m standing in the midst of a crowd, and heard Schmalz cry out,
"Let me talk; I would not soil my hands to beat the servant of that
man!"

"What?" cried Rothfuss; "I want nothing to do with the 'fat Switzer,'
for wherever his shadow falls you can find a grease-spot."

Uproarious laughter followed this sally. Funk forced himself into the
midst of the crowd, and placing himself before Schmalz called out, "You
had better hold your tongue, Rothfuss, or you will have to deal with
me."

"With you?" said Rothfuss, "with you? I have but one word to tell you."

"Out with it!"

"Yes," said Rothfuss, "I will tell you something that no human being
has ever yet said to you."

"Out with it!"

"What I mean to tell you has never before been said to you--_You are an
honest man._"

Contemptuous laughter and wild shouts followed this sally, and, when it
looked as if blows were about to fall, and the kreis-director
approached and ordered them to desist, Rothfuss called out, "Herr
Director, would you call that an insult? I said Herr Funk was an honest
man. Is that an insult?"

The officer succeeded in restoring order and we departed, taking
Rothfuss with us.

I had paid the full penalty of my acquaintance with Funk, but felt so
much freer and purer than when I entered the banqueting room, that I
did not regret what had occurred.

Richard wanted to meet his train, and Joseph left for a point down the
Rhine in order to close a contract for railroad ties. I went to the
station with them, and when the train had left, I accepted the
invitation of Rontheim, who had walked down to the railroad with us,
and went home with him.

CHAPTER XVII.

There are houses in which you never hear a loud word, not because of
any previous agreement on the part of its inmates, but as a natural
result of their character. He who enters there is at once affected,
both in mood and in the tones of his voice, by his surroundings. Such
is the peaceful household in which kind and gentle aspirations fill all
hearts and where every one works faithfully in his own allotted sphere.

I felt as if entering a new and strange phase of life when Rontheim
ushered me into the richly carpeted and tastefully furnished
drawing-room. I was cordially received by his wife, a graceful and
charming woman, and his two beautiful and distinguished-looking
daughters.

Although in exile, as it were, the mother and the daughters had
succeed