de
walking an actual labor.

"At last I reached the river; but of the bridge, the only trace was a
single beam, which, deeply buried in the bank at one extremity, rose
and fell in the surging flood, like the arm of a drowning swimmer.
The stream had completely filled the channel, and swept along, with
fragments of timber, and even furniture, in its muddy tide; farm
produce, and implements too, came floating by, showing what destruction
had been effected higher up the river. As I stood gazing on the current,
I saw, at a little distance from me, a man, standing motionless beside
the river, and apparently lost in thought,--so, at least, he seemed; for
though not at all clad in a way to resist the storm, he remained there,
wet and soaked through, totally regardless of the weather. On
inquiring at the inn, I learned that this was the _lohnkutscher_--the
_vetturino_--of the travellers, and who, in attempting to ascertain if
the stream were fordable, had lost one of his best horses, and barely
escaped being carried away himself. Until that, I had forgotten all
about the strangers, who, it now appeared, were close prisoners like
myself. While the host was yet speaking, the _lohnkutscher_ came up, and
in a tone of equality, that showed me he thought I was in his own
line of business, asked if I would sell him one of my nags then in the
stable.

"Not caring to disabuse him of his error regarding my rank, I did not
refuse him so flatly as I might, and he pressed the negotiation very
warmly in consequence. At last, to get rid of him, I declared that I
would not break up my team, and retired into the house. I was not many
minutes in my room, when a courier came, with a polite message from his
mistress, to beg I would speak with her. I went at once, and found an
old lady,--she was English, as her French bespoke,--very well mannered
and well bred, who apologized for troubling me; but having heard from
her _vetturino_ that my horses were disengaged, and that I might, if not
disposed to sell one of them, hire out the entire team, to take their
carriage as far as Andeer--By the time she got thus far, I perceived
that she, too, mistook me for a _lohnkutscher_. It just struck me what
good fun it would be to carry on the joke. To be sure, the lady herself
presented no inducement to the enterprise; and as I thus balanced the
case, there came into the room one of the prettiest girls I ever saw.
She never turned a look towards where I was st