"So soon!"
"Yes; I'm tired of workin' for old Bond; I want to go in for myself."
"Well, John, I wish you good luck, but I shall be sorry to lose you for a room-mate."
"Lend me a necktie, won't you, Oliver? I want to take her eye, you know."
So Oliver lent his most showy necktie to his room-mate, and John departed on his important mission.
About half an hour later John rushed into the room in a violent state of excitement, his collar and bosom looking as if they had been soaked in dirty water, and sank into a chair.
"What's the matter?" asked Oliver.
"I've cast her off!" answered John in a hollow voice. "She is a faithless deceiver."
"Tell me all about it, Jack."
John told his story. He went to the saloon, ordered a glass of lager, and after drinking it asked the momentous question. Frau Winterhammer seemed surprised, said "So!" and then called "Fritz!" A stout fellow in shirt-sleeves came out of a rear room, and the widow said something to him in German. Then he seized John's arms, and the widow deliberately threw the contents of a pitcher of lager in his face and bosom. Then both laughed rudely, and John was released.