leaving the sala, Adam, who had been watching
like a lynx for such an opportunity, seized it on the moment, and
managed to slip away from us, and get out of the room after her, in
the hopes of being able to snatch a kiss or something of the sort,
and to present the scented water, which he had not missed from his
pocket, although as he slipped away in all the agitation of pursuit,
I saw first one hand and then the other slipped into the pockets of
the coat where it should have been; but he was so much engaged in
getting out of the room quickly and silently, that he did not miss
it. Reaching the open door just as she had gone out, when about two
paces beyond it, he popped his head over her shoulder unobserved, and
stole a kiss; I heard the smack, then a rustle, and then a titter,
during which Adam was searching his pockets for the missing bottle,
which of course he did not find there; and when he said something
or other about the kiss, he foolishly, in his search for it, told
her that he had lost so very desirable a present; upon which, as he
afterwards told me, the beauty looked saucy, and very plainly did
not believe a word about it, but fancied he had invented the story to
excuse the kiss, and pretended to get a little angry with the liberty
taken with her blooming cheek; so she walked off, and left him quite
at a loss to account for its disappearance.

Before leaving, I took an opportunity of presenting the missing bottle
at a time when the owner of it was not by, and fancied, from the blush
which gave additional beauty to her cheek as I did so, that with the
natural quickness of a woman and a beauty, she had read the stratagem
played off on poor Adam; so she frankly offered me the same reward,
by presenting her blooming lips to be kissed, even by so very recent
an acquaintance.

On making arrangements for a shooting party, it is quite necessary to
hire beaters to drive the game, which there would be little chance
otherwise of sighting, without undergoing more walking than most
people find pleasant under a tropical sun.

Having had the precaution to bring our own saddles with us, some
miserable-looking ponies were procured, and started with a guide at
an early hour in the morning, along a path formed for the most part,
up and down thickly wooded hills, the road being sometimes a dry
watercourse, or mountain stream.

However, we got over the ground, passing through a beautiful country,
and arrived at the meet afte