Jerome K. Jerome 
The Observations of Henry 

This is the story, among others, of Henry the waiter—or, as he now prefers to call himself, Henri—told to me in the long dining-room of the Riffel Alp Hotel, where I once stayed for a melancholy week ’between seasons, ’ sharing the echoing emptiness of the place with two maiden ladies, who talked all day to one another in frightened whispers.