dventures."

"Bah! losing one's hat in the Rhine, getting left at a dirty little
inn, and having our pockets picked, are not what I call adventures. I
wish there were brigands in Germany--it needs something of that sort
to enliven its stupidity."

"How can you call Germany stupid when you have a scene like this
before you?" said Helen, with a sigh of pleasure, as she looked from
the balcony which overhangs the Rhine at the hotel of the "Three
Kings" at Coblentz. Ehrenbreitstein towered opposite, the broad river
glittered below, and a midsummer moon lent its enchantment to the
landscape.

As she spoke, her companion half rose from the low chair where she
lounged, and showed the pretty, piquant face of a young girl. She
seemed in a half melancholy, half petulant mood; and traces of recent
illness were visible in the languor of her movements and the pallor of
her cheeks.

"Yes, it is lovely; but I want adventures and romance of some sort
to make it quite perfect. I don't care what, if something would only
happen."

"My dear, you are out of spirits and weary now, to-morrow you'll be
yourself again. Do not be ungrateful to uncle or unjust to yourself.
Something pleasant will happen, I've no doubt. In fact, something
_has_ happened that you may make a little romance out of, perhaps, for
lack of a more thrilling adventure."

"What do you mean?" and Amy's listless face brightened.

"Speak low; there are balconies all about us, and we may be
overheard," said Helen, drawing nearer after an upward glance.

"What is the beginning of a romance?" whispered Amy, eagerly.

"A pair of gloves. Just now, as I stood here, and you lay with your
eyes shut, these dropped from the balcony overhead. Now amuse yourself
by weaving a romance out of them and their owner."

Amy seized them, and stepping inside the window, examined them by the
candle.

"A gentleman's gloves, scented with violets! Here's a little hole
fretted by a ring on the third finger. Bless me! here are the
initials, 'S.P.,' stamped on the inside, with a coat of arms below.
What a fop to get up his gloves in this style! They are exquisite,
though. Such a delicate color, so little soiled, and so prettily
ornamented! Handsome hands wore these. I'd like to see the man."

Helen laughed at the girl's interest, and was satisfied if any trifle
amused her _ennui_.

"I will send them back by the _kellner_, and in that way we may
discover their owner," she said.

But Am