with some nook
in this refuge for all wanderers on the face of the continent,' said
Amanda.

'But I like Geneva so much. It's such fun to watch the splendid waiters
file in at dinner, looking like young gentlemen ready for a ball; the
house is so gay, and the shops!--never did I dream of such richness
before. Do stay another week and buy a few more things,' prayed Matilda,
who spent most of her time gloating over the jewelry, and tempting her
sister to buy all manner of useless gauds.

'No: we will go to-morrow. I know of several good _pensions_ at Vevey,
so we are sure of getting in somewhere. Pack at once, and let us flee,'
returned Lavinia, who, having bought a watch, a ring, and a locket, felt
that it was time to go.

And go they did, settling for a month at Bex, a little town up the
valley of the Rhone, remarkable for its heat, its dirt, its lovely
scenery, and the remarkable perfection to which its inhabitants had
brought the _goitre_, nearly every one being blessed with an unsightly
bunch upon the neck, which they decorated with ribbons and proudly
displayed to the disgusted traveller.

Here in the rambling old Hotel des Bains, with its balconies, gardens,
and little rooms, the wanderers reposed for a time. A Polish countess,
with her lover, daughter, and governess, conferred distinction upon the
house. An old Hungarian count, who laboured under the delusion that he
descended in a direct line from Zenobia, also adorned the scene. An
artist with two pretty boys, named Alfred Constable Landseer Reynolds
and Allston West Cuyp Vandyke, afforded Matilda much satisfaction.

English mammas with prim daughters of thirty or so still tied to their
apron-strings were to be found, of course, for they are everywhere; also
wandering French folk raving about the war one minute and tearing their
hair over bad coffee the next.

Amanda read newspapers and talked politics with the old count; while
Lavinia, with a paper bag of apricots under one arm and a volume of
Disraeli's novels under the other, spent her shining hours wandering
from balcony to garden, enjoying the heat, which gave her a short
respite from her woes.

While here Matilda, in company with a kindred soul, made the ascent of
Mount St. Bernard with the pleasing accompaniments of wind, rain,
thunder, and lightning. But the irrepressible Americans went on in spite
of warnings from more prudent travellers who stopped half-way. With one
mule and a guide for esco