in case he and Rollo should conclude to spend the night on the
mountain. He put the carpet bag into the carriage, and then got in
himself. The landlord shut the door, and the coachman drove away. Thus
they set out on their excursion.

This excursion to the Wengern Alp was only one of many similar
expeditions which Rollo and Mr. George made together while they were in
Switzerland. As, however, it is manifestly impossible to describe the
whole of Switzerland in so small a volume as this, I shall give a
narrative of the ascent of the Wengern Alp as a sort of specimen of
these excursions. I think it better that I should give a minute and
particular account of one than a more vague and general, and so less
satisfactory, account of several of them.

Rollo had taken the precaution to have the curtains of the char a banc
rolled up, so that he and Mr. George could see out freely on all sides
of them as they rode along.

The view which was first presented to their observation was that of the
lawns and gardens in the midst of which the hotels were situated. These
grounds were connected together by walks--some straight, others
winding--which passed through bowers and gateways from one enclosure to
the other. In these walks various parties were strolling; some were
gathering flowers, others were gazing at the mountains around, and
others still were moving quietly along, going from one hotel to another
for the purpose of taking a pleasant morning walk or to make visits to
their friends. The whole scene was a bright and very animated one; but
Rollo had not time to observe it long; for the char a banc, after moving
by a graceful sweep around a copse of shrubbery, passed out through a
great gateway in the road, and the hotels and all that pertained to them
were soon hidden from view by the great trees which grew along the
roadside before them.

The coachman, or rather the guide,--for the man who was driving the char
a banc was the one who was to act as guide up the mountain when they
reached Lauterbrunnen,--turned soon into a road which led off towards
the gap, or opening, in the nearer mountains which Mr. George and Rollo
had seen from the windows of the hotel. The road was very smooth and
level, and the two travellers, as they rode along, had a fine view of
the fields, the hamlets, and the scattered cottages which bordered the
road on the side to which their faces were turned.

"This char a banc," said Rollo, "is an excellent car