justly hoped and believed that the proposed expedition would
strengthen good feeling between the two countries. After dinner
we all sat in the smoking-room of the old Schloss until midnight,
and various pleasant features of the conversation dwell in my
memory--particularly the Emperor's discussions of Mark Twain and
other American humorists; but perhaps the most curious was his
amusement over a cutting from an American newspaper--a printed
recipe for an American concoction known as "Hohenzollern punch,"
said to be in readiness for the prince on his arrival. The number
of intoxicants, and the ingenuity of their combination, as his
Majesty read the list aloud, were amazing; it was a terrific
brew, which only a very tough seaman could expect to survive.

But as we all took leave of the prince at the station afterward,
there were in my heart and mind serious misgivings. I knew well
that, though the great mass of the American people were sure to
give him a hearty welcome, there were scattered along his route
many fanatics, and, most virulent of all, those who had just then
been angered by the doings of sundry Prussian underlings in
Poland. I must confess to uneasiness during his whole stay in
America, and among the bright days of my life was that on which
the news came that he was on board a German liner and on his
return.

One feature of that evening is perhaps more worthy of record.
After the departure of the prince, the Emperor's conversation
took a more serious turn, and as we walked toward his carriage he
said, "My brother's mission has no political character whatever,
save in one contingency: If the efforts made in certain parts of
Europe to show that the German Government sought to bring about a