n; refilled his coffee-cup,
and leant back in his chair, and murmured--

"Where shall I meet thee?
On the Guadelquiver?
"On the Sequara? On the
fair Zucar?
"Or any other far-off
Spanish river....."

Sleep again overpowered me, and I knew nothing till I was awakened by a
noisy discussion taking place close to me. Balder stood with his face to
the door, engaged in a hot dispute with my neighbours.

"The devil himself couldn't collect his thoughts with that coughing
going on," he was saying as I woke up.

"I was coughing to make you quiet, that endless murmuring made me so
nervous!" cried Fraeulein Lieschen, her voice trembling with annoyance.

[Illustration: "I'M GLAD YOU'VE BEEN ASLEEP."]

"I'm writing a poem, I tell you, and when one is composing a poem one
must murmur. If you can't sleep through it, you can't be healthy. You
must have eaten too much supper, or something. You can congratulate
yourself that you've got such a lodger as Reif. Do you understand me? If
you had me I'd teach you----"

Again and again, in as persuasive a voice as I could assume, I begged
the orator at the wardrobe to put an end to the speech he was delivering
on his views of a landlady's duties towards her tenants. At length my
patience gave way, and, sitting up in bed, I commanded him in a voice of
authority to give, over his poetry and recitation, and to blow out the
light and get into bed. Balder at length seemed to realise that he was
trespassing on my hospitality, and that a certain amount of respect was
due to my wishes as his host. He became silent; put his manuscript
carefully into my dressing-gown pocket; cast one last fiery glance at
the door, and retired to bed.

I do not know if he saw the daughter of sunny Spain, with her
gazelle-like eyes in his dreams, but I do know that he snored as if he
were dreaming of a saw-mill.

About three hours later, the winter daylight struggled into the room.
Balder got up and dressed himself as quietly as a mouse. He seemed as
though he was trying to make up for the disturbance he had made in the
night, or, rather, in the morning. He excused himself most politely for
waking me up, but said that he felt that he could not leave without
saying good-bye, and thanking me for my kind hospitality. Then he left
the room, closing the door softly behind him. At the same moment, I
heard the door of my landlady's room open. Half a minute's dead silence
followed, and th