I rather liked my landlord's eccentricity; so, tapping him upon the shoulder in a friendly way, I desired that he would let me have a bottle of his very best wine; and by way of propitiating him still more, I feigned to have heard a good deal of his cellar, and requested to see it. “O, very well,” he said; “follow me if you please.'”
He took me down into a cellar capitally stocked, and there we tasted a good many wines. My landlord seemed to be in the best temper.
“And what,” I asked, “is the price of that white wine in the thin long-necked bottles?”
I despair of getting its colossal name down upon paper, or I would try it; he gave it a great many syllables, and said it was the choicest and most expensive wine he had.
“Then,” said I, “that is what we will drink to-day. I will take a bottle to myself, and you another; you shall drink it with me.”
“You are very kind,” he said; “but let me recommend some other bin; this wine you will find is—is very heady.”
I thought that, like a thrifty host, he had some qualm about my means of paying for it; so I seized, manfully, a bottle in each hand, and crying “Come along!” accompanied the host into the dining-room.
The wine deserved its praise; opening our hearts, it soon made us famous friends. I had [pg 542] been pleased with the scenery about this quiet nook, and, being master of my time, and very comfortable, I made up my mind and said,
“I tell you what, my friend. I shall send for my things from Heidelberg, and stay here for a week or two.”
The laughter again pealed out; but my host, who probably had seen quite enough of a guest who insisted upon drinking his best wine, put on a grave face. It looked like an innkeeper's face, when he is buckling himself up to strike a bargain. To save him trouble, I at once said that I would pay three florins a day for myself, and one for the accommodation of my horse.