sense of companionship about a wood fire that more enduring coal
lacks. Like a delicate child, the very care it demands nurtures your
affection. There was something delightfully foreign and picturesque to
our town ideas in the heap of logs that Karl carried up in a great
_panier_ and piled at the side of the hearth. Even the little faggots of
kindling wood, willow-knotted and with the dry copper-tinted leaves
still clinging to the twigs, had a rustic charm.

These were pleasant moments when, ascending from the chill outer air, we
found our chamber aglow with ruddy firelight that glinted in the mirrors
and sparkled on the shining surface of the polished floor; when we drew
our chairs up to the hearth, and, scorning the electric light, revelled
in the beauty of the leaping and darting flames.

It was only in the _salle-a-manger_ that we saw the other occupants of
the hotel; and when we learned that several of them had lived _en
pension_ under the roof of the assiduous proprietor for periods varying
from five to seven years, we felt ephemeral, mere creatures of a moment,
and wholly unworthy of regard.

[Illustration: Ursa Major]

At eight o'clock Karl brought the _petit dejeuner_ of coffee and rolls
to our room. At eleven, our morning visit to the school hospital over,
we breakfasted in the _salle-a-manger_, a large bright room, one or
other of whose many south windows had almost daily, even in the depth of
winter, to be shaded against the rays of the sun. Three chandeliers of
glittering crystal starred with electric lights depended from the
ceiling. Half a dozen small tables stood down each side; four larger
ones occupied the centre of the floor, and were reserved for transient
custom.

The first thing that struck us as peculiar was that every table save
ours was laid for a single person, with a half bottle of wine, red or
white, placed ready, in accordance with the known preference of the
expected guest. We soon gathered that several of the regular customers
lodged outside and, according to the French fashion, visited the hotel
for meals only. After the early days of keen anxiety regarding our
invalid had passed, we began to study our fellow guests individually and
to note their idiosyncrasies. Sitting at our allotted table during the
progress of the leisurely meals, we used to watch as one _habitue_ after
another entered, and, hanging coat and hat upon certain pegs, sat
silently down in his accustomed place, with