s and the gentle sounds of
this British lamb. He therefore went to the rescue, and explained the
matter to No. 2, who in his turn meekly expostulated: "Very vexatious!
Dear me! My capital boots made expressly for Alpine climbing! But we
must make the best of it, my dear sir."

Maids and men still remained in an excited group, when at this juncture
the head-waiter appeared, bringing with him the landlord, a respectable
middle-aged man, who, bowing repeatedly, assured the gentlemen of his
extreme annoyance at the whole affair, especially as it compromised the
fame of his noted house. Indeed, he would gladly refund the loss were
the two pairs of boots not forthcoming.

Forthcoming! How could they be forthcoming when at this moment the clock
was striking six, and the Eilwagen (Margaret termed it the _oil-wagon_)
was to start at once, and we with it, though minus breakfast? The
British lamb departed hurriedly, but we were detained to be told of
another complication. Not only were the boots gone, but the royal
imperial post-direction of Austria, after duly weighing and measuring
our luggage, had adjudged it too heavy and bulky for the roof of its
mail-coach. It would, however, restore our money, and even suggest
another mode of conveyance, but take us by its Eilwagen it would not.

"The delay is indeed advantageous, mein Herr," said the landlord,
addressing my father, who walked about in slippers, "as time will
thereby be gained for a thorough investigation of the boot question."

One trouble always modifies another. The disappearance of the boots made
us bear the departure of the Eilwagen philosophically. Nay, at the
conclusion of a substantial breakfast of hot coffee, ham and eggs we
began greatly to enjoy ourselves. Rejected by the post-direction for the
Eilwagen, we felt at liberty to choose our time of departure. For the
present, therefore, acting as our own masters, we leisurely sauntered
out of doors, admired the clean, attractive exterior of the roomy inn,
and smiled at the fresco of the huge elephant, which, possessed of
gigantic tusks and diminutive tail, carried a man, spear in hand, on his
back. A giant bearing a halbert, accompanied by two youths in tunics,
completed the group. An inscription informed us that this was the first
elephant which had ever visited Teutschland, and that the inn derived
its name from the fact of the august quadruped sleeping there on its
journey, which took place in the sixteenth cen