It may be the fashion, but it is altogether exasperating, to be called at five-thirty in the morning, in order to take a train which leaves at eight-fifteen. “But when in Rome—” at all events, we arrived at the depot exactly one hour before the time set for the departure of the “Orient Express,” which was to carry us back to Belgrade. But we felt in no wise lonesome, for many others who wished to take the same train had come to the depot even before us. The proprietor himself accompanied us from the hotel and consumed the time taken to drive the distance by asking us repeatedly to “make a recommend” in America for his hostelry, and which we gladly consented to do. When the train arrived he bade us good-bye with tears in his eyes, and graciously kissed the hands of the ladies of the party. According to our ideas, the word “Limited” as applied to the “Orient Express” was a misnomer; in fact the only “limited” qualifications of the train which we were able to discover were its limited speed and its limited number of up-to-date conveniences. And there is one thing peculiar about travelling through these countries: no matter upon which side of the train you may take your seat, whether the train goes east or west, north or south, whether it be morning or afternoon, your side will be the sunny side. I believe if we had crawled under the seats on some of the trains the sun would have shone up through the bottom of the car. Perhaps we were clothed too heavily, or, perhaps, we only travelled when the sun was exceptionally hot, but, whichever the cause, we sweltered and perspired through almost every railway trip we ever took in the Balkans. Notwithstanding the “limited” features of the “Orient Express” we were always glad to have a chance to travel on it, if for no other reason than to enjoy our fellow-passengers and amuse ourselves by the humour of the signs, which are tacked up in conspicuous places in every compartment, to be heeded by the traveller. “Gentlemen must not go to bed with their boots on,” read one of these placards, and if the railway must needs have signs to warn its passengers against such a breach of travel etiquette, we thought what a delicate piece of business it must be for the porter or the conductor to enforce the rule; for travellers are apt to act in a manner just contrary to the notices of warning they see posted. Another sign informed the passenger that “the conductor would shine gentlemen’s boots upon request.” Evidently the railway company had not anticipated the patronage of ladies, but, if they had, they hardly presumed that ladies would require a “shine” or that they would retire with “their boots on.”