seem an
expression of the national character, steady and hardworking, yet
capable of fitting in completely with the joyous beauty kindly Nature
spreads all about.

* * * * *

Within easy reach of Prague, with its hundred towers, are many historic
places, landmarks in the story of Bohemia. Foremost among these is the
Castle of Karlov Tyn. It stands on a rocky spur in a wooded valley,
between four hills. You catch a sudden and fleeting glimpse of it as you
approach Prague from Paris by the line that runs along the winding River
Berounka. If you are blessed with the healthy curiosity of the traveller
in foreign parts, you will insist on a closer inspection of this lordly
castle. It looks new; this is the result of well-meant restoration
undertaken some years ago; it is really of great and historic
antiquity.

Charles IV, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and first Bohemian King of
that name, began the building of this castle in 1348 as a fitting casket
for the Crown jewels and the charter of the land he loved. During the
reign of subsequent Kings of Bohemia, this castle, though it passed
through many of the vicissitudes peculiar to mediaeval history, kept up
its traditional importance in the land. It was besieged by the Hussites
in 1422, and parts of it were burnt down and allowed to go to ruin. Over
a century later it was restored, but suffered eclipse after the Thirty
Years' War, was even in pawn for several years, and did not quite
retrieve its fallen fortunes until after the _coup d'etat_ of 1918. The
deeds by which the two leading patron saints of Bohemia gained sanctity
are set forth in quite well-preserved frescoes.

[Illustration: A CORNER OF K[vR]IVOKLAT CASTLE.]

While on the subject of castles--and you must forgive me for
rambling,--I should like to tell you about another one that stands some
little way farther up the valley of the Berounka, tucked away out of
sight of the railway. The history of this Castle of K[vr]ivoklat dates
yet farther back than that of Karlov Tyn, for we read of its restoration
in the twelfth century by Prince Vladislaus I, a scion of the House of
P[vr]emysl. Charles IV loved to live here, and restored the place for
the first of his four wives, Blanche of Valois. Other guests more or
less distinguished visited here, some of them involuntarily; these
latter were generally lodged in the Huderka Tower suitably fitted with
oubliettes. Among these guests wer