ff his hat; but the duke would stop
him, and say, "Keep on your hat, James. It 's all very well to teach the
young fellows manners, but there 's no ceremony between you and me; we
are equals--two plain old men." His servants, of whatever degree, dined
together in the common hall; but some of the more aspiring "ambitioned"
(as the Yankees say) a separate table. One of them, who was supposed to
be rather a favourite, was deputed to break the project to the duke, and
obtain his consent at some propitious moment. Thinking he had him one
day in a most accommodating temper, he cautiously hinted the scheme, and
gradually waxed bolder, and disclosed all particulars, as the duke
seemed to listen with tacit approval. "Well, well," answered the duke,
carelessly, "all my servants are alike to me. You may dine at one table,
or at twenty, if you can so arrange it. But whatever the number"--here
his voice rose ominously, and his eye flashed with anger--"you, sirrah,
shall dine at the lowest!" The great question of the "tables" was
crushed. Sometimes--after the fashion of Haroun al Raschid, though not
in disguise--he would steal down quietly and unperceived, through the
out-of-the-way holes and corners of the immense castle, to see with his
own eyes what the inhabitants of the remoter regions were about. Some
dry joke, or some act of benevolence, according to circumstances, was
sure to be the result. As he was one day poking through the passages, he
suddenly encountered an enormously big, fat servant-woman, engaged in
cleaning a stair. She was steaming with perspiration. Eyeing her
curiously for a moment, "Ho, ho!" he cried (his usual introductory
exclamation), "do _you_ bake the bread?" The woman, staring in
astonishment, and, fortunately for her own self-complacency, not
understanding the point of the strange question, replied, "No, your
grace, that is not my department; I am in the laundry, and my business
is"--"Oh, never mind," said the duke, with the look of one greatly
relieved, "I am perfectly satisfied so you don't bake the bread." A
decayed gentleman, who had found harbourage at Fleurs, was staying
rather longer than convenient. It was in the depth of winter, and the
ground was covered with snow. The duke, who was an early riser in all
seasons, had been out for his morning walk; and on his return proceeded
to the gentleman's room, who was still in bed. "You lazy lie-a-bed!"
exclaimed the duke, "there 's a snow-ball for you--and