A source of time-consuming annoyance lay in the dishonesty of most 

 Heidelberg tradesmen, to whom the foreigner was fair game. I do not 

 know whether this unscrupulous exploitation of strangers was general 

 throughout Germany, or local and due to the irresistible temptation 

 offered by the unusually large bodies of English and American resi- 

 dents. Judging from the nefarious practices of hotels and restaurants, 

 I should infer that the custom was widespread. I refer to the uncon- 

 scionable overcharging of every one who did not speak the language. 

 From our landlord's Dienstmadchen, my Mother learned the normal 

 prices of the groceries and provisions needed in our modest menage. 

 If she attempted to buy anything outside of this range, she was sure to 

 be outrageously cheated. For that reason, I had to do her shopping, 

 as, without haggUng and merely asking the price, I could get an article 

 for one-third, or even one-fifth of the sum demanded of her. Of course, 

 there were honourable exceptions. 



A letter of December 14, 1879, sums up our manner of living very 

 tersely. "Heidelberg is decidedly a dull place for friendless people, such 

 as we are. My circle of acquaintances remains just what it was three 

 months ago. I met one English girl some weeks ago, with whom I was 

 quite smitten, for she is really very beautiful, but she cut me dead three 

 times in the street and I concluded she was not all that my fancy had 

 painted her. I wish I could think of something spiteful to say of her, but 

 I can't. All this routine and isolation must be terribly hard on Mother, 

 (but not in the least so on me, for the obvious reason that I haven't the 

 time to think about it. I hope we shall find more pleasant acquaintances 

 in Naples, should we conclude to spend next winter there." 



Christmas we spent, of course, in the quietest fashion. The English 

 Church was prettily decorated with evergreens and flowers and the 

 streets were gay with throngs of people making their last minute pur- 

 chases. Our landlord invited us upstairs to see the Christmas tree, which 

 was decorated and lighted very much as at home, where we had taken 

 over the German custom. In my childhood, we never had Christmas 

 trees and New York, with its persistent Dutch traditions, made New 

 Year's day much more of a holiday than Christmas, but the German 

 tree, once adopted, spread very fast and soon became universal. 

 Throughout the vacation, the laboratory was open and I went every 

 day, as usual, though I had the place pretty much to myself. Even on 

 Christmas Day, I managed to put in a couple of hours there. 



The first three months of 1880 were given to hard, though most en- 

 joyable toil. Had the work been uninteresting, I don't think I could 



C "4 ] 



