The Stillwater Tragedy
The Stillwater Tragedy By Thomas Bailey Aldrich I It is close upon daybreak. The great wall of pines and hemlocks that keep off the west wind from Stillwater stretches black and indeterminate against the sky. At intervals a dull, metallic sound, like the guttural twang of a violin string, rises form the frog-invested swamp skirting the highway. Suddenly the birds stir in their nests over there in the woodland, and break into that wild
"German dishes?" stammered the restaurant keeper. "Not at all. That
was when the place was run by Munchinger, but he went back to Germany
last July, and this place is run by me, and I am a Swiss. Still, sir,
if you are fond of the German dishes I think I might be able to
accommodate you, sir."
"Well, suppose I leave that entirely to you. I can't by any chance get
a large stein of Munchener beer?"
"No, sir, I am sorry. I can get you some French beer though, which we
think is much better. You know that Admiral Fisher has got those
Dutchmen bottled up so tight that they tell me the beer won't froth
any more in Germany." And he burst into a roar of laughter in which he
was joined by a chorus of adoring customers sitting about at the
different tables.
Edestone sat down while the proprietor in person took his order to the
kitchen. In a very short time, the man returned and put down before
him a _gemuse suppe_, following this with _schweine fleisch,
sauerkraut_, and _gherkins_--a luncheon which might have been
cooked in a German's own kitchen--and set before him a glass of beer
which Edestone would have sworn had not been brewed outside of the
city of Munich.
The proprietor bustled about, laughing and cracking clumsy jokes with
The Stillwater Tragedy By Thomas Bailey Aldrich I It is close upon daybreak. The great wall of pines and hemlocks that keep off the west wind from Stillwater stretches black and indeterminate against the sky. At intervals a dull, metallic sound, like the guttural twang of a violin string, rises form the frog-invested swamp skirting the highway. Suddenly the birds stir in their nests over there in the woodland, and break into that wild