appeared, one running straight along the valley, the other crossing the bridge to the right, then ran rump-fashion up the other side of the valley, divergingly from the former--and this road was our proper one; but, without condescending to ask a question, we very sagaciously chose the other, and had already proceeded some hundred yards along it, when fortunately (no hedges intervened--the valley was all grass, a rivulet running through the middle of it) we saw our lumbering vehicle slowly ascending the opposite hill. The distance that separated us from it was not great, and we shouted to M. le Conducteur to wait for us; but neither he nor the coachman heard us, and, being ignorant of the nature of the rivulet, after a moment’s hesitation we decided our most prudent plan was to run back to the bridge, &c. This we immediately did; but although both of us were pretty active runners, we should have been left behind at last had we not luckily met a miller coming down on horseback. Him and his sacks we dismounted _sans cérémonie_, for the diligence, having now arrived at the summit, had commenced its jog-trot. Mounting the animal, I pursued as fast as the end of the halter could persuade my beast to move, and after a long chase succeeded at length in bringing the vehicle to. Our companions, especially the young dame, or demoiselle, had a hearty laugh at our expense, and so had our miller, for he grinned from ear to ear when the silver recompense (never expected) touched his palm, and he was still grinning and bowing when we looked back as the diligence drove on. It was about eleven at night when we reached the _barrière_ of Amiens, and I had been some time asleep. A bright light presented to my eyes caused me to start up in surprise, and at first it was difficult to imagine where I was, until I perceived the uniform of a _gendarmerie_, who, after reconnoitring us by holding the lantern to our faces, very quietly demanded something for his trouble. Angry at such a humiliating operation, the Rifleman and I sent him to the devil; but our companions, whilst opening their own purses, made it so clear to us that the fellow had been extremely civil where he might have been extremely troublesome, that we concluded by doing in Rome, &c. &c.; and away we rumbled over the jolting pavement, and through a series of dark narrow streets, until at last we drove into the yard of the Hotel d’Angleterre, as dark and deserted as the streets themselves. Hostlers, however, were soon forthcoming, the horses changed, my _malle_ handed down, and William and myself left standing in the middle of the yard wondering what was to become of us. After a little hesitation, one of the hostlers condescended to direct us to the door of the house ere he retired, and after a good deal of knocking at that we succeeded in rousing an old fellow--whose duty I suppose it was to sit up for the diligence--who showed me into a large room, with a bed in one corner;