A very bright barmaid, thought I.
Then I said: "Is this your home?"
"Yes," said Gretchen. "I was born here and I have tended the roses for ever so long."
"I have heard of Gretchen of the steins, but I never before heard of a
Gretchen of the roses."
"Herr must have a large store of compliments on hand to begin this early."
"It is a part of my capital," said I. "Once in Switzerland I complimented an innkeeper, and when my bill was presented I found that all extras had been crossed off."
Gretchen laughed. It was a low laugh, a laugh which appeared to me as having been aroused not at what I had said, but at something which had recurred to her. I wanted to hear it again.
So I said: "I suppose you have a stein here from which the King has drunk; all taverns and inns have them."
Gretchen only smiled, but the smile was worth something.
"No; the King has never been within five miles of this inn."