ing as
usual, and never ceasing to expose himself until the troops had landed
and were about to scale the fortress. It was quite amusing to hear the
men shout out with laughter, "By heavens, there's Happy Jack again." I
hope he is alive at this moment; at all events, he deserves to be.

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.

Spa.
Yes, now Spa is agreeable: we have no _redoubte_ open with fools losing
their money, no English _passants_ looking after amusement, no
valetudinarians drinking the _poupon_, no Spa boxes crowding every
window: we are now as a Spa should be, a _coterie_ of houses in a
ravine, surrounded by the mountains of the Ardennes, crowding and
shoving up together in mutual protection against the deep snow and the
forest wolves. There is something new in this: most of the houses are
shut up; the shop-windows are all bare; the snow is two feet deep in the
streets; the mountains on every side are white; the icicles hang upon
the leafless boughs, and the rivulets are enchained. All is one drear
blank; and except the two-horse diligence which heaves slowly in sight
three or four hours past its time, and the post, (which is now delivered
at nine o'clock instead of noon); there is no such thing as an arrival:
the boys slide upon their little sledges down the hills; the cattle are
driven home; the church clock strikes; and unless we are enlivened by
the crowd assembled round the countryman, who appears with the carcass
of a wolf which he has been fortunate enough to kill, we are all quiet,
monotony and peace: in fact, Spa, now that it is a desert, has become to
me, at least agreeable.

They say, this hard winter promises plenty of wolves; if so, I recommend
those who are fond of excitement come here. Indeed, it will be
profitable, for if they are active huntsmen, they can pay their
expenses. A dead horse costs little, and in Spa, as they give very
little to the horses to eat in summer, and nothing at all in the winter,
they die fast. You have only to drag the carcass to an outhouse at a
little distance from the town, and with your rifle watch during the
night. The wolves will come down to prey upon the carrion, and it is
hard if you do not kill your couple during the night, and then you are
rewarded by the commune. I do not know what the price is now, but when
the King of Holland was in possession of Belgium it was one hundred
francs for a male, an