The Old Phoenix

The two Old Phoenix short stories have the same first person narrator who does not seem to be identical with the author. He calls the landlord "Taverner." He and others were once helped by Eskimos when their flight was forced down above the Arctic Circle.

Both stories work precisely because they do no more than describe some bar conversations. In "House Rule," the narrator sees but does not converse with Nicholas van Rijn who:

drinks beer with Eric the Red and Sancho Panza at the bar;

merely holds out his mug for a refill after everyone present has witnessed a meeting between Heloise and Abelard;

but gapes in amazement when Einstein enters.

In "Losers' Night," the narrator meets Parnell and sees Churchill. This story should be read at the very end of the sequence. The narrator mentions, among others:

Valeria Matuchek;
Holger Danske;
the Abelard whom he had seen in "House Rule";
a Rupert of the Rhine who outfought Cromwell;
Huck Finn, who had been present at the end of A Midsummer Tempest;
blind Rhysling.