shepherds' huts
farther up the mountain, and had been down into the village to buy
something for her father and mother; and she was now coming home with
her purchases in the basket on her back. All this Henry knew very well;
but, when Rollo asked who the girl was, Henry thought he meant to ask
who she herself was individually; and so, as he did not know her
personally, he could not tell.

Travellers often get disappointed in this way in asking questions of the
natives of the country in which they are travelling. The people do not
understand the nature and bearing of the question, and they themselves
are not familiar enough with the language to explain what they do mean.

The guide stood for a minute or two looking intently at the girl as she
slowly ascended the path, especially when she passed the angles of the
zigzag, for there she turned sometimes in such a manner as to show her
face more plainly.

"No," said he, at length; "I do not know her. I never saw her before.
But I'll ask her who she is when she comes up."

"Uncle George!" said Rollo, calling out very loudly to his uncle, who
was at some distance above.

"Ay, ay," said Mr. George, responding.

Rollo attempted to look up to see where his uncle was standing; but in
doing this he had to throw his head back so far as to bring a fear
suddenly over him of falling from his horse. So he desisted, and
continued his conversation without attempting to look.

"Here is a girl coming up the mountain with a basket on her back. Come
down and see her."

"Come up here," said Mr. George, "and we will wait till she comes."

So Rollo chirruped to his horse and started along again. In a few
minutes he reached the place where his uncle George was standing, and
there they all waited till the little girl came up.

"Good morning," said the girl, as soon as she came near enough to be
heard. She spoke the words in the German language and with a very
pleasant smile upon her face.

The peasants in Switzerland, when they meet strangers in ascending or
descending the mountains, always accost them pleasantly and wish them
good morning or good evening. In most other countries, strangers meeting
each other on the road pass in silence. Perhaps it is the loneliness and
solitude of the country and the sense of danger and awe that the
stupendous mountains inspire that incline people to be more pleased when
they meet each other in Switzerland, even if they are strangers, than in
the mo