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

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

A Free-Will Offering. 209 lighting his pipe tried to conjure up his vision again through the _ curling wreaths of smoke. And the clock ticked and the wind whistled: ‘‘O! wenn es doch _ immer so bliebe.” IIf. _ Att around the noise of German tongues, the smell of German cigars, the sound of German eating, drinking and conviviality. Surely it is a nation very much over-estimated! So, at least, thought Major Brown, pacing wearily up and down the broad terrace of the Homburg Kur- Haus. During the past monotonous Bournemouth winter the Major’s spirits had, in the most unreasonable manner, increasingly flagged and flagged. An old friend and brother-officer, paying a flying visit to that famous health-resort, had scarcely been able to recognise in the morbid, gloomy man his former chum who had been the very life of the regiment. He had spoken seriously to the Major himself and to Mrs. Drayton, and predicting sagely that Brown’s liver was affected, and that there was nothing like a good German watering-place for setting an Indian up again, had finally succeeded in persuading his friend to promise that he would give the Homburg Kur a trial when the season came round. When once Major Brown had made this resolution he became restless and impatient to carry it into execution. He was almost incapable of concealing from Nettie’s affectionate watchfulness his anxiety to leave Bournemouth and her society. He went up to London at Easter and tried to recover his spirits by a strong dose of society, theatre-going and pleasuring. But this sort of life soon bored him, and he found that he missed the quiet smoking-room of Sea View Villa, and the friendly fox-terrier. He returned to Bourne- mouth only to discover that the smoking-room had undergone a thorough spring-cleaning during his absence, which had left it not nearly so comfortable as his fancy had pictured it, and that the fox- terrier, having been slightly bitten in a game with another dog, had been destroyed by order of Mrs. Drayton, who lived in hourly dread of hydrophobia. When June came, therefore, Major Brown, no longer able to restrain his impatience, started for Homburg, although he was warned by his whole acquaintance that he would find the place “ bitterly cold, completely given over to Germans, and not a soul there that he knew.” Pacing up and down the Kur-Haus terrace on this June evening he was obliged to own that the prophecy had been entirely fulfilled. He was sick to death of the daily routine of baths and water-drinking; the Kur had not worked that miracle for his health which he had been led to expect ; he pined in vain for the sight of an English face; and worst of all, not the loudest clatter of German VOL, XLVIII. O CORnNICLIOO <S (SO)