ward appearance, invariably afford clean and comfortable bedrooms; the people, with few exceptions, are a most genial, hospitable race, and as yet free from the greed which characterises their Swiss neighbours.

On a lovely afternoon in August, one of the ordinary little conveyances of the Tyrol might have been seen descending; the terribly rough steep road between Winklern and Lienz. These conveyances are none of the most luxurious, being, for the greater part, spring-carts (the springs in a very doubtful condition), drawn by a horse tied to one side of the pole which is invariably used instead of shafts. The seat is often merely a board, with a heap of hay or straw placed on it, and a blanket thrown over all, and holding two people, whilst the driver sits on the ledge of the machine in front, at one's feet. This was the sort of vehicle which we are going to watch at present, except that it had no springs of any kind, owing to the nature of the road it had to pass over. A lady of about five-andthirty was seated in it, fat and short, and dark in complexion. Her expression, which did not appear to be of the most amiable naturally, was not improved by the severe jolting she was undergoing — and no wonder. Another lady, ten years her junior, walked behind; she was also short, but fair and florid, and of rather a heavy and prosaic aspect. There was a strong resemblance between the two, who in fact were sisters-the Misses Brooks, whose parents had been long dead. They lived together in a small house in May Fair, and were now disporting themselves among the mountains, like a large portion of the British public at that time of year.

'Amelia!' said Miss Brooks, in a sharp voice, after a somewhat protracted silence, 'what nonsense it is your fatiguing yourself in this way, toiling along under such a sun! you had much better get into the carriage.'

'No, thank you,' replied Amelia; 'the carriage, as you call it, is by no means inviting, and you don't look

particularly happy in it, I can assure you.'

'As to that,' retorted her sister, 'you need not speak; you are the very image of a lobster, and no amount of glycerine cream, or elderflower water will give you a respectable complexion for months to

come.'

'Well, the carriage would do me no good in that respect,' said Amelia, ' and I prefer walking.'

So the two proceeded in silence, till a sharp turn of the road brought them suddenly in view of the dolomite mountains-those strange, weird, unearthly mountains, worth travelling thousands of miles to see for themselves alone. There is no verdure on them, save for a short distance up the base. Even the tenacious pine soon loses all footing; and the bare rocky summits stand up gloriously into the sky, taking a hundred fantastic shapes. Icebergs, cathedral spires, human beings, gigantic coronets, and ghostly pointing fingers, are all represented there; and the eye never wearies of gazing on their quaint variety. Both the sisters uttered exclamations of surprise and delight; and the elder gladly seized the excuse to rest her aching bones for a few minutes by stopping to gaze on the wild prospect before her.

'Well, this really is something new!' said she; and I must say it is almost worth all the jolting and botheration we have had.'

"Oh, it is worth far more than that!' replied Amelia, with a sudden burst of enthusiasm.

'Do you really think so?' said a voice close by; and, turning hastily, the ladies beheld the reclining form of Mr. Harman, stretched on a little grassy bank just round the turn of the road. This gentleman, with whom they had been slightly acquainted in England, and whom they had two or three times encountered in the course of their present excursion, had left the inn at Winklern at a much earlier hour than themselves in the morning; so it was an agreeable surprise to find him here the more so as Miss Brooks suspected at times that he admired her extremely; for it was