A STROLL WITHOUT MY RIFLE. 345 



haviour of the Austrian authorities in general, of which 

 1 again had a proof on arriving at the frontier line 

 guarded by the officers of the Customs. 



" Your pass !" 



" I have none." 



" I cannot let you proceed : stop while I speak to 

 the officer." 



On starting I had quite forgotten that I should 

 have to cross a neck of Austrian land, and was there- 

 fore unprovided with papers to show who I was, 

 although my passport had been signed by the Aus- 

 trian ambassador in case of need. All this I ex- 

 plained. 



"It is most unfortunate : our orders are so very 

 strict at present, to let no one through who cannot 

 produce his papers. Have you nothing you can show 

 me? I should be sorry to send you back, but, you 

 see, if anything went wrong I should get into trouble. 

 Have you no papers at all? Where are you going, 

 and who are you ? where do you come from ?" 



If I remember rightly, I had sense enough not to 

 say that Lord Palmerston and I were countrymen ; 

 and at last, after giving a plain statement of my plans, 

 was allowed to proceed. 



" I should be very sorry to doubt what you say," 

 was the courteous rejoinder ; " only, another time pray 

 bring your papers with you. You may pass. Good 

 evening, and a pleasant journey !" 



The innkeeper at Lermos, in answer to some ques- 

 tion of mine, mentioned the distances of several places 



