Some years before the war the German Crown Prince got a very neat call-down from Miss Bernice Willard, a Philadelphia girl. It was during the Emperor's regatta, and the two mentioned were sitting with others on the deck of a yacht. A whiff of smoke from the Prince's cigarette blowing into the young lady's face, a lieutenant near by remarked:
Smoke withers flowers.
It is no flower, said the prince, jocularly, "it is a thistle."
Miss Willard raised her eyes a trifle.
In that case, she said, "I had better retire or I shall be devoured"