owl ab te wing, und te imp ab
te wing, und te head-teuffel ab te wing. Te angel ab _not_ te wing, and
I am te _Angel ov te Odd_."

"And your business with me at present is--is"--

"My pizzness!" ejaculated the thing, "vy vat a low bred buppy you mos pe
vor to ask a gentleman und an angel apout his pizziness!"

This language was rather more than I could bear, even from an angel; so,
plucking up courage, I seized a salt-cellar which lay within reach, and
hurled it at the head of the intruder. Either he dodged, however, or
my aim was inaccurate; for all I accomplished was the demolition of the
crystal which protected the dial of the clock upon the mantel-piece. As
for the Angel, he evinced his sense of my assault by giving me two or
three hard consecutive raps upon the forehead as before. These reduced
me at once to submission, and I am almost ashamed to confess that either
through pain or vexation, there came a few tears into my eyes.

"Mein Gott!" said the Angel of the Odd, apparently much softened at my
distress; "mein Gott, te man is eder ferry dronk or ferry zorry. You
mos not trink it so strong--you mos put te water in te wine. Here, trink
dis, like a goot veller, und don't gry now--don't!"

Hereupon the Angel of the Odd replenished my goblet (which was about a
third full of Port) with a colorless fluid that he poured from one of
his hand bottles. I observed that these bottles had labels about their
necks, and that these labels were inscribed "Kirschenwasser."

The considerate kindness of the Angel mollified me in no little measure;
and, aided by the water with which he diluted my Port more than once, I
at length regained sufficient temper to listen to his very extraordinary
discourse. I cannot pretend to recount all that he told me, but I
gleaned from what he said that he was the genius who presided over the
_contretemps_ of mankind, and whose business it was to bring about the
_odd accidents_ which are continually astonishing the skeptic. Once or
twice, upon my venturing to express my total incredulity in respect
to his pretensions, he grew very angry indeed, so that at length I
considered it the wiser policy to say nothing at all, and let him have
his own way. He talked on, therefore, at great length, while I merely
leaned back in my chair with my eyes shut, and amused myself with
munching raisins and filliping the stems about the room. But, by-and-by,
the Angel suddenly construed this behavior of mine into