f those trains of
thought which cannot be accounted for, called to mind the young couple,
the gentleman in morocco slippers, and the lady with her hair so
strangely done up, she had met at the next station, on her own wedding
trip. This led her to recall her own wedding, then to think of what she
had gone through in all these years, and of how aimless her whole life
was,--aimless whether she looked into the past or into the future.

Day had meanwhile dawned in wondrous beauty. The sun had risen above the
lofty mountains. The valley, although narrow, was so situated that it
was thoroughly illumined by the sunshine. The stream now flowed in a
narrower, more rocky bed, was white with foam where struggles arose,
grass-green where they ceased, blue where there were overhanging
shadows, and gray where the water formed eddies over a clay bottom. The
grass here was filled with stubble, farther up it was studded with
yellow cowslips, the largest they had ever seen.

The peaks of the mountains sparkled, the dark pine forest in the bosom
and lap of the chain displayed such a wealth of luxuriance, that whoever
viewed it aright must inevitably be refreshed. Close by the road-side
grew deciduous trees, for here the pines had been cut down, yet ever and
anon they pushed their way triumphantly forth from their vigorous
headquarters in the background. The road was free from dust. On the
outskirts of the forest grew mountain flowers, all glittering with the
last dew-drops of the day.

The travelers had the carriage stop that they might pluck some of the
flowers; and then they sat in the grass and amused the child with them;
they wove garlands and twined them about the little one. A short
distance farther up, where the stream had sunk so far beneath them that
its roar had ceased to sound above all else, they heard the jubilant
song of birds. The thrush, singly and in groups, swung from tree to
tree, and its vigorous chirping had a cheering tone. A startled
wood-grouse, with strong wing-beats, flew shrieking among the branches.
A dog who followed the horses set chase to the red grouse; they
shrieked, flapped their wings, hid in the heather, shrieked, started up
again and sought a circuitous way back. They must have nests here. There
was also a rich growth of birch round about this little heath.

"Ah, how I have longed for this journey! And Charles, who gave it to
me!" The tears stood in Roennaug's eyes, but she brushed them away, after