point
of it that I should 'cease to belong to your establishment,' as you
call it?"
"No; I, of my own initiative, thought that I ought to afford him that
satisfaction; and, with it he was satisfied. So we must part, good sir.
It is my duty to hand over to you forty gulden, three florins, as per
the accompanying statement. Here is the money, and here the account,
which you are at liberty to verify. Farewell. From henceforth we are
strangers. From you I have never had anything but trouble and
unpleasantness. I am about to call the landlord, and explain to him
that from tomorrow onwards I shall no longer be responsible for your
hotel expenses. Also I have the honour to remain your obedient servant."
I took the money and the account (which was indicted in pencil), and,
bowing low to the General, said to him very gravely:
"The matter cannot end here. I regret very much that you should have
been put to unpleasantness at the Baron's hands; but, the fault (pardon
me) is your own. How came you to answer for me to the Baron? And what
did you mean by saying that I formed part of your household? I am
merely your family tutor--not a son of yours, nor yet your ward, nor a
person of any kind for whose acts you need be responsible. I am a
judicially competent person, a man of twenty-five years of age, a
university graduate, a gentleman, and, until I met yourself, a complete
stranger to you. Only my boundless respect for your merits restrains me
from demanding satisfaction at your hands, as well as a further
explanation as to the reasons which have led you to take it upon
yourself to answer for my conduct."
So struck was he with my words that, spreading out his hands, he turned
to the Frenchman, and interpreted to him that I had challenged himself
(the General) to a duel. The Frenchman laughed aloud.
"Nor do I intend to let the Baron off," I continued calmly, but with
not a little discomfiture at De Griers' merriment. "And since you,
General, have today been so good as to listen to the Baron's
complaints, and to enter into his concerns--since you have made
yourself a participator in the affair--I have the honour to inform you
that, tomorrow morning at the latest, I shall, in my own name, demand
of the said Baron a formal explanation as to the reasons which have led
him to disregard the fact that th
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