22 A MONTH IN THE FORESTS OF FRANCE. 



Out we all bundled — hounds, terriers, baskets, 

 boxes, courier, and all, — and leaving mj temporary 

 attendant to get the luggage and the dogs in (I had 

 also to pay for luggage being over v^eight), I took my 

 own ticket. Not an instant to lose ; so as it was im- 

 possible for me to comprehend the sum I had to pay — 

 francs, sous, and centimes, — I held some money in 

 my hand and told the clerk to take the amount of my 

 ticket, vigilantly watching and pretending to know 

 every fraction of the sum he handled. By mistake of 

 course f from circumstances which happened to me at 

 dusk on my return to England, via Havre, I am 

 strongly induced to suspect that at this Havre station 

 I was accidentally robbed. Be that as it may, I cannot 

 prove it on any of the clerks ; but, as I suppose the 

 French laws are as loose in regard to railway clerks 

 as they are to the omnibus owners and cab drivers and 

 town police, why all the proofs in the world would 

 have failed to have obtained an Enorlishman and a 

 stranger justice. However, I pass from this matter 

 for the present, having a vast deal more to say to it 

 when this narration concludes. 



Oh what a relief it was to find myself at last at rest 

 in the well-appointed first-class carriage of the train, 

 with time before me to marvel over the anything but 

 cheapness of my travel ! I liked the looks of my 



