To Güntz he once said, "I must say that in contemplating you and your wife, one realises what a half-man a bachelor is."
The stout captain laughed good-naturedly.
"Kläre," he shouted to his wife, who was just coming into the room, "it appears that I wasn't making a mistake when I chose you for my wife."
"How's that, my Fatty?" asked his wife.
"Reimers has just been saying that the sight of our wedded life gives him an appetite for matrimony. What do you say to that?"
"A very sensible remark, Herr Reimers," laughed Kläre.
Reimers blushed a little and rejoined: "Well, then, I shall soon go bride-hunting. For your advice is always good, dear lady."
"Now then, flatterer!" growled Güntz. "Don't make my wife conceited."
But when Reimers had bidden them good-bye he said to Kläre: "I really believe it would be a most sensible thing for Reimers to marry; he is not the sort to become a mere mess-house or tavern habitué. He ought to go about and study the daughters of our country a little."
"Why go about? There's good enough near at hand," said Frau Kläre.