Jerome K. Jerome 
The Observations of Henry [EPUB ebook] 

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.