"Have you gone with her long?"
"Why, that's what I'm telling you. She won't look at me. She's just as
prudish and coy as a Diana."
"Do you mean to act fairly by her, and marry her?"
"What? Fairly? Of course. But I can't talk about marrying yet. Don't
you know the old student-song?--
"I will love thee, I will love thee;
But to marry, but to marry,
Is far, far, far, far above me."
"Then I must agree with Emmerence."
"Fiddle! No offence, but you don't know any thing about it. These girls
must be content just to get sweethearts like me. The squire's Babbett
would stretch out her ten fingers to get hold of me: but she couldn't
represent the Church any more, as at Gregory's first mass, and I don't
want her."
During this colloquy Peter and Florian had come up to where they were
standing.
"Ah!" said the latter, "does the doctor give us the light of his
countenance? I thought the like of us weren't worth his while to waste
words in talking to."
"Yes," added Peter; "all the boys in the village say that the like of
you was never seen, Ivo. You behave as if you were born in Stuttgard
and not in Nordstetten."
"My goodness!" said poor Ivo, thus beset on all sides, "I never thought
of such a thing as being proud. Come; let's go get a drink."
"That's the way to talk," said Florian. "It's my blowout, for I am
going off to-morrow."
The villagers opened their eyes at seeing Ivo passing through the
street in company with the trio. It was an extraordinary quartette.
"Have we so much honor?" said the hostess of the Eagle, as Ivo entered
with the others. "I'll put a candle into the back-room right-away.
What'll you have? A stoup from the other side the Rhine?"
"We'll stick to Wurtemberg for the present," said Constantine, "and Ivo
is going to drink with us. He's a Nordstetten boy, like ourselves."
"Not like you for good luck," replied the hostess.
"I'll give you a riddle, you chatter-box: why are women like geese?"
retorted Constantine.
"Because such gooseheads as you want to rule 'em," answered the
hostess.
"Babbett, just you be glad stupidity isn't heavy to carry, or you'd 'a'
been laid up this many a year. I'll tell you why they're like. Geese
and women are first-rate, all except their bills. Go get us a quart of
sixen."
"You're not good for a creutzer," said the hostess, laughing, as she
went to execute the order. We have perhaps already recognised her as
the Babbett who played a part in the story of the gamekeeper of
Muehringen. Caspar had bought the Eagle; and Babbett was an excellent
hostess. She could entertain all the guests, and had an answer ready
for every question and a retort for every sally. The "gentlemen" no
longer confined their custom to the Dipper, but now honored the Eagle
with their visits likewise.