Wilhelm was wise enough to admit the justice of
her complaint, and empowered Frau Muller to turn away ruthlessly all
such visitors whose names were unknown to her, or who came without
recommendation, which orders she carried out with such virulence and
relentlessness, that the worshipful company of professional beggars
rapidly came to the conclusion that it was useless trying to gain
admittance to Dr. Eynhardt as long as he was guarded by the tall,
bony old lady who opened the door but would not leave hold of it. So
the unceasing tramp of dirty boots on the echoing stair was hushed,
and Wilhelm saw no more of the crape-clad widows of eminent
officials who required a sewing machine or a piano to save them from
starvation; the gentlemen who would be forced to put a bullet
through their brains if they did not procure the money to pay a debt
of honor; or the unemployed clerks who had eaten nothing for days,
and who all had a sick wife and from six to twelve children (all
small) at home crying for bread; or the foreigners who could find no
work in Berlin, and would return to their native countries if he
would give them a few thalers to pay their fourth-class railway
fare; and similar interesting persons, the endless diversity of
whose life-histories had kept him in a chronic state of surprise for
months.
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