"Who are these ladies?" "English! Milord is resting at the hotel." "What kind of people are they?" "Peugh! London bankers. The old lady is Mrs. Simons, of the firm of Barley and Co.; Milord is her brother; the young lady is her daughter." "Pretty?" "According to taste; I like Photini's looks better." "Are you going as far as the fortress?" "Yes. I am engaged for a week, at ten francs a day and board. I organize and arrange their trips. I began with this one because I knew that I should meet you. But what is the matter with them now?" The elder woman, annoyed because I was detaining her servant, had put her horse to a trot, in a passage where no one had ever dared to trot before. The other animal, filled with emulation, began to take the same gait, and if we had talked a few minutes longer, we would have been distanced. Dimitri hastened to rejoin the ladies, and I heard Mrs. Simons say to him, in English: "Do not go away from us. I am English, and I wish to be well served. I do not pay you to chat with your friends. Who is this Greek with whom you are talking?" "He is a German, Madame." "Ah!--What is he doing?" "He is searching for plants." "He is an apothecary, then?" "No, Madame! he is a scholar." "Ah!--Does he know English?" "Yes, Madame, very well." "Ah!----" The three "ahs!" were said in three different tones which I noticed as I would three notes of music. They indicated by very noticeable shades the progress which I had made in her esteem. She, however, addressed no word to me, and I followed them a few feet distant. Dimitri dared not speak to me; he walked ahead like a prisoner of war. All that he could do was to cast two or three looks in my direction, which seemed to say: "But these English are impertinent!" Miss Simons did not turn her head, and I was unable to decide in what her ugliness differed from Photini's. All that I could judge was, that the young English girl was large and marvelously well-formed. Her shoulders were broad, her waist was round, and supple as a reed. The little that one could see of her neck, made one think of the swans in the Zoological Gardens. Her mother turned her head to speak to her, and I hastened forward, in hope of hearing her voice. Did I not tell you that I was extremely curious? I came up with them just in time to hear the following conversation: "Mary-Ann!" "Mamma!" "I am hungry." "Are you?" "I am." "Mamma, I am warm." "Are you?" "I am."