The young officer called for the landlord.

A fat figure with a red face appeared.
"In the name of the government, rooms for myself and my companions," said the young man.

The host sullenly took up a bundle of rusty keys and a tallow candle, and led them to an upper floor, where he opened the door of a damp room, and morosely declared that he had no other for them.
"Bring us supper and a bottle of your best wine," said the merchant; "we pay well, and at once." This announcement occasioned a visible improvement in the mood of the fat landlord, who even made an unsuccessful attempt to be polite.

The merchant next asked for the wagons and wagoners.

These questions were evidently unwelcome.