CHAPTER VII.

THE MOUNTAIN AND MONKS OF ST. BERNARD.

Loud roar'd the tempest, the night was descending,
Alone, o'er the mountain, a fair maid was wending;
Long has she wander'd, her sinking heart fearing,
Wild rolls her eye, but no help is appearing;
No kind star of light through the dark sky is beaming,
No glimpse of the cliff where the watch-fire is gleaming.

It was a friar of orders grey,
Went forth to tell his beads,
And he met with a lady fair,

Anonymous.

Clad in pilgrim's weeds.

Then stay, fair lady, stay awhile

Within this cloister wall;

See, through the hawthorn blows the wind,

And drizzly rain doth fall.

LETTER VII.

Ballad.

CAROLINE ST. CLAIR TO MRS. BALCARRIS.

"Convent of St. Bernard, July 19.

"BEFORE day break this morning, I was

roused by the bustle our neighbours made in

rising-and being determined, since I was thus prevented from sleeping myself, that nobody else should sleep in peace-I got up, awakened Mademoiselle Delemont, knocked at Mrs. Cleveland's door, and made that necessary clamour for breakfast, without which we have long since found that breakfast is not to be had. In spite of all my exertions, however, and the neighing or braying the mules made at the door-prophetically foretelling, I suppose, in the mule tongue, the evils that were to follow our delay-it was long past seven o'clock, a very late hour for beginning a Swiss journey, before we actually set off-mounted for the first time in our lives upon mules, each mule adorned with bells, which kept up such a tinkling that we could not hear ourselves speak-especially as the stupid animals cannot be induced to go in any other fashion than in a long string one behind another-so that, however large the party, you might almost as well be alone, except for the conversation of the guides, who walk by your side, and are extremely intelligent, entertaining, and indeed well mannered. We had not pro

ceeded far, before Mrs. Cleveland stopped to exchange mules with her husband, being frightened at the refractoriness of her own. The exchange was accordingly effected, one of the guides keeping close to her bridle, and leading her mule over every bad step. But we had not advanced two hundred yards further, when she again called out,- Good God! Oswald, I shall be killed! Let me get off.'and off she got in a moment. There is no managing these horrid mules,' she exclaimed. "Colonel Cleveland laughed, and said,It is all from want of practice, my love.—If you had had a mule to manage all this time, instead of such a docile animal as me-you would have been quite up to it.'

"I think, Adeline,' I said, 'it partly arises from your managing the mule too much. It is in vain attempting to manage these sort of animals at all. Let them have their own way entirely-and you will get on."

"Get on!

I shall be thrown off!-It is such a vicious skittish brute,-the more I hold it in the worse it behaves.'

"Perhaps that is the very reason, thought I, -but I said— Well then, suppose you change with me I'm sure mine is quiet enough, at least.'

"But I don't like to break your neck any more than my own, Caroline.'

"O! never mind that; I think I should like your's better than this.'-Accordingly we exchanged steeds-as it proved, much to our mutual satisfaction. But Mrs. Cleveland found the side-saddles so uneasy, and the pace of the mules so fatiguing, that she was still only able to proceed at a foot's pace;-and we had not proceeded many miles further, before another misadventure, arising from another mule's misbehaviour, occurred.—As we were crossing a mountain stream, Mademoiselle Delemont's mule, probably in order to cool itself, for the day was intensely hot-very deliberately laid itself down in the deepest part, without seeming, in the least to advert to the trifling circumstance of her being upon its back-and began to roll itself in the water, apparently much to its own satisfaction. By the activity of the guides, she was instantly

rescued, without any other damage than being completely soused over head ;-and she was the first to laugh at her own irresistibly laughable, but extremely disagreeable adventure. It was doubly distressing, because not one of the party had brought any clothes whatever, excepting what were necessary for the night. The water into which she had fallen, flowed immediately from a glacier, consequently was literally as cold as ice. She had previously been extremely heated, and she now-turned as pale as marbleher teeth chattered in her head, and she trembled from head to foot. Having sent Colonel Cleveland and the guides quite out of sight, and retreated with her behind a rock, I persuaded her instantly to let me pull off all her dripping clothes, and to put on the change of linen and stockings she had provided for the next morning, and having made over to her one of my own petticoats-by which means we had each one— I composed for her a close upper garment in a minute, of a large cloth cloak, which luckily had sleeves, sewed up in front, (you see the good of always carrying a needle and thread), which I