he clumsy diligence, in an
attempt to unfasten the catch which held the door firm. A bystander came
forward and undid the door, and a tall woman stood on the step of the
coach looking around her. As she put her foot to the ground in her
further descent, a brilliant flash of forked lightning, followed
immediately by a tremendous detonation of thunder, announced the storm's
advent.

Rain began to fall in torrents, as though the clouds were rent asunder
and poured long pent-up anger upon the world. The lady hastened to the
porch of the Gasthof to seek shelter, and the driver of the coach led his
tired horses under cover of a shed in the courtyard. The chief room of
the inn was a cheerless apartment, long and dark, with narrow, rough
wooden tables fitted round the walls. A strong, stale smell greeted the
nose disagreeably. One or two peasants sat at the far end of one of the
tables; they stared rudely as the lady entered, and whispered remarks
about her, grinning broadly the while. She glanced haughtily at them and
called to the innkeeper, who had followed her from the courtyard,
desiring him to bring her food and wine. He went slowly to a painted
wooden cupboard, which stood against the wall at the back of the room,
and returned with a lump of coarse bread and some raw ham which he set
down on the dirty table. Taking an earthenware jug from before the group
of peasants, he brought it to add to the lady's unappetising meal. 'Good
wine last year here,' he said. 'Then, at least, something is good, Herr
Wirth, in your inn!' she answered; 'but tell me,' she continued, with a
smile which almost charmed even the boorish innkeeper, 'how far is it to
Stuttgart, and what is the name of this village?' 'Village? Lady, it is a
township, and much older than Stuttgart! It is Cannstatt, where the
Romans have left a camp, but Stuttgart is the finer because the Duke's
court is there. You have travelled far?' he added, his curiosity getting
the better of the unfriendly distrust with which the Wirtemberger
regards all strangers. 'From the far north,' she answered shortly. 'You
have never been in our country before?' he asked; 'well, you have an
ill-omened day for your arrival; the storm greeted you!' The lady
started. 'Thank you for reminding me,' she said, 'I dislike ill omens.'
The man grinned: it delighted his honest soul to have succeeded in
annoying a foreigner. 'You will reach Stuttgart to-night, for it is only
half a league from here.