"Ha, ha! that made you late, I suppose."
"And wet, too," said Father Joachim, shaking his gown.
"Ha, ha! Capuchins on stilts! The idea is amusing."
"I don't know what to say to that," said Father Peter bluntly, "unless you find amusement in the discomfort of your fellow-creatures."
"Pardon, good father. Hungry men are apt to be captious, and I feared our fish would be spoilt; here it comes,—let us hope for the best."
Father Joachim said grace, and they fed like hungry men as much as heroes. After the dishes were removed, which was not in less than an hour, they began to talk of business.
"We want a map," said Baron Taxis; "Hauser, have you one?"
Hauser produced a map, but it was too small, and proved to be incorrect. Hofer eyed it with contempt.
"I can draw a better map than that," said he, dipping his finger in his glass, and making various small slops on the table. "This is Hobranz, and this is Kempten; here are our men of the Vorarlberg, and here the Bavarians."
"You have made Kempten too large in proportion to Hobranz," said Baron Hauser, superciliously.