ier
can vie with a Frenchman in tempering respect with familiarity; so
that while preserving towards me all the freedom of the comrade, they
recognised in every detail of duty the necessity of prompt obedience,
and followed every command I gave with implicit submission.

It was thus we rode along, till in the distance I saw the spire of a
village church, and recognised what I knew to be Dorf Wangheim. It was
yet an hour before sunrise, and all was tranquil around. I gave the word
to trot, and after about forty minutes' sharp riding, we gained a small
pine wood, which skirted the village. Here I dismounted my party, and
prepared to make my entry alone into the Dorf, carefully arranging my
costume for that purpose, sticking a large bouquet of wild flowers in my
hat, and assuming as much as I could of the Tyrol look and lounge in my
gait. I shortened my stirrups, also, to a most awkward and inconvenient
length, and gripped my reins into a heap in my hand.

It was thus I rode into Wangheim, saluting the people as I passed up the
street, and with the short dry greeting of 'Tag,' and a nod as brief,
playing Tyroler to the top of my bent. The 'Syndicus,' or the ruler of
the village, lived in a good-sized house in the 'Platz,' which, being
market-day, was crowded with people, although the articles for sale
appeared to include little variety, almost every one leading a calf by a
straw rope, the rest of the population contenting themselves with a wild
turkey, or sometimes two, which, held under the arms, added the most
singular element to the general concert of human voices around. Little
stalls for rustic jewellery and artificial flowers, the latter in great
request, ran along the sides of the square, with here and there a booth
where skins and furs were displayed--more, however, as it appeared, to
give pleasure to a group of sturdy Jagers, who stood around, recognising
the track of their own bullets, than from any hope of sale. In fact, the
business of the day was dull, and an experienced eye would have seen at
a glance that turkeys were 'heavy,' and calves 'looking down.' No wonder
that it should be so, the interest of the scene being concentrated on a
little knot of some twenty youths, who, with tickets containing a number
in their hats, stood before the syndic's door. They were fine-looking,
stalwart, straight fellows, and became admirably the manly costume
of their native mountains; but their countenances were not without a