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  ’Notaltogethermerefatigue,sir,forhermulestumbledto-day,andshefellfromthesaddle。Shefelllightly,andwasupagainwithoutassistance,androdefromuslaughing;butshecomplainedtowardseveningofaslightbruiseintheside。Shespokeofitmorethanonce,aswefollowedyourpartyupthemountain。’

  Theheadofthelargeretinue,whowasgraciousbutnotfamiliar,appearedbythistimetothinkthathehadcondescendedmorethanenough。Hesaidnomore,andtherewassilenceforsomequarterofanhouruntilsupperappeared。

  WiththesuppercameoneoftheyoungFathersthereseemedtobenooldFatherstotaketheheadofthetable。ItwaslikethesupperofanordinarySwisshotel,andgoodredwinegrownbytheconventinmoregenialairwasnotwanting。Theartisttravellercalmlycameandtookhisplaceattablewhentherestsatdown,withnoapparentsenseuponhimofhislateskirmishwiththecompletelydressedtraveller。

  ’Pray,’heinquiredofthehost,overhissoup,’hasyourconventmanyofitsfamousdogsnow?’

  ’Monsieur,ithasthree。’

  ’Isawthreeinthegallerybelow。Doubtlessthethreeinquestion。’

  Thehost,aslender,bright-eyed,darkyoungmanofpolitemanners,whosegarmentwasablackgownwithstripsofwhitecrossedoveritlikebraces,andwhonomoreresembledtheconventionalbreedofSaintBernardmonksthanheresembledtheconventionalbreedofSaintBernarddogs,replied,doubtlessthosewerethethreeinquestion。

  ’AndIthink,’saidtheartisttraveller,’Ihaveseenoneofthembefore。’

  Itwaspossible。Hewasadogsufficientlywellknown。Monsieurmighthaveeasilyseenhiminthevalleyorsomewhereonthelake,whenhethedoghadgonedownwithoneoftheordertosolicitaidfortheconvent。

  ’Whichisdoneinitsregularseasonoftheyear,Ithink?’

  Monsieurwasright。

  ’Andneverwithoutadog。Thedogisveryimportant。’

  AgainMonsieurwasright。Thedogwasveryimportant。Peoplewerejustlyinterestedinthedog。Asoneofthedogscelebratedeverywhere,Ma’amsellewouldobserve。

  Ma’amsellewasalittleslowtoobserveit,asthoughshewerenotyetwellaccustomedtotheFrenchtongue。MrsGeneral,however,observeditforher。

  ’Askhimifhehassavedmanylives?’said,inhisnativeEnglish,theyoungmanwhohadbeenputoutofcountenance。

  Thehostneedednotranslationofthequestion。HepromptlyrepliedinFrench,’No。Notthisone。’

  ’Whynot?’thesamegentlemanasked。

  ’Pardon,’returnedthehostcomposedly,’givehimtheopportunityandhewilldoitwithoutdoubt。Forexample,Iamwellconvinced,’smilingsedately,ashecutupthedishofvealtobehandedround,ontheyoungmanwhohadbeenputoutofcountenance,’thatifyou,Monsieur,wouldgivehimtheopportunity,hewouldhastenwithgreatardourtofulfilhisduty。’

  Theartisttravellerlaughed。Theinsinuatingtravellerwhoevincedaprovidentanxietytogethisfullshareofthesupper,wipingsomedropsofwinefromhismoustachewithapieceofbread,joinedtheconversation。

  ’Itisbecominglateintheyear,myFather,’saidhe,’fortourist-travellers,isitnot?’

  ’Yes,itislate。Yettwoorthreeweeks,atmost,andweshallbelefttothewintersnows。’

  ’Andthen,’saidtheinsinuatingtraveller,’forthescratchingdogsandtheburiedchildren,accordingtothepictures!’

  ’Pardon,’saidthehost,notquiteunderstandingtheallusion。

  ’How,thenthescratchingdogsandtheburiedchildrenaccordingtothepictures?’

  Theartisttravellerstruckinagainbeforeananswercouldbegiven。

  ’Don’tyouknow,’hecoldlyinquiredacrossthetableofhiscompanion,’thatnonebutsmugglerscomethiswayinthewinterorcanhaveanypossiblebusinessthisway?’

  ’Holyblue!No;neverheardofit。’

  ’Soitis,Ibelieve。Andastheyknowthesignsoftheweathertolerablywell,theydon’tgivemuchemploymenttothedogs——whohaveconsequentlydiedoutrather——thoughthishouseofentertainmentisconvenientlysituatedforthemselves。Theiryoungfamilies,Iamtold,theyusuallyleaveathome。Butit’sagrandidea!’criedtheartisttraveller,unexpectedlyrisingintoatoneofenthusiasm。’It’sasublimeidea。It’sthefinestideaintheworld,andbringstearsintoaman’seyes,byJupiter!’Hethenwentoneatinghisvealwithgreatcomposure。

  Therewasenoughofmockinginconsistencyatthebottomofthisspeechtomakeitratherdiscordant,thoughthemannerwasrefinedandthepersonwell-favoured,andthoughthedepreciatorypartofitwassoskilfullythrownoffastobeverydifficultforonenotperfectlyacquaintedwiththeEnglishlanguagetounderstand,or,evenunderstanding,totakeoffenceat:sosimpleanddispassionatewasitstone。Afterfinishinghisvealinthemidstofsilence,thespeakeragainaddressedhisfriend。

  ’Look,’saidhe,inhisformertone,’atthisgentlemanourhost,notyetintheprimeoflife,whoinsogracefulawayandwithsuchcourtlyurbanityandmodestypresidesoverus!Mannersfitforacrown!DinewiththeLordMayorofLondonifyoucangetaninvitationandobservethecontrast。Thisdearfellow,withthefinestcutfaceIeversaw,afaceinperfectdrawing,leavessomelaboriouslifeandcomesuphereIdon’tknowhowmanyfeetabovethelevelofthesea,fornootherpurposeonearthexceptenjoyinghimself,Ihope,inacapitalrefectorythantokeepanhotelforidlepoordevilslikeyouandme,andleavethebilltoourconsciences!Why,isn’titabeautifulsacrifice?Whatdowewantmoretotouchus?Becauserescuedpeopleofinterestingappearancearenot,foreightorninemonthsoutofeverytwelve,holdingonhereroundthenecksofthemostsagaciousofdogscarryingwoodenbottles,shallwedisparagetheplace?No!Blesstheplace。It’sagreatplace,agloriousplace!’

  Thechestofthegrey-hairedgentlemanwhowastheChiefoftheimportantparty,hadswelledasifwithaprotestagainsthisbeingnumberedamongpoordevils。Nosoonerhadtheartisttravellerceasedspeakingthanhehimselfspokewithgreatdignity,ashavingitincumbentonhimtotaketheleadinmostplaces,andhavingdesertedthatdutyforalittlewhile。

  Heweightilycommunicatedhisopiniontotheirhost,thathislifemustbeaverydrearylifehereinthewinter。

  ThehostallowedtoMonsieurthatitwasalittlemonotonous。Theairwasdifficulttobreatheforalengthoftimeconsecutively。

  Thecoldwasverysevere。Oneneededyouthandstrengthtobearit。However,havingthemandtheblessingofHeaven——

  Yes,thatwasverygood。’Buttheconfinement,’saidthegrey-

  hairedgentleman。

  Thereweremanydays,eveninbadweather,whenitwaspossibletowalkaboutoutside。Itwasthecustomtobeatalittletrack,andtakeexercisethere。

  ’Butthespace,’urgedthegrey-hairedgentleman。’Sosmall。So——

  ha——verylimited。’

  Monsieurwouldrecalltohimselfthatthereweretherefugestovisit,andthattrackshadtobemadetothemalso。

  Monsieurstillurged,ontheotherhand,thatthespacewasso——

  ha——hum——soverycontracted。Morethanthat,itwasalwaysthesame,alwaysthesame。

  Withadeprecatingsmile,thehostgentlyraisedandgentlyloweredhisshoulders。Thatwastrue,heremarked,butpermithimtosaythatalmostallobjectshadtheirvariouspointsofview。Monsieurandhedidnotseethispoorlifeofhisfromthesamepointofview。Monsieurwasnotusedtoconfinement。

  ’I——ha——yes,verytrue,’saidthegrey-hairedgentleman。Heseemedtoreceivequiteashockfromtheforceoftheargument。

  Monsieur,asanEnglishtraveller,surroundedbyallmeansoftravellingpleasantly;doubtlesspossessingfortune,carriages,andservants——

  ’Perfectly,perfectly。Withoutdoubt,’saidthegentleman。

  Monsieurcouldnoteasilyplacehimselfinthepositionofapersonwhohadnotthepowertochoose,Iwillgohereto-morrow,ortherenextday;Iwillpassthesebarriers,Iwillenlargethosebounds。

  Monsieurcouldnotrealise,perhaps,howthemindaccommodateditselfinsuchthingstotheforceofnecessity。

  ’Itistrue,’saidMonsieur。’Wewill——ha——notpursuethesubject。

  Youare——hum——quiteaccurate,Ihavenodoubt。Wewillsaynomore。’

  Thesupperhavingcometoaclose,hedrewhischairawayashespoke,andmovedbacktohisformerplacebythefire。Asitwasverycoldatthegreaterpartofthetable,theotherguestsalsoresumedtheirformerseatsbythefire,designingtotoastthemselveswellbeforegoingtobed。Thehost,whentheyrosefromthetable,bowedtoallpresent,wishedthemgoodnight,andwithdrew。Butfirsttheinsinuatingtravellerhadaskedhimiftheycouldhavesomewinemadehot;andashehadansweredYes,andhadpresentlyafterwardssentitin,thattraveller,seatedinthecentreofthegroup,andinthefullheatofthefire,wassoonengagedinservingitouttotherest。

  Atthistime,theyoungerofthetwoyoungladies,whohadbeensilentlyattentiveinherdarkcornerthefire-lightwasthechieflightinthesombreroom,thelampbeingsmokyanddulltowhathadbeensaidoftheabsentlady,glidedout。Shewasatalosswhichwaytoturnwhenshehadsoftlyclosedthedoor;but,afteralittlehesitationamongthesoundingpassagesandthemanyways,cametoaroominacornerofthemaingallery,wheretheservantswereattheirsupper。Fromthesesheobtainedalamp,andadirectiontothelady’sroom。

  Itwasupthegreatstaircaseonthestoryabove。Hereandthere,thebarewhitewallswerebrokenbyanirongrate,andshethoughtasshewentalongthattheplacewassomethinglikeaprison。Thearcheddoorofthelady’sroom,orcell,wasnotquiteshut。Afterknockingatittwoorthreetimeswithoutreceivingananswer,shepusheditgentlyopen,andlookedin。

  Theladylaywithclosedeyesontheoutsideofthebed,protectedfromthecoldbytheblanketsandwrapperswithwhichshehadbeencoveredwhensherevivedfromherfaintingfit。Adulllightplacedinthedeeprecessofthewindow,madelittleimpressiononthearchedroom。Thevisitortimidlysteppedtothebed,andsaid,inasoftwhisper,’Areyoubetter?’

  Theladyhadfallenintoaslumber,andthewhisperwastoolowtoawakeher。Hervisitor,standingquitestill,lookedatherattentively。

  ’Sheisverypretty,’shesaidtoherself。’Ineversawsobeautifulaface。Ohowunlikeme!’

  Itwasacuriousthingtosay,butithadsomehiddenmeaning,foritfilledhereyeswithtears。

  ’IknowImustberight。Iknowhespokeofherthatevening。I

  couldveryeasilybewrongonanyothersubject,butnotonthis,notonthis!’

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