IN THE STATE OF DENMARK 167 



pension had much lore on the subject, and offered 

 quinine to a young gentleman from Bristol who 

 seemed a recognised wit. He said he would prefer 

 the cholera, " at which remark," as the Vicar of 

 Wakefield says, " I thought the two Miss Flam- 

 boroughs would have died of laughing." 



Still in the relish of the jest the table rose, and a 

 social evening was entered on in the next room, on 

 blue velvet chairs and red velvet sofas. Some one 

 played the piano, the lady with the green fringe sat 

 apart and played a frigid game of patience with the 

 air of one who imparts tone, and the life and soul of 

 the pension got up a round game. It prospered ; a 

 Danish youth was swept into the circle, was called 

 " Oh, nawtay, nawtay," by his instructress, and the 

 elderly ladies hung round in admiration. A tall 

 Swedish girl produced some sketches; she was going 

 south to study art; she was as pleasantly gracious 

 as seems to be the rule with Swedes, and the elderly 

 ladies rose like a rookery and settled down about 

 her. They had the manners of devoted young men, 

 and told each other in loud asides how ladylike she 

 was, and how clever; as sketch after sketch was 

 shown they said, " The noble river 1 " " The swelHng 

 mountain 1 " with a beautiful, copperplate enthusiasm. 

 The Swedish girl became eventually involved in the 

 round game, and the Bristol young man asked riddles, 

 of which one remains imprinted on the memory. 

 " If the kitchen poker were aunt by marriage to the 

 draAving-room tongs, how many one-eyed policemen 

 would go to a cart-load of sawdust ? " This was with 

 some difficulty translated by the Danish young man 

 to the Swede, who received it with a politeness that 

 could not conceal her stupefaction. It was rivalled 

 by ours; the fact that there was no answer just 

 serving to restore mental balance. 



