TO dash through the town, along the quay where we had walked so many times beneath the trees or leaning over the low parapet fed the fishes, past the two-spired cathedral, the cloisters of which had become so familiar, to mount the hill and draw up before the door of the Bellevue again, welcomed by the innkeeper, and greeted with outstretched hands by "Charles," who had served our chocolate, while familiar faces met us at every window or upon the stairs, to pull up the shutters, throw wide open the windows, and drink in the glorious beauty of the scene before our eyes--all this was delightful, but fleeting, like all earthly joys, and mixed with pain; for here we were to say "good by."
Our pleasant party was to break up. The friends in whose care we had been so long, were off for Germany, and Mrs. K. and I must turn our faces towards home. We were to renew our early and brief experience in travelling alone. It had been as limited as our French, which consisted princ.i.p.ally of "_Est-ce que vous avez?_" followed by a pantomimic display that would have done credit to a professional, and "_Quel est le prix?_" succeeded by the blankest amazement, since we could seldom, if ever, understand a reply.
"Are you afraid?" queried our friends.
"No; O, no." The state of our minds transcended fear.
It was a hot day when we took our last view of the lake, as we rode down the hill from the hotel, past the cathedral, past the shaded promenade upon the quay, to the station; but we heeded neither the heat nor the landscape when we were once in the train and on the way. Our hearts were heavy with grief at parting from friends, our spirits weighed down by nameless fears. It was a wicked world, we suddenly remembered. Wolves in sheep"s clothing doubtless awaited us at every turn. Roaring lions guarded every station. We clutched our travelling-bags, umbrellas, and wraps, with a grasp only attained by grim fate or lone women. Gradually, however, as the uneventful hours wore away, we forgot that in eternal vigilance lay our safety, and relaxed our hold.
We had left Lucerne at noon; at five o"clock we reached Basle. Here we were to spend the night at the hotel _Les Trois Rois_. Every step of the way to Paris had been made plain to us by our kind friends.
"Let me see; the hotel is close by the station?" queried Mrs. K., when we had left our trunks, as our friends had advised, and followed the crowd to the sidewalk.
"Yes," I replied with a.s.surance, "close by, they said; I am sure."
Accordingly we turned away from the long line of hotel omnibuses backed up against the curb-stone, to the fine hotels on each side of the straight avenue, extending as far as the eye could see. Alas! among their blazing names was no "_Trois Rois_." We read them over and over again. We even tried to p.r.o.nounce them. Not a king was there, to say nothing of _three_.
In a kind of bewilderment we strayed down the avenue. Might not some one of the fair dwellings gleaming out from the shrubbery prove the house we sought? There was a rattle and clatter behind us; a pa.s.sing omnibus.
Another, and still another followed. Serene faces beamed out upon our perplexity. A cloud of dust enveloped us as the last rolled cheerfully by, upon the end of which we read, with staring eyes, "_Les Trois Rois_."
"Ah!" gasped Mrs. K.
"Sure enough," I replied.
"Why, suppose we take it?" said she, slowly.
"Suppose we do," I a.s.sented, with equal deliberation. But by this time the little red omnibus was a speck in the distance.
"At least we can follow it." And we quickened our steps, when, with almost human perversity, it turned a distant corner, and vanished from sight.
Fixing our eyes steadily upon the point of disappearance, we hastened on, and on, and on! I have a faint recollection of green trees, of stately houses, of an immense fountain swaying its white arms in the distance--mirage-like, for we never approached it; of the sun pouring its fierce rays upon us as we toiled on, with our wraps and satchels turning to lead in our arms.
We reached the corner at last. There was no omnibus; no hotel in sight; only the meeting of half a dozen narrow, crooked streets, crowded with carriages, and alive with humanity. All settled purpose left us then; our wits, never very firmly attached, followed. We became completely demoralized.
"Suppose you inquire," suggested Mrs. K., after a period of inaction, during which we were pushed, and jostled, and trampled under foot by the crowd.
If I possessed one capability above another, it was that of asking questions, especially in a strange language. Upon this corner where we were standing, rose an imposing building, in the open doorway of which stood a portly gentleman, with a countenance like the setting sun, in glow and warmth. A heavy mane flowed over his shoulders. Evidently this was the first of the roaring lions! Taking our lives in our hands, we approached him.
"Do you speak English?" I ventured.
"_Nein_," was his reply, with a shrug of the leonine shoulders.
I drew a long breath and began again.
"_Parlez-vous Francais?_"
His reply to this was as singular as unprecedented. He turned his back and disappeared up the wide stairs in the rear.
"This _may_ be foreign politeness," I was beginning, doubtfully, when he reappeared, accompanied by an intensified counterpart of himself. The setting sun in the face of this man gave promise of a scorching day.
"_Parlez-vous Francais, monsieur?_" I began again, when we had bowed and "_bon-jour_"-ed for some time.
"_Oui, oui, mademoiselle._"
Here was an unexpected dilemma. A terrible pause ensued. Then, with an effort which in some minds would have produced a poem at least, I attempted to make known the object of our quest. I cannot begin to tell of the facial contortions which accompanied this sentence, nor of the ineffable peace which followed its conclusion. It made no manner of difference that his reply was a jargon of unintelligible sounds. Virtue is its own reward. One sentence alone I caught, as the indistinguishable tones flew by. We were to take the first street, and then turn to the right.
"What did he say?" asked Mrs. K., when we had _merci_-d ourselves out of their radiant presences.
I explained the direction we were to follow.
"Horrible countenance he had," she remarked, as we pursued our way.
"O, dreadful," I a.s.sented.
"n.o.body knows where he may send us," she continued.
Sure enough! In our alarm we stopped short in the street, and stared at each other with horrified countenances.
"I have heard--" I began.
"Yes; and so have I," she went on, shaking her head, and expressing by that gesture most fearful possibilities.
A bright thought seized me. "He told us to turn to the _right_; we will turn to the _left_!" And with that happy, womanly instinct, said to transcend all judgment, _we did_. Strange as it may appear, though we went on for a long half hour, no "_Trois Rois_" gladdened our eyes.
Suddenly Mrs. K. struck an att.i.tude. "A fine appearance we shall present," said she; "two lone women, dusty and heated, our arms full of baggage, straggling up to a hotel two mortal hours after the arrival of the train. We"ll take a carriage."
To me this inglorious advent was so distant in prospect that it held no terrors, nothing of mortification even. "_Les Trois Rois_" had become a myth, an idea towards which we vainly struggled.
"If it were only across the street," she went on, rising to the occasion and warming with the subject, "we would go in a carriage."
One approached at that moment. We motioned to it _a la Mandarin_, with our heads, our hands and arms being full. The driver raised his whip and pointed solemnly into the distance. We turned to gaze, seeing nothing but the heavens in that direction. When we looked back, he was gone. We should not like to affirm--we hardly dare suggest--we are sure of nothing but that he vanished from before our eyes.
A second appeared in the distance. We began in time. We pawed the air wildly with our umbrellas. The very satchels and wraps upon our arms nodded and beckoned. In serene unconsciousness the driver held to his course.
"Well!" I exclaimed, indignantly.
"I should think so," added Mrs. K., with emphasis.
"Is there anything peculiar, anything unusual in our personal appearance?" I asked, glancing down upon our dusty appointments. As we concentrated our energies and belongings for one final effort, a benignant countenance smiled out upon us from above a _cipher_. We were storming a private carriage!
The third attempt was more successful. The driver paused. We requested him, in English, to take us to "The Three Kings." He only stared and shook his head. We tried him with "_Les Trois Rois_." He seemed still more mystified.
"What can be done with people who do not understand their own language!"
I exclaimed in despair.
We tried it again with our purest Parisian accent. An inkling of our meaning pierced his dull understanding. He rolled heavily down from his seat, and opened the door with the usual "_Oui, oui_." We entered and were driven away.
"Do you think he understood you?" queried Mrs. K.