ough I shivered I was not grateful.

It was certainly not the moment to loiter on dunes. The horses had done
enough for one day, nearly half their work having been over heavy sand,
and we still had to look for our night quarters. Lauterbach had been
empty; therefore, with the illuminating logic of women, I was sure
Goehren would have plenty of room for us. It had not. The holidays had
just begun, and the place swarmed with prudent families who had taken
their rooms weeks before. Goehren is built on a very steep hill that
drops straight down on to the sands. The hill is so steep that we got
out, and August led or rather pulled the horses up it. Luckily the
forest road we came by runs along the bottom of the hill, and when we
came out of the trees and found ourselves without the least warning of
stray houses or lamp-posts in the heart of Goehren, we had to climb up
the road and not drive down it. Driving down it must be impossible,
especially for horses which, like mine, never see a hill in their own
home. When we had got safely to the top we left August and the horses to
get their wind and set out to engage rooms in the hotel the guide-book
says is the best. There is practically only that one street in Goehren,
and it is lined with hotels and lodging-houses, and down at the bottom,
between the over-arching trees, the leaden waves were dashing on the
deserted sands. People were having supper. Whatever place we passed, at
whatever hour during the entire tour, people were always having
something. The hotel I had chosen was in a garden, and the windows
evidently had lovely views over the green carpet of the level tree-tops.
As I walked up to the door I pointed to the windows of the bedroom I
thought must be the nicest, and told Gertrud it was the one I should
take. It was a cold evening, and the bath-guests were supping indoors.
There was no hall-porter or any one else whom I could ask for what I
wanted, so we had to go into the restaurant, where the whole strength of
the establishment was apparently concentrated. The room was crowded, and
misty with the fumes of suppers. All the children of Germany seemed to
be gathered in this one spot, putting knives into their artless mouths
even when it was only sauce they wanted to eat, and devouring their soup
with a passionate enthusiasm. I explained my wishes, grown suddenly less
ardent, rather falteringly to the nearest waiter. All the children of
Germany lifted their heads out of t