e been spared, and they tell one that she is
faithful and reliable. And she is safe from love affairs, and we with
her. With her we shall have only pleasant experiences."

And so it proved. So long as we remained in Swinemuende the Schroeder
girl remained in our house, loved and respected by old and young, not
least of all by my father, who gave her particular credit for her
sense of justice and her candor, in spite of the fact that he
occasionally had to suffer severely because of these two qualities.
She was always waging war against him. In the first place, out of love
for my mother, for whom she came to be an eloquent advocate, in spite
of the fact that my mother was thoroughly able to defend herself, in
accordance with her maxim, "The best defense is a blow." In the second
place, she was the mistress of the pantry, which was intrusted to her
with most plenary powers, and my father was always undertaking
pillaging expeditions against it, not only to satisfy his own personal
wants, which she might have tolerated, even though he was capable of
consuming half a veal roast for his breakfast, without thinking
anything about it; but she objected strenuously to his raids for the
benefit of his pet chickens, dogs, and cats. We had two cats, Peter
and Petrine. Peter, also called Peter the Great, who might have been
mistaken for a young jaguar, was his special pet, and when this
beautiful animal followed him, purring, into the pantry, and he always
followed, there was no end to the dainty morsels given him. The best
was none too good. This wanton waste made the Schroeder girl, faithful
soul that she was, fly into a rage, for she often saw her plans for
dinner completely upset.

In the house she was indeed a treasure, but for us children,
especially me, she was even more than that, she was a real blessing.
The training we received from our parents advanced by fits and starts;
sometimes there was training and again there was none, and never any
thought of continuity. But the Schroeder girl supplied the continuity.
She had no favorites, never allowed herself to be outwitted, and knew
just how to handle each one of us. As for me, she knew that I was
good-natured, but sensitive, proud, and under the control of a certain
degree of megalomania. These bad inclinations she wished to hold in
check, and so said to me times without number: "Yes, you think you are
a marvelous fellow, but you are only a childish boy, just like the
rest o