"You always have fine coffee, sister," remarked Mr. Heil.

"Yes, it is good, and the reason is that it is genuine coffee, no chicory or other mixture. Yet I have seen pa.s.sable coffee made of poor material by an adept. Our dear old grandmother was compelled in war-times to make it from chicory, but would use no deception, so when she invited friends to take supper she would not say, 'Come to afternoon coffee,' but 'Come to chicory.'"

Paul in the meantime had set the table neatly, and had returned from the bakery with a fine large seed cake, Mrs. Steiner having given him two marks to pay for it.

The potatoes, ham, good brown and white bread, b.u.t.ter and lettuce was now upon the table, Fritz brought the coffee, and all took seats at the hospitable board.

Mr. Heil at his sister's request asked the blessing, then with pleasant chat the meal progressed, the guest a.s.suring the boys that he did not know that he had ever enjoyed one more.

"If it would not tire you too much, sister, I would prefer that we walk to the Forest-house, as I would like to call on the way at the Stayman cloth house and leave an order for cloth and ready-made clothing."

"I prefer walking this lovely evening."

"And oh, papa, we are glad to go there, for we know Mr. Stayman! We spent part of the time with him watching the fireworks," exclaimed Fritz. "Do you know, papa, that he is a tailor?"

"Yes, and I hope that you will have as good knowledge of how the work should be done as has Mr. Stayman when old enough to go in business."

"But I would rather be a merchant."

"He is a merchant and a successful one; and his success lies in the fact that he understands thoroughly how the work of making the clothing should be done."

"He invited us to come to his store and I am glad you will take us. Will we see him on his work-table with a needle in his hand?"

"I am not sure; but if so, we should have double respect for him, for it would prove that he is not above his business. You appear to have the foolish opinion that it is the kind of work that demeans or elevates a man. I know of but two cla.s.ses of men, the worker and the drone. The king who rules wisely and the tailor who does honest work are pleasing to G.o.d in the position in which he has placed them. But the man who thinks the world owes him a living and will not work but begs from door to door is like a parasite that lives upon the fruit tree."

As soon as the meal was finished the boys helped Mrs. Steiner put the place in order, and they set out for the Forest-house, Mr. Heil leading the way with his sister, the boys following, and Pixy enjoying the freedom of running along without the restriction of his cord, but always keeping near his master. They halted at the house of Uncle Braun and invited him to meet them at the Forest-house which he gladly accepted; then they pa.s.sed on and soon stood before the palatial clothing house of the Staymans and to the surprise of the boys it was the very one which Franz and Paul had visited and near which Fritz was robbed. They were met by a young man, dressed in the latest-style business-suit, who welcomed them courteously and asked how he could serve them.

"Please tell Mr. Stayman that Frederick Heil of the Odenwald wishes to leave an order with his firm," said Mr. Heil.

Mr. Stayman appeared immediately, and welcomed them all cordially.

"Come to my office," he said, "and I will give you comfortable seats; we can converse there without interruption." They followed him, pa.s.sing through a small room lined with mirrors from floor to ceiling, and while Mr. Heil gave his order, one of the young clerks took Mrs. Steiner and the boys over the building.

"Where are the workrooms?" asked Fritz.

"They are in a large building back of this one. Here we have only suits, and cloth in the piece."

CHAPTER X

PIXY'S EARNINGS

Soon the city lay behind them and they entered the avenue lined with great trees which led to the Forest-house, a favorite resort of the people of Frankfort.

As soon as they reached the beautiful grounds, Mrs. Steiner rested upon a rustic chair and her brother took a seat beside her, and rolling his handkerchief in a ball, as he had often done before in playful mood, he showed it to Pixy and then while Fritz held his hands over his pet's eyes, he threw it far away. Pixy bounded away the moment the hands were removed, sniffed about through the gra.s.s, and in a very short time returned with the handkerchief. As it was white, it was easily seen in the gra.s.s, so Mr. Heil showed Pixy the black leather letter-case that he always carried with him, and threw it near a clump of tall bushes. Pixy ran off, brought it back, but instead of waiting to be applauded and petted he hurried away, and soon returned with a new pocketbook which he would deliver to no one but Mr. Heil.

"Some visitor has lost it," said Mrs. Steiner, "and no doubt is worrying over the loss."

"Yes, and it feels bulky. There may be things of value in it," replied her brother. "We must try to find the owner."

"Open it, father," said Fritz, "it may be that the owner's name is in it."

"Yes, it may be, but I prefer to wait until we have a witness other than ourselves for we are strangers here."

"Why should we not be witnesses enough, father?"

"Because some one may have found it, taken money from it and thrown it away, and we might be blamed."

"What can you do about it, father?"

"I will take it to the music pavilion. Perhaps some one in the crowd is the owner."

At that moment the band stationed in the pavilion began playing _The Watch on the Rhine_, and Mr. Heil and his party left their place under the trees and joined the listeners within. As soon as the music was finished, he called a waiter to him. "Will you please ask the proprietor to favor me by coming here? I have something I wish to say to him."

"Yes," replied the waiter, "but I am sure he cannot come just yet, for he is intending to speak to the a.s.sembly, but I will tell him as soon as he is at liberty."

A little later the proprietor requested the attention of the guests, and announced that an English visitor had lost his pocketbook and would be very grateful if the finder would return it to him as it contained some valuable papers and some English money. It had also German money which he would give freely to the finder for restoring the pocketbook.

As soon as the announcement was made, the waiter told the proprietor of Mr. Heil's request and he came immediately to hear what he wished to say.

"I will announce the finding of it as soon as the band has finished this number; and I am sure the owner will be rejoiced to hear it for he is much concerned at the loss of the papers," said the proprietor, "and I am glad for his sake."

"And please say that the pocketbook was found by Pixy," requested Fritz.

The proprietor promised and hurried away and soon the little party heard the announcement that a pocketbook answering the description given had been found by young Mr. Pixy from the Odenwald. The boys could scarcely restrain their laughter to hear that Pixy had been honored with the t.i.tle of "Mr." and they cl.u.s.tered about him, toyed with his ears and his curly mane, until the dog wondered what he had done that they should laugh at him.

The Englishman quickly made his way to the group and said with warmth, as he clasped the hand of Mr. Heil, "I have heard of the Odenwald, and will from this time hold it in grateful remembrance, knowing that in that retired place are just and honorable people, and that Mr. Pixy is one of them."

Mr. Heil and his sister could scarcely restrain their smiles at hearing this, and were about to enlighten him as to who found the pocketbook and how it happened when he looked around at the three boys.

"Now tell me," he said, "which of the three is Mr. Pixy?"

"No one of them; it was our dog that found your pocketbook and his name is Pixy."

"Your dog! Now how shall I reward _him_? Will you please tell me your name?"

"Yes, my name is Frederick Heil, and in reply to your first question, I will say that my dog does not need anything, although I thank you for your kind wish to reward him."

"Pray, Mr. Heil, accept this five hundred marks to use to the advantage of your dog in any way you think best."

"Please excuse me," replied Mr. Heil. "There is no way that I can think of that it could be used for Pixy. He really needs nothing."

"But, my friend, please respect my wish to express my grat.i.tude in the only way I can. You cannot know what the finding of these papers has been to me. You will do me the greatest of favors if you will tell me if there is any way that you can use this money."

"I believe you fully and will tell you where your five hundred marks would do more good than can be told. In my neighborhood has been founded a home and school for poor children. It is but a short distance from my home, and every day at noon our Pixy goes to the schoolyard to play with the children. The matron calls him her black servant, for he is so helpful in caring for the children. If you will give the five hundred marks to the school, Pixy shall take it to it, and there will be great joy over the gift, for we have a hard struggle to keep up supplies for the home."