he hill first--a race will warm us.'

The youth strode on without saying anything; but as she was the more
active, she got before him; and when she reached the top, she turned
round, and playfully clapping her hands, said, 'Karl, I've beaten
you!' Karl said he had had an illness lately, and was not so strong
as he used to be; he had gone into the water when he was very warm,
and had nearly died of the consequences. This led her to observe how
thinly he was clad; and when the carriage overtook them, she proposed
that, as there was plenty of room, he should go inside; to which the
others, as they did not want him to fall ill upon their hands,
consented. With the glasses up, and the furs that the party were
wrapped in, the inside of the carriage was very different to the out;
and Karl's nose and cheeks, which had before been blue, resumed their
original hues.

It was late when they reached their night-station, and, whilst the
ladies went up stairs to look at their rooms, Earl received his
orders, which were, that he should fill the stove with charcoal, and
set fire to it, whilst the others were at table. The lad answered
composedly that he would. 'And when you have done it,' said Mazzuolo,
'give me a wink, and I will step out and see that all is right before
she goes to her room.'

Karl obeyed his directions to a tittle, and when all was ready, he
gave the signal, and Mazzuolo, making a pretext, quitted the table.
He found the arrangements quite satisfactory, and having taken care
to see that the window was well closed, he returned to the
supper-room. He was no sooner gone than the boy took the charcoal
from the stove and threw it into the street; and when Adelaide came
to undress, there was no fire. Cold as it was, however, she had no
alternative but to go to bed without one, for there was not a bell in
the apartment; and Mazzuolo, who had lighted her to the door, had
locked her in, under pretence of caring for her safety. Karl, having
watched this proceeding, accompanied him back to the supper-table,
where they discussed the plans for the following day. Whether would
it be better to start in the morning without inquiring for her at
all, and leave the people of the house to find her dead, when they
were far on the road, or whether make the discovery themselves? Karl
ventured to advocate the first plan; but Tina decided for the second.
It would be easy to say that the lad had put charcoal in the stove,
not being aware