ople!'

"'And Hock! too, for the honorable and good gendarme!' laughed Fiddles,
dropping into his chair. 'But for him I would be in the lock-up instead
of basking in the smiles of two such lovely women as the fascinating
landlady and the bewitching Gretchen.'

"After that Fiddles and I became inseparable. That I hadn't a mark
over my expenses to give him in return for his services--and there was
nothing he would not do for me--made no difference. He wouldn't take any
wages; all he wanted was to carry my traps, to sit by me while I worked;
wake me up in the morning, be the last to wish me good night. Soon it
became a settled fact that, while the landlady fed two mouths--mine and
Fiddles's--and provided two beds--Fiddles in the garret--my single board
bill covered all the items. 'That is the Herr Painter and his servant,'
she would say to inquiring strangers who watched us depart for a day's
work, Fiddles carrying my easel and traps.

"This went on for weeks--might have gone on all summer but for
the events which followed a day's outing. We had spent the morning
sketching, and on our way home had stood opposite a wide-open gate--a
great baronial affair with a coat of arms in twisted iron, the whole
flanked by two royal lamps.

"'Step inside, Master,' said Fiddles. 'It is hot, and there is a seat
under that tree; there we will get cool.'

"'It's against the rules, Fiddles, and I don't know these people.'

"'Then I'll introduce you.'

"He was half-way across the grass by this time and within reach of a
wooden bench, when an old lady stepped out from behind a tree--a real
old aristocrat in black silk and white ruffles. She had a book in her
hand, and had evidently been reading.

"You should have seen the bow Fiddles gave her, and the courtesy she
returned.

"'Madame the Baroness,' said the rascal, with an irradiating smile as I
approached them, 'has been good enough to ask us to accompany her to the
house. Permit me, Madame, to present my friend, a distinguished American
painter who is visiting our country, and who was so entranced at the
beauty of your grounds and the regal splendor of your gate and chateau
that rather than disappoint him--'

"'You are both doubly welcome, gentlemen,' 'This way, please,' replied the
old lady with a dip of her aristocratic head; and before I knew it we
were seated in an oak-panelled dining-room with two servants in livery
tumbling over each other in their efforts to find the part