Englishman. [Paying] Thanks. [To his wife, in an Oxford voice] Sugar?
ENGLISHWOMAN. [In a Cambridge voice] One.
American traveller. [With field-glasses and a pocket camera from another table] Waiter, I’d like to have you get my eggs. I’ve been sitting here quite a while.
Waiter. Yes, sare.
German traveller. ‘Kellner, bezahlen’! [His voice is, like his moustache, stiff and brushed up at the ends. His figure also is stiff and his hair a little grey; clearly once, if not now, a colonel.]
Waiter. ‘Komm’ gleich’!
[The baby on the bundle
wails. The mother takes it up to soothe
it. A young, red-cheeked
Dutchman at the fourth table stops
eating and laughs.]
American. My eggs! Get a wiggle on you!
Waiter. Yes, sare. [He rapidly recedes.]
[A little man
in a soft hat is seen to the right of tables.
He
stands a moment looking
after the hurrying waiter, then seats
himself at the fifth
table.]
Englishman. [Looking at his watch] Ten minutes more.
ENGLISHWOMAN. Bother!
American. [Addressing them] ’Pears as if they’d a prejudice against eggs here, anyway.
[The English look at him, but do not speak. ]
German. [In creditable English] In these places man can get nothing.
[The waiter comes
flying back with a compote for the Dutch
youth, who pays.]
German. ‘Kellner, bezahlen’!
Waiter. ‘Eine Krone sechzig’.
[The German pays.]
American. [Rising, and taking out his watch—blandly] See here. If I don’t get my eggs before this watch ticks twenty, there’ll be another waiter in heaven.
Waiter. [Flying] ‘Komm’ gleich’!
American. [Seeking sympathy] I’m gettin’ kind of mad!
[The Englishman
halves his newspaper and hands the advertisement
half to his wife.
The baby wails. The mother rocks it.]
[The Dutch youth stops eating and laughs. The German lights a cigarette. The little man sits motionless, nursing his hat. The waiter comes flying back with the eggs and places them before the American.]
American. [Putting away his watch] Good! I don’t like trouble. How much?
[He pays and eats.
The waiter stands a moment at the edge of
the platform and passes
his hand across his brow. The little
man eyes him and
speaks gently.]
Little man. Herr Ober!
[The waiter turns.]
Might I have a glass of beer?