for three days, was greatly enjoyed. After it was eaten
most of the men lit their pipes, and prepared to pass a day of
delightful idleness. Two or three of the village boys had been
engaged, as cowherds and shepherds; and the animals were all driven
out into the woods where, in the open glades, they would find an
abundance of food.

The cart was unanimously condemned as worse than useless. An empty
shed was turned into a storehouse; and it was determined that such
stores of powder, etc. as might be required, upon each expedition,
should be packed upon the horse's back and, if the horse could not
take all required, that other horses should be hired.

The Barclays, with their cousins, started for a ramble in the wood;
taking with them the Irishman, whose good humor and unflagging
spirits, during the last three days, had made him a general
favorite.

"Sure, and are there any wild bastes in the wood, your honor
Because, if there be, it would be well to take our rifles with us.
It would be mighty unpleasant to come across a lion, or a tiger,
and not to be able to pass him the time of day."

"No, Tim, we shall meet neither lions nor tigers, so you need not
trouble yourself with a rifle. A hundred years ago, we might have
met with a bear, or a wild boar; but they have disappeared, long
since. It is possible that there are a few wolves scattered about;
but they are never formidable to any but a solitary person, even in
winter; and at all other times fly from man's approach."

The party had a charming ramble, for the scenery here was very
fine. At times, the forest was so thick that they could see no
glimpse of the sky, and the trunks of the trees seemed to make a
wall, all round them; then again, it would open, and they would
obtain a glimpse over the country far away, rise beyond rise, to
the plain of Champagne or--if the view were behind, instead of in
front of them--they could see the tops of the highest range of the
Vosges, rising hill above hill, and often wooded to the very
summit--the Donon, one of the highest points of the range, being
immediately behind them.

The villages are, here, few and far between, and the people
extremely poor; for the soil is poor, and although in summer the
cattle--which form their only wealth--are able to pick up an
abundance of food, in the forests, they have a hard struggle to
keep them alive during the winter. Their language is German, and
their appearance and dress rather German