ous accident had occurred.

We soon afterwards went on shore, which was then perfectly quiet, and,
preceded by a commissionaire, who had persuaded the gentleman of our
party to put himself under his convoy, we walked into the town. At
a short distance from the water, we came upon an hotel of very
prepossessing appearance, which we concluded to be the one to which we
were bound. The windows of the lower and upper floors were all open,
the rooms lighted, showing clean, gay-looking paper upon the walls,
and furniture of a tempting appearance. Our conductor, however, passed
the door, and dived down a lane, upon which we halted, and declared
our resolution to go no further. After a little parley, and amongst
other representations of the superior accommodations of the unknown
hotel, an assurance that the stables were magnificent, we gained our
point, and entered the house which had pleased us so much. We were
met at the door by two well-dressed, good-looking women, who showed us
into some excellent apartments up-stairs, all apparently newly-fitted
up, and exceedingly well-furnished.

Ordering supper, we descended to the public room, and as we passed
to a table at the farther end, noticed a young man sitting rather
disconsolately at a window. We were laughing and talking with each
other, when, suddenly starting up, the stranger youth exclaimed, "You
are English? how glad I am to hear my own language spoken again!" He
told us that he was travelling through France to Malta, and had
come by the other steam-boat, in which there were no other English
passengers beside himself. He then inquired whether a lady had not
been drowned who came by our vessel; we answered no; but upon his
assurance that such was the fact, we began to entertain a suspicion
that the truth had been concealed from us. It was not, however, until
the next morning, that we could learn the particulars. The gentleman
who had accompanied us, and who had likewise been deceived by the
statements made to him, ascertained that the accident had befallen
the elderly French lady, with whose appearance we had been so much
pleased. She had got on board a boat moored close to ours, and
believing that she had only to step on shore, actually walked into
the river. She was only ten minutes under water, and the probabilities
are, that if the circumstance had been made known, and prompt
assistance afforded, she might have been resuscitated. Amid the number
of English passengers