Herr Balthasar Schommer was a personification of good humour. It beamed pure and unadulterated from his small gray eyes, it was distinctly stamped on the broad smile of his large mouth. Whoever had once seen Herr Balthasar knew that he could rely with certainty upon his thorough goodness of heart. There was no guile in the man; his round face was the mirror of his character. Try as the old gentleman would by twirling the ends of his gray moustache straight into the air to give himself a stern, martial air, no one was ever deceived by it. "I'll let you off this once, deuce take you!" he said, vainly endeavouring to make his words sound stern and dignified; "but another time take care. And you too, you little minx," he went on, turning to Nanette; "for I can tell you that if my niece had seen you--ah, by Jove!" Again he pinched the girl's cheek, then laughed heartily, and tapped Wilhelm on the shoulder with his cane. Then with a farewell nod he went into the drawing-room to find his niece. "Won't he tell?" Nanette whispered anxiously as the door closed behind him. "Never!" Wilhelm replied in a tone of firm conviction. "Herr Balthasar wouldn't for the world do an unkind thing by any one. Oh, he's a splendid old gentleman!" "He's a foolish old fop!" Nanette rejoined, saucily; "looking at me so and pinching my cheek. It's my belief he'd have liked a kiss himself." "Well, you might have given him one, Nanette; I wouldn't have been jealous." Nanette's face grew dark, and she would have made some cutting rejoinder, but she bethought herself in time that it behooved her to keep Wilhelm in good humour, so she contented herself with saying, "Thank you kindly for your permission, which I shall not need, however. The vain old fool! He looks like a bedizened monkey in his light summer costume. You can see with half an eye that he once weighed out sugar and sold molasses. He can't hide that for all the big diamond in his shirt-front. And then such language! 'Bai Chove!' and 'teuce of a vellow!' at every third word. It is scandalous that a girl who has always lived in the best families should have taken service with such riff-raff!" In her zeal and irritation she had quite forgotten her resolution always to be amiable when Wilhelm was by; one glance into his honest face reminded her of this, and she forthwith controlled herself. None too soon, however; for Wilhelm had just made the discovery that pretty Nanette could be very cross and look almost ugly. "I don't know what you mean, Nanette," he said, with much less warmth. "What has the good old man done to you? He is so good-hearted that I should think no one could be angry with him."