ents. It is quite certain that his sense of ease and security would
have been somewhat disturbed had he known that another cab was close
on the track of his, and that its occupant, an officer of the city
gendarmerie, alternately smiled and frowned as one does who floats
between conviction and uncertainty. At length the two vehicles turned
into the Konigstrasse, the principal thoroughfare of the capital, and
here the Englishman's cab came to a stand. The jehu climbed down and
opened the door.

"Did Herr say the Continental?" he asked.

"No; the Grand."

The driver shrugged, remounted his box, and drove on. The Grand Hotel
was clean enough and respectable, but that was all that could be said
in its favor. He wondered if the Englishman would haggle over the fare.
Englishmen generally did. He was agreeably disappointed, however, when,
on arriving at the mean hostelry, his passenger plunged a hand into a
pocket and produced three Franz-Josef florins.

"You may have these," he said, "for the trouble of having them exchanged
into crowns."

As he whipped up, the philosophical cabman mused that these tourists
were beyond the pale of his understanding. With a pocket full of money,
and to put up at the Grand! Why not the Continental, which lay close to
the Werter See, the palaces, the royal and public gardens? It was at
the Continental that the fine ladies and gentlemen from Vienna, and
Innsbruck, and Munich, and Belgrade, resided during the autumn months.
But the Grand--ach! it was in the heart of the shops and markets, and
within a stone's throw of that gloomy pile of granite designated in the
various guide books as the University of Bleiberg.

The Englishman had some difficulty in finding a pen that would write,
and the ink was oily, and the guest-book was not at the proper angle.
At last he managed to form the letters of his name, which was John
Hamilton. After some deliberation, he followed this with "England." The
proprietor, who acted as his own clerk, drew the book toward him, and
after some time, deciphered the cabalistic signs.

"Ah, Herr John Hamilton of England; is that right?"

"Yes; I am here for a few days' shooting. Can you find me a man to act
as guide?"

"This very morning, Herr."

"Thanks."

Then he proceeded up the stairs to the room assigned to him. The smell
of garlic which pervaded the air caused him to make a grimace. Once
alone in the room, he looked about. There was neither soap nor towel,