You are not the first
by many who has slept well below my roof,' continued the old
gentleman, mounting the stairs before his guest; 'for good food,
honest wine, a grateful conscience, and a little pleasant chat
before a man retires, are worth all the possets and apothecary's
drugs. See, sir,' and here he opened a door and ushered Otto into a
little white-washed sleeping-room, 'here you are in port. It is
small, but it is airy, and the sheets are clean and kept in
lavender. The window, too, looks out above the river, and there's
no music like a little river's. It plays the same tune (and that's
the favourite) over and over again, and yet does not weary of it
like men fiddlers. It takes the mind out of doors: and though we
should be grateful for good houses, there is, after all, no house
like God's out-of-doors. And lastly, sir, it quiets a man down like
saying his prayers. So here, sir, I take my kind leave of you until
to-morrow; and it is my prayerful wish that you may slumber like a
prince.'
And the old man, with the twentieth courteous inclination, left his
guest alone.
CHAPTER III - IN WHICH THE PRINCE COMFORTS AGE AND BEAUTY AND
DELIVERS A LECTURE ON DISCRETION IN LOVE
THE Prince was early abroad: in the time of the first chorus of
birds, of the pure and quiet air, of the slanting sunlight and the
mile-long shadows.
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