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THE GYPSY.
I have no doubt of it. And his regularity will be a great comfort to his queen. She will always know that she will get her kiss regularly, punctually, on the stroke of the clock. But–you say the King rises at six, and goes for a walk at seven. What does he do in the meantime?

THE MAID.
First he comes here and has his morning drink.
Then he is dressed for his walk.

THE GYPSY.
And what is your part in these solemn proceedings?

THE MAID.
I tie his slippers for him, and pour his drink.

THE GYPSY.
It is a great honour! So great an honour that you come here before the sun is up to be ready for your duties. Do you entertain the King with conversation while he takes his morning drink?

THE MAID.
No–the Gazetteer does that.

THE GYPSY.
The Gazetteer–what is the Gazetteer?

THE MAID.
The Gazetteer is a man whose duty it is to find out all that happens in the city each day, and recite it to the King the next morning.

THE GYPSY.
Has the King as much curiosity as that? I would never have thought it.

THE MAID.
It isn’t curiosity. It’s just a custom that has sprung up. All the merchants and well-to-do people hire a Gazetteer. It may be useful to them–but I think the King regards it more as a duty than a pleasure.

THE GYPSY.
I remember now. They have something like it in the taverns.
I foresee a great future for it….

THE MAID.
And it seems to go with that new drink.

THE GYPSY.
What new drink?

THE MAID.
Why, the new drink from Arabia. It has a queer name. Ka-Fe.

THE GYPSY.
Ka-Fe–and what is it like?

THE MAID.
It is dark, and served hot with sugar and cream.

THE GYPSY.
It sounds interesting. I would like to taste it.
What is it most like–mead, perhaps, or wine,
or that strong liquor distilled from juniper berries?

THE MAID.
Like none of these. It does not make men talk and sing and tell their secrets and reveal their love and their hate, and knock their heads against the stars and tangle their feet one with the other….

THE GYPSY.
Then what is the good of it?

THE MAID.
It makes the head clearer, and sobers the judgment.
It makes men think more and talk less.
And it gives them strength to rule their inward feelings.

THE GYPSY.
What a pity! People are too much like that as it is.

THE MAID.
The King says that some time the whole world will learn to drink it!

THE GYPSY.
A world of Ka-Fe drinkers!
A world where people rule their inward feelings and hide their secret thoughts!
I shall be dead before then, thank heaven!

THE MAID.
But you keep your secrets–even from women–so you say.

THE GYPSY.
It was a vain boast. Sometime, with my head in a woman’s lap, I shall blab away the secrets that give me power. I know it. Somewhere in the world is a woman whose look will intoxicate me more than wine. And for her sake I shall invent some new folly.

THE MAID
.
What a pity!