e linguistic acquirements; for they chatted and sang, and
declaimed and "did orations" all the way from Paris to Calais, in a
slightly bewildering variety of tongues.

Their jollity had, perhaps, just a little over-tinge of the slap-bang
jolly-dog style in it; but there was so much heartiness and good-nature
in all they said and in all they did, that it was quite impossible for
any of the other occupants of the carriage to vote them a nuisance; and
even the sourest of the officials, whom they chaffed most unmercifully
and unremittingly at every station on the line, took their punishment
with a shrug and a grin. The only person, indeed, who rose against them
in indignant protestation was the head-waiter at the Calais station
refreshment-room, to whom they would persist in propounding puzzling
problems, such as, for instance, "If you charge two shillings for
one-and-a-half-ounce slice of breast of veal, how many fools will it
take to buy the joint off you?"--and what _he_ got by the attempt to
stop their chaff was a caution to any other sinner who might have felt
similarly inclined.

As for me, I could only give half my sense of hearing to their
utterings, the other half being put under strict sequester at the time
by my friend O'Kweene, the great Irish philosopher, who was delivering
to me, for my own special behoof and benefit, a brilliant, albeit
somewhat abstruse, dissertation on the "visible and palpable outward
manifestations of the inner consciousness of the soul in a trance;"
which occupied all the time from Paris to Calais, full eight hours, and
which, to judge from my feelings at the time, would certainly afford
matter for three heavy volumes of reading in bed, in cases of inveterate
sleeplessness--a hint to enterprising publishers.

My friend O'Kweene, who intended to stay a few days at Calais, took
leave of me on the pier, and I went on board the steamer that was to
carry us and the mail over to Dover.

Here I found our trio of the railway-car, snugly ensconced under an
extemporized awning, artfully constructed with railway-rugs and
greatcoats, supported partly against the luggage, and partly upon
several oars, purloined from the boats, and turned into tent-poles for
the nonce--which made the skipper swear wofully when he found it out
some time after.

The three were even more cheery and boisterous on board than they had
been on shore. From what I could make out in the dark, they were
discussing the cont