!

KLEINMICHEL. He will wait, neighbor.

PIEPENBRINK. Well, I should strongly advise him to do so. Hey! Waiter,
waiter!

[Illustration: _Permission F. Bruckman, A.-G. Munich_ ON THE TERRACE
ADOLF VON MENZEL]

MRS. PIEPENBRINK. What poor service one gets in such places!

PIEPENBRINK. Waiter!

[_Waiter comes._]

My name is Piepenbrink. I brought along six bottles of my own wine.
The restaurant-keeper has them. I should like them here.

[_While the waiter is bringing the bottles and glasses_ BOLZ _and_
KAeMPE _appear. Waiter from time to time in the background._]

BOLZ (_aside to_ KAeMPE). Which one is it?

KAeMPE. The one with his back to us, the broad-shouldered one.

BOLZ. And what kind of a business does he carry on?

KAeMPE. Chiefly red wines.

BOLZ. Good! (_Aloud._) Waiter, a table and two chairs here! A bottle
of red wine!

[_Waiter brings what has been ordered to the front, on the left._]

MRS. PIEPENBRINK. What are those people doing here?

PIEPENBRINK. That is the trouble with such promiscuous assemblies,
that one never can be alone.

KLEINMICHEL. They seem respectable gentlemen; I think I have seen one
of them before.

PIEPENBRINK (_decisively_). Respectable or not, they are in our way.

KLEINMICHEL. Yes, to be sure, so they are.

BOLZ (_seating himself with_ KAeMPE). Here, my friend, we can sit
quietly before a bottle of red wine. I hardly dare to pour it out, for
the wine at such restaurants is nearly always abominable. What sort of
stuff do you suppose this will be?

PIEPENBRINK (_irritated_). Indeed? Just listen to that!

KAeMPE. Let's try it.

[_Pours out; in a low voice._]

There is a double P. on the seal; that might mean Piepenbrink.

PIEPENBRINK. Well, I am curious to know what these greenhorns will
have to say against the wine.

MRS. PIEPENBRINK. Be quiet, Philip, they can hear you over there.

BOLZ (_in a low tone_). I'm sure you are right. The restaurant takes
its wine from him. That's his very reason for coming.

PIEPENBRINK. They don't seem to be thirsty; they are not drinking.

BOLZ (_tastes it; aloud_). Not bad!

PIEPENBRINK (_ironically_). Indeed?

BOLZ (_takes another sip_). A good, pure wine.

PIEPENBRINK (_relieved_). The fellow's judgment is not so bad.

BOLZ. But it does not compare with a similar wine that I recently
drank at a friend's house.

PIEPENBRINK. Indeed?

BOLZ. I learned then that there is only one man in town from whom a
sensible w