The Argosy — page 226: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

In the Black Forest. 209 The road now gradually ascended ; we journeyed in all the glory of the midday sun. Higher and higher we went, more and more beau- tiful grew the view. We rose into a pure, light atmosphere which in- fluenced the spirits like sparkling wine. The valley widened and expanded, the eye roamed with delight over vast stretches of wooded slopes. So we reached Griesbach, where, said the coachman, he must needs halt a couple of hours for the sake of the cattle. The spot was of extreme beauty, and for hours he might well have substituted days. It was surprising to see here so large and imposing an hotel, and to be told by the landlord that in the season it was far too small to accommodate the crowds of invalids, malades imaginaires, &c., who flock to Griesbach for the waters. Nearly the end of the season, comparatively few people were remaining; the others, like swallows in autumn, had taken flight. But the sensible swallows go to warmer climes ; many of the Griesbach visitors migrate towards the cardinal point, homewards. Yet somewhat more than a mere handful of visitors still lingered. Table d’hote was over, and opposite the hotel, in the open air, beside the running stream, ladies were drinking coffee, laughing and flirting with gentlemen, supremely idle and supremely happy. You saw directly at least one of the reasons why Griesbach is popular and frequented. A pavilion contained billiard-tables, and the balls were knocked about with a strength that suggested nothing of the invalid, or else that the waters had done good service. The ladies were dressed in the height of fashion—even here: and English, French, and German might be heard around. Matches, said the landlord, were continually being formed in Gries- bach ; and the assertion was not to be doubted. But the course of true love did not always run smoothly. Sometimes the parents objected on one side or the other, and the consequences, as the children say in their play, ‘were fatal.” Tears, entreaties, rage, anger, domestic storms, packing up and flight, occasionally diversified the even tenour of the Griesbach social atmosphere. But in these days distance is comparative; it yields more easily than the opposition of an inhuman parent; and though flight may interrupt the course of love for a time, it is only gaining by a temporary lull fresh strength for victory. The hotel looked comfortable and well-appointed. Light, airy rooms, all white paint and cheerful tones, were not without their influence upon the mind. The dining-room was large, long, and capable of seating a great crowd: I trembled at thought of the noise that must often echo within its four walls. Below, a large hall con- tained the wells, a square enclosure, like a small swimming-bath, where an attendant handed up at the end of a long pole a glass of the sparkling but noxious liquid, which seemed principally to combine the flavours of ink and bad eggs. But Griesbach, apart from the waters, must be a pleasant resting VOL, XXXIII. , com keooOolks (C(O)