fell disease had been very
merciful, and though Wilhelmine's skin was slightly pock-marked, the
bloom and colour of her magnificent health and forceful youth rendered
the marks inoffensive. Thus, though long delayed, she had at last
continued her adventurous quest.

The coach lumbered on, and Wilhelmine woke with a start as a more than
usually violent jolt flung her against the door. She peered out into the
darkness but could see nothing, for the night was absolutely starless.
The road was so steep that at moments the heavy carriage threatened to
run backwards down the hill, in spite of the straining of the wretched
horses that struggled onwards, slipping and floundering on the dripping
road. At the top of the hill the driver pulled up to breathe the poor
beasts; he came round to the back of the coach and called to Wilhelmine
that if she leaned out of the window she would see the lights of the town
of Stuttgart beneath her in the valley. She looked out, and far down she
saw lights glittering through the night. There were only a few visible,
for the windows of most of the houses were probably curtained to shut out
the wet night. Wilhelmine drew back into the diligence with a sense of
disappointment. She had dreamed of a splendid city, and this seemed like
a village.

She slept again, and it was the morning sun shining on her face which
roused her. She looked out of the window once more, and this time a
smiling landscape met her eye. The route ran between green fields, and on
each side of the road were huge, gnarled apple and pear trees, which
spring had crowned with a glory of snowy blossom. In the near distance
rose rounded, fir-clad hills, here and there the sombre colour broken by
the delicate verdure of young beech leaves. A delicious morning air
kissed Wilhelmine's cheeks and lips as she leaned out of the window,
wafting to her the faint, sweet breath of the fruit blossom mixed with
the smell of the wet fields and woods. 'What a glorious country!' she
said aloud, and she called to the driver to stop and let her rest her
aching limbs in a few minutes' walk. The man opened the door and bade her
'Gruess Gott, Fraeulein,' and even the surly tone in which the words were
uttered could not spoil the beauty of the friendly South German greeting.
'All the fields and the woods say "Gruess Gott" to-day, I think!' she
returned. The heavy Swabian peasant stared at her. 'What ridiculous
things these foreigners say!' was written