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ONE WOMAN- 
 WANDERING. 
 
 OR 
 
 EUKOPE ON LIMITED MEANS. 
 
 BY • 
 
 MARION FLOWER HICKS HARMON. 
 
 oinoinnati 
 
 The Editor Publishing Company 
 
 1899 
 
TWO COPIES HECSIVEO. 
 
 Library cf CCKgp&esi» 
 
 JAM ^9 1900 
 
 Register of Copyrfghtfe 
 
 5419? 
 
 Copyright 
 The Editor Publishing Company 
 
 ^C\'.*^ SECOND COPY, 
 
TO THE LONE ONES IN THE LAND, 
 
 ESPECIALLY TO THE 
 
 SOLITARY SISTERS, 
 
 IS THIS 
 
 VOLUME 
 
 CORDIALLY DEDICATED. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter I. Going Abroad. . .1 
 
 How one lone woman decided to go 
 abroad. — Foreign exchange and letters of 
 credit.— The steamer moves. 
 
 Chapter II. On the Ocean. . . ]4 
 
 A means of preventing sea-sickness; — 
 Suitable outfit for voyage. — Claiming and 
 exchange of luggage. 
 
 Chapter III. At Le Havre. . . 28 
 
 First impressions on landing.— Hotel 
 Frascati.— ^i«e de Paris. — Place Gambetta. 
 
 Chapter IV. Characteristics op France. 33 
 
 Features of the country. — The Seine. — 
 Rouen.— Within the walls of Paris. 
 
 Chapter V. At Paris. ... 41 
 
 The Hotel St. Lazare. — Prices at liotels 
 and restaurants. — Desirability of knowledge 
 of foreign currencies.— Friendly suggestions 
 to the "lone sister". 
 
 Chapter VI. A New Home. . . 50 
 
 Chapel St. Ferdinand. — Features of my 
 chamber. 
 
 Chapter VII. Exploring Paris. . . 57 
 
 Strange customs, garbs and persons.— 
 Military pomp. — Reflections at St. Cloud, 
 St. Germain and Versailles. 
 
ii CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter VIII. The Carnival. . . 67 
 
 Festive streets and people. — Comparison 
 with New Orleans carnival.— The Parisian 
 Sunday. 
 
 Chapter IX. Funerals. . . 73 
 
 Sombre display at the Madeleine. —Jewish 
 Cemetery. — Distinguished dead. 
 
 Chapter X. Sights and Scenes. . 86 
 
 Quaint old localities.— The antique Hotel 
 de Cluny.— The Savonnerle. 
 
 Chapter XI. Change of Quarters. . 100 
 
 Inner court of ''No. 70."— Paris of to-day, 
 and its tumultuous past. 
 
 Chapter XII. Leaving Paris. . . 107 
 
 A French second-class compartment. — 
 The Belgian frontier. — Arrival at Cologne. 
 
 Chapter XIII. German Folk. . . 119 
 
 My room in Cologne.— T/ie Domhild. — The 
 Ringstrassen. — An evening stroll. 
 
 Chapter XIV. To Duesseldorp. . 134 
 
 Country grows picturesque. — More about 
 the trainmen. 
 
 Chapter XV. Hanover. . . . 146 
 
 A language lesson.— Some special Amer- 
 ican errors. 
 
 Chapter XVI. About Hanover. . 158 
 
 The Royal Palace. — Royal Theater.— 
 Kestner Museum.— Soldiers' Monument. 
 
 Chapter XVII. Hanover Relics. . 158 
 
 Old graveyards. — Goethe's Lotta. — 
 Strange police regulatioas. 
 
CONTENTS. iij 
 
 Chapter XVIII. Hildersham. . . 165 
 
 Its antiquity and importance.— Ctiarm- 
 ing old towi). 
 
 Chapter XIX. Wandering On. . 176 
 
 Picturesque little towns. — Region of myth 
 and mystery. 
 
 Chapter XX. To the Brocken. . 184 
 
 The witches' altar and the devil's pulpit. — 
 Return to Blank enburg. 
 
 Chapter XXI. The Bode. . . 188 
 
 Pastoral landscape. — Modern customs 
 and conveniences. 
 
 Chapter XXII. Berlin. . . . 192 
 
 Its situation and importance. — Art col- 
 lections. — Intramural transportation. 
 
 Chapter XXIII. To Potsdam. . . 206 
 
 Location and prominence of Potsdam. — 
 Famous Tombs. 
 
 Chapter XXIV. Dresden, . . 212 
 
 Pitiable condition of the women. — Points 
 of interest. — National music. — Dresden 
 China. 
 
 Chapter XXV. Saxon Switzerland. 221 
 
 Crossing the Elbe in a row-boat. — The 
 quaint village of Wehlen. 
 
 Chapter XXVI. Leipsic. . . . 229 
 
 Its book trade. — Relics of the battles of 
 Leipsic— Monuments. 
 
 Chapter XXVII. To Frankfort. . 237 
 
 Old castles. — Valley of the Fulda. — 
 Early origin of Frankfort. — Frankfort's 
 fortunes. 
 
iv CONTENTS. 
 
 Chaptee XXVIII. Heidelbeijg. . 24G 
 
 The castle and its history. — Keidelberg 
 University. — The view at mooiirise. 
 
 Chapter XXIX. To Lucerne. . . 2r;l 
 
 A wonderful country. — Queer old paint- 
 ings.— The Ijion of Lucerne.— The (Hacier 
 Garden. 
 
 Chapter XXX. The Alps. . . 261 
 
 Locale of Wilhelm Tell.— Schiller's me- 
 morial. —Wonderful highways. 
 
 Chapter XXXI. The Rigi. , . 200 
 
 Troublesome luggage regulations. — An 
 Alpine garden. — '-Through nature to na- 
 ture's God." 
 
 Chapter XXXII. Goleau. . . 280 
 
 A tremendous Landslip. — The Lake 
 Dwellers.— Hans Waldman's fate. 
 
 Chapter XXXIII. Mainz. . . 2S7 
 
 General features. — Eaths and cures.— Le- 
 garding German goods. 
 
 Chapter XXXIV. A Rhine Journey. 298 
 
 Renewed warning to the "lone one''.— 
 The most interesting river in the world. 
 
 Chapter XXXV. Holland . . 318 
 
 The dyke-defended land.— Dutch money. 
 — A Dutch dog fight. 
 
 Chapter XXXVI Vlissingen. . . 325 
 
 Wandering in earnest.- A trip to Middle- 
 bourg.— Forward to England 
 
 Chapter XXXVII. Finis. . . . 8:52 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Not because I was especially fitted either by- 
 nature , education or habit, to paddle my own 
 canoe, not because I had no desire for, or any 
 objection to, a compagnon du voyage, did I sud- 
 denly determine last year to venture forth alone 
 into the rushing tide of foreign travel that has of 
 late periods set so strongly toward the Old 
 World. But like many another woman I had been 
 bereft of all that life and love hold dear, and at a 
 mature age was left stranded solitary, with a 
 slender though assured provision for that future 
 which now stretched blankly before me. What 
 could so completely occupy my attention and 
 employ my energies as a trip abroad? 
 
 But was this among the possibilities? No 
 ties had I to bind me here or elsewhere ; no 
 household to maintain in my absence ; no reason 
 why the modest sum necessary for my personal 
 expenses should not be expended abroad instead 
 of in my native land. Would this be sufficient? 
 I began to investigate. 
 
 My first step was to write to various Tourist 
 Agencies, whose name is legion, requesting such 
 information as each could furnish concerning 
 routes, rates, outfits, and the like. I may say 
 in passing that I ever received most courteous 
 attention to my inquiries. I thus accumulated 
 
2 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 a mass of material much of which was valuable, 
 and my vague design began to take form and 
 substance before me. My little fund would take 
 me across, provide for my return in case of emer- 
 gency, and keep me in unpretending comfort 
 until I could receive supplies from home. But — 
 I must go alone ; I could pay no companion or 
 guide. True, there were several excursions ad- 
 vertised to which my available cash would ad- 
 mit me as a member, but these were of but two 
 or three months' duration and seemed to consist 
 of one grand scramble from beginning to end, 
 in making trains and taking wildly hurried 
 glimpses of a few noted scenes and masterpieces. 
 So I came to the conclusion that one could see 
 and learn most by traveling independently, thus 
 being hampered by no contracts or limits as to 
 time and place. Could I do this all by myself, 
 in a foreign land amid a foreign tongue, I who 
 had lived all my life in the seclusion and pro- 
 tection of the home-circle? But the dear home- 
 circle was forever vanished. Life was ended 
 along that line. Wherever I might be I was 
 alone and must live inexpensively, I was al- 
 ready fairly familiar with my own land. In 
 Europe even commonplace environments would 
 be new and interesting to me. I would go. 
 
 I did go and for many months wandered alone 
 but safely through storied scenes and classic 
 shades of varied beauty and interest, returning 
 at last with a host of delightful recollections to be- 
 guile many an otherwise weary day, and with the 
 resolve to promulgate as far as possible among 
 the "lone sisters' "in my own country, such prac- 
 tical knowledge of ways and means as I ac- 
 quired myself in my journeyings, so that any 
 one of them, finding through untoward events 
 that the "days are dark and dreary," might 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDEEING 3 
 
 feel it possible to take ter courage in her hands 
 and go and do likewise. And so I begin my 
 record. 
 
 In almost any town of a few thousand inhab- 
 itants one may purchase a through ticket of the 
 principal Steamship Companies, to almost any 
 point abroad, I, however, took my ticket from 
 one of the Tourist Agencies in order tliat I 
 might feel at liberty to call upon the local office 
 wherever I might be, for protection or advice, 
 have the benefit of its banking facilities, bureaus 
 of information and the like. This idea proved 
 all right in the main, but at first, as I shall ex- 
 plain later, I had reason to believe that all my 
 provisions in these respects were as unsubstantial 
 as the baseless fabric of a dream. I did not take 
 a passport as there are few European countries 
 where they are essential, but in the light of my 
 later experience, I should take one if going 
 again, on account of the convenience as a 
 means of identification when such becomes nec- 
 essary. The cost, I believe is two dollars. 
 
 The Agency of which I finally bought my 
 tickets, as an inducement for me to do so, 
 promised to have a man meet me in Chicago to 
 give me all necessary aid in transfer, — my start- 
 ing point was about seven hours distant, — and 
 another man at the New York terminus to take 
 charge of myself and luggage, and to see that 
 it and I were safely placed on board the steam- 
 ship in good order and at no extra charge unless 
 in the way of monetary exchange. These prom- 
 ises gave me great satisfaction, and it was well 
 that they did, for it was all I had ; inasmuch as, 
 so far as attendance was concerned, this Agency, 
 — I will not, as I might, take so cruel a revenge 
 upon it as to publish its name abroad, — almost 
 entirely failed to make good its engagements. 
 
4 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 I descended from the train in Chicago, bag in 
 hand, refusing offered attendance as I supposed 
 I was provided for; but, trudging along over the 
 long platform to the transfer 'buses, no sign of 
 a tourist agent did I see. Inquiries right and 
 left were of no avail. There was only one hour 
 and three quarters between trains, but, though 
 my ticket included transfer through Chicago I 
 could not go directly on, because my money had 
 not yet been converted into foreign funds, and I 
 had still much promised instruction to receive. 
 After a moment of indecision I took a 'bus to 
 the Agency. 
 
 Perhaps my inexperienced countrywoman would 
 like to learn that in Chicago all authorized trans- 
 ference facilities are in the hands of one organi- 
 zation, the Parmelee Line. In purchasing tickets 
 that necessitate a change in Chicago, one should 
 stipulate for a transfer coupon. Then, on pre- 
 senting the same to any of Parmelee's men, who 
 are always on hand, one has no ditficulty in find- 
 ing one's proper conveyance. On my doing this 
 and stating that I wished to interview my tourist 
 agent before going to the other station, the at- 
 tendant kindly informed me that he would drop 
 me at the right place en route. This he did, but 
 by stopping I was of course obliged to lose the 
 benefit of my coupon, besides having all the 
 bother and uncertainty of looking up the 
 agent. 
 
 But I found and sternly confronted him with 
 my demand for advice and exchange. The of- 
 ficial had the grace to seem surprised at my 
 appearing there alone, and tried to explain that 
 a man had been sent to meet me but "probably 
 had got a little behind time." 
 
 Minutes were precious and I wasted none in 
 reproaches but proceeded to business. The agent 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 5 
 
 recommended putting the most of my funds in 
 circular notes of English money, as available to 
 be cashed in any foreign currency on presenting 
 a letter of identificition which he also gave me, 
 at any place where I should be likely to go. 
 
 Reserving enough of the balance to provide 
 for my expenditures to and in New York City, 
 he put the remainder into French money as I 
 was sailing on a French ship to a French port. 
 At this date, an American, or rather, a United 
 States' dollar was worth a little more than five 
 French francs, four German tnarken, or four 
 English shillings. Here let me warn my unso- 
 phisticated sister against ever confusing the Eng- 
 lish shilling with the value recognized under 
 that name in the United States. The United 
 States shilling is simply unheard of and un- 
 known abroad, (as it ought to be at home for it 
 does not exist in our money table ) and where- 
 ever the term shilling is used it always, without 
 exception, signifies the English shilling of 
 twelve pence or twenty-four United States 
 cents. I mention this because I saw so many 
 cases where unfortunate Americans were hope- 
 lessly confused on account of persisting in using 
 the term shilling to represent twelve and a half 
 cents, to the great mystification of their foreign 
 hearers. 
 
 Regarding exchange and letters of credit, any 
 banker would do the service quite as well as a 
 Tourist Agency, and in many cases it might be 
 preferable to have it done at home by one's ac- 
 quaintances ;but,going alone as I was, I deemed 
 it better, as I mentioned before, to have as much 
 claim as possible on the attention of some well- 
 known corporation as easily accessible abroad 
 as at home. But all this is a matter of expe- 
 diency. 
 
6 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 I made particular inquiries of the agent, as to 
 how to escape in New York the difficulties that 
 had presented themselves in Chicago, as in New 
 York I should be more helpless, never having 
 embarked for a foreign tour and not knowing- 
 just what to do, nor even whether a woman 
 alone would be capable of doing everything. But 
 I was assured there was no possibility of my 
 missing their man there, that the Company had 
 men in uniform with the name of the 
 Agency in large letters, to meet all trains, that 
 I could not fail to see them, that everybody 
 knew the agency-men, and moreover they had 
 been advised to look out for me, and so on. So 
 I departed comforted, with a man, — in this in- 
 stance a nice, friendly lad, — detailed to put me 
 on the New York train, see to my sleeper and so 
 forth, all of which he did politely and efficient- 
 ly, and I was soon rolling away toward New 
 York. 
 
 The hours went on ; night came and went and 
 the darkness of the second evening closed in 
 upon us, for not until eight P. M., were we 
 within the confines of "the great city." A bag- 
 gage-man appeared — as on all through trains 
 nearing a terminus, to whom one may give one's 
 checks with perfect safety, receiving a claim- 
 ticket in return — and soon my luggage would be 
 on its way to the steamer-docks where I would 
 find it in the morning. 
 
 At eight forty-five, we stopped in the Grand 
 Central Station of New York City. I walked 
 out confidently expecting to be accosted at once 
 by my promised messenger but, alas, he did not 
 materialize. I looked about here and there, back- 
 ward and forward, right and left, in fact in every 
 direction except heavenward, — which last, in con- 
 sideration of the nature of my past experiences, 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDEEING 7 
 
 seemed futile to do, — but no one did I see who 
 had apparently the least concern as to my wel- 
 fare. No uniformed men except the trainmen 
 and the red-capped porters, all of whom declared 
 total ignorance concerning the agency-men, did 
 not even know their uniform ; such also was the 
 result of my inquiries in the waiting rooms and 
 at the Bureau of Information. The fact was 
 that I had simply been allowed to arrive with no 
 attention provided whatever. I dwell upon this 
 point because the Agency had been so lavish in 
 its proffers and promises both verbal and 
 written, that I had had no anxiet}'^ whatever on 
 leaving home, and had I not been warned by my 
 experience in Chicago, should have relied on 
 them implicitly. And I feel moved to declare 
 that I consider the Agency's course as a culpa- 
 ble breach of confidence, from which the conse- 
 quences in the case of an unaccustomed traveler, 
 a lady, arriving alone at night in this great, 
 modern Babel, might have been deplorable in ner- 
 vous strain if nothing more. I will say that, some 
 months later, I received a most polite letter of 
 regret and apology from the Agency, but this, 
 though gratifying, hardly served to atone for 
 the neglect. Fortunately for me, I was in a 
 measure familiar with the place, so I picked up 
 my satchel and went across the street to a well- 
 known hotel where I obtained a comfortable 
 room on the parlor floor at one dollar a day 
 without meals. In the restaurant attached, one 
 may consider one's purse in ordering from the 
 menu. The rates seem high to a resident of a 
 town of thirty thousand inhabitants, and if one 
 is desirous of keeping expenses down still far- 
 ther, one may go out across the street to a most 
 attractively bright and clean eating-house, 
 where wholesome and appetizing food is served 
 
8 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 at surprisingly moderate charges. All this for 
 the benefit of that "lone sister" whom I have 
 in my mind's eye in writing these lines. 
 
 At the hotel I tried to telephone the Tourist 
 Agency. "Office closed for the night," was 
 the report, so I betook me to my couch thinking 
 I should certainly get word in the morning- Of 
 course city offices are rarely open before nine, 
 A. M,, but as the next was a '-sailing morning" 
 the hotel manager thought I would find the 
 agency men on hand early. So I tried at seven, 
 A. M. "Closed." The steamer was to sail at 
 ten and I was I knew not how far away. At 
 any rate all the way from Forty-second street 
 zigzaggedly across the city to Morton's Pier. 
 No use to go personally to the office as it was 
 closed. The hotel manager was kind and inter- 
 ested and gave me as good advice as he pos- 
 sessed, but of course he could not speak with 
 authority. Finally, partly because time was 
 slipping away and partly because, in classic 
 phrase, "my spunk was up," I decided that if 
 worst had come to worst, I was equal to the 
 emergency of getting off for Europe alone, or 
 anywhere else, and that no effete tourist agent 
 should, by his indifference or inefficiency, com- 
 pel me to lose my passage, nor entail upon me 
 unneccessary additional expense. So, as econ- 
 omy was the order of the day, I did not even call 
 a cab bub boarded a Fourth Avenue car. I knew 
 my way pretty well and was burdened only with 
 my handbag. 
 
 At Fourteenth Street I took a transfer to the 
 pier. When I presented my ticket to the trans- 
 fer-man he vociferated violently and offensively, 
 as if 1 were offering him a personal insult, "That 
 hain't no good ! Yer gotto pay another fare !" I 
 was not at all appalled at his demeanor nor did 
 
ONE WOMAN WONDERING 9 
 
 I "lose my head" or temper, though it certainly 
 was not my fault that I had a wrong transfer 
 nor had I objected to paying a second fare 
 though entitled to transfer. I do not under- 
 stand why these street-car employes are so ready 
 to deem that a gentlewoman in appearance and 
 speech deserves brow beating and crushing when 
 she is merely trying to follow the routine of the 
 road so far as she comprehends it; but such is 
 too frequently the case and I only mention it 
 here and my reception of the same, as a possible 
 aid to the "solitary sister" when she "will a- wan- 
 dering go." I let the fellow expend his rude- 
 ness without remonstrance and when he had 
 quite ceased speaking I civilly asked him to 
 kindly show me which car to take; he had evi- 
 dently keyed himself up to receive a torrent of 
 expostulation on my part, and when none came 
 he seemed dazed for a moment, then acceded to 
 my request in a manner comparatively calm, and 
 I went on slowly but surely toward Morton Pier. 
 I was the sole passenger when the car reached 
 the end of the route and here it was my good 
 fortune to encounter so kind and gentlemanly a 
 young man, albeit in the guise of a conductor, 
 that I almost felt like forgiving the before-men- 
 tioned surly brute in consideration of his being 
 a co-employe of this young man. Of course he 
 could not leave his car but he pointed out where 
 I must go and told me just what to do and was 
 so interesting and painstaking that if we had 
 been, as I was la'er, in a foreign land, I should 
 have "tipped" him well for his civility; as it 
 was, I would not insult his manhood by offering 
 to pay him for being polite to a woman. 
 
 It was now nine o'clock. Steamer to sail at 
 ten. I rushed across the tracks, before and be- 
 hind cars, carts and quadrupeds, ignoring the 
 
10 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 surprised glances of everybody at seeing a wan- 
 dering woman dashing about utterly unattended 
 in that busy and hubbubby place. I felt a sort 
 of unholy glee in getting on so independently of 
 that faithless agency man, who was probably at 
 this moment reading his morning paper and 
 toasting his toes at ease before his fire, imagin- 
 ing that I must await his pleasure. I made my 
 way into the great building placarded, Com- 
 pagnie General Atlantique, where my smattering 
 of French enabled me to read the signs and labels 
 about, and I was able with few questions to get 
 my luggage, send it aboard by means of three 
 men whom I paid twenty-five cents each, (which 
 payment I afterward learned was entirely unex- 
 pected and unnecessary,) and finally I walked 
 up the gang-plank myself and stood apon the 
 deck of La Cha^njiagne. 
 
 I have thus detailed these trivial incidents, 
 not because of their interest but to give the 
 "inexperienced sister" some idea of transporta- 
 tion at small expense. I rather enjoyed it on 
 the whole, but if the "sister" is timid or ner- 
 vous, she would better take a cab for the pier, 
 at her hotel door. Rates are high and though 
 the hotel manager will procure for one a trusty 
 driver, it is quite necessary to have an explicit 
 understanding as to terms, before one starts. 
 
 I will not deny that emotions of new and 
 varied sorts filled my breast as I looked down 
 from the deck upon the swaying crowds, the 
 infinite diversity of faces and figures, the cabs 
 coming and going, the incessant stream of ladies, 
 gentlemen, porters, seamen, children, dogs and 
 so forth, passing and repassing up and down the 
 plank, and heard the continually repeated 
 screeching of whistles and jangling of bells 
 mingled with shouts and cries, with the rush 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 11 
 
 and roll of carriage and cart, of barrel and cask, 
 the dumping and th'ud of box and bale and 
 chest and all the innumerable stock and store of 
 a ship's cargo, and reflected that I had suc- 
 ceeded in "getting there" all on my own re- 
 sponsibility. And I began to felicitate myself 
 that I alone had attended to everything and still 
 had plenty of time. Then I noticed a party 
 coming up with bags and bundles and steamer 
 chairs. 
 
 Scissors and teapots ! I had forgotten my 
 steamer- chair ! A glance at my watch, — nine 
 tw.enty-five, — steamer sails at ten ! Back again 
 down the plank — a mad rush for the bureau — a 
 wild demand in impossible French for the de- 
 sired article. Rent, a United States "dollaire" 
 for the round trip, No money but French — oflFer 
 a five /rcmc piece supposing it an equivalent — 
 rejected as not enough — nothing else but gold — 
 frantically hold out a handful, whereupon the 
 commissionaire takes pity on me and pushes it 
 back, accepting my silver piece and kindly say- 
 ing in broken English: "Teez owanlee troah 
 sonts, navaire mynde." Whereby I learn that 
 the current value of a five franc piece at the 
 Bureau Transatlantique, IB ninety-seven cents; 
 though if you offer a dollar for something valued 
 at five francs, you get no change in return. 
 
 I hurriedly gave the man my name and sped 
 back. Again looked at my watch ; nine fifty. 
 Plenty of time and everything really ready at 
 last. Later on I find myself transformed by the 
 label on my chair, into "Madame Heexheimer." 
 
 I may as well say here that this expense of a 
 chair was in my case entirely unnecessary. It 
 being winter, there was no especial temptation 
 to sit on deck, as if one wished to be outside it 
 was much pleasanter to move about. Moreover 
 
12 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 there were plenty of benches on deck if one 
 chose to sit. I used my chair but twice, and 
 then only because I thought it the regulation 
 thing to do. As I had not decided to return by 
 this line, I lost the benefit of my round trip pay- 
 ment and by engaging a chair I became liable to 
 the deck-steward for a fee, whether service were 
 rendered or not. 
 
 In summer, when there are many passengers 
 and the weather is fine, a chair may be most de- 
 sirable, but in this instance I might have made 
 a clear savirg of at least two dollars had I been 
 familiar with the situation. I may note here 
 also that since my outward bound passage, there 
 has been a change in the method of renting 
 these chairs and one now must pay a dollar a 
 voyage instead of for round trip, as before. All 
 of which I commend to the consideration of my 
 imaginary "lone woman." 
 
 And now it is ten o'clock and the great 
 steamer begins to quiver. We all know the 
 ccuplet : 
 
 "She moves, she stirs, phe seems to feel 
 A thrill of life along her keel !" 
 
 and a dozen other lines as apropos will spring to 
 mind. The little tug was noisily doing its duty. 
 The pier was a sea of upturned faces and wav- 
 ing handkerchiefs. 
 
 "Good-bye!" 
 
 ''Adieu!'' 
 
 ''LehewohlP' 
 
 "Good luck to you!" 
 
 '■'■Boil voyage f 
 
 "■Glueckliche Reise!'''' 
 
 Some were laughing, some were in tears, all 
 were excited, and a responsive throng on deck 
 gave back farewell, smile and tear. 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 13 
 
 I stood apart. I was alone. The good-byes 
 and good wishes were not for me. No one there 
 knew of me. It was rather a melancholy 
 thought ; and yet there was a bright gleam of 
 satisfaction in the reflection that, being there 
 thus alone and by my own unaided efforts, I was 
 under no sort of an obligation to waft even the 
 most formal of farewells to that inert and ever 
 elusive tourist agent. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 At last we were abroad upon the mighty deep. 
 Gradually we had made our way out from the 
 slips, piers and docks and from the crowds of 
 shipping of every description and nationality. 
 Out away from the marvelous span of Brooklyn 
 Bridge and from the majestic statue towering 
 above the busy harbor and forever lifting toward 
 high heaven the deathless torch of liberty. Out 
 away between shores wharf-lined and covered as 
 far as eye could reach with street on street of 
 structure, lofty and low, proud and plebeian, 
 rich and wretched, and permeated everywhere 
 by seemingly the same restless, rushing, hurry- 
 ing throng, until by and by the fields and hedge- 
 rows began to appear, pervaded even now with 
 a faint, subtile shade of green ; soon we passed 
 the various isles that dot the harbor, the old 
 fort on Staten Island standing out phenomenally 
 distinct, and then suddenly the fog closes in and 
 shuts out all the world. Reluctantly we aban- 
 don our posts of outlook and pass inside to make 
 acquaintance with that interior where we shall 
 eat, drink and sleep for so many days. 
 
 Surprising indeed is the spectacle we behold. 
 All is bewilderment and confusion. Everybody 
 seems to be in every other body's way. The 
 poor people in the steerage, of whom we get 
 occasional glimpses in our present futile at- 
 tempts to find out "where we are at," are hud- 
 dled together amid their forlorn "bits of things, ' ' 
 like a flock of frightened sheep and look sad 
 and pitiable. The second-cabiners are as yet un- 
 
 14 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 15 
 
 separated from the first; everyone is more or 
 less unsettled, even the old stagers, — or should 
 I say "shippers?" — to whom a sea voyage is but 
 the veriest episode. Shouts and commands in a 
 foreign tongue and the inability of the ship's 
 company to understand our American French, 
 add to the general distraction. We find later 
 that most of the crew speak good English, but 
 this fact has not as yet dawned upon our per- 
 turbed brains. Bags and bundles of all sorts 
 are heaped in apparently inextricable disorder, 
 laying traps for unwary feet. Dogs and chil- 
 dren are trotting about astray and lifting their 
 several voices in howls in various keys and of 
 varying intensity. Birds, large and small, are 
 shrieking in dismay from divers and sundry 
 cages, and amid all is heard the thud, thud of 
 the steamer's machinery as it steadily beats out 
 the revolutions that, God guiding, shall pause 
 not nor delay till we reach the strange shores so 
 far distant. 
 
 As a temporary diversion the cabin passengers 
 are very soon summoned to an informal luncheon 
 while the ship's force indefatigably toils to 
 bring order out of chaos. And here may I cau- 
 tion my unsophisticated "solitary sister," as a 
 possible preventive of sea-sickness, to partake 
 sparingly through the first day at least, of the 
 abundant and tempting fare provided on the 
 great ocean-liners? 
 
 The striking of "deep water" is usually the 
 crucial test of one's powers as a "good sailor, " 
 and one who escapes this ordeal will probably 
 pass along almost unaffected to the other side. 
 
 The work goes untiringly on ; wandering mor- 
 tals find their cabins ; weeping women are con- 
 soled and irate men pacified; timid passengers 
 are encouraged, while stray children and pets 
 
16 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 reach their proper owners, and at last, by the 
 time the electric lights leap forth and we are 
 bidden to our evening meal, a semblance at 
 least of order and regularity reigns in the bril- 
 liant dining-room, or salle-d-manyer, as we are 
 taught to consider it. The western continent 
 has dropped below the horizon and we begin 
 really and truly to be rocked in the cradle of the 
 deep. 
 
 The first day out, as customary, we were each 
 assigned a seat at table, and given a sail- 
 ing list. Here I found I had undergone another 
 transformation and was now figuring as *'Mr. 
 Hanson." Others, however, had similar surprises 
 and it was like solving a puzzle to find out 
 which name belonged to whom, and what it 
 really should be instead of what it was. Differ- 
 ent ships have different methods of arrang- 
 ing the sittings at table. On La Champagne, 
 a very polite steward called at each stateroom 
 door and asked if the occupants thereof had any 
 choice as to seats ; if so, they were gratified if 
 possible, and to each person was handed a card 
 with a number corresponding to that on his 
 chair at table. 
 
 At my table are a Ji"Z/e.H.,of New York City, 
 whose name is not on the list at all, a Mr. and 
 Mrs. M.,of Berkeley, California, and a Senor U., 
 of Le Havre. Mile. H. and Mr. M. speak both 
 French and English; Mrs. M., only English; 
 Senor U., Spanish and French, so when we are 
 all there we manage to keep up quite a continu- 
 ous conversation, the learned ones interpreting 
 for the less so. Scarcely anyone on a French 
 steamer appears before c/eyeM»er( pronounced 
 "deh-zhoon-eh," with no accent, )a sort of 
 heavy luncheon about eleven o'clock. The first 
 repast is truly a "break-fast," being but a roll 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 17 
 
 without butter, and a cup of "coffee with milk," 
 served usually in one's cabin before one rises. 
 There is, I understand, a meal called the ' 'Amer- 
 ican breakfast, " provided for such incorrigible 
 natives as are unable to fall into foreign ways, 
 but this is alien to the general atmosphere; in- 
 dividually, I took very kindly to the custom of 
 keeping my berth until the first warning bell 
 sounded half an hour before dejeumer. 
 
 It so chanced that Senor U. and myself usu- 
 ally appeared first at our table and frequently 
 finished our meal before any of our table-mates 
 came in. As he spoke neither English nor Ger- 
 man and I had no Spanish and but a smattering 
 of French, and as the politeness of his nation- 
 ality, I suppose, would not permit him to sit in 
 a lady's presence with no effort to entertain her, 
 many desperate attempts were made by us to 
 evolve some method of communication ; but it 
 all resolved mainly into an assiduous offering of 
 each to the other of whatever was within our 
 reach, accompanied by a series of "nods and 
 becks and wreathed smiles" whenever one 
 caught the other's eyes. I shall always remem- 
 ber him as a most painfully courteous man, and 
 I dare sa}- he will long recollect his arduous en- 
 deavors in my behalf. 
 
 The table was excellent, served carefully in 
 French table d' hote style, that is, only one thing 
 at a time, which I do not like, as I prefer 
 my meat with my vegetables. Also I like butter 
 on my bread and cream in my tea and coffee, 
 which preferences astonish the French caterer. 
 If he serves you with butter at all it is unsalted 
 and given you upon a plate the size of the ordi- 
 nary dinner-plate. If you insist on cream with 
 your coffee, he brings you a concoction which 
 he calls '■'■cafe-au-laW'' wherein the milk which 
 
18 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 does duty as cream, is boiled with the coffee, and 
 with it he brings a tablespoon; I verily believe 
 the French consider it a sort of soup. And as 
 to tea, the drinking of it at all seems to be con- 
 ceived as springing from a mild aberration of 
 the English and the American mind, and one is 
 looked upon Math surprise, not to say suspicion, 
 if one declines the cognac that is always brought 
 oil with it and the tiny cup of "black 2 )ffee" 
 served at the close of dinner. Then again, I do 
 not like wine of any sort as a beverage, especially 
 the thin, sour vin ordinaire that is so universal 
 and tastes very like poor vinegar. Nor am I es- 
 pecially fond of the cheeses and sauces which 
 are served so abundantly, but of course all this 
 soon becomes a matter of custom. 
 
 It seemed odd to have knife, fork and plate 
 removed with each article of food. 1 will not 
 deny having been accustomed to the ordinary 
 changes between courses, but the fashion of 
 having as many plates, knives and forks as there 
 are articles on the bill of fare, was new to me. 
 Nor did I ever before see ice-cream made into 
 a large roll, like butter, and passed about on a 
 platter, each person helping himself and being 
 provided with a desert spoon for consuming it. 
 I do not remember ever before having seen snails 
 on a 7nemi, sol thought I would try some. The 
 gaiyjon brought me a plateful apparently aunat- 
 urel in their shells and looking "quite too aw- 
 fully" snaily. He brought with them an imple- 
 ment suggestive of Hamlet's bare bodkin, with 
 which oue is supposed to manipulate the shells 
 to get at their contents. I made one or two at- 
 tempts, then finally begged the waiter to pre- 
 pare them for me, which he deftly did, bringing 
 them back sans shells and looking exactly like 
 a tiny "mess o' greens." I tasted them and 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 19 
 
 found them delicious! in spite of preconceived 
 prejudices. 
 
 Our dinners are qu ite long in course and served 
 about seven in the evening. Lights are gener- 
 ally extinguished in the salon about eleven; in 
 our staterooms we have the privilege, not always 
 granted on ship-board, of turning the electricity 
 off and on to suit our convenience, but a plac- 
 ard most politely vs^orded requests us to use our 
 illumination as sparingly as possible. 
 
 So hour after hour goes on monotonously 
 enough, and day after day finds us, our little com- 
 munit}'' of some four or five hundred souls, strug- 
 gling onward in this wide waste of waters where 
 for days and nights we are encompassed by the 
 same unchanging, impenetrable, white mist. The 
 great fog horn sounds at intervals of one min- 
 ute, night and day. Once forth from out the 
 darkness comes a response, but where away in 
 that vast, outstretching region of cloud and 
 mist there rides another vessel, we have no means 
 of knowing. Strong head-winds that yet have 
 no perceptible effect on the density of the fog, 
 make our progress difficult and slow. 
 
 The huge waves roar ana rave and thunder 
 around, below and above us and beat at our 
 ship's sides, but she is staunch and they do not 
 enter. At last, one night we hear an unusual 
 shock, the vessel shakes and shivers, settles 
 herself again, then quivers laterally and from 
 end to end. I feel sure that we have run down 
 something and, lying there in my snug cabin, I 
 try to picture the scene without on the dark, 
 toss^ing oee iti. But though there is some in- 
 crease of hoarse commands and heavy, hurried 
 footsteps above, 1 hear no alarm and address 
 myself a^ain to sleep. In the morning we learn 
 that we have lost a part of our screw and from 
 
20 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 that time on, we have a sort of compound wiggle 
 and jiggle and jerk added to the ordinary roll and 
 tumble of a steamer in difficult seas, which is 
 rather too much for the equanimity of many of 
 our company. Our ship labors bravely on how- 
 ever and all is well save the inevitable cases 
 of mal-de-mer which one, of course, expects. 
 Our salle-d-manger is mostly deserted, by the 
 ladies especially, 
 
 Personally I escape all illness, which is a mat- 
 ter of surprise and congratulation. Even while 
 the steamer rises to meet the oncoming wave, or 
 pitches downward into the trough of the bil- 
 lows, or rolls from side to side, am I able to 
 stand either above on deck or below at the port- 
 holtrs which are continually first plunged into 
 the depths and then lifted dizzily aloft, and to 
 gaze out on the "multitudinous seas" as they 
 swell and sweep and wrestle and leap and break 
 into feathery spray far heavenward, and to en- 
 joy the spectacle and marvel over its beauty. 
 
 At length one evening we note that the 
 "dead-lights" are down and at dinner the ta- 
 bles are a network of racks and bars to keep the 
 dishes in place, which all betokens heavier 
 weather. We make inquiries and find we are 
 about to enter the "Devil's Hole," which is al- 
 ways, as they term it, "a nasty place." All 
 this time we have scarcely seen the sun. Ever 
 the same white, cottony fog, with the green 
 waves breaking through to grin at us. I begin 
 to realize what it must have been when the 
 "earth was without form and void." We are 
 told that the voyage is always tiresome and dif- 
 ficult at this time of the year until we get away 
 from the"Banks of Newfoundland," — not mean- 
 ing the shores of that country but certain areas 
 of the ocean, — after which we shall probably 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 21 
 
 have smoother seas and fairer skies: and if we 
 can only escape the clutches of His Satanic Ma- 
 jesty while invading his "Hole" to night, 
 to-morrow we may hope for better things. So 
 we go on and on and on. 
 
 Day comes again and we find we have left the 
 Devil behind us and by the next day the fog 
 lifts and the sun appears. Not long does he 
 bless us, however, for it comes on to rain, and 
 thus almost continually under cloud and storm 
 do we make our passage. We see a steamer on 
 a distant track and exchange salutes. We learn 
 many days later that shortly after leaving us 
 she encountered a waterspout which we barely 
 escaped. We have no excitement. We see no 
 whales nor icebergs. There is little or nothing 
 to distinguish one point of time from another 
 except the daily posting of the ship's progress 
 in the main companion-way, and the setting for- 
 ward of our watches forty minutes each noontide. 
 
 Very strange it seemed day after day to see 
 only the same persons, to do only the same 
 things and to move about only in the same 
 places. La Champagne is a very comfortable, 
 somewhat luxurious, but not very modern vessel. 
 To my surprise there is neither reading-room 
 nor library. I am told there is none on any of 
 the French liners though a little cupboard on La 
 Chamj)agne, containing perhaps fifty volumes of 
 French and English novels which one may pur- 
 chase at fifty cents each, is dignified by that 
 name. We are, of course, cut off from newspa- 
 pers and it reaily becomes a matter of chaticy in 
 one possessed of any sort of literature, to circu- 
 late it among his or her needy neighbors. 
 
 Judging from my own experience and the dif- 
 ficulty I had in obtaining really suitable and 
 practical suggestions regarding an outfit that 
 
22 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 should be sufficient but not superfluous, I fancy 
 my imaginary "woman and sister" may desire 
 to Icnow something about what is necessary 
 for such a journey as mine. Let her bear in 
 mind that a ship is tlie merest atom of light and 
 warmth upon the awful ocean, and that the 
 ocean is always cold. JMoreover, there forever 
 do "the winds their revels keep." I found, as 
 nearly every inexperienced ocean-traveler does 
 find, that I took much more than I needed. 
 One's traveling garb should be as heavy as one 
 can wear without weariness. One will need in 
 winter, leggins and 'overshoes and close, warm 
 underclothing. Tights are almost indispensable. 
 A hot-water-bag is also very desirable. Along, 
 loose outer garment with hood attached and fur- 
 lined, is most convenient, as is also a similar 
 garment or "domino" of light weight, likewise 
 with hood, which one can wear about if one is 
 ill, w^ithout troubling with hair-dressing. One 
 needs a warm steamer-rug and one or two pri- 
 vate cushions are very comfortable. The rug 
 may be represented perfectly by a large blanket- 
 shawl. Of course if one could count on never 
 being ill, many of these provisions would be 
 superfluous ; but on this point one can never be 
 assured and must prepare accordingly. If one 
 is ill, the quickest and usually the only way to 
 recover is to be out on deck regardless of 
 weather or inclination. Frequently one must 
 be carried above by stewards and placed com- 
 fortably and safely in a sheltered nook to let the 
 cold, pure sea-winds do their reviving work. 
 
 The cabins at best are but stuffy places. 
 There are none with but one berth and to one's 
 own distresses may be added the moving spec- 
 tacle of a room-mate in serious case. So I con- 
 sider full equipment for warmth and comfort on 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 23 
 
 deck, to be a necessity, though thus far I have 
 not needed it myself. My cabin held two berths, 
 but on account of the season of the year, I was 
 able to occupy it alone, to my never-ceasing 
 thankfulness. I took my steamer-trunk, my 
 two grips and my roll of wraps into the cabin 
 with me but I should never do so again. If I 
 had had a room-mate, I do not know where her 
 things could have rested. I find that one gets 
 out of one's cabin as soon as possible after ris- 
 ing, and elaborate toilets are uncalled for. 
 
 Perhaps it is as well to have a light waist or two 
 accessible in case of an evening concert or other 
 entertainment, such as are frequently gotten up 
 if the voyage is reasonably pleasant. But the 
 woman to whom I am specially addressing myself 
 is not going abroad to display her wardrobe, or as 
 a little friend of mine once remarked, to "cut a 
 gash," and I think she will be relieved to take 
 as little as possible. I have known ladies going 
 abroad for a summer vacation to take only a bi- 
 cycle dress and a traveling gown. The woman 
 traveling with an escort, or a young girl prop- 
 erly chaperoned, might find it no trouble to have 
 a little more variety, but it is not necessary and 
 some question whether it be good taste. I learned 
 the lesson to send in future everything unessen- 
 tial, to the hold. 
 
 Baths, of course, may be had on application 
 to the steward. While these are not extra in 
 themselves, a tip is due to the attendant at the 
 end of the voyage. One may patronize the 
 steamer hair-dresser or do one's locks one's self; 
 but let me warn my sister with a "bang, "that 
 no hair-cur iing appliances are allowed in the 
 cabins, and when we consider what an unspeak- 
 able horror is a fire at sea, I know that none of 
 us will question the wisdom of this regulation. 
 
24 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 Besides the bath-room steward and the hair- 
 dresser, the other attendants on the usual ocean- 
 liner are the stewardess — who will wait upon 
 you if you desire but who does not attend to 
 your cabin — the bedroom steward, the deck stew- 
 ard and the dining-room steward, that is your 
 special waiter at meals. A steamship is usually 
 divided into sections, each of which has its own 
 retinue of servants. Id La Champagne^ a vessel 
 of eight thousand tons, there were two sections. 
 Of course a passenger is under no obligations as 
 to tips to those serving in any section but his 
 own. If one requires much service, one is sup- 
 posed to tip more liberally than otherwise, but 
 what has become an established custom so far 
 as I could learn, is to present one's stewardess, 
 one's table steward and the deck steward each 
 with about two dollars and a half on leaving the 
 ship. 
 
 In my case on La Chamiyagne, the stewardess 
 had no occasion to perform any service whatso- 
 ever for me, but she received my tip on the morn- 
 ing of debarkation with all the serenity of long- 
 tried and deserving merit. 
 
 And again in regard to one's outfit, let the 
 "lone female" also remember that in France 
 and other "warm countries," the houses are 
 cold and damp though the outer air may be soft 
 and mild, so that it becomes more essential than 
 with us, to dress warmly within doors, particu- 
 larly at night. A warm bedroom-gown and 
 slippers are really a necessity the greater part 
 of the year. 
 
 Of course I do not learn all these items at 
 once, but as I go along; if they lighten up the 
 matter for any who may come after me, I shall 
 be well pleased. 
 
 But we were getting on, and lo ! one evening. 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 25 
 
 away off over the heavy expanse of waters could 
 be seen a tiny gleam of light that alternately 
 shone and disappeared. Yes, there was the 
 long looked-f or beacon, there were the Scilly Isles, 
 there was solid land after these many days. 
 
 That last evening, according to a time-hon- 
 ored custom, was served what is called "the 
 Captain's dinner," though in reality given by 
 the transportation company, at which unusual 
 delicacies are spread, with unlimited champagne. 
 Mirth and good-fellowship abound, and with the 
 dessert on the present occasion was served an 
 assortment of fancy "pop-crackers" which, on 
 being pulled out, developed into a collection of 
 fantastic head-riggings, high and low caps of 
 all varieties, sombreros, capotes, helmets, and 
 the heads of all sorts of animals. Each person 
 donned his own, and we all marched about the 
 salon in majestic style at the close of the feast. 
 
 The next morning the shores of France, snow- 
 covered and looking in the distance much like 
 the southern shores of Lake Superior, were dis- 
 tinctly visible on the right, and a few hours 
 later, on the left, also. The bold outlines of ie 
 Havre soon rose to view and we entered the 
 wide harbor with its great solid piers and mas- 
 sive masonry. 
 
 To our intense disappointment the tide was 
 out and it became necessary to land us in a ten- 
 der. We watched it putting out from the pier, 
 dancing up and down through the waves and 
 seeming indeed like the veriest toy in comparison 
 with the huge steamer on which we stood. 
 
 The transference was a long and most tedious 
 process. First came the steerage passengers 
 from beiow. Such a "motley crew," with bun- 
 dles of clothes nnd bedding and household effects. 
 Poor things, they looked pale and ill; no doubt 
 
26 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 our rough voyage which had so tried even us who 
 were more comfortably lodged and fed, had 
 caused them to suifer severely. Then the occu- 
 pants of the second cabin, who were most respec- 
 table in appearance. Last, the "first classers" 
 were called upon to "walk the plank." 
 
 It was not the pleasantest thing imaginable, 
 either, to step out upon the swaying, bobbing 
 concern that hung from our deck down to that 
 of the little steamer below us, rising and falling 
 with her as she courtesied to the motion of the 
 waves which rolled all too apparently beneath, 
 while a bitter w4nd tugged wildly at us as if to 
 tear us from our slender support. But we all did 
 it somehow, and were stowed away more or less 
 comfortably on camp-chairs or benches or rolls 
 of luggage, as the case might be. 
 
 Now, we supposed, we should soon be on 
 shore, but to our inexpressible disgust, we were 
 taken around to the other side of our ship, and 
 there we had to wait, shivering and sneezing, un- 
 til the whole amount of luggage from hold and 
 cabins was transferred to the tender. Why this 
 could not have been done iirst and the passen- 
 gers taken on afterward, no one deigned to ex- 
 plain. 
 
 But now at last we are really in motion once 
 more, and dance along over the choppy waves 
 toward the wharves of Le Havre. 
 
 High and picturesque the city lies back from the 
 sea, with long lines of streets handsomely built 
 after an old-world fashion, stretching away over 
 the heights. Upon these heights, we are told, 
 are the residences of the aristocracy, and the 
 home of the president of the republic is pointed 
 out to us. One of my co-voyagers, a young lady, 
 exclaims : "Oh, do see the cute little French sol- 
 diers." 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 27 
 
 Surely enough, there they go marching down 
 past the pier in their gay red and blue uniforms. 
 Like boys they look, and boys, I presume, most 
 of them are. 
 
 Our steamer is behind time and there is not 
 much bustle over our arrival. We reach the 
 pier, we mount the landing, and at last, after 
 nine long days, once more we 
 
 "take our stand 
 
 On land, on solid land," 
 
 albeit it is here covered with a moist unpleasant 
 slush. 
 
 The claiming of luggage now takes place, a 
 proceeding tiresome and, to the United States 
 mind accustomed to checks, entirely unnecessary. 
 They who, like myself, have through tickets to 
 Paris, are saved this trouble as our packages 
 went on in the special train which met us here. 
 It was now about four o'clock and we could not 
 reach Paris before midnight, so Mr. and Mrs. M. 
 and myself decided to stay in Le Havre. Ac- 
 cordingly we filed through one door into a wait- 
 ing room which is indeed fitly named, as here we 
 were obliged to wait a long time for our turn to 
 have our hand-bags examined and to declare 
 that we had no tobacco or silver; whereupon an 
 attendant, in my case a fat, old woman, marked 
 each piece with a chalk design, and we filed out 
 again at an opposite door and into the street, 
 where we stood for a few moments taking in our 
 first impressions of an alien climate and a for- 
 eign shore. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 It was, on the whole, difficult to realize that 
 we were really in France. In the first place, 
 everything was heavily covered with snow, and 
 this, I think, does not accord with one's mental 
 pictures of France, la belle, the land of vintage 
 and perfume. To be sure, we were in the far 
 north ; to the south might smile verdant slopes 
 and sunny skies. Then again, the throng of 
 "raggedy men" and boys about the landing 
 seemed much the same as at home; although 
 they spoke excitedly in a foreign tongue and 
 gesticulated in a foreign manner, the general 
 effect was very similar. Our boat having been 
 late, there were no vehicles awaiting us, and for 
 the novelty of it we decided to walk on to seek 
 a hotel, a small boy offering to carry our bags, 
 pressing into service another little lad who 
 "wanted to go along because he was his brother." 
 
 Off we went through the slush, the narrow 
 streets reminding one of Old Boston; but the 
 stalls of flowers here and there amid the snow, 
 and the b.-ireheade J women running about every- 
 where with, at most, but a muslin cap upon the 
 head, did not seem at all familiar. Girls, men 
 and boj'^s were laughingly pelting each other 
 with snow-balls in nw t-agerness and enjoyment 
 that betokened an infrequent pastime. 
 
 Far to the 1-ft, overlooking the harbor and 
 the open sea, is thn great Hotel Frascati.fam ais 
 for its baths and general fe.-tivities, and a fav- 
 orite resort for both French and foreign in the 
 season. We crossed a great stone bridge, skirted 
 
 28 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDEEING 29 
 
 around queer and angling corners, and soon 
 came to a fine street with buildings of quaint 
 but good architecture. We learn afterward 
 that it is the Rite de Paris and that it stretches 
 straight on, a beautiful avenue, to that city. 
 
 Following it we came to a little park; trees, 
 statues, fountain and flower-stalls all looking 
 out from the snow. This is the Place Gambetta 
 fronting which stands our hotel. 
 
 It was dark when we reached it. Bare and 
 chill enough seemed the tile-paved little rotunda 
 in which was the bureau, ov office, poorly lighted 
 and with no perceptible heat. We were shown 
 directly to our rooms, being preceded up the 
 long, twisty, cold staircase, by a maid bearing, 
 to my amazement, a solitary candle. 
 
 Mr. M., who had been abroad before and was 
 familiar with foreign "tricks and manners," 
 was much amused at the horrified expression of 
 his wife and myself. There was no elevator, 
 they being only in the new and modernized 
 places that are largely patronized by Ameri- 
 cans. The house itself was stately and impos- 
 ing, but sadly deficient, to the modern idea, in 
 convenience and comfort. The hostess — it is 
 always a hostess in the true foreign hostelry, — 
 told us the building was an old mansion of a no- 
 ble family and built in the early part of the cen- 
 tury, but had been used as a public house for 
 about forty years. While the ceilings were ex- 
 ceedingly high and the walls adorned with 
 frieze and arabesque in classic style, yet the pas- 
 sages — they could not be called halls, — were nar- 
 row and crooked and floor-clothed with some- 
 thing that looked like heavy, brown wrapping- 
 paper. We noted a curious arrangement of 
 folding panels in several of the rooms and were 
 told that many of them were originally one, and 
 
30 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 had been, in the course of events, made so that 
 they might be shut off or thrown again into one, 
 at will. For a generation perhaps, liowever, 
 they had not been disturbed. 
 
 There was no light above the ground-floor, — 
 which, by the way, is never the "first floor," as 
 with us, — except by candles, (and these an "ex- 
 tra") and no heat unless specially ordered. 
 
 There happening to be but two chambers va- 
 cant on what we would call the second floor, the 
 larger was givea to my companions, and truly, 
 it was a spacious apartment, I should think 
 about twenty by thirty feet. The glittering 
 white w^alls were chastely and beautifully orna- 
 mented in high relief ; two great windows over- 
 looking the park in front were composed of tiny 
 panes and opened outward down the middle, as 
 most foreign windows do. The wide mantle 
 was of the whitest of marble tastefully sculp- 
 tured, and all this space and grandeur was illu- 
 minated( !) by one little candle. 
 
 Mr. M. quickly perpetrated the great extrava- 
 gance of ordering in two more, and a fire to be 
 lighted in the tiny fireplace beneath the grand 
 mantel, and we really felt quite festive. We 
 were pleased to learn that these candles were 
 the "very latest improved" and considered most 
 superior in that they had each three holes down 
 the center, "which obviated the dripping of the 
 wax and secured a perfect draught." The idea 
 of improving candles in this day and generation, 
 tickled alike the fancies of Wisconsinite and 
 Calif<.riiians. 
 
 I now retired to my chamber across the pas- 
 sage. I had not so much magnificence as my 
 neighbors and I had but one cmdle. I did not 
 believe that any number of "improved" candles 
 could give as much light as one good lamp, so 1 
 inquired if I might have one. 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 31 
 
 "Ah! no. Madame, the hostesp, was deso- 
 lated, but there were none in the house; they 
 were so very dangerous!" Then I resolved, as an 
 experiment, to find out how much one really could 
 see with one candle as our forefathers and moth- 
 ers must often have done in the ''good old 
 days," So by its flickering flame I essayed to 
 take a survey of my apartment. 
 
 The floor was dark, bare with the exception of 
 a heavy, soft rug before the bed, and polished 
 to a perilous degree. My feeble lurriinary did 
 not penetrate to the ceiling above. I groped my 
 way to a kind of oblong structure with a marble 
 slab on top, which stood at one side. Its use I 
 could not conjecture but it suggested nothing so 
 much as one of the old tombs around Trinity 
 Church in New York City. Next came a quaint, 
 narrow little table with spindly legs and a 
 drawer. In this drawer were writing materials 
 and a printed form in which "Ji". Jf., les voya- 
 geurs'''' were prayed "to have the goodness to be 
 willing to fill up the blanks with names, sur- 
 names, ages, professions, birthplaces, habitual 
 residences," and so forth and so forth. It was 
 farther explained that this was "for the bene- 
 fit of the police." 
 
 This made me feel "sort o' creepy," and as if 
 some "Old Sleuth" might be upon my guilty 
 track. Conquering my quakings, however, I 
 proceeded. Next was an odd sort of toilette- 
 table, marble-topped and with a folding lid, 
 mirror-lined, which might be shut down over 
 the top of the concern. In the morning I discov- 
 ered another mirror on the uall but this was now 
 lost in the gloom. There was the tiniest ewer 
 and basin imaginable for their purpose, towels 
 the same, soap-dish but no soap, (there never is 
 any) and a bottle of drinking water; no ice to 
 be seen and none to be had on demand. 
 
32 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 Close to the bed was a queer little piece of 
 furniture, solid, square and also marble-topped, 
 which I afterward learned was styled a table de 
 niiif, though it looked nothing like a table; this, 
 of course, was for one's candle. 
 
 And then came the bed itself. It was a pecu- 
 liar looking affair. High above it, showing 
 faintly out from the obscurity, was a round can- 
 opy from which depended long, full curtains of 
 a dusky red looped away in front. The bed- 
 stead was heavy and solid, and resembled a huge 
 box on casters, though not wide enough for two 
 occupants. It was built up with a sort of up- 
 holstered mattress and bolster, to a height 
 nearly equal to my own. These w^ere covered 
 in a kind of gray damask linen and over this 
 were linen sheets resembling homespun. Then 
 blankets and spread as customary but over all 
 this an immense cushion, in fact what the small 
 boy might term "a young bed," of feathers or 
 down, covered in red. As there was no way of 
 heating my chamber, this cushion looked very 
 comfortable to me, though extremely odd. A 
 chair or two completed the furnishings so far as 
 I was able to discern, and everything was most 
 daintily fresh and clean, I then tried first to 
 read, next to write by the candle but failed 
 utterly. I will add here from after experience, 
 that before my return a year later, I acquired 
 the power to do both with perfect ease, and fre- 
 quently used a candle in preference to gas. So 
 much for one's environment. But now, as I 
 had been kindly invited by my neighbors to sit 
 at their fire, I took my candle and bore it in to 
 swell their state, and in the light of the four, 
 and the glow of the coals we sat in a semi-circle 
 about the hearth stone and talked of our native 
 land. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Next morning about eleven, we met at de- 
 jeuner which, as I noted before, is the first reg- 
 ular meal a Frenchman takes, having his cafe- 
 au lait and petit pain, or roll, in his chamber at 
 whatever hour he desires. At meals he drinks 
 nothing but wine. But Mrs. M. and I could not 
 accustom ourselves to the wine, so she ordered 
 tea and I coffee. In paying our bill, we were 
 surprised to find these charged as "extras." 
 As the price of the wine was reckoned in with 
 that of the meal, we had the privilege of paying 
 for all these beverages. The charges at the ho- 
 tel seemed light, but when in addition to the 
 cost of my room, (eighty cents,) I had paid for 
 service, twenty cents ; candle, twenty cents ; 
 given a tip to maid and man, and still had had 
 no fire nor serviceable light, I concluded I would 
 rather pay United States prices and enjoy 
 United States comforts. I was reminded of 
 James de Mille's laughable exposition in his The 
 Dodge Club, of the foreign system of charges 
 and the schemes by which his characters pro- 
 tected their purses ; one of which consisted in 
 carrying off on their departure all the candle- 
 ends in their rooms. I had not come to this as 
 yet, however, so I left my pieces of improved 
 illuminator to be charged up again to the next 
 traveler. 
 
 Going out into the pleasant street, we were 
 soon taking a drive in a comfortable carriage in 
 which three, its full capacity, were allowed to 
 ride as cheaply as one. Our coachman proved 
 
 33 
 
34 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 sociable and we picked up some bits of informa- 
 tion, not all new, bat yet interesting. 
 
 Havre, or Le Havre, as the French call it, is a 
 large and flourishing city of about one hundred 
 and seventeen thousand inhabitants and, next 
 to Marseilles, the most important town in France. 
 It has extensive ship-building yards and sugar- 
 refineries. It was formerly called Havre de 
 Grace, from a chapel of Notre Dame de Grace 
 founded by Francis I,, in 1516, which is still to 
 be seen in the Hue de Paris. The city has be- 
 come much modernized of late, and has many 
 fine edifices and wide, beautiful boulevards. 
 
 Bernardin St. Pierre, the author of Paul and 
 Virginia, was a native of Havre and an artistic 
 monument to his memory stands in the Rue de 
 Paris. 
 
 Some very handsome official buildings stand 
 upon the Rue de Strasbourg, which stretches 
 from the railway station on the east to the sea 
 on the west. 
 
 The harbors and docks of this port are espec- 
 ially fine. At the principal dock, the Bassin de 
 V Eur e, the huge transatlantic steamers lie at ease 
 within its fifty acres area. This was ten years 
 in construction and finished in 1856. The Bas- 
 sin du Roi was excavated in 1669. The Canal 
 de Tancarville was opened in 1887 and connects 
 the Seine directly wnth this harbor and enables 
 ships to escape the tidal wave in the estuary. 
 
 There are two cable railways and three elec- 
 tric tramways running out to points of interest, 
 and little steamers ply three or four times daily 
 to watering-places near by ; all seem to be well 
 patronized. 
 
 On reaching the station we were permitted, 
 on account of holding through tickets, to pass 
 through and to enter our train without delay. 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 35 
 
 Funny little coaches we saw, of first, second and 
 third class. In France, we learn, no one rides 
 third class who can in any way acquire the price 
 of the higher grade. 
 
 We were about to take an ordinary first-class 
 carriage when we were told that by paying one 
 franc extra, (everywhere an extra!) we might 
 occupy a coach with a toilette room. So to 
 avail ourselves of this great privilege, — free 
 to the poorest who rides in the United States, — 
 we each disbursed our franc and stepped into 
 the carriage designated, which stood at p level 
 with the platform ; and conveyances of this sort 
 are fitly named '"carriages." 
 
 It may chance that the "sister" for whom 
 these lines are written has no clearer idea than 
 I had myself, of the continental car, so I will 
 describe this one which seemed to be regarded as 
 the acme of convenience. 
 
 We first note how small all the carriages are. 
 Those with toilette-room are a trifle larger. A 
 door on each side with window in upper half 
 gives entrance and we find at the rear end two 
 double ^ eats like the usual horse-carriage seat, 
 nicely upholstered in smooth, gray cloth, as are 
 the walls of the vehicle itself. 
 
 Opposite the further seat and separated from 
 it by the width of the door, is another double 
 seat, and by the side of this a single one resem- 
 bling a comfortable easy-chair. The occupants 
 of these three places must ride backward. On 
 each side of the door-windows is another of like 
 size and all are lifted or lowered as the ordinary 
 carriage-window may be, that is, by straps, and 
 there are also straps as in carriages, by which 
 to hold on. Curtains of soft blue ch^th are 
 looped back from the windows. In the center 
 of the carriage-roof is a small, red lamp of about 
 
36 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 two-candle power, which is all the light to be 
 had in the darkest night. Around this another 
 blue curtain is arranged to be drawn in case the 
 traveler finds this illumination too brilliant for 
 his comfort! Heat to a moderate degree, is sup- 
 plied from below through a perforated strip of 
 metal on which we rest our feet. 
 
 The compartment contained but seven places. 
 Immediately at the left of the entrance on the 
 right was a narrow lane leading forward, pas- 
 sing the wonderful toilette room, which, by 
 the way, was of the most primitive kind, though 
 containing a gO(>d but small mirror, — and along 
 bj a sort of inner compartment shut off by itself, 
 which I presume corresponds to the "stateroom" 
 in our sleepers at home. I caught a glimpse of 
 the four occupants, all it would accommodate, as 
 I glanced down the lane, and they did look fun- 
 ny enough shut up there in a box within a box. 
 But I dare say they were quite content, inas- 
 much as they were thus divided from the "vul- 
 gar herd" as represented by four ladies and 
 three gentlemen in the rear section. 
 
 Smoking, it seems, is allowed in any of these 
 carriages except a few reserved for ladies alone. 
 Indeed I do not know but that it would be al- 
 lowed there should any of the "lone females" 
 desire the solace of the weed, but I presume in 
 fact, that excluding men virtually excludes 
 smokers. By the way, I have heard that there 
 is a mild prejudice prevailing against these car- 
 nages, ladies seeming to feel that there is a 
 suspicion of "old-maidism" attached to the oc- 
 cupants thereof, and often declining to enter the 
 same for fear of falling under the ban. All these 
 different styles of compartment are to be found 
 usually in one train, so, reversing the old adage, 
 "you takes your choice and you pays your 
 money." 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 37 
 
 But now we are off and we speed away with 
 a gentle motion, very comfortable. We see no 
 conductor nor news-boy and are absolutely un- 
 disturbed. All the excitement we have is 
 occasioned by a violent altercation that takes 
 place between three of our fellow-passengers. 
 One, a stout, ruddy gentleman whom we En- 
 glish-Americans would unhesitatingly dub a 
 German, but who was a citizen of the United 
 States and deemed himself an "American" to the 
 core, had been a passenger with us on our voy- 
 age. He also had stopped at the same hotel and 
 was proceeding to Paris, The two others were 
 a French lady and gentleman, probably resi- 
 dents in the vicinity. The stout man in convers- 
 ing with Mr. M., dwelt forcibly and at length 
 on the superiority of everything American, and 
 evidently his remarks were understood and re- 
 sented by the French couple, for suddenly, 
 without warning and with the greatest vehe- 
 mence, they burst into the conversation, but in 
 French, and presumably threw do *vn the gaunt- 
 let of all France before the champion of Amer- 
 ica. 
 
 He apparently with alacrity picked up the 
 same, and then they had it back and forth, "hot 
 and heavy," shouting, gesticulating, hurling at 
 one another scathing glances of ineffable defi- 
 ance and disdain, and seemingly on the point of 
 coming to blows then and there. We watched 
 them amazed, while Mrs. M. and I consulted as 
 to the expedience of trying to interfere, when 
 quite as suddenly their fury moderated, their 
 voices modulated, and soon they were smiling 
 blandly upon one another, exchanging gracious 
 bows and probably also the most elaborate of 
 compliments. 
 
 We are fairly under way and have gotten out 
 
38 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 of the suburbs. How strange it seems, looking 
 out at our first stop, to see the historic and 
 poetic name of Harfleur above the station door! 
 But its glories are departed and little is left of 
 interest except a iine Gothic church attributed 
 to Henry V., of England. Thirty-one miles 
 from Havre we come to Yvetot, recalling that 
 "King of Yvetot little known to fame," who 
 "slept exceeding well without glory." 
 
 We find less snow as we ride eastward, the 
 country appearing much like the less mountain- 
 ous portions of our eastern states. It looks 
 somber and sere, but as we go farther inland the 
 landscape brightens and the trees lose their shiv- 
 ery air. Picturesque homesteads with farm- 
 buildings clustered closely about, mostly of 
 neat, red brick nicely painted and picked out in 
 contrasting colors, are seen on every hand, and 
 occasionally an ancient, stone windmill comes 
 into view, of the type familiar in their geogra- 
 phies to school-children, and totally unlike the 
 modern water-pumping variety. These mills 
 are round at base and conical in shape and have 
 four great wings extending in as many di- 
 rections. A Frenchman who has recently en- 
 tered, — foi our warlike couple has departed, 
 — tells us that the mills are relics of the old- 
 time, Holland occupation of this region, and are 
 used even yet to grind grain. 
 
 The country looks more and more prosperous 
 and picture-like as we go on. Trim hedges and 
 tidy fields, everything cared for in the highest 
 degree; no waste nor debris anywhere, all things 
 betokening the small and carefvil land-holder. 
 
 Soon a hateful tunnel shuts off the scene, but 
 as we emerge and near Rouen, the valley of the 
 Seine with the great river winding along 
 through the midst of it, lies about us in unspeak- 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 39 
 
 able loveliness. We seem to be in a sort of 
 gigantic basin, the rim of which is the low, cir- 
 cling hills not thickly covered with trees. 
 
 How silvery and serene the river looks as we 
 gaze out and see it stretched away for miles in 
 the distance. How gently it flows between its 
 fertile shores and the quaint hamlets clustered 
 here and there in cozy nooks along its banks. 
 
 Now rise into view the spires and domes of a 
 great city. We come nearer and nearer. 'Tis 
 Rouen, with its wealth of medieval architecture 
 and its grand, Gothic cathedral, some parts of 
 which date back to 1207. There is a singular 
 incongruity, unsymmetrical in plan yet beauti- 
 ful as a whole, about the various portions of this 
 famous edifice. One lofty and graceful pinnacle, 
 we are amused to learn, is called the Tower of 
 Butter, from having been erected with the money 
 paid for indulgences to eat butter in Lent. 
 
 This is the old town that bade defiance to 
 Henry V., of England, and Henry IV., of France, 
 "centuries ago." All this is too much for Mr. 
 and Mrs. M. to resist; they are fascinated and 
 leave the train to go on later. I, however, pre- 
 fer to journey to Paris by daylight, so I do not 
 stop. 
 
 At first I do not seem to have gained much 
 for we almost immediately plunge into a series 
 of tunnels; but on reaching daylight once more, 
 we have yet another surprisingly beautiful view 
 of Rouen and the shining river. Then we cross 
 and re-cross the Seine and rush again through 
 tunnel after tunnel to my great chagrin, for I do 
 not like to lose a bit of the charming landscape. 
 
 But we come out again and once more skirt 
 the Seine. Yonder on the hills rising from the 
 river may be seen the old church of Bon Se- 
 cours. All along here are interesting remind!- 
 
40 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 ers of the ancient, close intermingling of the 
 French and the English. Only ten miles away, 
 at Les Andelys, are the ruins of Castle Gaillard, 
 erected by Richard Lion-Heart. It afterward 
 became a state-prison and in 1314 Margaret of 
 Burgundy, wife of Louis X., was murdered 
 there. It was destroyed in 1663 by Henri IV. 
 
 At Vernon is a conspicuous tower built by 
 Henry I. of England. We pass through Mantes 
 where, by falling otf his horse, William the 
 Conqueror received the injuries from which he 
 died at Rouen in 1087. 
 
 We continue to skirt the river with ever 
 changing, ever delightful views. We come to 
 Poissy, the birthplace of Louis IX., "St. Louis," 
 whose memory is held so sacred in parts of our 
 own country to-day. At Poissy was held the 
 great conference in 1561, between the Roman 
 Catholics and the Protestants, from which was 
 hoped so much but realized so little. 
 
 Still we cross and re-cross the river, for the last 
 time however at Asinieres, one of the environs of 
 Paris and a favorite resort for boating, and the 
 like, in the season. Next comes Clichy, another 
 suburb though containing more than thirty-one 
 thousand inhabitants. Now we pass through 
 the fortifications, for Paris is a walled city; then 
 through the last tunnel, under the Place de V 
 Europe^ and enter the station St. Lazare. 
 
 Here stepping from the train we give up our 
 tickets ac the gate, foreign fashion, and at last, 
 after twelve days' pilgrimage, do I reach the end 
 of my long journey and find myself in Peerless 
 Paris. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 And now what shall I say of Paris? Paris, so 
 storied and sung from time immemorial. So 
 exalted and so abased, so joyous and so dis- 
 tressed, so brilliantly prosperous and so crush- 
 ingly ruined, by turns, throughout its whole 
 marvelous existence since first the Roman con- 
 querors set foot within its borders. 
 
 Not for me has been left the part to recount 
 its mutations, nor to depict its glories and dis- 
 asters, either past or present. 
 
 Travelers of to-day, even as did the adventur- 
 ous wanderer of the dim past, seek Paris as the 
 needle seeks the pole, while readers of to-day 
 have spread before them an embarrassment of 
 literary riches from which to select at will. 
 Enough be it for me to relate how it befell one 
 wandering woman within the confines of this 
 wondrous city. 
 
 My first glimpse of Paris was from the third 
 floor of the great caravansary that almost sur- 
 rounds the Gare St. Lazare. One leaves the 
 train, goes through a gateway, and instead of 
 passing into the open street, comes directly into 
 this mammoth edifice. 
 
 It was nearly dark when I arrived and by the 
 time I had taken some refreshment and been as- 
 signed a room, the day was done. I could not; 
 as yet realize that I was in Paris any more than 
 in any other large city. The huge hotel with 
 its spacious salons, electric service, lifts and 
 English-speaking servants, seemed familiar 
 enough. True, neither the queer, high, French 
 
42 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 bed with its close curtains, its bolster and great 
 feather cushion, nor the candles on the mantel 
 (to supplement the electricity !) are, so far as 
 my observation goes, to be seen in the United 
 States. Neither are we obliged there to pass an 
 examination in our personal history, on regis- 
 tering ; nor are we, after paying for service and 
 attendance specially itemized in our bills, ex- 
 pected to present the servants continually with 
 small coin, u.nless indeed we choose to ape for- 
 eign customs; but otherwise the "altogether," 
 as Trilby might say, diilered little from like 
 hotels at home. 
 
 On reaching my chamber I hastened to part the 
 window-curtains and gaze down upon the great 
 thoroughfare below. The impression of vast 
 space was astonishing. The wide area beneath 
 stretched out and away, leading off in all direc- 
 tions into broad, bright avenues through all of 
 which multitudes of persons riding, driving, 
 wheeling, walking, were passing to and fro with 
 celerity and ease, yet with no crowding nor 
 jostling. It was raining gently and the army 
 of umbrellas moving swiftly along in the bril-- 
 liantly illuminated expanse, viewed from above 
 at that height, produced a peculiar effect, as of 
 a remarkably lively company of ebony-hued 
 mushrooms out for a promenade. The intense 
 radiance of innumerable lights reflected back 
 from the smooth, wet, glistening pavement, and 
 the buoyant mien of the quickly shifting throngs 
 in no wise depressed by the falling drops, gave 
 an air of animation and festivity to the spec- 
 tacle that was striking. 
 
 The current of my cogitations had been con- 
 tinually interrupted by an annoying "click- 
 click," and I now turned to investigate the 
 cause. Following the sound, I discovered an. 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 43 
 
 upright object perhaps fifteen inches high upon 
 the mantel. It possessed, a glass face and two 
 short metal bars that jumped forward about an 
 inch at every click, seemingly causing the same. 
 I tried to open the face and arrest the motion, 
 but in vain. Then it occurred to me that I 
 might tilt the concern up sidewise and thus by 
 throwing its machinery out of balance, perhaps 
 stop the clicking. 
 
 It was very heavy but after many struggles I 
 succeeded in moving it a couple of inches when, 
 to my dismay, I found it to be attached in some 
 way to small, colored worsted ropes that disap- 
 peared mysteriously into the wall behind. I be- 
 gan to think that it must be some sort of a 
 secret registering-machine "for the benefit of 
 the. police," and almost expected that my 
 unwarranted interference with the affair, would 
 bring down vengeance in some unforseen man- 
 ner upon my unprotected head. 
 
 But nothing worse ensued than the continued 
 persistence of the maddening ^'click-click," 
 which all night long resounded in my ears and 
 did most effectually "murder sleep." The next 
 morning, being still alive and uninjured, I has- 
 tened to the hotel-offlce to ascertain the nature 
 of this "infernal machine." I was relieved to 
 learn that it was "only an electric clock," and 
 would be stopped if I desired ; so after that I 
 slept in peace. 
 
 The modest tourist with limited means will 
 not stay very long in quarters so public and 
 expensive as the great hotels ; though I will say 
 that, all things considered, the prices range 
 from a surprisingly low figure. For instance, 
 one may get a room in most of them for four 
 francs a day, or a little less than eighty cents, 
 but one must pay from one to two and one half 
 
44 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 francs a day for light. In the present case, I 
 paid five francs for my chamber which though 
 small was very comfortable, even luxurious. It 
 is not necessary to take any meals in the house, 
 but the ordinary charges at the table (V hute for 
 the first meal or "little breakfast," — to translate 
 literally, — consisting of colfee or tea with bread 
 and butter, is from twenty to fifty cents ; de- 
 jeuner, about ninety-seven cents, and dinner, 
 from one dollar and a quarter to a dollar and 
 sixty cents. Of course by ordering extras, one 
 may swell the amount unlimitedly. 
 
 AH these hotels also have restaurants attached 
 where one may be served very well indeed, by 
 the card, and where one's meal may be more 
 specially adapted to one's purse; but the pru- 
 dent traveler will seek out some less pretentious 
 place to regale the inner individual and it is 
 surprising how satisfactorily one may be served 
 for a small sum even in the great city of Paris. 
 
 The most continuous drainage upon one s 
 purse in these large hotels, and the most annoy- 
 ing because of one's inability to average it in 
 any way, is the great number of servitors who 
 are to be tipped every day for incidental ser- 
 vices, which indeed are divided up amongst as 
 many attendants as possible, so that each may 
 have a claim for '■'■jiour boire,'''' as they term 
 it. Thit. practice James de Mille has also amus- 
 ingly set forth by describing the train of ser- 
 vants which followed him from his carriage into 
 the hotel, one bearing a tooth-brush, another 
 his cane, still another an umbrella and so on 
 with each separate article of his outfit, every one^ 
 of the force expecting a sp* cial tip. 
 
 Besides the charge each day from one to two 
 and a half francs, (about twenty to fifty cents,) 
 for attendance, one must tip the "chamber- 
 
ONE WOMAN WONDERING 45 
 
 maid," (who is a man,) the porter, the servant 
 who opens the door for one, gives one any infor- 
 mation or any sort of service, such as calling a 
 cab, fetching a newspaper and so forth, so that 
 one's /'rancs and centimes melt away unceasingly 
 without any very perceptible return for one's 
 outlay. This complication is avoided in a de- 
 gree at the smaller places where the servants 
 are less numerous and where the size of the tip 
 expected is much less. 
 
 The Bestaurants Duval, which are found scat- 
 tered about in all parts of Paris, are particularly 
 desirable for wandering women, though also 
 patronized by men ; the places are neat, attrac- 
 tive, comparatively inexpensive and thoroughly 
 respectable. 
 
 The waiters here are women in a decorous 
 uniform of black gowns, white caps and aprons. 
 A peculiarity of these places is that every 
 identical item has a separate charge, but so com- 
 paratively trifling that the sum is not exorbi- 
 tant. For example : napkin, table-cloth, each 
 one cent; half bottle of aerated water or wine, 
 three to ten cents; bread, two cents; soup, five 
 cents, and the like. 
 
 Butter is always expensive. Tea costs more 
 than cafe-au-lait, but the latter is only served 
 in the morning. If one takes cream or milk in 
 one's tea or "black coffee," that is "extra." 
 One's attendant here will be satisfied with a tip 
 of three cents, though of course more is gra- 
 ciously accepted. 
 
 For a person meaning to remain some little 
 time in one place, and this is really the cheap- 
 est way to establish one's self as reductions are 
 given for prolonged residence, the best plan is 
 to seek some recommended boarding-house or 
 "pension"' as we soon learn to call it. A good 
 
46 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 way to get on thp track of such, if one has no 
 personal acquaintances, is to ask advice of yome 
 Tourist Office, and here is where one benefit of 
 having bought tickets of such an organization, be- 
 comes apparent. By the terms of one's contract 
 one is entitled to attention and advice and feels 
 that one has some sort of backing, which lifts a 
 part of one's burden of responsibility from one's 
 own shoulders. 
 
 Before I get too far away from the huge ho- 
 tels, I will say that although almost all places 
 of lodgment in Europe are conducted on what 
 isverj'^ properly known as the "European Plan," 
 yet I did find houses in Germany and Switzer- 
 land where a higher charge was made for lodg- 
 ing if no meals whatever were taken at the place 
 of sleeping, but as a rule there is no objection 
 to renting beds without board. 
 
 Here, perhaps, is a good point to answer the 
 question so often asked by persons contemplating 
 foreign travel, namely: "Is it of any advantage 
 to have the superficial knowledge of foreign 
 languages that one acquires from books and in 
 a class under a Professor, without opportunity 
 of hearing it in general conversation?" 
 
 1 think it is ; to be sure one will not be able to 
 understand the foreigners at first, no matter 
 how glibly one may read or pronounce the 
 alien tongue. But it will take less time to ed- 
 ucate one's ear to the spoken language and in 
 the meantime one is able to read signs, placards, 
 circulars and newspapers, from which one may 
 glean very many desirable hints and much infor- 
 mation on almost any department of ever3^day 
 life; often, on account of such proficiency, being 
 able to dispense with guides, thus lessening 
 one's expense. The guide books gotten out by 
 many Tourist Firms are cheap and reliable; but 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 47 
 
 for an utter stranger, particularly my "lone 
 sister," I think one more voluminous and giving 
 special hints as to prices and routine of tiavel, 
 also addresses of inexpensive, respectable stop- 
 ping-places, is by far more serviceable though 
 considerable more costly. 
 
 But there is one thing especially noticeable in 
 foreign lands, even in the grand, opulent city 
 of Paris, and that is the universal recognition 
 of, not only the necessity, but the commendable- 
 ness of suiting one's expenditure to one's means. 
 There seems to be no odium attached, as too fre- 
 quently with us, to the attempt to live as cheaply 
 as possible, if one's finances are slender, in order 
 to put by even from such, some sort of a pro- 
 vision for the "rainy day," and there are al- 
 ways arrangements of a desirable and even at- 
 tractive kind though of course extremely simple, 
 made for persons so situated. Indeed it is 
 ■considered most blameworthy not to exercise a 
 reasonable prudence and economy, though nat- 
 urally they who have ample means find no diffi- 
 culty in being relieved of any surplus. But let 
 my>"solitary woman" take note of the fact that 
 it is absolutely necessary to have a clear and 
 specified understanding in any bargain whatso- 
 ever, or one will be likely to find one's self 
 charged more than one has supposed would be 
 the sum total. Let her remember .that in France 
 a week is reckoned at eight days and in taking a 
 receipt to see that the revenue stamp required 
 is not omitted. And I would strongly advise her 
 to familiarize herself as much as possible with 
 the currencies of the countries she means to 
 visit, thus lessening her chances of being im- 
 posed upon. 
 
 Cab-hire is so inexpensive that one at first 
 fritters away a considerable amount in the ag- 
 
48 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 gregate upon it, which afterward, when one has 
 learned the routine of the very comfortable and 
 convenient trams and 'buses, one is quite likely 
 to regret. There are numerous lines of these and 
 two or three lines of eteam-trams into certain 
 suburbs, and one cable ; they traverse the city 
 and environs everywhere, with no confusion and 
 with unusual safety to pedestrians. 
 
 Vehicles and equestrians, however, here as in 
 Germany, have the right of way, and if you are 
 run down you must "pay for it," which perhaps 
 may be the secret of so comparatively few ac- 
 cidents. 
 
 Most of the trams and 'buses have an "upper- 
 deck" reached by a narrow stairway and this 
 upper portion is truly the pleasanter place in 
 good weather, though the fare, three cents, is 
 but one half that in the lower part. On these 
 high, open tops may be seen widely contrasting 
 groups. Bareheaded women riding on undis- 
 turbed by chance wind or rain, closely contigu- 
 ous to handsomely garbed ladies ; student and 
 laborer, artist and shop boy, priest and washer- 
 woman, side by side. One need never fear 
 crowding and jamming in such conveyances in 
 Paris, or almost any other foreign city, as no 
 passenger may enter a vehicle unless there is a 
 definite place for him. 
 
 The sooner one gets so one can go about inde- 
 pendently and understandingly, the sooner one's 
 expenses may begin to lessen. It is often said, 
 ' 'You find English-speaking people everywhere ;" 
 while this is true, generally speaking, it is also 
 true that to find them you must frequent those 
 lines of travel and entertainment where there is 
 so much English and American business that it is 
 an object to provide especially for it, but it must 
 be paid for and the tourist must pay it in the 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 49 
 
 long run, so that it is is more expensive than if 
 he were not thus hampered; moreover, one does 
 not then get outside of the beaten track and cer- 
 tainly does not get down into the real, native 
 manners and styles of living, as one does to 
 wander where one listeth. The country people 
 are usually friendly and disposed to assist a 
 stranger. 
 
 If I might add a woi'd as to one's mental atti- 
 tude when traveling, 1 would say do not go 
 about in a critical or carping mood; lo(»k for 
 pleasant things instead of disagreeable, both of 
 which are to be found everywhere at home or 
 abroad ; and above all, do not be aggressively 
 American, though by no means concealing or 
 apologizing for one's nativity of our own broad 
 and magnificent land that, in a paltry three or 
 four centuries, has, in so many respects, so far 
 outranked the degree of progress attained in the 
 old world through thousands of years. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Following the method of procedure recom- 
 mended in the foregoing chapter, I was soon 
 domiciled in a delightful family at Neuilly, a 
 suburb of Paris. The proprietor of this home is 
 an actor at the Theatre du Palais-Royal, where 
 his wife also played until her marriage. Culti- 
 vated, refined, and also delightful musicians, 
 they are indeed charming in their French fash- 
 ion, for they speak no English. 
 
 There home is described as a hotel pavticulier, 
 which being interpreted, means simply "a pri- 
 vate house;" the word "hotel" not meaning 
 necessarily, as with us, a place of public enter- 
 tainment, but signifies specifically a gentleman's 
 house, or a mansion of some sort for special oc- 
 cupation. This one has the rare appurtenance 
 of what we should term a "'yard," but called 
 here a "garden." 
 
 It is inclosed by a heav}'' wall some ten feet 
 high in front, and at the sides and back by the 
 neighboring walls of the high, adjacent houses. 
 An iron gate closely locked and having a bell, 
 defends us from all intruders. 
 
 All through the house are found the slippery, 
 waxed floors so smooth and fair to look upon, 
 but so tiring to feet and ankles. The place is 
 fitted up in exquisite taste, with much beauti- 
 ful woodwork and fine china; everything 
 glistens with polished cleanliness; the ceilings 
 are very high and the house is "as cold as a 
 barn." Yet it is supposed to be heated because 
 in the basement there is some sort of an arrange- 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 51 
 
 ment whereby a tiny wave of warm air is sent 
 through exceedingly small apertures into the 
 salon on the ground floor; that is, when there is 
 any fire, which is by no means continually, even 
 in winter. 
 
 Lights and fires are "extra" in France, but 
 this establishment is considered to make great 
 concessions because lights are "thrown in" and 
 only fires in one's own rooms are extra. 
 
 If my fancied "sister" hasnot traveled much 
 in her own country, she may not know that in 
 parts of our own land, as in the south and in 
 California, similar conditions exist ; and I must 
 own that the French landlord is in this respect 
 more reasonable than the American ; for the for- 
 mer charges usually so moderate a price for his 
 rooms that the extras are not very burdensome, 
 whereas the American, particularly the Cali- 
 fornian, exacts a most exorbitant remuneration 
 for his accommodations, and then calmly informs 
 you that you can furnish your own heat, "as 
 they do abroad." 
 
 In this dwelling, the great, high, bare halls 
 were a grand coursing-place for drafts, and the 
 stone stairs and polished balustrades seemed 
 chill enough. My room was so cold that I sat 
 in street-garb much of the time, even to over- 
 shoes and gloves, and for real warmth and com- 
 fort I went to bed. 
 
 Speaking of beds, imagine my horror on first 
 beginning to reside en jjerision in France, to find 
 that bed-linen is expected to do duty for three 
 French weeks, twenty-four days, without 
 change. I could not believe it when so informed 
 on requesting the maid to bring fresh linen. I 
 thought that I was being "victimized ' as a for- 
 eigner; but on making inquiries among persons 
 who had been longer in residence than myself, I 
 
52 ONE WOMAN WANDEBING 
 
 found that this circumstance is as true as it is 
 awful. Two towels are supposed to be plenty 
 for the eight days" use. Usually American trav- 
 elers if stopping long at one pension are impelled 
 by a sense of the proprieties, to supply them- 
 selves with an extra change or so and to provide 
 for the laundering of the same. 
 
 The French wash-stdnd-ewer holds about a 
 quart of water, with bowl to match, and a bath- 
 room is indeed a rarity. Of course the foregoing 
 observations do not apply to the great hotels 
 that are chiefly calculated for, and supported by 
 foreign travel. 
 
 There being a fireplace in my chamber, 1 at 
 first committed the ruinous extravagance of or- 
 dering a fire; but finding that the capacity of 
 my fireplace was utterly disproportioned to the 
 amount of space it should, but did not warm, I 
 at last abandoned the measure; having then the 
 partially consoling reflection that at least I was 
 no longer sending up my moderate provision of 
 francs through my chimney to no avail. 
 
 How do these people endure this discomfort? 
 The houses though carefully and solidly built as 
 regards permanence, are yet so badly con- 
 structed in regard to the conservation of heat, 
 that even if fires were constant, which they 
 never are, the slight degree of warmth from the 
 tiny fireplaces would be entirely inadequate to 
 counteract the blasts sweeping in around win- 
 dows and doors, and the dampness inherent in 
 the cold, stone walls. But I found that one gets 
 acclimated in a measuie, after a while, though 
 it was sometime before I reached that desired 
 consummation. 
 
 The interior of the average French home, 
 though usually tasteful and perhaps artistic, is 
 rarely cheerful and gay. These attributes are 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 53 
 
 found outside in the boulevards and gardens. 
 On tile chiilliest and dampest days of winter I 
 would go back to my yensUm tired, w^et and 
 cold, to find no fire in any part of the house un- 
 less perchance it was near a meal-time, when 
 there would be some heat in the kitchen. 
 
 "Where is Madame, the mistress?" I would 
 inquire? "Can I not go to her for fire a little?" 
 "A]as! Madame is out." 
 "But Madamoiselle, has she no fire?" 
 "Ah! Ma'm'sel' also promenadf'S herself." 
 In fact there would seldom anyone ever be 
 cliez ltd except the unfortunate servants who 
 must keep the hou^eholii goaig. So I would 
 have to wait with benumbed fingers and toes and 
 chattering teeth till a handful of fire could be 
 put into the small grate in my apartment, so 
 small that it was utterly unequal to heating the 
 room ; but as many rooms had none at all, J en- 
 deavored to be content, though vigorous drafts 
 continually rushed in through the hi^h ventila- 
 tor which there were no meanj of closing, and 
 the fire being as I have said, literally "a hand- 
 ful," genera ly went out with much greater 
 celerity than it had been kindled. 
 
 I was continually reminded of an elderly gen- 
 tleman whom I met one season in Southern Cal- 
 ifornia. He had just arrived from Boston to 
 spend the winter in a "warm country." Like 
 all new-comers, he was going about heavily 
 wrapped, wearing overcoat and overshoe*, and 
 almcst blue with chill. True, the sun without 
 was shining gloriously, the heavens were a radi- 
 ant azure, while blo^som and verdure ran riot 
 everj'^where ; a state of things very different 
 from that in France at the same season for, 
 though it is not rt-ally cold out of doors and the 
 grass and shrubs in the parks are green, yet the 
 
54 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 skies are gray and the trees bare. But to return to 
 my old gentleman. Some one said to him one day : 
 
 "Well, Mr. K,, how do joxi like Southern 
 California?" 
 
 "Oh," he replied, "if I could just go back to 
 Boston and get warioed up once, I believe I 
 should like California first rate." 
 
 Thus with me; if I could only go back to 
 Wisconsin and "get warmed up once," I should 
 like Paris "first rate." 
 
 Neuilly, though a part of Paris, is in itself a 
 city of twenty nine thousand inhabitants. The 
 old Chateau Nettilly, once the favorite residence 
 of Louis Philippe, was totally destroyed by a 
 mob in 1848. 
 
 Near my stopping place here is a beautiful 
 little chapel, St Ferdinand, erected on the spot 
 where Louis Philippe's oldest son died in 1842, 
 in consequence of a fall from his carriage. It 
 was in Neuilly that Parmentier made his first 
 experiment in the culture of the potato. A 
 bronze monument near the chapel represents him 
 as investigating the properties of this vegetable. 
 
 My quarters at this time were about fifty 
 steps from the Avenue de la Grande Ai-mee, 
 across from which the short Boulevard des 
 Sahlons leads into the lovely Bois de Boulogne. 
 Being then unfamiliar with Paris, I did not 
 know at first how far I was from the heart of 
 the city nor that I was "without the walls." I 
 came to a realizing sense of this, however, one 
 day on going home in a cab, for I found I had 
 not only to pay extra for the short distance be- 
 yond "the gates" to my place, but was also 
 actually obliged to give the driver an extra /rawc 
 for himself and vehicle "to return." I felt a 
 strong desire to tell the man in forcible "United 
 States," that I did not care in the least whether 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 55 
 
 he ever "returned" or not, but being a stranger 
 in a strange land and limited to a small assort- 
 ment of phrases in a foreign tongue, I contented 
 myself with a feminine version of the thought 
 attributed to the ''Dutchman's son," — ("Hans, 
 I know vat you tinks. you links 'dam' !") — and 
 wisely held my peace. 
 
 After wandering about to my heart's content 
 in this neighborhood, I decided to change my 
 quarters. I next took up my abode in a "cute" 
 little family hotel just around the corner from 
 the Madeleine and near the Tuileries. Every- 
 thing here was on such a diminutive scale that 
 it seemed almost like a toy establishment. 
 
 I was taken past a pretty, little salon and a 
 neat little dining-room to an upper story where, 
 passing through a doorway about two feet 
 wide, invisible when closed, I was conducted 
 down a narrow, dark, quaint, "corkscrewy" 
 little passage most delightfully "Dickensy, " 
 into a tiny, semi-circular chamber that took my 
 fancy at once. To my surprise, considering the 
 tortuous and inconvenient method of approach, 
 the room turned out to be in front overlooking 
 the avenue ; it was most beautifully light and 
 shiningly clean. 
 
 Wonder of wonders, — for thpy are so rare 
 here, — this house possesses an elevator, or ascen- 
 seiir. It is an automatic affair, circular, and on 
 crowding might hold four persons. When I 
 desired to go to my room that evening, I was 
 inducted into this machine, a bit of candle in a 
 glittering brass holder was given me, a lever 
 was moved and I began to ascend. Comical 
 enough I felt to be rising thus by some unseen 
 agency, slowly and steadily, candle in hand, all 
 alone, straight up through the center of this 
 unfamiliar edifice. 
 
 But I arrived safely at my floor, when the m^' 
 
56 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 chine, giving a jerk and a mysterious grunt, 
 stopped short and I let myself out upon the 
 landing. I found out afterward that it was a 
 sort of an unwritten law of the house, that per- 
 sons should go down by staircase instead of ele- 
 vator, it being I suppose, only an "elevator" 
 pure and simple, and not a "depressor" as well. 
 
 At this place, for the first time since my 
 arrival in France, the rather odd but very com- 
 fortable feather cushion for the outside of the 
 bed was missing ; also the bed-curtains, which I 
 never can see without being reminded of Mr. 
 Pickwick's adventure with "the lady in the yel- 
 low curl-papers." My floor was bare, painted 
 in a set figure mainly dark blue, and varnished 
 till it resembled enamel. A soft, large rug cov- 
 ered the center. On one side, or rather, in the 
 middle of the semi-circle, was a recess, and in 
 this was an affair new to me but which I judged 
 to be some sort of heater. It looked like a little 
 temple with flat top of dark marble from which 
 a large pipe led into the wall. Otherwise the 
 apartment had no special peculiarities. 
 
 Settling myself here, I should have been very 
 comfortable, had not light and heat been con- 
 sidered such luxuries. 
 
 It may be of interest to mention that this 
 house advertises no charge for light and atten- 
 dance. This, however, does not preclude the 
 necessity of giving tips. It only does away with 
 the fixed charge in one's bill of a certain amount 
 every day under that head. 
 
 The light, tt my amusement, I found was half 
 a candle per diei)i.\ if this would not serve, guests 
 had the privilege of paying for more candles or 
 a lamp or electricity. But I will add that the 
 charges here were not at all exorbitant, especi- 
 ally in consideration of the very desirable loca- 
 tion. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 And now I devote myself to exploring Paris, 
 Strolling along through the wide, wonderful 
 boulevards, gazing into the bewilderingly beau- 
 tiful shop-windows, dropping here and there 
 into the convenient restaurants always filled 
 with a tidy, happy, prosperous-seeming throng, 
 and prowling about in the queer little streets 
 that lead from the great avenues, one notes such 
 peculiar customs, such strange and motley garbs, 
 such a variety of persons. 
 
 A large number are in conventual or clerical 
 attire of some sort or other, that of the women 
 not being specially unusual, but that of the men 
 sometimes unique enough. I met a sturdy young 
 fellow the other day arrayed in what might, in 
 a "Ladies' Magazine," be described as a "very 
 genteel walking-costume." 
 
 He wore a kind of princesi>e robe with full 
 skirt just clearing the ground. A wide sash 
 encircled his rather robust waist, w^s knotted 
 behind and floated downward to the edge of his 
 gown, A pretty shoulder cape and a modest 
 hat looped up at the side with a chaste cord and 
 tassel, black like the rest of his costume, com- 
 pleted his very feminine dress, if I may except 
 his stout, serviceable boots of unmistakable mas- 
 culinity, which looked odd enough appearing 
 below his otherwise womanly array. 
 
 I see every day any number of plump old 
 gentlemen walking about in little be-ruffled and 
 be-laced white muslin "breakfast jackets" sup- 
 plemented by neat, black skirts which they 
 
58 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 deftly hold up from the pavement in the most 
 ladylike manner; also others in comfortable 
 though not very becoming mantillas and flowing 
 robes of black, brown or white, and with wide- 
 rimmed w^alking-hats that appertain quite as- 
 much to the female as the male human being, so 
 that it really sometimes seems that, in Paris, a 
 state of affairs exists contrary to that alleged of 
 the United States, and that men are appropriating 
 the garb of women instead of women adopting 
 that of men. 
 
 Then there are the soldiers with their gay- 
 colored uniforms, some red and blue, others blue 
 and yellow, red and yellow, blue and white and 
 gold, silver-trimmed, gold-trimmed,lace-trimmed, 
 braid-trimmed, infinitely varied in style and 
 combination ; some in the old Zouave dress fa- 
 miliar in the United States in the sixties ; some 
 in more modern "bloomer" costume; still others- 
 with great knee-boots and glittering helmets and 
 floating plumes, riding, driving, walking, march- 
 ing by squads, standing guard at all public 
 buildings, and so forth and so forth. 
 
 To one soldier, however, I am indebted for an 
 amusing spectacle. He came rushing down the 
 street in full uniform on a bicycle. He wore a 
 shining metal helmet, heavy and hot, trousers^ 
 of a brilliant red and fashioned in expansive 
 bloomer style, polished high boots of cumbrous 
 make, and a great blue cape that floated out 
 from his shoulders like huge wings, giving him 
 the appearance of some unwieldy, tropical bird 
 that might have swooped down upon the wheel 
 and was struggling to rise again with it in his 
 talons. 
 
 Walking one day down the Boulevard des Ca- 
 puci'nes, I was suddenly surrounded by an eager 
 and animated crowd which looked and pointed 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 59 
 
 excitedly up the street. The roadway was 
 quickly cleared and on came a dazzling caval- 
 cade in full military array, horses prancing, ac- 
 coutrements jangling, every appointment in im- 
 maculate order, as it swept by us in hot haste, 
 escorting a rapidly-rolling close carriage which 
 was followed by a second detachment of finely 
 caparisoned cavalry. 
 
 "What is it all?" I hastily inquired of a by- 
 stander. 
 
 "Oh, Madame!" was the reply, "it is the 
 President who passes!" 
 
 The President! Ah, yes. They have no mon- 
 arch here! Vive la Bepabliquel 
 
 All this parade and display of armed men 
 seems very strange to a resident of a republic 
 that rarely has occasion to demand military ser- 
 vice, though never finding it deficient when re- 
 quired. I suppose it is impossible for us in our 
 great, free country, with wide oceans between us 
 and our most powerful neighbors, to realize 
 what it must be to live constantly on guard 
 against foreign invasion. Let us remember and 
 be thankful. 
 
 Not that the President of France invariably 
 goes about in this ostentatious manner. I am 
 told that he sometimes is seen proceeding alone 
 like any unimportant individual. But since the 
 assassination of the preceding President and the 
 present disturbed state of affairs on the frontiers, 
 there has been manifest even more than usual 
 of the pomp and circumstance of military au- 
 thority. 
 
 The streets of Paris at present do not show as 
 many cyclers in proportion to the passers, as are 
 to be noted in our cities when the roads are in 
 good condition, as they are here at all times. 
 The Bois de Boulogne is said to be a favorite 
 
60 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 wheeling-ground but even there cyclers are now 
 comparatively few ; all of which leads me to con- 
 jecture thnt perhaps cycling in Paiis is less a 
 matter of bui^iness than with us, and is there- 
 fore practiced principal)}' when most likely to be 
 pleasurable as well as speedy. The pavements 
 are in excellent shape and the temperature gener- 
 ally not colder than with us in the middle of Octo- 
 ber, and at the present writing, (March)becoming 
 steadily warmer, in fact, in the country peach 
 and almond trees in bloom ; still on many days I 
 see no bicycles at all and as yet have encountered 
 but one female rider. 
 
 This was on the Boulevard Haiismann, in the 
 very heart of one of the busiest quarters. She 
 presented rather a startling appearance, being 
 clad in a bright pink shirt-waist, white hat, veil, 
 gloves and shoes, with hose and accordeon- 
 pleated bloomers of a soft dove-color. She 
 seemed not a whit abashed by her overwhelm- 
 ing minority but crossed the street just ahead of 
 me, trundling her wheel with the utmost non- 
 chalance. 
 
 I had been in Paris nearly two months before I 
 discovered an electric car and my discovery was 
 accidental, all persons of whom I had inquired 
 never having seen any in the city and being una- 
 ware that the cars had been introduced here at all. 
 One day, however,! was journeying out in the sub- 
 urbs, and after proceeding a part of the way by 
 horse-tram, 1 v/as informed that I must at a cer- 
 tain poinr, exchange into a tra}ii, electrique\ then 
 I ascertained that there are three such lines, 
 though none of them cross the heart of the city, 
 but proceed outward respectively from the Made- 
 leine, the Opera and the Place de In. liepuldique. 
 These cars are two-storied like most of the trams 
 and 'buses of Paris, but unlike them, have a 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDEEING 61 
 
 canopy over the upper story that shields from 
 sun or rain. The only other time that I ever 
 met with this style was in our own country at 
 Coronado Beach, Southern California. While I 
 was in Paris, a great agitation was going on in 
 the newspapers concerning the feasibility of an 
 electric route across the Place de la Gnucorde. 
 The project was most violently opposed by a 
 large number, but I think it will be put through 
 in time. 
 
 One of these electric lines leads to St. Denis, st, 
 city of about sixty th >usand inhabitants and a 
 prosperous indui^trial-center. Both the route 
 thereto and the city itself are very unattractive ; 
 there is nothing whatever to please the eye, and 
 there would, I presume, be few visitors in this 
 direction were it not for the antique cathedral 
 or Basilique, which is interesting as being the 
 burial place of the ancient kings. 
 
 The monuments that mark these royal rest- 
 ing-places, (though in some cases the bodies 
 have bt^ en removed,) are within the cathedral 
 and, in many instances, of rare and exquisite de- 
 sign and execution; others are more curious and 
 interesting than beautiful, while most of them 
 are more or less imposing. 
 
 A very singular feature is noticeable in one or 
 two of the larger and more elaborate tombs ; this 
 is the representation, — in addition to life-sized 
 figures of the commemorated majesties in full 
 coronation-robes, — of a second set of life-sized 
 figures of the same personages in recumbent pos- 
 ture and, in fact, at the moment of death. These 
 last are intensely realistic, nearly nude, with 
 convulsed limbs and distorted countenances, and 
 present a grewsome and ghastly spectacle. 
 
 This cathedral is one of the few places either 
 in or about Paris, where visitors are not permit- 
 
62 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 ted to go about without a guide. It seems a 
 pity to have it so anywhere, because the profes- 
 sional guide always hurries one on so, in order, 
 I suppose, to receive the gratuities of ore party 
 and be ready for the next. Then if you happen 
 to ask him an unexpected question, he is all put 
 out and has to go back and begin over again. 
 
 The Basilique of St. Denis occupies the tradi- 
 tional site of a chapel erected about the year 275 
 above the grave of St. Dionysius or Denis, the 
 first bishop of Paris, who suffered martyrdom in 
 270 on a hill famous in the annals of Paris, now 
 known as Butte Ilontin artre,\i\\t formerly Mons 
 Martyrum or Mons Martis. 
 
 St. Denis may also be reached by railway if 
 one prefers, as may almost any of the suburbs. 
 The tramway is cheaper but takes more time. I, 
 myself, usually choose the latter mode of trans- 
 portation because it leads more directly among 
 the people, winding in and around through the 
 busy streets and stopping wherever one may 
 suddenly wish to pursue some side line of ex- 
 ploration. 
 
 To St. Cloud, Versailles and Sevres, I went 
 by ?^ team- tram ; this is a very pleasant route, 
 taking one through charming little suburban 
 centers and affording a lovely prospect of semi- 
 rural scenes. One may also go by boat on the 
 Seine, a most inexpensive method and delight- 
 ful in the season; J, however, found it too chilly 
 for this during my stay in Paris. 
 
 Serves is a charming village, picturesque in 
 itself and specially interesting as being the place 
 where ihe lovely Sevres porcelain is made. The 
 manufactory has been the property of the gov- 
 ernment since 1756. The exhibition-rooms con- 
 tain exquisite and pricele.-s specimens of this 
 lovely vi are, but the work-shops are not fully 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 63 
 
 thrown open to the public, the most interesting 
 processes being kept secret. The present build- 
 ing is compartively modern; the old manufac- 
 tory, at a little distance, is now refitted and 
 used as a normal-school for young women. 
 
 St. Germain, St. Cloud, Fontainebleau, Ver- 
 sailles and the Trianons ; what a flood of recol- 
 lections rushes through the mind of the lover of 
 history and romance at the very names. It 
 seemed so wonderful to think I was actually 
 there ; I, who first saw the light thousands of 
 leagues away across mountain, moor and main, 
 long, long years after the startling events, thrill- 
 ing spectacles and brilliant pageants that fol- 
 lowed in such swift succession within the 
 boundaries of these royal residences, had 
 wrought their destined effect in the history of 
 mankind and, with all their actors, had vanished 
 forever into the impenetrable past. 
 
 Births, marriages, revolutions, bloodshed, 
 death, all have had their turn in these spacious 
 areas lying here now so peacefully silent, and 
 still the sun shines down and the leaves rustle 
 and the fountains play unaltered. 
 
 What a long line of ghostly footsteps go steal- 
 ing down the quiet avenues. They do not dis- 
 turb the gay and thoughtless, modern pleasure- 
 seekers who scarce remember, if they ever knew, 
 the noted names, famous and infamous, once so 
 familiar throughout all the length and breadth 
 of the known world. 
 
 Louises VII., XIII., XIV., XV., and XVI., 
 Francis I., Henrys III. and IV., Charles V., Na- 
 poleons I. and III., Louis Philippe, Pius VII., 
 Queen Christine, Marshall Biron, the Grande 
 Conde, Voltaire, Pompadour, Du Barri, Charles 
 X., Marie Antoinette, Bluecher, Josephine, — 
 how vain to try to complete the roll, to recall the 
 innuaierable multitude, — but all are gone. 
 
64 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 Yet the influence of their lives and fortunes 
 goes on for good or evil, and the world can 
 never be as if they had not been 
 
 In thope days more or less ancient, these lovely 
 pleasure-grounds and elegant chdteaus were 
 far removed from the bustle and turmoil of what 
 was even then called the great and wonderful 
 city, but to-day we scarcely know when we have 
 left the city proper behind us and entered into 
 the environs. Everywhere are similar, beautiful 
 and interesting scenes; everywhere the busy 
 streets and the thronging people. 
 
 I have seen no baby-cubs as yet in the streets 
 of Paris. Babies there are in hosts, and the 
 parks, or "gardens" as they are termed, are 
 swarming with children of all sizes and condi- 
 tions in all weathers. Perhaps the baby-cabs 
 and the bicycles are waiting for the summer, 
 though I should think these lovely spring days 
 might bring them out. The babies are borne in 
 the arms of a bonve, usually a gayly arrayed 
 female in a long, full cloak of soft, bright cloth^ 
 no bonnet, but a snowy muslin or lace cap hand- 
 somely fluted and decorated with very broad, 
 brilliant ribbons that stream downward over the 
 back of her attire. The babies themselves are 
 all in white ; white, close bonnets with funny- 
 little white pompons standing up stitf and defi- 
 ant, white cloaks, white veils and white mittens; 
 they cuddle down comfortably in the arms of the 
 bonne as she strides along, and view the world 
 with complacent eyes. Imagine the disgusted 
 dismay of the average United States "nurse- 
 girl," were it even suggested that she perform 
 like service. 
 
 The cats of Paris seem to be a favor* d set of 
 felines ; fat and frisky, saucy and sleek, of un- 
 common size and possessing unusually long, 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 65 
 
 thick fur, they challenge admiration in restau- 
 ant, shop, and even in the parks, by their naajes- 
 tic presence and condescendingly sociable ways. 
 One magnificent, great, brindled fellow took it 
 upon himself to superintend my breakfasts at a 
 delightful little cremerie to which he was at- 
 tached. Seated upon a chair near by, and sing- 
 ing charmingly the while, he gravely inspected 
 my operations as I disposed of my coffee and 
 roll. He would accept proffered morsels most 
 politely, but evidently only to avoid mortifying 
 me by a refusal, for he never ate them but 
 deposited them at his feet where he gazed upon 
 them pensively from time to time. When I later 
 went to another part of the city, I much re- 
 gretted severing my connection with his catship, 
 but had the satisfaction of knowing he was well 
 cared for. Indeed these animals seem every- 
 where to be treated with the utmost deference. 
 I did not see a starved or frightened looking cat 
 while I was in the city. Even the dogs seem to 
 regard them with profound respect. 
 
 But the horses, the poor horses ! How they 
 are whacked and lashed both with whip and 
 tongue ; how weighed down and overtasked 
 with impossible loads on these stony, slippery 
 streets where there is no foothold for them. I 
 have seen them fall again and again only to be 
 kicked and pounded and cursed until they 
 should struggle up from their poor, broken 
 knees. It makes one's heart ache. 
 
 I have seen only five colored persons during 
 my sojourn here amidst this vast multitude of 
 people. This seems strange to a resident of 
 even the northern United States, and compared 
 with my experience last winter in the region of 
 orange and palm, in our southern section, where 
 the very atmosphere seems darkened by their 
 
66 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 omnipresence, their absence here is conspicuous. 
 By the way it is rather amusing to note how 
 foreigners universally confuse our northern and 
 southern states with North and South America. 
 One can scarcely bring them to comprehend that 
 a resident of a southern state is not a South 
 American. 
 
 Then others, on learning that I am an Ameri- 
 can, have been quite astonished to find that I 
 have no extensive personal acquaintance with 
 the "red Indian." I have met, however, with 
 this latter species of astonishment at home m 
 our own New England, where surely it is inex- 
 cusable, and one would suppose impossible to per- 
 sons of the intelligence and general information 
 of the average New Englander. But it is a 
 fact that he, and I do not know but that I may 
 also without error include the Middle Statesian, 
 often looks upon his compatriot outside these 
 specified localities, as being but little, if at all, 
 removed from barbarism. I do not think such 
 a state of opinion concerning their fellow-coun- 
 trymen prevails among inhabitants of different 
 sections of other countries, — but this is a di- 
 gression. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The season of the carnival is celebrated with 
 much vigor in Paris. All sorts of practical 
 jokes seem to be in order, and the throwing of 
 covfetti, — minute disks of thin, bright-colored 
 paper, — into unexpecting faces never fails to 
 produce convulsive merriment in the beholders, 
 while the recipients take it, according to their 
 temperaments, with smiles or wrath. 
 
 The streets looked very festive with the vari- 
 colored showers everywhere pervading and the 
 gay streamers of tinted paper twined and inter- 
 twined and floating from every possible niche, 
 nook, angle and projection of column, gable 
 and tree. 
 
 It seemed to be a point of honor for everybody 
 to seize any such floating streamer within his 
 reach and carry it onward with him until it 
 should snap from the strain, when it would be 
 wound around the neck or wrist of the captor, 
 adding to the jubilant appearance of the throng. 
 
 A year before, I w^as in New Orleans during 
 the carnival-time and, though Parisians have the 
 name of being the gayest people in the world, 
 still it has seemed to me that here they did not 
 appear so joyous and light-hearted as the merry 
 crowds in that southern city. In fact, much of 
 the Parisian fun seemed to be largely of a lower 
 grade and there was much intoxication observ- 
 able both in men and women. 
 
 The street-parades in New Orleans too, were 
 more beautiful, strange though this may seem, 
 for of course, taste, ingenuity and expense to 
 
 67 
 
68 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 the wildest extravagance, are b}^ no means defi- 
 cient here in Paris. I fancy climate has some- 
 thing to do with the character of the festival ; 
 here the skies were of a chilly blue and the wind 
 was too strong for comfort, while there the 
 genial sun was shining prodigally, the air was 
 soft and balmy, and inanimate nature as well as 
 man himself seemed to rejoice. 
 
 Of course all sorts of gay parties, hal masques 
 and extravagancies wax fast and furious in these 
 the closing days of the carnivale, or "farewell 
 to the flesh." I did not see or hear of anything 
 in Paris corresponding to the beautiful pageant 
 at this season in New Orleans, when Rex and 
 his royal retinue approach the city in a fine «hip 
 and are welcomed with pomp and splendor as 
 the keys of the city are presented to him. 
 
 In New Orleans the queen of the carnival is 
 chosen from the ranks of refined society, as a 
 few years ago when the daughter of Jefferson 
 Davis figured in that role; but I was surprised 
 to learn that here in Paris the choice is made 
 from the blanchissevses, or in plain English, the 
 washerwomen. In the middle of Lent in this 
 part of the world, there is a relaxation period 
 which, I think, does not obtain widely, if at all, 
 in the United States, and this is called Mi-Car- 
 eme. Then come more parades, more confetti, 
 another washerwoman is chosen queeia and the 
 community is given over again to the ''world, 
 the flesh and the de — " lights of feasting and 
 revelry for a few hours, when sackcloth and 
 ashes are supposed to prevail once more until 
 Easter Sunday. V 
 
 Sunday as we understand it at home does 
 not exist in Paris. That the day has come is 
 manifested by an increased jubilance and hilarity 
 throughout the boulevards and avenues. True 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 69 
 
 there are services in the churches, but so there are 
 on so many other days that this is no distinction. 
 Most places of businetrs are open if not in active 
 operation and many reserve their most brilliant 
 displays for this day. There are a few excep- 
 tions, however, chiefly among American and 
 English houses. 
 
 Failing one Sunday to secure a copy of the 
 NeiD York Herald at the news-stands, I 
 thought I would step into the office on the 
 Avenue de V Opera to get one. Arriving 
 there, though the place did not seem to 
 be formally closed, I yet found myself unable 
 to open the door for the simple reason that the 
 outside part of the handle was missing. This 
 had exactly the same effect as might be in case 
 of the traditional "latch-siring" when pulled in; 
 there was nothing on which one could lay hold 
 to raise the latch. This was so very peculiar a 
 situation that I was undecided as to whether 
 it might not be accidental, instead of being meant 
 to keep out visitors. 
 
 A number of gentlemen were standing outside, 
 reading through the windows the news-sheets 
 that are always displayed close to the glass and, 
 after much cogitation as to the form of my 
 phrase, I finally mustered courage to address one 
 of them for information, so in my very best 
 French I asked him if he could tell me whether 
 the office were really closed. To my surprise he 
 turned red, looked embarrassed and at last said 
 in broken French, "I do not understand." 
 
 "Oh," said I in my native tongue, "you are 
 English." 
 
 "No," he replied, "American, from Mich- 
 igan." 
 
 I then told him I was his "neighbor" from 
 Wisconsin, and we both, strangers though we 
 
70 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 were, indulged in a little laugh over our painful 
 and needless struggles to communicate in French. 
 But 1 did not get into the Herald office. 
 
 One unique characteristic in public worship 
 here fills the average American mind with 
 amazement and, I fear, amusement. This is the 
 employment of beadles, or Svisses, who are a 
 regular feature in all the great churches of Paris. 
 They are usually very large, finely-built men 
 and are most gorgeously attired. They serve in 
 pairs as nearly matched as possible in height and 
 size, and it is a sight to be remembered to be- 
 hold them stepping out in their rich velvet, 
 gold-trimmed dress-coats, their marvelous, long 
 waist-coats and superb "continuations," — as 
 Dickens has it, — their delicate stockings, won- 
 derful cocked-hats and buckled shoes. 
 
 Each wears a lengthy gold chain and bears a 
 heavy, glittering baton of office, about five feet 
 long, and at certain points in the service, such 
 as conducting the celebrant to and from the 
 altar, or taking the collections, they precede the 
 line of attendants and at each step, bring down 
 their heavy rods to the floor with a grand thud 
 that is most impressive. Their office seems to 
 be purely ornamental as, except to head and es- 
 cort these various personages and processions 
 about the church, they perform no service what- 
 ever. They deign not themselves to handle the 
 little velvet bags into which are dropped the 
 contributions of the congregation. No, indeed! 
 This inferior duty is performed by what, I pre- 
 sume, they consider inferior creatures, that is, 
 by women, who meekly trot about after "their 
 high-mightinesses"and deprecatingly present the 
 bags to each of the spectators. 
 
 The theaters and all places of entertainment 
 are in full blast on Sunday, both matinees and 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 71 
 
 evening performances being given at most of 
 thero. During the week they are open nightly 
 and, in a few instances, for a Thursday matinee 
 and are always crowded. 
 
 At the Opera House are the grandest and most 
 imposing spectacles; the Odeon is devoted prin- 
 cipally to the classic drama, while the Theatre 
 Francais is noted for the elegance and purity of 
 its diction. The Vaudevilles, Theatres des 
 Varietes and des Oaite, the music-halls and the 
 Cafes-Concerts are of course, without end. 
 
 It looked very odd to me to see men sitting 
 during the play with their hats on, and also to 
 see both men and women leave their places be- 
 tween acts and pass into the halls and foyers for 
 promenading and refreshment. No orchestra is 
 visible at any theater that I have visited, though 
 -audible from behind the scenes. In some parts 
 of the theater, ladies are obliged to remove their 
 hats; in others, one must appear in full dress or 
 be refused admittance; there are women in at- 
 tendance to take charge of one's wraps for a 
 small fee, which however is not a definite charge, 
 but regulated by the patron's means or generos- 
 ity. I had a somewhat mortifying and yet 
 amusing experience at one of my visits to the 
 theater. I had gone in haste and omitted to as- 
 certain as usual the contents of my purse before 
 starting out. Not until I went to claim my 
 wraps after the performance, and had opened 
 my pocket-book to tip the attendant, did I be- 
 come aware that 1 had nothing whatever therein, 
 over and above my fare home, but two insignifi- 
 cant bronze coins equal to about a cent and a 
 half of United States money. 
 
 In vain I held my empty purse open depreca- 
 tingly before the eyes oi: the lofty and important 
 functionary who, in all her dignity of be- 
 
72 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 starched and be-f rilled cap and apron, was wait- 
 ing my favors while I eagerly sought to explain 
 in my halting French, how I had neglected to pro- 
 vide myself with money, and how annoyed and 
 sorry I was to be unable to recompense her in a 
 fitting manner ; she would have none of my 
 explanations; she only conceived that I was of- 
 fering her that insultingly trifling sum, and she 
 brushed aside all my apologies with the freez- 
 ingly sarcastic words: ''Since you are so pooi\ 
 Madame," — what a scathing emphasis there 
 was on chose two words as she measured me 
 from head to foot taking in my somewhat festal 
 attire! — "I will take pity on you; you may 
 keep your seven centimes V Humbled and 
 abashed, I crept away but my keen enjoyment 
 of the utter absurdity of the situation was a 
 most happy mitigation of the crushing effects of 
 the dame's disdainful irony. 
 
 In some of the theaters one must pay extra 
 for a program, but at the Opera and the Franca is 
 at least, these are furnished free of charge. 
 
 The feature in Paris theaters the hardest, I 
 think, for Americans to understand, is the 
 claque, or company of paid applauders. 
 
 They usually sit, I am told, in the center of 
 the house, underneath the great chandelier. 
 They lead off at intervals with vigorous rounds 
 of applause, most vigorous if failing to elicit 
 addr-d applause from the general audience. I 
 understand that many attempts have been made 
 to abolibh this singular custom,all of which have 
 thus far failed. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Funerals here are dismally pompous affairs and 
 yet they do not seem solemn. The ceremonies 
 are so overdone and the mechanism so apparent 
 that the force of the pageant is lost. 
 
 Going to the Madeleine one Sunday, I found 
 the whole imposing front of that classic edifice 
 covered by two great black curtains looped back 
 in the center. These were edged with white 
 fringe and had a wide border in Grecian key pat- 
 tern. 
 
 On the broad, colonnaded portico stood a 
 large table with like Governing, and here sat a 
 being in an immense black cocked-hat trimmed 
 to match, as were his long waistcoat, knee- 
 breeches and swallow-tailed coat. His gloves 
 were white, his long hose were black and he 
 wore low, black shoes with frosted buckles. He 
 seemed to be the master of ceremonies. Fancy 
 our decorous and unassuming funeral directors 
 in the United States, tricked out in this manner. 
 
 Inside the building were two grand and awful 
 personages in the same depressing garb, each 
 bearing a huge staff with black streamers. The 
 demeanor of these mighty-seeming ones, how- 
 ever, did not comport with their majestic ap 
 pearance. for they ambled about hither and yon 
 and seemed, — to use a plebeian but forcible ex- 
 pression, — to be"sticking their noses into every- 
 thing." 
 
 A number of persons were standing about 
 here and there, others walking around, still 
 others sitting; (by the way, if you take a seat 
 
 73 
 
74 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 in any of these churches, you must pay three 
 cents, which is collected during service when- 
 ever one sits down ;) all were staring. 
 
 In the center of the church stood a high bier 
 heavily draped, as was the interior of the build- 
 ing everywhere, in the black, white-fringed and 
 bordered trappings of woe. Innumerable can- 
 dles in tall, massive holders faintly illuminated 
 this bier and the high altar. 
 
 With the melancholy reflections naturally 
 suggested by these symbols of mortality, I gazed 
 upon the bier, supposing of course that upon its 
 top and draped by that heavy pall, rested the 
 pulseless form of one who would tread life's 
 paths no more. There was some music to be 
 heard at intervals but no one paid any attention 
 to it. There were no mourners visible, no one 
 seeming to have any closer connection with the 
 deceased than the hired functionaries and the 
 careless spectators. 
 
 All this time, men, evidently workmen, were 
 running to and fro in the church and continually 
 breaking in upon what should have been the sol- 
 emnity of the occasion. After some time two 
 of these men, going up to the catafalque, as I 
 supposed to lift from off it the casket, stooped 
 down instead, flung up the drapery, revealing 
 a flimsy, cheap, unpainted framework, and there 
 underneath upon the bare floor stood a plain 
 wooden coffin. This they shoved out by means 
 of feet and hands into the aisle, where some more 
 men got hold of it and began to carry it out. 
 
 At the same time other men commenced pul- 
 ling down the bier, piling up its light timbers 
 and rolling up the drapery; others extinguished 
 the tapers, dis'-losing thereby that they were 
 but candle-ends stuck into long tubes simulat- 
 ing candles; others still grabbed up the heavy 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 75 
 
 candle-sticks. whereby I saw that they were only 
 wood silvered over, and others again appeared 
 in the upper galleries and, runring along on 
 the wide cornices, began to rip oft' the heavy 
 curtains with all possible speed, throwing them 
 to the floor,thus dislodging much dust and niusti- 
 ness and evoking consequent numberless sneezes 
 through the sacred edifice as the men devoted 
 themselves to bundling up everything pertaining 
 to the occasion, getting it outside with great 
 celerity. All this while the body was yet on its 
 way to the door and the congregation still stand- 
 ing about within the church. 
 
 With the current of my thoughts effectually 
 changed I went outside, narrowly escaping beinij 
 knocked over by the hurrying workmen with 
 their heavy loads. Finding a safe spot I looked 
 down from the imposing colonnade upon the 
 broad, bright avenues below. 
 
 A long line of mouraing-coaches was drawn 
 up in waiting, each almost hidden beneath black, 
 white-edged draperies, and provided with horses 
 also nearly concealed under similar funereal 
 housings ; while, attired like the beadles in 
 cocked hats, knee-breeches and all the appurten- 
 ances, the coachmen sat upon their boxes gloomily 
 monumental. A few men clad in the same style 
 walked at each side near the head of the cortege ; 
 immediately following the huge, grewsomely 
 decorated hearse was a long double row of men 
 and women on foot ; after these came other heav- 
 ily and lugubriously draped carriages. 
 
 Thus was this solemn ceremony conducted at 
 the Madeleine, that classically beautiful and his- 
 torically interesting pile, one of the finest and 
 most important of the sacred temples of Paris. 
 
 Since then I have seen many another Paris- 
 ian funeral where there was not even the impos- 
 
76 ONE WOMA.N WANDERING 
 
 ing effect of a large scale of operations, yet they 
 were all carried on in the same ponderou-; and 
 artificial manner, the grandeur and extent of she 
 display being, I suppose, regulated by the purse 
 of the afflicted family. 
 
 We talk of funeral reform at home, but after 
 witnessing such a mechanical and cumbersomely 
 dreadful pageant, our most elaborate method 
 seems simplicity itself ; and at any rate with us 
 there is a gravity and a quietude of procedure 
 that causes no jar to the tenderest sensibilities 
 by its too obvious machinery. 
 
 The Madeline is not an ancient edifice as anti- 
 quity is reckoned abroad. Founded but little 
 over a century ago in 1764, its construction con- 
 tinued until 1842. I lingered within the stately 
 portico through which already have passed such 
 innumerable multitudes, the distinguished, the 
 renowned, the insignificant, to mingle with the 
 ceaseless stream below in activity, or to be borne 
 on, silent and passive, never to return. 
 
 The soft spring sunshine fell peacefully down, 
 lighting up roof and pavement, pillar, facade 
 and people with a faint glow. The long funeral 
 train moved off in its progress toward the dis- 
 tant cemetery. As it wound along the brilliant 
 boulevards a strange quiet fell upon the hubbub 
 and unrest of the changeful scene. Men bared 
 their heads ; men, women and children crossed 
 themselves and stood silent. Such is the custom 
 here. It has a singular effect sometimes in the 
 midst of the gay, busy, hurrying thro og. 
 
 The principal cemeteries of Paris perhaps, are 
 those of Pere Lavhaise^ Montinartre^ Montpar- 
 wasseand Ficpus, of which the first is easily the 
 leader. There are in all, I understand, about 
 twenty-two or three. 
 
 The space parceled out as one lot in these cem- 
 
ONE WOMAN WONDERING 77 
 
 eteries is limited in the extreme, and the large and 
 imposing memorials huddled together in conse- 
 quence, present a disorderly and uncomfortable 
 spectacle to one accustomed to the usual spacious 
 areas and almost boundless vistas of America's 
 broad acres. There is, I am told, an average of 
 nearly one hundred graves required daily in 
 Paris, so that the above burial spots would be 
 greatly inadequate, were it not that the poor are 
 committed to the Fosses Uommicnes, or Public 
 Trenches, large pits each containing from forty 
 to fifty coffins. 
 
 . Baedeker informs us that burials in such "com- 
 mon graves"now take place outside the precincts 
 of the city only. 
 
 Burial-places for the individual are secured in 
 a variety of ways, of which outright purchase, 
 the ordinary method among us, is rare and diffi- 
 cult. A Concession a perpetuite, or perpetual 
 privilege, granting a very small, private burial- 
 place of twenty-two and one-half square feet, 
 may be obtained for about two hundred dollars, 
 the price of each additional square meter(about 
 eleven and one-third square feet), beyond six, is 
 six hundred dollars. A Concession Trentenaire 
 providing that a grave shall remain undisturbed 
 for thirty years, may be had for sixty dollars ; a 
 Concession Teniporaire for five years, ten dol- 
 lars. After the time of each limited concession 
 has expired, unless it is renewed, ihe bones must 
 be removed to the Fosses Communes to make 
 place for more recent interments for which those 
 interested will pay the price. 
 
 So the majority of graves are practically only 
 rented and, as in life, if the rent is unpaid, out 
 you go. This, I dare say, seems as shocking to my 
 "suppositious sister"asit did to me when I first 
 learned it; if so, she will be surprised to hear 
 
78 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 that I did not come upon this state of things 
 first abroad, but in our own city of New Orlenns, 
 whicli lias so many truly French customs. I be- 
 lieve like arrangements prevail to more or less 
 extent, in most crowded cities abroad. 
 
 All this has given rise to a number of burial 
 associations, the members of which contribute 
 to a fund for the purchase of a plot of ground in 
 a cemetery, whereon is erected a general tomb 
 provided with receptacles for a certain number 
 of bodies. This arrangement like many other 
 wholesale dealings, comes much cheaper than 
 the individual purchase singly, and assures each 
 member of an undisturbed place of repose after 
 "life's fitful fever." 
 
 To quote a popular hand-book, all burials 
 within the Department of the Seine are con- 
 ducted by a certain Funeral Organization whose 
 charges are regulated by tariff varying from 
 sixty cents to nearly fifteen hundred dollars, 
 exclusive of the price of the coffin and the offici- 
 ating clergyman's fee. Two chaplains are at- 
 tached to each cemetery for the gratuitous per- 
 formance of the burial rites of the poor. 
 
 Pere Lachaise, or the Cimetiere de V Est, is 
 the largest and most interesting of Paris ceme- 
 teries. It is named after Father Lachaise, the 
 Jesuit confessor of Louis XIV., and occupies the 
 site of that prelate's country-seat. It lies on a 
 low, undulating hill at the extreme east end of 
 the city, within the walls. It has an area of 
 one hundred and ten acres and contains more 
 than twenty thousand monuments, many of 
 which "are deeply interesting as memorials of 
 great personages, while others are noteworthy 
 on account of artistic excellence." 
 
 How touching here as everywhere, the vain 
 attempt to keep in the memor}^ of man, that 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 79 
 
 existence which, however dear and necessary to 
 its own bereaved circle, has yet left no other 
 influence to impress the world at large. Others 
 there are whose lives shall never be forgotten, 
 and large indeed is the number of these who 
 here rest from their labors. How startling the 
 wondrous array of illustrious names that gleams 
 forth at every turn. 
 
 Singer, soldier, scholar and statesman ; poet, 
 philosopher, priest and painter ; actor, artist, 
 author and ambassador; astronomer and archae- 
 ologist ; composer and consul ; who could recount 
 them all? To think that this dust beneath our 
 feet enshrines the mortal housings of every 
 phase of divine genius, of dauntless bravery, of 
 exalted excellence, that the world has ever 
 known. All at the same level now and whirled 
 around resistless from sun to sun, "with rocks, 
 and stones, and trees." "But thanks be to God 
 Who giveth us the victory through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ," 
 
 It is in this cemetery that are interred the 
 bodies of Abelard and Heloise who, in spite of 
 their varying fortunes and their phenomenal 
 gifts and learning, are remembered chiefly by 
 mankind in general, through the piteous tale of 
 their most woeful love. Their recumbent statues 
 lie upon a sarcophagus beneath a Gothic canopy, 
 all of dark marble, and re-constructed by Lenoir 
 from fragments of an old monument. 
 
 Upon the tomb of Alfred de Mus-^et are in- 
 scribed his own beautiful lines which may be 
 freel}^ translated as follows: 
 
 "Dear friends, I pray, when I shall die 
 Plant near my grave a willow tree ; 
 
 I love its rustle sweetly sad, 
 
 Its leafage pale is dear to me. 
 
 Its shadows soft shall lightly rest 
 
 Upon the earth above my breast." 
 
80 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 His wish is gratified for a willow gently mur- 
 murs above his dust. 
 
 Over the grave of Paul Baudry is a bronze 
 bust and statue with the following brief but 
 touching inscription upon the pedestal ; 
 
 "Glory hath crowned thee, and I, — I mourn 
 thee, alas! a widow alone with my babes." 
 
 An attempt to depict the wonderful beauties 
 and artistic perfections so lavishly displayed 
 here as elsewhere, does not come within the 
 province of this unpretending manual; and 
 small need is there that it should, in view of the 
 gifted and exhaustive works already published 
 along these lines. Sometimes, as one wanders 
 on in a scene which, though in itself unfamiliar, 
 may yet be a type of others better known, and 
 with the mind prepared for a certain sameness 
 and routine in objects and occurrences, there 
 will occasionally start forth something a little dif- 
 ferent, thus specially attracting one's attention, 
 though in detail it may be nothing particularly 
 noteworthy. To record such intelligibly and 
 possibly with some interest to another as they 
 strike me, is all that I can hope to achieve. 
 
 A very odd and conspicuous monument is to 
 be seen at the western end of the Avenue Trans- 
 versale, No. 1, and is visible so far away as the 
 Arc cV Etoile in the Champs Ely sees. It con- 
 sists of a huge pyramid one hundred and five 
 feet high, and was erected to himself at a cost 
 of twenty thousand dollars, by Felix de Beau- 
 jour, formerly a consul. Strange to say, this 
 work is popularly known as the "sugar-bread." 
 
 There is a Jewish cemetery includefl within \ 
 the boundaries of Pere Lachaise and in this 
 portion is the family tomb of the noted Roths- 
 childs. Madame Rachel, the great tragedien7ie, 
 is also buried here. 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 81 
 
 At the extreme north end of Pere Lachaise is 
 situated a Crematory which though unfinished, 
 has been in use i^ince 1889. I am told that the 
 process of cremation lasts one hour and is accom- 
 plished by means of refracted heat from a fire 
 of eight hundred degrees. 
 
 The flames do not touch the corpse. The 
 ashes left weigh about one twelfth of the origi- 
 nal weight of the body. The cost, including 
 the right to a niche for five j'ears, is from ten 
 to fifty dollars. 
 
 The Cemetery of Montmartre^ or CimQtiere 
 du JVord, lies above the city upon the hill of 
 that name so famous in the annals of Paris. It 
 is much smaller than Lachaise, but has many 
 interesting features. Just aside from the main 
 entrance are four tombs containing the remains 
 of seventy Polish refugees, the first tomb bear- 
 ing the inscription in Latin, "May an avenger 
 one day spring from our ashes.'' Horace Ver- 
 net and Paul Delaroche are buried here, also 
 Ary Scheffer, Eenan, Heinrich Heine, Carlotta 
 Patti, Samson, the actor, Theophile Gautier, 
 and many others of fame. Oce of the inscrip- 
 tions on the latter's tomb, runs something after 
 this fashion : 
 
 ''The bird departs, the leaflet falls. 
 And Love has fled before the chill ; 
 
 Thou little bird, when trees bud new, 
 Above my grave, Oh! warble still." 
 
 The Cemetery of Montparnasse, or the Cime- 
 tiere du Sud, is much less beautiful and romantic 
 in location than the two preceding. Here are 
 buried the sculptor Eude and Henri Martin, the 
 historian ; also Henri Gregoire, afterward Bishop 
 of Blois, one of the first of the clergy to swear 
 fealty to the new constitution in 1790. 
 
82 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 Not far from the entrance, behind a small 
 pyramid, is an enclosed space devoted to the 
 graves of Sisters of Charity. Among these 
 rests Sister Rosalie Rendu who was decorated by 
 the Legion of Honor, in recognition of her de- 
 voted services in the Crimea. 
 
 There is a curious old structure at a consider- 
 able distance toward the right of the principal 
 avenue ; it is the tower of an old mill belonging 
 to a convent of Freres de St. Jeon-de-Dieu. 
 For some reason not ascertained by me, it has 
 always been allowed to remain here in spite of 
 incongruity. 
 
 Two large monuments stand opposite each 
 other in the newer part of the cemetery, one 
 commemorating all soldiers who have died in 
 defence of France, the other, all firemen who 
 have perished in execution of their duties. 
 
 In the little cemetery of Picpus are interred 
 many of the oldest families of France. Here 
 sleeps Lafayette, so dear to American hearts. 
 At one end of the inclosure, are buried thirteen 
 hundred victims of the Revolution who perished 
 by the guillotine. Among these are the poet 
 Andre Chenier, the chemist Lavoisier, General 
 Beauharnais, and many others long known to 
 fame. 
 
 The Cemetery of Passy, situated in the lofty 
 and beautiful suburb of that name, is quite pe- 
 culiar in location. One reaches it by means of 
 a long flight of solid stone steps, broken into 
 short lengths. Arriving at the top, one does 
 not come directly into the cemetery but seems to 
 have entered a different world, so sharp is the 
 contrast between the little streets of tiny, pic- 
 turesque homes upon the hill, and the broad, 
 imposing avenues of stately mansions one has 
 just left below. One soon turns in at the right 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 83 
 
 and enters the quiet and lovely little city of the 
 dead, where are many fine monuments. 
 
 Here just beyond the entrance, is the mauso- 
 leum of the gifted and erratic Marie Bashkirtseff, 
 which was designed by Emile Bastien-Lepage. 
 An exterior of pale marble is covered with florid 
 ornamentation of various sorts, scattered flowers, 
 wreaths, butterflies, draperies and so forth. 
 Upon one fagade are graven two stanzas, one 
 from Andre Theuriet, the other from E, Ducross. 
 The interior is a pleasant chamber perhaps 
 twelve feet square, illuminated by large stained- 
 glass windows and a glass door covered wnth 
 metal grill-work through which one can see dis- 
 tinctly all within. Here in the tempered light 
 may be seen a life-sized bust of this young gen- 
 ius whose earthly course was so brief. It stands 
 upon a sort of altar whereon also rest her palette, 
 her manuscript diary, a laurel wreath and other 
 relics. One or two graceful chairs stand about 
 and a cushion or so disposed here and there, 
 with a guitar carelessly resting at one side, give 
 an attractive, occupied seeming to the place 
 and one almost looks to see the young girl enter 
 to resume some one of the varied pursuits of her 
 many-sided character. The structure is finished 
 with a graceful dome, minarets rise from the 
 four corners and a glittering metal cross sur- 
 mounts the whole. 
 
 In all the cemeteries that I have visited, 
 I have noticed another marked difference in the 
 way of decoration, between foreign taste and 
 our own. Even in Pere Lachaise, so renowned 
 for its sculptured marvels, where monuments of 
 rare beauty testify to cultured taste as well as 
 loving heart-', are to be seen hanging upon the 
 sepulchers, huge garlands and wreaths of tin 
 and iron beads fashioned and colored into a re- 
 
84 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 mote semblance of natural flowers. They fairly 
 set one's teeth on edge. But there are others 
 still more dreadful, of crockery, also intended to 
 simulate floral offerings. 
 
 The most appalling of all are great, solid circles, 
 or rather, rings, their surfaces variegated with 
 a faint suggestion of closely set petals, colored 
 yellow, and perhap-5 supposed to represent im- 
 mortelles ; as if they were not frightful enough 
 of themselves, they are frequently converted into 
 a veritable nightmare by being wrapped in isome 
 coarse, thin, black stuff that probably does duty 
 as crape. 
 
 If these barbarous mementoes were to be seen 
 only on humble graves, one might fancy that 
 limited means had occasioned the use of a dur- 
 able substitute for the perishable beauty of na- 
 ural leaf and bloom, but as a matter of fact, I 
 believe these set pieces are not inexpensive, and 
 as before stated, they may be seen upon the 
 most costly tombs. I must sny, however, that I 
 saw this same incomprehensible style of decora- 
 tion in the old cemeteries at New Orleans upon 
 French tombs. How is it that the French, who 
 have such a world-wide reputation for exquisite 
 taste, should be able to find satisfaction in the 
 use of these hideous objects? 
 
 I notice in each of the different cemeteries 
 here, at some prominent part of the grounds, a 
 simple but beautiful monument reared "to the 
 memory of all those who have no other monu- 
 ment." This seems to me a tender and touching 
 tribute, the like of which I have not observed at 
 home. 
 
CHAPTER X, 
 
 Go where one will, one seems ever to be in the 
 great central midst of things. Everywhere one 
 finds wide avenues and grand boulevards con- 
 verging into spacious and beautiful Places or 
 Itond-Ponts and filled with great throngs com- 
 ing and going, and yet somehow there does not 
 appear to be that everlasting rush and jostle 
 that we notice in our own large cities. 
 
 There are many beggars with their professional 
 whine, and yet few compared to the population. 
 Upon the steps and within the porticoes of the 
 churches, particularly the antique and venerable 
 ones, do the beggars specially congregate, often 
 even within the edifice itself, having acquired a 
 sort of right of old and established usage from 
 time immemorial, to display there their infirmi- 
 ties and deformities to the worshiping and sight- 
 seeing multitudes. 
 
 Some, perhaps, of those who desire alms ought 
 not to be called beggars, as they profess to give 
 something for one's money. It is somewhat 
 surprising to see a man or woman, or both, sud- 
 denly step out into the middle of a street and 
 all at once lift up voice or voices in stentorian 
 song, after which contributions are solicited. 
 
 The most annoying class are the street ped- 
 dlers ; they follow one for blocks, persi-siing in 
 their importunities. It will not do to not'ce 
 them by glnnce or word, even of courteous re- 
 fusal, as they will then dog one indefinitely, ''ar- 
 guing the case," hoping, I suppose, to weary 
 one into purchasing. One may rid one's self of 
 
 85 
 
86 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 them, I believe, by speaking to a gardien de 
 la paix, but this seems rather heavy artillery to 
 bring against the poor wretches, so one usually 
 endures in silence. 
 
 There is another sort of street-vender who is 
 not to be classed with the peddlers for he is an in- 
 stitution by himself. Hema^^ have garden pro- 
 duce for sale, he may be an "old-ciothes-man" 
 or a dog-barber, but whatever he is, he does not 
 pester one unnecessarily ; he, — or she, for per- 
 haps it is a woman, and if so, bare-headed — be- 
 takes him down through the center of the street, 
 pushing before him his goods or his tools, while 
 ever and again he gives vent to a most peculiar 
 refrain consisting of a few set notes that ring 
 out high and strident, yet not without a certain 
 melody, above the conglomerated noises of the 
 busy thoroughfare. It is impossible to know 
 what he says; he has a patoia of his own. If, 
 from the looks of his wares, you desire his atten- 
 tion, he serves you at once politely,but he impor- 
 tunes nobody and goes on his way still warb- 
 ling. 
 
 One is constantly meeting in the streets, long 
 lines of boys and girls of all ages, being escorted 
 to and from their respective schools by their 
 teachers. I am told that during the first few 
 years of childhood, the sexes are educated to- 
 gether in governmental schools. A little later a 
 division is effected and w^omen are appointed to 
 teach the girls while the boys are put under the 
 charge of men, always, I believe of some clerical 
 order. Still later the girls finish their educa- 
 tion in the convents while the boys are sent to 
 the universities. It looks odd to see these pro- 
 cessions of tall youths filing by, carefully con- 
 ducted and watched over by half a dozen or so 
 priestly attendants, as if the lads were incapa- 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 87 
 
 ble of walking unharmed abont the streets alone. 
 In their times of play, unless in the public gar- 
 dens, both lads and lassies are hidden by the 
 high, opaque walls of their respective schools 
 or homes, such a thing as a "door-yard" open to 
 the public gaze, being unknown in Paris. 
 
 Shop-boys have a fashion of bearing surpris- 
 ing burdens on their heads, like our southern 
 negroes. At a corner of two principal boule- 
 vards, amid all the elbowing and confusion of a 
 densely packed crowd that had gathered to watch 
 a carnival parade,! saw a baker's boy making his 
 way unconcernedly across the street, hands 
 thrust in pockets and upon his head a basket of 
 delicate pastries about which he seemed to have 
 no consciousness whatever. When he came to a 
 more than usually impenetrable part, he would 
 calmly demand : "Is it that I may pass?" and 
 somehow pass he did with his burden unharmed. 
 Sometimes you may see one with perhaps a load 
 of eggs or fresh butter upon his cranium, yet 
 walking on and reading a newspaper with sub- 
 lime indiiference as to the perishable nature of 
 his burden. Or, maybe one with basket of 
 snowy linen will stop to watch a game or possi- 
 bly indulge in a few rounds himself, without in- 
 jury to himself or his charge. 
 
 Bread seems sometimes regarded as a literal as 
 well as metaphorical "staff of life." Often you 
 may see a young fellow going along with a yard 
 ortwoof this comestible in his hand, swinging 
 it like a cane ; or a woman will be coming down 
 the street with a like thin, long roll clasped in 
 her arms ; or you may see it leaning against a 
 doorway waiting to be taken in ; or two little 
 children will be skipping along, each bearing 
 one end of it, like a stick of wood. 
 
 Another thing that has surprised me some- 
 
88 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 what, is the size of the average French woman's 
 foot. There is no difficulty in getting a know- 
 ledge of it, for the ladies of Paris hold their 
 skirts at a remarkable elevation from the pave- 
 ment, and the fact is thereby revealed that in- 
 stead of posessing, as I had fancied from read- 
 ing, tiny, dainty pedal extremities, they as a 
 rule have noticeably generous, substantial "un- 
 derstandings." American shoes are considered 
 far superior to all others and are advertised ac- 
 cordingly. 
 
 Ladies and gentlemen walking together usually 
 lock arms even by day, reminding one of pic- 
 tures in old editions of Dickens and Thackeray. 
 I am told that this is generally customary on 
 this side of the water. Very often, too, both 
 ladies and gentlemen, forsaking the foot-pave- 
 ments, betake themselves to the middle of the 
 street, down which they walk nonchalantly, evi- 
 dently deeming their right of way equal to that 
 of horsemen and vehicles. 
 
 Just now the shop-windows are full of curious 
 cartoons anent the first of April, though instead 
 of stigmatizing a gullible idiot, as we do, an 
 "April Fool," they here depict him or her as 
 imposed upon by a fish. I have wondered 
 whether our term "fish story", might trace its 
 origin to this custom. 
 
 The large magasins, or department stores, of 
 Paris are interesting institutions. Besides their 
 wondrous displays of art and fashion in infi- 
 nite variety, many things in their arrangement 
 and management are peculiar. The Bon iMarche 
 — pronounced "Bdw Marshy" with a strong na- 
 sal twang, — in the Rue de Bac. covers a large 
 square and is, perhaps, a model of its kind. Its 
 employes are boarded at the place, with which 
 are connected dining room, kitchen and other 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 89 
 
 domestic offices. Four repasts, I understand, 
 are served each, day, of excellent quality. A fine 
 and spacious reading-room made beautiful by 
 artistic decoration, painting, plants and bric-a- 
 brac, is provided with stationery, current jour- 
 nals and periodicals for the benefit of shoppers. 
 
 There are no fixed seats at the counters, as 
 with us ; if a customer is given a chair it is 
 either as a special courtesy or on a special occa- 
 sion. There are no cash-carriers of any kind, 
 animate or automatic ; each purchaser must ac- 
 company the clerk who has served one to the 
 bureau of that special department, where one 
 paj'-s for and receives one's goods. Thjs en- 
 tails considerable extra walking and every step 
 counts on the extremely slippery, hard-wood 
 floors, but the custom does away in a great de- 
 gree with the long waits necessary incur stores, 
 during which, as the jokers have it, one grows 
 gray and tottering before receiving one's 
 change. 
 
 There is always at least one functionary in 
 these great emporiums who "spiks Ingliss," 
 though it may be fearfully and wonderfully 
 made. 
 
 The demeanor of the employes in general is 
 an improvement on that of many of our"sales-la- 
 dies and. gentlemen" at home. One is not pet- 
 rified by a stony stare if one desires merely to 
 look at a display of the wares without imme- 
 diate purchase, nor is one annihilated by glances 
 of ineffable disdain if one ventures to ask for a 
 less expensive article than that shown; on the 
 contrary one is treated with much deference 
 and the right to inspect freely and to suit one's 
 purse in buying, is conceded as a matter of 
 course. 
 
 I notice in Paris an odd method of street-wa- 
 
90 ONE WOMAN WANDEBING 
 
 tering, calculated however for limited areas, the 
 like of which I have never seen in America. The 
 apparatus consists of several lengths of iron pipe, 
 each of about ten feet and mounted at each end 
 on little cross-pieces that in turn have at each 
 end a small iron ball revolving in a socket and 
 resting on the pavement; the pipes are connected 
 by very short lengths of flexible, rubber hose. 
 
 A man in charge rolls this apparatus into the 
 street, fits one end to an aperture in the pave- 
 ment communicating with the water-supply, 
 puts a nozzle on the other end and straightway 
 he is enabled to wet down a considerable space 
 with very little trouble. There are watering 
 carts too, of course ; queer looking affairs like 
 boxes, about three feet high and four long, 
 mounted on two great wheels like a dumping- 
 cart. 
 
 A large number of horseless carriages of var- 
 ious styles and sizes, and calculated to carry 
 from one to half a dozen persons, may be seen 
 running all about through the streets of Paris. 
 I have also seen a three-wheeled affair resem- 
 bling a bicycle. The rider of this machine does 
 no pedaling and seemingly has no care what- 
 ever except to direct his course by means of the 
 handle-bars. I have never seen these elsewhere 
 and they are more terrifying to me than all the 
 'buses and trams together, for one never knows 
 when they may whizz across one's path, as they 
 are confined to no set tracks, like the trams and 
 are heralded by no beat of horses' feet, like the 
 'buses. They speed over the pavements, swift 
 and silent, the only warning one has of their ap- 
 proach being a shrill, little "toot" which one 
 thinks, if one notes it at all, is produced by some 
 small boy's tin trumpet. I believe the motive 
 power is petroleum. 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 91 
 
 It strikes me that the Parisians are great 
 sleepers. It may be *because they live so fast 
 that they are obliged to take "forty winks" 
 whenever they can; at any rate they seem to 
 sleep everywhere. On the benches, in the gar- 
 dens, in the galleries, the museum, the omni- 
 buses, even in the cafes with their glasses before 
 them, you may see men and women too, sitting 
 bolt upright and wrapped in placid slumber. 
 The news-dealer slumbers at his stand ;the boot- 
 cleaner slumbers at his post; the cabman slum- 
 bers on his seat ; if you wish the latter's services 
 you must waken him ; if you make a round of 
 calls you will find him relapsed into slumber 
 between each one and you will probably have to 
 poke him up every time, before you resume your 
 drive. 
 
 One can apparently never exhaust the odd 
 spectacles one is continually meeting in a prom- 
 enade. Fancy defunct porkers and lifeless 
 mutton-legs gayly garnished with artificial 
 flowers ; or a plucked fowl tricked out with 
 strings of red berries around its neck and'-drum- 
 sticks;"or a salt cod-fish tastefully decorated 
 with sprays of green. There is a great display 
 in the open street of all sorts of wares, from 
 eggs to engravings ; many things to the United 
 States mind, calling imperatively for an An- 
 thony Comstock to rise up in righteous wrath 
 and sweep them from off the face of the globe. 
 There is always an interested and critical throng 
 about these varied exhibitions and I believe the 
 art of window-dressing reaches its height in 
 Paris. 
 
 Many of the streets have most absurd names. 
 Here are a few jotted down in my meanderings : 
 "The Cat that Fishes," "September Fourth," 
 "July Twenty Ninth," "Good Children," 
 
92 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 "White Mantles," "The Step of a Mule," 
 "White Horse," "Five Diamonds," "Scissors," 
 "Comet, ""Equality, ""White Doctor, ""Hell," 
 — for a fact, both a boulevard and a pa«sage are 
 called by this name usually unmentionable to 
 ears polite, — "High Pound, ""Iron Pot, "'-White 
 Queen," Poor St. Julien," "Old Pigeon-Housn," 
 and others quite as queer. But these are relics 
 of olden times, whereof the precise significance 
 has been forgotten. 
 
 Equally singular and sometimes, to the 
 Anglo-Saxon idea, verging on the profane, are 
 the titles of some of the srhops, such as, — all 
 translated, of course, — "The Mother of a F;im- 
 ily," "The Good Devil," "God the Father," 
 "The Chicken in the Pot,'' "The Devil's Four 
 Quarters," "The Grace of God." This last is 
 a dye-shop and were it in England or the United 
 States one might try to evolve some connection 
 between the "grace of God" and "dying" in one 
 sense and so, by transference, to "dyeing" in 
 another; but being in France, even this labored 
 explanation is impossible. 
 
 Though I gaze with admiration on the great, 
 wide, modern thoroughfares with their marvel- 
 ous display of architectural beauties, and rare 
 as well as costly wares, yet I am really 
 most fascinated by these same quaint, old streets 
 and localities that are in the midst of, yet so far 
 removed from, all our conceptions of life as we 
 know it now. 
 
 Imagine the state of society and of traffic that 
 could exist among these narrow ways, little more 
 than lanes, in many of which it would be impos- 
 sible for one vehicle to pas* another. Naturally 
 we infer that there were no vehicles to pass ; 
 upon the backs of men and horses were trans- 
 ported through the towns all the necessities of 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 93 
 
 life. But can we go so far as to imagine all the 
 carts, carriages and conveyances banished from 
 the streets to-day, and the consequent hush and 
 general stagnation that such a condition of 
 things would imply ? Would life be worth living? 
 And yet they lived, those people of the olden 
 time, and did good deeds and brave and passed 
 on that we might come after. 
 
 I say little about the magnificent palaces, 
 cathedrals, art-collections and other places of 
 note in Paris, although there is scarcely a day 
 in which I do not visit some of them. They are 
 all well-known to fame and stand solidly on 
 their own merits to which, or from which, I 
 could add, or detract, nothing, even were it in- 
 cumbent on me to try. But impressions of 
 sights and sounds that attract the attention of 
 a stranger in novel environment must be tinged 
 more or less in every instance with his own indi- 
 viduality and thus in a measure unlike all 
 others, which is my excuse for rambling on. 
 
 Many a day have I spent in the Palaces of the 
 Louvre and the Luxembourg and numberless 
 others, amid their wonderful treasures of mar- 
 ble and canvas ; many an hour amid the cool, 
 secluded shades of Notre Dame, St. Sulpi^e, St. 
 Germain-des-Pres, the Madeleine, the Pantheon 
 and others too numerous to name. 
 
 Ah ! to think of the quiet feet which once 
 pasbcd restlessly in and out of these vaulted 
 aisles; the silent voices once lilted here in earn- 
 est prayer and praise. All gone, but their 
 places are not vacant. Still rush and throb the 
 feet and hearts of surging humanity, ever com- 
 ing, ever going ; still rise anew its vibrant voices 
 in song and supplication. 
 
 There is an antique, crumbling and moss- 
 grown edifice standing in its own grounds at a 
 
94 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 corner of the bustling, modern boulevards, St. 
 Michael and St. Germain. It is called Hotel de 
 Cluny, (Hotel meaning private mansion,) nnd 
 occupies the site of a Roman palace founded be- 
 tween the years 292 and 306, A. D. 
 
 Here in 360, Julian was proclaimed emperor. 
 The old palace has long gone to ruin and the 
 only part left to-day is the ancient Thermes or 
 baths connected with it. The fact that the 
 Friyidarium or cold-bath chamber, is sixty-five 
 by thirty-seven and one half feet in area, and 
 fifty-nine in height, indicites something of what 
 must have been the imposing dimensions of the 
 ancient structure. 
 
 Above this chamber lay for many years, until 
 1810, I believe, a garden, yet its weight and 
 moisture did not affect the stone roof of the 
 apartment lying below, — then all unsuspected, — 
 so substantial is its masonry. Many antique 
 pieces of sculpture more or less defaced are 
 found here, one of G-reek marble representing 
 the Emperor Julian himself, and a battered and 
 disreputable old creature does he appear now, 
 whatever he may have been in his prime. 
 
 In 1310 the ruins came into the possession of 
 the wealthy Benedictine Abbey of Cluny, the 
 abbots of which caused to be erected in the fif- 
 teenth and sixteenth centuries, the present Hotel 
 de Cluny. 
 
 This edifice, a remarkably fine specimen of 
 late Gothic combined with Renaissance features, 
 still exists and quaint enough it looks amid the 
 surroundings of modern civilization. The es- 
 tate became national property during the Revo- 
 lution and in 1839 the Hotel de Cluny came into 
 the possession of M. Alexander du Sommerard, 
 a learned antiquarian. He died in 1842 and the 
 property, together with the Thermes^ was pur- 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 95 
 
 chased by the government and thrown open to 
 the public free of charge. By the way, Paris is 
 remarkable for the numerous means of recrea- 
 tion, instruction and culture which it furnishes 
 gratuitously to both residents and strangers; 
 and it is rare if even a nominal fee is asked for 
 the care of one's umbrellas or canes when left, 
 as they must be, with the door-keepers. 
 
 The Hotel de Cluny contains a most valuable 
 collection of mediaeval objects of art and indus- 
 trial products to the number of more than eleven 
 thousand. 
 
 But what renders it supremely interesting to 
 me is the fact that the somber old rooms with 
 their low, timbered ceilings, black with time, 
 their ponderous bat pricelessly beautiful fur- 
 nishings, their deep, wide-mouthed fire-places 
 mutely testifying of an epoch when France had 
 logs to burn, and having classically ornate man- 
 tels, their quaint windows set high from the 
 floors and their dark antique decorations of a 
 by-gone age, are left intact; and again I fall to 
 wondering what s )rt of persons trod these floors, 
 looked from these windows, loved and hoped 
 and wept and died within these walls and 
 whether they too mused upon the old fashions 
 and queer customs of their predecessors. 
 
 But the "silence" is"unbroken"and the"still- 
 ness" gives "no token," for there are none left 
 to answer, so I turn my thoughts from the things 
 that were to the things that are. 
 
 Among the many wonderful and quaintly 
 interesting institutions of Paris, and yet one 
 that is not always visited by the hasty tourist, 
 is the Gobelins, the state-manufactory of that 
 famous tapestry. The foundation of this man- 
 ufactory, it is said, dates back as far as the 
 time of Francis -1., but the product did not re- 
 
96 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 ceive its present name until 1662, when the 
 brothers Gobelin began its manufacture and pro- 
 duced not only tapestry but all sorts of royal 
 furniture. "From this period, "says one author- 
 ity, ' dates the celebrity of the Gobelin tapes- 
 tries, which are veritable works of art." 
 
 They are now reserved entirely for the govern- 
 ment, for the draping of public buildings or as 
 presents from the state to foreign courts, to per- 
 sons of exalted rank and the like, and are en- 
 tirely withheld from the general market. 
 
 It is amazing to watch the busy weavers, for 
 they work from the wrong side and the beauti- 
 ful, finished portions are turned toward the visi- 
 tor as he passes along in front. A large copy of 
 the design in progress hangs at one side out of 
 the workman's sight, but the small part on 
 which he is actually engaged is drawn in crayon 
 on the stretched threads. Behind him is a full 
 sized copy of the finished design, and a basket 
 in front of him holds his wools, fourteen thous- 
 and hues in all, each having twenty-four difl^erent 
 shades. 
 
 Copies of famous paintings are reproduced 
 not only with faultless accuracy as to details, 
 but are actually more beautiful than the origi- 
 nals, on account of a softness and delicacy of 
 tone wherein the colors blend with an im percep- 
 tibility of shading that is truly surprising^ 
 while there is no glitter or hardness of varnish 
 to offend the eye. 
 
 I was struck with the smallness and delicacy 
 of the workmen's hands; at first as I saw them 
 weaving in and out, the owners themselves be-^ 
 ing invisible, I supposed t'lem the hands of 
 women, but learned later that no women are em- 
 ployed. 
 
 An area of six square inches is the average 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 97 
 
 daily task of each man. The loom does not es- 
 pecially differ from the ordinary machine. It is 
 impossible for the casual observer to estimate 
 the degree of patience, skill and exactitude, re- 
 quired in this work. Day after day these toilers 
 sit here behind their looms, in silence and un- 
 ceasing application, isolated from all visitors and 
 almost from their kind, as the looms in front 
 shut them off in a measure from their companions 
 as well as from the public. 
 
 The Gobelins also include the Savonnerie, a 
 carpet-factory started in 1604, by Marie de 
 Medicis, in what was originally a soap-factory, 
 hence the name, and which was united to the 
 Gobelins in 1826. 
 
 The main building of the Gobelins^ which is 
 very quaint and old, is situated in the Avenue 
 cles Gobelins, and is surrounded by a high wall. 
 A large gate at one side, near which stands a uni- 
 formed attendant, is opened to the public on 
 Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. 
 
 We enter an ancient little court with a tree 
 or so at one side, and turning to the left come 
 into the first of the exhibition rooms of which 
 there are four, exclusive of the two work-shops, 
 the staircases, the long corridor and the work- 
 shop of the Savonnerie. On leaving this build- 
 ing, we step out into a quaint winding way be- 
 tween low, ancient, whitewashed structures, all 
 within the iniilosure, until we come again into 
 the little court, at the farther end of which we 
 find the chapel attached to the place. 
 
 This is indeed queer and old-timey. Its prin- 
 cipal decorations are seventeenth century tapes- 
 tries after paintings by Raphael. A portrait 
 above the entrance is striking in its vivid life- 
 likeness. 
 
 I saw here something not included in any 
 
98 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 guide-book or list of remarkable objects, but 
 which, while astonishing and unique, lelt in me 
 no desire to ever again behold the like. I had 
 noticed a figure in the ordinary garb of a lady, 
 standing with back toward me before the medi- 
 aeval altar, evidently consulting a hand-book. 
 As I approached, this figure turned and ad- 
 dressed to me a civil inquiry, and I earnestly 
 hope that the amazement and horror that I felt 
 while endeavoring to reply, were not depicted 
 on my countenance, for the "lady" had a well- 
 trimmed and luxuriant moustache, which curled 
 gracefully about her mouth in the most approved 
 fashion. Her manner did not betoken the least 
 consciousness of anything unusual in her ap- 
 pearance and, thanking me politely, (-he glided 
 quietly away. 
 
 Everywhere one goes one sees a continual 
 washing and polishing of counter, window, floor 
 and pavement. Men are scrubbing down the 
 seats placed at intervals along the grand boule- 
 vards, also giving the railings and arbors in the 
 gardens a thorough rinsing. Even in the ceme- 
 teries is seen on every hand the vigorous appli- 
 cation of soap and water to both outside and in- 
 side of tombs. This sounds strange, but the 
 tombs here are almost invariably temples of 
 greater or lesser size, entered with as little diffi- 
 culty as an ordinary dwelling. A tomb will 
 contain probably one or more windows of stained 
 glass, an altar of some description, a painting 
 or piece of sculpture, perhaps a seat or two ; in 
 fact, there is almost as much variety in their 
 interiors as in those of homes in general ; but I 
 must confess it has a singular effect as one is 
 passing along the quiet though not deserted 
 avenues, to hear voices from within these tombs, 
 no occupant being visible. One involuntarily 
 recalls that dismal old hymn beginning: 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 99 
 
 "Hark ! from the tombs a doleful sound, 
 Mine ears attend the cry,'' 
 
 thoufijh the "sound" is more practical and en- 
 ergetic than "doleful," while the swish of 
 brush and splash of water instantly banish all 
 reflections of a supernatural tenor. 
 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 About this time J again change my quarters 
 and I now find myself in a typical French met- 
 ropolitan dwelling-house. The average citizen 
 of Paris is housed in this fashion with accessor- 
 ies more or less elegant, as his purse may jvar- 
 rant. 
 
 There are few streets in Paris in which the 
 lower floors are not occupied by shops of 
 some kind, but this where I now reside is one of 
 the few that is given over to dwellings simply. 
 
 About two blocks from my habitation the 
 street converges into the beautiful Avimve de V 
 Observatoire taken from the ancient palace- 
 garden of the Luxembourg, a side en- 
 trance to the remaining area of which, lies just 
 around the corner from my present abode; while 
 the spacious and busy boulevard of St. Michael 
 runs along the other side of the garden and also 
 converges into the Jtve/r^e de I Ohservatoire at 
 the point mentioned above. 
 
 There is no tram nor omnibus line on my 
 street and, as one stands at the end and looks 
 along its length, it has an appearance of quiet- 
 ude almost deathly. But this quiet street has 
 had some famous residents and stirring scenes 
 in its time. Here Emile Littre compiled his 
 great work, the Dictionary of the French Lan- 
 guage^ while living at No. 108; it was then 
 called No. 48, Rue de VOiiest. Littre himself 
 has described the house as one from which the 
 Communists fired upon the Versailles troops dur- 
 ing three days. Littre died at No. 44. No. 76 
 
 100 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING lOl 
 
 has a tablet inscribed : Here lived Jules Michelet, 
 the hii-torian, born at Paris, August 22, 1798, 
 died at Hyerts (Var) February 9, 1874. No. 14 
 was long the residence of Pierre Jean David, 
 the sculptor, called David of Angers, to distin- 
 guish him from Louis David the painter. At 
 No 84 lived the painter Jerome Marie Langlois, 
 a pupil of David the painter. 
 
 The buildings in this street look more like 
 warehouses, factories, or even prisons than 
 homes, for they stand flush with the pavements, 
 having no areas, railings or outside steps, as 
 with us, and across the lower windows is usually 
 some kind of an iron grating. 
 
 The houses are all of a smooth, cream-colored 
 stone and are commonly faced up two or three 
 feet with another stone of dark gray, rather 
 somber in effect. A large double-do -r like a 
 warehouse-entrance, on a level with the street, 
 gives ingress to each ; and whatever of loveliness 
 or luxury there may appertain to these homes, 
 is hidden from public view behind these doors. 
 
 Leaving the general for the particular, 1 ring 
 the street-bellof my present domicile, whereupon 
 I am admitted by the concierge. I cross the 
 threshold and find myself in a lofty passage or 
 vestibule, perhaps twenty feet broad, neatly 
 paved, and having smooth stone walls finished 
 off in pure white. The ceiling is ornamented 
 with panels in low relief and supported by eight, 
 symmetrical, snowy pillars. The cream-colored 
 stone ifloor is cut in a decorative pattern and on 
 each side run four wide, shallow, stone steps 
 extending the whole length of the passage. On 
 the left side are two double-doors with upper 
 halves of plate-glass; the first opens into the 
 quarters of the concierye, for no Fiench family 
 ever lives on the ground floor of such a building. 
 
102 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 unless attached to its service. The other door 
 has upon it in gilt letters the name of an Agency, 
 and I presume leads to an office. These doors 
 are joined to each other and to the two end walls 
 by large windows, also of plate-glass. On the 
 right hand is but one door also double and 
 glassed, on each side of which is a handsome 
 pedestal about three feet high, upon wiiich 
 stands a beautiful, large porcelain lamp of ex- 
 quisite design, looking like some rare vase. 
 Spread along the steps at each side, are soft, 
 bright rugs, very clean. Within the right h^nd 
 door one sees a fine mosaic pavement and alight, 
 ornamental staircase seemingly constructed 
 chiefly of glittering brass; this winds up and 
 away into regions unknown to me, as my w^ay 
 lies farther on ; I may say, however, that each 
 floor is a separate flat. 
 
 I imagine that the lot of a Paris postman "is 
 not a happy one." True he does not have to 
 mount all these stairs and visit all these flats, 
 for the outer concierge takes charge of all the 
 mail or parcels coming into the building, which 
 by the way has but one number for all its many 
 divisions ; as for instance in this place we are 
 all "No. 70," though there must be as many as 
 a dozen families in the house. But though the 
 concierge thus far relieves the postman, the lat- 
 ter must still be on the alert, for mails are de- 
 livered here not only in the daytime on week- 
 days, but also in the evenings and on Sunday. 
 The postman wears a dark blue uniform and his 
 mail is carried in a shallow, square box of many 
 compartments and is suspended horizontally in 
 front of the man by means of straps from 
 the shoulders. Stamps, aside from at the post- 
 offices, may be purchased of the tobacconists. 
 Tobacco being a governmental product and un- 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 103 
 
 der its protection, a license is necessary for the 
 sale of the weed, and with this is given the right 
 to sell stamps. 
 
 But 1 have not yet reached my apartment. 
 At the farther end of the vestibule is another 
 large double-door, of stained gla!?s. This has 
 no bell nor lock, so I turn the handle and step 
 into a large, open court perhaps fifty feet square. 
 I use the term, open, in the sense of having no 
 roof; it is, however, fully inclosed otherwise by 
 the four inner walls of the building, six stories 
 high besides the attic. The edifice is, in fact, 
 built around this court, so that the latter is shut 
 ofi' from the street and all other outside com- 
 munication, by, in effect, a lofty barrier two 
 rooms deep on all sides. 
 
 The court is paved with ornamentally cut 
 stone; in the center, elevated by one or two very 
 broad shallow steps, is a curbing of fanciful de- 
 sign perhaps twenty by twenty-five feet in dimen- 
 sions, which is filhd with ear h and set out in 
 flowers and shrubs. This plot, by the way, is 
 called a "garden." 
 
 The main apartments of the structure face 
 this court, and six rows of windows, besides the 
 dormer windows of the attic, look down upon it 
 and receive no more air and light than may en- 
 ter from above. In this respect the higher flats 
 are the more favort d ;residingin the lower ones is 
 something like living witliin a deep well. 
 
 Across the court from the entrance is still 
 another double-door, half glass like the others, 
 before which are more wide, light-stone steps 
 and more bright clean rugs. Pulling another 
 bell, I evoke another concierge who admits me 
 into a hall about twelve feet wide. Another 
 floor cut out in patterns, this time of marble, and 
 covered with a soft rug through the center Jeads, 
 
104 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 to another staircase opposite. This stairway is 
 of polished hardwood, but mercifully to the an- 
 kles, a carpet is laid in the middle. 
 
 Each landing is lighted by a large window of 
 stained glass. Through these when open, may 
 be seen the tiniest imaginable ppace of greenery, 
 a shrub or two, and a high, iron fence, immedi- 
 ately on the other side of which rise the grim- 
 looking walls of a great convent which, facing 
 the other way, shuts us oif from the street be- 
 hind us. 
 
 I walk up the last mentioned stairs, turning 
 at the half-way landing, and find myself on the 
 first floor, (foreign reckoning,) where I am ad- 
 mitted by the bonne and go down the hall to my 
 room, for I have at last reached the particular 
 flat in which, for the time being, I dwell When 
 ensconced here, there are betweem me and the 
 public street, three solid walls, (for my room 
 faces the court on the further side, ) one single 
 and four double-doors. It is quite a proceeding 
 to really get outside, and in the case of those who 
 dwell in the upper stories, it becomes a pilgrim- 
 age, as elevators are unconceived of. I wonder 
 if all this difficulty of access, all this getting 
 away as far as possible from the public gaze, 
 arose from the necessity in ancient, rude and 
 war like times, of placing the family, usually 
 tender and helpless, as distant as possible from 
 outside attacks. 
 
 It is ditti 'ult in viewing the Paris of to-day, 
 t') realize its tumultuous and terrible p.ist. The 
 scenes of violence, bloodshed and destruction 
 have, almost, without exception, been so com- 
 pletely transformed and beautified that one 
 niupt turn to the pa^es of history to find evi- 
 dence that affairs have ever been other than as 
 now. 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 105 
 
 But there is one stately ruin standing to-day 
 in what is known as the Aristocratic Quarter 
 that testifies silently yet powerfully to a season 
 of terror not very far removed from the present 
 time. 
 
 This is the Palais d^Orsay, built in 1810-35 
 and latterly used by the Conseil cfEtat and the 
 Cour des Comptes. 
 
 In the dark days of '71, this palace was fired 
 by the Oommunards, and to-day the lofty exter- 
 ior walls, still standing in spite of their terrible 
 ordeal, are all that is left to witness to the 
 grandeur and dignity of the once magnificent 
 structure. It is an imposing edifice even now, 
 covering the area bounded by the Quay d' Ort<ay, 
 and the streets of Lille, Poitiers and Bellechasse, 
 but the interior is completely gutted; chaotic 
 heaps of broken masonry here and there, while 
 suggesting something of the outline and dimen- 
 sions of grand salon and gallery, yet preserve no 
 indication of the former elegance and beauty of 
 design and decoration. All is silence now 
 within its roofless chambers into which the sun- 
 shine and the rain of heaven alike fall pitilessly, 
 while vines and shrubs look out of the empty 
 window-spaces. 
 
 The public gardens of Paris are beginning to 
 appear very lovely now with wealth of leaf and 
 bud. Not a great profusion as yet but enough 
 to brighten and ornament the scene. 
 
 In all these numberless beautiful gardens be- 
 longing to the municipality, laid out with skill 
 and art and embellished with statues, pondu, 
 fountains, and flowers, the children have full 
 sway and are alioved to run, romp, roll and dis- 
 port themsalves altogether as they see fit. Some 
 of the gardens are ot modern origin; others date 
 back several hundred } ears and have seen dynas- 
 
106 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 ties rise and fall ; but whatever they are, they 
 are open from moruing until night, for the 
 special benefit of the rising generation. 
 
 It gives much food for meditation to stroll 
 through the ancient palace-gardens such as those 
 of the Louvre, the Tuileries, the Palais lioyale 
 the Luxumbovirg, Versailles and the like, all plan- 
 ned and perfected by a corrupt and selfish roy- 
 alty for its own exclusive enjoyment, and to mark 
 the freedom with which all classes of people 
 (except indeed the very class of those ancient 
 aristocrats themselves) now pervade for rest 
 or recreation these once sacredly guarded pre- 
 cincts : while their children, shouting from 
 terrace or leafy nook, wake echoes once answer- 
 ing only to the stir of a royal retinue ; or, racing 
 down the winding avenues and around the mar- 
 ble margins of plashing waters, do tread all un- 
 abashed and unrebuked in the footsteps of 
 ancient kings. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 I left Paris one mild morning in a drizzling 
 rain^ so that my last view of her avenues and 
 vistas was as through a mist of tears. 
 
 Not at all, however, did I regret leaving this 
 wondrous city, the magnificence and beauty of 
 which are so indescribable, but whose spacious 
 areas and splendid structures seem somehow de- 
 signed merely for external display, with little 
 thought throughout those broad stretches, of 
 the inner domesticity and cosy hominess so 
 dear to less excitable if also less brilliant peo- 
 ples. 
 
 Parisians as a rule seem to live in public and 
 to seek home only for reasons somewhat similar 
 to that influencing the too convivial gentleman 
 who went home at four o'clock in the morning, 
 "because all the other places were shut up." 
 
 I shall not soon forget the extreme surprise 
 and volubly expressed amazement of both mis- 
 tress and maids at my pension, when occasion- 
 ally, wearied out by incessant promenading and 
 sight-seeing, I elected to pass the day quietly in 
 my own room. 
 
 "What! Madame has not gone out? But 
 surely, Madame goes out presently? Madame 
 does not stay with herself all the day. That 
 understands itself without saying!" 
 
 Thus the women of the household ; and no one 
 of them, mistress or servant, seemed to be able 
 to approach that point of view wherefrom it 
 might appear reasonable or satisfactory to re- 
 frain from making a sortie into the outer world. 
 
 107 
 
108 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 This seems the prevailing state of opinion; 
 and perhaps it is not inexplicable why the seclu- 
 sion of the domestic hearth is not so prized by 
 this light-hearted, emotional folk, as by some 
 other nationalities. 
 
 In the first place, the "domestic hearth" 
 scarcely exists even as a figure of speech. The 
 homes in general, as nott d before, are damp 
 and, to the American, dark and somewhat dis- 
 mal. Fuel is expensive and brought in only in 
 small quantities. Such a thing as keeping up 
 a continual fire for general warmth is almost 
 unknown. 
 
 As soon as a meal is prepared, the cooking 
 fire is extinguished, while the small fire lit in 
 the dining-room just before each meal, is care- 
 fully raked out as soon as the meal is over. But 
 the most surprising feature of it all is that the 
 "native" does not seem chilly and, even while 
 the American is shivering, opens doors and 
 windows for fresh air. 
 
 In a land of continual sunshine, like Italy or 
 California, I can understand how persons get 
 into a habit of going out of doors to keep warm ; 
 but in Paris where there is so much chill rain 
 and often quite protracted spells of really cold 
 weather, it is incomprehensible to me that they 
 should not, unless in poverty, strive to be a little 
 copier at home. 
 
 Of course sun and light are not so easily ob- 
 tained as artificial warmth might be. The liv- 
 ing-rooms, looking out as they usually do upon 
 high, closed courts that shut off mvich of what 
 sunlight might otherwise shine directly in at 
 the windows, are often in the shadow all day 
 long, which does not add to their cheeriness, 
 nor can their occupants command any view of 
 what is going on in the outside world. 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 109 
 
 Then the French custom of breaking fast in 
 the morning with a bit of bread and a draught 
 of coffee taken alone, either in bed or during the 
 toilet, does away with the pleasant and hospit- 
 able reunion around the breakfast table, which 
 our own countrymen so highly prize ; and the 
 average Frenchman hurries out into the street 
 as soon as may be, for warmth and society. 
 What wonder then that the brilliantly lighted 
 restaurants and the wide, clean avenues with 
 their constantly shifting throngs of gay comers 
 and goers, should seem most attractive to these 
 volatile people, especially here where they have 
 made their city with very little exception, the 
 most splendid and beautiful in the world. 
 
 But now it was behind me and I was soon 
 speeding over a green and fertile country and 
 through thrifty, picturesque towns. 
 
 1 could not but note the difference between 
 the United States and France, in the degree of 
 care taken to reduce to a minimum the danger of 
 railway accidents. Everywhere was the ap- 
 proach to a station most carefully guarded. 
 Nowhere did a railway and a country-road cross 
 at the same level; either by a strong bridge or a 
 well-walied excavation did the train pass over 
 or under the wagon ways; and throughout the 
 whole course, the tracks were laid between earth 
 trenches well protected by thickly growing 
 hedge or solid mason-work, so that by no pos- 
 sibility could any creature, biped or quadruped, 
 find itself upon the rails unguarded. Recalling 
 the manner in which our trains at home dash 
 through crowded cities and out across the open, 
 utterly unprotected country, I could not but 
 feel that we might learn much in regard to the 
 proper care and preservation of life, even from 
 these same "volatile" Frenchmen. 
 
110 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 There is not much in the scenery along this 
 "Road of Iron of the East," to keep one's atten- 
 tion as we journey on hour after hour with the 
 rain still gently falling. We pass through an 
 undulating country well watered with noble 
 streams and fair with verdant fields. There is 
 little to remind an American that one is in a 
 foreign land, except perhaps the sight of peasant 
 women of all ages toiling on the fermes at the 
 most menial of out-door tasks, the extreme tidi- 
 ness and "finish" of homes and gardens, and 
 the dramatic vivacity of the alien tongue at the 
 stations. 
 
 I soon turned my attention to the interior of 
 my carriage. For the first time I now found 
 myself in a second-class compartment and I 
 looked curiously about to see what manner of 
 place it might be. It certainly was not luxur- 
 ious but was very comfortable. As in most con- 
 tinental carriages, it opened at each side by a 
 door into a narrow lane running between two 
 rows of seats facing each other, each row accom- 
 modating five ph.ssengers with barely room for 
 opposing knees and feet. Light was admitted 
 by small windows at each end of the two rows 
 of seats and through the glass upper half of the 
 two doors. Window-curtains of some coarse, 
 dark-blue worsted stufi'; walls and ceilings being 
 covered with the same ; the former being padded 
 up three or four feet to form backs for the 
 seats, which were cushioned in the same dark- 
 blue. 
 
 There were no means of heating the place nor 
 any provision for artificial light; no opportunity 
 for moving about nor, if the compartment were 
 filled, of changing one's position; no toilet 
 conveniences of the s-implest description and no 
 way of getting out until released by the garde. 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 111 
 
 For several hours I traveled on alone and un- 
 disturbed. I had paid a man an extra franc to 
 put me into a carriage but had not thought to 
 stipulate for a "non-smoker;" in compartments 
 not labeled thus, smoking is permitted if no 
 occupant objects, with the exception of the 
 places reserved for ladies alone ; there are also 
 still other compartments labeled "Smokers," 
 where one must not demur at smoking if one 
 takes a place there. During the course of the 
 day, ladies and children came and went, but no 
 one wished to smoke until late in the afternoon 
 when my solitude was invaded by eight men, 
 evidently commercial travelers, one of whom 
 politely inquired if his smoking would be offen- 
 sive to me ; I replied literally that it would not, 
 but when, without further inquiry, the remain- 
 ing seven also produced cigars and began vigor- 
 ously puffing the same, I did feel that I had 
 fallen a victim to my good-nature. But after an 
 hour or two, these gentlemen departed as they 
 had come, in a body, and I was left again in 
 solitude. 
 
 And what a solitude it is. Not a sound but 
 the steadily rolling wheels and the occasional 
 high, thin "toot" of the whistle, which is some- 
 thing entirely different from the ear-splitting 
 shriek of our engines in America. No possible 
 way of communicating with any human beings 
 between stations. In fact, a prisoner in solitary 
 confinement am I, only to be let out at the dis- 
 cretion of the guard. I cannot call him "con- 
 ductor," he is so utterly unlike anyone we 
 recognize under that title. He seems to have the 
 vaguest idea of anything one would suppose to 
 belong properly to his province ; exhibits the 
 greatest indifference as to one's tickets; indeed, 
 on mine is a printed request that the ^'■voya- 
 
112 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 ^ei<r"will see personally that"the right coupon is 
 detached at the right place!" He never gives 
 any information as to necessary change of trains 
 or other details, unless specially importuned, 
 and even then his replies are unreliable and 
 persons are left to find their way about as their 
 intuition suggests. All this is rather hard on 
 strangers in a strange land and of a strange 
 tongue. 
 
 However I cannot help feeling sorry for the 
 guard, he looks so forlorn, as he runs along in 
 the rain outside the carriages, first on one side 
 and then on the other, now and then casually 
 mentioning the name of the station as he trots 
 down the line. He does not look in at the win- 
 dows and one would not suppose from his de- 
 meanor, that the travelers had the least interest 
 in the matter. Then he disappears. I have yet 
 to learn what becomes of him between stations. 
 
 What a contrast to our brazen-lunged train- 
 men of stentorian tones. Can my "lone sister" 
 imagine anyhow, a train with no brakemen, no 
 pop-corn and gum fiend, no time-card, no lit- 
 erature, no ice-water, "no nothing," so to 
 speak? 
 
 About this time, I gather from sights and 
 sounds at a station we approach, that there is 
 some refreshment to be had. The guard re-ap- 
 pears and unlocks my door ; I question him and 
 find that I am not in error. I step out, (the 
 carriages abroad are almost invariably on a 
 level with the platforms, so there is no climbing 
 up and down) and follow the crowd into a long 
 room filled with ?mall tallies. I have a cup of 
 coffee with milk and sugar and a roll with but- 
 ter, — I mention items because each is cliarged 
 for separately, butter, milk and sugar not being 
 matters of course, as with us, — for which I pay 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 113 
 
 about ten cents, United States, and start to go 
 back, but now to my astonishment I find I can- 
 not get out. I naturally had returned to the 
 door by which I entered, but find that locked 
 and exit cut off. Then on diligent inquiry, I 
 am directed hither and thither, through narrow 
 passages, in at this door and out at that, until 
 finally after a tortuous way, I emerge with be- 
 wildered brain, at a totally different point from 
 that at which I had entered the building. 
 
 Two or three ladies now join me in my com- 
 partment and from their conversation, (which I 
 must of necessity hear, there being no privacy 
 in these carriages,) I learn that at the next sta- 
 tion we reach the Belgian frontier, where our 
 luggage must be examined. 
 
 I am very glad to be thus forewarned, other- 
 wise I should have been sorely dismayed at the 
 sudden invasion of our carriage as it comes to a 
 halt, by two or three excited men who seize our 
 hand-luggage and rush off with it. We follow, 
 though the men have vanished; we make our 
 way into a large room where everyone must 
 claim liis or her possessions, produce keys and 
 submit to the inspection. 
 
 There are two points to be considered ; duti- 
 able articles and overweight of permissible com- 
 modities. It is a little odd that one may have 
 as much hand-luggage as one can get into 
 his compartment, with no extra charge, but on 
 all that goes into the luggage-van, one must 
 pay extra in France for anything over sixty 
 pounds, in Germany all over fifty-five pounds, 
 and in Belgium for every pound. These regu- 
 lations and the usually short distances from 
 one frontier to another, necessitate a continual 
 opening, weighing and re-weighing of trunks, 
 baskets and boxes, most tedious to experience, 
 
114 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 as everybody must go personally to attend to 
 the matter. But there is no hurry. Every- 
 one seems to have plenty of time and at last it is 
 over once more. Here again we find ourselves 
 locked in: after many efforts I discover that 
 the exit is at the opposite side from the en- 
 trance, and as before, in an entirely different 
 part of the building, but after turning here and 
 there through more doors, we come into a large 
 waiting-room which we are directed to cross 
 and finally are permitted to come into the open 
 air, when we all trail back again to our place?, 
 fee our porters and set off once more. 
 
 And now we enter Belgium. No beauty is 
 there to be seen here along the line of the 
 railway. Occasionally a few grim, sterile look- 
 ing hills and now and then a fine river, but the 
 country is mostly flat and uninteresting and 
 black with its numerous coal and iron works 
 with all their unlovely products. We roll along 
 with little variety until we have traversed the 
 tiny country and reach the German outposts. It 
 seems strange to reflect that I have crossed two 
 countries and entered a third in a little more 
 than half a day, when at home I have traveled 
 day after day and night after night without 
 ever getting outside the boundaries of the grand 
 and glorious United States. A little "spread- 
 eagle-ism" may perhaps be pardoned in one who, 
 having been for several months remote from 
 "Columbia, the getn of the ocean," begins to 
 yearn for the freedom and progress of that 
 "happy land." 
 
 But here we are in Germany, another custom- 
 house must be gone through, with another 
 weighing of luggage, another set of porters to 
 fee and another settling down to our places. 
 
 I was startled at the sudden contrast of the 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 115 
 
 North German physique to that of the lean, 
 wiry, little Frenchmen among whom I had been 
 so long. The officials here were a wonderfully 
 fine looking set of men with brilliant and hand- 
 some uniforms. The station-masters, I learn, 
 always wear a bright orange cap, so they are 
 easily identified. One lordly creature in splen- 
 did cap and bright green, braided costume con- 
 descended to inspect my trunk. 
 
 He stood on one side and I on the other of the 
 long, low barrier that runs across all these bag- 
 gage-rooms. He undid one strap and ordered, 
 not requested me to undo the other; astonished, 
 I complied. He then took hold of one end of 
 the tray and ordered me to lift the other. 
 Speechless with amazement, I obeyed. He then 
 deigned to proceed without further mandates. I 
 wondered afterward what would have happened 
 had I refused to obey his commands, probably 
 something equal to "battle, muider and sudden 
 death," for in Germany man is indeed, "lord 
 supreme," and unless yielding homage to rank 
 and position, absolutely lacking, as a rule, in any 
 of that deference that the genuine American, 
 whatever his station, always pays to women, 
 young or old, lovely or otherwise. I almost 
 wished I had told the official to "do it himself." 
 However, I was too much startled to "let my 
 angry pas^sions rise" and did not, in fact, fully 
 take in the extent of the man's — perhaps I should 
 say "the gentleman-and-officer's — "rudenes-s until 
 I was once more in my little compartment. 
 
 I may add here for the benefit of my "solitary 
 woman" the sum of information gleaned later 
 by me on this point. The usage is that any 
 woman, gentle or simple, unless having a servant 
 of some kind, must wait upon herself the same 
 as a man does ; though should it get whispered 
 
116 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 about that she is of high rank, she would receive 
 servile attention. If one travels without a maid 
 or man-servant, one may fee a porter to undo 
 straps and other little jobs difficult for a woman to 
 manage. but no service will be volunteered gratis 
 nor should one ask it. One pays the porter what 
 one pleases, from about two cents up; one would 
 wish to be just and certainly not mean, but the 
 veteran traveler never gives inordinate fees. 
 
 Our progress was soon again interrupted, for 
 at the next station we had to change trains with 
 yet again the bother of claiming boxes, bags and 
 bundles and feeing porters. But our change was a 
 vast improvement on our situation. We were now 
 on the governmental railway of Prussia and found 
 that second-class cars in Germany are as good 
 as, and more convenient than, first-class in 
 France. 
 
 This compartment held. places for six; the 
 customary lane ran from side to side connecting 
 opposite doors; the long, back seat was divided 
 by movable arms into two of two places each; 
 opposite was another double-seat facing, the oc- 
 cupants of which must ride backward. 
 
 In the space usually devoted to a continuation 
 of this short seat, was a door leading into one 
 of the tiniest lavatories, having the scantiest of 
 furnishings. This opened also into the next 
 compartment, one lavatory thus serving for two 
 compartments. 
 
 In each compartment a "Danger Brake" was 
 fixed on one wall with a placard stating how and 
 when it might be used and the j)enalties for mis- 
 use. Another complicated arrangement was 
 also provided, with directions for summoning 
 help in the case of illness or aggression on the 
 part of any of the passengers. There was an 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 117 
 
 electric bell "for the use of ladies." There 
 was aa apparatus by which, through moving a 
 lever, the temperature could be changed from 
 "cold" to "medium" or to "hot", though I am 
 sure I should never dare to meddle with this or 
 the others. As a farther provision for safety, 
 the walls of the (compartment failed by a few 
 inches to reach the ceiling, thus making it pos- 
 sible for anyone, by standing upon a seat, to 
 survey the interior of the next compartment and 
 thus, I suppose, to cause any chance villain who 
 might desire to injure his fellow-travelers, to 
 realize that he was, theoretically, under surveil- 
 lance, though I fear that, pract'cally, the ar- 
 rangement would be of little avail. 
 
 The seats were upholstered in corded velvet of 
 a grayish brown, very soft and comfortable; 
 foot-rug and curtains of the same hue; ceiling 
 and walls decorated with a neat, cheerful paper; 
 while a small lamp fixed in the center of the 
 roof would provide enough light in an emergency 
 "to make the darkness visible." 
 
 One lady accompanied me in the change but 
 after a few miles she also vanished and I was 
 left journeying onward alone. 
 
 The sun had now come out and the country 
 looked very pleasing; not unlike the region of 
 the United States through Wisconsin and Min- 
 nesota; not quite so well-watered perhaps, but 
 the aspect of things in general made it seem not 
 at all incomprehensible that our North-German 
 immigrants are able to settle down so contentedly 
 among us in that section. 
 
 The fir-t stage of my journey ends at Cologne 
 and I step out toward evening at this city of 
 fragrant associations. After many formalities, 
 (which, however, need not disconcert the "lone 
 
118 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 female," even though she does not understand 
 German, if she will keep calm and hold her 
 ticket plainly visible,) I am safely inducted into 
 a cab and soon am driving forth with wonder 
 and interest through the streets of this historic 
 town. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 I can hardly describe, much less account for, 
 the comfortable feeling that took possession of 
 me as soon as I began to mingle in German 
 scenes and to come in contact with the German 
 people. 
 
 Somehow a sensation of confidence and "at- 
 home-a-tive-ness" pervaded my mental being at 
 once, of which I had not the slightest experience 
 during all my sojourn in France. 
 
 Possibly it may be attributed to the factth^t 
 a resident of Wisconsin must necessarily be 
 somewhat familiar with the German type, with 
 its method of thought and with the sound of its 
 language, and though both type and tongue are 
 markedly modified with us, by the influence of 
 American environment, yet th^ re is enough sim- 
 ilarity in countenance and cadence here to make 
 me feel that I am not among utter strangers. 
 The rosy, rotund, blonde and bpaming gentlemen 
 and the fair, friendly and amiable ladies whom 
 I see all about, may be met in counterpart any 
 day at home, while the fjimiliar rames I note 
 everywhere intensify the home feeling. 
 
 Then, as a general thing, the German is a well- 
 balanced being. He does not fly off in a tangent 
 of wild excitement on the slightest or no provo- 
 cation. Neither does he seem to have a deep- 
 rooted suspicion of all foreigners nor lay him 
 self out at once to get the better of all such by 
 sharp practices. He seems to assume that 
 strangers mean to be fjtir and honorable in deal- 
 ing with him, and he is willing to give them the 
 
 119 
 
120 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 benefit of a doubt in all that he may not under- 
 stand. 
 
 Again, his, or perhaps I should say her, house- 
 keeping is very like our own. The country is 
 full of homes and restful places for the weary. 
 Their couches and chairs are made for rest, their 
 rooms are light and warm, (though they do not 
 overheat them as the Americans do,) and their 
 "front apartments" are not at the back, but 
 survey the pleasant avenues and the tasteful 
 gardens so arranged that their beauty may be 
 enjo3'ed by passers-by. 
 
 As with us, the family gathers at the break- 
 fast table, though one does not find the variety 
 at this meal that Americans expe3t; this 
 however can generally be obtained by order- 
 ing an "American breakfast," and paying 
 extra for the added dishes. Two is the usual 
 hour for dinner, seven for supper ; breakfast is 
 a more movable feast ranging from half past 
 seven to nine. As a result of this routine, I 
 jDresume, banking hours are from nine to two 
 and from five to seven. Tea and coffee are 
 served at these meals much more commonly than 
 in France, and without extra charge, though 
 beer-drinking is universal and that of wine 
 almost as much so; but our United States habit 
 of ice-water drinking is incomprehensible to the 
 German as well as most other foreigners; incon- 
 sequence, the average United Statesian meets 
 with considerable ridicule, generally good-na- 
 tured, for his aqua-imbibing propensities; but 
 usually unless very young or foreignized by long 
 residence, he maintains his abstemiousness in 
 this respect. This practice is a scource of sur- 
 prise and even dismay to the friendlj^ foreigners 
 one meets, and often, some kind-hearted persons 
 would take an opportunity to remonstrate with 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 121 
 
 me on account of what they deemed my perni- 
 cious habit. "Why, you will certainly be ill," 
 they would exclaim, "it is impossible to drink 
 water habitually, without getting one's system 
 out of order." "But I do it at home,"' I would 
 reply. 
 
 "Oh!" they would cry, "but you Americans 
 have more typhoid fever than any other nation 
 in the world." 
 
 "But I never had typhoid fever in my life," 
 I would rejoin. Still they w^ould not leave me 
 to my fate. "Mark my words," they would 
 add impressively, "you cannot do it here. Be 
 warned in time. " 
 
 But I persisted in imbibing the crystal fluid, 
 though I will confess that at first, supposing 
 some subtle danger might lurk therein, 1 strove 
 to satisfy my thirst with wine and beer ; but very 
 shortly decided that I would suffer illness if so 
 it must be, rather than swallow the sour and 
 bitter stuff that I sa\v consumed all about me 
 with such relish. Then as I remained provok- 
 ingly healthy, my companions would regard me 
 with amazement; no doubt exclaiming, like the 
 old-school phj^sician whose fever patient recov- 
 ered after swallowing a strenuously forbidden 
 pitcherful of ice-water : 
 
 "Great Heavens, what a constitution !" 
 
 But I was proud to find that with most for- 
 eigners, the name of American, especially from 
 the United States, was synonomous with tem- 
 perance, if not total abstinence ; and by the w^ay, 
 I was amused to note that "American" means a 
 United States citizen, with the average native of 
 the Old World. "Is so-and-so an American?" 
 I would ask. 
 
 '■'Oh, no! He is a Cantidian," would be the 
 reply, or a Mexican, or whatever the case 
 might be. 
 
122 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 "But Canada is in America," I would remark. 
 
 "Oh ! is it?" many would rejoin ; while others, 
 especially among the English, might say : "Oh, 
 well! We never think of them as Americans." 
 
 In Germany, coffee with light wafers or kucken 
 is usually served at four o'clock and sometimes 
 tea also, though the fashion of drinking the lat- 
 ter in the middle of the afternoon, is an exotic 
 from England, as it is in France and America. 
 There is always a hearty welcome for a friend 
 or stranger and the "house-mother" is seldom 
 absent from her post, where she provides for th« 
 comfort of all. One peculiarity at least, of so- 
 cial etiquette in Germanj'^ surprises the foreigner, 
 that is the requirement that the stranger shall 
 make the advances toward acquaintance with res- 
 idents, calling upon them for purposes of intro- 
 duction. 
 
 On my arrival in Cologne my first act was to 
 refresh the inner woman, which I did with, 
 among other things, the first cup of really good 
 coffee that I had found since I left home, and 
 the first butter that did not taste like whipped 
 cream. 
 
 My room was light, airy, clean and well-fur- 
 nished, at a moderate charge; seventy-five cents 
 a day, I believe, with fifteen cents additional 
 for service, but no extra charge for heat and 
 light ; tips ad libitum ; there was an exceedingly 
 comfortable bed, though this is no rarity as 1 
 found excellent beds everywhere. One never 
 sees the large English double-bed in France or 
 Germany, always single ; if the bed-room is in- 
 tended for two persons, there are two beds. 
 
 Of course in the hotels, linen is changed daily, as 
 with us; but 1 was glad to find later in the j9e?i- 
 sions, — for the Germans have adopted the French 
 term, — that more liberal ideas are prevalent than 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 123 
 
 in France, bed-linen being changed once in a 
 fortnight, "Just as they do in England," to 
 quote my German hostess; and as a week is only 
 seven days as with us, there is consequently a 
 diiFerence of ten days in the time one is expected 
 to use one's slips and sheets. 
 
 The Germans also have more advanced views 
 in regard to towels, though bath-rooms are almost 
 as rare as in France. But I will say for the 
 pensions of both countries, that the linen and 
 bedding furnished are of excellent quality, soft, 
 fairly fine, ample and sweet smelling, and the 
 room-fittings as a rule far surpass in quality and 
 comfort, those provided at greater cost in our 
 own country. This last clause applies also to 
 the table, where usually much care is shown to 
 appointments and serving though the list of 
 dishes is much shorter. The housekeeping I 
 find immaculate everywhere. But this is a di- 
 gression. I return to my hotel. 
 
 Wonder of wonders, there is here an elevator. 
 As we use that term, while the English say 
 "lift" and the French "ascender," (translated,) 
 I was curious to know the German designation, 
 so asked the lad at hand ; to my amusement he 
 replied "riding-chair," (also translated.) 
 
 The next morning I began my exploration of 
 Cologne. It is a fine city and, as we all know, 
 full of special interest. The "sweet waters" 
 that have made its name a household word 
 everywhere, are to be seen on sale on every side, 
 in gayly decorated tiasks more or less elegant. 
 
 The great cathedral attracts one's attention at 
 once. Would that I could fully express the 
 singular impression of extreme airiness, delicacy 
 and elegance, conveyed by this wondrous struc- 
 ture, which is at the same time so grand and 
 imposing. Inapplicable as the word may seem 
 
124 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 to such a pile of stone, the epithet "lovely" im- 
 mediatelj'^ rises to one's lips. 
 
 The two twin towers reaching up so far away 
 into the vault of heaven are a landmark foi' 
 many and many a mile both up and down the 
 Rhine, and far off over the hills and plains out 
 from the city. 
 
 Though the tallest towers in Europe, in fact, 
 I believe the tallest of any structure in the 
 world, they soar aloft with a marvelous grace 
 which is exquisitely blended with an impressive 
 majesty. 
 
 One should ascend these towers not only for 
 the far-sweeping view, but to look upon the 
 great bells and to read the inscription upon the 
 huge Kaiserylocke, which some one has trans- 
 lated thus : 
 
 "I am the Emperor's bell; 
 The Emperor's praise I tell; 
 On holy guard I stand. 
 And for the German land 
 Beseech that God may please 
 To grant it peace and ease." 
 
 The bells in the southern tower were hung 
 ab(Hit the middle of fourteen hundred, and the 
 enormous crane that did the work remained un- 
 dii^turbed until 1868. 
 
 Strange that the name of the original archi- 
 tect of this marvelous crea'ion, should be lost 
 in the mists of obscurity. It is ascribed by many, 
 though,! believe, without sufficient corroboration, 
 to Albertus Magnus; and Sven he is supposed to 
 have been assisted by supernatural agents, the 
 Virgin appearing to him in a dream with four 
 canonized masons, Severus,Severinus, Carpopho- 
 rus, and Victorinus, who sketched the plans in 
 lines of fire. Awaking, Albertus hastened to 
 
ONE WOMAN WONDEEING 
 
 125 
 
 reproduce them, but refused to call them his 
 own, ascribing them to the hand of God. 
 
 Another legend, however, imputes this super- 
 natural interference to a directly opposite power, 
 and declares that the devil appeared to Gerhard, 
 an ambitious young architect, and dared him 
 to originate something more splendid than had 
 yet been achieved; after attempting this in 
 vain, unintentionally producing only copies of 
 famous plans, he shouted angrily, "Do it your- 
 self, then !" Whereat His Satanic Majesty did 
 it, but at the price of Gerhard's soul; but just 
 as he was about to sign the contract, he be- 
 thought himself of a holy silver cross which he 
 wore and, having the plans safe, he drew the 
 cross forth and dared the devil to "come on." 
 
 The baffled devil retired breathing fire and 
 vengeance and vowing, "You will find, pre- 
 sumptuous one, that it is unwise to be dishonest 
 even with the devil Though you build the 
 cathedral with my plans, your own name shall 
 be forgotten forever." 
 
 The earthly fate of this daring young archi- 
 tect was peculiar ; for "while he did direct those 
 that toiled," there opened "suddenly a great pit 
 whereoutcame a great and loathly w^orm" which 
 seized the poor man and. cracking his neck, 
 drew him into the pit which then closed up and 
 he was seen no more. In the south tower, upon 
 two pillars of the west side, may be seen two 
 ancient gargoyles said to be a "true likeness" 
 of Gerhard and his faithful dog; the animal 
 catching hold of his master's gown, strives to 
 draw him back from the pit, but is engulfed 
 with him. 
 
 The moral of this legend is dubious, seeming 
 to imply that it would have been better not to 
 outwit the devil but to acquiesce in his schemes. 
 
126 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 The only definite fact connected with the name 
 of Gerhard is that he was tlie first superinten- 
 dent of the building of the edifice. 
 
 The history of this cathedral from the first 
 inception of the sacred edifice in the mind of 
 Hildebold in the beginning of the ninth century, 
 down to the placing of the final copestone by 
 Emperor William I,, in 1880, is most varied and 
 exciting. 
 
 Bombardment, conflagration, spoliation, de- 
 struction and even murder are associated with 
 the gradual, of ten intermitted, progress of this 
 great and noble work, until now it stands pro- 
 claiming, — to quote a royal patron and promoter 
 of the sublime undertaking, — "to yet unborn 
 generations, a Germany vv^hich, owing to the 
 unity of its princes and people, is great and 
 powerful, and bloodlessly compels peace among 
 the nations of the world." 
 
 Entering the magnificent structure at the 
 main portal, I found another variety of the 
 genus Suisse or beadle. This one wore a long, 
 flowing robe of scarlet, finely ornamented in 
 black, and on his head was a high cap or turban 
 of black velvet. He carried a long rod of office 
 and stood guard in the center of the great nave. 
 He was, however, not so gloomily dignified as 
 his French brother, strange to say, but seemed 
 of an affable disposition and kindly whispered 
 to us to "please keep still until mass was over." 
 
 I had not known tilT then that a service was 
 in progress, as the worshippers were in a far-off 
 angle not readily visible from where we stood. 
 They soon quietly dispersed and the visitors 
 wandered about here and there, admiring and 
 marveling. 
 
 All I he proportions and decorations through- 
 out are, of course, beautiful and magnificent to 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 127 
 
 an unspeakable degree, but here, as in other 
 instances, — though it goes to my heart to pass 
 on without my best tribute to the ineffable 
 loveliness and majestic sublimity that almost 
 moves one to tears from very excess of emotion, — 
 T only pause to mention something unusually 
 quaint or antique which might possibly escape 
 notice by one who were properly describing, as 
 many have described already, the glory and 
 grandeur of this and other famous wonders of 
 art. 
 
 To get at once a comprehensive view of the 
 whole magnificent interior, one may ascend to a 
 gallery in the eastern pillar of the south portal. 
 In the north wall are some very odd, ancient, 
 stained windows dating from the sixteenth cen- 
 tury. In one of these appears the figure of the 
 founder of Cologne, holding the standard of the 
 city, while underneath is the inscription (freely 
 translated) in that rhyming-couplet so dear to 
 the German mind of the middle ages : 
 
 "Marcus Agrippa, a Roman man, 
 The Agrippa Colony first began." 
 
 Opposite him is Marsilius with his little 
 rhyme : 
 
 "Marpylis proud, a heathen's son, 
 Held Cologne and triumphs won." 
 
 Queer neighbors they, the?e rude and warlike 
 men, for the Holy Family, the Magi, the Saints 
 George, Maurice and others who occupy the rest 
 of the window. 
 
 Below the organ is a wooden urn dating back 
 to 1063, containing the remains of Queen Rich- 
 eza of Poland. St. Peter's staff is one of the 
 •curiosities here ; also an image of the Virgin, 
 ^'which," as an inscription testifies, "has worked 
 
128 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 many miracles :" here too are "the relics of the 
 Magi," received in 1164 from the abbess of a 
 Milan convent, and which rest beneath a marble 
 monument of rare beauty in the Chapel of the 
 Magi, the fourth chapel of the choir. 
 
 The beautiful windows of the choir are the 
 oldest in the cathedral, being of the twelfth 
 century. Others equally beautiful are placed 
 on the left of the nave and date from the fif- 
 teenth. 
 
 The right of the nave, however, has been 
 fitted up with hideous specimens of modern 
 achievement. They were probably expensive, as 
 they were the gift of William of Prussia and 
 Ludwig of Bavaria, but they compare with the 
 others somewhat as a cheap chromo might with 
 an ancient masterpiece of oil. 
 
 The choir itself, so grandly and somberly 
 magnificent, has seen many mutations during 
 its completion. At one time houses were built 
 all around it and where the nave should have 
 been, and during the occupation of Napoleon 
 First, the French used it as a forage storehouse. 
 
 Opposite the Chapel of the Magi is a monu- 
 ment in memory of Archbishop Dietrich von 
 Moers, 1860, excessively ornate and consisting 
 of several figures of most sacred personages, 
 such as the Virgin, the Infant Jesus, St. Peter 
 and others, who are represented as associating 
 in the most intimate and friendly manner with 
 the aforesaid bishop. There is an epitaph of 
 the most fulsome praise, extoling Dietrich to a 
 superlative degree, but unfortunately an unap- 
 preciative and skeptical posterity unkindly 
 declares that the bishop not only ordered the 
 monument, but actually wrote the eulogy him- 
 self. 
 
 The seven chapels about the choir are filled 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 129 
 
 with curious and costly objects of historic and 
 artistic interest, but I must not stop for details. 
 Archbishop Philip von Heinsburglies in a huge, 
 battlemented tomb, thus signifying that he first 
 fortified Cologne. 
 
 A mighty figure in solid brass lying upon his 
 tomb under a Gothic arch, represents the great 
 Konrad. 
 
 The greatest art-treasure in Cologne is the 
 famous Domhild, or Cathredal-Picture, a trip- 
 tych of Meister Wilhelm's, representing the 
 Adoration of the Magi, and to the uninitiated, it 
 would seem that it should be in the chapel of 
 that name, but for reasons wise, no doubt, we 
 find it in that of St. Michael, though formerly in 
 St. Agnes' shrine. The central panel shows the 
 Magi offering presents to the Child; their fol- 
 lowers throng the background on the wings, St. 
 Ursula and her maidens on the left, St. Gercon 
 with warriors on the right ; on the outside of 
 the wings, the Annunciation. 
 
 The city of Cologne, as perhaps some "lone 
 sister" may have forgotten, had its origin in a 
 military colony (whence the name)placed hereby 
 Marcus Agrippa fifty years before Christ, so it 
 really was old before the first conception of even 
 the predecessors of the cathedral was realized. 
 Intensely interesting as is the narrative of the 
 city's rise, progress, decline and later return to 
 importance, or "boom," as we of the later day 
 might term it, yet it is but one of the innumer- 
 able, fascinating spots of this wondrous "Old 
 World," to which no manner of justice can be 
 done by the casual tourist, 
 
 A weird reminiscence of former trying times 
 is observed at St. Ursula, where are exhibited 
 in glass cases what are said to be the skulls and 
 bones of eleven thousand virgins who came with 
 
130 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 the holy Ui*sula, a British princess, to Cologne, 
 where they suffered death as martyrs. St. 
 Ursula's bones are deposited in a shrine in the 
 sacristy which is also said to contain a curiosity 
 catalogued as "one of the wine-jugs used at the 
 marriage of Cana." These various bones are 
 exhibited for a consideration and are truly a re- 
 volting and piteous spectacle. 
 
 Most of the streets of Cologne are narrow, 
 with queer-looking houses, also narrow and of 
 peculiar architecture. 
 
 At a corner of JSTeu-Markt and Eichmodis 
 streets, may be seen a building from the attic of 
 which two wooden horses are looking out. Con- 
 cerning these the legend runs thus : 
 
 In fourteen hundred, when Cologne was terri- 
 bly devastated by the plague, Richmodis, wife 
 of knight Menges von Aduct, was one of the 
 victims and was buried in the Apostles Church. 
 Her wedding-ring was left upon her finger and 
 the grave-diggers noticing the same, went the 
 next night to steal it. 
 
 They opened the grave and the coffin, but 
 their rough attempts to remove the ring, roused 
 her from the trance into which she had fallen; 
 she started up, frightening away the thieves, and 
 ran back to her home where she knocked for 
 admittance. 
 
 The servants alarmed ran to their master. 
 He went to the door and demanded who was 
 there. 
 
 "Your wife," was the answer. 
 
 "Ah!" he exclaimed in sorrow, "my wife 
 Richmodis is dead, and my horses would sooner 
 ascend to the loft of my house ani look. out of 
 the window, than she would be asking to come 
 in." 
 
 Scarcely were the words uttered when the 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 131 
 
 horses were heard going upstairs, and in com- 
 memoration these wooden heads were affixed to 
 the windows. One can only say to the sceptic, 
 "If you don't believe it, I can show you the win- 
 dows." 
 
 In Sternengasse, No. 10, stands a house on 
 which are placed two memorial tablets, one de- 
 claring that Marie de Medicis died, the other 
 that Reubens was born here. I believe the for- 
 mer statement is not contradicted, but the lat- 
 ter is false, though it is true that he passed a 
 part of his early childhood in this dwelling. 
 
 Aside from these and like relics of an olden 
 time, there are in Cologne, numerous charming 
 modern avenues containing magnificent build- 
 ings of varied and beautiful designs, as well as 
 shady promenades and handsome squares. A 
 series of elegantly planned boulevards, denomi- 
 nated BfMgstrassen, extend around the whole 
 town. 
 
 I took a leisurely survey of the^e from the 
 window of a horse-tram one lovely day. A very 
 friendly conductor added much to my pleasure 
 and stock of information, by his cheerful con- 
 versation . 
 
 A cheery, gentlemanly sort of a young fellow 
 he was ; he left his car and tooli the utmost pains 
 in piloting me safely to another when I left his 
 line. It did seem odd to have him accept with a 
 '■^danJce sehr'''' and without indignation, a coin or 
 two of trifling value when we parted, and I have 
 learned since that I gave twice what might have 
 been expected. 
 
 I should have become accustomed to the "tip" 
 system by this time, but it still gives me a shock 
 every now and then when some well-appearing, 
 courteous person betrays his or her inferior 
 origin by the placid acceptance of one's small 
 change. 
 
132 ONE WOMAN WANDEEING 
 
 Usually at first the American mind, in chatting 
 with a sociable stranger, considers it only a case 
 of mutual information and interest ; but gradu- 
 ally one awakens to a realizing sense that the 
 affable individual is only lying in wait for one's 
 loose silver. Sometimes it is hard to know just 
 what to do. I have often spent a miserable half 
 hour when visiting some famous gallery or pal- 
 ace, in trying to decide whether the splendid 
 creature in immaculate and decorated "get-up" 
 who has shown me so much polite attention, is 
 really an official to whom it would be wnldly in- 
 sulting to offer recompense, or just a common 
 person who is confidently calculating on what 
 he may receive. But I have generally found it 
 to be the latter. Often too, it has seemed to me 
 the height of impertinence to proffer fifteen or 
 twenty-five cents to the important and responsi- 
 ble head-clerk or manager of my hostelry, though, 
 to be sure, he is not so imposing a being as his 
 prototype in America. I find, however, that he 
 is always willing to accept the slightest favor in 
 this line. 
 
 I saw no electric trams in Cologne. In fact, 
 electricity is little used abroad in comparison 
 to America ; foreigners usually consider it far 
 too dangerous for familiar use. The German 
 management of the street-car system, as noted 
 here and confirmed by later observation, struck 
 me as very sensible. In the first place, one 
 pays according to the distance one rides, all the 
 way from five pfenniges^SLhout a cent and a 
 quarter,) up to twenty-five or thirty pfenniges; 
 I have never found it higher. Then one receives 
 a ticket showing how much money has been 
 paid. The cars are neat and well-kept, with a 
 definite number of seats as in Paris, so that there 
 is very little crowding. Expectoration is most 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 133 
 
 strictly prohibited. There are many points in 
 our foreign cousins' ordering of the transporta- 
 tion business in general, that we might copy 
 with great benefit to our own methods. 
 
 Later on I took a stroll out through an old 
 arched gateway, along a delightful road skirted 
 on one side by beautiful gardens, both public 
 and private, and on the other by the silver, flow- 
 ing waters of the romantic river Rhine. 
 
 How fair it all was, glowing in the "evening 
 sunset- shine" till one could almost seem to see 
 the "JSTiebelungen's ruddy gold" reflected from 
 the depths of the clear waters, back upon the 
 pleasant paths and parterres above. It is not 
 hard in Germany to muse and dream. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 My next stopping-place was Duesseldorf, an 
 hour or so from Cologne. Again I was locked in 
 all by myself and so continued in solitary state 
 absolutely uninterrupted, until I reached my 
 destination. 
 
 There were no halts, the train being express, 
 so there was nothing to occupy one's attention 
 except the fair, green, smiling landscape with 
 its fine streams and splendid trees. 
 
 I do not like thi? way of traveling. When 
 one is alone it is so "awfully" lonely, and when 
 others are in the compartment, one is brought 
 so disagreeably near them ; one must either sit 
 opposite, staring and stared at, or side by side, 
 as one might say "cheek by jow^l." If one hap- 
 pens to be in the middle, one has no access to 
 the two windows, and at best one has little op- 
 portunity to change one's position. Yet for- 
 eigners dislike the American railway car because 
 it is "so public." I consider it much more ex- 
 clusive. In the latter one has one's own section 
 where no other person can "molest or make 
 afraid," yet one has the advantage of the space 
 and light of a roomy car, with one's fellow- 
 travelers at a proper distance and w^ith no oc- 
 casion to face them or to ride backward unless 
 from choice. 
 
 I do not note quite the same caution in Ger- 
 many that I observed in France regarding the 
 safety of life. While the roads are well and sol- 
 idly constructed, yet they usually run across the 
 open country with very little, although somewhat, 
 
 134 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDEEING 135 
 
 more protection for man and beast than with ue. 
 There is usually a low hedge along the line on 
 either side, but it coiild be easily overstepped 
 by men or animals. Every wagon-road, however, 
 is provided at every point of crossing a railroad, 
 with strong gates on each side of the track, and 
 a gateman — who is sometimes a woman — stands 
 on duty as we dash by ; while in the towns there 
 is simply no getting upon the track without 
 permission, the rails everywhere within town- 
 limits being either between walls or elevated on 
 massive masonry. 
 
 My journey this time was short and we soon 
 entered the fine, roomy station of Duesseldorf. 
 This is a pretty town with wide streets and 
 very spacious, ornamental avenues called Alices, 
 which latter have magnificent trees in double 
 rows down their centers. One of these Allies 
 is especially fine. A broad canal faced up 
 with solid mason-work and bordered by these 
 beautiful trees, extends its length through 
 the thoroughfare, which is double the width of 
 the other boulevards. Graceful, decorative 
 bridges span the waters, and light, ornamental 
 railings insure safety; while frequent seats 
 along under the trees provide delightful rest- 
 ing-places for the pedestrian. 
 
 There is a beautifully "rural" park lying al- 
 most in the center of the little city, where the 
 grand old trees and bowery shrubbery, inter- 
 spersed with frequent natural pools, and threaded 
 by delightful paths all carefully ordered and kept, 
 give all the charm of nature with the added, 
 adornments of art. Here, in a secluded dell and 
 yet close to the busy street, standing upon a 
 thick carpet of living green and embowered in 
 overhanging branches and clustering vines, 
 stands Duesseldorf s monument to her slain in 
 battle. 
 
136 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 The creation is of pure white marble. Two 
 or three broad, shallow steps lead up to a spa- 
 cious, semi-eircular court or platform of this 
 material, encircled by a low railing of the same. 
 Upon this foundation is placed the oblong base 
 of the memorial, which is classic in conception. 
 Rising from this base is a pedestal supporting 
 the full-length figure in heroic proportions, of 
 a dying warrior in half-recumbent position, 
 while at his side the lion of Germany, pitying 
 and powerful to avenge, holds beneath his 
 mighty paw, the broken spear that has made 
 the deadly wound. Upon the front of the 
 pedestal are graven the following lines from a 
 German poet : — 
 
 "Fame have our heroes enough, and triumphs and 
 
 ever green laurels; 
 Tears from poor mother hearts wrung, builded this 
 
 symbol of stone." 
 
 On the back is the inscription : 
 "Grateful Duesseldorf to Her Fallen Sons." 
 
 The snowy whiteness of the marble, the deep, 
 restful green of the foliage, the quiet nook 
 wherein the monument stands, the majestic 
 simplicity yet marvelous effectiveness of design 
 and execution, all combine to make the memor- 
 ial an object of most impressive beauty. 
 
 There are a number of interesting old edifices 
 in Duesseldorf and many beautiful modern ones. 
 The style of architecture is mainly on bioad, 
 severe lines, with decorations of an elevated 
 type. Kunst Halle is one of the prominent new 
 structures and was built to properly house and 
 display the art treasures of Duesseldorf, which 
 has a rather peculiar school of its own. 
 
 I had a somewhat odd experience while mak- 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 137 
 
 ing my way thither one morning. I had been 
 to visit an ancient church and was inquiring 
 my way along, when I met an old lady of whom 
 I asked directions. I repeated my question two 
 or three times as she informed me that she was 
 a little deaf, when suddenly she grasped my 
 meaning and ejaculated, "-/"a, J«, ja! I am 
 going there myself; come along with me." 
 
 I did so and found I had struck a living fount 
 and endless torrent of information. The old 
 lady walked, as she talked, very rnpidly, and I 
 could with difficulty keep pace with her, while 
 the rattle of carts and wagons over the stone 
 pavements made it almost impossible for me to 
 understand her quick utterances in a, to me, 
 foreign tongue. 
 
 However, I learned that she was the "widow 
 of an artist, the mother of an artist and the sis- 
 ter of an artist ;" that she "had a complimentary 
 membership-tickft to the exhibitions," but that 
 I would "have to pay;" and then she went on 
 and gave me a hasty yet comprehensive sketch 
 of the beginning, progress and completion of 
 the new gallery: the condition and contents of 
 the old; the history of the removal of the collec- 
 tion, the later additions, and kindred topics too 
 many to recall ; while all I contributed to the 
 interview was a look of interest, an occasional 
 smile and an interjectory "so/" "Ja, ja/" or 
 ^'gewUs!'", wherever they seemed best to fit in. 
 
 She conducted me safely to the building, 
 piloted me in, led me around through the dif- 
 ferent rooms and gave me an account of every- 
 thing she deemed worthy of notice. 
 
 She, it appeared was, or else her brother, son 
 or husband was, or had been, personally 
 acquainted with nearly every contemporary 
 artist of note, and really her knowledge, range 
 
138 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 and interest were amazing. She insisted on my 
 "doing" everything thoroughly, and I certainly 
 made a much more exhaustive survey of this 
 collection than I had any idea of making when 
 I set out. It struck me as quite amusing that 
 a casual inquiry of a chance stranger in a 
 by street of a foreign town, should open 
 to me such a store of what might be termed 
 "compulsory education." But I finally was 
 allowed to bid the old lady farewell, whereupon 
 I returned to my hotel whence I soon resumed 
 my Journey, setting out for Hanover. 
 
 On this stretch I made my first acquaintance 
 with what the Germans call a "Day-tsoog, " 
 (spelled D. Zug,) which name I was quite at a 
 loss to understand. I knew that "D." was 
 "D.", and "Zttf/" was "train," but the combi- 
 nation suggested nothing to me, unless some- 
 thing akin to the "big, big D." of the Captain 
 of the Pinafore. 
 
 Later I was told that it was a contraction for 
 Durch-Zug^ and as that translates "through 
 train," I concluded I had solved the puzzle. 
 But soon after I learned that Fern-Zug was the 
 term for what we understand by a through 
 train, so I was nonplussed again. 
 
 Finally after a long time and much question- 
 ing, for the dictionaries were silent on the mat- 
 ter and most persons didn't know and few 
 seemed to care, I met a friendly inn-keeper who 
 kindly made it all plain to me. 
 
 It seems that Fern-Zug is really the through 
 train, that is, a train made up for travel without 
 change between two distant points, the termini 
 of the line ; and though D. Zug is truly a con- 
 traction of Durch-Zug, yet that expression is it- 
 self a contraction for Durch- Gang -Zug or "cor- 
 ridor train," which gives a very different aspect 
 to the meaning. 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 139 
 
 It was easy to understand why this train that 
 I now entered should be called a corridor train, 
 for a corridor, or passage, extends from one end 
 of the car to the other, not through the center, 
 however, but on one side and across the two ends. 
 In some respects the cars are like ours in Amer- 
 ica. First ; they are set up higher than the 
 ordinary continental coach and are entered by 
 means of two or three steps; but these are not 
 at each end leading up to a platform as with us ; 
 instead they run along on each side like those 
 on an open street-car, and the doors, of which 
 there are four, open opposite each other, from the 
 sides into the end passages. Second ; the train 
 is vestibuled, so one can pass, as in ours, from 
 one end of the train to the other without ex- 
 posure. 
 
 Into the side corridor the compartments open; 
 eight or ten in all, perhaps, of both first and 
 second class, in each carriage, or Wag en, as the 
 Germans call it. There is very little difference 
 in the two classes in Germany, in fact I could 
 see none in point of comfort ; the upholstering 
 in the first class may be o£ finer material, and 
 perhaps a little gilding or two or three small 
 mirrors not larger than a dining-plate, may be 
 "thrownin," where the second class has none; 
 one cannot speak with certainty in such 
 points ; sometimes there are none at all 
 anywhere, and at others both classes will 
 have them. In each compartment are six 
 places, three opposing three, and divided by 
 adjustable arms. The seats are roomy and easy, 
 but the fine finish and skilled handiwork seen 
 in our cars, are entirely lacking. 
 
 The corridor taking up one entire side of the 
 carriage, there are but two places in each compart- 
 ment next to windows, so the first two arrivals 
 
140 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 are the lucky ones. If one comes after these, 
 one has no chance to view the scenery except 
 across one's neighbor's corporosity. The neigh- 
 bor will probably entirely control the curtain 
 and keep it drawn or not as he prefers, while 
 the remaining occupants may be, at his pleasure, 
 deprived of light or dazzled with too much. 
 Then very likely some one of the six will be 
 mortally afraid of the "publicity" of the corri- 
 dor along v^rhich an occasional traveler or train- 
 man may pass, and so insist on having the door 
 into the same tightly closed, and there you are 
 shut up in the stuffy little place with four or 
 five other hot, dusty, irritated mortals. 
 
 But there are electric bells in each compartment 
 and a small, meagerly equipped toilet-room in 
 each car ; also a buffet somewhere in the train 
 where beverages may be procured, so the train 
 is more American-like than the usual style here, 
 though far less comfortable than our ordinary 
 day-coaches. On these trains there are women 
 employed, one or two to each carriage, who 
 wear white badges upon their left arms, labeled 
 Dienst-Frau. I hardly know what they do, un- 
 less it IS to scrub and wash dishes, for they do 
 not answer the bells ; if you ring, a man appears. 
 
 Meals may be had en route, by telegraphing 
 ahead through a porter who takes your order. 
 The repast is brought into the compartment, 
 and is sometimes odiously obvious to other oc- 
 cupants who, not being hungry themselves, do 
 not enjoy seeing and smelling eatables at such 
 close quarters. The food, however, is very good 
 and not at all expensive to our United States 
 ideas of train prices. Drinking-water must be 
 ordered and paid for at so much a bottle, but it 
 is a great convenience to be able to get it even 
 this way, for on the ordinary train one must go 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 141 
 
 without, unless one carries it with one or can 
 hail a station-porter during a halt and send him 
 for a bottle, which he fetches without ice. 
 
 On this special "Z). Ztt^r," the seats were extra, 
 though I have found them so but once since; 
 about two marks, (nearly fifty cents) be- 
 tween Duesseldorf and Hanover, one hun- 
 dred and seventy-eight miles. It was really a 
 much appreciated privilege to rise occasion- 
 ally and walk up and down the corri- 
 dor. I was amused to note that the conduc- 
 tor and other trainsmen did not seem to 
 realize that they could go through it in announc- 
 ing stations, but ran up and down on the plat- 
 forms outside as before. Such a strange cus- 
 tom for the persons inside who are anxious to 
 know, cannot hear, while those outside who 
 can hear, know already. Perhaps though, the 
 men are forbidden to pass through the train un- 
 less absolutely necessary. There are a great many 
 "don'ts" and "mustn'ts" in Deutschland. But 
 I should think the trainmen would be glad that 
 they are not obliged to pass along the steps at 
 the sides, clinging to the iron hand-rail while 
 the train is in motion, which is the only way 
 to go from one compartment to another in the 
 ordinary train, rain or shine. 
 
 Not far from Duesseldorf is the ancient 
 city of Duisberg, a manufacturing place and 
 largely interested in coal traffic, but noteworthy 
 as being the burial-place of Mercator, the geog- 
 rapher. 
 
 It struck me strangely to see a monument to 
 him, for he had never seemed a real being to me ; 
 though I confess he has never occupied my 
 thoughts to any great extent since my early 
 childhood, when I used to ponder over tlae very 
 odd maps that appeared on the first pages of my 
 
142 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 primary ' 'geography-book, ' ' — as the English say, 
 — and were labeled "Mercator's Projection." I 
 recalled a little friend who once, on hearing a 
 Mr. Spalding mentioned, exclaimed: 
 
 "Why! Is Spaldin' a man? I fawt 'e was 
 a glue I" 
 
 Likewise my youthful mind had never "fawt" 
 of Mercator as "a man," but merely as a Pro- 
 jection. 
 
 At this place our train crosses the Ruhr and five 
 miles farther on we come to Oberhausen which 
 lias the rare distinction in this old country, of 
 being a "new place." It is of about twenty-five 
 thousand inhabitants and has extensive iron- 
 works. 
 
 The region roundabout is very level and not 
 specially interesting, though the verdant fields 
 and abundant water-courses have a pleasant 
 look in the sunshine. 
 
 As we approach Dortmund, however, the 
 face of the country changes and, to the left, 
 breaks up into ranges of picturesque hills. Dort- 
 mund is ancient and venerable, as well as 
 important and progressive. It is mentioned in 
 history as early as 927; in 1387-8 it successively 
 resisted a siege of nearly two years, by the 
 Archbishop of Cologne and forty other princes. 
 
 The old walls have been leveled and fine 
 promenades laid out along their foundations. It 
 has numerous old churches and many "up-to- 
 date" foundries, being the seat of the mining 
 authorities of Westphalia. 
 
 It was in this locality that the ancient, secret 
 and terrible tribunal, the Vehmgericht, origin- 
 ated, which exerted such a fearful and powerful 
 sway over the whole empire. Dortmund was 
 the seat of its supreme court and here in the 
 "Court-Yard under the Lindens" the Emperor 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 143 
 
 Sigismund himself was initiated in 1429. One 
 of these lindens is still standing and must be 
 considerably more then four hundred years old. 
 The last meeting was convened here in 1803. 
 
 Distant ten miles is Hamm ( suggestive name ! ) 
 which is quite noted for its warm baths. 
 It is not here, however, as would seem fit 
 and proper, that is located the great depot of 
 Westphalia hams and sausages so well known 
 to fame, but in the little village of Goetersloh, 
 thirty-three miles on, across the Lippe and the 
 Ems. 
 
 Here also are the head-quarters of the far re- 
 nowned Pumpernickel^ a dark-brown bread or 
 cake considered very nutritious. It is made of 
 unsifted rye flour, sometimes iced, and is dear 
 to the German palate but not to mine. 
 
 The country grows more hilly and is inter- 
 spersed with many busy and flourishing towns 
 rich in historic interest and containing innumer- 
 able fine relics of "ye olden tyme," in the way 
 of cathedral, castle, wood-carving, painting and 
 stained glass. 
 
 Bielefeld is the center of the Westphalian 
 linen trade. Herford possesses many cotton 
 and flax mills. At Enger, a small town five 
 miles aside from the railway, was the seat of that 
 stubborn opponent of Charlemagne, namely the 
 Saxon duke, Wittekind, who figures so exten- 
 sively in the semi-historic, semi-traditional lore 
 of Germany. His bones are still preserved in 
 the abbey church here, which w^as built in the 
 twelfth century. 
 
 At Lemgo, a quaint and handsome place of 
 seven thousand inhabitants, is an extensive fac- 
 tory of meerschaum pipes. 
 
 About three miles from Detmold, (where Frei- 
 ligrath was born,) rises, in the valley of the Wer- 
 
144 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 ra,the Grotenburg, eleven hundred and sixty feet 
 above the the sea, one of the highest points of 
 the Teiitoburgian forest. Upon its summit, 
 plainly visible for miles around, the celebrated 
 Hermann's Devknal, or Monument of Arminius, 
 rears itself. Upon an arched substructure one 
 hundred feet in height, stands the colossal fig- 
 ure of the prince, fifty-six feet high, with raised 
 sword the point of which is thirty feet above the 
 helmet. This is the work of Ernst von Bau- 
 del,who devoted most of his life to its execution. 
 The cost of the monument, w^hich is of copper 
 andiron, was about two hundred and seventy 
 thousand marks, equivalent at the present rate 
 of exchange to about sixty-six thousand dollars. 
 An admirable prospect is visible from the gal- 
 lery of this monument. 
 
 In ascending the hill some very ancient Ger- 
 man fortifications known SiB the Kleine Hoenen- 
 ring are passed. Going on to Horn and Faderborn 
 by Diligence^one comes upon the Externstei7ie,a,n 
 odd group of five rocks over one hundred feet 
 high, protruding from the earth like gigantic 
 teeth. 
 
 In one of these rocks is a grotto that leads to 
 a cave. According to an inscription dated 1195, 
 in the grotto, it was fitted up by Bishop Henry 
 of Paderborn, in imitation of the Holy Sepul- 
 cher. Some very curious reliefs hewn from the 
 rock, represent a Descent from the Cros«, in two 
 sections. In the upper part colossal figures 
 show the removal of the body by Joseph of Ari- 
 methea; above hovers God the Father carrying 
 a banner and a little child. 
 
 The lower portion shows Adam and Eve en- 
 tw^ined by a serpent and waiting for redemption. 
 
 At Oeynhausen are warm saline springs con- 
 sidered especially efficacious in paralysis. 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 145 
 
 Now we cross the Weser and pi-e?ently notice 
 to the left, on the Wittekindsburg eight hun- 
 dred and twenty feet above sea-level, a monu- 
 ment recently erected to Emperor William I. 
 Next comes Minden, an ancient cathedral town, 
 the fortifications of which were leveled in 1842, 
 and which contains many handsome modern 
 edifices. 
 
 Still we go on and on, passing many a relic 
 of bygone eras in chateau or tower or crumbling 
 wall and finally, after speeding some time over 
 another long, level and fertile stretch, we see 
 the winding, yellow waters of the Leine and roll 
 into the handsome and imposing station of the 
 flourishing city of Hanover. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Hanover has abovit two hundred thousand in- 
 habitants and is situated in a fertile, somewhat 
 rolling plain, well watered, principally by the 
 navigable river Leine, and its tributary, the 
 Ibme. I was much pleased with the clean, airy 
 and generally ornamental appearance of the 
 place and remained here several weeks. 
 
 I was most fortunate in my location, having 
 been referred to a family of ex-governesses, four 
 maiden ladies of middle age, who, in addition 
 to being excellent hostesses, were also refined 
 and cultivated ladies, not only educated, but 
 exceedingly skilled in music, drawing, paint- 
 ing, Latin and modern languages. 
 
 The eldest was a "plump and pleasing per- 
 son," and a most painstaking and indefatigable 
 housekeeper, though highly accomplished as 
 well. 
 
 The second sister had just returned from 
 "finishing" the daughter of the deposed King 
 of Hanover, having been a member of this royal 
 household many years, traveling and residing 
 with her patrons in almost every part of Europe. 
 Her reminiscences of the familiar daily "walk 
 and conversation" of the august and titled per- 
 sons with whom she had come into contact, were 
 most interesting, including personal recollec- 
 tions of the Queen of England, the Emperors of 
 Germany and Russia, and nearly all of their 
 numerous distinguished connection, the House 
 of Hanover being, as we know, the source of the 
 present English line. 
 
 146 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDEEING 147 
 
 The third sister was also a traveler, having 
 spent in discharge of her duties, two years in 
 America and some time in France, Switzerland 
 and Holland. In France she had charge of the 
 children of our own ex-vice-president Morton. 
 
 Neither was the fourth, whom we used to 
 call "the little one," a "stay at home," She 
 had spent eighteen years in England and was 
 familiar with France and Italy. 
 
 Naturally their information and experience 
 were extensive and the ladies were really almost 
 walking encyclopedias. But this very fund of 
 knowledge and the having been for so many con- 
 tinuous years in positions of authority over 
 pupils to whom the governess's dictum on all 
 points was final and decisive, had given them 
 each somewhat of an arbitrary tendency, caus- 
 ing them sometimes to forget that the transitory 
 members of their household were not of undis- 
 ciplined minds to which the governess's opinion 
 or decision must be conclusive and without 
 appeal. 
 
 This trait was especially noticeable in "the 
 little one," and many were the good-natured 
 tilts engaged in between herself and the various 
 nationalities around the "festal board." Her 
 information was usually extremely correct but 
 she could with diflflculty admit any point of 
 view other than her own, of a subject, and 
 rarely knew "when she was beaten," for like 
 the "man convinced against his will," she 
 would be "of the same opinion still." This, of 
 coarse, was her privilege and was of no very 
 great consequence, though forcibly illustrating 
 the conservative tendency of old-world educa- 
 tion; and sometimes, even when we were quite 
 willing to accept her conclusions, she had a way 
 of stating them with such a superior air, as if 
 
148 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 she had settled the question forever, that it was 
 a trifle irritating. The little lady could not 
 yield readily to the idea that perhaps some of 
 these "dreadful Americans," being fully her 
 own age and often with wider experience, might 
 possibly be able to judge fairly well as to tho 
 elegance and propriety in diction and pronunci- 
 ation of their native tongue ; like many other 
 foreigners, she had judged a whole nation by the 
 worst specimens that she had seen, failing to 
 reflect that if we of America should do the 
 same by our immigrants from their shores, we 
 should have indeed little conception of the 
 learning and culture of the old world. 
 
 One special "passage-at arms" interested us 
 all and, as America proved itself well supported 
 by standard authorities, it may not be out of 
 place to relate it here. The word "menace" 
 was used by an American, with the accent on 
 the first syllable as customary. 
 
 "Oh!" said the "little one," "You mean 
 *men-oce,' I presume." 
 
 "Do you find it so?" inquired the American 
 who was, in fact, from the United States; "I 
 have never known of its being pronounced other 
 than mew-ace, though of course there may be 
 more than one pronunciation." This, by the 
 way, is almost unheard of in correct German 
 pronunciation, so it is hard for a German to 
 realize that it may be different in Er glish. 
 
 The possibility of two pronunciations, how- 
 ever, the little Fraulein would not admit ; men- 
 ace it was and men-ace it must be uncondi- 
 tionally. 
 
 "But what is your authority?" some one 
 asked. 
 
 "I lived in England eighteen years," replied 
 the little governess with dignity, "and I always 
 heard it so." 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 149 
 
 'But you must be aware," remarked another, 
 "how inattentive many persons, even of culture 
 and position, are to points in pronuncdation, 
 and I should not think that decisive." 
 
 "Well," she returned somewhat warmly, "I 
 should think the English ought to know how to 
 speak their own language." 
 
 "Certainly they ought;" assented the Ameri- 
 can, "but whether each individual does, is a 
 question, as it is in any nation. But as I feel 
 sure you did not hear all the English people 
 speak and as English is also my own language, 
 I am confident in assuming that I am not in 
 error ; though, as I said, it is possible it may 
 also be correct to say men-ace, so I suggest we 
 leave it to any undeniable authority." 
 
 "I know I am right;" she replied; "of 
 course, I do not know w^hat you Americans call 
 it, for really," — with a superior air, — "the two 
 ( !) languages are quite different." 
 
 "What do you say, Mrs. A.?" inquired the 
 American turning to an English lady at the 
 table. She was a relative of Baroness Burdett- 
 Coutts, by the way, and the daughter of a baro- 
 net, so should be a representative of a fairly 
 cultured class. 
 
 "Oh! don't consider me authority, " she re- 
 plied, "I seldom look up words; but I always 
 call it as you do, me/t-ace." 
 
 This was rather a "staggerer" for the little 
 governess, but rallying she said : "Webster gives 
 men-ace." 
 
 "Well, I never have noticed it," said the 
 American, "though I know he gives men-SLce, 
 but where is your Webster? Let's look." 
 
 So Webster was brought and consulted but, 
 alas for the "little one," there it stood mew- 
 ace, as the American had said, and nothing else. 
 
150 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 But the small one was not yet vanquished. 
 
 "Oh, well!" she returned, "of course, he's 
 an American; he isn't a proper judge of pro- 
 nunciation." 
 
 Notwithstanding this rather rude thrust, the 
 representative of America preserved an equable 
 front and replied that he could not recognize 
 any such distinction, that he considered good 
 English was also good American, and vice- 
 versa : and that unless indisputable reference to 
 the contrary was produced, he could see no 
 reason for changing his pronunciation. 
 
 "Well," said Mrs. A., "I have an English 
 standard dictionary in my room, let us look at 
 that." 
 
 It was soon brought, and the word found ; 
 here also but one pronunciation was given, and 
 that was as before, ?ne??-ace. 
 
 The "little one" saw it but said nothing, 
 though we felt from the expression of her face, 
 that it would always be men-ace w^ith her, 
 "though the heavens should fall." But, in spite 
 of this "fixidity" of idea, she was a most inter- 
 esting and engaging little woman. 
 
 Afterward when any question of this sort 
 arose, Mrs. A's standard English dictionary 
 compiled by an Englishman and published by 
 an Englishman in England, was consulted and 
 found to agree with the best American usage al- 
 ways. For instance ; such words as "incompara- 
 ble," "Tuesday," "jewel," "immediately," 
 '•invalid," and the like, which are so often mis- 
 pronounced with us as well as among the 
 English, are given exactly the same in both 
 English and American lexicons ; so that, in most 
 cases, the peculiar "chewing" of their words by 
 the English, is as indefensible by their own au- 
 thorities, as the flat, strongly nasal intonation 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 151 
 
 of many Americans, is unsupported by our stan- 
 dards, though all these defects are wide-spread 
 on the respective sides of the water. Of course, 
 that the English speak well down in their 
 throats while we use more head-tones, may be 
 probably accounted for by difference in climate; 
 and equally of course, there are ignorant and 
 careless Americans and English in all parts of 
 the world. Later, on visiting England, I was 
 able to verify these observations, 
 
 I was really quite elated to find our usages so 
 well authorized, for indeed ''American English"' 
 is quite generally regarded abroad, something 
 as the barbaric utterances of a Fiji Islander 
 might be in the world at large ; it being taken 
 for granted that any variation in an American, 
 from an accent or diction familiar to a foreigner, 
 must be, of necesssity, an exhibition of deficient 
 culture, and the former is calmly put in the 
 wrong without appeal and without a suspicion 
 on the latter's part, that the "dreadful Ameri- 
 can" may possibly have had access to quite as 
 many pure "wells of English undefiled" and 
 have quaff ed therefrom with quite as much judg- 
 ment as the critics themselves; and though I 
 must sadly own that many of us have room for 
 great improvement in speaking, I will not grant 
 that we have more than the average English- 
 man. 
 
 There are three words, however, "mamma,"' 
 "papa," and "were," which I am forced to ad- 
 mit are almost universally mispronounced even 
 by cultured Americans, though I am glad to 
 say that these did not happen to be instanced in. 
 any of our little lingual skirmishes. 
 
 Foreigners declare that we say "mommer, "■ 
 "popper," and "wur," and alas! I cannot deny 
 that many of us do, and though I do not know 
 
152 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 but these are quite as correct as our English 
 friends' "mammaw, " "papaw," and "wear," 
 yet I could wish a little more attention might 
 be given these words by some of us. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The handsome and prosperous city of Hanover, 
 now the capital of the Prussian province of this 
 name, possesses unusual advantages for the stu- 
 dent desiring to acquire the best German accent, 
 while its friendly, hospitable citizens make the 
 sojourn of a stranger in the midst of them, very 
 comfortable and delightful. 
 
 It was formerly the capital of the kingdom of 
 Hanover, but in 1866 the Prussian William made 
 war upon all neighboring small kingdoms that 
 would not vow fealty to him, and though the 
 Hanoverians resisted nobly, they were compara- 
 tively few in forces and were vanquished, while 
 -their king was banished. 
 
 The older generation can not forget the suffer- 
 ings and indignities entailed on their royal fam- 
 ily, and, though the province is Prussian by 
 name, this portion is loyal at heart to the de- 
 posed line ; but such sympathizers have to be 
 extremely careful about expressing themselves, 
 for the stringent and powerful police system is 
 ready to make an example of any reported dis- 
 loyalty. 
 
 The royal palace of Hanover from which the 
 unhappy reigning family was driven, now stands 
 vacant though kept up in good order for the oc- 
 casional visits of Emperor William II. Many of 
 its choicest treasures have been taken to Berlin 
 but the beautiful floors are undisturbed and are 
 said to be the finest in Europe. They are of 
 rare woods and inlaid in the most elaborate and 
 intricate fashion. 
 
 153 
 
154 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 From another quarter of the city, a magnifi- 
 cent avenue of lime, or linden trees, one and 
 one quarter miles long and one hundred and 
 twenty feet wide, leads out to charming Schloss- 
 Herrenhausen, which was the favorite residence- 
 of Georges I., I J., and V. 
 
 This estate is the private property of the de- 
 posed king; for this reason,] understand, es- 
 caping confiscation, though he is nk^ver allowed 
 to reside or, in fact, to come here at all. For 
 the benefit of his beloved Hanoverians, however, 
 he keeps the grounds open to the public, who 
 are, by the payment of a small fee to the custo- 
 dian, also admitted inside the palace, the palm- 
 house and the mausoleum. 
 
 The garden comprises one hundred and 
 twenty acres and is laid out in old French style 
 with clipped shrubs, antique statues, allegorical 
 fountains and an open air theater; the waters 
 of the great fountain rise to the unusual height 
 of two hundred and twenty-two feet ; I was told 
 here that this fountain plays higher than any 
 in Europe, but am unable myself either to deny 
 or confirm the statement. A colossal sitting 
 figure of the Electress Sophia stands on the spot 
 where she expired of heart disease in ITli. 
 
 The mausoleum, containing monuments to King 
 Ernst August and Queen Frederika by Ranch, is 
 thought by many to equal the famous one at 
 Charlottenburg. 
 
 The royal stables have recently been removed 
 from Hanover. In them are kept the famous 
 Hanoverian, (r "Isabella," horses. We have 
 all heard of the Queen Isabella who vowed 
 never to change her linen until certain troops 
 should be victorious, and as a consequence was 
 obliged to wear it until it assumed a decidedly 
 saffron-like hue. This tint, however objection- 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 155 
 
 able in linen, is rather handsome in horses, and. 
 is the color of the favored equines who are the 
 bearers of the royal line ; no others are allowed 
 to use them ; the animals, with their deep canary 
 tint and white manes and tails, are beautiful 
 creatures. 
 
 The imposing Welfenschloss, or Palace of the 
 Guelphs, stands in the avenue of limes. The 
 edifice is of Romanesque style, having five towers ; 
 since 1878 it has been used as a Polytechnic 
 School. A colossal figure of the Saxon Horse 
 stands in the great square in front of the palace. 
 
 Hanover has a fine system of electric trams 
 moved by the underground system ; that is, the 
 force is conducted beneath the surface. I never 
 realized before what a desirable thing it might 
 be, to be rid of the trolley poles and lines. There 
 are also many horse-cars and funny little 
 omnibuses in which latter one may ride about a 
 mile and a half for about a cent and a quarter. 
 
 According to Baedeker, the "guide, philoso- 
 pher and friend" of the general tourist, the cen- 
 tral railway station of Hanover, is one of "ihe 
 most imposing erections of its kind in Germany." 
 It faces the Ernst August Platz and is embel- 
 lished by beautiful surroundings of fountains, 
 foliage and flowers. Immediately in front rises 
 a huge statue on horseback, of Ernst August, 
 "The Father of His People," done in bronze. 
 The rails themselves, as in so many German cit- 
 ies, are elevated upon a lofty viaduct under which 
 are arches through which passes the traffic of the 
 town. 
 
 There is a remarkably fine theater builJing in 
 Hanover, where plays and operas of a superior 
 grade are brought out. It is a very large struc- 
 ture, of noble proportions, of sufficient height 
 only to accord well with its breadth, two stories, 
 
156 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 I believe ; which reminds me of a modern police 
 regulation here and, I think, generally through- 
 out Germany, that no building shall be erected 
 higher than four stories. Across the principal 
 fagade stretches a handsome portico under which 
 is a broad carriage approach. Nearly every day 
 a fine band discourses the best of music for an 
 hour or two from this portico. Twelve statues 
 of celebrated composers adorn the balcony above. 
 The edifice, like the railway station stands in 
 its own grounds, which are very handsome, or- 
 namented with statues, fountains and flowering 
 shrubs. 
 
 Hanover is well supplied with museums. The 
 most interesting one to me, though not the 
 largest nor the finest, is the "Leibnitz House," 
 an ancient structure with immense pointed roof 
 in which are four of the eight stories of the edi- 
 fice. It was built in 1652, long before the height 
 of buildings was regulated by law. 
 
 Here are relics back to the thirteenth century, 
 while the chair, desk and other personal eflfects 
 of the celebrated philosopher, are preserved with 
 much care. 
 
 The Kestner Museum, standing in lovely 
 grounds, was presented to the town by Herr 
 Hermann Kestner, grandson of Goethe's "Lotta." 
 
 Nicolai Chapel, some parts of which date 
 back to the twelfth century, is the oldest church 
 in Hanover and stands in a quiet greenery and 
 surrounded by ancient tombs, albeit in one of 
 the busiest portions of the town. It is now used 
 by the English colony as a place of worship. 
 
 Hanover also has its fine war monument to the 
 fallen heroes of the vicinity. It is of Swedish 
 granite and represents in colossal figures, a 
 Germania crowned by two genii, and is adorned 
 with several reliefs of trophies, while in front is 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 157 
 
 a mourning figure of Hanover witli two lions. 
 It stands in a lovely parterre which in the season 
 is a mass of brilliant bloom, while in the im- 
 mediate background sway and bend the leafy 
 branches of tali forest trees. 
 
 These trees are on the southern boundary of 
 the JEilenriede , a beautiful wood extending out- 
 ward from this point, and which was bequeathed 
 to the city by two maiden sisters, with the con- 
 dition that the area of the gift should never be 
 lessened: so, as the town spreads out, whenever 
 a part of the bequest is sold for building lots, 
 an equally large portion must be purchased on 
 the other side and thrown into the forest. Its 
 name is a combination of the donors, Eile and 
 Riede, and is a constant reminder to Hanover, 
 of the generous old maids to whom the city owes 
 so much. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 There are numerous relics of a bygone era in 
 Hanover, especially in the "Old Town," as a 
 certain part is called. Narrow, crooked, old 
 streets and quaint, antique houses delight the 
 eye of the antiquarian and give the present gen- 
 eration an idea of how former ones used to live. 
 
 There are some queer old graveyards too, in 
 Hanover, In one is the tomb of a "giant," who 
 is depicted in standing posture, full ^ize, very 
 tall, upon his tombstone. Opposite him is a 
 similar tall stone whereon is graven the full 
 length figure of a young lady popularly known 
 as "the giant's wufe." 
 
 The versatile litile German governess kindly 
 "went with us to this place to act as guide. 
 Never having been here since her childhood, she 
 was anxious to visit it again. As an example 
 of how tradition may be made, I will relate that 
 on our way thittier "the little one" told us that 
 the old nurse who had charge of this family of 
 governesses when it was merely a family of little 
 girls, used to take them to this grave and tell 
 them how the lady buried there had died from 
 tight lacing, thus impressing on their youthful 
 minds the evils of that pernicious practice. 
 The old nurse could not read, therefore her stock 
 of information was a mingled web of fancy and 
 memory. To her, I believe, was also attribu- 
 table the supposition that the deceased young 
 woman was the giant's wife, and as her stone 
 was as tall as bis, she, of course was a giantess. 
 
 But we Americans are usually of rather an in- 
 
 158 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 159 
 
 vestigating turn of mind and not specially 
 prone to accept without question statements 
 leaning toward the marvelous; and thus our 
 party on arrival upon the scene, began to view 
 the surroundings with a "cricket's eye." We 
 were first surprised to note that the "giant's 
 wife," instead of reposing by the side of her 
 husband, was laid directly opposite him on the 
 other side of the wide path that led through the 
 ■cemetery. The two tall stones stood face to 
 face about ten feet apart. Bending down, we im- 
 mediately began to spell out the worn and nearly 
 indistinguishable, old German text upon the 
 respective tombs. The giant's record was all 
 straight enough; name, age, dates of birth and 
 death given; but when we turned to the stone of 
 the lady, we met with several incongruities. 
 First, the giant was a hundred years older than 
 his "wife," second, she was not a giantess at all, 
 but a slim, little girl represented as standing, 
 life-size, on a sort of dais or platform, which 
 necessitated the height of her tombstone; third, 
 she was but fifteen when she died and had never 
 been married; and fourth, there was not the 
 slightest allusion to any circumstance that might 
 be construed into any supposition that she had 
 died of tight-lacing. 
 
 The little governess was amazed. She said 
 she had never thought of doubting the state- 
 ments of her old nurse and so had continued to 
 believe and to narrate to others the impressive 
 story handed down by that venerable dame, who 
 evidently possessed a vivid imagination and a 
 iine faculty for "pointing a moral and adorning 
 a tale." 
 
 In another old churchyard is a rather curious 
 sight. A heavy granite tomb, seemingly as sol- 
 idly built as possible, was erected many years 
 
160 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 ago in what is termed "perpetuity," that is, a 
 certain sum was paid to secure a guarantee that 
 the grave should never be opened or disturbed 
 to make room for others, as is often done liere. 
 
 But strange to say, a little seed fell into some 
 tiny crevice of the stone structure, and from that 
 seed has spiung a large and vigorous tree, that 
 expanding, has thrust aside the mighty blocks of 
 ponderous granite with resistless force, so that 
 the tomb that was to have been sealed forever,, 
 has been opened hy the hand of nature itself. 
 Such an incident in the romance and legend- 
 loving land of Germany, could not pass unnoted, 
 and many are the mysterious and miraculous 
 tales woven about this "opened grave," 
 
 In the same churchyard may be found the 
 grave of Charlotte Kestner, "Goethe's Lotta," 
 lying by the side of her husband and other rela- 
 tives. 
 
 We went also to visit the Jews' burial-place, 
 now closed, but dating back long ago to the time 
 when no Jew was permitted to reside within the 
 gates of Hanover. They were obliged to dwell 
 outside, coming in to do business but going out 
 at sunset. In that almost barbarous era, they 
 w^ere, of course, exposed to raids and robberies 
 without redress, with ro protection anywhere. 
 Finally the monarch of that day had pressing 
 need of a large sum of money. This was raised 
 for him by the Jews without compensation, on 
 condition that they might be allowed a place with- 
 in the walls to bury their dead. It was granted 
 and to this spot we now went. 
 
 Somber and grim enough it seemed with its 
 now never opened gates, its rank, neglected veg- 
 etation and its queer,high tombs. The little gover- 
 ness said that the Jews were buried standing, but 
 whether this is a fact or merely another instance 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 161 
 
 of the old nurse's lively imagination, I am un- 
 prepared to say. I may add in this connection, 
 that at the present day there are no more valued 
 and honored citizens in Hanover, than certain 
 of the once despised Jewish race. 
 
 It v^as in Hanover that I first encountered the 
 unique, massive stoves of Germany. There is 
 one of more or less size in each apartment of this 
 pejision. They are each mounted on a large 
 base, generally some kind of stone but some- 
 times solid wood heavily zincked. The most 
 imposing one is in the drawing-room, being 
 abojt eight feet high. It is composed of white 
 tiles built up into the form of a little temple and 
 ornamented over the front door with a large me- 
 dallion in pale gray, representing a child and a 
 lamb. They tell a story in the house with much 
 relish, of an unsophisticated American lady 
 who, on calling to engage rooms, seemed much 
 fascinated by this structure, and finally inquired 
 in a melancholy tone befitting the painful refer- 
 ence ; 
 
 "May I ask whose monument that is?" 
 
 It really is more suggestive of an obituary 
 memorial than a heating-apparatus. Some of 
 them are works of art in beautiful porcelain, 
 but most of them are built of colored tiles heav- 
 ily glazed. In many of the museums and old 
 palaces, one finds these stoves in very fanciful 
 styles representing birds, lions, bears, and other 
 figures ; I recall one in particular in the palace 
 of Sans Souct at Potsdam, in Frederick the 
 Great's favorite promenade gallery, that was in 
 the form of a large eagle in a surprisingly con- 
 voluted attitude. 
 
 Another variety of stoves of a later era is 
 made of iron cast in various forms ; these are in- 
 teresting though not so unique as the monumen- 
 
162 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 tal tile structures of earlier generations. There 
 is one standing in my present apartment, mod- 
 eled apparently after twin towers. The two 
 are connected at the base by a fire-box of good 
 size, having a cathedral-like door. The towers 
 rise to a height of seven or eight feet and at in- 
 tervals are connected by what might be called 
 bridges going across from one to the other; in 
 each of these is a kettle-hole with a lid. Inves- 
 tigation shows that all this superstructure is 
 hollow and I suppose it is calculated to provide 
 for an extensive circulation of hot air within, 
 and consequent radiation from the hot metal 
 into the room. It is very ornamental and quite 
 imposing in its sable majesty. But these fanci- 
 ful styles, I believe, are entirely out of date 
 now, as even in slow-going old Germany, are 
 gradually coming into use the improved and 
 scientific methods of heating appertaining to the 
 pres-ent day. 
 
 As a matter of course the semi-annual "stove- 
 moving" that is the horror of the rural house- 
 holder in our country, is not a feature in 
 German homes. If any change in stove matters 
 becomes essential, a mason must be summoned 
 and the entire structure pulled down and re- 
 built, i)ut this happens so seldom that the tem- 
 pers of families are not often unduly strained in 
 this respect. 
 
 I think I have omitted to mention how greatly 
 travelers are annoyed abroad by the continual 
 receipt of countkss cards, circulars and letters 
 of business firms, on many of which postage is 
 due, which I, for my part, at first innocently 
 paid, not knowing then that I could refuse to 
 accept the documents. I attributed this inun- 
 dation so far as I was concerned, to the fact 
 that I had in France often put up at large hotels 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 163 
 
 from whence, doubtless, arrivals were reported 
 to the papers. But comino: into Germany, I was 
 possessed of private addresses and in many 
 places avoided the hotels altogether, so I could 
 not account for still being deluged as before. On 
 expressing my wonder one day to my hostess, I 
 was informed that all pension keepers were 
 obliged by law to send lists of the arrivals 
 and departures of their guests to the police for 
 publication, so that we were all "before the 
 public," whether we pleased or not. 
 
 It is really quite surprising to an American to 
 find how far the details of police interference 
 extend. Though one is not, on the moment of 
 one's arrival in Germany, seized, as in France, 
 figuratively by the throat and commanded to 
 yield up, at once, one's name, age, condition, in- 
 tentions and so forth, yet one must by the end 
 of a week, supply all these details to the police; 
 and the proprietor of any place of public, nay, 
 even also of private entertainment, must see 
 that this is done, under penalty of fine for neg- 
 ligence. The purposed length of stay and in- 
 tended further destination of each guest must 
 also be reported. 
 
 Another police regulation — a very sensible one 
 but astonishing to the American, — is that no 
 person may take a music lesson or practice with 
 open windows, on any instrument, under penalty 
 of fine. 
 
 Neither can one have any festivities, lasting 
 beyond ten p. m., even of the simplest nature, 
 without first gaining permission of the authori- 
 ties. Even in the seclusion of one's own draw- 
 ing-room and surrounded by one's family in 
 innocent merry-making, is one liable to be inter- 
 rupted after that hour by the sudden appearance 
 of a uniformed official with "orders to quit." 
 
164 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 Nor can any person in planning a house place 
 windows so that they overlook a neighbor's 
 premises without that neighbor's express per- 
 mission and dictation as to where and how he 
 shall be surveyed. 
 
 Many other formalities very surprising to us 
 who dwell in "the land of the free and the home 
 of the brave," might be cited but these few give 
 some idea of what it is to live under a paternal 
 government. I used sometimes in America to 
 think, when groaning under exorbitant transpor- 
 tation charges, that it would be a good thing if 
 the government would take the railways in 
 charge, like the postal service, and insure a uni- 
 form, che-ip rate; but after knowing something 
 of the railways here, which are in governmental 
 hands, I have changed my mind. True, the 
 rates are fixed and very moderate, but oh! the 
 struggle it is to get any information out of any 
 official. If you know all about a projected trip, 
 he will deign to sell jou a ticket for any place, 
 but as to giving you any advice or assistance in 
 regard to connections, facilities, or desirable 
 routes, he has no idea or inclination. What 
 does it matter to him? He has his salary any- 
 way whether the road is well-patronized or not, 
 and there is no riv.il line to seduce passengers by 
 more affable and obliging treatment. In Ger- 
 many, France, England and, in fact, nearly all 
 foreign countries, such things as gratuitous 
 time-cards, foldereJ, and general railway litera- 
 ture are almost unknown. 
 
 Here again the Tourist Agencies are service- 
 able, as a traveler can get any desired informa- 
 tion at their offices without charge. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Leaving Hanover, I started on what the Ger- 
 mans call a JRund-Reise, this name being ap- 
 plied to certain trips at reduced rates on which 
 one takes no luggage except what can be carried 
 by hand. For the benefit of the "lone w^oman," 
 I will explain that to decide on my route I went 
 to an office, not of an "Agency," but of a private 
 individual whose advertisement I had seen, who 
 laid out for me a desirable route giving me a 
 written program with all details including esti- 
 mated expenses of the trip, for all of which I 
 paid him about sixty cents. Our business was 
 transacted in German, but if the "lone one" 
 does not know the language, she would better 
 take with her an interpreter to such a place, as 
 she would not wif^h to misunderstand any of the 
 items. 
 
 My first stoppage was at the ancient and most 
 interesting town of Hildersheim on the borders 
 of the Hartz mountains, a place that has re- 
 tained many mediaeval features. At a very 
 early period, even as far back as the tenth cen- 
 tury, this town attained great importance as a 
 cradle of art, notonly mediaeval but Romanesque, 
 and according to authorities, "one of the most 
 attractive and characteristic features consists of 
 its timber architecture in the German Renais- 
 sance style. The richly decorated facades ex- 
 ecuted by wood-carvers and sculptors, bear 
 abundant testimony of the taste, the humor and 
 the enterprise of the period." 
 
 The population is about thirty thousand and 
 
 165 
 
166 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 the place is evidently quite a center of business 
 activity. I immediately went out for a walk, 
 following a wide, handsome street which soon 
 led into a crooked, old-fashioned thoroughfare 
 where, on either hand, might be seen examples 
 of the ornamental and substantial styles of the 
 builders of the fourteenth and fifteenth cen- 
 turies. 
 
 It is difficult to describe these edifices ; they 
 are so totally unlike anything erected nowadays 
 that a historical interest is added to the esthetic, 
 throwing a "glamour of the past over the reali- 
 ties of the present." 
 
 Some one has said that "a walk through the 
 streets of a North German town is indeed a feast 
 of varied and permanent enjoyment for the 
 traveler of refined taste in art." I should not 
 make even that limitation, but declare that no 
 one with eyes to see, could fail to be moved to 
 admiration and to wonder. 
 
 Pursuing my way, I reached a fine mediaeval 
 square called the Altstaedter Markt, which may 
 be interpreted literally, "Old-Town Market," 
 though there is nothing about it now suggestive 
 of any modern market-place. It is surrounded 
 by marvelous, antique structures. Language 
 fails to convey an idea of their quaint and elab- 
 orate beauty, and even photographs and engrav- 
 ings are inadequate, as so much of the details, 
 which are worked out in the finest fashion, is 
 there lost. 
 
 The Knockenhauer Amthaus is said to be the 
 finest timber building in Germany. It was con- 
 structed in 1529 and is described in the guide- 
 books as a "veritable gem of timber architec- 
 ture." Above the five stories of the building 
 proper, rises the lofty gabled roof, itself con- 
 taining several stories. After the quaint fashion 
 
ONE WOMAN ^\ANDERING 167 
 
 of the time each succeeding story projects some 
 one or two feet beyond the one beneath. To 
 quote from a popular author, "the fagade is cov- 
 ered with figures and other ornamentation in 
 which painting and wood- carving vie with each 
 other." Scarcely a square inch of surface is 
 left unadorned by conceits cunningly carved in 
 the wood, both in high and low relief; such as 
 garlands, leaves, birds, beasts, human beings, 
 mottoes and so forth, showing an astonishing 
 liveliness of fancy as well as an exquisite skill 
 in execution. 
 
 These are alternated with panels and friezes 
 of paintings having a smoothness of finish sug- 
 gesting enamel. 
 
 The figures are traced with a great deal of 
 humor, while texts in Old-German script accom- 
 panying, vary from "grave to gay, from lively to 
 severe." They are usually in the pithy couplet 
 to which I have referred before. One of these 
 little paintings represents a jolly-looking bur- 
 gher of comfortable proportions, seated at a 
 well-spread table upon which a huge joint and 
 various flagons of strong waters are extremely 
 prominent. Traced above this is the suggestive 
 legend : 
 
 "And yet our fathers were no fools !" 
 Still another shows a monarch in rich robes 
 and surrounded by all the luxuries of the time, 
 with a great heap of ready coin spread out be- 
 fore him on a table. Just behind, however, 
 stands the skeleton figure of Death ^bout to 
 grasp his victim. Encircling this is a motto, 
 something to this efi'ect: 
 
 "Not even g-old 
 
 Can loose Death's hold!" 
 
 A detailed description of the countless crna- 
 
168 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 ments and (Conceptions wrought out upon this 
 structure, is necessarily impossible here, even 
 were nij stock of words sufficient for the subject- 
 As one stands below and gazes upward on to 
 the gradually projecting stories, where the in- 
 creased height of each succeeding one is 
 partially counteracted by its shorter lateral dis- 
 tance from the beholder, one vi-^ws such a wealth 
 of decoration and curious handiwork that one 
 involuntarily wonders how long those people 
 lived who had time thus to elaborate every inch 
 of the outer surfaces of their buildings. 
 
 But this is only one of the astonishingly 
 quaint, beautifiil and ancient edifices in this 
 square. The We/Iekind Uans dating from 1598, 
 is also most elaborately carved and painted. 
 The descendants of the Wedekind family still 
 occupy the building, dealing on the lower floor 
 in colonial supplies, a business pritbably handed 
 down from father to son — or daughter, — through 
 all the generations since this old house was new. 
 
 Numerous others of unusual interest and 
 charm might be mentioned, but pages indeed 
 would be required for a full catalogue. 
 
 One very queer, old place in a side street, is 
 called the House of the Emperors on account of 
 having a row of Eoman Emperors carved all 
 along the sides. 
 
 Numerous and beautiful also are the churches 
 of Hildesheim and the old cathedral with its 
 wondrous bronze doors and antique candelabrum. 
 These and other marvelous specimens of work in 
 this metal were executed under Bishop Bernward 
 between the years 995 and 1032. The doors date 
 from 1015 and are adorned with sixteen curious 
 and intricate reliefs representing the Fall and 
 .the Redemption. 
 
 The large candelabrum is unique and a model 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 169 
 
 of its era; I saw copies of it afterward in sev- 
 eral museiiLus in different sections. 
 
 Indeed in the time of Bernward and his im- 
 mediate successors down to 1154, Hildesheim 
 became one of the most important seats of 
 Romanesque art in Germany. The cathedral, 
 which was built in 1055-61 on the site 
 of an earlier church dating from 872, is of this 
 ■style, but was much changed and debased by 
 alterations of an unsjmmetrical character in the 
 ■eighteenth century. 
 
 St. Michaels is called one of the finest Roman- 
 esque churches in Germany. It has a lovely 
 location upon a beautiful hill overlooking the 
 river Innerste, and surrounded by noble trees. 
 From here a promenade extends along the "Ram- 
 parts." by which name is known a succession of 
 fine, elevated parks occupying the place of the 
 former veritable ramparts, and commanding a 
 charming view. 
 
 Tearing myself away from this peculiarly in- 
 teresting spot, I took train for Goslar, a little 
 farther on into the fastnesses of the Hartz. 
 
 The region grows hillier and more wooded as 
 we wind along to the foot of the Rammelsberg 
 where is situated the quaint town which is our 
 destination. The Rammelsberg is two thousand 
 and forty feet above sea-level and has yielded 
 varying quantities yearly of at least eight differ- 
 ent minerals, a surprising variety to be found in 
 ■so limited an area. It is honey-combed with 
 shafts and galleries in every direction. 
 
 To the west of Goslar rises the Steinberg, not 
 ■so lofty as the Rammelsberg but very picturesque. 
 
 The ancient town itself lying on the river Gose, 
 Is, if possible, still more charming than Hildes- 
 heim ; being only about one third as large, it is 
 more rural and the streets are diversified by fre- 
 
170 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 quent gardens and arbors rich in foliage and 
 flowers. 
 
 As I left the train, a vei-y sociably disposed 
 Dienstmann, or porter, approached and, offering 
 his services, threw my bag over his shoulder with 
 the remark that it would much pleasanter to 
 walk than to ride, if the "gracious lady" felt so 
 inclined. Nothing loath, 1 agreed and we pro- 
 ceeded to thread the old-time pathways that 
 have echoed for so many centuries to the tread 
 of hurrying and of halting feet. My guide was 
 exceedingly painstaking in pointing out various 
 noteworihy and curious objects on our route, 
 giving a brief history of each, wiih many orig- 
 inal comments. 
 
 Near the station is an immense round tower, 
 almost a ruin, though signs of habitation were 
 evident, and sounds of hilarity issuing forth fell 
 upon the ear. It seems that this is a part of 
 the ancient town-fortifications, but is now used 
 as a hotel, having an elegant, modern interior 
 little according with its antique outside. 
 
 My Bienstmaiin piloted me to a funny little 
 inn where I received a cordial reception ; after 
 paying requisite attention to the demands of a 
 somewhat vigorous appetite, I retired to my 
 room which proved to be one of the quaintest 
 and cleanest of chambers, with shining blue floors,, 
 low, dazzlingly white walls, and heavy beams 
 and rafters of dark, polished wood, testifying to 
 centuries of support and shelter. There was a 
 concert going on in the coffee-room below, and 
 indeed all night long the sound of musical in- 
 struments and of voices uplifted in melody, 
 floated throvigh the air, mingling with my 
 dreams. 
 
 There are manj^ remaining evidences in Gos- 
 lar, of its old and honorable history. Here again 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 171 
 
 one sees the queer, old buildings and the won- 
 derful workmanship before described, but it is a 
 sleepy little place and quietly enough it lay 
 among its cool shadows, as I walked abroad 
 next morning to gaze further upon its beauties. 
 
 The people are cordial and friendly, as gener- 
 ally throughout Germany. They rarely pass 
 one without courteous salutation, and even lit- 
 tle children nod and smile and cry, "6rw^ew Toy.'''' 
 It is a pretty custom and makes a stranger ft el 
 very much at home. 
 
 This fashion of salutation is very dilFerent in 
 France and Germany than at home in America, 
 or in England either, for that matter. 
 
 While it is carried much further in Germany 
 than in France, one is always expected to 
 exchange bows there with whomever one may 
 meet in the hall, lift or drawing-room of one's 
 abode, unless indeed there is a crowd of strang- 
 ers or one is in a very large establishment, like 
 the mammoth hotels; and even in these, one is 
 expected to bow to his companions at table, and 
 to bid his attendant "good morning, "and "good 
 night," with great punctiliousness and to Ure 
 much formality in making requests or thanking 
 one for services. The French servant or trades- 
 person is addressed as Ilonsieur, Iladame or 
 Ma^m^selle, as the case may require, and he or 
 she is equally courteous in response, always ad- 
 dressing a superior in position, in the third 
 person. This latter form, though observt d 
 somewhat in German}'', is not so universal as in 
 France; but in Germany a pers^on would be con- 
 sidered hopelessly ill-bred who, no matter how 
 large the table, should take or leave his seat 
 without catching the eye of the hostess, (who 
 always presides,) and making a profound bo v 
 as he ejaculates ^'Gesegnete MaJilzeit," which is 
 
172 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 a German equivalent for "Good Appetite!" 
 New arrivals, of course, do not always know 
 of this usage, and the situation is (•ometiroes a 
 little embarrassing. I presume we all remember 
 Mark Twain's comical setting forth of this 
 custom as he encountered it. Even in traveling, 
 it is usual for anyone entering or leaving a 
 railway-carriage, to acknowledge the presence 
 of others by a courteous bow. 
 
 The French and Germans too, seldom, if ever, 
 fail to formally present strangers to each other, 
 and I found the fashion of hand-shaking, which 
 I had supposed distinctly American, was really 
 particularly German. 
 
 Just across from my hotel, stands Goslar's 
 Bath-Haas, or Town Hall, simple but quaint, 
 dating from the fifteenth century. Among the 
 many curosities, old books, paintings, charters 
 and so forth, may be specially mentioned one 
 of a widely different nature, a Beisskatze, 
 (Biting-Cat!) a kind of cage in which shrews 
 used to be imprisoned. 
 
 Upon an eminence on the outskirts of the 
 town rises a palace, the Kaiserhaus, said to be 
 the oldest secular edifice in Germany. Its loca- 
 tion is remarkably fine and the magnificent old 
 building, which was most judiciously restored 
 in 1878, looks down in serene dignity upon the 
 little world at its feet. 
 
 Within, the Imperial Hall is fifty six yards 
 long, seventeen wide and thirty-five feet high. 
 One side is almost entirely of glass, so many 
 and immense are the windows. Opposite 
 the central one, is the ancient Imperial 
 Throne which stood in the cathedral until 1820, 
 and then came into the possession of Prince 
 Charles of Prussia. In the chapel adjoining, is 
 the painted tomb of Henry III., containing 
 his heart, preserved at Hanover until 1884. 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 173 
 
 Somewhat distant from this castle are some 
 venerable ruins that testify to the ancient 
 grandeur of Goslar, around which are entwined, 
 many legends. Heine and other poets have sung 
 many a sweet song inspired by the beauty and. 
 romance of this vicinity. 
 
 Not very far from these ruins stands the 
 North Portal, all that is left of a once famous 
 cathedral founded in 1039. This portal is now 
 used as a place of worship by itself, and is in- 
 deed antique and quaint. (1 know that adjec- 
 tive is overworked, but what is a poor scribe to 
 do in the limitations of the English language?) 
 A richly sculptured column stands at the en- 
 trance, surmounted by a Gorgon's head, reminis- 
 cence, it is said, of the old-time use of such heads 
 to ward off evil influences. 
 
 In the gable over the entrance, are odd-look- 
 ing colored figures of the Emperor Konrad, his 
 wife Gesela and Saints Mathew, Simon and 
 Jude. What living, breathing realities these 
 old saints and martyrs i^eemed to the people of 
 the earlier centuries. 
 
 Inside the Portal are several interesting relics 
 of the ancient cathedral, among which may be 
 noted an oblong box of brass plates, borne by 
 four crouching figures and containing numerous 
 circular holes. It is popularly called "Kodi's 
 Altar," from the supposition that it was for- 
 merly a part of the shrine of that idol, but no 
 one really knows for what it was originally de- 
 signed. 
 
 That the ancient genius and skill in wood- 
 carving are not yet extinct in this region, is 
 proved by the existence of a most marvelous 
 clock which is on exhibition here in the home 
 of its maker. To visit it, I wandered down a 
 country-like lane bordered on each side by sweet- 
 
174 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 smelling gardens and picturesque homes, until I 
 came to a little cottage charmingly set within a 
 bower of bloom. 
 
 Following the direction indicated by a painted 
 hand, I entered this enchanting spot and pro- 
 ceeded beneath the vine-wreathed lattice-work 
 to the open door of the dwelling. Here were 
 gathered some half a dozen sight-seers, like my- 
 self desirious of inspecting the wonderful 
 time-piece, though none of them from across the 
 sea. 
 
 The maker and owner soon appeared and 
 showed us all the curiosities of his master-piece. 
 It was in the form of a temple and is most elab- 
 orate in detail, being all hand-work and 
 carved with the utmost delicacy from woods 
 of varying colors and hardness, some o£ 
 which were the product of America. At the 
 stroke of the hour, music is heard, sentinels at 
 various points salute, soldiers in the center sur- 
 rounding a figure of Christ on the cross, manip- 
 ulate their arms and implements, while one lifts 
 his spear and pierces the side of the crucified 
 Jesus. Above, a door opens and the Twelve 
 Apostles appear one by one, and pass before a 
 figure of the risen Lord, each bowing his head 
 as he comes opposite to receive the benediction 
 of the Savior, who extends his hands in bless- 
 ing. 
 
 Numerous other features, such as details for 
 showing the seasons, the times of heavenly 
 bodies, days of the week and month, the cur- 
 rent year, the presenting of a birthday card at 
 a given date and so forth, all displaying a sur- 
 prising store of skill and patience in design and 
 execution, are to be noticed. 
 
 The structure stands about eight feet high 
 and was intended as a present to the King of 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 175 
 
 Hanover, being nearly completed when the 
 troublous times of 1866 arose, which ended 
 in his banishment; after which the "ruling 
 powers" would not allow the old artisan to carry 
 ■out his project, so he kept the clock himself and, 
 putting it on exhibition at about twelve and one 
 half cents a head, has made his fortune. 
 
 One characteristic of the neighborhood of 
 Goslar is the Farbensuempfe, ponds fed by 
 streams from the Rammelsberg, and yielding 
 the ocher dye so profitable here. Goslar was 
 for a long time the favorite residence of the 
 Saxon and Salic Emperors. Henry IV. was 
 born here in 1050 and the attachment of the cit- 
 izens to him involved the town in his misfor- 
 tunes. In 1204 it was utterly destroyed by 
 Otho IV., but rallied for many a long year of 
 prosperity afterward. To-day, prosperous and 
 thriving ia its quiet fashion, it sits among its 
 green hills and wooes with an irresistible charm, 
 the fancies of the poet and the painter. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 And thus I kept wandering on in the beauti- 
 ful June weather, each day penetrating a little 
 farther into the mystic region of the Hartz. 
 Never traveling at night, I had full opportunity 
 to enjoy all the romantic scenery of this far- 
 famed locality. 
 
 It is indeed lovely, but with this, as with so 
 many spots of historic and legendary interest^ 
 the enchanting element is not so much the ac- 
 tual characteristic of the scenery about us, as it 
 is the connection between it and the songs and 
 stories familiar to us since our earliest recollec- 
 tion, and the legendary lore that has come down 
 through so many centuries, from a credulous 
 and impressionable people; from a time when 
 ever)^ grove had its dryads, every stream its 
 nixies, every cave its gnomes and every mount 
 its ogres. 
 
 Yet this locality, while very picturesque and 
 certain to arouse enthusiasm in the romantic 
 breast, in actual beauty falls far below our owu 
 Green, White, Adirondack or Cumberland ranges, 
 nor can it in any wise compare with the grandeur 
 of our Rocky, Nevada or Coast mountains. 
 
 But there is a quaintness and a wildness, 
 which yet is not at all like the solitude of the 
 virgin forests and stretches of our own new land ; 
 not a real isolation but rather an arrest of de- 
 velopment by some mysterious spell, as of the 
 Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, which attracts 
 and charms. 
 
 The Hartz is chiefly a mining region and con- 
 ire 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 177 
 
 sists of an isolated range rising abruptly from 
 the plain on all sides, with heights and recesses 
 unattainable in former rude eras, only by the 
 most indefatigable. 
 
 What wonder then that those heights and re- 
 cesses above, looked upon by the toilers in the 
 bowels of the earth below, but rarely save 
 through the mists of morn and eve, should be 
 peopled at will with ghostly multitudes, by the 
 teeming fancies of the mystical and poetical 
 German of the Middle Ages? 
 
 It seems strange to know to-day that the 
 highest peak is only thirty-four hundred and 
 fifteen feet above sea-level; but the atmosphere 
 is clear and the sky is lovely, Oh ! so lovely ;and 
 there is something about the air that exhilarates 
 and makes one feel that the world is indeed 
 "very good." What is it Goethe sings? 
 
 "How brightly beams 
 
 The sun on me ! 
 The fields and streams 
 
 Smile happily. 
 
 The flowers appear 
 
 On shrub and plain; 
 
 As if to hear 
 
 The wild bird's strain. 
 
 And love and mirth 
 
 To all Increase; 
 O, Sun and earth ! 
 
 O, bliss and peace !' 
 
 The climate of the Hartz region is said to be 
 much like that of Central Norway, even the 
 heats of mid-summer being here agreeably tem- 
 pered by the north winds of the Baltic Sea. 
 
 Many varieties of railway carriages do I en- 
 counter in this expedition; some entirely unique, 
 others a combination of several different styles ; 
 altogether making such a confusion in my mind. 
 
178 ONE WOMAN WANDEEING 
 
 that I give up all idea of trying to remember 
 them. One, however, I specially recollect be- 
 cause exteriorly it had a familiar look and I 
 thought I had actually come across an American 
 car at last. To be sure, it was of a rusty brown 
 color, had very small windows and its outer 
 finish was about on a par with American freight- 
 cars, but it had end platforms with steps, and 
 doors leading from these into the end of each 
 car like ours. I entered, but to my disappoint- 
 ment found that within it was divided off into 
 tiny compartments as usual, though the aisle 
 ran between the seats lengthwise, instead of 
 across as ordinarily; but each compartment was 
 shut off from the next by a door wtich the con- 
 ductor locked every time he passed through, so 
 that I could really perceive no advantage over 
 the common style, except the fact that the 
 conductor did not have to be exposed to the 
 weather. 
 
 Now we are in motion again. As we go on 
 and upward, the way becomes more winding 
 and we are more and more shut in by the encom- 
 passing hills. Oker, Harzburg, Islenburg, Werni- 
 gerode and many other beautiful hill-side towns 
 spread out before us, each inviting us to tarry 
 awhile amid its natural loveliness. 
 
 The former lies at the entrance of the wild 
 Okerthal, the road ascending which, affords 
 picturesque views of the precipitous cliffs. II- 
 senburg is situated just outside the Ilsethal, one 
 of the finest valleys of the Hartz, presenting a 
 succession of remarkably striking rock and for- 
 est-pictures that at times are almost sublime. 
 
 The road, winding in and out and around the 
 most charming scenes, follows a rushing moun- 
 tain-brook, enlivened by a series of miniature 
 waterfalls, in the midst of which one sees some 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 179 
 
 surprising rock-formations. The most conspic- 
 uous, perhaps, is the llsenstein, a precipitous 
 buttress of granite, rising to a lieight of five 
 hundred feet above the valley. 
 
 Many are the foot-paths leading through all 
 parts of this romantic region, and pedestrians of 
 all grades and nations abound, from the bare- 
 footed peasant with shoulders bowed beneath a 
 heavy burden, to the fully equipped, modern 
 "globe-trotter" with fancy outfit and sturdy 
 alpenstock, for "bikes" are here at a discount. 
 
 Here and there, at the most available points, 
 may be seen some extensive and imposing castle. 
 That of Count Wernigerode, above the town of 
 the same name, is particularly picturesque in 
 its lofty situation, looking down the slopes of 
 the Hartz and upon the junction of two fine rivers. 
 
 Everywhere upon the most inaccessible crags, 
 are seen the crumbling ruins, in various degrees 
 of disintegration, of a ruder and more ancient 
 architecture, whose former possessors, once 
 dwelling in continual warfare among these pla- 
 teaus and peaks, have left little trace of their ex- 
 istence, other than these eloquent vestiges of 
 generations long since vanished. 
 
 The road now ascends still more abruptly 
 through the beautiful, pine-clad valley of the 
 Steinerne Renne, where the shadows are dense 
 and silent and where the dashing mountain-tor- 
 rent rushes downward over its stony bed, 
 to find its level so far away in the vale be- 
 low. One becomes almost bewildered with 
 the constant recurrence of cascade and cliff, 
 of rock and rill, of sombre shade and sunny 
 stretch. 
 
 We are favored with delightful weather and 
 we hope for its continuance, for now we are 
 about to reach the culminating point of our ex- 
 
180 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 pedition, the ascent of the mist-enveloped and 
 specter-haunted Brocken. 
 
 We come at nightfall to the enchanting town 
 of Blankenburg, which seems fairer and more 
 charming than any before. They are so clean, 
 these little towns, so trim and tidy, that one 
 feels as if it were all the time some festal date 
 and that everything was in order for the occa- 
 sion. 
 
 I leave the train and am inducted into a 
 "spick and span" little 'bus, that drives off and 
 away, uphill and down, through smooth, twisty 
 and narrow, but beautifully kept streets, where 
 the old-fashioned houses seem to smile cordially 
 upon the stranger. Finally we arrive at a queer 
 old inn and drive right in at, apparently, the 
 front doorway, but which proves to be a paved 
 way, over which are bedrooms, and on the one 
 hand, the dining-room, on the other, the office. A 
 little farther along is a circular court under a glass 
 roof, all within the walls of the dwelling, where 
 the horses are unhitched and the vehicles left, 
 while the animals themselves are led off through 
 a rear door, to their own special quarters. 
 
 A stairway within, at one side of the front 
 paved entrance, all decorated in gay, blooming 
 plants and graceful vines, and overlooking the 
 court which is also adorned with greenery, led 
 to my apartment. This proved to be a large, 
 old-fashioned room most comfortable and inter- 
 esting, having three, instead of the usual two 
 beds. I observed to the friendly Ober-Eellner, 
 as he ushered me into my quarters, that, as I 
 was alone, a smaller room and fewer beds would 
 amply accommodate me, but he only replied 
 sjiilingly, "Ach! dass machts nichts,'''' and left 
 me "alone with my glory." 
 
 Here the feather-bed covering reappeared, 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 181 
 
 which I had not seen for some time, and even 
 then not quite in the present guise, for here 
 there was literally no other covering except the 
 sheet. In the cool, equab'e climate of this re- 
 gion, the funny, exaggerated cushions are by 
 no means uncomfortable, even in summer, though 
 exceedingly difficult to keep properly adjusted, 
 during the "silent midnight watches." 
 
 I sleep well and rise next morning eager to 
 delight my eyes with the beautiful prospect. 
 On looking from my window, I find the street 
 so narrow that I have to make an effort to see 
 persons on the other side below, though I am 
 only in the second story ; but it would be very 
 easy to converse with my neighbors on the cor- 
 responding floor across the way. 
 
 I go down and prepare for an exploration. 
 For some time, English-speaking persons have 
 been growing rare and rarer, and now I find 
 that there is no one in the house , nor probably 
 in the place, who uses my native tongue. This 
 gives me a rather peculiar sensation and tends 
 to foster extreme deliberation on my part, as I 
 strive to cogitate in German. 
 
 The road past the inn-door, goes on almost 
 perpendicularly up a hill, on the summit of 
 which looms the lofty, ducal Sckloss, occupied 
 by His Grace usually only in the shooting-season. 
 It contains numerous mementoes of the Empress 
 Maria Theresa, in the way of books, pictures 
 and so forth. It is a lordly building of yellow- 
 ish stone and, both from its position and its 
 archil ecture, is very commanding. 
 
 To reach it, one passes the stately old Rath- 
 Ilaus into which five balls are built to commem- 
 orate the bombardment by Wallenstein, during 
 the Thirty Years War. 
 Ll l avoid the abrupt ascent and go around by 
 
182 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 easy stages to another beautiful eminence, which 
 I learn rejoices in the suggestive name of the 
 Schnappenberg. 
 
 This is an almost level plateau most attract- 
 ively laid out in walks and groves. I find a seat 
 under a spreading tree and gaze oS over the 
 lovely scene. Far down below are the pictur- 
 esque slopes dotted with elegant and tasteful 
 homes, and blossoming in a riot of color. The 
 clean, tidy, irregular streets wind in and out 
 and echo to the steps of smiling people and the 
 merry shouts of children. 
 
 To the north from across the valley, rises the 
 Regenstein, a precipitous cliff two hundred and 
 forty feet above the plain. Here may be seen 
 the remnants of an ancient castle, standing out 
 distinctly in the clear sunshine, its old walls 
 sadly demolished and, indeed, little left of it 
 except some vaults and embrasures hewn in the 
 solid rock. As long ago as 918, this fortress 
 was erected by Henry the Fowler, and for cen- 
 turies successfully resisted the attacks of ene- 
 mies, but it was finally reduced by Frederick 
 the Great, and conquering time has done the rest. 
 
 On another side, the Ziegenkopf lifts up its 
 bulk thickly covered with dense timber. On its 
 very apex rises one of the present Emperor's 
 watch-towers, a lofty, solidly built erection, 
 which may possibly become one of the "ruins" 
 to be noted generations hence. 
 
 Not a peak nor a cavern nor a waterfall in 
 this vicinity, but has its store of legends and, 
 as I drop my eyes to the little book of Harzsagen 
 in my hand, I see the familiar names repeated 
 on every page, usually in connection with a 
 beautiful, unfortunate princess and her lover, a 
 valiant and splendid young prince ; for in the 
 olden day, even before the "gentle Will" had 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 183 
 
 said it, it was as true as now that, "All the 
 world loves a lover." 
 
 There was some subtile charm about this 
 pretty town that made me loth to leave it, but 
 the Broeken unattained still loomed ahead, so I 
 bade adieu to my aifable hosts, in my best Han- 
 overian German, (which, I fear however, was not 
 properly appreciated in this district of dialects,) 
 and, taking train, still set my face heavenward. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The next stage of my journey was made in a 
 delightful observation-car somewhat larger 
 than the ordinary continental carriage. It 
 seemed more like a spacious, movable piazza, 
 than a public conveyance. The sides, furnished 
 with curtains adjustable at will, were entirely 
 open except for a low wall about a yard high, in 
 which was a gate for entrance on each side; the 
 top formed a sort of canopy ; a long seat ran 
 across the two ends, facing each other, and two 
 more ran back to back down the middle, on each 
 side of a round table that was fixed in the cen- 
 ter. There was plenty of room and every oppor- 
 tunity for outlook. 
 
 Our ascent was slow and gradual; now passing 
 over slopes of verdant hue embroidered in bril- 
 liant wild flowers, now entering stretches of 
 forest where the golden sunshine but filtered 
 down through the close-set leaves and branches. 
 Yet nowhere is that wild look that we see in 
 like districts in America ; everywhere there 
 seemed to be homes, rustic and humble enough, 
 it might be, but still places to live, while every- 
 thing had an air of having been in use a long 
 •time. 
 
 The fields, the roadways, the cliffs, the ra- 
 vines, were ablaze everywhere with a splendor 
 of golden color from a vigorous shrub that 
 seemed to toss aloft its arms in joy and beam 
 radiantly forth upon the world, with its millions 
 of yellow blossoms. A kindly lady, noticing my 
 interest, told me that this plant was called (xm- 
 
 184 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 185 
 
 star ; I am sorry to say that this name did not 
 satisfy me at all ; I should have expected some- 
 thing more suggestive from the resourceful 
 German people. 
 
 Occasionally we come out upon a reach of 
 level plateau where nestles some little village of 
 Ted-roofed cottages. We pass a stalactite cave 
 that has been known for centuries, and another 
 cavern opened recently which is remarkable for 
 the number and variety of fossil remains found 
 within. 
 
 Presently we ascend a mill-valley with very 
 curious rock formations, and finally quit the 
 train at Rothehuette, for the remainder of the 
 ascent is ^uade by horse-carriage. The road is 
 kept in excellent condition and for a while we 
 roll on through a pleasant-looking country with 
 fair, cultivated fields wherein women, old and 
 young, and children of all sizes are toiling, 
 rarely a man. 
 
 Beautiful shade trees relieve the landscape 
 and frequent, tiny villages come into view, of 
 antiquated and picturesque characteristics. The 
 highest is Hoppe, a scattered hamlet very popu- 
 ular as a resort, for all over the Brocken is to be 
 found that modern institution, the Summer 
 Hotel. 
 
 The contrast between the simple peasant who 
 has probably never left his native nook upon the 
 mountain-side, and the hlase "resorter," is 
 marked and amusing. Numerous waterways 
 intercept our path, spanned by rustic bridges. 
 Tinkling cascades make music. Cool, green 
 shades embosom us. The neighboring rocks as- 
 sume grotesque and fanciful forms. The forest 
 grows denser and the face of the earth is one 
 wild conglomeration of moss-covered boulders 
 iStanding at every angle. How our road was 
 
186 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 ever hewn through, must remain a mystery to- 
 the feminine mind. 
 
 Here, at one of the narrowest portions, with 
 a stream on one hand ai;d the tall trees spring- 
 ing from their rocky bed close on the other, we 
 meet a descending carriage ; consternation 
 seizes on all; women scream and men — ejacu- 
 late forcibly. The occupants of the new carri- 
 age, being young and agile scramble out, while 
 the men unhitch the horses and tilt the vehicle 
 in sufh a way that our party is enabled to 
 "scrooge'' past, and we heartlessly leave the 
 others to their fate as we ascend still higher. 
 
 We are now near the top. Vegetation be- 
 comes very scanty near the summit and no trees 
 grow, so says our conductor, within one hundred 
 and thirty feet from it. 
 
 Soon the great hotel looms up before us, 
 black against the western sky. At one side, but 
 detached, is a tower of mason-work from which, 
 und.er favorable conditions, may be seen the 
 domes and spires of Magdeburg, Erfurt, Gotha, 
 Cassel, Hanover and Brunswick. A fine vista, 
 trul}'', but I had in my mind's eye, the ravishing 
 prospect beheld from about the same elevation, 
 on Mount Hamilton, California, and this suf- 
 fered in comparison ; so I turned my attention to 
 the consideration of the mental pictures evolved 
 for us so long ago, by Goethe and others of the 
 mighty ones in the arena of German poetry and 
 song. Here is the "meeting-place" of the 
 witches, on Walpurgis Night, made immortal by 
 Goethe's vivid word painting. Here are several 
 curious and grotesque granite formations, the 
 Devil's Pulpit, the Witches' Altar, the Hob- 
 goblin's Footstool. Here is the habitat of 
 the Brocken's Spectre. 
 
 As the sun sank into his nightly bed and the 
 pallid mists of twilight began to sweep up and 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDEEING 187 
 
 around the shoulders of the mountain, while that 
 peculiar silence wherein there is no chirp of 
 bird, no rustle of leaf, no stir of animal, be- 
 came more and more impressive as the tourists 
 withdrew by degrees into the hostelry, I let my 
 fancy run backward to the time before the ma- 
 terialization of the "Summer Tripper," and the 
 "Holiday Excursionist," when here the old 
 Brocken lifted up its head in utter solitude. 
 
 For how many ages did storm and wind and 
 cloud, and all the forces of nature, hold revel 
 about this hoary crown? Not strange is it, that 
 the untutored mountaineer, gazing upward from 
 below at the conflicts of the elements, should 
 have discerned therein the voices and the move- 
 ments of supernatural beings? Hardy indeed 
 was he who would venture to brave a closer 
 proximity, by clambering into these lofty areas. 
 But two lines of daily stages with their hilar- 
 ious loads of vacation parties, make short work 
 of sentiment, and the mystic mystery of the 
 spot is gone forever. 
 
 I retired to my room in pensive mood, almost 
 hoping that some wandering sprite of the olden 
 ages, might float into my vicinity, for are not 
 such immortal? I awoke in the morning to look 
 out upon an ocean of mist wherein we were shut 
 off from all visible connection with our mun- 
 dane sphere ; but I had been visited by no spec- 
 ters, no witches, and had seen nothing of a more 
 startling nature than a collection of brilliantly 
 red matches with orange tips, which certainly 
 did seem allied to regions of sulphurous and 
 fiery character. 
 
 A little later we were driving away through 
 tile enveloping fog, which gradr.ally disappeared 
 as we descended into the valley, and I again re- 
 turned to Blankenburg, from whence I resumed 
 my tour of this interesting country. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 The valley of the Bode, the grandest point in 
 the Hartz Mountains, is reached from Blanken- 
 burgby a daily char-a-hanc, or picnic-wagon, to 
 Thale. Under the continuance of the clear 
 June sunshine, I entered the vehicle one day 
 and rode along the fair slopes and stretches lying 
 between the two places. 
 
 The carriage highways through this part of 
 the country are excellent, being hard, smooth 
 and, where the lay of the land permits, broad. 
 
 A smiling, peaceful scene it was, through 
 which we passed on this beautiful morning; 
 realizing on the one side, a perfect ideal of a pasto- 
 ral landscape, while on the other, to the left, rises 
 a very remarkable series of huge, irregular 
 masses of sandstone, known as the "Devil's 
 Wall." 
 
 These do not form a plateau, but are thrust 
 up through the turf in broken lines ; now ris- 
 ing singly and in thin, flat-sided, jagged forms 
 and again in fanciful shapes of considerable 
 bulk, which are named as mediaeval imagination 
 suggested, as the "King's Chair," the "Giant's 
 Table," and so forth. These all spring up ab- 
 ruptly, penetrating the green earth which lies 
 smooth and unbroken on either side, so that the 
 whole formation has indeed the semblance of a 
 gigantic wall, through which some enemy has 
 made innumerable and irreparable breaches. 
 
 Every point is legend-haunted, of course, 
 while the wall itself is accounted for by the tale 
 that the devil, having been outwitted in certain 
 
 188 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 189 
 
 transactions between himself and the good bur- 
 ghers of Blankenburg, and being thereby con- 
 vinced that they were, in modern parlance, "too 
 many for him," resolved to build a v^all between 
 that special quarter of the country where he was 
 able to get the better of the simple folk, and 
 that of the proud Blankenburgians who had 
 presumed to overmaster his plans and had even 
 dared to jeer at him as "the stupid devil." 
 
 So, attended by his unholy crew, he began op- 
 erations at night, and great progress was made 
 in the darkness. But> as the narrator quaintly 
 remarks, "What good was it? Whatever was 
 built at night, at day-break fell in pieces again 
 as soon as the morning sun shone thereupon ; 
 and no matter how much and how sorely they 
 wearied themselves to build all firm and secure, 
 they found when they would continue the next 
 night that all their work was fallen down and 
 shattered." At length did the despairing devil 
 give over his attempt to divide "God's King- 
 dom" by walls and rocks, but the testimony of 
 his impious undertaking is yet seen in the 
 rent and ragged ruins which are standing to- 
 day, between Blankenburg and Thale. 
 
 When we reached the charming village of 
 Thale we found ourselves directly at the foot of 
 the towering entrance to the Bode-Thal, through 
 which plunges a roaring river guarded on either 
 hand by bold precipices covered with a heavy 
 growth of forest trees and shrubs. Midway up, 
 and on the top of these heights, is situated 
 many a comfortable inn of more or less preten- 
 tions. 
 
 The Iioss-T7-ap2}e, a great, granite rock, here 
 projects bastion-like into the dale, and rises ab- 
 ruptly to a height of six hundred and fifty feet. 
 Beautiful is the view obtained from its summit. 
 
190 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 A singular impression here in the roclty surface, 
 resembling a gigantic hoof-print, is said to have 
 been left by the steed, or liofs, of a lovely young 
 princess who leaped across the valley at this 
 point to es-cape the pursuit of an ogre who had 
 singled her out for his victim. In her terrible 
 spring, she lost from her head her golden crown, 
 (for, of course, no self-respecting princess would 
 appear without her crown,) which fell into the 
 abyss below and is, in its turn, the central figure 
 of many legends. 
 
 Numerous are the picturesque drives all 
 around in this neighborhood, supplemented by 
 footpaths leading on where vehicles may not fol- 
 low, into entrancing regions of woodland and out 
 on to the heights above. 
 
 Another "Witches Dancing-Place," more pic- 
 turesque but not so weird &s that of the Brock- 
 en, lies opposite the Boss-Trapjje, than which it 
 is two hundred and ten feet higher. The whole 
 vicinity is indeed most interesting and, to one 
 who enters into sympathy with the people and 
 gathers up the folk-lore of the environment, it 
 furnishes a w^onderful store of memories. 
 
 Modern customs and conveniences, however, 
 are by no means unknown in this charming sec- 
 tion. Directly opposite the station, across the 
 wide boulevard, is a splendid villa standing in 
 an enchanting park where fountain, flower, fo- 
 liage and winding way vie with each other in 
 promoting the delight and refreshment of the 
 visitor. This place, having the singular name 
 of the "Ten Pound Hotel," is but one of several 
 equally attractive though perhaps not on so mag- 
 nificent a scale. 
 
 Time failed then to permit me to enjoy, a^ it 
 does now to recount, all the charms of the local- 
 ity, so, reluctantly turning away from the rocks 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 191 
 
 ;and crags and bowery nooks, I took the train 
 for Berlin, 
 
 The face of the country changes abruptly in 
 this direction, and leaving behind me the cas- 
 tled cliffs and rocky dells, I sped on through a 
 valley as level as some of our great, western 
 plains, arriving at my destination with nothing 
 more eventful than a change at Magdeburg; 
 v^^hich brought to raiad the "Magdeburg Hem- 
 ispheres," over which I puzzled in my early 
 ■school-days, little thinking I should myself ever 
 be within the confines of the venerable city of 
 their origin. The air-pump and hemispheres with 
 which Otto von Guericke made his first experi- 
 ments, are still preserved in the Royal Library 
 at Berlin. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Berlin, the capital of Prussia and the 
 residence of the German Emperor, is now a city 
 of nearly seventeen hundred thousand inhabi- 
 tants, including its garrison of twenty thousand 
 soldiers. 
 
 Nature has done little for this locality in the 
 way of the picturesque, it being simply an im- 
 mense, sandy plain only one hundred and ten 
 feet above the level of the sea. But the region 
 is well-watered and has an intimate connection 
 by rail with all parts of the continent, and by 
 navigable rivers with northeast Germany and 
 Poland, and is said to be one of the foremost 
 seats of commerce and perhaps the greatest 
 manufacturing town in continental Europe. 
 
 Its situation on its serpentine river, suggests 
 the old conundrum, "Why is Berlin, of neces- 
 sity, the most dissipated of cities?" Answer: 
 "Because it is, and always will be, continually 
 on the Spree." But the Germans craftily evade 
 this imputation, by pronouncing the name 
 "Spray," so that the point of the joke is lost as 
 soon as you reach Deutschland. The traffic upon 
 this river and its canals is said to be even busier 
 than that of the Rhine. 
 
 One notes again in Berlin the lack of height 
 in the noble edifices one sees on all sides. The 
 royal palaces and museums, opera-house, na- 
 tional gallery, university, new houses of parlia- 
 ment, arsenal and other beautiful buildings, are 
 all comparatively low and broad; most of them 
 having a suggestion of the classic in their con- 
 
 192 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 193 
 
 ception, though the forms of the Renaissance 
 are also popular, while there is mainly a freedom 
 from excessive ornamentation, that is pleasingly 
 effective. 
 
 Berlin, I am told, is yet in a transition state. 
 Not until after the wars of 1866, '70 and ' 71, 
 and the consolidation still later of the numerous 
 provincial governments into one comprehensive 
 imperial aiithority, did the city take its most 
 deci^ive strides toward becoming what it now is, 
 one of the great capitals of the world. 
 
 The place is beautifully clean, the water and 
 lighting systems excellent, and on the whole, 
 while thi^ metropolis may, perhaps, suffer some- 
 what in comparison with some of the older cap- 
 itals of Europe, yet it has a distinct charm of 
 its own that will constantly increase as improve- 
 ments and adornments go on. 
 
 The Thiergarten, which, as it translates "an- 
 imal garden," I at first supposed to be a 
 zoological inclosure, is a very extensive wooded 
 park, really a cultivated forest, covering more 
 than six hundred acres. It was originally a part 
 of the Royal Preserves. The northern boundary 
 is the River Spree, which lends itself effectively 
 to the attractiveness of the place. Many little 
 sheets of water dotted with tiny islets, lying in 
 the shadows of the venerable foiest trees and 
 spanned by rustic or more ornate bridges, add 
 infinite charm to the sylvan space. 
 
 Works of art are also scattered about through 
 its area. Exquisite statues in white marble, of 
 Queen Louise, by Encke, and of Frederick Will- 
 iam III, by Drake, stand not far from each 
 other in bowers of greenery and surrounded by 
 ^vdiCeixxl jardinieres and slender trellises of flow- 
 ering plants. Many other fine specimens of the 
 plastic art might be mentioned but the beauties 
 
194 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 of these two are especially enhanced by their 
 exquisite setting within the verdant wood. Re- 
 markably impressive figures of Goethe in marble 
 and of Lessing in bronze face the Koeniggraet- 
 zer Street, on the eastern limit of the park. 
 
 Cutting through the Tkiergarten from north 
 to soutii, is the broad Avenue of Victory, one of 
 the most fashionable promenades of Berlin. In 
 the northern extremity, in the center of beau- 
 tiful "King's Pla(!e," an extensive square 
 adorned with flowers, fountains and statuary, 
 rises the Monument of Victory, two hundred 
 feet in height, standing on a circular terrace 
 approached by eight steps of granite. 
 
 This is a wonderful composition commemorat- 
 ing the great triumphs of 1870-71 and earlier cam- 
 paigns. The massive square pedestal is adorned 
 with exceedingly fine reliefs in bronze, each 
 group presenting a vivid picture of some thril- 
 ling scene in German warfare. The suggestive 
 pathos in face and attitude of many of these 
 figures, is most appealing, and brought tears to 
 the eyes of the writer, though an alien and a 
 stranger. Space forbids detailed description, 
 but one peculiar feature may be mentioned, con- 
 sisting of three rows of cannon, sixty in all, 
 captured from Danes, Austrians and French, 
 now placed lengthwise on the great column, 
 just above its flutings of yellowish gray sand- 
 stone. A colossal Borussia^ or Prussia, forty- 
 eight feet tall, surmounted by an outspread eagle 
 in gilded bronze, crowns the monument which is 
 truly an imposing and magnificent creation. 
 
 In ''King's Place" also is situated the beau- 
 tifully stately new edifice, the Hall of the Im- 
 perial Diet, which occupies an area of fourteen 
 thousand square yards. 
 
 To the north, "King's Place" leads into 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 195 
 
 *'Alsen Place" also lovely with beauties of na- 
 ture and art. 
 
 At the southern extremity of the Avenue of 
 Victory, stands the Wrangel fountain in a wide 
 square, tree-bordered, and fitted out with com- 
 fortable seats past which an array of glittering 
 vehicles unceasingly rolls. 
 
 Running through the Thiergarten from east 
 to west and directly at right angles to the 
 Avenue of Victory, lies the Charlottenburg road, 
 another wide, ornamental boulevard, leading out 
 to the suburb of same name and to the royal 
 palace where Emperor Frederick III. spent ten 
 weeks of his last illness. In the pleasant and 
 extensive garden, or park as we should term it, 
 surrounding this palace, and at some little dis- 
 tance from it, through shaded and quiet ways 
 stands the widely famed mausoleum erected by 
 Goetz, in the Doric style. Here, beneath beau- 
 tiful life-size, full-length, reclining marble por- 
 trait-figures, repose the mortal remains of King 
 Frederick William III., his lovely consort. 
 Queen Louise, their son, Emperor William I. 
 and his empress, Augusta. The adornments of 
 this snowy chamber are simple and chaste in the 
 extreme, yet marvelous in effectiveness. A soft, 
 purplish light falls through the stained glass of 
 a single casement above the entrance, and 
 faintly illumines the silent figures with subdued 
 radiance. And thpre they lie in unostentatious 
 majesty, until time, regardless alike of all 
 beauty, animate or inanimate, shall work his 
 will upon their unresisting forms. 
 
 I dare say that most persons hearing of Ber- 
 lin, picture to themselves the charms of the 
 famous avenue, '■'■ITnter den Linden.'''' I must 
 own to sad disappointment in this historic 
 street; many others in the city are far finer. 
 
196 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 True, its associations are most interesting and, 
 I presume, in an earlier day, before the era of 
 "modern improvements," it was something to 
 be particularly noted. To be sure, the avenue 
 is one hundred and ninety-six feet wide, it is 
 flanked by handsome and spacious palaces, ho- 
 tels, trade-emporiums and public buildings ; 
 here are the French and Russian Embassies and 
 other important governmental offices ; but it is 
 comparatively short, is dusty and untidy, while 
 the two insignificant rows of scrubby little trees 
 extending partially down its center, are poor 
 representatives of the noble arborage in some 
 other portions of the city. 
 
 The space between these rows of trees, in- 
 tended for the pleasure of the pedestrian, in- 
 stead of being neatly turfed, with cement or as- 
 phalt walks through the midst, as, for instance, 
 in Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, is simply 
 loose dirt, which is shuffled up in all directions 
 by the wayfarer, to rise in clouds of dust all 
 about. 
 
 The Brandenburg Gate, which forms the wes- 
 tern terminus, is not at all imposing, being too 
 low for its breadth and looking as if made from 
 dirty putty. The lower end of the avenue is 
 more satisfactory. Here is the masterly statue 
 in bronze, by Rauch, of Frederick the Great, on 
 the right of which is the plain but massive and 
 now unoccupied palace of William I., and on the 
 left the academy and the buildings of the Uni- 
 versity, situated in pleasant grounds shaded by 
 a grove of fine chesnuts. 
 
 Again on the other side, the Royal Opera 
 House, Royal Guard-house, the unpretentious 
 palace of Emperor Frederick III., where his 
 widow, Queen Victoria's daughter, resides, and 
 the arsenal, follow in quick succession, forming 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 197 
 
 a pleasing though by no means imposing pros- 
 pect. Of all these, the arsenal is the most 
 ornate and is one of the finest buildings in Ber- 
 lin. A striking feature of this, is the adorn- 
 ment, if it may be properly termed such, upon 
 the keystones of the window arches of the inner 
 quadrangle, with sculptured heads of expiring 
 warriors in every variety of agonized expression, 
 depicted in the most realistic manner. 
 
 Leading off from Unter den Linden toward 
 the south, is a beautiful arched passage, the 
 Kaiser-Gallerie, glass roofed and richly deco- 
 rated in terracotta, in the style of the Renais- 
 sance. This is one of the busiest and handsom- 
 est arcades in Europe, I am told, though not the 
 largest. The display of goods is similar to that 
 along the colonnades of the Rue de Rivoli, in 
 Paris, and the locality has the further advantage 
 of being entirely protected from the weather. 
 
 Berlin has many handsome and massive stone 
 bridges which are really works of art in more 
 ways than one, being ornamented with fine 
 statues and groups in bronze and marble, both 
 of mythologic and historic subjects, all wrought 
 and finished in a highly artistic style. 
 
 Over one of these, the Schloss Br^iecke, we 
 cross to the eastern prolongation of the "Lin- 
 den," and find on the left a lovely, spacious 
 square of nearly fifty thousand square yards. 
 Large shade trees here form a beautiful grove 
 branching over emerald turf and brilliant flow- 
 ers. In the center is a fine statue of Frederick 
 William III. This place is called the Lustyarten^ 
 and was originally the pleasure garden of the 
 Royal Palace, which fronts it on the south 
 across the avenue. The square is inclosed on 
 the east and north by the former cathedral and 
 the Old Museum ; in front of the steps of the 
 
198 ONE WOMAN WANDEEING 
 
 latter, is a curiosity in the shape of a pon- 
 derous granite basin said to be twenty-two feet 
 in diameter and seventy-five tons in weight, 
 having been hewn from a solid block of ten 
 times the weight. As I looked at it, half a 
 dozen small Deutscher laddies with little bare 
 feet and well-ventilated garments, were trying 
 to scramble inside of the huge hollow. 
 
 The Royal Palace, official residence of the 
 reigning sovereign, is located upon an island in 
 the midst of the city, formed by a division of 
 the Spree into two arms at this point which is 
 reached from the west, as noted before, by the 
 Schloss-Bruecke, while, going eastward, one 
 passes over Emperor William's Bridge to the 
 Boerse, or exchange ; this, by the way, was the 
 first modern building of Berlin executed in stone 
 instead of brick. The palace is huge and im- 
 pressive in a solid, severe style, with nothing 
 particularly remarkable either in point of age or 
 architecture. The oldest part was erected by 
 Elector Frederick II., in 1443-51. His various 
 successors have added or altered and pulled 
 down, until the time of Frederick, the first king 
 of Prussia, who desired to replace the irregular 
 pile by a uniform structure of imposing propor- 
 tions. This project, however has never been 
 completely carried out, and from 1716 to about 
 1845, comparatively trifling changes were 
 made. 
 
 From that time to the present, exterior and in- 
 terior alike have been undergoing a gradual 
 process of renovation. Connected with this 
 palace is a ghostly apparition known as the 
 Wei.sse Fran, or "White Lady, " whose appear- 
 ance in the castle occasionally, exactly at the 
 midnight hour, is reckoned to be always a harb- 
 inger of death to some member of the House of 
 Hohenzollern. 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 193 
 
 Fronting the principal facade of the Royal 
 Palace, is the colossal bronze figure of William 
 I., recently unveiled, the accessories of which 
 are yet unfinished. When complete, with its 
 semi- circle of statuesque adjuncts abutting on 
 the river below, it will suggest the decoration 
 and general effect, though on a smaller scale, of 
 the Place de la Concoru'e in Paris. 
 
 In the line of antique structures, Berlin is 
 rather deficient, those it does possess not being 
 particularly remarkable or ancient. 
 
 In ihe Kloster Street is a gymnasium founded 
 in 1514, containing some chambers of an old 
 monastery dating from fouiteen hundred and 
 seventy -four, that are still in a fair state of 
 preservation. 
 
 St. Nicholas Church is, I believe, the oldest 
 sacred edifice in Berlin, although as it now 
 stands it has many later additions to the original 
 building. The square blocks of granite forming 
 the bases of the two towers, date from the be- 
 ginning of the thirteenth, the choir from the 
 fourteenth, and the nave from the fifteenth 
 century. Marien Church, built at the end ()f 
 the thirteenth, and restored in the fourteenth 
 century, is noteworthy as being the second 
 parish-church of Old Berlin. Its peculiar Gothic 
 spire, however, was added in 1796. In front of 
 the principal entrance is the expiatory cross for 
 the murder of the Provost of Bernau in the begin- 
 ning of the fourteenth century. 
 
 There are a large number of fine sacred struc- 
 tures dating all along from the year 1840 to the' 
 present day ; one, the most modern and splen- 
 did of all, is the Memorial Church to Emperor 
 William I. It was in one of these modern, 
 churchts that I listened to what my program 
 styled(in German Ittters) a GeistUche Konzert^ 
 
200 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 which I blunderingly translated, as a "ghostly- 
 concert," forgetting for the moment that geist- 
 liohe is "spiritual" and" spiritual" is "sacred;" 
 but it was truly enjoyable, whatever it might be 
 called. 
 
 The old cathedral has been pulled down and 
 on its site a splendid new one is building. 
 They have a queer fashion here of entirely in- 
 closing any building in process of erection, with 
 great walls as high as the main parts of the con- 
 templated structure, inside of which only the 
 workmen are admitted, and which completely 
 hide all operations from the outside public. At 
 the corner of King street and the "Long Bridge," 
 abutting on the river and just west of the statue 
 of the Great Elector, is such an enclosure, and 
 I passed it many a time with curious eyes; 
 through chance crevices, or some occasionally 
 swinging door, now and then I could get a 
 glimpse of outlines of rare beauty and of decora- 
 tions wrought out in fine stone and marble. 
 Often did 1 inquire what this edifice might be, 
 but strange to say, no one could tell me. Finally 
 one day I resolved not to be baffled and, as I 
 came to the spot in my daily walk, I turned into 
 the large semi-circular area about the old Elec- 
 tor and, pacing back and forth for about half an 
 hour, I accosted every pedesti'ian who came along. 
 Among these was one couple, a lady and gentle- 
 man who evidently were tourists like myself ; 
 they were sauntering along, Bnedaker in hand, 
 and gazing here and there after the fashion of 
 •strangers in a strange land. They could give 
 me no information but we got into a pleasant 
 chat during which I was much puzzled to place 
 the nationality of my interlocutors. I had never 
 heard English spoken in quite their peculiar 
 :Style. They certainly were not German nor 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 201 
 
 French nor Scandinavian, — what were they? 
 Could it be possible that they were English? I 
 had met many English persons, but never 
 any who spoke thus ; still, I had not then been 
 to England,and possibly, — no, it was impossible ; 
 no cultivated English tongue could ever twist 
 its own mother-speech into such accents. It 
 was only by the closest attention that I was 
 able to understand. They were very friendly and 
 had evidently seen much of the world. Finally, 
 as I was about to turn away, the gentleman said : 
 
 "You are not English, I think?" 
 
 "No," I replied, "American." 
 
 "Ah — h!" rejoined the gentleman, with a 
 pleasant smile, "Yes, thy speech bewray eth 
 thee." 
 
 "Well!" I mentally exclaimed, "Thy speech 
 bewrayeth thee, too ; unfortunately not quite 
 enough, however, to satisfy me ; I wish I could 
 know your country." 
 
 But before I had opportunity to voice my de- 
 sire, he went on : 
 
 "Yes, I noticed you spoke differently from us; 
 we are from Edinburg; but you speak well, very 
 well indeed; we could understand you perfectly. 
 Very pleased we met you ; hope we shall see you 
 again." 
 
 And with mutual bow^s and compliments, we 
 separated, each marveling at the speech of the 
 other. 
 
 But I had not found out about the new build- 
 ing. Of the twenty or more parsers by of whom 
 I inquired, three, though native Germans, were 
 strangers to the city; two besides the Scotch 
 tourist and his wif^^,were foreigners; six seemed 
 to be just ordinary citizens, male and female; 
 one was a porter; another a soldier; one a 
 baker's boy; and the rest ware children, boys 
 
202 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 and girls of varying ages. Every one had essen- 
 tially the same answer: 
 
 '^Achl Dass kann ich nicht scigen, meine 
 Dame,^' which, being interpreted, declared that 
 nobody knew. Imagine such a state of things in 
 an American community. My national, investi- 
 gating spirit was subdued; 1 gave it up. When 
 you go there, O, solitary sister, do you straight- 
 way betake yourself to that quarter and find out 
 for me the desire of my soul. The shrouding 
 timbers may then have been torn away and the 
 structure within be known unto men and women, 
 in free and open exhibition. 
 
 Not very far from the Royal Opera House 
 and the ' Linden" lies Schiller Place, an exten- 
 sive area wherein are found several noble build- 
 ings; of these, the French Church, the New 
 Church and the Schiller Theater, are considered 
 the finest architectural group in Berlin. In 
 front of the Theater's principal entrance, stands 
 a fine figure of Schiller and the whole area is 
 lovely with trees and flow'ers. This group is 
 particularly beautiful by moonlight; though, in 
 making this statement, I resemble Walter Scott, 
 if it be true, as declared, that he had never seen 
 "fair Melrose" at night, when he wrote that to 
 view it "aright" one must, 
 
 "Go visit it by pale moonlight," 
 
 yet he spake truly, for all that, and so do I. 
 
 While I find this city very pleasing, I have 
 one fault to find with the Berliners and with 
 Germans in general, so far as I have observed 
 over here, and that is that they do not, like the 
 French, throw open their pleasant little park* 
 and gardens, as a rule, to the public, nor do they 
 provide so many resting-places for the wayfar- 
 ing man, woman or child. True, the public is 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 203 
 
 permitted to walk through and sometimes a seat 
 will be observed, but usually a high, iron rail- 
 ing divides off the pleasant and shady, leafy 
 retreats, and often there is no entrance allowed 
 into the interiors at all, even for a stroll, as in 
 Leipziyer Flatz\ of course, there are excep- 
 tions; noticeably here, the Thiergarten^'^'\\\\%\YO. 
 and Alexander Places and a few others. In 
 French gardens there are very few railings, and 
 those are usually about some bed of delicate 
 plants, or the like, while seats are everywhere. 
 
 Very odd names may be noted upon the vari- 
 ous signs and placards of a German city, partic- 
 ularly so if lifted over bodily into their 
 equivalent English. Fancy accosting anyone 
 by the name of Mr. Nodding-goose, Mr. Big- 
 head, Mr. Sweet-and-good, Mr. Gas-pipe, or a 
 polished gentleman as Mr. Blood-sausage. 
 
 Some of the streets also have odd names when 
 translated, as Bone-hewer, Big-berry, Young- 
 fellow or Invalid Street,Forsaken Way, Wedding 
 Place, and so forth ; there is in Germany, too, 
 a queer fashion of naming a thoroughfare by a 
 phrase, as "To the Station" Street, ''Behind the 
 Catholic Church"Street,"On the Is.land"Street. 
 and the like. One day I was startled to notice 
 "Holy Ghost" Street, but soon saw this was only 
 meant as short for "Holy Ghost Church" Street. 
 I am told that here in Prussia, the national 
 Government regulates municipal affairs in many 
 departments. While the city may nominate, it 
 cannot confirm its choice for mayor, the govern- 
 ment does that ; it also names all streets and pub- 
 lic squares and no change can be made in any 
 nomenclature without governmental assent 
 
 Berlin is not chary in her recognition of pub- 
 lic men. In every square or locality of any im- 
 portance, may be seen statues of more or less 
 
204 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 pretentions, to the memory of some general, 
 philosopher, scientist, poet or otherwise fa- 
 mous personage. 
 
 The art-collections of Berlin are compara- 
 tively inferior in importance, consisting largely 
 of casts and copies and comprising few master- 
 pieces or originals of worth, though I believe the 
 Pergamenian sculptures acquired in 1879, and 
 one or two other collections purchased since, are 
 really valuable. 
 
 Though I cannot expect even to allude to the 
 major part of Berlin's characteristics, I will 
 mention in closing, the circular Belle- Alliance 
 Place into which three great avenues converge 
 and which is laid out as a garden, in the center 
 of which rises the fine "Column of Peace," 
 placed here in 1840 to commemorate the peace 
 of 1815. Four marble groups representing the 
 four principal powers that participated in the 
 decisive struggle, surround the column, which 
 is crowned with a "Victory," by Rauch. On 
 the south side of the Place, a flight of steps as- 
 cends from the street and is adorned by allego- 
 rical figures in white marble. Opposite the top 
 of the stairway and leading to the river, is 
 Halle Gate, a monumental portal decorated with 
 figures of the four seasons. 
 
 Berlin is remarkably well supplied with facil- 
 ities for intramural transportation, though I 
 saw but one electric line, and that running away 
 out from the heart of the city, as seems to be 
 the custom in large tow^ns abroad. The con- 
 ductors and drivers of the trams and 'buses, 
 wear a very pretty uniform of light fawn-color, 
 set off with leaf-green collars and ornaments ; 
 this is varied on hot days by "continuations" of 
 white duck, which somehow they manage to 
 keep in very fresh condition. The uniform of 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 205 
 
 the foresters, or, as we would call them, the 
 park-police, is also very tasteful, consisting of 
 rather wide trousers, a double-breasted, some- 
 what full-skirted coat and a wide-rimmed, quite 
 high-crowned hat, all of a soft gray-green re- 
 lieved with cords and frogs of a slightly deeper 
 tinge, and a feather of the same in the hat. As 
 for policeman in general, and soldiers, their 
 costumes are glittering and varied beyond de- 
 scription and show to good advantage on the 
 almost universally fine physique of the North 
 German citizen. 
 
 These large cities abroad are usually well 
 supplied with postal facilities of various sorts, 
 but Berlin, I am informed, has, in addition to 
 more ordinary conveniences, a system of Pneu- 
 matic Tubes for the rapid transmission of tele- 
 grams, letters and postal cards from one part to 
 another of the city, including Charlottenburg. 
 The places for deposit and delivery, are called 
 Pneumatic Post-Offlces, and letters or packets 
 must not exceed a certain size and weight. 
 
 Postage on letters is about seven, and on cards 
 about five cents. 
 
CHAPTER XXIIT. 
 
 A hasty visit to Potsdam accompanied by a 
 "lone sister" whom I encountered atmj pe>ision, 
 (which, by the way, i? kept by a von, the low- 
 est rank of German nobility,) could not, of 
 course, serve to grain a very thorough knowledge 
 of this great suburb of Berlin, but so far as it 
 went, it was very interesting. 
 
 The weather was charming; the distance 
 about half an hour's ride; and, as I had never 
 yet been in a third class carriage, we concluded 
 to take this grade and found it to be very like a 
 large street-car in style and finish. The com- 
 partment-walls reached only about three-fourths 
 of the distance between floor and ceiling, and 
 each compartment opened into the next without 
 any intervening doors, though each had doors 
 on each side for entrance and exit, as usual. 
 The seats and floors were bare, the former of 
 varnished slats, as in a tram, and all was clean 
 and comfortable, the rate being very cheap, 
 about twenty-five cents for the round trip. 
 
 Potsdam, though a suburb, has fifty-five 
 thousand inhabitants and a garrison of seven 
 thousand soldiers. It is situated on a large 
 island in the Havel, which is-land abounds in 
 lakes and wooded hills. 
 
 The town first came into prominence in the 
 time of the "Great Elector," who did much for 
 the place, founding here his park and garden ; 
 its later importance arose a hundred years after, 
 under Frederick the Great, whose favorite resi- 
 dence was at Potsdam. 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 207 
 
 One enters the main town over the Long 
 Bridge, a remarltably handsome, finely decorated 
 structure, that ieads directly to the Royal Pal- 
 ace, so called ; though, as there "re several other 
 Roj^al Palaces here, within walking distance of 
 each other, it strikes me that the definite article 
 is rather misapplied. 
 
 After leaving the bridge, we pass an old lin- 
 den, much bepropped and protected, under 
 which, it is said, petitioners used to station 
 themselves to attract the notice of Frederick the 
 G-reat. 
 
 The spacious pleasure-garden to the south of 
 the palace, is inclosed in two rows of columns 
 surmounted by a series of statues, groups and 
 the like. This palace was erected in 1670. but 
 re-constructed in 1750 by Frederick the Great, 
 whose rooms here are preserved in good condi- 
 tion. There is much tj be seen that is very in- 
 teresting, but I must be brief and will allude to 
 but one or two features. 
 
 In the apartments of Frederick William I , 
 are a few pictures of his majesty's own painting 
 under peculiar circumstances, that is, while suf- 
 fering from an attack of the gout. The library 
 of the palace is separated from the bedroom of 
 Frederick the Great, only by a massive silver 
 balustrade. Adjoining the library is a cabinet 
 with double doors, from which a dining-table 
 could be let down by means of a trap-door, and 
 where the king might dine with his friends, at 
 will, without danger of being spied upon by his 
 attendants. 
 
 The town contains many fine public buildings, 
 both sacred and secular, and the streets seem 
 mostly wide and pleasant". Here also is a 
 Brandenburg Gate, more effective than the one 
 in Berlin. 
 
208 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 We have time to visit but one church and we 
 select the Friedenkirche, an edifice in the early 
 Christian Basilica style, completed in 1850, con- 
 taining the burial vaults of Frederick William 
 IV. and his queen, Elizabeth, also of the 
 Emperor Fredtrick III. 
 
 The church stands apart from the busy high- 
 way and is surrounded with much verdure and 
 bowery greenery. We enter at a little side door 
 and, treading over the velvety turf of a shaded 
 inclosure, we step around a side wall and come 
 into a quadrangle shut in by arcades, where we 
 are confronted by the bell-tower, one hundred 
 and thirty feet high. Still farther on beyond 
 the cloisters, we enter an atrium or "paradise" 
 containing Rauch's Group of Moses and a copy 
 of Thorwaldsen's Eisen Christ. Then turning,, 
 we pass into the interior of the basilica, the 
 roof of which is supported by sixteen Ionic col- 
 umns in black marble. Some fine sculptures are 
 within, and the recumbent figure of Emperor 
 Frederick III., is especially good. 
 
 The marble forms lie on immovable and they 
 all seem to be indeed very far from any vital 
 interest ; we do not quite understand why Fred- 
 erick III. is placed here by the side of his uncle, 
 and so remote from his father and mother. 
 Frederick the Great and Frederick William I., 
 his father, are buried in the Garrison Church. 
 
 We do not tarry long but step out from the 
 cool silence again into the "garish light of 
 day," and return to the green bowers and high- 
 way road, passing the "Great Fountain" which 
 later on is seen in full play, mounting to a 
 height of one hundred and thirty feet. 
 
 We reach a broad flight of steps sixty feet 
 high, intersected by six terraces, in the top one 
 of which are buried the grayhounds of Frederick 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 209 
 
 the Great. Crossing the last terrace, we come 
 to the entrance of the Palace of Sans Souci, the 
 favorite and almost constant residence of this 
 monarch. 
 
 His rooms are preserved unaltered and contain 
 many interesting relics of the erratic yet illus- 
 trious sovereign and of his famous contempor- 
 aries. In a room once occupied for some weeks 
 by Voltaire, are some very odd and rather ugly 
 wood-carvings and embroideries. Room after 
 room are we conducted through, which have all 
 been used for the varied needs of life by the 
 great King, but now "empty, swept and gar- 
 nished." We are shown his spinet, flute, 
 music, books, bed, the clock that he always 
 wound and that stopped — as clocks of illustrious 
 beings seem to have a way of doing, — at the 
 moment of its owner's death, the chair in which 
 he died and the like. How is it, I wonder, that 
 so many of the world's celebrities of ancient 
 date, died in chairs, instead of comfortably in 
 their beds? 
 
 One room which impressed me most, was a 
 long gallery, one side of which was glass, look- 
 ing out upon the park, and where the king used 
 to pace up and down in his later years, accom- 
 panied by his greyhounds. I could seem to see 
 the irascible old man, in the grotesque dress of 
 the period, traveling to and fro, chafing impo- 
 tently at the infirmities that set to his activities 
 a limit which even he could not overstep. 
 
 It makes history seem very real to visit these 
 places, yet it is but a melancholy satisfaction, 
 after all, giving one the feeling that every one 
 is dead and gone, and causing one to reflect in 
 the words of the Psalmist: "How shall thy ser- 
 vant stand before Thee, 0, Lord?" and "What 
 is man that Thou art mindful of him?" 
 
210 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 The extensive domain about is very pleasant, 
 diversified by hill and dale, by pool and foun- 
 tain. Some laborers were cutting grass near by 
 in the broad meadows, and the air was fragrant 
 with perfume. 
 
 Several other royal residences are within con- 
 venient distance, by way of lovely avenues 
 through the imperial acres. We pass the famovis 
 mill which the old owner refused to sell to Fred- 
 erick the Great, to that testy monarch's ineff- 
 able disgust, but the stubborn man's heirs were 
 more tractable and it is now royal property. We 
 next visit the Orangery, a comparatively modern 
 structure in Florentine style, completed in 1856. 
 The Charlotte.nhof, transformed, it is said, from 
 a plain country-house to an Italian villa, con- 
 tains many memorials of Alexander von Hum- 
 boldt. 
 
 All these palaces are crowded with luxuries 
 and curious articles of "bigotry and virtue," 
 too numerous to name, though I will mention a 
 chair of steel and silver, made by Peter the 
 Great. To the west of the Park of /Sa/is Soiici, 
 rises the summer residence of the present em- 
 peror, the palace of Friedrichskron, founded by 
 Frederick the Great in 1763, at the tnd of the 
 Seven Years War, and completed by him in 1769, 
 at a cost of about two and a quarter million 
 dollars. Among its beautiful and elegant apart- 
 ments is conspicuous the modern "Shell Room," 
 a vast chamber inlaid with shells, minerals and 
 precious stones, in a most wonderful and taste- 
 ful fashion. These objects, we are told, are me- 
 mentoes of the visit of William II. (who, by the 
 way, is styled the "wandering emperor,") to 
 northern Europe. The chamber was seven years 
 in construction. 
 
 We were weary now, physically and mentally, 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 211 
 
 and resolved to do no more sight-seeing. As we 
 strolled along the fine, winding highway, be- 
 neath large forest trees, we espied a placard at 
 the beginning of a woodland path, which placard 
 bore the legend"To the Dragon's Cafe." This was 
 tempting, so we turned aside and scrambled up 
 the little hill until we came to a fanciful pavil- 
 ion, above the cornices of which fiery dragons 
 were snorting defiance to the world at large. 
 
 In spite of their ferocious appearance, we ven- 
 tured near and, seating ourselves at a little 
 table under a leafy tree, were promptly served 
 with coffee in a dragon pot, and bread and but- 
 ter upon dragon plates. This with tips to the 
 waiter, cost us about twelve and one half cents 
 each, which to the American mind was some- 
 what surprising. The coffee not quenching my 
 thirst, I asked for ice-water; not to be had ; then 
 for an ordinary, plain, everyday drink of water; 
 not to be had either; nothing but selzer, which 
 s&mehow did not seem to ' 'fill a long felt want." 
 But refreshed and restored, we resumed our 
 walk and, as we stroHed along the avenue, which 
 had now re-entered the park, there was a sudden 
 reverberation of wheels, a clatter of hoofs, a 
 gleam of scarlet and gold, and lo ! an imperial 
 carriage dashed by. This being royal domairi, 
 no other would be allowed to traverse it, so we 
 had the spectacle for what it was worth. We 
 then trudged on reflecting, perhaps, that "the 
 rich can ride in chaises," but we — could catch a 
 tram, which we did, and in due time, arrived 
 safely in Berlin. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 The next week I went on to Dresden, a monoto- 
 nous trip of about three hours by express, which 
 would have been very dull but for the delightful 
 weather and the pleasant look of the fields and 
 groves in the summer sunshine. The effect was 
 marred for me, however, as it had been so often 
 during my travels on the continent, by the 
 sight of poor, exhausted looking women toiling 
 with such a hopeless appearance at all sorts of 
 heavy labors incident to the tilling of the soil; 
 and at the same time having charge of infants of 
 the tenderest age, which are sometimes strapped 
 to the mother's shoulders, sometimes swaddled 
 up in a bundle upon the grass, and sometimes, 
 when the little feet have become more ambitious, 
 are tied to trees or posts in the vicinity, with 
 long bands that permit some degree of locomo- 
 tion. And at other times I saw in the beauti- 
 ful grounds of enchanting estates, feeble, old 
 women who were past their time of usefulness in 
 the fields, bowed down upon hands and knees 
 and crawling about the turf to pick up, one by 
 one, the leaves and twigs that might be scattered 
 there. I have been told that, for this service, 
 they each receive six or seven cents a day; this 
 may be an error, I did not verify it. 
 
 Women drag wagons and bear burdens of all 
 descriptions, young children clinging to their 
 gowns; older ones assist. I was fain to ask : 
 "Where aie themen?" Many, of course, have 
 gone to be soldiers, but the question was an- 
 
ONE WOMAN PANDERING 213 
 
 swered in another way, by a spectacle I saw one 
 day upon the street. 
 
 To a heavy cart laden with lumber of all kinds, 
 old stoves, boxes, barrels and so forth, a middle 
 aged woman was harnessed with a dog. Both 
 were straining every muscle to move the vehicle, 
 while behind, coolly lounging along, occasionally 
 spurring up the "beasts" with harsh commands, 
 pipe in mouth and hands in pockets, was the 
 "lord and master'' of the outfit. I suppose they 
 were thankful he did not get into the cart and 
 ride. 
 
 What enchantment of nature or beauty of art 
 can compensate for such a state of things? In 
 France, while women bear, as is just, their full 
 share of the responsibilities of life, I saw no ouch 
 degradation, and though I do not know the status 
 of woman in French law, 1 do know that dog- 
 labor is forbidden. 
 
 Fair Germany, so beautiful and so endowed, 
 why permittest thou these things so to be? 
 
 Still the wheels turn tirelessly onward and 
 soon we enter the lovely suburbs of Dresden 
 and note the grand sweep of the River Elbe as, 
 spanned by three fine stone bridges, it curves 
 in front of the fair city. 
 
 Here, as in Berlin and some other German 
 cities, the traveler is handed a metal ticket as 
 he passes through the station-gate, and with 
 this ticket he secures a cab of corresponding 
 number. These vehicles are of two kinds, call- 
 ed first and second class. The latter is cheaper 
 and roomier ; the drivers wear yellow hat-bands 
 and collars, instead of white as in the first class; 
 the latter are supposed to be better fitted up, 
 as a rule, than the second class, but in reality 
 there is no very striking difference in the ap- 
 pointments of the two classes. 
 
214 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 Dresden, as we all know, is noted for its 
 magnificent picture gallery, M'hich now ranks 
 with the Louvre, the Pitti and the Uffizzi, and 
 there are probably few travelers who do not 
 make it the first objective point of their sight- 
 seeing. Abler pens than mine have set forth 
 its treasures, and I will make no attempt to 
 follow in their lead. But what a privilege it 
 is to have these wondrous creations close at 
 hand, where one may retire at will to marvel 
 and to admire, or to be led in spirit, either 
 backward to the eventful scenes of bygone eras, 
 to the days of romance and chivalry, or up and 
 away through the realms of imagination, to 
 those elevated regions of thought and hope, to 
 which we all strive to attain, in our best and 
 noblest moments. 
 
 Dresden's collection is fitly housed, the edi- 
 fice containing it being considered one of the 
 finest examples of modern architecture. The 
 picture-gallery occupies the first and second 
 floors of the Museum, and the Museum forms 
 the north west wing of the Zioinger, which is a 
 splendid structure that one really must see to 
 obtain any adequate idea of its magnificence. It 
 owes its existence to the splendor loving "Augus- 
 tus the Strong," and, to quote a popular writer, 
 "as Augustus the Strong bore some resemblance 
 to Louis XIV., so the erection of the Z winger re- 
 calls the palatial edifices built about that period 
 as monuments befitting the glorious reign of the 
 Grand Monarque of France." It consists of 
 seven pavilions connected by a gallery of one 
 story, inclosing a court one hundred and 
 twenty-eight yards long, and one hundred and 
 seventeen wide, but only a small portion of the 
 original design has been completed. 
 
 According to Baedeker, the present site of 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 215 
 
 the Museum was to have been occupied by a 
 huge portal which was to lead to an elevated 
 plateau flanked by two long palaces ; these edi- 
 fices were to have been connected by galleries, 
 whence flights of steps would have descended to 
 the Elbe. But the magnificent plan, conceived 
 in 1711, and carried out until 1722, was never 
 fully executed ; and the Museum, now forming 
 a part of the group, was built there in 1847-54. 
 
 Nor do the Zwivger and the Museum stand 
 alone in their beauty. A grand old pile, the 
 Roman Catholic Court-Church, rises diagonally 
 across from the Zivinger, in a remarkably spa- 
 cious square, and is truly an imposing and ma- 
 jestic structure; the parapets and entrances are 
 adorned with seventy colossal statues of saints ; 
 the tower is two hundred and eighty feet high. 
 
 Opposite on the northeast stands the Court- 
 Theater, a magnificent Renaissance building, 
 covering an area of fifty-five hundred and fifty 
 square yards. It is so richly ornamented with 
 paintings^ with medallions, with figures in 
 stone and bronze, that, like the Zwinger, it must 
 be seen to be realized. 
 
 A handsome guard-house with vestibule up- 
 borne by six Ionic columns, is also in this square. 
 All these edifices being detached, their full 
 beauty and dignity are manifest to the beholder; 
 across on the southern side, is the Royal Palace, 
 the proportions of which are not so evident as 
 it does not stand out by itself. Not far from this 
 is a fine elevated terrace, that, lined with beauti- 
 ful villas and handsome public buildings, and in- 
 terspersed with great trees and lovely plats of: 
 plants and flowers, stretches away ofi^ toward 
 the east along the margin of the Elbe. This 
 was originally laid out as a private pleasure- 
 garden, by Count Bruehl, and is approached 
 
216 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 from the Schloss-Platz, or Castle square, by a 
 broad flight of steps adorned with gilded groups 
 in sandstone, of Morning, Noon, Evening and 
 Night. 
 
 The new Bohemian Station in Dresden, un- 
 finished at the present writing, though complet- 
 ed enough for traffic, is I think, the finest that 
 I have ever seen. 
 
 Dresden has no lack of American visitors 
 and students, and is, perhaps, as well known by 
 people of other lands, as any foreign city in the 
 world. The wife and daughters of one of our 
 ex-consuls were at my pension. There was also 
 a Dane lady, one French, one English, and one 
 Russian; the hostess was German and all the 
 others were United States Americans. Oddly e- 
 nough, we were a family of women, our hostess 
 being the kindest and most genial of old 
 maids, with no masculine belongings, and her 
 patrons also, at this particular epoch, all unat- 
 tended by gentlemen. 
 
 My windows overlooked a pleasant little 
 park, where I would hear children frolicking at 
 all hours of the day, and singing airs as familiar 
 to me as to them, such as any group of Ameri- 
 can children might sing, "Lightly Row," "The 
 House is Haunted," "Baby Bye," and sometimes 
 what we call "My Country." Odd about this 
 last air, Lhat so many nations claim it as national 
 music. Of course, these little folks sing in 
 German, but, as I cannot distinguish any words 
 at this distance, the effect is quite "homey." 
 
 One thing I particularly approve about 
 these German towns, is the clear and distinct 
 labeling and numbering of streets and roads. 
 
 There is very little possibility of a stranger 
 losing his way if he can read the placards that 
 are placed at frequent intervals all along the 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 217 
 
 routes at every turn and corner, high enough to 
 be out of the reach of marauding hands, — 
 though such would be sternly dealt with here, — 
 and placed solidly against some background 
 where wind or storm cannot disturb them. In 
 addition to the name of the street, on every cor- 
 ner building are painted the numbers contained 
 in that side of the block, with an arrow show- 
 ing which way they run; and though Germans 
 do no not invariably, as we do, place odd and 
 even numbers on opposite sides of the streets, 
 yet under this system no one can fail to locate 
 any desired spot, with very little effort. 
 
 Dresden has a iine system of both horse and 
 electric trams, but I saw none of the 'buses that 
 bave been so numerous in many other places. 
 
 Desiring to visit the Albertinum, I entered a 
 tram one day and when paying my fare, I ex- 
 plained to the conductor that I was a stranger 
 and requested him to tell me when I had 
 reached my destination. A nice-looking old 
 gentleman sitting next me, asked me if I were 
 a foreigner ; on my answering that I was from 
 the United States, he was interested at once. 
 
 "Oh! the United States," he said ; "I have 
 always wanted to see that great and wonderful 
 country; do you know Denver?" 
 
 I replied that I had visited there ; whereupon 
 he went on to tell about a son he had in some 
 college there, who had evidently filled his old 
 father's mind with admiration for the home of 
 his son. 
 
 "You must go to visit him;" I suggested. 
 
 "No, I am too old," he rejoined, "I am sev- 
 enty years old," — he did not seem sixty, — "and 
 I have been one of the King's Huntsmen for 
 fifty years; much would I delight to get a shot 
 M some of the grand and wonderful game in 
 that far, far west." 
 
218 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 His son, he said, was thirty-five years of age- 
 and had just married a lady of twenty, what did. 
 I think of that? 
 
 I replied that they had probably suited them- 
 selves, and he assented with a smiling "t/a, ja, 
 ja;'^ but suddenly pointing outside, exclaimed, 
 "The King, the King!" 
 
 I turned hastily and beheld a plain, single- 
 carriage wherein was seated a kindly looking 
 old gentleman who bowed pleasantly right and 
 left, but who was without the least insignia or 
 appurtenance of exalted rank and with no at- 
 tendant except his driver. 
 
 My old gentleman remarked that the king was- 
 always like that, simple and unostentatious in 
 the extreme. About this time the old hunts- 
 man took his departure, after giving me most 
 minute instructions for finding my way. I was. 
 sorry to lose him, he was so friendly. 
 
 1 visited the palace of this same King Albert 
 of Saxony, the next day and saw his portrait in 
 regal attire, looking down in dignity from thft 
 stately hall, but seeming even so, the same 
 kindly-natured being. 
 
 The palace is not specially noteworthy with, 
 the exception of its treasure-room called the 
 "Green Vaults, "which are splendid beyond de- 
 scription. Here is a most remarkable display of 
 curiosities, jewels, trinkets, plate, gold and sil- 
 ver smith's work of the sixteenth and seven- 
 teenth centuries, enamels, ivory carvings and 
 ci*ystal cuttings, said to be one of the most val- 
 uable collections in existence. 
 
 1 noticed in this palace, as I had done previ- 
 ously in Potsdam, Versailles, Berlin, in fact, in 
 most of the ancient palaces, great mirrors com- 
 posed of many panes, or pieces, not larger than 
 a medium-sized window-pane; at first, I could 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 219 
 
 not imagine why they had been so divided, but 
 learned later it was because they were made be- 
 fore the invention ot the process for making 
 large sheets of glass. The effects in reflec- 
 tion from these numerous divisions, are very 
 odd. 
 
 Fourteen miles from Dresden, lies Meissen, an 
 ancient Saxon town most picturesquely situated 
 at the point where the rivers Triebisch and 
 Meisse flow into the Elbe, In lofty prominence, 
 one hundred and sixty feet above the town, tow- 
 ers the rocky Schlossberg,to attain the summit of 
 which, one follows a winding, steep and narrow 
 way, paved with square, flat stones, 
 
 A charming view is had from the top, before 
 one crosses the massive bridge leading from one 
 battlement to another, and enters the high walls 
 that form part of the defences of the citadel. 
 Here upon a spacious plateau , stands a gray 
 old cathedral, and the vaulted castle, Albrechts- 
 burg. 
 
 But the chief interest at Meissen is the Royal 
 Porcelain Factory, where is manufactured what 
 is popularly known as "Dresden China." The 
 art of making this, it seems, was actually dis- 
 covered in a chamber of the Albrechtsburg, 
 where the chemist Boettger had his laboratory 
 and where the porcelain was made for a year, 
 until 1710, when the present works just below 
 the Schlossberg, in the Triebischthal, were es- 
 tablished, since when the process has been 
 carried on there. There is an interesting paint- 
 ing in the old laboratory in the Schlossberg, 
 representing Boettger at work, and explaining 
 his process of making the china, to Augustus 
 the Strong, The porcelain as first made was 
 of a soft, "crushed-strawberry" color, but 
 it is now wrought out in most delicate blue and 
 
220 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 white, ornamented, of course, in various styles. 
 We were taken all over the Factory and found it 
 marvelously interesting, our guide explaining 
 everything in the most painstaking manner. At 
 Sevres, visitors are not allowed in the work- 
 rooms. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Rising boldly from adjacent steeps and over- 
 looking the winding waters of the Elbe, looms 
 the Bastei, the finest point in Saxon Switzer- 
 land, ten hundred and thirty feet above sea- 
 level. 
 
 Taking train at Dresden, one passes over a 
 route growing more and more picturesque, as it 
 follows the course of the sinuous river. 
 
 In the genial, but not oppressive sunshine 
 that is so characteristic of the summer season 
 here, our party set forth to view the beauties of 
 this romantic region. 
 
 Arriving opposite the little village of Wehlen, 
 we quitted the train and walked past the few 
 small houses clustered about the station, and 
 down a winding path to the river, where we 
 found a not over large, but rather unwieldly 
 row-boat, the owner of which consented to take 
 us acrors. 
 
 Two or three persons from other points had 
 already assembled here and just before me in 
 stepping into the boat, was a stubby, impassive- 
 looking fellow of middle age, in rustic garb, 
 while already sitting in the boat was another 
 man, somewhat older, short, fat and "roly- 
 poly," with a jolly, red face and an expression 
 "childlike and bland." 
 
 As these two spied each other, they rushed 
 ecstatically together at the risk of upsetting the 
 boat, clasped each other in the most fervent of 
 embraces, kissing one another over and over on 
 both cheeks and ejaculating enthusiastically: 
 
222 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 ^^Ach HimmelV 
 '•'■Du lieber MannV 
 
 '■'■Mein bester Frevnd!'''' and so on repeatedly 
 until at last they subsided into their seats, still 
 clasping hands and beaming upon each other 
 delightedly. We looked on with amused inter- 
 est, striving to fancy the closest of American 
 male relatives going through such a scene even 
 in private. Not that we condemned the spirit; 
 indeed, we considered it rather refreshing and 
 infinitely preferable to the bored and blase de- 
 meanor affected by many of our exponents of 
 good form; still, it might be well to take ac- 
 count of stage-setting and audience, before fully 
 giving way to one's emotions. 
 
 By this time we had all found places, and 
 soon moved slowly across the stream. 
 
 Arriving safely, my companions scattered 
 their several ways, and I wandered through the 
 delightfully quaint little village, on past an 
 ancient church where, turning, one follows a 
 good wide path that ascends gradually but con- 
 stantly as one proceeds. It winds along through 
 a narrow ravine, thickly wooded, and almost 
 immediately there is no trace of human occupa- 
 tion and one seems to be in the very depths of 
 some "foi'est primeval." 
 
 The path gradually contracts and soon the 
 way becomes but a mere defile between great, 
 towering buttresses of gray rock, which stand 
 out in solid masses of such substantial and reg- 
 ular continuity, that they seem to have been 
 reared by giant hands under the leadership of 
 some mighty master-mason. 
 
 Though the trees have now removed them- 
 selves to the top of these lofty battlements, for 
 there is no room for them in the gorge, yet the 
 air is cool and the light shaded, for these reach 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 223 
 
 down to the wayfarer, from above into the 
 abyss, between hundreds of feet of solid rock. 
 
 Though it seems so isolated, yet it is not 
 lonely, for merry parties are continually coming 
 and going upon this marvelous, meandering way. 
 A company of children under charge of two or 
 three adults, passes on singing; it disappears 
 around a turn of the mighty chasm, and the 
 voices come back echoing and re-echoing from 
 the granite walls. 
 
 Still upward and onward; here and there a 
 vine trails downward from far above, or some 
 aspiring moss stretches up from the foot of the 
 prolonged precipice, and embroiders the gray 
 surface of the rocky ramparts in traceries of 
 living green. A little rill flows out now and 
 then, and a daring blossom thrusts forth its 
 ■dainty head at occasional intervals. 
 
 Up and up and up ; still tower the rocks on 
 high, growing more grotesque and tremendous ; 
 but we are coming to the top and finally we 
 emerge from the defile, into an extensive pine 
 wool through which we clamber still upward. 
 And now we come to level ground and discover 
 a tiny, woodland restaurant, Der Steinerne 
 Tisch, or "The Stony Table," with inviting at- 
 tractions for refreshment ; but we are too near 
 the aim of our exertions to stop here, so we 
 press on, and at length we reach the highest 
 peak of this huge precipice called the Bastei. 
 
 There is a fine inn on the summit of the cliffs, 
 and the whispering forest creeps up close to its 
 walls. Between the main fayade of the inn and 
 the brink of the crags, are exceedingly wide 
 Terandas, railed in for safety's sake, and here 
 was found a motley company of pleasure-seek- 
 ers, eating, drinking, chatting cosily, or listen- 
 ing to the music provided for its entertainment. 
 
224 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 Finding a seat close to the edge of the plat- 
 form, I look down on the wonderful panorama 
 spread out below. 
 
 North, south, east and west, the eye sweeps in 
 voiceless admiration. Far down in the green 
 and peaceful valley, the Elbe rolls its placid 
 waters, six hundred and forty-five feet beneath, 
 bearing upon its bosom many a little craft of 
 pleasure or traffic and curving gracefully from 
 point to point until lost amid the wooded ra- 
 vines and stony stefps at either hand. Tiny 
 hamlets dot its borders, country roads and fer- 
 tile fields lie all along its stretches, until the 
 mighty bastions of rugged rock tower up beyond, 
 seeming to say : "Thus far and no farther." 
 
 We are told that from this pinnacle one over- 
 looks the whole of Saxon Switzerland, and we 
 are willing to believe it as we gaze abroad. 
 
 And now, 1 aving feasted bodily and spiritual 
 eye to the full, a more ignoble, perhaps, but not 
 less useful organ asserts its claims to recogni- 
 tion, so I summon a "JTeZZ/^er," and demand 
 some slight internal refreshment. 
 
 "And what will the gracious lady be pleased 
 to desire?"' is the polite inquiry of that func- 
 tionary. 
 
 The "gracious lady" intimates a longing for 
 chocolate and cake. 
 
 They appear ; the first is tempting; the sec- 
 ond — interesting but unrecognizable. I appeal 
 to the waiter: "What is this?" 
 
 "Cake, gracious lady." 
 
 "What makes it so dark?" 
 
 "It is the flour, gracious lady." 
 
 "But why is it so dry and queer?" 
 
 "It is its age, gracious lady." 
 
 "Its age ! I don't want aged cake; bring me 
 some fresh, please?" 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 225 
 
 "But perhaps the gracious lady does not know 
 that we make it only once a year and it is not 
 now the season." 
 
 I am aghast. Cake a year old ! How do they 
 ever manage to keep it in any wise, for that 
 time, and why do they wish to do so? For it is 
 not a rich fruit cake with wines and spices to 
 preserve it. 
 
 But I have exposed my ignorance, doubtless, 
 by my horrified expression, for the servant goes 
 on to explain that this cake is a specialty in 
 this region ; that it is prepared from a recipe 
 handed down from time immemorial and is, by 
 some method which I really did not comprehend, 
 subjected to a sort of "curing" process ; per- 
 haps on the principle applied in treating certain 
 celebrated cheeses, that must lie for a year or so 
 in special caves under peculiar conditions, to 
 acquire their distinctive qualities. At all 
 events, the waiter prevailed upon me to taste the 
 cake and, to my amazement, I found it to be 
 very good indeed. I regret that I neglected to 
 ask its name, so I can only refer to it, on occa- 
 sion, as the "aged cake." 
 
 One has a choice of a variety of routes on the 
 Bastei, and, in descending, I took the shortest 
 and most precipitous, that leading to Rathen. 
 
 After goicg down the first descent from the 
 hotel, one passes over a massive, mid-air bridge 
 constructed in 1851, that connects the various 
 summits of the rocky pinnacles that here rise 
 hundreds of feet from the valley. 
 
 Most astonishing and diverse are the views 
 one obtains from this bridge, as one is alter- 
 nately completely shut in by the huge turrets of 
 ragged rock, or gazes off into space and dowia 
 into the abysses at either hand ; that on the 
 right revealing the smiling valley, that on the 
 
226 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 left, great masses of rock clothed in hardy 
 woodland growth of varied green. 
 
 High up on these grim walls that rise so far 
 above one's head, is set many a tablet commem- 
 orative of some honored citizen or eventful occa- 
 sion of the vicinity. 
 
 Shortly after leaving the bridge, the path 
 broadens and a space of perhaps fifteen feet in 
 width is reached. Here, at the extreme verge 
 of the precipice, looms a mighty boulder, so 
 vast that one's mind fails to take in a computa- 
 tion of its solid contents. 
 
 Apparently poised and ready for a plunge, it 
 is in reality perfectly firm, and its base is beau- 
 tified by neatly kept beds of blooming plants 
 and "flowering vines ; for this boulder has been 
 converted into a monument to some sweet singer 
 dear to the Saxon heart, and his name and fame 
 are set forth in graven letters far above. 
 
 Then again the path contracts between the 
 stern stone walls and, growing steeper and 
 steeper, is at length merged into one long stair- 
 case of stony steps, to cut which must have cost 
 almost inconceivable time and labor, and which 
 is so narrow that one's out-stretched hands may 
 easily touch the rocks at either side, nearly all 
 the way. Occasionally there will come a short, 
 comparatively level stretch, where trees spring 
 up and mosses and ferns abound, then more 
 steps and again down, down, down. 
 
 This, though very tiring, is exceedingly rapid 
 traveling, and presently a lovely, green, sloping 
 meadow is reached, around the edge of which 
 the path leads on, until soon it descends again 
 steeply and a few more steps appear; then a 
 paved way which finally leads down into the 
 pretty, rustic village of Rathen, with a ruined 
 castle overlooking the cottages and lanes. 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 227 
 
 The railway station is on the opposite side 
 and, as I am about to embark in a little row-boat 
 to reach that point, I glance up the stream and 
 perceive a small steamer coming down, and find 
 that I can return to Dresden by water. 
 
 So I board the trim vessel and, finding a quiet 
 and sheltered nook on the rear deck, I compose 
 my weary limbs in a comfortable position and 
 watch the lovely panorama unroll itself behind 
 us, as we make our way back to the city; stop- 
 ping with shrill "toot" and much churning up 
 of the current, now on one side of the river, 
 now on the other, at the neat villages scattered 
 all along the shores. 
 
 Some of the towns are of considerable conse- 
 quence, as Pirna, with its fourteen thousand in- 
 habitants, its old fortress and its quarries of 
 sandstones ; or Koenigstein, not so extensive in 
 population, but possessing a still more impor- 
 tant fortress imposingly situated eight hundred 
 and fifteen feet above the Elbe. 
 
 This great pile was originally a castle, down 
 to 1401 ; then a monastery, then again fortified 
 in 1540. Its well is six hundred and twenty feet 
 deep and contains sixty-five feet of water. We 
 are told that the treasures and archives of Sax- 
 ony, are deposited in this fortress in time of war, 
 but at present it is used as a state-prison. But 
 most of the landing-places are merely rural ham- 
 lets or the summer homes of urban denizens. 
 
 Not far from Koenigstein and rising some one 
 hundred and fifty feet higher, appears the Lilien- 
 stein of tragic memory. At the base of this 
 huge crag in 1756, fourteen thousand Saxon sol- 
 diers were surrounded by Prussians under Fred- 
 erick the Great, and compelled to surrender on 
 account of hunger. But nature smiles on as 
 ever, and fair and peaceful glints the landscape 
 in the summer sunset. 
 
228 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 It is a much longer distance back by water than 
 by rail, and evening tints and shadows begin to 
 creep athwart the scene, ere we come to the 
 long rows of fine villas that mark the approach 
 to Dresden, The noble contours of the city's 
 impressive architecture and the graceful spans 
 of its artistic bridges, are thrown distinctly 
 against the deepening sky as we glide into port, 
 and find ourselves at our journey's end. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 From Dresden to Leipsic is but a short jour- 
 ney, only two and one quarter hours by express. 
 The train winds along through a very pretty 
 country on leaving Dresden, keeping for some 
 time at the base of the Loessnitz Hilk, which 
 are "with verdure clad" and dotted with many 
 fine villas and country homes. 
 
 I did not stop long enough in Leipsic to gain 
 much of an idea of its characteristics. It is, of 
 course, well known as the center of Germany's 
 book trade, a position it has held for over a 
 hundred years. Statistics show there are more 
 than a hundred printing offices and about six 
 hundred and fifty publishers, and book-estab- 
 lishments in this city of three hundred and fifty 
 six thousand inhabitants, while publishers in 
 other parts of Germany have, almost without 
 exception, emporiums of their books at Leipsic, 
 whence they are sent out over all the world. 
 
 Leipsic is also the seat of the supreme law- 
 courts of the German empire, while its facili- 
 ties for the study of music and other special 
 lines, are taken advantage of by hundreds of 
 foreign students. The city is not so handsome, 
 to my thinking, as many another in this region, 
 but it has of course, its fine and interesting 
 features. 
 
 The name is said to have been at first Lipzk, 
 or "the town of lime trees." It is mentioned 
 first in history in the eleventh century and was 
 soon after fortified. These fortifications are 
 now changed, as in so many other old-world 
 
230 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 towns, into pleasant promenades beyond which 
 lie the inner suburbs, which in turn are inclosed 
 by the outer suburbs. 
 
 The New Theater is a handsome building; 
 the Museum opposite is chiefly noted for its col- 
 lection of modern pictures; the Augusteum is 
 the si at of the University founded in 1408 and 
 now attended by more than three thousand stu- 
 dents. These edifices, with the post-office, sur- 
 round the spacious Augustas Platz where is also 
 a fine, monumental fountain. 
 
 Goethe was a student here in 1767-8. Auer- 
 bach's Keller on Grimmaische street, is celebra- 
 ted as the scene of a part of Faust; it contains 
 some curious mural paintings representing, we 
 aie told, the tradition on which the play is 
 based. 
 
 In Goethe street is an obelisk celebrating the 
 completion of the Leipsic and Dresden railway, 
 which was opened in 1837 and was the first of 
 any importance in Germany. Of course, as an 
 old University center, Leipsic has numberless 
 relics of celebrated men. 
 
 Poets, philosophers, musicians, painters and 
 others are commemorated by tablet and token, by 
 monumental brass and stone. 
 
 The Rosenthal and the Connewitz Woods are 
 both pleasant sylvan retreats beautified by skill 
 and taste. Two miles southeast of Leipsic, is 
 Napoleonstein, a wooded height from wliioh Na- 
 poleon watched the progress of the battle of 
 Leipsic in 1814. It lasted, as history tells us, 
 four days, and is the most prolonged and san- 
 guinary on record. Many relics have naturally 
 been found about here and are preserved with 
 great care. The only building on which bullet- 
 marks are still visible, is the chateau at Doelitz, 
 two miles west of the obelisk. 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 231 
 
 Leaving Leipsic by the Thuringian railway, I 
 found myself passing through an exceedingly 
 picturesque district. 
 
 We change cars at Corbetha,near which three 
 celebrated battles were fought in the years 
 agone, in the first of which, Lueten, Gustavus 
 Adolphus, king of Sweden, was mortally wound- 
 ed. At Rossbach, Frederick the Great gained a 
 signal victory in 1757; and in 1815 a fierce en- 
 gagement took place between the allied Russians 
 and Prussians against the French. How every 
 foot of these ancient lands has been dyed over 
 and over, throughout the centuries, in the bright 
 tide of human blood. Even so in our own land, no 
 doubt, but the red chieftains and warriors of 
 those bygone ages there, had no poet, no his- 
 torian, and so their bravery and valor, their 
 struggles and conquests, are all unwritten and 
 unsung and we know them not. 
 
 All is smiling and peaceful here now as we run 
 along in the valley of the Saale. amidst many 
 spots of quaint and historical interest; the 
 country gradually becomes more broken and we 
 see vineyards all about on the hill-sides, while 
 from frequent castle and cathedral, turret and 
 pinnacle spring aloft toward the clear, blue 
 sky. 
 
 A pleasant lady now joins me in my compart- 
 ment where I have been for some time alone. 
 Seeing I have English literature, she is interested 
 and we get into conversation. She is familiar 
 with this part of the country and kindly calls my 
 attention to many a point that other v.-ise mighfc, 
 have escaped my notice. The dusky evening be- 
 gins to gather as we wind in and out of the hills 
 and along by the rippling river. We have left 
 the Saale and are now on the banks of the 11m. 
 Suddenly we are abreast of two striking ruins so 
 
232 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 near that they are startlingly distinct in the 
 shadowy light. They are not of the soft gray 
 hue that is usually the result of the wear and 
 tear of ages, but of a light yellowish tint, some- 
 thing like the cream-colored brick of our central 
 states. 
 
 They stand facing each other across a narrow 
 gulch and are not perched, as is general, upon 
 some dizzy height, but stand on two moderately 
 high elevations that slope gently down to the 
 valley. Cruel rents and jagged breaches are 
 in their dismantled walls, evincing the desper- 
 ate struggles through which they have passed. 
 
 My companion says that it was an ancient 
 custom of certain tribal enemies, to rear castles 
 thus near each other on the edges of a ravine, 
 and then to fight across until one or the other 
 party was conquered or exterminated, when the 
 vanquisher took possession of his victim's prop- 
 erty. The slopes seemed so soft in their con- 
 tours and the green grass so velvety and tender, 
 that those grim objects looming up in the dim 
 light had a weird and peculiar effect. 
 
 Weimar is reached only in time for supper 
 and bed, but the next morning I start out with 
 renewed vigor. Very lovely indeed looked the 
 old town which has so many literary associa- 
 tions, the master spirits among which are 
 Goethe and Schiller. 
 
 The houses of each of these two distinguished 
 writers and "world-poets," are kept as far as 
 possible in the condition in which they were 
 left by their distinguished occupants. 
 
 Schiller's home is modest and unpretending, 
 consisting of a few rooms in the upper story of 
 a medium-sized house in Schiller Street. They 
 are plainly furnished and contain many personal 
 .and family mementoes. Schiller's life in Wei- 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 233 
 
 mar was brief as compared with Goethe's, and 
 the former had neither the time nor the oppor- 
 tunity to gather about him such treasures as 
 Goethe accumulated in his long and varied ex- 
 istence. 
 
 It seemed strange to look out at the windows 
 and reflect that I was gazing upon the same 
 scene that Schiller had viewed day after day; 
 to sit at the desk and in the chair where he 
 wrote his wondrous lines ; to go down the nar- 
 row stairs which he must have trodden so many 
 Innumerable times back and forth. It made me 
 sorrowful for, speaking from his immortal works, 
 he had ever before seemed a living presence 
 to me, and now I realized that he was dead and 
 that the places that knew him were empty for- 
 ever. 
 
 I did not feel the same sensation of sadness 
 in Goethe's house. Perhaps it is because the 
 place is so very different, so much more exten- 
 sive, and fitted up so much more in the style of 
 a public museum, that the idea of personality is 
 lost in a measure, and one feels rather as if 
 merely viewing another of the numerous art and 
 curio collections that so abound abroad. 
 
 Goethe was a wide traveler, a most cultivated 
 and many-sided character. He lived in Weimar 
 fifty-six years, during forty of which this 
 house, presented to him by Duke Karl August, 
 was the dwelling of the great poet. A spacious 
 staircase with wide ante-rooms, designed by 
 Goethe and profusely decorated with statues 
 and cartoons, leads to the reception-rooms. To 
 the left is the Juno Room ; then follow the Urbino 
 Room; the Dechenzimmer, which with the ad- 
 joining chamber, forms a suite; the Bust Room ; 
 the Garden Room, besides the more usual living- 
 rooms. 
 
234 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 In these apartments, arranged and classified 
 by Goethe's own hand, are his wonderful accu- 
 mulations of portraits, antique gems, medals, 
 orders, rings, copies of and original valuable 
 manuscripts, paintings, sketches and drawings^ 
 besides a large number of Goethe's own handi- 
 work, medallions, gifts from countries, cities, 
 corporations and friends from all parts of the 
 world, including one from the United States, 
 which consists only of a small circular disc of 
 some kind of wood, on which was imprinted the 
 name of some newspaper and the date, 1846 ; (I 
 am sorry that I omitted to take a note of the 
 inscription, and find that I can not recall it;) 
 vases, cups, drinking horns, rare china, coins, 
 plaques, minerals, precious stones, statuettes, 
 sculptures, the piano on which young Mendels- 
 sohn played, and so forth, iu eluding, I verily 
 believe, every variety of objects that can be 
 collected, except living specimens. 
 
 One is first dazzled, then dazed by the variety, 
 value and beauty of this astonishing array, and 
 it is rather a relief to come at last to the back 
 of the house where, overlooking an old-fashioned 
 garden, are Goethe's simple study and bedroom. 
 
 These two are furnished in the sparest and 
 plainest fashion, the bedroom containing nothing 
 but a single-bed, a bare wooden wash-stand and 
 a large arm-chair by no means luxurious, in which 
 he died. The floor is bare, the room narrow 
 and contracted, with but one small window, yet 
 it is just as he left it. 
 
 From these close confines, that mighty genius 
 which had moved the world with its wondrous 
 power, went out into the mystic beyond ; leaving 
 in passing, no feeblest trace or impress upon 
 the material objects that had served its earthly 
 needs so long. • 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 235 
 
 Oh ! the mystery of spirit, which, while here 
 in mortal guise, can sway the whole round globe ; 
 and yet, departing, freed from fleshly housings, 
 can send back no slightest manifestation there- 
 after, through all the ages of the circling 
 spheres. 
 
 There is no one left to inherit Goethe's fame 
 and treasures ; they are accredited to the state ; 
 the family is extinct. 
 
 Passing out f^^om all these mementoes of a 
 vanished existence, I come again into the warm 
 sunshine and roam about where fancy beckons. 
 Of course Weimar has its Schloss, and I come 
 upon it quite accidentally, in passing through a 
 queer and crooked street which takes me round 
 many a turn and corner. 
 
 Suddenly it broadens out and upon the oppo- 
 site side stretches away a beautiful domain of 
 emerald turf and majestic trees, while a massive 
 and stately edifice rears itself in the midst of 
 the cool shades. Noticing a seat at hand by 
 the door of a shop, I take possession of the same 
 and, looking across, enjoy and admire. 
 
 Young Germany, in the guise of a toddler of 
 about eighteen months, comes out of the shop 
 and welcomes me rapturously. I return the 
 small man's expansive smiles and shake the 
 chubby, little paw, somewhat begrimed, that he 
 insists on offering. Not content with this, he 
 ambles back into the house and returns with his 
 mother, performing all that is essential in the 
 way of introduction, by renewed smiles, many 
 gestures and several "gee-gees" and "da-das," 
 a sort of infantile Volapuek. The mother also 
 proves friendly and is much pleased to learn 
 that I am admiring the view. And then rested 
 and cheered, I go on to the many other intt- rest- 
 ing spots that I must not attempt now to chron- 
 
236 ONE WOalAN WANDERING 
 
 icle, merely referring to the Stadt Kirche, with 
 its parsonage near by occupied by Herder for so 
 many years, and to a fine, bronze statue of him, 
 standing in front of the church and bearing on 
 the pedestal his favorite motto, '■^Licht, Hebe, 
 Lehen,^'' (Light, Love, Life.) 
 
 There are numerous monuments in "Weimar to 
 its celebrated men, as Karl August, Wieland and 
 others, but the most imposing of all, is that 
 erected to Goethe and Schiller in front of the 
 Theater, where the colossal figures in bronze of 
 the two poet-friends, are represented standing 
 side by side, with clasped hands. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Without having half exhausted the interests of 
 Weimar, I continue through the hills and dales 
 and beside the numerous water-courses of this 
 picturesque region. 
 
 The weather is still delightful ; in fact, I am 
 charmed with the summer climate of the conti- 
 nent, so far as I have experienced it. The sun 
 shines out clear and genial but not oppressive ; 
 our excessive heat is unknown and in the warm- 
 est days it is cool in the shade. Another most 
 remarkable thing is the scarcity of flies and 
 insects. 1 have not yet seen a screen in use, 
 though I did notice two windows in Potsdam 
 that had screens at hand, also one later in a 
 hotel in Holland, but they are almost unknown. 
 Doors and windows stand wide open ; night after 
 night 1 read or write by gas, oil, electricity or can- 
 dle as the case may be, before open windows, 
 and yet never a fly or a moth disturbs me then, 
 nor during my highly prized morning nap. This 
 could not be done with us at home in mid-sum- 
 mer, nor indeed at any time from April to 
 October. The nights are cool and refreshing 
 and I have never yet been inconvenienced by 
 the heat, though the "natives" frequently com- 
 plain because it is so "awfully hot." 
 
 Not far from Weimar we come to Erfurt, a 
 quaint old town near which is a salt mine with 
 a shaft thirteen hundred feet deep. 
 
 The train now approaches the north slope of 
 the Thuringian forest. The hills grow more 
 towering and on nearly every height is a castle, 
 
 337 
 
238 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 either in ruins or "brought down to date" for 
 modern use. About five miles from Erfurt, are 
 three isolated hills called the Di^ei Gleichen, 
 which might be freely translated as "three of a 
 kind;" they are each topped by a castle; one of 
 these, the Wachsenburg, is in good preservation, 
 the other two are beautiful in their decay. 
 
 Skirting the Seeberg, we come in view of 
 Gotha, a busy mercantile place, beyond which a 
 fine outlook is obtained on to the Thuringian 
 mountains. 
 
 Now we follow the course of the river Hoersel. 
 Along, jagged and precipitous range rises, on 
 the right, called the Hoerselberg. This attains 
 a height of fifteen hundred and seventy-five 
 feet and extends nearlj' to Eisenach. Tradition 
 locates here the grotto of Venus, into which that 
 goddess lured the knight Tanhaeuser. 
 
 Soon we see against the horizon the towers 
 of Eisenach, a town of twenty-one thousand in- 
 habitants and commonly called the finest point 
 in the Thuringian forest. Five hundred and 
 sixty-five feet above the city looms the great for- 
 tified castle of the Wartburg, situated on a mount 
 of the same name. Founded in 1070, it has 
 passed through numerous startling vicissitudes, 
 but in the last half century has been restored 
 to its original grandeur and ranks as one of the 
 best Romanesque secular buildings now 
 existing. A grand retrospect of the 
 frowning old fortress, is had as the train fol- 
 lows the Hoersel to its junction with the Werra. 
 The ruins of Castle Brandenburg are seen on 
 the left and then an envious tunnel shuts olf our 
 view. 
 
 We next find ourselves in the valley of the 
 Fulda. Fine streams are numerous and the 
 country is undulating but with few prominent 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 239 
 
 elevations. At Hersfeld is pointed out to us a 
 Benedictine Abbey founded in 769, once of great 
 importance but now used as a school-house. 
 The abbey church was destroyed in 1761, but its 
 ruins are majestic in their beauty. 
 
 This secition of the country was occupied at a 
 very early date. 
 
 The town of Fulda owes its origin to an ab- 
 bey founded in 754, while its little church of St. 
 Michael, was consecrated in 822. 
 
 Many ruins all about in vale and on height, 
 give picturesque evidence of time's tireless ener- 
 gies. 
 
 The train descends the valley of the Kinzig. ■ 
 In this river is an island whereon are the remains 
 of an imperial palace erected' before the year 
 1170. Here the emperor Frederick Barbarossa 
 held a Diet in eleven hundred and eighty, to 
 pronounce the deposition of Duke Henry the 
 Lion ()f Saxony. Beyond this point the country 
 is level. We reach Hanau, noted, among other 
 things, as the birth-place of Jacob and Wilhelm 
 Grimm. We cross and recross the mighty river 
 Main and find ourselves in low-lying Frankfort. 
 
 Flat indeed it seems to eyes for some time ac- 
 customed to the diversified scenery farther east, 
 of the Hartz Mountains, of the Saxon peaks and 
 pinnacles, and to the pleasing heights and 
 wooded slopes of the Thuringian and the Black 
 forests. Not an eminence is to be noted as one's 
 eyes sweep about, and the horizon is unbroken 
 except for the uprising towers and turrets, of 
 which Frankfort has its full quota. 
 
 Ages ago, we are told, a vast expanse of water 
 rolled over this plain, "filling the space from the 
 Alps and the Jura to the Taunus and Hunds- 
 rueck mountains," and connected by a narrow 
 sea-arm to the German Ocean. But now we see 
 
240 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 no rolling waters except the magnificent Main, 
 which adds so much to the attractiveness and 
 importance of the city. 
 
 Frankfort ambitiously dates itst-lf back to the 
 first century when, it is claimed, the Romans 
 built a castle on the present "Cathedral Hill," 
 so called, though why "hill," I am unable to 
 divine. 
 
 This Roman military post fell before the con- 
 quering German tribes of the third century, 
 who themselves were conquered centuries after,, 
 by the Franks. 
 
 The place is first mentioned as Franco-furty 
 "the ford of the Franks' country," — in a docu- 
 ment dated 790 ; and three years afterward, 
 Charlemange came here with his whole court 
 and remained eight months. I came across a. 
 little German poem the other day, written long 
 ago by August Kopisch, which gives the tradi- 
 tional discovery of "the Franks' ford." Per- 
 haps my "lone sister" may be interested in a, 
 translation : — 
 
 The best of all his heroes in Saxony lay dead, 
 Thence Carolus Magnus, Kaiser, in dire disaster 
 fled. 
 
 "On to the Main, my soldiers, a ford we there must 
 
 find, — 
 But woe, — tlie mist lies forward, the foe crowds 
 
 close behind!" 
 
 Then Carolus sank down praying on knee beside his 
 
 spear. 
 When lo! tiie mist divided, while fortli there 
 
 sprang a deer; 
 
 She led her young in safety through to tlie other 
 
 side, 
 And thus by God's own favor the Franks the ford 
 
 espied 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 241 
 
 Then forward all pressed over, as Israel through 
 
 tl^e sea, 
 The Saxons, mist-enveloped, no ford beyond could 
 
 see. 
 
 Then struck the Kaiser Carol upon the sand his 
 
 spear, 
 And vowed, "It shall forever be called the Frank's 
 
 ford here." 
 
 But later back he came there with mighty warrior- 
 band. 
 
 By which he then had conquered the lovely Saxon 
 land. 
 
 But yonder on the river now shines a city proud, 
 With noble sons and daughters, with wealth and 
 fame endowed. 
 
 And there has many a Kaiser been crowned with 
 
 Carol's crown, 
 And on his throne be-jeweled,in splendor sat him 
 
 down. 
 
 There oxen whole are roasted, there wine in foun- 
 tains flows. 
 
 There gifts for every poor man the horn of plenty 
 s trows. 
 
 The chief lord to the Kaiser lifts cup in Roemer's 
 
 hall; 
 With Kaiser-portraits covered gleams forth each 
 
 glittering wall. 
 
 With Kaiser-portraits covered o'er every inch of 
 
 space, 
 No later ruler's picture could find there now a 
 
 place. 
 
 Thus Germany's first Kaiser name for the city 
 
 found, 
 And Germany's last Kaiser was in this city 
 
 crowned. 
 
 Stirring and vivid have been the fortunes of 
 the ancient city ; fierce and tireless the war- 
 fares waged by opposing powers, for supremacy 
 within its borders ; hard indeed is it to realize 
 
242 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 its vicissitudes of the past, as one walks through 
 the handsome city of to-day. 
 
 There are a few traces yet existing of the la- 
 ter day fortifications of the town. One of these 
 is the Eschenheimer tower, a noble specimen of 
 mediiieval, defensive architecture. This tower 
 has its tradition as follows : — 
 
 Hans Winkelsee, a poacher, fired at a munici- 
 pal gamekeeper and, after an imprisonment of 
 nine months in this tower, was to be executed. 
 He claimed to have fired only to frighten the 
 keeper and not with intent to kill, as otherwise 
 he certainly would have hit him. 
 
 In order to show his unerring markmanship, 
 he offered to shoot nine bullets in nine shots 
 into the weather-vane of the tower ; as he suc- 
 ■ceeded, his life was spared and he was set at 
 liberty. 
 
 Frankfort has a fine cathedral but, though it 
 occupies the site of a succession of previous sa- 
 cred edifices running back to the ninth century, 
 the present building is very modern, having been 
 erected between the years 1869 and 1880, the 
 structure immediately preceding having been 
 destroyed by fire. There is a very peculiar mor- 
 tuary memorial in the inclosed yard of this 
 cathedral. It consists of a most realistic repre- 
 sentation of the crucifixion, with life-sized 
 figures and all the accompanying dreadful and 
 agonizing details. These are wrought out in 
 stone and are made still more conspicuous by be- 
 ing raised upon an eminence of some two or three 
 feet, which forms the base of the singular mon- 
 ument erected to himself by some one whose 
 name is duly inscribed on a tablet below, but 
 which has entirely escaped me in the horror ex- 
 cited by the grewsomeness of his taste in art. 
 The cathedral was shown to me by a very pleas- 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 243 
 
 ant young man who, to his honor be it recorded, 
 not only did not expect a tip, but actually 
 declined it when offered. And to my great and 
 increasing surprise, the same thing occurred here 
 in " another church, that of St. Leonard's, and 
 this episode was quite a refreshing incident in 
 my experience. 
 
 The churches of Germany are not so univer- 
 sally accessible to visitors as in France, though 
 I believe the Roman Catholic ones are always 
 open. 
 
 I have seen here none of that ceremonious and 
 pompous display at funerals which is so com- 
 mon in France, and am told that it finds no 
 favor in Germany. The Germans, however, 
 have one odd custom on such occasions, and that 
 is the heading of the funeral train by a woman 
 whom they style the Toten-Frau,, or "Death- 
 Woman," whose office it is to prepare the body 
 for the grave, and then clad in black, with long 
 streamers from her sable cap, and with as many 
 of the funeral garlands as she can carry, to 
 march in front of the procession, — which is not 
 made up, as with us, of a line of carriages, but 
 simply an open hearse having canopy but no 
 sides, — followed by men walking in couples. 
 With the exception of the Toten-Frau, no wo- 
 man takes part in German obsequies, so far as I 
 have been able to ascertain. 
 
 Frankfort has many modern public buildings 
 of a noble and majestic order of architecture; 
 especially may be noted the New Exchange, the 
 General Post-Offlce, and the Grand Opera House. 
 The Central Railway Station is a magnificent and 
 artistic edifice costing, 1 am told, the sum of 
 thirty-five million marks, or more than eight 
 million dollars. 
 
 There are also some remaining specimens of 
 
244 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 the beautiful timber architecture of the middle 
 ages, of which the lioemer, or city-hall, is a re- 
 markably handsome and interesting example, 
 with decorations of marvelous variety and finish. 
 The great festal-hall within, alluded to in the 
 poem, is truly a splendid chamber. 
 
 Goethe was born in Frankfort and his birth- 
 place, a substantial structure of three stories, 
 having dormer windows and a pointed gable 
 having two stories more, has been thoroughly 
 restored and is carefully preserved by the 
 Frankforters. 
 
 One especially odd building stands at the cor- 
 ner of the Eschenheimer street; it is call Zum 
 Kaiser Karl, or "The Emperor Charles," from 
 the fact that Charles VII. lived in a house on 
 the same site in 1742-3 and -4. The present edi- 
 fice is not at all modern. The outside is adorned 
 with allegorical figures representing pride, la- 
 ziness, envy, avarice, intemperance, voluptuous- 
 ness, and anger; also the virtues of charity, 
 husbandry, valour, love, industry and honesty; 
 further supplemented by illustrations of the do- 
 mestic labors of the days of the week. The 
 heads of these figures are particularly grotesque, 
 and from this fact the house is called the Frat- 
 zeneck, or "grimaces-corner." 
 
 The streets of Frankfort, however, though 
 usually well built, are not so pleasing as in many 
 other places. The location is unfavorable to 
 picturesque vistas, and as a rule there is too lit- 
 tle variety in architecture. One of the finest 
 and most important avenues is called the Zeil. 
 
 Like most German towns, Frankfort has a de- 
 lightful wooded park and numerous monuments 
 to public men and events. The Gutenburg 
 memorial commemorative of the invention of 
 printing, is perhaps the most imposing of the 
 latter. 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 245 
 
 The year 1866, diastrous to the fortunes of so 
 many German provinces, terminated the in- 
 dependence of Frankfort and led to its annexa- 
 tion to Prussia. It evidently has no reason to 
 regret its change of dynasty, and keeps on the 
 even tenor of its way, a busy and prosperous 
 city. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 A run of two or three hours from Frankfort, 
 through scenery gradually changing from a 
 monotonous level to diversified heights of rare 
 beauty, brings the traveler to that famous old 
 town apostrophized so long ago by the German 
 poet as : 
 
 ''Old Heidelberg, thou beauty. 
 With many honors crowned, 
 
 Along the Rhine or Neckar, 
 No town like thee is found." 
 
 The location is indeed charming; the little 
 city lies at the foot of the lofty elevation from 
 which the place takes its name, and upon the 
 margin of the fine river Neckar which winds 
 gently through this fertile valley. 
 
 The objective point of interest to the sight- 
 seer here, is the massive old castle towering 
 aloft in ruined majesty upon the precipitous 
 well-wooded hill called the Jettenbuehl. Diverse 
 have been the fortunes of the old pile, since 
 Rudolph I. built the most ancient part in 1204. 
 In the Thirty Years War, the old structure suf- 
 fered so much that it was rendered absolutely 
 uninhabitable ; it was restored and fortified anew 
 in 1649, only to be repeatedly blown up and 
 pulled down by the French in the Orleans 
 War, as fast as the breaches were repaired. 
 After this war, the castle was again in a measure 
 restored, when in 1764 it was struck by light- 
 ning and the whole interior fell a sacrifice to 
 the flames. Since then no further restorations 
 have been attempted, but from 1830, the great- 
 
 246 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDEEING 247 
 
 est care has been exercised to preserve the ruins 
 from further decay. 
 
 The easiest and quickest way to ascend the 
 mountain, is by funicular railway, though it is 
 rather trying to susceptible nerves, the grade 
 being so remarkably steep and the line passing 
 through so many tunnels of inky darkness. 
 
 On this hill there once stood an upper and 
 a lower castle. That which is known to-day as 
 "The Castle," is the lower structure and stands 
 upon quite an extensive plateau about half way 
 up the great hill. After this one had been com- 
 pleted, the upper castle, which was the o'der, 
 was used as an arsenal and powder magazine 
 till it was struck by lightning in 1537; the ex- 
 plosion was so terrible that not only the upper 
 castle was almost entirely demolished, but the 
 lower one and the town were seriously damaged. 
 After this, the upper citadel remained forsaken 
 until 1853, when a Ifolkenkuhr, or "Whey-Cure," 
 was established at this point, the name of which 
 has entirely superseded that of the "Old 
 Castle," by which the place had been always 
 known. 
 
 From the topis seen a most splendid view; 
 the castle ruins are particularly picturesque and 
 have a certain desolate grandeur that is very 
 impressive. At times the old pile is artificially 
 illuminated and the effect from below is weird- 
 ly beautiful. 
 
 In the cellars of the lower castle lies the far- 
 famed Heidelberg Tun of which school children 
 learn with wonder. It is about twenty-four feet^ 
 high and thirty-three feet long and its capacity 
 is fifty thousand, nine hundred and twenty gal-. 
 Ions. Lying in front of it is a small tun — so 
 called — noted for ite artistic construction, being 
 held together without hoops. Near by is ai 
 
248 ONE WOMAN WANDEKING 
 
 statuette representing the dwarf, Clemens Per- 
 keo, court fool of Karl Philipp, which dwarf, 
 tradition states, drank daily from fifteen to 
 eighteen bottles of strong wine. On the tenth 
 of November, 1753, the great tun was filled for 
 the first time, and, later on, twice again. Since 
 the great fire at the castle, it has remained 
 empty. There was a pump fitted to it, that 
 passed up into the banquet room, thus render- 
 ing the tun's contents easily accessible. 
 
 The vault where it lies was probably con- 
 structed for holding it, as no other one in the 
 castle is lofty enough to accommodate it. 
 
 A staircase leads up one side of the tun and 
 down the other, and we tourists ascended and de- 
 cended the same, dancing an extempore fandan- 
 go on the top of the tremendous cask. 
 
 Another cask called the lesser Heidelberg 
 Tun, is in another vault and holds twenty thous- 
 and gallons. 
 
 Turning from things spiritous to things 
 spiritual, we visit some of the churches of 
 Heidelberg, which are ancient but in good pre- 
 servation. The Holy Ghost Church, built in 
 1400, was long the scene of a bitter religious 
 strife. The reformation was begun here in 
 1546, by preaching the gospel and administer- 
 ing the sacrament in both forms; the Electoral 
 House having turned Roman Catholic, the pos- 
 session of the church was hotly contested. In 
 1705 it was divided by a wall, the choir having 
 been assigned to the Romanists and the nave to 
 the Protestants. Then the Elector told the 
 Protestants if they would resign their claim, he 
 would build them a new church; they refused 
 and the Elector, to use the vernacular, "got 
 mad" and took forcible possession of the church, 
 pulling down the wall. The Protestants ap- 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 249 
 
 pealtd to the Diet and the wall was rebuilt. In 
 1886 it was pulled down again only to be put up 
 once more in 1893 
 
 I am moved to wonder if, in all this time, 
 they ever gave any consideration to the text: 
 "Behold how pleasant a thing it is for brethren 
 to dwell together in unity." Probably they did, 
 but each one was convinced that it applied not 
 to himself, but to "the other fellow." 
 
 In St, Peter's Church is the tombstone of 
 Olympia Fulvia Morata, "the most learned wo- 
 man of the sixteenth century, who was warmly 
 devoted to religion." Near this chui'ch is the 
 old university founded in 1386 by Ruprecht the 
 Red; this institution has flourished or declined 
 iaccording to the fortunes of the town. At one 
 time its possessions on the left bank of the 
 Rhine, were coniiscated by the French, and the 
 university was reduced to such poverty that it 
 could not pay its professors for years. But 
 better days dawned and in 1886 it celebrated its 
 five-hundredth jubilee. 
 
 Heidelberg College is situated on the oppo- 
 site side of the river. This institution offers 
 special advantages for acquiring modern lan- 
 guages. 
 
 In the High street is an ancient structure 
 which escaped destruction by the French when 
 they devastated the town in 1693. This is called 
 the Bitterhaus, (the House of the Knight,) 
 and is now used as a hotel. It was built in 1592 
 by a French emigrant, and is in the style of the 
 French renaissance. On the summit of the 
 fagade is the bust of a knight, and the busts 
 of four Prankish kings adorn the fourth story. 
 Between the windows of the third story are the 
 busts of the builder and his wife, with their 
 arms and the inscription in Latin: "Except the 
 
250 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 Lord bless the house, the labor of the builder is 
 vain." Between the windows of the next lower 
 story are the busts of the builder's two children. 
 
 As this edifice is very narrow and there is no 
 more place for likenesses, it is well that the 
 builder's family was no more extensive, 
 
 A handsome bridge decorated with sculp- 
 tures leads from the Steingasse across to Neuen- 
 heim, a suburb of Heidelberg. 
 
 Lovely indeed is the view from this bridge; 
 especially so as I saw it in the last rays of a 
 vanishing sun on a mid-summer evening, just as 
 the rising moon began to show its reflected splen- 
 dor on the other hand. Toward the west the lin- 
 gering glow of the sunset was tinting river and 
 low-lying cloudlet, while in the east the silver 
 gleams of the moonlight showed stronger and 
 stronger, pouring over the dark bulk of the 
 lofty hill and throwing out in clear relief the 
 dismantled walls, the shattered buttresses and 
 the gaping window-spaces of the ruined castle. 
 
 It was a romantic and enchanting scene, 
 and I wondered not at the enthusiasm of the 
 bard previously quoted, nor that he should 
 declare in closing, — 
 
 "And oh! if thorns crowd thickly 
 
 And life grows bleak and pale, 
 I'll spur my steed right quickly 
 And ride to Neckardale." 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 From Heidelberg I took a brief trip into 
 Switzerland, going first to Lucerne via Basle, that 
 great busy junction of so many lines, with its 
 handsome, modern station more like those of 
 America in its appointments, than most others 
 abroad, having many conveniences and privi- 
 leges which are, alas, ail extra. Almost every 
 one changes trains at Basle, which by the way, 
 the Germans call "Bah-zle" and the French 
 "Bahl," thus making much confusion and per- 
 plexity for unsophisticated foreigners, as both 
 languages are heard interchangeably through 
 most portions of Switzerland. 
 
 We passed through Freiburg, noting its 
 great cathedral outlined against the summer 
 sky. We soon began to perceive en route that 
 we were really indeed entering the marvelous 
 land of the Alps, for towering hills began to 
 push out into view, threatening to bar our way 
 as w-f) wound along the most level portions of 
 the vale, skirting streams and frequently, to my 
 extreme dissatisfaction, dashing through exceed- 
 ingly long tunnels. 
 
 The weather was enchanting, the scene con- 
 stantly increased in beauty, and, when finally a 
 succession of lakes suddenly stretched out before 
 us, with the white-tipped mountains shining in 
 the distance, no one in the compartment could 
 repress an ejaculation of delight, and by the 
 time we reached Lucerne, we were almost 
 speechless with admiration. 
 
 Lucerne the lovely ! Gifted indeed far be- 
 
 251 
 
252 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 yond usual endowment, must be the pen or brush 
 that could even in faint degree, fitly set forth 
 its beauties. The gleaming waters of the river 
 Reuss. so strangely green, rushing on in irre- 
 sistable current surpassingly swift, through 
 their rock-bound banks ; the majestic slopes that, 
 tree-studded and diversified by quaint towers and 
 ramparts, by stately villas and modest cottages, 
 rise abruptly to the feet of greater heights a- 
 bove; the gigantic Rigi on the left, the stupen- 
 dous Pilatus on the right; while beyond and be- 
 tween spring still loftier eminences, snow-crown- 
 ed and sun-kissed, or wreathed in misty veils, 
 far on high; and over all, blue and beautiful, 
 the radiant immensity of exhilarant atmosphere 
 losing itself in the infinity of ethereal space. 
 
 Such phrases do but sketch in barest out- 
 line the salient features of the ravishing loveli- 
 ness bursting upon the beholder in this enrapt- 
 uring region, yet give no true conception of the 
 wondrous whole. For the first time I admit 
 that my native land, though it may equal, can- 
 not excel this peerless picture, and that over the 
 great round earth one could scarcely find a 
 scene so fair. 
 
 Yet. why is this? Are there not mountains 
 otherwhere? And lakes and streams and islets 
 fair? And charm of sun and shade and sky? 
 Not here alone has history's page been written 
 over and folded back ; not here alone do ancient 
 spire and tower antique rise side by side with 
 palace new and modern cot ; nor only here the 
 gay, light-hearted, brilliant throngs, meeting, 
 separating, shifting back and forth, like the 
 glittering atoms of some huge kaleidoscope. 
 How is it then that over all there seems to lie 
 some mystic glamour so filling one's vision that 
 one rests content to gaze, beatified as never be- 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDEEING 253 
 
 fore? Perhaps it is the blending in one broad 
 sweep of the eyes, of all these features in their 
 loveliness of vaiied charm, that so delights and 
 enchants. 
 
 From all parts of the civilized world, come 
 summer visitors to this beautiful spot, and many 
 indeed are the sons and daughters of our own 
 fair country gathered here. To all such indeed, 
 were it a work of supererogation to dwell upon 
 the attractions, either natural or artistic, of 
 Lucerne; the pictures upon memory's tablets are 
 fairer far than can be evoked by words of mine. 
 But to her "the lone sister," who has been my 
 inspiration in these desultory lines, and whose 
 migrations are yet in the future, may be given 
 perchance even in these inadequate jottings, 
 some slight meed of pleasure or information. 
 
 The history of Lucerne dates back to 735, 
 when was fc-unded the convent of St Leodegar. 
 Thrilling and momentous have been the events 
 that gradually evolved this fine and picturesque 
 modern city from the primitive little assem- 
 blage of fishermen's huts, once clustering about 
 the convent walls on the banks of the river 
 Reuss. 
 
 This magnificent river, to whose rapid flow 
 and deep green tint I have already alluded, runs 
 directly through the wealthy and fashionable 
 portion of the place, from the Lake of Four 
 Cantons along the banks of which the city 
 spreads out continuing lines. The shores of the 
 stream are built up with solid masonry, forming 
 a broad and elegant promenade, or quay on 
 both sides, protected by iron railings and set 
 out in lovely chestnut trees. All along this 
 boulevard is a succession of handsome structures 
 of most varied architecture, broad and low, as 
 is the custom in this part of the world. 
 
254 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 The fine railway station of cream-colored 
 stone, with noble vestibule and imposing cupola, 
 all spacious and well-lighted and almost spot- 
 lessly clfan, first attracts one's attention, then 
 the wonderful panorama of lake and mountain, 
 stream and sky, ruin, rampart, cottage, villa, 
 promenade and people, flashes upon one's gaze. 
 
 I have spoken at ditferent times of the many 
 grand stations in various places on the continent, 
 and again of how unfavorably they compare with 
 our own, and I will pause here to explain this 
 seeming discrepancy. In general, so far as con- 
 cerns artistic design, elegant spaciousness, 
 tasteful decoration, beautiful grounds and al- 
 most absolute cleanliness, the stations abroad 
 far surpass our own; but in practical details, 
 in convenience and comfort, in accessibility and 
 completeness of all things necessary for the in- 
 formation and speeding of the average traveler, 
 ours are far ahead. Many things that we in 
 America take as a matter of course, such as 
 toilet conveniences, drinking water, and so 
 forth, may be had here, it is true, but not with- 
 out money and without price, as with us. 
 
 Close to the station in Lucerne, is the fine 
 Seehruecke, or Lake-Bridge, fifty-two feet wide 
 and five hundred feet long, built of stone at 
 great expense some eighteen years ago. But 
 still more charming to one who likes to muse 
 over relics of a by-gone age, are two quaint old 
 bridges that have stood stretching across this 
 rushing current for hundreds of years. 
 
 One of these, the Kapellhruecke , crossing the 
 river diagonally, is a curious structure dating 
 from 1333, and is built entirely of wood, which 
 is sound and strong to-day. It is perhaps eight 
 feet wide and is approached by a few wooden 
 steps. The sides are inclosed to a height of 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 255 
 
 possibly three feet, and queer wooden posts at 
 regular intervals on each side, support a pointed 
 roof that covers the entire structure. In the 
 triangular spaces formed by the peak of the roof 
 and the junction of its sides with each pair of 
 opposing posts, are fitted smooth boards upon 
 which is painted a succession of historical pic- 
 tures, queer and interesting in the extreme. 
 
 Here are depicted the heroic deeds and suffer- 
 ings of the old Switzers and their patron saints, 
 Xieodegar and Maurice, from the most primitive 
 times down to the medigeval period. Under each 
 picture is inscribed one or more of those rhym- 
 ing couplets in which the German of the Middle 
 Ages so delighted to express himself, as I 
 have had occasion to note before ; and while the 
 Switzer is not a German, yet there is enough 
 ■similarity between the German language and his 
 own to imbue him with much the same shade of 
 thought and expression. The colors in the pic- 
 tures are dimmed and the script nearly effaced ; 
 one must go on step by step, with eyes raised and 
 head thrown back, in Order to see them at all. 
 
 Nearly half way across in the midst of this 
 iDridge, stands an old octagonal tower. The 
 municipal treasure was stored here in the long 
 ago and the tower was also used as a govern- 
 mental prison ; it is said to have contained a 
 torture chamber. Some authors state that this 
 tower was a light-house in the time of the Ro- 
 mans, but it is more commonly believed to have 
 formed a part of the fortifications that sur- 
 rounded Lucerne ia the thirteenth century. 
 
 The other old bridge, called the Spreuer or 
 3Iuehlenhruecke, is a century younger than the 
 filrst one. This also has paintings in the roof, 
 old and dim but more decipherable than those 
 first described. This series was painted in the 
 
256 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 sixteenth century by Casper Meglinger,and rep- 
 resents the Dance of Death. 
 
 How this old town has changed since first 
 these bridges spanned the rapid river. How the 
 Lucerners themselves have changed in custom, 
 in attire, in deed and in thought. Fancy the 
 stern, almost savage citizen of the Middle Ages, 
 stalking across here in his coat of mail, armed 
 with battle-ax or two handed sword; or possibly 
 astride his war charger also in armor, with spurs 
 jangling and accoutrements clashing. No pro- 
 vision w^as made for the passage of a carriage, 
 and great, no doubt, would have been his amaze- 
 ment had such a conveyance been even suggested 
 to him. But they are all gone, though the 
 bridges remain, still echoing to the tread of 
 busy feet as in centuries past. 
 
 Every means for the enjoyment and enter- 
 tainment of visitors seems to have b(-en supplied 
 by nature and skill in this region. A landscape 
 of infinite variety, mountain, forest, vale, meadow,, 
 lake and stream, a bracing yet genial atmos- 
 phere, sun and shade in pleasing contrast, lovely 
 drives and devious foot-paths leading through 
 bosky dells and leafy glens at every hand ; while 
 train, steamer, gondola and skiff glide back and 
 forth, ready to convey to greater distances, 
 through scenes of equal beauty. 
 
 Should skies prove unkind or should, at 
 times, even the worship of lovely natu)-e become 
 too great a strain, one may turn for change and 
 recreation to the fine library and reading-room, 
 to the great museum, to the interesting churches, 
 to the vast cathedral with its daily sacred con- 
 cert, to the many theaters, exhibitions and so 
 forth, or to the mediseval remnants of another 
 day and generation. 
 
 A singular feature in the landscape at Lu- 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 257 
 
 cerne, is the Musegg, an irregular line of graj- 
 ramparts on the heights above the town, v/here 
 nine old watch towers rise up at intervals, their 
 antique architecture and the uncertainty hang- 
 ing over their exact origin and purpose, combin- 
 ing to invest all with a peculiar, romantic 
 interest. 
 
 On an eminence to the west of the city, above 
 the dwellings dotting the slope and the woods 
 in the background, may be seen a commodious 
 edifice with a slender and elegant turret. This 
 is the famous Goetsch, whereon is a summer 
 hotel and pleasure-garden. One reaches this 
 point easiest by a miniature funicular railway, 
 five hundred and ninety-one feet long, of which 
 the motive power is water, The gradient is 
 fifty-three yards in one hundred. 
 
 Although the Goetsch is only a hill in this 
 land of mountains, yet it commands a surpris- 
 ingly fine view of the picturesque city on the 
 Reuss at its feet, and of the lake as far back as 
 the huge bulk of the Rigi and of the Burgen- 
 stock; above which the Alps of the Unterwalden, 
 with the snowy dome of mighty Titlis conspicu- 
 ously visible, pierce the southern sky. A skil- 
 ful arrangement of great mirrors in the large 
 reception salon of the Goetsch, overlooking the 
 view, duplicates the wonderful prospect with a 
 bewildering effect of vastness. 
 
 With such a wealth of material on every side, 
 from which one must cull but a few specimens 
 to represent the magnificent whole, one becomes 
 confused in trying to make a, in any ■v^ise, sat- 
 isfactory selection, wavering here and there be- 
 tween this point and that, and possibly at last 
 leaves unnoted some most characteristic feature 
 or scene. 
 
 Fain would I dwell on the historic interest 
 
258 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 and esthetic details of the great Hof-Kirche, on 
 the imposing architecture of the Post and Tele- 
 graph Office, the impressive style of the Kur- 
 haus, or the graceful ovitlines of the Government 
 Building, the Museum, the Town Hall and so 
 forth, and above all, on their harmonious rela- 
 tion to each other and to their environment in 
 general; but all these triumphs of the builder's 
 art, while adding as they do to the diversified 
 charm of this entrancing spot, are yet so cast 
 into insignificance by the grandeur and beauty 
 of their natural setting, that one passes them 
 with a cursory glance as the eyes rove onward 
 from the fair fields and forests sloping upward 
 from the gleaming waters, to the majestic 
 masses of emerald declivity or somber crag or 
 snowy peak, shouldering against the blue em- 
 pyrean. 
 
 Among all these beauties there are a few of 
 special, local interest, which one should not fail 
 to visit; one of these is the romantic nook con- 
 taining the famous "Lion of Lucerne." 
 
 This moniiment sculptured by Ahorn in 1821, 
 from the solid rock, after a model by Thorwald- 
 sen, — which model, by the way, is to be seen in 
 a little curio-shop across the road, — commemo- 
 rates the desperate struggle of the Swiss guards 
 before the Tuileries, under the onslaught of the 
 Jacobins, August 10, 1792. After a most heroic 
 resistance, two battalions were overpowered by 
 the revolutionists, and on the second and third 
 of September, the remainder also fell at their 
 post. 
 
 A winding way leads on through wide cheerful 
 streets and leafy avenues, up a gentle ascent to 
 a secluded dell where, in the shade of noble 
 trees, behind a miniature sheet of water, rises a 
 perpendicular rock sixty feet in height. In 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 259 
 
 the midst of a great recess hollowed out from 
 these granite walls, prone upon a shield and 
 spear and battle-axe, lies a wounded lion of gi- 
 gantic proportions, defending even in death the 
 charge intrusted to him. Graven above, is the 
 brief legend: '■'•Helvetiornm fldei ac vit^tute,'" 
 and below, the names of the officers with the 
 date of the tragic event. There is a dignity 
 and repose about this majestic composition, that 
 seems to proclaim the ineffable though intan- 
 gible recompense of brave deeds nobly done, 
 even unto death. 
 
 With a gravity engendered by the contempla- 
 tion of this artistic memorial with its multitu- 
 dinous suggestions as to man's mighty possibili- 
 ties in his highest exaltation of moral and physi- 
 cal courage, one turns to follow the little path 
 that goes meandering on. 
 
 Almost at once, one's reflections are trans- 
 ferred from the achievements of art and the 
 powers of man, to the mysteries of the universe; 
 for within a few yards one comes upon an unique 
 spectacle called ''The Glacier Garden." Here 
 is a very interesting natural phenomenon con- 
 sisting of nine "pot-holes," — so named, — of an 
 ancient glacier. They were discovered by acci- 
 dent in 1872, when excavating for the founda- 
 tions of a building. The largest of these holes 
 is twenty-six feet in diameter and thirty-one 
 feet deep. They are supposed to have been hol- 
 lowed out in pre-historic times, by the action of 
 the glacier then extending through this district. 
 The water that found its way through the fis- 
 sures of the ice, imparted a rotary motion to the 
 stones also finding their way down through the 
 crevices, and in course of time these stones, 
 grinding around upon the rock beneath, formed 
 these circular "pot-holes," in which the stones 
 
260 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 were left as the glacier receded. There are 
 many wonderful objects, natural and manufac- 
 tured, in this garden, but this exposition of the 
 stupendous forces of nature, silent, slow, but 
 irresistible, working away from the dim ages of 
 the past, is most curious and remarkable. 
 
 The summer evening was well advanced when 
 I left this interesting spot and retraced my steps 
 over the pleasant route along which I had come. 
 
 The streets lay picturesque and peaceful in 
 the luminous twilight, the way growing brighter 
 and more brilliant as I neared the broad quay, 
 where the electric lights were flashiHg and quiv- 
 ering through the tremulous foliage of the 
 stately chesnuts rustling in the cool, lake breeze. 
 
 From out the elegant gardens of the splendid 
 hostelries, fair with perfumed leaf and vivid 
 blossom, rolled forth most witching strains of 
 jocund melody, while on the quay joyous groups, 
 assembled from every clime, kept step in con- 
 cord with the pulsing cadences. 
 
 Beyond the low parapet, the lake was rippling 
 and sparkling in the rays of the mellow moon 
 riding afar in the illimitable sky; the snow- 
 capped peaks were gleaming on high in a beauty 
 of heavenly purity, while, dotted with glittering 
 points from cotter's candle or luxury's lamp, the 
 shadows lay heavy on the hillsides below. 
 
 Gay gondolas were gliding hither and yon, 
 their colored lanterns making stars of fire, that 
 glowed again from the bosom of the waters. 
 
 My path lay onward across the handsome 
 Seehruecke, down along the riverside, beneath 
 whispering trees and past plashing fountains, 
 to a quiet inn, from the windows of which, as I 
 sank to slumber, my eyes looked out upon the 
 rugged bulk of grim Pilatus standing stern sen- 
 tinel immovable forever, above the magic beauty 
 and bewildering; charm of lake-laved Lucerne. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Chief among the many delightful excursions 
 possible from the romantic city of Lucerne, is, 
 perhaps, a tour of the lovely sheet of water com- 
 monly known as Lake Lucerne, otherwise the 
 Lake of Four Cantons, or the Vierwaldstaet- 
 ter See. 
 
 Indissolubly associated with this vicinity and 
 recalled at once by its name, is the history, tra- 
 ditional or otherwise, of William Tell, whose 
 heroic deeds gleam forth so brilliantly from this 
 marvelous setting, in the radiance of Schiller's 
 immortal genius. 
 
 It was a charming day in mid-summer that I 
 stepped aboard the elegant little steamer that 
 daily makes the round of this grandly picturesque 
 lake, and settled myself for a period of uninter- 
 rupted inspection of this renowned "treasure- 
 house of natural beauties." 
 
 The attractive little vessel was filled with a 
 happy, animated throng, and accents of diverse 
 nationalities fell upon the ear as we steamed 
 away from the wide quay. 
 
 At the very outset one is entranced by the 
 aspect of the little harbor itself, with its gardens, 
 its villas and its ancient towers lying back on, 
 and rising from the verdant slopes, and climb- 
 ing the steeper sides of the great hills and 
 promontories that intervene between the bery- 
 line waters of the broad bay and the huge 
 mountains in the farther distance. 
 
 As we glide out into the lake, the view continu- 
 ally changes and, as one grand and dazzling peak 
 
262 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 falls back or presents to us a new angle of ob- 
 servation, we get glimpses of other still more 
 stupendous elevations ; while across the gleam- 
 ing tide, transiently visible above a depression 
 in the high outline of the nearer crags, the 
 monarcLs of the Bernese Oberland, Lauterhorn, 
 Wetterhorn, Schreckerhorn and the peerless 
 Jungfrau etched sharply above in icy splendor, 
 move for a brief moment into our field of vision. 
 The small isle of Alstad with tiny chalet 
 peeping forth from shades of living green, lies 
 almost in our path as we round the Meggerhorn 
 and enter the Kreuzrichter where we find our- 
 selves in the spacious expanse formed by the 
 meeting of the lake's four great arms; each of 
 which, having its own fair quota of matchless 
 landscape, reaches ofi^ in the distance. Kuss- 
 nacht to the north to where the narrow, wooded 
 isthmus divides from Lake Zug; Alpnacht to the 
 south flowing on past the base of gigantic Pila- 
 tus ; behind us to the west, the shining stretch 
 over which we have come; while eastward, 
 Weggis spreads out before us until some slight 
 change in our direction, brings us abreast of a 
 range of mighty precipices that seem to bar our 
 progress completely. But the little boat is un- 
 dismayed and skilfully feels its way along the 
 threatening shores, and lo ! a silvery channel 
 opens out again and we wind on amid untel'able 
 delights. 
 
 The area of Lake Lucerne is about forty-four 
 square miles ; its surface is fourteen hundred and 
 thirty-two feet above sea-level ; its greatest 
 length, from Lucerne to Fluelen, twenty-three 
 and one half miles and greatest width a little 
 more than two and one half. 
 
 While partial freezing has taken place at ir- 
 regular intervals, the congealing of its entire 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 263 
 
 expanse is unrecorded either by history or tra- 
 dition. The banks of the lake display a re- 
 markable diversity of character. Some anony- 
 mous writer has said: — "Here the boundary is the 
 broad end of an Alpine valley ; yonder it is a 
 steep precipice rising from the very margin of 
 the waters ; elsewhere it is an expanse of grassy 
 meadow-]and affording pasturage to numerous 
 herds of sleek cattle, and planted with row upon 
 row of thriving fruit-trees. At the point where 
 the larger valleys open, the eye penetrates to the 
 mountain heights some of which are carpeted 
 with rich pastures and dotted with chalets, 
 while others appear rocky and barren, and yet 
 others loftiest of all, display their spotless ves- 
 ture of eternal snow." 
 
 But it matters not what phase of prospect is 
 presented; for whether bounded by mighty 
 bluffs and cragged cliffs close at hand, or stretch- 
 ing back into the woodland shades and smiling 
 loveliness of pastoral scenes, or rising aloft in 
 dizzy heights of unapproachable grandeur, it 
 entrances the imagination and dominates the 
 soul by alternating sublimity and romance, 
 magnificence and unutterable charm. 
 
 All along, sheltered from rough winds, em- 
 bowered in groves and vines, and almost within 
 stone's throw of one another, nestle quaint lit- 
 tle villages, picturesque and cheerful ; while 
 scattered everyw^here from the water's edge to 
 dizzying heights, rise villas, cottages, pensions, 
 restaurants, hotels and so forth, in often appar- 
 ently inaccessible locations. 
 
 And now we go on under the shadow of the 
 huge Eigi and its mighty neighbors standing to- 
 gether in everlasting majesty. A bright ray of' 
 sunshine picks out and glows back from a lofty 
 crag of vivid red, that towers far above the; 
 
264 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 small village of Vitznau charmingly set out 
 against a background of somber green. 
 
 As in a dream of delight we go on and on and 
 on. Again the waters narrow before us as we 
 approach two great precipices which leave us no 
 visible means of egress ; but another dextrous 
 shift of our wise little vessel, and we pass be- 
 tween the opposing promontories called Die 
 JSfasen, (The Noses,) which are separated here 
 by a distance of less than a thousand yards. 
 
 After this we reach Gersau with its bulky 
 mountain rearing its proud crest above, and 
 make our way out again from the little port so 
 shut in by rocky walls, past the romantic chapel 
 Klindlmord, that has for uncounted years lifted 
 its quaint turret here to the chaQgeful sky. 
 
 And now so stupendous a spectacle bursts 
 upon the vision, that the average mind sinks 
 down aghast, realizing that nothing but the 
 sublimity of genius should venture to portray 
 the sublimity of nature. Here in one mighty 
 panorama, opens one of the grandest of Alpine 
 landscapes, disclosing the wondrous eminences 
 of the Schwytz, with the frightful steeps and 
 naked summit of the Mythen towering in the 
 background. Here as before, on every hand 
 rise wooded height and rugged rock, with cot and 
 villa, chalet and 2^^^sion, dotted all abroad on 
 shady slope or sunny elevation, until far above, 
 imposing pinnacles and frowning crags loom in- 
 accessible ; and over all and pervading all with 
 its mingled charm of sun and sea and sky and 
 shore, the radiant, indefinable atmosphere of 
 summer Switzerland. 
 
 Each picture presenting itself as our craft 
 turns and winds through the sea-green waves, 
 ;seems fairer, grander, more sublime than aught 
 before. The soul aches with a pervading pain 
 of dumb and awful admiration. 
 
ONE WOMAN ^\ANDEJRING 265 
 
 Now we round a seemingly impassable barrier 
 and turn into a quiet little harbor where a curv- 
 ing pier stretches out into the still waters. There 
 is no village here in view, only an antique and 
 venerable inn call the Trieb, whose high-peaked 
 roof, projecting stories and exterior decorations 
 are all along the lines of the wonderful timber 
 architecture of central G-ermany, This old edi- 
 fice is largely identified with the actual and 
 legendary history of these shores. It rests 
 partly on piers in the lake, and partly on the 
 solid rock of the bank, and stands embosomed 
 in forest trees and decked with velvet moss, un- 
 der the overhanging bastions of the eternal 
 hills ; the soft, natural grays of its roof and 
 walls, blending harmoniously into the dull 
 greens and browns of its umbrageous nest. 
 
 Around the next headland not far from here, 
 we note a pyramidal rock rising abruptly from 
 the lake; divided but by an exceedingly narrow 
 ■channel from the perpendicular clilf behind. Of 
 a whitish tint, it stands out distinctly above 
 the heaving waves and presents to the beholder 
 its unchanging face, upon which is graven an 
 inscription in honor of Schiller, A fitting mon- 
 ument, in its immutability amid the billowy 
 waters foaming about its everlasting base, to the 
 rgreat poet whose undying verse has so perpetu- 
 ated the glories of Switzerland and her band of 
 heroes. 
 
 Still passing from one romantic and interest- 
 ing point to another, still crossing and re-cross- 
 ing the crystal sea as one or another of the tiny 
 villages presents itself on either side, we reach 
 Brunnen situated in the midst of verdure, with 
 pretty promenades and public grounds, and con- 
 secrated by its souvenirs of the Eise of the 
 Swiss Confederation; and now we enter upon 
 
266 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 the last branch of the lake, a beautiful basin 
 shut in by rocky banks and stupendous moun- 
 tains. 
 
 On the right, high above, stretched beneath 
 the walls of still loftier overhanging crags, lies 
 the Ruetli, a steep meadow surrounded by 
 stately trees. This is the most sacred spot in 
 Switzerland and celebrated in song and story, 
 for here on November seventh, 1307, Fuerst of 
 Uri, Stauffacher of Schwytz and Anderhalden of 
 Unterwald, each backed by a few devoted adher- 
 ents, formed a league in the name of their can- 
 tons, against the despotic rule of Austria. Schil- 
 ler makes thrilling use of the dramatic elements 
 of this episode in his great work. The Ruetli is 
 regarded as a national place of pilgrimage and 
 every year is visited by processions of schools 
 and societies of all descriptions. Peaceful and 
 secluded it looks, far above our heads, accessi- 
 bly only by a rocky pathway through the 
 tangled groves. 
 
 The view from this point onward seems to in- 
 crease, if possible, in beauty and grandeur. On 
 the left appear the granite heights of Ober-and 
 Nieder-Bauenstock, and yet these are almost 
 dwarfed by the imposing immensity of massive 
 Urirothstock rising like some vast citadel from 
 the lake below to the clouds above, where its 
 snowy summit towers impregnable. Still we 
 make our way over the clear waters that reflect 
 so vividly the picturesque hamlets and blooming 
 terraces coming into view wherever the stony 
 walls recede enough to grant a few acres of foot- 
 hold. We leave Sisikon and Bauen and Isleton 
 behind us, reaching Tellsplatte, the spot where 
 Tell is said to have escaped from the tyrant's 
 boat. The chapel bearing Tell's name stands 
 close to the water's edge and is visited every 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 267 
 
 year by the country people in solemn proces- 
 sional. How the present vanishes and the 
 intervening centuries roll away from one's con- 
 sciousness, as one gazes upon the diminutive 
 temple with its unpretending walls and modest 
 spire hidden from view by rocks and twining 
 shrubbery, except at the water-front, from which 
 its few steps ascend immediately into the plain 
 little portico. Above rises magnificent Axen- 
 fluh flanked by sky-piercing Urirothstock, while 
 straight before us, the pyramid of jagged Bris- 
 tenstock lifts up its lofty brow. Beautiful Seel- 
 isbeig and mighty Fronalpstock greet us anew 
 from the other side, looking down from the re- 
 moter distance ; while all about and everywhere 
 are new vistas of enchantment, until at last we 
 reach Fluelen where the boat pauses for an hour 
 or so before starting on its homeward journey. 
 There is a wonderful carriage-road, wide and 
 hard, from Weggis to Fluelen, which is thought 
 by many to surpass in variety and grandeur of 
 natural scenery, any other highway in the 
 world. Lying along the lake and following its 
 changeful and meandering contour, it winds on, 
 now skirting sunny meadows, now penetrating 
 leafy shades or rounding giddy precipices, now 
 drilled in archways through solid rock. It is 
 divided into four sections, the first of which 
 stretches along through a delightful series of 
 green pastures, beautiful groves and charming 
 lake aspects ; the second and third are more ro- 
 mantic, commanding the banks of the Weggis 
 and Brunnen basins, and presenting witching 
 glimpses of the Rigi, the Urmiberg,the Mythen, 
 the Seelisberg and many others ; while the last 
 section is the celebrated Axenstrasse, leading 
 along the east shore from Brunnen to Fluelen, 
 and forming a part of a system of mountain 
 
268 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 highways constructed by the Swisfe government 
 many years ago. 
 
 The St. Gothard railway is also visible at 
 times along these shores but disappears into the 
 depths of every huge hill. All along here, 
 picturesqueness again rises to grandeur and 
 beauty to sublimity, and once more words fail 
 to convey an idea of the ravishing scene. The 
 limpid lake with its emerald tinge ; the varying 
 green of groves and gardens fair in the distance ; 
 rocks strangely grotesque rising far above; 
 dimly lighted tunnels with openings here and 
 there through which renewed glimpses are 
 caught of mountain and lake and wonderful 
 views of the distant Alps ; while every place is 
 replete with souvenirs of the ancient heroes of 
 Switzerland. 
 
 From Fluelen one may return to Lucerne by 
 railway, if preferring a change of route. Of this 
 privilege I now availed myself, plunging into 
 fresh beauties as well as looking on former ones 
 from another equally bewildering point of view. 
 
 Snowy summits, awful abysses, emerald 
 slopes, ragged rocks, sparkling waters, luxuriant 
 meadows, barren crags, fertile valleys, gay 
 watering-places, w^oodland heights, handsome 
 stations, trim terraces, picturesque chalets, cosy 
 farm houses, elegant villas, vi^onderful bridges 
 and inky tunnels are all whirled about through 
 my mind in inextricable confusion, as I step 
 from the train and seek the seclusion of my 
 modest inn. 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 To the ascending of mountains by railway in 
 this era of marvelous engineering and enterprise, 
 there is no end ; but it is not so very long ago, 
 in fact I believe but forty years, since the 
 system that has made this variety of excursion 
 feasible and safe, was provided to the world. 
 To the United States, records say, belongs the 
 honor of having given birth to the man whose 
 peculiar genius "evolved from his inner con- 
 sciousness," this unique method that has 
 proved so adaptable in scaling tremendous 
 heights- 
 
 It was in 1858 that Sylvester Marsh, of Little- 
 ton, New Hampshire, received a charter to 
 practically apply his ingenious mechanism to the 
 ascent of Mount Washington. That road was 
 finished in 1869, that of the Rigi in 1871, and 
 since then their name is legion both in our own 
 country and abroad. 
 
 Though both in America and in the old 
 world, there are peaks more lofty and mountains 
 more s'upendous than the Rigi yet this has a 
 distinctive charm in its wonderful situation be- 
 tween three lakes, — rising abruptly from their 
 very margins, — and the incomparable scenery, of 
 which its own magnificent loveliness is but a 
 fragmentary portion; and it has the additioDal 
 advantage of being accessible from either side, 
 so that the necessity of doubling back to any 
 great extent upon one's route is avoided, and in 
 one trip is combined a surprising variety of out- 
 look. 
 
270 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 There are a number of footways up the Rigi; 
 from every steamboat handing as well as from 
 every St. Gotharcl railway station in the 
 vicinity, is a well-defined path, each of which is 
 thronged with hardy and ambitious pedestrians 
 pressing onward to the heights above. There 
 are also three railway routes, of which the 
 Vitznau-Rigi is the oldest and perhaps the most 
 comprehensive. 
 
 The skies were fair and the waters sparkling 
 as we left Lucerne on the small vessel that plies 
 between that city and Vitznau, 
 
 After a rvm of less than an hour we arrived, 
 and disembarking, crossed the picture-like little 
 Platz to the railway station. Here we found 
 our observation car arranged with nicely tilted 
 seats inclined in just the requisite degree to 
 keep us on a level up the great slope, and our 
 ungainly locomotive, ponderous and panting, all 
 ready to begin the powerful push that was to 
 send us steadily on our way heavenward for 
 thousands of feet. As is customary in such as- 
 cents, but one car was given to each engine. 
 
 Contrary to our previous mountain experience, 
 we find every pound of luggage must be weighed 
 and paid for. And I may mention here that a 
 lady traveling alone in Switzerland is at much 
 disadvantage regarding her hand-luggage, for 
 porters are not allowed, even by paying a gate 
 fee, to enter the trains, and, the carriages being 
 set up on high wheels and en'ered from the end 
 platforms, like ours in America, it is impossible 
 for her to avoid lifting and handling her m- 
 pedimeiita herself. She must either receive her 
 property from the porter at the outer steps and 
 lug it into the ear, or else through the window 
 from the inside ; and in either case must heave 
 them herself up into the high receptacles over- 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 271 
 
 head, as the cars are too small and the available 
 space too contracted to admit of their being 
 placed elsewhere. Many foreigners, noting the 
 difference between Swiss cars and the ordinary 
 continental carriage, fancy that the former are 
 like American cars ; they do resemble the latter 
 somewhat on the outside, being entered from the 
 ends and set up on high trucks, though they 
 lack utterly the finish of our railway coaches ; 
 l)Ut the Swiss car is much smaller than ours, 
 and the interior is very different. True the 
 passage runs lengthwise instead of across the 
 carriage, but it is veiy narrow and, instead of 
 running through the middle and dividing the 
 car in halves, it is nearer one side than the 
 other, leaving on the one hand, space for a row 
 of small, single seats, and on the other, a row of 
 double ones ; and, while the carriage is not 
 divided off into closed compartments, it is 
 divided by breast high partitions between each 
 set of opposing seats, though there are no doors 
 within ; the whole arrangement is close and in- 
 convenient, though a vast improvement on the 
 ■compulsory confinement system in other parts 
 of Europe. 
 
 The car that we enter to-day, however, 
 specially adapted to mountain travel, is exactly 
 like a large, open street-car, with three excep- 
 tions ; first, its "up-tiltedness ;" second, gates 
 at the two ends of every two opposite rows of 
 seats or benches that run quite across the car 
 from side to side ; and third, a small compart- 
 ment in the rear, wherein our luggage, reduced 
 to the smallest possible compass, is stowed away. 
 
 We are an anim ited and expectant party from 
 almost all quarters of the globe; diverse and 
 polyglot are the accents that greet the ear. Let 
 not my "lone sister" be dismayed; she will 
 
272 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 probably hear her native tongue; if not she has 
 only to show her ticket and point to her luggage, 
 and a railway porter will take her in charge 
 with safety. But lest she may picture in her 
 "mind's eye" something akin to the trim-uni- 
 formed train men of our lines, I will say that 
 the continental porter wears the unmistakable 
 garb of a laboring man, and either upon his 
 cap or upon a chain about his neck, he bears a 
 huge metal number, which it is well to take 
 cognizance of, for future recollection in case 
 anything goes wrong. However, they are usually 
 very civil and anxious to please; the fee must 
 be paid by the traveler as, though the porters 
 are licensed they are not recompensed by the 
 railway. 
 
 In our motley throng, cycling costumes 
 mainly more serviceable than elegant prevail, 
 though no wheels are in evidence; several tour- 
 ists are supplied with sturdy but unmanageable 
 alpenstocks, that stick out in all directions and 
 get into everybody's way. 
 
 We are soon in motion, beginning to ascend 
 almost from the very verge of the waters, and 
 at once leaving behind us the charming village 
 lying so snugly in its cosy nooks and angles 
 against the mountain side. 
 
 Rushing upward through chesnut groves, we 
 dash into a murky tunnel, then over a wildly 
 romantic bridge of skilful but terrifying con- 
 struction, and pause for a moment at Freibergen^ 
 Station, thirty-three hundred feet above sea 
 level. From this point on, the scene is all one 
 bewildering vision of beauty unutterable. The 
 lake drops away from us like a falling mirror ; 
 gazing downward at our left, we see its glitter- 
 ing surface sinking lower and lower, as we 
 mount the dizzy elevations between which and 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 273 
 
 the shining depths below, nothing whatever is 
 visible to indicate that we are otherwise than 
 poised without support in this realm of light 
 and radiance through which we are speeding. 
 
 A. glance toward our right scarcely reassures 
 us, for here close at hand, less than an arm's 
 length from the side of the car, impregnable 
 battlements of everlasting rock tower straight 
 upward, iipon the perpendicular surfaces of 
 which, no slightest foot-hold or hand-clutch were 
 possible even in the direst emergency. But the 
 incomparable grandeur and splendor of our po- 
 sition serves to engulf all thoughts of mortal 
 risk, and we breathe into our very souls a spirit 
 of magic enchantment. 
 
 Now the outlook changes ; mountains begin 
 to show their crests around within our range of 
 view ; we swerve away from the dizzy verge as 
 the crowding crags fall back, while our eyes, 
 but this moment gazing abroad into apparently 
 illimitable space, now rest on emerald slope and 
 wide plateau, with terrace on terrace of vivid 
 bloom and verdure reaching back to the confines 
 of a park-like forest. Here is situated the far- 
 famed sanitarium of Eigi-Kaltbad, adjacent to 
 which are some of the loveliest views from the 
 Rigi. At this point another mountain-route 
 meets our line and some of our passengers leave 
 us, disappearing round the curves that lead to 
 the great hotels in that direction. We who re- 
 main, continue in our upward course through 
 rocky cuttings, over frightful trestles round 
 giddy precipices, through bosky shades, up and 
 up and ever up, until after an interval, as we 
 come to the fine Hotel Staffel, there all at once 
 opens before us the immense prospect of the 
 wondrous hill-country of northeast Switzerland, 
 lovely, magnificent, infinite. 
 
274 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 Still onward, higher and higher, toward the 
 summit far above ; while advancing, receding, 
 ever changing but ever entrancing, appear and 
 vanish the contrasting beauties of the marvelous 
 outlook. 
 
 Vista after vista opens out, falls back and 
 fades beneath us, until at last we find ourselves 
 at the summit, where, a little below the rounded 
 grassy top, stands the imposing Hotel Eigi-Kulm. 
 
 Now verily do the limitations of language 
 •press sore upon us as we look abroad on the 
 overpowering grandeur of the prospect. What 
 words indeed can depict with justice, a land- 
 scape more than two hundred miles in diameter? 
 Here the undulating, ever varied hill-country 
 toward the north ; yonder the Black Forest and 
 the Vosges Mountains stretching onward ; in the 
 imiddle ground, lake after lake in limpid loveli- 
 mes-s reflecting back fair heaven and wooded 
 beight ; while far away to the southward, glit- 
 tering in snowy splendor, sublime and unsullied 
 ats in creation's dawn, rises range after range 
 ©f towering pinnacles, silent, majestic, immov- 
 able save by the same almighty force that placed 
 them there in awful magnitude, eternal, "rock- 
 ribbed and ancient as the sun." 
 
 River courses wind beneath us, and meander- 
 ing roads, like lengths of ribbon as they wander 
 away; fair meadow-lands stretch onward and 
 white towns and villages shine forth from leafy 
 recesses; while on the Rigi itself and forming a 
 part of its mighty bulk, are rock and ridge, 
 declivity and dale, fertile plain and barren crag, 
 bowery dell, gleaming cascade, mountain rill, 
 rich pastures and picturesque structures, all en- 
 veloped in one bewitching haze of ineflPable love- 
 liness. 
 
 It is impossible to drink one's fill of the glor- 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 275 
 
 ious scene, and we turn aside exhausted yet un- 
 satisfied. But as our eyes drop from all this 
 splendor of natural beauty and fall at last to 
 things at hand and lying literally at our feet, 
 we begin to note what a diversified little world 
 it is here immediately about us, on the small, 
 irregular plateau. 
 
 First and foremost is the great hotel with its 
 spacious verandas, glittering windows and wide 
 corridors. A little removed from this are two 
 or three other roomy edifices for accommodating 
 the "overflow" in the busy season. Around a 
 little bluff where the path turns to reach the 
 extreme summit, stands a Post-Office, diminu- 
 tive indeed but complete in all modern require- 
 ments, including telegraph, telephone and sup- 
 plies of stationery and picture postal-cards. 
 Just below the hotel and reached by a long flight 
 of steps, is the neat little station of the railway 
 terminus. 
 
 Following the path to the upper plateau, we 
 suddenly find ourselves in the midst of a minia- 
 ture, open-air bazar, for a dozen or more knick- 
 nack venders have taken up their stand under 
 spreading, cream-colored umbrellas, — for there 
 are no trees at this height, — which shelter them- 
 selves and their collections. Here trinkets of all 
 descriptions pertaining to the Alpine region, are 
 to be found at not exorbitant prices, pictures, 
 curios, geological and floral specimens and so 
 forth, while interested purchasers are gathered 
 about in shifting groups. 
 
 For the first time the widely famed Edelweiss 
 comes under our observation, being offered for 
 sale in profusion with Alpine roses, so called. 
 There is no chaffering and the dealers are re- 
 spectful and quiet. 
 
 Men, women and children of confusingly di- 
 
276 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 verse sorts and conditions, wander hither and 
 yon, or stand entranced, rapt in the glorious 
 prospect abroad. 
 
 A group of Alpine singers, male and female, 
 in picturesque, peasant costumes, have made the 
 ascent on foot from some one of the neighboring 
 hamlets, and are now refreshing themselves 
 with beer and black bread in the clear sunshine, 
 occasionally bursting into fragments of song, or 
 the melodious, far reaching jodel of the Swiss 
 mountaineer. 
 
 All this busy exhibition of life on a small 
 scale, seems so very strange up here on the 
 open mountain-top, under the near, blue sky 
 amid the grandeur of the Alps, and brings us 
 down at once from the boundless realms of imag- 
 ination and of infinite space, to human associa- 
 tions and human interests. And so, inspecting 
 the curious wares and motley groups, we while 
 away a little time before withdrawing into the 
 huge caravansary for food and repose. 
 
 One does not find such unvarying exorbitant 
 charges throughout the country at places of re- 
 sort in Europe, as we have at home. 
 
 True, one can spend any amount of money if 
 one feels no special limitation, but there is at 
 the same time, at all these resorts a scale of 
 prices suited to travelers of moderate means, pro- 
 viding sufficient and satisfactory service and 
 entertainment at comparatively small outlay. 
 Our foreign brothers seem to recognize the fact 
 that every one, even among travelers, is not a 
 Croesus, and to look out for the accommodation 
 of such, also. I must confess, however, if they 
 know that one is an American, it is very hard 
 for them to realize that one is not necessarily, a 
 millionaire, so ingrained is it into the con- 
 sciousness of other peoples, that "all Americans 
 are rich." 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 277 
 
 In descending the Rigi, we followed the Arth- 
 Goldau route, which branches off from the Rigi- 
 Kulm section at Eigi-Staffel, a short distance 
 below. 
 
 Another panorama of indescribable grandeur 
 and not less impressive and imposing than that 
 seen from the other side, is spread out before us 
 as we gradually go down through magnificent 
 Alpine pastures and shadowy fir groves, to our 
 first halting-place below the junction. This is 
 the Rigi-Klosterli, the most sheltered place on 
 the mountain. Here are two grand hotels, sev- 
 eral less pretentious inns and a picturesque old 
 pilgrimage-chapel ; also a Capuchin hospice, a 
 somewhat peculiar institution, being a sort of 
 conventual hostelry devoted to the entertain- 
 ment of travelers. We are told that this point 
 is most popular with persons desiring to make a 
 prolonged stay upon the mountain. 
 
 Off again and down, down through scenery of 
 wildly romantic character, from the midst of 
 which we command an extensive view of the 
 Schwytz and the Eastern Alps. 
 
 Now we hug the rocky side of a deep ravine, 
 the abysmal depths of which our vision cannot 
 XJenetrate; now we cross marvelous bridges and 
 horrifying trestles and plunge into long tunnels, 
 still winding ever down and down and down. 
 
 By degrees the landscape loses its expansive 
 sweep; we begin to be. shut in again by the 
 nearer hills, and the pleasant valley of the Arth 
 becomes prominent as, studded with fertile 
 farms, flourishing fruit-trees and rustic dwell- 
 ings, it stretches beyond the important station 
 of Goldau, where the mountain railway termi- 
 nates on this side. 
 
 One might remain weeks upon the Rigi with- 
 out exhausting its countless resources and as- 
 tonishing variety of land and water scapes. 
 
278 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 The Rigi-Kulm, five thousand, nine hundred 
 and five feet above the sea, is the highest point. 
 The Rigi-Scheidegg — for all these various points 
 are but different pinnacles of the one vast moun- 
 tain, — is five thousand, four hundred and six 
 feet in elevation. At this spot is a "view-tower," 
 one hundred feet high, where one might pass 
 hours observing the magnificent prospect and 
 "paying one's tribute to the majesty of the 
 universe." Here too is an "Alpine-Garden," or 
 experiment station, where trials are made in 
 the cultivation of Alpine fodder-plants and 
 forest trees. 
 
 The Rigi-Hochfluh is five thousand, five hun- 
 dred and eighty-four feet high. This is the 
 most southern summit of the mountain and is 
 perhaps the most fantastic in character. This 
 ascent, M-hich can only be made on foot, leads 
 past grotesque formations and through a fir 
 forest, up a steep and stony defile, where only 
 by an iron ladder fixed into the solid rock, can 
 one mount to the bold and barren summit. 
 
 One feature through all this region, especially 
 striking to an American coming from a land 
 whose mountains are sparsely settled, if at all, 
 and where an air of bleak desolation pervades 
 the upper heights, is the number and contiguity 
 of villages, hamlets, chalets, villas and farm- 
 houses everywhere visible in all directions, high 
 and low, over the mountains ; so that the sweet, 
 familiar sounds of rural domestic life, the 
 laugh of children, the low of cattle, the bleat of 
 lambs, the shrill clarion of chanticleers, fall con- 
 tinually upon the ear, and all the peaceful avo- 
 cations of life are seen to go on amid a lofty en- 
 vironment unsurpassed in beauty and sublimity. 
 
 The Rigi itself, though so rich in its infinite 
 variety of scene, is yet but one of the countless 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 279 
 
 stately and mighty monarchs that lift their proud 
 and beautiful heads above the shining waters 
 at their feet. Gazing at them as a whole, they 
 form a circling chain of such matchless loveliness 
 and majesty so far beyond the flights of the 
 imagination, that the reverent spirit is inevit- 
 ably lifted above the cloud-capped peaks, 
 beyond the radiant atmosphere, "up through 
 nature to nature's God. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 With comparatively but a glimpse and a taste 
 of the delights of Switzerland, I tore myself 
 away from the enrapturing locality of the Vier- 
 loaldstcetter See, taking the St. Gothard line at 
 Goldau. 
 
 This is a very important railv^^ay junction and 
 a bustling town, reminding me in a way of some 
 of the new "cities" of our far west, where a 
 large amount of business is transacted some- 
 times, before the necessary buildings and facil- 
 ities for properly carrying it on, are much more 
 than in embryo. Carpenters, masons, diggers 
 and hewers were at work all about, and we had 
 to step over and around many obstructions and 
 across many unprotected tracks, — a state of 
 things very unusual abroad, — in passing from 
 one railway station to another. 
 
 Goldau is the place where, in 1806, a tremen- 
 dous landslip fell from off the Rossberg, burying 
 in its debris nearly iive hundred persons with all 
 their belongings. 
 
 As our train moves off, our way lies through 
 a wild confusion of rocky fragments and over- 
 turned strata, which have lain here ever since 
 their descent into the valley, all undisturbed ex- 
 cept so far as needful to construct the railways 
 now lying through the area. 
 
 Some one has said that the St. Gothard raiU 
 way is the great international highway 
 between north and south, a commercial route 
 comparable to the Suez Canal or the Straits 
 .of Gibralter. The impressionable traveler 
 
 280 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 281 
 
 will not be content with only this point of 
 view, for it is also a highway of most remarka- 
 ble and magnificent spectacles, both of natural 
 scenery and of engineering achievements. 
 
 My way lies but a short distance over this 
 route, but even in this brief stretch, dark tun- 
 nels and deep cuttings continually alternate with 
 open reaches affording successive vistas of great 
 heights beyond, of mighty chasms spanned by 
 marvelous trestles and bridges, and of all pos^^i- 
 ble variations in prospect, from simple beauty 
 jup to awful grandeur. 
 
 Between Goldau and Walchwyl we find yel- 
 low circulars distributed profusely about our 
 jSeats. Taking one up I translate as follows : 
 
 WARNING ! WARNING ! WARNING ! 
 
 "The Iron Columns of the in-construction-un- 
 rdertaken St, Andrienbridge between Walchwyl 
 and Goldau, come so near to the Wagons of the 
 through-riding Trains to stand, that by only 
 some Forth-out-bowing of the Over-body out of 
 the Wagon Windows upon the Lakeside, Dam- 
 .ages infallibly are. The Travelers become on 
 that account, stringently therefore warned 
 .against themselves from so questionable Places 
 in anyhow-which-wise, lakewards to the Wagon 
 Windows forth-out-to-lean. 
 
 "The Direction of the Gothard-Road." 
 
 Glancing farther down I find the warning re- 
 peated in Italian, in French and finally in 
 English, with a somewhat freer rendering than 
 mine given above. I wonder if every train in 
 every direction has every seat in every compart- 
 ment of every carriage, filled with these slips 
 .every day ; and if so, what the printer's bill of 
 the "Direction" amounts to in the course of a 
 ;few- centuries. However, it is kind of the di- 
 
282 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 rectors to strive to prevent us from "forth-out- 
 bowing,"and we all keep our "Over- bodies" 
 very erect as we speed over the great bridge. 
 
 As I am now bound for Zurich, I change lines 
 at Zug, a romantic looking town beautifully sit- 
 uated on its mountain-inclosed lake of the same 
 name, and known from its quaint towers and 
 ancient fortifications as the "Nuremburg of 
 Switzerland." A long ridge of considerable el- 
 evation called the Zugerberg, is a noticeable 
 feature of the place, affording an exceedingly 
 varied and pleasant opportunity for excursions 
 either on foot or en voiture, as the French say. 
 By the way, one never knows in this region, 
 whether one will be accosted in French or in 
 German, which rather serves to keep the not 
 over-proficient linguist in a "tenter-hooky"con- 
 dition as he strives to have immediately availa- 
 ble an assortment of pertinent phrases in both 
 languages. We have gone back to French 
 money also, to my great confusion, as I have for 
 so many weeks, in my struggle with marks and 
 2ofennige, put behind me all thoughts of francs 
 and centimes. The functionaries will take your 
 German gold and give you change in French 
 silver but, as a rule, the silver and copper of 
 Germany are refused. Occasionally I find an 
 amiable Dienstmann or porteur, — you never 
 know which he is going to style himself, — who 
 does not object to German change, so I go about 
 with two purses, one French, the other German, 
 and adapt the "nationality," so to speak, of my 
 disbursements to the requirements of him who 
 serves me. 
 
 Our train is crowded, for now is the height 
 of the season and this is a most popular route. 
 The scenery is lovely and had we not just come 
 from the very heart of enchantment ineffable, 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 283 
 
 these cliffs and slopes were inexpressibly be- 
 witching. We rush through some tremendous 
 tunnels, one in particular, of more than eighteen 
 thousand feet in length. As the carriages are 
 unlighted and we have no warning to close our 
 windows, we find ourselves every now and then 
 suddenly in the midst of inky darkness and sul- 
 phurous smoke that can find no outlet. Very 
 soon "Zurich's fair waters" open out before us, 
 the fine city lying upon the lake and the river 
 Limmat, and bounded on the west by the river 
 Sihl. 
 
 To properly appreciate this place, one should 
 see it before Lucerne, otherwise Zurich suffers 
 in comparison. But it is a very beautiful and 
 particularly interesting city, extremely ancient 
 in origin. It is at this point that so many relics 
 of the pre-historic "Lake-Dwellers" of Switzer- 
 land, and have been found; the Helmhaus, an 
 antiquarian museum, contains one of the finest 
 collections extant, it is said, of the old pile 
 structures excavated from the lake. But as 
 there are traces of Roman occupation here, some 
 authorities maintain that Zurich was founded 
 by that people, it having been the Celts who 
 lived on the pile-structures in the water. Be 
 that as it may, it is now a flourishing, handsome, 
 modern town, containing, with its nine suburban 
 districts, about seventy-five thousand inhabi- 
 tants living, as my hand-book informs me, "in 
 fifty-two hundred and seventy-six houses and 
 forming sixteen thousand, one hundred and 
 ninety seven families." 
 
 It is a leading city both commercially and 
 politically and has numerous manufactures for 
 soap, silk, cotton, paper, machinery and so forth. 
 It is solidly built in a great variety of architec- 
 ture. 
 
284 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 Churches, cathedrals, museums, asylums, in- 
 stitutes, theaters, hospitals, picture-galleries, 
 schools, colleges, monuments, bridges and squares 
 abound; and the beavity of its broad, smooth 
 streets, its blooming gardens, leafy terraces, 
 charming nooks and secluded courts, its foun- 
 tains, ponds, river-shores and lake-fronts, its 
 "up-to-date" and tastefully ornamental, as well 
 as its antique and venerable structures, is very 
 striking. 
 
 One peculiarity in the very center of the town, 
 is a quiet, elevated place called the Lindenhof, 
 from which all the bustle and turmoil of a large 
 city seems to rush away, instead of concentrat- 
 ing. It is studded with lime trees and offers 
 an extensive view, unobstructed and undis- 
 turbed. This spot was the property of the Im- 
 perial Governors of Zurich and was the original 
 Roman stronghold, or "First Quarter," of the 
 town. Many coins and inscriptions of very 
 ancient times have been found here. 
 
 Then there is the "old town," little changed 
 for many generations, with queer, zig-zagged 
 ways and antique edifices. One, in the narrow, 
 crooked street, Auf Dorf, is pointed out as the 
 former residence of a famous civic official, Hans 
 Waldmann, who "had to die on the scaffold on 
 account of his 'overbearance' and insolence 
 toward his fellow-citizens whose idol he had been 
 and who had promoted him to the high post of 
 burgomeister." Another of the numberless 
 instances of the Swiss hatred for and defiance of 
 oppression in any form. 
 
 Delightful excursions are to be taken in every 
 direction, surpassed only by those nearer 
 Lucerne. A miniature railway having a rolling- 
 stock of four engines and ten cars, leads up the 
 Uetliberg, a hill to the north of the city. This 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 285 
 
 line is nearly thirtjthousand feet in length, 
 with a gradient of seven per cent, so there is 
 nothing very marvelous about this excursion in 
 this land of tremendous heights, but the viev^^ 
 of the vari d landscape beneath, with the dis- 
 tant Alps rising in mysterious beauty far beyond, 
 is very charming. 
 
 Prices in Zurich seem quite cheap, especially 
 when one recalls what it costs to spend a few 
 days at any of our popular resorts in the United 
 States. One can hire a carriage for fifty cents 
 an hour, or six hours for two dollars and a half; 
 or to be driven from one point to another not ex- 
 ceeding a quarter of an hour in time, for sixteen 
 cents. Tramway rates in the city, two cents; 
 from or into the suburbs, four cents. Row- 
 boats for one or two persons, ten cents 
 an hour, sail-boat, twenty cents. At the thea- 
 ter a single seat in a large front box, eighty cents, 
 which is the highest price anywhere in the house. 
 A messenger with or without a load of less than 
 thirty-three pounds in the city, four cents; with 
 that weight or more, with or without a cart, 
 eight cents. A man and cart moving furniture 
 or cleaning house or carpets, twelve cents an 
 hour, or one dollar a day, and so on. 
 
 In going about Zurich, one notes at occasional 
 intervals, very odd specimens of rock, or "boul- 
 ders," set up, as inquiry develops, as ornamental 
 curiosities. Some are dark blue, others red, 
 still others variegated, and all of most erratic 
 conformation. They do not appertain, we are 
 told, to the spots wherein they rest, but have 
 been discovered at points in the vicinity of Zur- 
 ich and have been brought at great expenditure 
 of force and money, into the city and deposited — 
 to quote a popular phrase, — "where they will do 
 the most good." 
 
286 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 The Grand Central Railway Station of Zurich 
 is magnificent and the remarkably spacious 
 square in which it stands is a marvel of urban 
 beauty and artistic adornment. 
 
 With a "longing, lingering look behind," at 
 the thriving city with its flowing river and gray- 
 green lake at its feet, and its verdure-clad back- 
 ground reaching into snowy heights above, I 
 watched it all fade in the distance and merge 
 little by little into the less striking region 
 about Basle, toward which converging 
 point of multitudinous lines, I again sped. 
 Here changing trains and resuming German 
 money and German language, I journeyed on 
 via Offenburg and Appemweier to Heidelberg, 
 and thence by way of Mainz and Kastel to 
 Wiesbaden, 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 Mainz is a fine city of ancient origin and mod- 
 ern improvements, and very fair was it to loolc 
 upon as it lay spread out before me in the warm 
 sunshine. I paused not, however, to enjoy its 
 beauties nor its glories, making only a short 
 halt between trains. 
 
 The Rhine here is broad and splendid. It is 
 from this point that the "Rhine-journey" is us- 
 ually begun, passengers for train or boat to the 
 north, being taken by carriage through the 
 town and across its beautiful bridge to Kastel 
 opposite. 
 
 Thus far my way lay, so I entered the waiting 
 vehicle with five other travelers. Three of these 
 were a family party, father, mother and son, 
 English, who were in great perplexity concern- 
 ing their luggage, about which they conversed 
 "volubly in the language of their countrv. 
 
 It was impossible for me to remain ignorant 
 •of their grievances unless I had been suddenly 
 stricken deaf, but of course, it was all none of 
 my afi^air. Finally the conductor appeared de- 
 manding tickets, and there was another over- 
 flowing torrent of speech turned in his direction, 
 as all tried to explain at once, but the conduc- 
 tor 
 
 " shook his flaxen head 
 
 and smilingly answered: " 
 
 ^'Nix-fer-stay." Then they said it all over 
 again, with that calm and indomitable assurance 
 "which all English seem to have, that if they only 
 ■speak distinctly and forcibly enough in their 
 
 287 
 
288 ONE WO .MAN WANDERING 
 
 native tongue, every foreigner will surely un- 
 derstand. 
 
 But it was of no avail; the conductor "had no 
 English," and the party "had no German." At 
 last as the English began for the fourth time to 
 rehearse their "tale of woe," I ventured, seeing 
 no one else was likely to come to their relief, tO' 
 say a few words in German to the conductor. 
 At this the English party turned to me and 
 poured forth the story once more, as if I had not 
 been able to hear the relation the other four 
 times ; but I listened gravely and did what I 
 could to elucidate matters, enough so that final- 
 ly the conductor ejaculated, '■'■Ja^ja, ganzrecht,^'^ 
 slammed the door and we rolled away. 
 
 Then the English party added for me a few 
 personal details, saying that they had traveled 
 in India, in Egypt and nearly all over the globe, 
 this being their third trip through Germany. 
 "And you do not speak German?" I inquired, 
 rather superfluously, it must be admitted. "Oh, 
 no?" they returned complacently, "We do not 
 speak any language but our own; we can always 
 make ourselves understood in English." I was 
 sorely beset with a desire to laugh, but managed, 
 I trust, to keep my countenance as impassive as 
 the faces of the fifth and sixth occupants of the 
 conveyance, wh:) had not moved a muscle dur- 
 ing all this confabulation. 
 
 Reaching Kastel, I took train for Wiesba- 
 den, which lies inland, principally in a broad and 
 smiling plain bounded far away on the one hand 
 by the river Rhine, and encircled otherwise by 
 the southern declivities of the Taunus Mount- 
 ains. Off in the distance, the peaks of the 
 Odenwald and the Donnersberg are silhouetted 
 against the horizon. The woodland slopes that 
 rise gently away from the main town, are 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 289 
 
 threaded by picturesque and leafy avenues 
 whose umbrageous nooks are studded with 
 stately mansion and ornate cottage. 
 
 Records show that Wiesbaden was first known 
 as Mattiacum, and the graver citizens of this 
 now fashionable watering place, are fond of 
 mentioning that Pliny himself' stated, '■'■Sunt et 
 Mattiaci foiites caiicU.'''' These "hot springs" 
 of volcanic origin, are certainly in evidence to- 
 day and to them the city owes its distinctive 
 prosperity. About some of the principal ones, 
 the ground is warm at all times and even in 
 winter no snow can remain there. Most of the 
 great hotels have their own boiling mineral 
 springs, and the facilities for laving in and im- 
 bibing the curative waters are innumerable. 
 
 It is a pretty town ; its gay and cheerful ap- 
 pearance somewhat suggestive of Lucerne, but 
 without the superb setting of that gem of 
 pleasure-places. As in Lucerne, the attractions 
 of the old and the new are inseparably blended. 
 Traces of old Roman occupation, such as the 
 ancient ''Wall of the Heathen," numerous votive 
 stones, massive antique baths excavated from 
 far below the present surface, tiles with the 
 stamp of the Legion, coins and various other re- 
 lics, are to be noted within stone's throw of, if 
 not actually contiguous to pleasant modern parks 
 and promenades, gay gardens, fine churches, 
 theaters, ornamental villas and the like ; and in 
 addition, all the concomitants, architectural or 
 otherwise, incidental to a popular ''cure;" such 
 as palatial bath-houses, splendid drinking-halls, 
 or "pump-rooms" and so forth, with every fin 
 de Steele convenience and improvement. 
 
 The one defect in natural beauty, is the lack, 
 within the immediate area of the city, of lake or 
 river ; hence artificial ponds and fountains are 
 
290 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 much more numerous here than in Lucerne, as 
 there Nature herself has wrought on so mighty 
 a scale, that man's efforts seem puny and in- 
 effective; but here he has had wider scope and 
 the beautiful adornments of square and Platz 
 and of the spacious grounds of the various 
 Kurhauseri throughout the place, are indeed 
 diverse and enchanting. 
 
 Everywhere also as in Lucerne, one meets a 
 brilliant, light-hearted throng, but here there is 
 a very large supplement of the aged and infirm, 
 "the lame, the halt," and I do not know but 
 "the blind," also, who flock here with canes and 
 crutches and in rolling-chairs, to obtain the 
 benefit of these healing waters. 
 
 The city in some respects also reminds me of 
 some of our thriving American towns, as im- 
 provements seem to be continually under way; 
 new tramways are in progress, though there are 
 many previous lines ; old buildings are in de- 
 molition and new ones in building, so that there 
 is an air of pleasing activity to be noted 
 throughout the streets, though there is none of 
 the rush and clangor of a large commercial 
 center. 
 
 Wiesbaden is now a city of sixty thousand or 
 more inhabitants. Much of its development is 
 said to be due to the late Emperor William I., 
 who made this his favorite bathing-place for 
 many years and never failed to show special 
 favor to the town. 
 
 Of the many splendid and picturescfue edifices 
 of Wiesbaden, I will say little. One of the most 
 conspicuous is the great synagogue standing 
 upon steep Michaelsberg. It is of noble, orien- 
 tal style, wrought out in light-gray sandstone 
 decorated with arabesques. With its Moorish 
 spires, its domes and huge cupola, it is a grand 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 291 
 
 and impressive structure. In the Markt Platz 
 stands the new Town-Hall, a peculiarly shaped, 
 seven-sided building, of variegated sandstone, 
 seeming to be in composition, a blending of Re- 
 naissance and Gothic features. Many balcon- 
 ies and galleries give variety to the fagades. A 
 standard-bearer of chased copper decorates the 
 main front. In the upper field of the middle gable 
 is the civic coat-of-arms borne by allegorical fig- 
 ures. In the window medallions are busts of 
 the emperors William I. and Frederick III. 
 Adorning the central balcony are colossal statues 
 of Justice, Power, Diligence and Benevolence. 
 Various other details abound, of fitting and in- 
 teresting decoration. The whole effect is pic- 
 turesque without lacking in dignity. 
 
 Passing along Wilhelm and Taunus streets, 
 we come to the entrance of the Nerothal where 
 we find a fine bronze monument in honor of 
 Wiesbaden's sons who fell in the campaigns of 
 1870-71, against the French. 
 
 All about here are verdant vineyards and, be- 
 yond and above, the well-wooded heights of the 
 Neroberg, accessible by cog-wheel railway. 
 Reaching the top one finds a wide, eleva- 
 ted, undulating plain pleasingly diversified 
 by grove and garden, and quaint as well as 
 elegant detached stiuctures. A few steps 
 brings one to the Nero Temple, a small pavilion 
 of white marble with rounded dome supported 
 by slender columns upon a circular platform. 
 From here one has a lovely view; but, going on, 
 one comes to one of the finest hotels in the 
 vicinity, eight hundred feet above the plain, 
 with an observatory of odd construction seventy 
 feet higher, from which is seen a vast, unob- 
 structed prospect over a marvelous expanse of 
 landscape. One's gaze roves abroad over a 
 
292 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 wide emerald plain, through the far distance of 
 which the silvery waters of the Rhine, spanned 
 by the graceful bridge at Mainz, gleam in their 
 winding course. Wiesbaden is at one's feet, 
 and the whole immense sea of Taunus' green 
 foliage stretches north and northeast, wafting 
 afar its balmy odors. Outlined against the sky 
 are the proud summits of the Wurzel, Platte, 
 Feldberg, Alt-koenig, besides Melibokus and 
 Donnerberg: between them lie verdant and 
 shadowy valleys inhabited by all manner of 
 game. To quote an enthusiastic visitor, "For- 
 est and fountain seem to do their utmost to give 
 back health to suffering mankind." 
 
 Still strolling onward, one reaches the spot 
 where, 'midst forest green and sylvan shade, lies 
 Wiesbaden's "city of the dead." 
 
 Gazing upon its peaceful loveliness, one re- 
 calls the words of an ancient minnesinger who 
 so long ago felt that 
 
 "Here beneath these leafy shadows, 
 With the soft breeze roving- past, 
 
 And the songsters' mellow warbling, 
 It were sweet to lie at last." 
 
 Here, as elsewhere over all the "wide, wide 
 world," has grieving affection striven to render 
 immortal the memory of its vanished ones ; but 
 among the many artistic tributes are two of 
 such rare beauty, that possibly a brief descrip- 
 tion may be of intere§t. 
 
 The one, representing a small chapel, is hewn 
 from pure white marble. The sad figure of 
 mourning Love stands at the threshold, and to 
 her the door is opened by a little Angel of 
 Peace. To the left of the door stands a youth 
 with a wreath of poppy leaves and an inverted 
 torch. There is a simple and classic beauty 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 293 
 
 about the Avhole c(>nception, that is very affect- 
 ing. 
 
 The other, just beyond, known as the "Gre- 
 cian Chapel," is entirely diverse in type. It is 
 in the form of a Greek cross and is richly 
 adorned without and within, while above its 
 green embowerment, rise five golden cupolas 
 into the clear light of heaven. This sepultary 
 edifice was reared to the memory of the wife 
 of the Duke of Nassau, the lovely princess Eliz- 
 abeth Miehaelowna, who died in the flower of her 
 youth. A flight of broad, marble steps leads to 
 the interior, where the light filters in. through 
 splendidly ornate, stained windows and falls in 
 countless, prismatic hues over the polished 
 marble walls, whereon are hung many a rare 
 painting of themes sacred and sublime. In the 
 center of the beautiful rotunda, under the gentle 
 light of the cupola, lies the lovely sculptured 
 figure of the fair princess. Eich curtains 
 draped far above fall in folds of artistic grace, 
 shielding but not hiding the pure young beauty 
 here so delicately, so touchingly represented. 
 Faith, Hope, Charity and Immortality stand at 
 the four corners of the sarcophagus, keepi sg 
 silent guard forever. 
 
 In this chapel, the Russian community of 
 Wiesbaden holds its religious services. 
 
 With so much beauty of art and nature on all 
 sides, one would fain linger discovering new de- 
 lights at every step, but the shades of night are 
 gathering and, though there is no darkness in 
 this electricity-illumined spot, yet tired feet and 
 eyes petition for respite even from the pursuit 
 of beauty, and I return to my hotel, which, by 
 the way, is somewhat different in arrangement 
 from any that I have seen before. 
 ■ ' There is a large, imposing entrance-portal, or 
 
294 ONE WOMAN WANDEKING 
 
 vestibule, that opens directly from the street on 
 the same level, and. extends Inward about fifty 
 feet ; up two or three steps at one side, open the 
 great dining and breakfast-rooms; from the 
 other, a large, square hall, from which access is 
 had to the elevator, the porter's lodge and the 
 like. The rear wall of the vestibule is of glass, 
 with a wide opening in the middle, admitting to 
 a central court gay with flowers and trees. 
 Here moals are served al fresco. But the pecu- 
 liarity is that around this court, which is in- 
 closed by the innt^r walls of the hotel, are a num- 
 ber of doors with steps and sometimes little 
 porches before them, and these lead into com- 
 plete apartments or suites, so that the occupants 
 have a private entrance of their own, opening- 
 only into their own quarters and through which 
 no guests of the hotel pass, except themselves. 
 These families may take their meals in the din- 
 ing-room, or in the court under their windows, 
 or have them sent in, or go outside for them, as 
 they prefer. It struck me as a happy mingling 
 of the advantages of public and domestic living. 
 
 I did a little shopping in Wiesbaden, and 
 found to my surprise, when the saleswoman pufc 
 the wares before me, that I had asked for em- 
 broidery-needles instead of pins. In the laugh 
 that we had together over my blunder, I discov- 
 ered that she spoke English, so I made no more 
 errors. 
 
 Speaking of shopping, reminds me that while 
 I was in Hanover, a German lady told me that 
 it was not "good form" to leave any store which 
 one had entered, without purchasing something. 
 Visitors are not expected to inspect goods unless 
 desiring to buy, and, if the stock fails to 
 contain the article desired, one must pur- 
 chase something to recompense the dealer for 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 295 
 
 showing his wares. "Opening Days" are un- 
 known and "one's room is better than one's 
 company" unless one buys goods whether 
 wanted or not. Naturally, the raids of the 
 genus "shopper" are sternly discountenanced. 
 It was quite different in Paris, where the sales- 
 people give a visitor every facility to look about. 
 
 On the whole goods are not expensive and are 
 made for service. Gloves, millinery and silks, 
 though dearer than in France, are much less so 
 than in America. Rates for tailoring and needle 
 work in general, are lower than in France ; 
 though to my surprise, I found them moderate 
 there, outside the large, fashionable emporiums 
 so well known on both sides of the water. 
 
 Here, as in most foreign countries, American 
 shoes are found at the head, — not meaning that 
 they take the place of hats, — the German shoe es- 
 pecially being "fearfully and wonderfully made." 
 I am reminded of a little incident that occurred 
 as I was walking to church one morning. I was 
 not quite sure as to the way and, as I crossed a 
 street, I met a pleasant-looking lady of whom I 
 inquired. 
 
 She replied in English, adding: 
 
 "You are American, are you not?" 
 
 "Oh!" I replied, somewhat chagrined, "is it 
 possible my German is so faulty that you can 
 even tell whether I am American or English?" 
 
 "Not that at all;" she answered, "it is yovxr 
 feet. I noticed as you held you skirts out of the 
 dust, that you were wearing American shoes, and 
 as you are a stranger and a foreigner, I decided 
 that you were from America." 
 
 I felt quite relieved and went on my way re- 
 joicing, though I marveled at the keenness of her 
 observation. 
 
 I think I have remarked before that I like 
 
298 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 Germans the best of any foreigners that I have 
 encountered. As a rule, they are very friendly 
 and "level-headed," and occasionally they show 
 such delicious and unexpected simplicity. As 
 for instance; one day at dinner in my jje».9/ora, the 
 conversation turned upon the subject of divorce 
 and the greater facility, — which unfortunately 
 is too true, — with which it may be obtained in 
 America, and especially in Chicago, than in 
 Europe. The report as to how far South Dakota 
 had out-stripped the older community, in this 
 special line, had evidently not jet penetrated 
 into dreamy old Germany. At any rate, our 
 hostess, a traveled and cultured lady, remarked 
 in perfect good faith : 
 
 "Why, is it not dreadful? I was reading to- 
 day in a paper, how it is over there in Chicago. 
 There is a place right in the post office, where 
 you can go and get divorce-papers while you are 
 waiting for your mail." 
 
 Her shocked expression, with her implicit reli- 
 ance on a newspaper squib, were too much for 
 one having a keen sense of the ludicrous, and in 
 spite of my efforts, I "ha-ha-ed" right out, 
 almost before the words had left her lips. It 
 was some time before she could comprehend why 
 I laughed, and I fancy she even yet believes it was 
 principally due to the reprehensible folly of 
 "those dreadful Americans," for the other 
 Americans at the table laughed too, though it 
 was I who disgracefully led the van. 
 
 It was while at this 7:>e«sio/i that I learned that 
 visitors are not desired in German schools, and 
 only admitted after much use of "red tape." 
 Expressing a desire to see something of the 
 practical educational system of Germany, I was 
 informed that it would be necessary to make 
 application to the authorities for a permit, which 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 297 
 
 might not be granted for several months, if at all. 
 A case was instanced of a gentleman from Kan- 
 sas, who, being a professional pad igogue of 
 repute in his own country, applied on his arrival 
 in Hanover, for such a permit; he made a long 
 stay there, followed some branch of study, made 
 himself familiar with tl)e city and busied himself 
 :in various ways, but finally was ob iged to re- 
 turn to America to take up his professional 
 •duties; and not until he had been gone three 
 months, did his governmental permission to visit 
 the schools of Hanover, arrive at his foreign 
 address. Old-world citizens are continually 
 complaining because the Americans are "always 
 in such a hurry." Not wishing to remain indefi- 
 nitely in any place, I decided to make no appli- 
 .cation of any kind to the authorities. 
 
CHAPTEE XXXIV. 
 
 By way of variety, instead of going back to 
 Kastel for the "Rhine- Journey," which is the 
 usual route, I took a steam tram at Wiesbaden 
 and went over to Biebrich-Bahnhof , a short dis- 
 tance below Kastel on the river. For several 
 weeks now I have seen nothing of my luggage 
 excepting two small "grips," as my JRund-Reise 
 ticket, taken at Hanover, allows nothing free 
 but what can be taken into one's compartment; 
 so I expressed my heavy pieces to London to be 
 stored there until my arrival. I might better 
 have left a large part of it in America. 
 
 It is really amusing to see what an amount of 
 "traps" under the guise of hand-luggage is 
 brought into the compartment by the average 
 traveler, to avoid paying excess charges ; as it 
 all is transported in any case, I do not see why 
 it could not as well be stowed in the luggage-van, 
 out of the passenger's way; it would weigh no 
 more there than in the compartment, certainly. 
 Probably, however, the baggage coaches are so 
 small that such a course would necessitate put- 
 ting on an extra one, and that would entail 
 much additional weight. And here let me 
 once more sound a warning to the "lone one." 
 True, I had been warned myself before sailing, 
 and thought had I reduced my "things" to the 
 smallest livable compass, but here I have been 
 existing for weeks, in two "grips," and shall 
 have to continue so to do, for some time more. 
 But there was one point that I did not realize 
 and which I emphasize for the benefit of my sol- 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 299 
 
 itary sister; namely, the slight degree of varia- 
 tion in temperature over here, from day to day. 
 One does not appear in flannels and furs in the 
 morning and in frillls and fans before night, or 
 vice versa, as so often with us; and I have 
 never yet, even in the crowded cities, exper- 
 ienced any of what the average American would 
 call "truly torrid" weather, though the native 
 on this side may be complaining of the "beastly 
 heat. " This state of things naturally renders the 
 wardrobe question less complicated, fewer changes 
 being required. Since winter has really taken 
 its leave, the atmosphere has been mostly genial 
 and delightful. To be sure, I can only speak 
 regarding the parts I have visited. 
 
 It was charming indeed to-day as we ran 
 along in the open country and through two or 
 three trim and quaint little hamlets, before 
 reaching our destination at the boat-landing of 
 Biebrich, a small village that has sprung up 
 around Schloss Biehrich, the property of the 
 Duke of Nassau. If one prefers, one may leave 
 the train at Mosbach and walk thence to this 
 same point, through the lovely grounds of this 
 castle, and past its interesting antiquity; 
 though, being a little less than two hundred 
 years old, it is considered rather modern in these 
 regions. 
 
 A goodly multitude of expectant humanity of 
 assorted nationalities, awaited the coming of 
 our steamer from Mainz-Kastel, which cities we 
 could see distinctly on opposite banks of the 
 Rhine, as we looked up the stream. Finally the 
 "German Emperor" came puffing sedately down 
 the river with much dignity, though, being but 
 a boat, he — or "she" — did not ignore the mani- 
 fest desire of the populace, but swerved grace- 
 fully toward us with several discordant shrieks 
 
300 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 little creditable to her — or "his" — majesty. 
 Quite a number of persons had already taken 
 passage from the ''twin cities" above, and we 
 hastened to swell the throng. 
 
 Tlie Rhine steamers are of good size, net so 
 large as the Hudson River floating palaces, but 
 pleasant and well-equipped. It seemed queer to 
 have first and second class even here. I believe 
 the second classers must not go to the salon-deck, 
 but their quarters, from what I could see as I 
 passed up the companion-wiiy, seemed clean and 
 attractive. 
 
 And now I am really abroad upon the famous 
 river around whose very name there lingers so 
 much of romance and poetry. It is a gay scene ; 
 tug-boats, passenger-boats, freight-boats, pleas- 
 ure-boats, of nearly every size and type, are 
 passing to and fro and all is life and animation. 
 The sun shines brilliantly, the fields are smiling, 
 pennons gracefully flutter, the wavelets foam 
 and sparkle about our steamer, reflecting all the 
 colors of the rainbow, and happy hearts make 
 holiday with laughter and song. 
 
 Countless little tables are set about and lively 
 groups gather around wath various kucken 
 and other edibles, washed down by the light 
 beers and wines of the countiy. The American 
 tourist, distinctive by his unconquerable pen- 
 chant for ''ice- water" though he may also swal- 
 low much stronger beverages, is on hand and 
 appears to oscillate betw een two extremes, the 
 wildly rapturous and the loftily disparaging. 
 I, wishing to avoid either, do not parade my 
 nationality but sit quietly in as German a seem- 
 ing as I can command. 
 
 But I soon lose all thoughts of self as the 
 lovely pictures on either side gradually unroll 
 before me. A little hand-book I have picked 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 301 
 
 up, declares that "the Rhine is the most inter- 
 esting river in the world," and I do not know- 
 but the author has struck the key-note of its 
 peculiar charm. There are longer rivers; there 
 are grander rivers ; there are rivers whose shores 
 spread out in sublimer landscapes; but what 
 other river has the legends, the traditions, the 
 myths and mysteries, as well as the splendidly 
 authentic record of bravery and chivalry through 
 hundreds of years, handed down from genera- 
 tion to generation, that cluster along this mean- 
 dering stream which first transmitted to Ger- 
 many the culture of the Romans? 
 
 Story and verse, epic and lyric, from time 
 unreckoned have rendered immortal its fascina- 
 tions and its renown; while frowning castle and 
 crumbling ruin give visible attestation to its 
 present and its former importance. There is a 
 charm about it all, that is well nigh untellable ; 
 and one begins to comprehend the emotions of 
 that aged German sire who so long ago in appo- 
 site verse, adjured his son to "go not to the 
 Rhine," lest he "never come back anymore." 
 
 For the water smiles up at the mountains so blue, 
 And the mountains smile back to the stream, 
 
 And the lassies and lads are so friendly and true. 
 That thy soul shall in Paradise seem. 
 
 Entranced by the smiles and bewitched by the wine, 
 Ecstatic its vineyards thou'lt roam, 
 
 And singing forever, "The Rhine, O, the Rhine!" 
 Thou'lt never come back to thy home. 
 
 We are fairly under way and, leaving Castle 
 Biebrich embowered in its leafy nook behind us, 
 our boat winds along amidst the islands that so 
 numerously intersperse this stretch of the river, 
 and nears Niederwalluf, at which point the 
 famous "Rhine-Wine-District" begins. The 
 
302 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 slopes are dotted with elegant villas and pic- 
 turesque cottages, with castle or ruin on every 
 height; while in all the green intervales and 
 reaching back upon the fertile declivities, twine 
 the verdant tendrils and droop the purple clus- 
 ters devoted to the worship of Bacchus. 
 
 On the right appears Elfeld, which, in con- 
 trast to all the misty romance of this interesting 
 locality, claims to have possessed as long ago as 
 14^)5, that very practical and matter-of-fact ma- 
 chine, a printing-press. A handsome Gothic 
 watch-tower reared in 1330, looks down calmly 
 upon us as we pass beneath its portals and move 
 on, approaching first one side and then the 
 other of the sinuous stream whose delightful 
 shores lie so near at either hand and stretch 
 back into vistas of enchantment. 
 
 The vineyards of the "Ehinegau" are getting 
 more numerous. Yonder lies Hattenheim with 
 its giant pipe; beyond, the vines of Steinberg 
 and Marcobrunn ; near at hand, the gray walls 
 of the monastery Eberbach ; and everywhere 
 creeping close to the borders of the river, are 
 the cheerful little villages that give pleasing 
 vivacity to the beauteous scene. 
 
 And now rises a fair incline that undulates in 
 gently sloping terraces to a considerable height, 
 on the top of which appears an extensive but 
 simply designed edifice. This is the world-re- 
 nowned fSchloss Johannisberg where is produced 
 the precious wine of that name. This, with ad- 
 jacent grounds, is the property of Prince Met- 
 ternich, and comprises a vineyard of many 
 acres. Some one has enthusiastically called it 
 the "Pearl of the Ehinegau ;" in consideration 
 of the wine it produces, I should think "ruby" 
 the better term, but there ! — w^iat do I know 
 about it? "Johannisberger" may be pearl-col- 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 303 
 
 ored for aught I can testify, for I have not yet, 
 in spite of my now lengthy sojourn in the land 
 of the grape and vine, learned to imbibe their 
 liquid products with any more gusto than when 
 I left my native land. 
 
 Still on we glide. On either side of the river, 
 running mostly parallel to its shores, stretches a 
 railroad track ; occasionally we note a train 
 rushing along, sometimes on the one hand, some- 
 times on the other, frequently on both at once, 
 all far out-stripping our own rate of speed; but 
 as we watch them plunge into the black tunnels 
 under every hill, we are glad that we may float 
 down the stream in the free air and sunshine. 
 
 More and more fascinating grows the scene. 
 Now rise into view the towers and gables of fair 
 Rudesheim, nestled with its numerous hotels and 
 pleasant wine-gardens at the foot of the great 
 Niederwald, a dark forest above whose oaken 
 branches and shadowy crown of foliage looms 
 far up on the summit of the mountain, the pride 
 of the nation, that great master-piece of com- 
 memorative art, '■'■Die Wacht am Rhem.'''' 
 
 It is a grand and beautifully impressive object 
 visible for miles around from vale and river. 
 One may leave the boat here and take a cog- 
 wheel railway up through vineyards and groves 
 to the top of the mountain, and thus inspect 
 closely this noble creation. 
 
 The figure of Germania, a woman richly garbed, 
 with flowing robes and corsage of mail, stands 
 boldly forth before the imperial throne. Her 
 left hand grasps a mighty sword wreathed in 
 laurel, her right holds proudly aloft the 
 august, jeweled crown of Germany. 
 
 The figure is thirty-six feet high and is the 
 design of- Professor J. Schilling of Dresden. 
 The bronze casting was done in Munich and con- 
 
304 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 sists partly of metal of conquered cannon, a fact 
 adding to the significance of the memorial. The 
 masonry beneath the monument is mighty and 
 solid, being circular in form. From the grand 
 boulevard below, a wide flight of many steps, 
 broad and imposing, rises to the base of this 
 foundation and terminates at a spacious plat- 
 form. Leading from one side of this, a narrower 
 flight passes around the great bulk of the struc- 
 ture and up to another extensive platform in 
 the rear, which is on a level with the substruc- 
 ture. All exposed verges are carefully railed 
 in. Upon the substructure stands the pedestal 
 of the monument. At the front, on a small ped- 
 estal of its own, is a noble group representing 
 the rivers Rhine and Moselle. On the right upon 
 the main pedestal and above the river-group, 
 stands the haughty figure of War, stern and de- 
 fiant; on the corresponding left, the graceful 
 form of Peace, prosperous and serene. 
 
 Between these two, in the main facade, is a 
 magnificent high-relief of '■'■Die Wacht am 
 Bheiri,''' with portrait figures of the late Emperor 
 William I. and many of the princes and officers 
 instrumental in the reconstruction of the German 
 Empire; the lofty and commanding form of 
 Bismarck standing out almost as haughty and 
 defiant as the figure of War itself,- while below 
 is graven in letters of unusual size, the full text 
 of the stirring poem from which the memorial 
 takes its name. 
 
 On the right and left faces respectively, are 
 fine reliefs, "The Departure" and "The Home- 
 coming." The foundation-stone was laid by the 
 old Emperor William, and the monument was 
 unvailed in his presence and that of an enthus- 
 iastic multitude in 1883. Since then it has been 
 a place of pilgrimage for the whole German- 
 nation. 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 305 
 
 And who can wonder? Even the bosom of an 
 alien pulses more quickly, gazing at the majes- 
 tic object rising above the lovely scene 
 spread out far below; and when to all this 
 beauty of art and nature, is added the conscious- 
 ness that here, from away back into dim ages, 
 one's forefathers struggled even unto the death, 
 to defend and prosper the "Fatherland," how 
 one's heart must swell. From so long a time it 
 is that German right and German might 
 have stood here supreme in spite of foreign foes. 
 The old bridge at Drusus speaks of Roman in- 
 vasion ; still are standing at Ingelheim the pillars 
 of Charlemagne's imperial palace; and have not 
 these blue mountains looked down through all 
 the centuries upon the tremendous warfare of 
 German knights, who "put not lance in rest" 
 until the enemy was driven from the borders 
 and no marauder dared again to venture upon 
 the sacred soil? 
 
 And now beneath these same blue mountains, 
 upon this arena of a heroic past, moves the busy 
 and joyous pageant of modern life with its in- 
 cessant activity, its gayety, its elegance. Barge 
 and row-boat, yacht and steamer, glide along 
 the stream ; trains dash back and forth and in 
 and out of those stupendous tunnels; thousands 
 of persons on business and pleasure bent, pass 
 to and fro ; luxury, invention and speculation 
 have wrought miracles innumerable; and to-day, 
 above all, immutable in beauty and majesty, 
 stands this glorious monument, typifying sub- 
 limely forever the thought of a united "Father- 
 land." And ever joining the past to the present, 
 the silver Rhine flows on. 
 
 We rouse from our musings and return to 
 Rudesheim where we re-embark upon the rolling 
 stream. 
 
806 ONE WOMAN WANDEEING 
 
 A little above Rudesheim, on the opposite 
 bank, is Rochusberg with its interesting chapel 
 on the mountain, where is annually celebrated in 
 August the festival of St. Roch. Goethe, w^ho has 
 given us a vivid description of this festivity, pre- 
 sented the little chapel, during his sojourn in the 
 vicinity, an altar-piece which is carefully pre- 
 served and cherished. 
 
 A little further down the stream is the old 
 ruin Kloppburg, thought to be of Roman origin, 
 and noted as one of the many places where the 
 unfortunate Henry IV. was detained by his un- 
 fllial sons in 1105. 
 
 The country flattens out somewhat here and, 
 looking to the left, we note the spires and tur- 
 rets of a considerable city becoming visible just 
 where an arm of the river branches off to the 
 westward. What a thrill runs over one on 
 learning that this is "Bingen, fair Bingen on 
 the Rhine." How the tide of recollection rolls 
 backward and we see ourselves in the old-time 
 achool-room where, once a week, are held the 
 "literary exercises" of the various classes; see the 
 agitated maiden, whose trembling hand can 
 scarcely hold the "Fifth Reader" from which 
 she voices in nearly inaudible accents her favor- 
 ite selection, as ubiquitous in that day as the 
 •'Curfew shall not ring to-night," of a later era. 
 
 Who does not recall the opening lines? 
 
 "A soldier of the legion lay dying at Algiers, 
 There was lack of woman's nursing, there was 
 dearth of woman's tears." 
 
 Or perchance it is a sturdy youth, whose 
 graces of elocution are entirely dormant, if at 
 all existent, who, in shaky, uncertain basso, pro- 
 ceeds to declaim with few pauses and no inflec- 
 tions, the same perennial poem ; but whichever, 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDEEING 307 
 
 or whoever it is, each invariably declares in 
 lugubrious tones, 
 
 "For I was born in 'Bin-jun', fair 'Bin-jun' on -the 
 Rhine." 
 
 Fair indeed it is to-day ; and beautiful beyond 
 telling, the green shores and hurrying waters 
 that here race so merrily onward wiih ripple 
 and swirl of contrary currents, carrying us on 
 swiftly until we pass below the ancient city, and 
 come abreast of a tiny island, principally a rock 
 of quartz, separated by a deep channel from the 
 main shore. 
 
 And now what do we see, tall, attenuated, an- 
 tiquated, with slim, battlemented turrets and 
 narrow slits, rising grim and ghost- like from the 
 very bosom of the waters? Jjo you 
 
 " think of the Bishop of Bingen 
 
 And his mouse-tower on the Rhine?" 
 
 For that is what it is. And now I am con- 
 sumed with curiosity to know why "mouse" 
 tower. My ignorance is dispelled by a reference 
 to the wise little book in my hand, whose terse 
 elucidation I will give for the benefit of some 
 "lone sister" who, like myself, may never before 
 have learned what it all means. Thus the 
 book : 
 
 "The Mouse-Tower, properly Mus -Tower, 
 muserie-gunnery ; cf. musket; a tower built for 
 levying loll by Archbishop Hatto, as is told by 
 a popular legend." Short and to the point. 
 We shall not forget it. 
 
 Prior to the year 1832, this portion of the 
 river was considered very perilous, as great vol- 
 umes of water were forced through an exceed- 
 ingly narrow channel ; but at that date the op- 
 erations and improvements upon the stream were 
 
308 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 completed and the roaring river was subdued 
 below the danger-point. 
 
 Just below the tower, on the right, lie the 
 ruins Ehrenfels, built in the thirteenth century, 
 also for the levying of toll on passing boats, in 
 that period when so emphatically might meant 
 right. 
 
 Mountain and vineyard, grove and hamlet, 
 appear and fall behind. Again on the left rises 
 a steep rock nearly three hundred feet high, on 
 the summit of which sits the mediaeval castle 
 fiheinstein, known to have been in existence in 
 the thirteenth century. It was restored in 1829 
 and is the property of Prince George of Prussia. 
 Now is seen a continuous succession of high, 
 bold precipices rent by great ravines and yawn- 
 ing chasms. Here stands the Falkenberg with 
 thrilling history ; centuries ago a Roman castle, 
 later a robber's stronghold and once destroyed 
 by Rudolph of Hapsburg. 
 
 Yonder upon that huge rock wall, eight hun- 
 dred feet above the river, looms the magnifi- 
 cently restored Castle Sooneck, the property of 
 the Emperor and his brothers, its modern im- 
 pregnability contrasting strangely wath the 
 ancient ruins so close at hand. 
 
 Bolder and loftier grow the shores. The vine- 
 yards are now behind us. Castle after castle 
 bristling with defences, towers upward on the 
 crags, or ruined and dismantled displays its 
 crumbling buttresses and fallen arches decked 
 with moss and climbing plants. 
 
 Scant space here have the little villages to 
 crowd in between the river's margin and the 
 rugged cliffs behind. On the left again is the 
 recently rebuilt Castle Heimburg,or Hoheneck, 
 rising from the fragments of a Roman castle 
 wholly destroyed in 1689. To the right the 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 309 
 
 ruin Nollingen, of the eleventh century, looking 
 down over its "Devil's Ladder ;" a steep incline 
 of sharp-notched, rocky up-thrusts apparently 
 insurmountable, yet over which a daring and im- 
 petuous knight of an ancient day is said to 
 have forced his "noble steed" to gain his "beau- 
 teous bride." Whether she too was brave and 
 dared to ride down with him again, "deponent," 
 alas, "sayeth not." Opposite rises a huge, 
 round tower, almost all that is left of Castle 
 Furstenburg, taken by Lewis the Bavarian in 
 1321, and finally demolished in 1609. 
 
 The line of elevation descends for a space to 
 a lower height. Here in a narrow area, crowd- 
 ing against the overhanging declivities, is the 
 quaint town of Bacharach, whose well-preserved 
 city-walls connect with the ruined Castle Stah- 
 lick on the rocks above. 
 
 On the other side of the river, the town of 
 Kaub, with considerable remains of ancient for- 
 tifications ; this spot has a more modern interest 
 as the place through which Blucher passed on 
 New Year's eve, 1813-14. Above here, old 
 Castle Gutenfels, destroyed by Napoleon in 1805. 
 In the center of the stream at this point, is an- 
 other huge rock upon which stands the Pfalz, a 
 vaster and more imposing, but not so romantic 
 a structure as the "Mouse-Tower," reared for 
 the same purpose, the levying of toll in the days 
 of mediaeval oppression. 
 
 I cannot name all these mighty castles and 
 majestic ruins, but which shall I ignore? Not 
 beautiful Schoenberg with its three ivy-mantled 
 towers rising so picturesquely on yonder wooded 
 height; nor the "ancient, free and imperial 
 town," Oberwahl, with its antique defenses; ; 
 nor yet Ochsenthurm stately in mediaeval ma- 
 sonry. 
 
310 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 O, fair and thrilling picture ! O, crumbling^ 
 castles and ruins g'aj, and frowning crag and 
 rolling river ! Higher and closer rise the moun- 
 tains. Deeper and narrower grows the stream 
 and the near rocks cast shadows. The flowing 
 waters roll on and sweep around an eminence 
 huge and high, far above the river. Steep and 
 ragged is its front, and cruel the reefs that show 
 their jagged teeth beneath the cr^ystal waves; 
 but aloft the sunlight glitters and the grass 
 growls green in dappled dells. Do you hear the 
 Loerlei singing? 
 
 A maiden of lovel'est seeming 
 Afar on those heights so fair, 
 
 With golden ornaments gleaming, 
 Is combing her golden hair. 
 
 Sha'l she lure us on till the grinning rocks 
 shall dash us to our doom? Oh! Heine, how 
 your measures weird and thrilling, and how the 
 "witchery of the Rhine-land," do "work like 
 madness in the brain." Rouse up, O, Sense; 
 put away the glamour of song and music and leg- 
 endary lore ; look out with vision unclouded and 
 say what, in verity, you now behold. A narrow 
 turn in a beautiful stream and a lofty bluff, 'tis 
 true; but modern science has widened the chan- 
 nel and the bluff is not more than five hundred 
 feet in height; not so high as the Sooneck some 
 distance back. And have you not also looked 
 upon the ice-topped Alps of Switzerland and 
 the white ruggedness of the Rocky Moutains 
 that thrust themselves against high heaven? 
 
 But should one then bring out one's meas- 
 uring-line and say: "This height is so many 
 feet lower than that ; this rock is but one-third 
 as vast as another; I have seen wider streams 
 and summer skies?" 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 311 
 
 Not so: let us rather yield again to the spell 
 of ancient days, of tradition and of poesy, and 
 float on enchanted, in a haze of dreamy delight. 
 So we turn again to the lovely scene. 
 
 Yonder is St. Goar where dwelt the venerable 
 hermit thirteen hundred years ago. Farther on, 
 perched on a prominent height, the ruins of the 
 so-called "Cat," a fortress of the Katzenelbogen 
 (cat's elbow !) family and torn down in 1806; 
 and just below, another crumbling pile said to 
 to be in a military sense, (which I do not com- 
 prehend,) "at the mercy of the cat," therefore 
 with fit though rather grim humor, called "The 
 Mouse." 
 
 How closely crowd the castellated ruins along 
 each bank. Yonder appear two bulky eleva- 
 tions looking out from their height, upon the 
 winding river that curves gracefully here around 
 the base of the mountain. Each is crowned with 
 a fortress that long rose up impregnable, and is 
 divided from the other only by a deep, narrow 
 chasm called "The battle ditch." 
 
 Here, ages ago, tradition tells, there dwelt two 
 brothers in these two castles on these twin moun- 
 tains, in splendor of pomp and power,each with 
 his numerous retinue. But in the course of 
 time, instead of inclining to 
 
 "Each his friendly aid afford, 
 And feel his brother's care," 
 
 they sought only war and strife, and so fought 
 unceasingly across the narrow ravine, whose 
 depths have hidden many a ghastly victim and 
 echoed many a dying groan. But their warfare 
 is accomplished; centuries since, the last armed 
 watchman left these battlements, the last mailed 
 warrior abandoned these ramparts; the mighty 
 walls are weakened ; chaotic fragments fill the 
 
312 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 spacious inclosures and modern warfare laughs 
 their defenses to scorn. But still the old bul- 
 warks stand gazing off over this great theater 
 of time's infinite changes, and still the smiling 
 Rhine rolls on. 
 
 With a wide sweep the river turns eastward 
 and then again as far west. Fair Bornhofen 
 lies near with its cloister to which, even in this 
 prosaic age, flock crowds of pilgrims every year, 
 to pray before the hallowed shrine where sits 
 enthroned a Holy Mary of wondrous, miracle- 
 working grace. Soon bold Marxburg lifts into 
 view, the only castle on the Rhine that has never 
 been destroyed, though dating beyond 1100. 
 
 But now a most unique edifice appears on the 
 left, at some distance from the shore, for here 
 again the hills have receded somewhat and are 
 less precipitous. This, like the other antique 
 structures, is of heavy masonry, but is low and 
 broad and seems little but a massive, flat roof 
 resting upon many open arches. A flight of 
 steps about half the height of the building,leads 
 to a rather stately portal rising perhaps five or 
 six feet above the main front. 
 
 A kindly neighbor here informs me that 
 this is ''The King's chair;" is eighteen feet 
 high within and has eight stone seats, one for 
 the emperor, seven for the electors. Here the 
 emperors were elected down to the fifteenth cen- 
 tury,and in 1330 it was decided that "the pope's 
 approval was not necessary to confirm a choice." 
 All this is truly quaint and old-timey. 
 
 Across on the right, just before the river Lahn 
 empties into the Rhine, stands the very ancient 
 town of Oberlahnstein ; and above on yon steep 
 rock. Castle Lahneck, once the property of the 
 Knights-Templars, and the scene of many an he- 
 roic conflict and defiant death in the centuries 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 313 
 
 agone. It was finally dismantled by the French 
 in 1688, but is now private propert}'-, having 
 been restored in 1860. 
 
 Now haughty Stolzenfels, constructed in the 
 thirteenth century rears up its great, pentagonal 
 tower on the left, nearly five hundred feet above 
 the Ehine. It is a stately stronghold, splen- 
 didly restored, and contains, we are told, every 
 elegance and many rich collections. How won- 
 derful must be the view from ofi" its pinnacles, 
 down over verdant groves to fair Capellan at its 
 feet, and off eastward where the tortuous Lahn 
 reaches away toward Ems. 
 
 More marvelous still the changes it has wit- 
 nessed in the status of mankind, both subjec- 
 tively and objectively, through all this wide 
 expanse, aye, through all the world abroad ; 
 while northward ever the rippling Rhine runs on. 
 
 Some distance along to the left, we see the 
 suburban villas of a populous city and soon 
 beautiful Coblenz spreads out into view, magni- 
 ficently situated at the junction of the Moselle 
 with the Rhine. Three fine bridges, the first 
 since we left Biebrich, cross the main riverbe- 
 tween here and Stolzenfels. In the Moselle in 
 1864, were found the remains of a Roman 
 bridge; to-day a handsome solid structure of 
 ,stone leads across this river just above its mouth. 
 We note the quaint old Castor Church which, 
 with its Gothic towers, has stood here for more 
 than a thousand years. 
 
 A strong fort with garrison of fifty one hun- 
 dred soldiers, commands the city and all the im- 
 mediate vicinity ; while opposite the mouth of 
 the Moselle, the great fortress Ehrenbreitstein, 
 inaccessible on three sides, frowns down from 
 its height of over three hundred feet. Never 
 ,but twice in all the centuries of its existence. 
 
3U ONE AVOMAN WANDEEING 
 
 has this fortress succumbed, and both times only 
 through hunger. What tragedies of resistance 
 and endurance that brief phrase implies. What 
 scenes of agony and horror have been enacted 
 within and before these invincible barriers 
 which to-day look so tranquilly down upon 
 the fertile plains stretching otf so far below ; 
 for here lies the lovely Ehrenbreitstein valley, 
 whereof it truly seems that its "ways are ways 
 of pleasantness and all" its "paths are peace," 
 
 In this fair district Goethe abode in 1774, 
 with Basedow and Lavater; and still as then 
 and in ages past, the restless Rhine sweeps on. 
 
 Two large and leafy islands almost intercept 
 us at this point, but we carefully feel our way 
 along in the channel, and our gaze, so long re- 
 stricted by lofty cliff and peak, now roves freely 
 over arable field and grassy meadow, while anew 
 the clustering villages crowd close to the water's 
 edge. But yet a little farther, and once more 
 arise the heights crowned as before with castle 
 and watch-tower, rampart and ruin. 
 
 O, wondrous Rhine! What pen shall fitly 
 trare the glorious history of its borders? Here 
 is Engers, where Ctesar is sa d to have crossed 
 the river. There are the ruins of Sayn, one of 
 the most ancient strongholds upon the Rhine; 
 and Andernach, with its walls of Roman origin 
 and beautiful remains of tower and rampart, 
 that resisted even the gunpowder of the French 
 in 1688. 
 
 On yonder high and craggy rock, are the ex- 
 tensive ruins of Hammerstein, once strongly 
 fortified and one of the places of refuge for the 
 sorely beset Henry IV., but finally demolished 
 in 1660 by that warlike prelate, the Bishop of 
 Cologne. Over on the left, above its verdure- 
 crtsted hill, rises Burg Rheineck, rebuilt in 1832 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 315 
 
 upon the ruins of the old fortress that, dating 
 from the eleventh century, had again and again 
 been leveled and re-reared by opposing hosts. 
 On the other side again, stately New Ahrenfels, 
 erected above the ruins of an ancient robber- 
 castle, looms up proudly in all the bravery oi Jin 
 de siecle fagade and tower. 
 
 Thus on and on we glide adown the broaden- 
 ing stream. Citadel, castle, cloister and con- 
 vent, ancient and modern, ruined and restored, 
 ever rising before and sinking behind us. Each 
 has its own thrilling record, each its baptism of 
 fire and blood, from away back into the shad- 
 ows of antiquity. How impossible to realize 
 the conditions through which primitive man has 
 struggled up into the comparative peace and 
 civilization of the present; yet through all, na- 
 ture smiles serenely and still with ceaseless flow 
 the limpid Rhine moves on. 
 
 The pleasant and popular village Remagen, — 
 the Roman Rigomagus, — now comes into view 
 to the left in the valley of the Ahr. At a little dis- 
 tance beyond, in abrupt contrast to stern castles 
 and ancient ruins, appears a beautiful modern 
 church of Gothic architecture, built in 1859 
 upon a slate rock, and dedicated to St. ApoUo- 
 naris. Tiiis is another celebrated resort for pil- 
 grims ; the head of the saint is preserved within 
 and works, so say the faithful, many miracles. 
 
 A little further on, a rounded arch of quaint 
 design, all that is left of some antique edifice, 
 stands out conspicuously on the left, three hun- 
 dred and forty-four feet above the river. Tra- 
 dition calls this "Roland's Areli," though who 
 Roland was, save that he may have been one of 
 Charlemagne's paladins, and why he had an 
 arch, there are few to-day who know and still 
 fewer who cjre. The view from this ruin is 
 
316 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 considered the most incomparably beautiful of 
 the whole Rhine. 
 
 But what is this that towers aloft so high 
 across our very path and seems to loom in gran- 
 deur up to the steps of heaven itself? 'Tis thy 
 grim steeps, Oh ! Drachenfels, and, set thereon, 
 the remnants of that mighty pile which ancient 
 dragon and medieval engine could scarce over- 
 throw. And now, Just below that rviined mag- 
 nificence, there rises, grand and massive, a new 
 Drachenburg, in haughty defiance to modern 
 energies. What now the monster housing here 
 within thy secret caverns, and where the 
 "horny Siegfried" that shall fi?e to lay the 
 ravener low? Impassive in its solid majesty it 
 rears itself above, while far below we round its 
 base and seek the current that shall bear us on. 
 
 There on the right, volcanic Siebengebirge, 
 and yonder to the left, the ancient fortifications 
 of Godesberg, rent and dismantled, lift up their 
 peaks and pinnacles. And now the hills fall 
 back once more; the railways veer farther in- 
 land and across the country we see wide, 
 straight highways stretching from point to 
 point, lined by beautiful trees. We are ap- 
 proaching Bonn, well known to all the world. 
 It was a flourishing town in the days of Con- 
 stantine the Great, and so it is to-day. Oppo- 
 site the city, the river Sieg with many islands, 
 flows into the Rhine from the east, and an ex- 
 tensive forest stretches along its banks. 
 
 The Rhine still broadens and now makes 
 another sweep to the east and then winds again to 
 the north. The shores on either side are here flat 
 and little varied, but studded thickly with thriv- 
 ing villages and lovely farm districts. Fair and 
 unobstructed lies the level prospect to the clear 
 horizon. We seem to have emerged from the 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 317 
 
 dread domain of "grim-visaged War," into the 
 smiling plains of Peace ; from the narrow con- 
 fines of mediaeval environment again into the 
 complex and diversified atmosphere of modern 
 existence with range illimitable. 
 
 Suburban villas and pleasure-gardens begin 
 to appear ; soon long lines of streets and ave- 
 nues with compact rows of massive buildings 
 and a sea of roofs pierced by spire and cupola ; 
 above all of which, in sublime dignity, rises the 
 ineffable beauty of the great cathedral. 
 
 Making our way to the docks and stopping 
 just above the two bridges, one a pontoon, w^e 
 disembark at Cologne and our voyage is over. 
 Yet ever welling from its snowy source in the 
 distant Swiss-Alps, and hurrying along to its 
 destination in the far North Sea, the beautiful 
 Rhine flows on. 
 
CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 The brief glimpses one may obtain in a con- 
 tinuous journey from the German frontier across 
 Holland to a near seaport, are not sufficient to 
 afford any great knowledge or wide comprehen- 
 sion of this country and its people. Still one 
 may lay up a store of pleasing recollections even 
 in this short transit, as 3 find after bidding fare- 
 well one morning to the lovely and interesting 
 country of Germany, taking train again at 
 Cologne and speeding away over level areas 
 growing continually lower and more watery as 
 we approach Holland. It rains gently and the 
 whole outlook is indeed aqueous and monotonous. 
 
 But the little stations at which we pause are 
 so trim, the more considerable towns so 
 thriving, and everywhere the people are so 
 kindly and cordial, that one is loth to leave them 
 behind. They all smile and ejaculate '•'■Guten 
 Tag'''' or '■'■Glueckliche Reise,''^ if they chance to 
 catch one's eye. On this journey I note again 
 the foreign rendering of the "news and gum 
 fiends" of our own land. At each station news- 
 dealers pass along outside the train, — the doors 
 of which open out on and are at an exact level 
 with the station platforms, — and carry or push 
 before them light racks on which are displayed 
 a small assortment of newspapers, rarely any 
 other reading matter. Refreshment venders 
 have neat little tables, often with canopy to 
 shield from sun and rain, and resting on trucks 
 that are easily wheeled along. These tables aie 
 tastefully set out with fruit, little cakes, various 
 
 818 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 319 
 
 sausages, beer, wine and so forth, and are often 
 adorned with flowers. One rarely meets a sand- 
 wich on the continent. Everything about the 
 tables, cutlery, glass and the like, is spotless and 
 shining. Passengers looking out, can readily 
 make their wants known and be served by the 
 white-aproned, white-capped attendant, either 
 through the wide-open door, or the lowered 
 glass upper-half ; but if not desiring anything, 
 are not annoyed in any way by solicitations, or 
 by having diverse wares dumped upon their 
 knees by the passing peddler. Sometimes a 
 youth or maid runs along with either a pitcher 
 of hot cafe-au-lait or bouillon which are very 
 refreshing and cost about two cents a cup. 
 
 By and by we cross the frontier ; a civil-ap- 
 pearing officer looks into our compartment and 
 takes our word for it that we have nothing duti- 
 able in our bags. A little placard in English in- 
 forms us that the Custom-House officers may al- 
 low the passengers to"Keep"-with a capital K,- 
 "their pi ices if the latter should prove to have 
 any difficulty in descending." This is kind and 
 humane, surely, and though I, personally, do not 
 "prove to have any difficulty in descending," I 
 still do not leave my place, as my heavy luggage 
 has all gone on ahead. So we roll onward into 
 the domain of the Dutch. 
 
 How flat it all is; not an elevation to be 
 noted in all one's range of vision. I have never 
 seen anything just like it. I have been on the 
 great plains of Iowa and Kansas, but there, 
 there was no water in the landscape ; the one 
 was all a great expanse of waving corn, the 
 other, — it then being early winter, — a boundless 
 area of gray, wind-swept waste. I have also 
 seen the marshy lowlands of southern Alabama 
 and Louisiana, where there was no lack of water, 
 
320 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 but there the effect was of being in a great hol- 
 low below the surrounding surface; in a sort 
 of huge bowl as it were, of which the sea-wall 
 of the gulf in one direction, and the higher, 
 solid ground of the remaining circumference, con- 
 stituted the rim, so to speak. But here to-day, 
 it seems as if we were running along on a mere 
 crust, cut in all directions by the canals, and 
 liable at any moment to give way and plunge us 
 into the bottomless deep. How strange to think 
 we are actually beholding the "dykes and 
 ditches" of which we have heard from our 
 veriest childhood. This reclaimed land, it is- 
 said, is remarkably fertile. Vegetation looks 
 extremel}'' flourishing, and graceful trees with 
 feathery foliage are especially noticeable. 
 
 Strange, outlandish names begin to appear on 
 the signs and placards that meet one's eyes, 
 while funny little villages and quaint rural 
 scenes come into view, all on a dead level, with 
 nothing more striking in the way of elevation, 
 than the huge wind-mills that slowly move their 
 heavy pinions. Queer, little, square-built boys 
 and girls, with thick, stiff garments, odd head- 
 coverings and wooden shoes, occasionally look 
 up at us from the highways, and we get glimpses 
 of short,thick-set men and women at work about 
 their hay-ricks and low cots, behind screens of 
 luxuriant, but mainly dwarfed greenery. But 
 the chief characteristic of the scene, is water, 
 water ; not in winding rivers or picturesque 
 lakes, but in the straight, seemingly endless 
 canals that stretch off monotonously in all di- 
 rections. 
 
 I am not sorry when we come to our destina- 
 tion, the little town of Vlissingen, where I step 
 out wondering, among the Dutch folk. 
 
 For the first time in mv wanderings, I find 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 321 
 
 myself unable to speak, after a fashion, the 
 language of the country; but alas, I "have no 
 Dutch," so fall back on English. The first offi- 
 cial I accost does not speak this tongue, but evi- 
 dently recognizes the sound, as he disappears 
 and returns with some one who does speak it. 
 
 I mention my desire for a cab; am told there 
 are none there at present but that I can "take a 
 boat," or can hire a guide and walk. Finding 
 the distance short, I elect to do the latter, and. 
 my guide, who I find speaks German, slings my 
 bag over his shoulder and off we start. 
 
 The rain has ceased and the sun shines warmly. 
 The flat, green fields stretch off to the right, the 
 level, glittering sea to the left, for here we are, 
 eight hours straight and steady sailing, from 
 the English coast, and no land is visible upon 
 the horizon. The main city lies beyond the 
 railway station and past these meadows. 
 
 We strike into a wide, paved path stretching, 
 like the canals, straight onward, and fringed at 
 intervals by small shade trees, under which are 
 occasional seats, whereon here and there sit 
 ladies reading. A wagon-road lies on one side 
 of the path, a canal on the other. We see a 
 casual cow off in the fields and we meet one or 
 two phlegmatic-looking pedestrians, but a spell 
 of silence seems to lie upon panorama and peo- 
 ple. My guide seems to be infected by it, for 
 he vouchsafes only a "t/a, gnaedige Frau^'''' or 
 '■'■JSTein, gnaedige Frau,^ '' to mj attempts to ex- 
 tract information, so finally I too yield to the 
 taciturn spirit and we walk mutely on. 
 
 Reaching my hotel, my man recovers enough 
 of speech to voice a desire for sixty cents. I 
 mention to my hostess, who speaks English, my 
 surprise that he should be familiar with United 
 States money ; whereupon she explains that 
 
322 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 "cents" is also Dutch money, though one cent 
 Dutch is worth only two-fifths of one cent 
 United States, so I disburse German coin to the 
 required amount , which the lady exchanges 
 for the current coin of the kingdom, and my 
 guide meanders slowly and silently away. 
 
 And now begins anew a struggle with a for- 
 eign currency this time oi florins, gulden and cents, 
 but thanks to the decimal system so prevalent on 
 the continent, one soon acquires the new names 
 and proceeds as before. 
 
 My hostess I regret to learn, is French instead 
 of Dutch, and so not typical, either in manner 
 or habitation, of this odd people. 
 
 She leads me through a roomy hall, up a spa- 
 cious staircase, into a remarkably cheerful room, 
 large, well-equipped, with a broad, double glass- 
 door in the middle of the front, overlooking 
 another canal immediately before the house, 
 separated from it only by a wide, paved road. 
 More canals reach hither and thither everywhere, 
 with intensely green banks and bearing all sorts 
 of queer-shaped boats ; and still farther beyond 
 the canals, the sparkling, open water of the 
 great harbor. 
 
 Retiring to an inviting couch, the first double 
 bed that I have seen except in museums, since I 
 left home, I soon succumb to the assaults of the 
 "sandman" and drift into dreamland. 
 
 Vlissingen is a flourishing town of some seven- 
 teen thousand inhabitants, a well-known port 
 and bathing resort. 
 
 My i3lace I find is somewhat in the suburbs, 
 but "trams" and boats are near at hand so I 
 soon start out "to see what I can see." 
 
 At one extremity of the town a fine promenade 
 called the "North Sea Boulevard," one and one 
 quarter miles long, commands a boundless sex- 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 323 
 
 view over the broad sands white as snow. Here 
 is situated the "Grand Hotel of Baths, "crowded 
 with resorters. The long line of bathing-ma- 
 chines on wheels, drawn up out of the tide after 
 bathing hours and resembling nothing so much 
 as a row of United States "prairie schooners," 
 looks rather odd, as if the pox^ulation was about to 
 emigrate overland. Back of the wide stretch of 
 snowy sand, is the high dyke or levee, along the 
 the broad top of which I walk, gazing off first 
 on one side over the silver sea, then off on the 
 other across the flat, flat landscape and the quaint 
 little city spread out in rows along the verdant 
 banks of the intersecting canals. 
 
 Everything in the far distance inland, seems to 
 dip down into the sea, so monotonously does the 
 unvarying flatness of the level land, meet the 
 misty horizon. Compact, ancient, trim little 
 houses, closely set together, line the narrow 
 streets that follow the banks and quays along 
 the "ditches," while masts and ship-riggings 
 appear in surprising contiguity to roofs and 
 chimneys. 
 
 Descending from the sea-wall, I find my way 
 along cityward in the lower areas, crossing in- 
 numerable bridges, passing motley groups of 
 peasants, and sailors of apparently all nations, 
 and meeting many a wholesome-looking Dutch 
 serving- maid, in her work-a-day costume of neat, 
 close, white cap and tidy, short-sleeved, ankle- 
 lengthed, blue linen gown ; bearing on her 
 shoulders a peculiar wooden yoke, from which 
 depend long hooks which help sustain the two 
 pails of water she seemes to be always carrying. 
 Another novel spectacle to the foreigner, is the 
 little dog-team often met with, trotting along the 
 quays. Sometimes there are as many as six or 
 eight dogs to one cart; they usually travel on 
 
324 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 very harmoniously and obediently, but occasion- 
 ally a diversion arises. It was my fortune to 
 witness a decided diiference in opinion between 
 some of these sturdy and efficient servants, as I 
 strolled along. 
 
 On the opposite side of the quay a team of 
 six canines was dogfully doing its duty, hauling 
 a large cart of milk-cans and attending strictly 
 to business, while the driver, a dumpy little old 
 woman in wooden shoes and a singular cap, 
 walked calmly at the side. In front of a large 
 edifice with high steps, another dog-team had 
 paused evidently for rest, and its various mem- 
 bers were lying on the pavement lolling their 
 tongues while their mistress sat on the steps 
 gossiping. 
 
 As the first team drew near, the other dogs 
 pricked up their ears, growled derisively, and 
 apparently threw insulting remarks at the ap- 
 proaching ones. These, before so complacent, 
 began to grow restive, to toss their heads and to 
 utter low rumbles of remonstrance. Still came 
 the jeers and floutings thicker and faster, from 
 the more fortunate beasts resting in the cool 
 shade, toward their unlucky fellow-creatures 
 still sweating in the harness, until mortal dog 
 could stand no more and there was a wild rush 
 of the industrious team, pell mell, upon their 
 recumbent taunters. These sprang to the com- 
 bat, and for a few minutes the landscape was 
 obscured by a wild storm of flying cans, carts, 
 milk, butter and green groceries, mingled with 
 tufts of hair, broken straps, madly waving tails 
 and glittering teeth, while all sorts of dog-pro- 
 fanity and Dutch peasant objurgations, re- 
 sounded upon the air, as the excited mistresses 
 strove to quell the tumultuous confli(!t. 
 
 With a hearty laugh, I left them to their fate 
 and went on my way. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 There is little pretense of artistic effect, arch- 
 itectural or otherwise about the streets of Vlis- 
 singen, though there is an ancient church or two, 
 an interesting museum of antiquities, and along 
 the Quay Bellamy are some fine buildings rising 
 behind the tree-shaded promenade on either side ; 
 and a few modest specimens of memorial art 
 meet one unexpectedly, as a barrier of but a few 
 feet high completely obstructs one's outlook, 
 such an absence is there within the city of 
 any vantage-ground from which to overlook the 
 scene. I feel a strange sort of helplessness as I 
 walk along, caused I suppose, by my ignorance 
 of the language and by the before mentioned 
 sensation that I cannot conquer, of the instabil- 
 ity of what should be solid earth, but what may 
 be, and but for the Hollanders' indefatigable 
 exertions would be, a rolling waste of wide 
 waters. 
 
 Thus I go meditatively on, making devious 
 turns as fancy beckons, when I am suddenly 
 brought to a standstill against a blank wall. I 
 look about finding no egress except behind me, 
 and seeing nobody of whom to inquire, except 
 two or three stolid individuals in appearance 
 hopelessly Dutch. I naturally retrace my steps 
 a few paces, but where to go? Across this canal 
 or along that one? On which side is the sea, 
 for it is not visible at this "depth" wherein. I 
 stand? Where is the sun,? Ah, its vanishing 
 rays are gleaming yonder, that must be seaward; 
 so I proceed in the opposite direction, wonder- 
 
 325 
 
326 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 ing who of these foreign-looking beings can 
 understand the speech of the alien wanderer, I 
 accost one; alas, "no English, no French, no Ger- 
 man;" I pass on; by and by I try again, same 
 result. Still going, I cross abridge that seems 
 familiar; lam encouraged; but which way to 
 turn? Now 1 see approaching a man in naval 
 uniform, the style of his "get-up'' showing him 
 to be an officer. Owing to the daily plying of 
 steamers between Holland and England, I feel 
 sure that a naval officer must know English, so 
 I again make inquiries. My surmise proves 
 correct and 1 am politely informed to my aston- 
 ishment that I am almost at the very door of 
 my hotel, it being only around the next corner 
 and along the next canal, though invisible from 
 our point of view. So I am again housed in 
 safety. 
 
 As the sun pours into my chamber next morn- 
 ing, I am dazzled by the glorious radiance of his 
 beams reflected from the shining waters stretch- 
 ing off from almost directly beneath my window. 
 Rising to shut out the too great brilliance, I 
 hear a sort of high, attenuated melody that ex- 
 cites my curiosity ; so 1 look forth and behold a 
 detachment of Dutch soldiers keeping step to 
 the odd music and marching sedately past wear- 
 ing tall, quaint caps and grave uniforms of 
 somber blue. They do not look as if they were 
 much exhilarated by any prospective "pomp and 
 circumstance of war;" and no wonder, poor fel- 
 lows; for what an unceasing conflict have they, 
 the Hollanders, had with nature and with man, 
 to preserve their identity as a country and as a 
 nation. At this time great preparations are 
 making for the coming coronation of their young 
 queen, who attains her majority the next year. 
 Among other things is a great, glittering, golden 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 327 
 
 coach, in which she is to ride on that important 
 day. All of these proposed details come to pass 
 later, in successful splendor, as h^r 3routhful 
 majesty assumes the reins of her kingdom, 
 
 ] go out afterward into the radiant atmos- 
 phere which yet has no corresponding warmth 
 in it, and take train for Middlt-bourg, having 
 previously been "coached" by my hostess as to 
 price of ticket and so forth. So I hold out my 
 exact fare to the conductor, but to my dismay 
 he asks me something in Dutch ; I do not under- 
 stand, of course, and inquire successively, "Do 
 you speak Englif^h?" '•'•Sprechen Sie DeuUchV 
 and '■'■ Parlez-vous FranmisV but receive in an- 
 swer only a smiling and apologetic shake of the 
 head. Here a kindly Dutch lady across the aisle 
 notes our perplexity and comes to the rescue in 
 English. She discovers that the conductor 
 wishes to know if I would like a return ticket 
 which is somewhat cheaper. I take advantage 
 of the opportunity and this being settled, 
 thanks to the courteous Dutchwoman, I turn 
 my attention to the watery, windmilly view. 
 
 Much of the time we run along between con- 
 tinuous green lanee that, hedged in, shut off any 
 outlook. On the other side, I suppose, are 
 more "ditches." 
 
 Arriving at Middlebourg, I find a provincial 
 fair or "kermess" in progress, which is interest- 
 ing beyond telling. This takes place annually 
 I learn, at this season and continues ten days. 
 To this on certain days of the week, repair the 
 peasants and "peasantesses" in full regalia of 
 their national costumes, which are picturesque- 
 in the extreme. They are very diverse, though 
 I am told each province has its distinctive style 
 that is handed down, cut, colors and texture^ 
 from generation to generation. 
 
328 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 The women are much handsomer than the 
 men, having beautiful, clear, white complexions 
 and noble, intelligent faces. They all wear the 
 close, white coif, which reveals a little of the 
 hair on the forehead but comes down snugly 
 about the ears. A few have frills falling over 
 the neck or standing away from the face. Each 
 is adorned by strange, metal ornaments, whether 
 brass or gold I did not ascertain, which are fas- 
 tened apparently into the very head itself, at 
 the temples, close to the eyes, over which the 
 ornaments dangle or wav^, according to their 
 configuration. Some are like flags, others spir- 
 als and still others like beads. So far as I 
 observed, the arms were invariably bare and the 
 skirts in no case hid the feet. The colors of the 
 costumes are very modest and tasteful, usually 
 a dark rich brown, plum or wine colored main 
 garment, with delicate blue, lavender or green 
 accessories and with vests or chemisettes of 
 heavily-wrought, snowy lawn or cambric. They 
 wear numerous adornments in the line of neck- 
 laces, brooches and chains, and the fingers of 
 many are loaded with rings. It looks particu- 
 larly odd to see tiny tots of four and five years, 
 tricked out in these antique and elaborate cos- 
 tumes. 
 
 The men's garb is not so picturesque. Dark, 
 short jackets, knee-breeches, long hose, low buck 
 led shoes and close-fitting head gear, a sort of 
 compromise between hat and cap, are the chief 
 features of every costume, with little attempt at 
 decoration. 
 
 Middlebourg is the capital of Zealand and, 
 according to statistics, has nearly nineteen 
 thousand inhabitants. Some of its promenades 
 are beautiful, though of course, all on a dead 
 level, and its architecture is nobly quaint and 
 remarkable. 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 329 
 
 The City Hall, situated in the center of the 
 town, is a magnificent and uniquely imposing 
 structure, built by Charles the Bold in 1468. 
 More remote from the busier parts of the city, 
 is an ancient abbey, dating from the twelfth 
 century. To reach this, one follows an angling, 
 narrow way seeming scarcely wide enough for 
 two carts to pass each other, but surprisingly 
 clean, with queer little houses standing close to 
 the pavement; so close indeed that the passer-by 
 may get glimpses of occasional exquisite inter- 
 iors, some of the rooms being paved and lined 
 up the sides to various heights, with lovely blue 
 and white tiles, while copper, brass and pewter 
 gleam out of unexpected corners, all burnished 
 to a painful degree, and the shining windows 
 are gay with colored blooms. 
 
 This street leads into a sort of wide orna- 
 mental area still inclosed by the little houses, 
 but across which, filling in the opposite side, is 
 a queer, old Dutch manor-house of 1590, wonder- 
 fully and astonishingly ornate. Off at the right, 
 an arch through the solid mason-work of the 
 encircling houses, leads into an extensive court 
 paved with brick. Here too an unbroken wall 
 of buildings, but of a heavier, loftier order, sur- 
 rounds the place, and is so high that a nearly 
 perpetual twilight pervades the scene. A 
 ponderous erection in the center is designed, I 
 presume, for a decorative fountain, though no 
 water is visible. The great tower of the abbey 
 looms up at one hand. Perfect silence reigns. 
 It is the very abode of peace, or is it death? 
 ^ot a footfall echoes but my own as I cross the 
 court and pass through a corresponding arch in 
 the opposite wall, coming out on the other side 
 of the abbey, which looks grim and forbidding. 
 I do not enter, but go on down a pleasant street 
 
330 
 
 ONE WOMAN WANDERING 
 
 and soon find myself on the way to the station^ 
 along an avenue of some pretentions and impor 
 tance, architecturally and commercially, and 
 shaded by handsome trees. 
 
 The quaint wares of the Dutch country are 
 set forth attractively in great profusion, and the 
 quainter people throng the thoro^ighfares, pass- 
 ing placidly along. I am unable to resist the 
 novel displays at every hand and finally pause 
 at an entrancing window to wonder and to ad- 
 mire. The proprietor comes out to welcome me 
 and proves to be a very attractive young man of 
 fair skin and large, candid, blue eyes. He 
 speaks English perfectly and is most cordial and 
 polite to the foreigner, giving much courteous 
 and acceptable information. I indulge in a few 
 modest purchases and learn that his name is 
 "Mynheer F. B. Den Boer," which truly is deli- 
 ciously "Dutchy." 
 
 Then I go on to the station and soon find my- 
 self once more in Vlissingen. 
 
 Unfortunately I can not tarry in this singu- 
 larly interesting country, so, London being the- 
 next stage of my journey, I inquire next day as 
 to means of transportation to the docks. Again 
 I am told to my amusement that I can "take a 
 boat," this seeming to be as matter of course a 
 proceeding here, as elsewhere to take a "tram." 
 However, I start out piloted by a friendly Ger- 
 man porter; crossing the -road, we go a few 
 steps along the canal and lo, here is the point of 
 embarkation. 
 
 A bustling little steam-launch pufi^s up and, 
 for the almost infinitessimal sum of ten cents 
 Dutch, or four cents United States, the porter, 
 my bags and myself are conveyed over the 
 smooth, dark waters of the canal, to the other 
 side of the town, where is the slip of the "Zea- 
 land Steamship Company." 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDEEING 33 1 
 
 Though I found transportation rates so ex- 
 ceedingly small, my expenses otherwise in Hol- 
 land did not show that prices here are particu- 
 larly low, and I am told that living in this 
 country is really very expensive, very much 
 more so than in France or Germany. 
 
 But now I must bid it all good-bye, so turning 
 my back upon the low-lying shores, I board the 
 waiting vessel and soon we steam out of the har- 
 bor, with the prow of the good ship "Duitsch- 
 land" set forward toward the "white cliffs of 
 Albion." 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIT. 
 
 My lone sister, we have journeyed long in 
 spirit together. The record is lengthy, yet the 
 half is not told. Far enough away, indeed, am 
 I still from my "ain countree," and 
 
 "Many a day 
 Must roll away"" 
 
 ere again I set foot upon my native shores. 
 
 How I returned across the tossing channel, on 
 to rare old England with its lovely lakes and 
 scented hedge-rows : how I wandered thence into 
 stern Scotland, through its tangled glens, its 
 heathery slopes, its mountain and its moors, past 
 Stirling bold, up to ' 'Edinboro' Town;" thence 
 across to gray Glasgow and out once more upon 
 the mighty main, is yet unuttered and un- 
 written. 
 
 I would not exhaust your interest nor hold 
 you till your eye be strained and your ear 
 weary. Shall we here wave adieus and drift 
 apart as 
 
 "Fair laughs the morn and soft the zephyr blows; 
 While proudly riding o'er the azure realm, 
 In gallant trim the gilded vessel goes?" 
 
 As for the rest, shall it be written hereafter? 
 Who can tell.'' 
 
 Take up the tale for yourself, dear sister, and 
 bring it to your own conclusion ; thus will you 
 be more fully edified and entertained; thus will 
 you lay up for yourself stores of refreshing rec- 
 ollections for that season when you sit solitary, 
 
 332 
 
ONE WOMAN WANDERING 333 
 
 'Between the dark and the daylight, 
 When the night is beginning to lower." 
 
 Thus may you prosper; and in whatever jour- 
 ney you may undertake, above all in the wide, 
 devious and but once traveled journey of life, 
 both now and forever may God be with you. 
 
 FINIS . 
 
 **** The author would explain that wherever quotations 
 from foreign poems, placards, inscriptions and so forth, have 
 been given with quotation marks, the translation so used is the 
 author's own.**** 
 
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