Monsieur Morlot was no exception to this rule, and when Trelane looked back after getting clear of the town to see how his faithful follower was getting on, he was seized with such a fit of laughter that he was obliged to pull his own horse up abruptly, lest he should absolutely roll off his back. Monsieur Morlot had no idea of relieving himself and his beast by rising in his stirrups, but was riding after the legitimate cavalry fashion, only with an infinitely looser seat, so that at every step taken by the docile Mouton his body was subjected to a shock that threatened to shake the very teeth out of his head. The effect of this violent bumping upon this unfortunate man's costume was precisely what might have been expected. His face was nearly invisible, for not only was his hat brought down so completely over his eyes that it was a matter of grave question whether it was possible for him to see, but the collar of his coat and neckcloth had got worked up in so extraordinary a manner that they almost rubbed against the brim of his hat. It must be mentioned besides, that the cuffs of Monsieur Morlot's coat had suddenly become so long that his hands were entirely concealed in the sleeves; while his trowsers on the other hand had wriggled themselves up to so remarkable an extent that his legs, which were so emaciated that there hardly seemed room for the bones, and which were encased in blue worsted stockings, were visible from the knee down

to the blucher boots, which jingled loosely in a pair of stirrups which might have been arranged expressly for the use of Edward Longshanks of royal memory. It must not be forgotten in completing this sketch of Monsieur Morlot's appearance on that particular morning, that his figure was additionally distorted by the presence of all sorts of abnormal humps and bosses dispersed over his body, and which were in fact occasioned by the enormous number of medicine bottles which, wrapped, as has been said, in different articles of attire, were distributed about his person.

It has been mentioned that Trelane had thought it expedient to pull up when he first caught sight of this extraordinary apparition, and now the hypothesis that Monsieur Morlot could not see-by reason of the derangement of his costume-was unmistakably confirmed; for instead of following his master's example, this worthy gentleman came trotting on with his reins dangling on his horse's neck, and would have jogged on apparently for the rest of the day if Mouton had not suddenly had it revealed to him that his stable companion was standing quite still, and that he might as well take the opportunity of enjoying a little of that repose which was so entirely congenial to his nature. This thought no sooner flashed across this intelligent animal's mind, than he acted upon it, and came to anchor so abruptly and so entirely without a previous reduc

tion of his pace, that poor Morlot was flung forward upon his beast's neck, and only saved himself from falling bodily off by embracing that portion of Mouton's anatomy. At the moment of the performance of this feat, a sound as of the clinking of broken glass might have been heard emanating, as it appeared, from the interior of Monsieur Morlot's body.

"Grand ciel!" gasped Monsieur Morlot, clapping his hand to one of his numerous pockets, and speaking in a breathless voice; "it is the bicarbonate of soda!"

The poor man's despair at the thought of this accident and its possible results was so intense, that Trelane was fain to make some attempt to console him by pointing out that it was very fortunate that the drug in question was one so generally obtainable, and that there was hardly any village they could pass through where it would not be possible to get a fresh supply of it. Comfort being thus administered, and Monsieur Morlot having scraped together what fragments he could of this inestimable powder, in case he or his master should be seized with the pangs of indigestion on the high road, Trelane proceeded next to give his companion a few hints on horsemanship, and, above all, to initiate him in the noble art of rising in his stirrups.

Monsieur Morlot took to this new invention, as he called it, with surprising alacrity; indeed, he

experienced such relief from it, and found that it so materially alleviated the sufferings which he had previously endured, that the only difficulty now was to keep him down, so that what with the rough movements of Mouton and Monsieur Morlot's terror of coming in contact with the saddle, he would sometimes, for a considerable time, be found standing up in his stirrups altogether, and riding, at a very slow trot, in the attitude in which our jockeys generally appear as they pass the grand stand at Epsom.

As for the horse which Trelane bestrode, it has been called an ill-conditioned beast; but it is a grave question whether that term might not, with even more propriety, have been applied to those in whose possession the animal had always been. It was a nervous shrinking brute with ever shifting ears and glancing eyes. Its life had been a long strife and battle with mankind, and it had got into the habit of shrinking away from his touch, and at the same time serving him a nasty turn when opportunity offered. Our Englishman sat his horse like a centaur, and cared not for the worst he could do. He had chosen the beast in the stable because he saw there was work in him. And he was right. The horse, for his part, soon began to detect a new kind of master in Trelane, and the warfare between them became of a less serious sort with every day of their mutual acquaintance.

CHAPTER III.

THE SEARCH BEGUN.

TRELANE and his companion rode all that morning through the grim, wild, dreary, and delightful French country. They rode along avenues of poplars, along straight roads, by deserted canals, suicidal ponds, through small and squalid villages, the astonishment of whose inhabitants, as the travellers passed them by, was almost frenzied, till at last they reached a certain village half-way on their road, where they resolved to stop for some hours of rest.

It was here that our travellers experienced for the first time-because it was the first road-side place where they had made inquiries-a difficulty which had not been calculated on, and which added a good deal to their perplexities. They found that the people of the inn were curiously unwilling to admit that they could be of no assistance in this search. It was quite difficult to get a straightforward answer in the negative out of them. They seemed to want to have the honour and glory of