"I could almost fancy I had seen her somewhere," said he.

"Where?" asked Claudius eagerly.

"I thought he would give himself away," was the American's terse inward
reflection; but he answered coolly--

"I don't know, I am sure. Very likely I am mistaken. It was pretty
romantic though. Ask me to the wedding, Professor."

"What wedding?"

"Why, when you marry the fascinating creature with the parasol."

Claudius looked at Mr. Barker with some astonishment.

"Do you generally manage things so quickly in your country?"

"Oh, I was only joking," returned the American. "But, of course, you can
marry anybody you like, and why not the dark lady? On the whole, though,
if I were you, I would like to astonish the natives before I left. Now,
you might buy the castle here and turn it into a hotel."

"Horrible!" ejaculated Claudius.

"No worse than making a hotel of Switzerland, which is an older and more
interesting monument than the castle of Heidelberg."

"Epigrammatic, but fallacious, Mr. Barker."