undred miles and more from the
nearest shop,--represented a wage-expenditure of at least 200 pounds a
year. Every gentleman therefore as a matter of course sees to his own
horse when he arrives unexpectedly at a station, and I knew I should
have at least half an hour to myself.

The first thing to do was to let down my crinoline, for I could only
walk like a crab in it when it was fastened up for riding, kilt up my
linsey gown, take off my hat and jacket, and set to work The curtains
must be drawn close, and the chairs moved out from their symmetrical
positions against the wall; then I made an expedition into the kitchen,
and won the heart of the stalwart cook, who was already frying chops
over the fire, by saying in my best German, "I have come to help you
with the tea." Poor man! it was very unfair, for Mr. C. H---- had told
me during our ride that his servitor was a German, and I had employed
the last long hour of the journey in rubbing up my exceedingly
rusty knowledge of that language, and arranging one or two effective
sentences. Poor Karl's surprise and delight knew no bounds, and he burst
forth into a long monologue, to which I could find no readier answers
than smiles and nods, hiding my inability to follow up my brilliant
beginning under the pretence of being very busy. By the time the
gentlemen had stabled and fed the horses and were ready, Karl and I
between us had arranged a bright cosy little apartment with a capital
tea-dinner on the table. After this meal there were pipes and toddy, and
as I could not retire, like Mrs. Micawber at David Copperfield's supper
party, into the adjoining bedroom and sit by myself in the cold, I made
the best of the somewhat dense clouds of smoke with which I was soon
surrounded, and listened to the fragmentary plans for the next day. Then
we all separated for the night, and in two minutes I was fast asleep in
a little room no bigger than the cabin of a ship, with an opossum rug on
a sofa for my bed and bedding.

It was cold enough the next morning, I assure you: so cold that it was
difficult to believe the statement that all the gentlemen had been down
at daybreak to bathe in the great lake which spread like an inland sea
before the bay-window of the little sitting room. This lake, the largest
of the mountain chain, never freezes, on account partly of its great
depth, and also because of its sunny aspect. Our destination lay far
inland, and if we meant to have a good long da