538 Notes on Sp07't and Travel x 



Catchins in the now empty bag, and the other with 

 the gemse, down towards the pines covered with last 

 night's snow, and following the course of the torrent, 

 strode on as merrily, or perchance more so, as on 

 the first morning we started. The sun shone out 

 bright and warm, the snow began to drip from the 

 boughs, and every step we took showed the black 

 mould and the decaying needle-leaves of the pines. 

 We heard the rustling of several blackcock, and it 

 being my turn to carry Catchins' light weight, I shot 

 one villainously, as he sat on a pine branch, and 

 stuck his tail in my hat after the fashion of all true 

 Jdgers. 



Soon we left the melting snow and dripping 

 woods behind us, and reached the bright meadows 

 glowing beneath an Italian sky. Strange sounded 

 the shrill chirping of the red and green grasshoppers 

 in our ears, kindly each herdsmd^n' s yodle and maiden's 

 laugh rang to our hearts, and palace-like seemed the 

 little cabin that received us after our sojourn among 

 the ice and snow, now seeming more like uneasy 

 dreams than realities which we had undergone but a 

 day before. Bright smiles greeted us, bright brown 

 eyes laughed a welcome to us, and many a sturdy 

 hand was clasped in ours as we sat resting ourselves 

 on the bench before the door. 



But we tarried not long ; we burned to show our 

 trophy at home, and we sped down the Getzthal and 

 reached Dumpfen early in the afternoon, to be 

 cheered and complimented, and welcomed back with 



