There is this man Schmock! He is a poor fellow who has been little in good society and was until now on the staff of the Coriolanus.
ADELAIDE. I remember having seen him.
BELLMAUS.
At Bolz's request I gave him a few glasses of punch. He thereupon grew jolly and told me of a great plot that Senden and the editor of the Coriolanus have hatched between them. These two gentlemen, so he assures me, had planned to discredit Professor Oldendorf in the Colonel's eyes and so drove the Colonel into writing articles for the Coriolanus.
ADELAIDE.
But is the young man who made you these revelations at all trustworthy?
BELLMAUS.
He can't stand much punch, and after three glasses he told me all this of his own accord. In general I don't consider him very reputable. I should call him a good fellow, but reputable—no, he's not quite that.
ADELAIDE (indifferently.)
Do you suppose this gentleman who drank the three glasses of punch would be willing to repeat his disclosures before other persons?