The Emperor nodded assent: “You are right; three little Princes do cost a good deal.” When the royal family met for a late supper, the Emperor handed a telegram to his granddaughter. She looked at it, scarcely able to comprehend the contents, until the old gentleman said with a kindly smile: “No need to keep you in suspense The children are coming—at my expense.” The Emperor’s Thoughtfulness While the Emperor and Empress were at Ems, Count von Gneisenau, a son of the famous general of that name, was often asked to dine at the royal table. It was his habit always to decline the after-dinner coffee. One day he had again been a guest at dinner. A lackey offered him a cup of coffee. The Count declined, without interrupting his conversation with the Empress. A second time a cup was offered to him, and before he could decline again, the Empress said: “Do take that cup!” The Count obeyed, but held the cup in his hand. The Emperor coming up to them remarked: “Why, Gneisenau, you are not drinking your coffee!” The Count murmured a few words of excuse. “Well, you might at least look at the cup!” Gneisenau did so. Tears of emotion dimmed his eyes. On the cup was the portrait of his father. With a benevolent smile, the Emperor said: “I saw that cup this morning in one of the stalls of the promenade and bought it for you! You must always drink out of it.” Socks with Knots The little Princess Feodora, of Sachsen-Meiningen, a great-granddaughter of Emperor William I, was learning to knit, and the first thing she wanted to do was to knit a pair of warm socks for her beloved great-grandpapa at Berlin. In a few weeks the task was accomplished and the gift sent off. It pleased the Emperor so much that he insisted on putting the socks on at once. During the evening it was noticed that his face looked drawn, as if he was in pain; but on being asked if he was ill, he said smilingly: “Do not worry, I am all right; but Feodora has made such a lot of immense hard knots in her socks, that I feel as if I were screwed into one of the old instruments of the inquisition!” A Cause for Thankfulness A general once asked the Emperor for a detachment of cavalry, for service at the capital of his province. Laughing, the Emperor said: “My dear general, you will have to ask that man,” pointing towards Moltke; “he alone disposes of our army. I must be thankful if he leaves me my guards!” Equal to the Occasion The Emperor was an enthusiastic sportsman. One day, while on a hunt with a number of royal guests, he grew tired, and decided to go home quietly. Two of his guests, noticing this, accompanied him. They had walked along the road some distance when a farmer with his wagon overtook them. One of the gentlemen asked him to take them along for a consideration. The farmer consented and the three climbed into the farm-wagon. Curiosity soon got the better of the countryman, and turning to one of the gentlemen, he asked: “And who might you be?”