ly he has this peculiarity--that if there is only
one armchair in a room, B. is sure to get it.'

B., on the other hand, congratulates himself on A.'s excessive good
sense, which even T. had knowledged. What was it--exactly--T. had said
of A.? He cannot remember it at the moment, but recalls it on the night
before they start together. 'A. is such a thoroughly practical fellow;
he has committed many follies, and not a few crimes, but he can lay his
hand on the place where his heart should be, and honestly aver that he
has never given sixpence to anybody.' Full of misgivings, and with
demonstrations of satisfaction that are in themselves suspicious, they
meet at the terminus. A. has a little black bag, which contains his
all; it frees him from all trouble about luggage, and (especially) from
the necessity of paying a porter. He is resolved not to lose a moment,
nor spend a sixpence, in a Custom-house. To his horror, he perceives
that B., whose one idea is comfort, has a portmanteau specially
designed for him (apparently upon the model of Noah's Ark), and which
can scarcely be got into the luggage-van. This article delays them
twenty-four hours at every frontier, because the ordinary authorities
decline to open it upon the ground that it contains an infernal
machine, and have to telegraph to their Government for instructions.

Again, B. is no doubt a charming conversationalist--in English; but he
does not know one single word of any other language. He requires every
observation of their alien fellow-travellers to be translated, and then
says 'Oh!' discontentedly, or 'It seems to me that foreigners have no
ideas.' And not for one moment can A. get rid of him. If there _is_ a
friend that sticketh closer than a brother, it is the Travelling
Companion who is dependent upon you for interpretation. It is needless
to say that under these circumstances the glass of Friendship falls
from 'Set Fair' to 'Stormy' with much rapidity. After A's fourth
quarrel with a waiter about half a franc, B. calls him a 'mean hound,'
and takes the opportunity of returning to his native land with a French
count, who speaks perfect English, and robs him of his watch and chain
and the contents of his pocket-book on board the steamer. A. and B.
meet one another daily at the club for years afterwards, but without
recognition.

Their case, of course, is an extreme one; but that of C. and D. is
almost as bad. They are men of prudence, and persuade E. to