The view which was first presented to their observation was that of the lawns and gardens in the midst of which the hotels were situated. These grounds were connected together by walks--some straight, others winding--which passed through bowers and gateways from one enclosure to the other. In these walks various parties were strolling; some were gathering flowers, others were gazing at the mountains around, and others still were moving quietly along, going from one hotel to another for the purpose of taking a pleasant morning walk or to make visits to their friends. The whole scene was a bright and very animated one; but Rollo had not time to observe it long; for the char a banc, after moving by a graceful sweep around a copse of shrubbery, passed out through a great gateway in the road, and the hotels and all that pertained to them were soon hidden from view by the great trees which grew along the roadside before them. The coachman, or rather the guide,--for the man who was driving the char a banc was the one who was to act as guide up the mountain when they reached Lauterbrunnen,--turned soon into a road which led off towards the gap, or opening, in the nearer mountains which Mr. George and Rollo had seen from the windows of the hotel. The road was very smooth and level, and the two travellers, as they rode along, had a fine view of the fields, the hamlets, and the scattered cottages which bordered the road on the side to which their faces were turned. "This char a banc," said Rollo, "is an excellent carriage for seeing the prospect on _one_ side of the road." "Yes," said Mr. George; "but there might be the most astonishing spectacle in Switzerland on the other side without our knowing any thing about it unless we turned round expressly to see." So saying, Mr. George turned in his seat and looked at that side of the road which had been behind them. There was a field there, and a young girl about seventeen years old--with a very broad-brimmed straw hat upon her head, and wearing a very picturesque costume in other respects--was seen digging up the ground with a hoe. The blade of the hoe was long, and it seemed very heavy. The girl was digging up the ground by standing upon the part which she had already dug and striking the hoe down into the hard ground a few inches back from where she had struck before. "Do the women work in the fields every where in Switzerland, Henry?" said Mr. George. The guide's name was Henry. He could not speak English, but he spoke French and German. Mr. George addressed him in French. "Yes, sir," said Henry; "in every part of Switzerland where I have been." "In America the women never work in the fields," said Mr. George. "Never?" asked Henry, surprised. "No," said Mr. George; "at least, I never saw any." "What do they do, then," asked Henry, "to spend their time?"