e way up the next
hill before the animals relapsed into the slow walk which the steepness
of the ascent imposed upon them. Indeed this part of the route would
have been a very tedious one (for the country about was almost entirely
devoid of interest), had it not been for Le Roi, who came out in great
force. He laughed at every thing and with every body; told stories, and
good ones, continuously, and only ceased telling stories to break forth
into song. In fine, he amused the ladies so much, that when he took his
turn on the box they missed him immediately, and sent Benson outside
again on the first opportunity; whereat the Vicomte, being very much
flattered, waxed livelier and merrier than ever, and kept up a constant
fire of jest and ditty. As to Ashburner, who had a great liking for
fresh air, and an equal horror of a small child in a stage-coach, he
remained outside the whole time; for which the fair passengers set him
down as an insensible youth, who did not know how to appreciate good
company; until the evening becoming somewhat chilly by comparison with
the very hot day they had undergone, both he and Harry took refuge in
the interior, and a very jolly party they all made.

While they were outside together, Benson had been giving Ashburner some
details about Le Roi--in fact, a succinct biography of him; for be it
noted, that every New-Yorker is able to produce off-hand a minute
history of every person, native or foreign, at all known in society: for
which ability he is indebted partly to the inquisitive habits of the
people, partly to their communicative disposition, partly to their
remarkable memory of small particulars, and partly to a fine imagination
and power of invention, which must be experienced to be fully
appreciated. Benson, we say, had been, telling his friend the story of
his other friend or acquaintance; how he was of good family and no
fortune; how he had written three novels and three thousand or more
_feuilletons_; how he had travelled into some out-of-the-way part of
Poland, where no one had ever been before or since, and about which he
was, therefore, at liberty to say what he pleased; how, besides his
literary capabilities, such as they were, he played, and sang, and
danced, and sketched--all very well for an amateur; how he was
altogether a very agreeable and entertaining man, and, as such, was
supposed to have been sent out by a sort of mutual-benefit
subscription-club, which existed at Paris