“Vun dashed bad joke, zen! Ze gentleman said to me, ‘Get out of zis, you rasgal!’ ‘Vat mean you, sare?’ say I. ‘You know quite vell,’ said he. ‘Glear out!’ So I gave him my card and tell him I would be glad to see his frient zat he should send, for zat I vas not used to be called zo. Zen I raise my hat to ze Lady Hilton and say, ‘Adieu, madame, I know now ze English lady,’ and I valk on. Himmel!” “What a very extraordinary affair, Baron!” The Baron grunted with inarticulate indignation and nearly pulled his moustache out by the roots. Abruptly he broke out again, “English ladies? I do not believe zey are ladies! Never haf I been treated zo! Vat do you mean, Bonker, by taking me among soch peoples?” “_I_, my dear Baron? It was not I who introduced you to the Hiltons. I never saw them before.” The difficulty of attaching any blame to his friend seemed to have anything but a soothing effect on the Baron. You could almost fancy that you heard his tail lash the floor. “Zat vas not all,” he continued, after a short struggle with his wrath. “I valked on, and soon I see two of ze frients I made last night at supper.” “Which two?” “Ze yong man zat spoke to you ven you rise from ze table, and vun of ze ladies. Again I raise my hat and say, ‘How do you do? I hope zat you are regovered from ze dance.’ Zat is gorrect, you say?” “Under most circumstances.” “Ze man stared at me, and ze voman—I vill not say lady—says to him zo zat I can hear, ‘Zat awful German!’ Ze man says, ‘Zo it is,’ and laughed. ‘I haf ze pleasure of meeting you last night at ze Lady Tollyvoddle,’ I said. ‘I remember,’ he said; ‘but I haf no vish to meet you again.’ I take out my card to gif him, but he only said, ‘Go avay, or I vill call ze police!’ ‘Ze police! To me, Baron von Blitzenberg! Teufel!’ I replied.” “And that was all, Baron?” asked Mr Bunker, in what seemed rather like a tone of relief. “No; suddenly he did turn back and said, ‘By ze vay, who vas zat viz you last night?’ To vich I replied, ‘If you address me again, my man, I vill call ze police. Go avay!’ ” “Bravo, Baron! Ha, ha, ha! Excellent!” laughed Mr Bunker. This applause served to reinstate the Baron a little in his own good opinion. He laughed too, though rather noisily than heartily, and suddenly became grave again. “Vat means zis, Bonker? Vat haf I done? Vy should zey treat me zo?”