shed he might overtake his wicked wife, and punish
her as she deserved. And then the conversation took a turn, not
uncommon to those whose lives are quiet and monotonous; every one
seemed to vie with each other in telling about some horror; and the
savage and mysterious band of robbers called the Chauffeurs, who
infested all the roads leading to the Rhine, with Schinderhannes at
their head, furnished many a tale which made the very marrow of my
bones run cold, and quenched even Amante's power of talking. Her eyes
grew large and wild, her cheeks blanched, and for once she sought by
her looks help from me. The new call upon me roused me. I rose and
said, with their permission my husband and I would seek our bed, for
that we had travelled far and were early risers. I added that we would
get up betimes, and finish our piece of work. The blacksmith said we
should be early birds if we rose before him; and the good wife seconded
my proposal with kindly bustle. One other such story as those they had
been relating, and I do believe Amante would have fainted.

As it was, a night's rest set her up; we arose and finished our work
betimes, and shared the plentiful breakfast of the family. Then we had
to set forth again; only knowing that to Forbach we must not go, yet
believing, as was indeed the case, that Forbach lay between us and that
Germany to which we were directing our course. Two days more we
wandered on, making a round, I suspect, and returning upon the road to
Forbach, a league or two nearer to that town than the blacksmith's
house. But as we never made inquiries I hardly knew where we were, when
we came one night to a small town, with a good large rambling inn in
the very centre of the principal street. We had begun to feel as if
there were more safety in towns than in the loneliness of the country.
As we had parted with a ring of mine not many days before to a
travelling jeweller, who was too glad to purchase it far below its real
value to make many inquiries as to how it came into the possession of a
poor working tailor, such as Amante seemed to be, we resolved to stay
at this inn all night, and gather such particulars and information as
we could by which to direct our onward course.

We took our supper in the darkest corner of the salle-a-manger, having
previously bargained for a small bedroom across the court, and over the
stables. We needed food sorely; but we hurried on our meal from dread
of any one entering that