"Excellent! Then there need be no such great hurry. Where did you intend to stop to-day ?"

66

Why, I'll tell you. I met a man yesterday at the hotel at Samaden, an Englishman, who had just come over this very pass on his way from Italy, and he told me he'd been staying at a place called Le Prese,' where there are some baths, and a lake to swim in, and boating, and lots of fun-a regular first-rate place, he said. Now I want a wash, after all my Alpine doings, so I thought I'd just stay there for a day or two, and booked for it in this conveyance of ours."

"That is singular, and fortunate. I intended to stop there too, to recruit my strength after my recent exertions. Besides, I expect to find letters which I may have to answer. So far then we must travel in company. And, let me add: Stubbs-permit me to say 'Stubbs'-in my harassed condition, broken-hearted as I am, I seek a friend! Your sympathy this morning-though it travelled in a wrong directioncame like a gleam of hope to the tempest-tossed. I am a yearner by nature-as you may have guessed-and I yearned to call you by the sacred name I have mentioned. May I do so?"

"I am sure I shall be very happy. As for my sympathy, I saw you were down in the mouth about something, and I'm not the man, when a fellow is a peg too low, to leave him without trying to lift him up a bit. I've been thinking over,what you told me, and I must say it strikes me that the lady you spoke of didn't do the right thing by you-far from it. But what of that? I wouldn't care a fig for her! Depend upon it there's as good fish in the sea as ever were caught. They say the Italian women are very handsome. I never saw any myself, but I've heard so. You may meet with somebody you'll like better than the girl that jilted you!"

"Impossible, Stubbs-name it not, I beseech you. That Circe, Mrs. Foxey Prowler, was my destiny! My heart is adamant to all the world

beside!

'Think'st thou ex

"How long, may I ask, had you known her?" "I will answer you in the words of Manfred. istence doth depend on time? It doth; but actions are our epochs. Mine have made my days and nights alike imperishable.' The fact is, Ellen and myself had been known to each other exactly nine weeks-I have kept good account-every moment of that time has been numbered. Nine weeks! Look, Stubbs, at what that represents. Nine times seven are sixty-three. Sixty-three days! Multiply that by twenty-four hours. Those thrilling hours! All intensity! The sum total exceeds calculation. It was to me a life. Our intertwinement appeared to have taken root in the beginning of time. If haply other women had dazzled my senses before we met, the sponge of oblivion had obliterated every trace. I lived but for Ellen-and she-she-I fondly deemed, lived but for me!"

"How came this Foxey Prowler to cut in? Was he a friend of yours? That kind of thing sometimes happens!"

"You have a searching instinct, Stubbs! Foxey Prowler and I had been friends. It was I, in fact, who introduced him there! Circumstances had previously thrown us together. I am a person of independent means—but in these days, as you are aware, everybody does something

-becomes a director, you know, in something or other. Foxey Prowler -to whom I will not deny that lurking energy which ensures success in all-ay, I may well say, all his undertakings-was the Promoter in the first instance, and subsequently the Manager, of the Intellectual Improvement Association,' a company of which, on his representation as a thing that would exactly suit me, I became one of the original Directors. In that capacity, our shares having rapidly reached a high premium, I was mainly instrumental in getting up a Testimonial to Foxey Prowler -beware of the man, Stubbs, to whom testimonials are presented-and thus a mutual friendship was cemented. One day we dined together after a Board; and, in the evening, my intimacy with the Buncombe Smiths allowing me to exercise that privilege, I took him with me to a small musical party at their house. He proved what people call an acquisition-that is to say, he could sing; and I remember now-too well I remember-though I thought nothing of it then-he accompanied Ellen in a duet. After that he was invited on his own account -the Buncombe Smiths being very musical, and I used to meet him there occasionally, but he never seemed to me to pay particular attention to any of the girls, certainly not to Ellen, who, I recollect, when I once asked her what she thought of Foxey Prowler, replied that he had a good voice, and that was all. His duplicity was, if possible, still more flagrant, for when I spoke to him of her-just to see what he really did think— he made use of these very words-they are burnt into my memory too deeply for me to forget them- No, no, Tomkins,' he said, 'you get no opinion from me. If I praise Ellen Smith you'll be jealous; if I don't, she'll hear of it; and when you're married she'll never let me put my feet under your mahogany. I value your friendship, Tomkins,' he added, ́ more than all the smiles of womankind.' I did not analyse this answer then-or I might have detected the latent feeling-for why should he have said anything about smiles if he hadn't been thinking of her. We are always wise, Stubbs, after the event-and I am no exception to the general rule. But all this time the mine was being dug. I have told you how it was sprung. Enough, 'The wheel has come full circle-I am here! here,' as Macbeth says, upon this blasted heath' -excuse me if it sounds like swearing, but the fit-the fit-is on me, and I must howl and gnash!!!"

"Don't give way to your feelings, my dear fellow," said Stubbs, soothingly. "You've done with the parties now, and the best way is not to trouble yourself any more about them. But here comes the dilly at a We will talk this matter over again, and I'll give you the best advice I can."

trot.

The journey was accordingly resumed. Half an hour more took the travellers past the twin lakes, Nero and Bianco, at the foot of the Piz Cambrena, the dark one, glacier-born, drifting its waters through the Bernina valley to the Inn, and thence pouring them into the congenial Black Sea; its fair rival, formed by natural springs, sending her torrent over the southern slopes till it joins the impetuous Adda, and, mingling with the Po, finds its way into the Adriatic;-a parallel, as Signor Tomkins afterwards observed, to his career and that of Mrs. Foxey Prowler. Another half-hour beyond the lakes and the summit of the pass was reached, and thence there was no pause till the diligence stopped at

the little wayside inn of La Rosa, half-way down the descent.-Here a more comfortable meal was secured than had been snatched at the Bernina houses; and, with nothing more remarkable to mark the journey than a change of horses at Poschiavo, the diligence drew up about three in the afternoon at the hotel of Le Prese, where Stubbs and Signor Tomkins got out, leaving Herr Kinkel and the Bergamasques to pursue their journey onward.

III.

HOW SIGNOR TOMKINS WAS WAYLAID.

THE bathing-establishment of Le Prese, otherwise called "Albergo Bagni alle Prese di Poschiavo," is a place of great attraction for all the region round about, its celebrity reaching as far as Milan. Though standing on Swiss territory, for the canton of the Grisous extends several miles farther south, it is chiefly frequented by Italian families, who, during the summer months, flock thither in great numbers to enjoy the villaggiatura which the beautiful scenery so pleasantly offers. Le Prese is situated at the head of a small but beautiful lake, hemmed in by lofty mountains, and though the grounds in front of the hotel have rather the air of a tea-garden, its Italian visitors do not seem to think the worse of it on that account. The building itself is a very large one, and the accommodations are on a very ample scale,-the halls, the staircases, the saloons exhibiting that vastness which is the first surprise to the English traveller in Italy.

As the love of having nothing to do is the chief characteristic of all Italians, whether they dwell beneath the shadows of the Alps or bask in the rays of the sun of Naples-though the inhabitants of the far South give themselves up to it with more abandon than their northern countrymen-it was only a matter of course that the arrival of the Samaden diligence brought out to the door of the hotel of Le Prese every individual who happened at that moment to be there, to comment in loud tones, and not without many gesticulations and peals of laughter, on the appearance, more or less travel-stained or peculiar, of those who were brought by that conveyance. This mode of reception, the result only of good spirits, is, perhaps, rather trying to strangers unaccustomed to Italian demonstration, and Signor Tomkins was greatly embarrassed by it. "what an

"Gracious Heavens !" he exclaimed, in plaintive tones; ordeal! It is impossible to pass through that crowd of ladies! My nerves will never be equal to it. I shall faint on the spot, Stubbs, if they do not withdraw. Had it been a phalanx of armed men, I had confronted them without a moment's pause, but, to meet the gaze of woman, possibly of young and lovely woman-with all my recollections seething in my brain-it is too much, Stubbs, positively too much."

"Oh," replied Stubbs, laughing, "you'll manage very well depend on it. You know in a multitude there is safety. If we had met only one pretty girl it might have been dangerous, but where a dozen of them come to the scratch they take the shine out of each other."

"I have no faith," returned Signor Tomkins, "in that kind of neutrality. It was at a very large party that I first saw Ellen Smith-I mean Mrs. Foxey Prowler-and yet she-she only was my fate.

However, we must brave it, I suppose. There is now no possibility of retreat."

While this colloquy was in progress, a very cheerful-looking personage, who had advanced beyond the rest, was smiling, bowing, and addressing the new-comers. This was Monsieur Andrea Consett, the proprietor of the establishment, who came to offer his services. He was supremely fortunate-so his Italian phrase ran-happiest among the happy-to be able to tell the travellers that by an event which was little less than miraculous, at that particular season, he happened to have two apartments in which the Signori could be lodged.

Richard Stubbs and Signor Tomkins stared at each other, and then transferred their gaze to the countenance of the voluble landlord, whose speech, stare as hard as they might, they were totally unable to comprehend. They, however, drew the right inference from his gestures, his smiles, and the frequent repetition of the word "felice"-a word which more than once had fallen on the ears of Signor Tomkins in other daysit gave him a sharp pang to hear it now- —but more than all they comprehended his meaning when they saw two sturdy porters shoulder the heavy baggage of one traveller and the light knapsack of the other, and march off with both into the hotel. Their difficulty in this matter would have been somewhat less if Monsieur Consett-who, like most Swiss landlords, was a general linguist-had spoken to them in French, with which polite medium for the interpretation of thought they were, as we have seen, so thoroughly conversant; but his mistake arose from the fact of seeing the directions on Signor Tomkins's trunks set forth in choice Italian-and naturally inferring that Signor Tomkins-whichever he might be—would understand him.

The Gordian knot was cut, however, no matter in what way—and, marshalled by Monsieur Consett, the English visitors entered the building, still closely scanned by the bevy of dark-eyed dames assembled near the door. Richard Stubbs was very much sunburnt, so probably no betrayal of his feelings appeared in the heightened colour of cheek or brow,-but Signor Tomkins visibly blushed beneath the green veil which he had lowered for his own safety,--perhaps, also, for other safety than his own! Having thus run the terrible gauntlet of feminine scrutiny, the travellers were conducted by Monsieur Consett to their sleeping apartments-he pointing out all the accommodations of his house as he went, and Stubbs wondering what strange atmosphere they were breathing, for of the fact that the Baths of Le Prese were sulphur-baths he was not yet

aware.

It so chanced that the rooms allotted to Stubbs and Signor Tomkins were close together, with a door of communication between, so that full freedom of intercourse was allowed-a convenience which they greatly appreciated and took immediate advantage of, by setting the door wide open and talking from one room to the other.

"The perfumed air of Italy!" exclaimed Signor Tomkins, as he strode across his chamber and opened what he called his "latticed casement," in other words, threw back the persiennes, which had been closed to keep out the noon-day heat. "Is it the orange-flower or the myrtle that I inhale! How delicious is the odour of this clime!"

"You must have a queer sort of nose if you call this delicious," cried

Stubbs, as he took off his coat and gave it a good shake to get rid of the road dust, preparing, also, with bare arms for ablution. "Instead of orange and myrtle, the smell here seems a deuced deal more like gunpowder! I should like a sniff of eau-de-Cologne, but I have not got any -have you?"

Eau-de-Cologne? Of course I have. I never go anywhere without it. As soon as I can get at my dressing-case you shall have some. And, now you mention it, the odour is rather pungent."

"I believe you! I was half choked by it as we came up the staircase. There's a whiff now-comes just like a rush of steam. If this is the perfumed air of Italy,' as I heard you say just now, I shall take refuge in a pipe. You don't mind my smoking, I hope?”

"Not at all! I'often indulge in a cigar. When gloomy thoughts oppress me-you know, Stubbs, to what I allude,-I am often found, as Byron says, holding dark communion with the cloud.' I felt I should want that solace when I left home, and stopped the cab as I drove by Hudson's to get a supply. They will be useful here to help me to tear me from myself, when at midnight I sit gazing on the stars reflected in yon azure lake!"

A sharp tap at the door interrupted the friends' conversation. It was a waiter, who came to know if " ces messieurs"-he being a Frenchman -intended to join the evening table d'hôte.

Now "Table d'hôte" is an institution the meaning of which an Englishman is soon taught to comprehend-or rather he learns it instinctively and Stubbs, hearing the word, at once shouted out, " Kell Oor?"

"Sept heures," said the waiter.

"This, hey?" cried Stubbs, coming forward with soaped face, and holding his outstretched hand above his head.

"Non, monsieur-sept!" he replied, imitating Stubbs's pantomime, but with the addition of two fingers of the other hand.

"Oh, seven! That's what you mean by 'set.' Ah, I recollect-I only put five, and they call that sink.' I say, Tomkins, the table d'hôte is at seven o'clock, he says. What time is it now?"

Signor Tomkins referred to a very elegant gold watch, from which a rich gold chain and a handful of charms were pendent.

Half-past four," he replied. "I shall have time to make my toilette !"

"I should think so," said Stubbs. "For my part I can be ready in five minutes. Now my face and hands have had a good scrubbing, I've only to brush my hair and whip my coat on, and there I am!"

"Good gracious, Stubbs! You surely mean to dress for dinner!" "How can I? Except a few shirts and so forth in this pack of mine, I've got nothing but what I stand in.”

"You astonish me, Stubbs! No black coat and trousers-no dress waistcoat-no polished boots-no white choker!" "Nothing of the sort, I assure you.

things you talk of ?"

"But, Stubbs, you

shall meet with ladies. "I can't help that!

Where was I to stow all the

should have considered. At the table d'hôte we They will be dreadfully shocked!"

They must take me as they find me."