at an end. It was the diligence that now approached by the long street
leading into the square--the diligence (in a dazzling new coat of yellow
paint) that delivered the first visitors of the season at the inn door.
Of the ten travelers released from the middle compartment and the back
compartment of the carriage--all from various parts of Germany--three
were lifted out helpless, and were placed in the chairs on wheels to be
drawn to their lodgings in the town. The front compartment contained
two passengers only--Mr. Neal and his traveling servant. With an arm
on either side to assist him, the stranger (whose malady appeared to
be locally confined to a lameness in one of his feet) succeeded in
descending the steps of the carriage easily enough. While he steadied
himself on the pavement by the help of his stick--looking not
over-patiently toward the musicians who were serenading him with the
waltz in "Der Freischutz"--his personal appearance rather damped the
enthusiasm of the friendly little circle assembled to welcome him. He
was a lean, tall, serious, middle-aged man, with a cold gray eye and a
long upper lip, with overhanging eyebrows and high cheek-bones; a man
who looked what he was--every inch a Scotchman.

"Where is the proprietor of this hotel?" he asked, speaking in the
German language, with a fluent readiness of expression, and an icy
coldness of manner. "Fetch the doctor," he continued, when the landlord
had presented himself, "I want to see him immediately."

"I am here already, sir," said the doctor, advancing from the circle of
friends, "and my services are entirely at your disposal."

"Thank you," said Mr. Neal, looking at the doctor, as the rest of us
look at a dog when we have whistled and the dog has come. "I shall be
glad to consult you to-morrow morning, at ten o'clock, about my own
case. I only want to trouble you now with a message which I have
undertaken to deliver. We overtook a traveling carriage on the road here
with a gentleman in it--an Englishman, I believe--who appeared to be
seriously ill. A lady who was with him begged me to see you immediately
on my arrival, and to secure your professional assistance in removing
the patient from the carriage. Their courier has met with an accident,
and has been left behind on the road, and they are obliged to travel
very slowly. If you are here in an hour, you will be here in time to
receive them. That is the message. Who is this gentleman who appears