"Mr. Birchmore shook my hand cordially, yet I fancied that he betrayed signs of embarrassment or uneasiness. He seemed glad to meet me on my own account, and yet to feel constrained by my presence. Had he any reason for wishing to conceal from me the fact that he had a daughter? It now occurred to me for the first time that in her conversation with me Miss Birchmore had never alluded to her mother. Perhaps her mother was dead--had died in her child's infancy. Perhaps the silence concerning her arose from some other and less avowable cause; there might be some matrimonial disgrace or tragedy at the bottom of the father and daughter's reserve. The idea had a certain plausibility, and yet I found it unsatisfactory. The true explanation of the mystery might not be worse than this, but I fancied it must be different--it must be something more unusual and strange. "'This is an unexpected pleasure,' said I, for the sake of saying something, as we descended the steps down the river embankment to the ferry-boat. "'The world is not so large a place as people pretend,' replied Mr. Birchmore. 'Have you been long in Dresden?' "'A week or so. I've been doing the neighbourhood, and was told that Saxon Switzerland must not be left out of the list. I came near going by the boat----' Here I suddenly recollected that if Mr. Birchmore had gone by boat, as his daughter said he had, his presence in Schandau before us was wholly inexplicable. 'How did you manage to get here so quickly?' I exclaimed; 'the steamer can't be due for three hours yet!' "He looked at me in apparent perplexity; Miss Birchmore seemed to share my own surprise. There was a pause of a few moments; then she said in a low tone: "'You know, papa, I got word that, from some misunderstanding, you had taken the steamer instead of the train.' "'Ah, to be sure,' he rejoined, with a short laugh; 'I see the difficulty. You must look upon me, I suppose, as a sort of magician, able to transport myself about the country on some new telegraphic principle. Well, I'm afraid I can't lay claim to any such supernatural power. I shall lose credit by the explanation, but you shall have it nevertheless.' "'No, no! give us room for the exercise of our imagination,' cried I, laughing. The fact was, I felt as if my query had been in some way unfortunate. There was a certain effort in Mr. Birchmore's manner, and a want of spontaneity in his laugh. In my ignorance of the true lay of the land, I was continually making some irritating blunder; and the more I tried to make myself agreeable, the worse was my success.