than to the malarious influences which pervade certain districts of southern Europe. The only water safe for the traveller to drink is a natural mineral water, and such is now always procurable throughout Europe, except in very remote or unfrequented places. In the latter cirIn the latter circumstances no admixture of wine or spirit counteracts the poison in tainted water, and makes it safe to drink, as people often delight to believe; but the simple process of boiling it renders it perfectly harmless; and this result is readily attained in any locality by making weak tea to be taken hot or cold; or in making toast-water, barley-water, lemonade, etc. The table waters now so largely imported into this country from Germany and France contain a considerable proportion of mineral matter in solution, and while they are wholesome as regards freedom from organic impurities, are, of course, less perfect for daily use than absolutely pure waters, such as those above referred to. Vaunted frequently as possessing certain medicinal properties, this very fact ought to prohibit their constant use as dietetic agents for habitual consumption, inasmuch as we do not require drugs as diet, but only as occasional correctives. Among them the natural Selters, Apollinaris, Gieshübel, and St. Galmier-but of this latter some of the sources are inferior to others, the best appearing now to be chiefly retained for Paris

are perhaps among the most satisfactory within our reach. A dash of lemonjuice, and a thin cutting of the peel, form sometimes an agreeable addition. I am compelled to say that the sweet compounds and fruity juices which have of late been produced as dinner drinks, and apparently in competition with wine, are rarely wholesome adjuncts to a dinner. Such liquids rapidly develop indigestible acid products in the stomachs of many persons; while for all, the sipping of sweet fluids during a meal tends to diminish appetite, as well as the faculty of appreciating good cookery. If wine is refused, let the drink be of pure water-with a sparkle of gas in it, or a slight acid in it if you will-but in obedience both to gastronomic and dietetic laws let it be free from sugar. No doubt there are exceptional circumstances in which fruity juices, if not very sweet, can be taken freely. Thus I have rarely quaffed more delicious liquor at dinner in the warm autumn of southern Europe, notably in Spain, than that afforded by ample slices of a watermelon, which fill the mouth with cool fragrant liquid; so slight is the amount of solid matter, that it only just serves to contain the abundant delicate juices of the fruit grown in those climates. Here the saccharine matter is present only in small proportion.-The Nineteenth Century.

2.

Italy, either Selters or St. Galmier, often both, are supplied by the hotels. In Spain these are not at present to be had, but the alternatives recommended are easily obtained.

CHAPTER XVI.

MADAME DE VAUBLANC STIRS UP EVIL PASSIONS.

"THE question is," mused Barrington, "whether a man who isn't a soldier doesn't look look more or less of a fool in soldier's clothes? But then, again, what is the use of dragging a Yeomanry uniform about the world if one is not to And Frenchmen always think it rather odd if one appears in plain evening dress on a gala occasion. I suppose I had better put the thing on."

The subject of these hesitating reflections was a very smart blue tunic, loaded with a profusion of silver lace, which lay outstretched on Barrington's bed beside a pair of trowsers with a broad silver stripe, a sword, and a white-plumed helmet.

"It is tight, it is uncomfortable, and I am not sure that it isn't a little bit ridiculous; but it don't do to seem wanting in respect, and that sort of thing. I hope the Governor-General will take my appearance in it as a compliment," concluded Barrington, who in truth loved bright colors and showy apparel, and never by any chance missed the Yeomanry ball which closed his short annual period of training. And so he struggled into his nether garments with a sigh of mingled resignation and contentment.

A few doors off M. de Saint-Luc, who had worn a gay jacket long enough to have grown tired of it, was arraying himself in the plainest of plain clothes, in preparation for the same festivity as that to which Barrington had been bidden. Not without sundry misgivings had he decided to present himself at the ball; for he was by no means sure what Jeanne would think of his reappearance in society so soon after the shattering of all his hopes, nor could he feel any certainty with regard to the footing upon which he would now stand with her, or as to whether he might venture to ask her for a dance or not. Yet, since they must meet before long, what signified time and place? The first encounter might be a little awkward, but it would soon be over; and as to his future line of conduct, that must be regulated in a great

measure by hers. He did not delude himself into the belief that success could be won by any other means than time and much patience; and, as he had a limitless supply of both these necessaries at command, it seemed best to take the earliest opportunity of drawing upon them. He had completed his toilet long before Barrington had done studying the effect of his full-length figure before his pier-glass, and, calling a passing fiacre, presently joined the stream of vehicles which was wending its slow way up the hill of Mustapha Supérieur, where the summer palace stands.

The majority of the company had already arrived when Saint-Luc made his entrance, and it was with some little difficulty that he threaded his way through the crowded approaches to the ball-room, where the orchestra was in full swing, and where toilettes Parisian and Algerian, mingled with uniforms of every conceivable cut and hue, produced a bewildering, shifting effect of color and glitter which, taken as a spectacle, might, to a less preoccupied man, have seemed worth gazing at for a few minutes. But Saint-Luc had seen it all before, and was not in the mood for studying tableaux vivants. The generals and admirals; the Spahis in their scarlet, and the Chasseurs d'Afrique in their pale blue jackets; the préfets and sous-préfets in their green and gold coats, the portly mayors, whose gold embroidery, not content with covering their breasts, overflowed, and meandered agreeably down. their broad backs; the violet robes of a stray ecclesiastic or two; the white burnous of some Arab chief, against which the cross and red ribbon of the Legion of Honor showed somewhat incongruously; the swarthy Moors and black-eyed, bediamonded Jewesses-all these were objects with which he had long been familiar; and it was neither to look at them nor to admire the graceful Oriental architecture of the palace and the beauty of the illuminated gardens that he had forsaken his nocturnal cigar and the quietude of his own chamber. But she whom he had come out to see was nowhere to be discovered; and, instead of greeting her, he found himself ere long

compelled to shake hands with a lady whom he would gladly have avoided.

Madame de Trémonville was not one of those persons who can be avoided without their own good will and pleasure. She was far too well satisfied with herself to suppose that any man could really wish to escape from her, and interpreted Saint-Luc's rather distant bow and abstracted gaze as a mere indication of that boredom which was, in her eyes, one of the chief evidences of his superiority to the common herd.

"You do not amuse yourself too well, M. le Vicomte," said she, pausing beside him, and dismissing her attendant cavalier with an unceremonious nod. "Ma foi! I am not surprised. From Paris to Algiers-from the Tuileries to Mustapha -what a change! Were you ever in such a crowd of droll people before? What faces! what manners! what clothes !" And Madame de Trémonville disdainfully shrugged her pluinp shoulders, which were thickly coated with blanc de perles, and heaved a piteous sigh.

"Oh, monsieur !"

Beauty and good taste always find imitators. With such an example before them, these ladies will assuredly learn soon to reform any little errors in their dress or conduct," pursued Saint-Luc. "(How shall I get rid of this detestable woman?) But it is a sin to expose your exquisite lace flounce to the risk of being torn in such a crowd. Will you not allow me to find you a seat?"

"Let them tear it-so much the better if they do," answered Madame de Trémonville, passing by the hint. "I have worn it half-a-dozen times already, and I am tired of the sight of it. There is the music beginning again; shall we dance? Quick! I see my partner coming for

me."

Saint-Luc, who always accepted the inevitable with a good grace, passed his arm round the waist of his fascinating companion, and floated away with her into the whirling throng of dancers, while

the young officer whom he had supplanted looked after the couple with mingled sorrow and reproach.

"What a strange world it is, and how little any of us know of our fellow-creatures!" thought the philosophical Vicomte, with an inward laugh. "That young fellow, who would quarrel with any of his brother-officers for robbing him of a partner, does not dream of interfering with a man of my prestige. Such a career as mine has been fills him with admiration and respect. I suppose he thinks he would be perfectly happy if he could change places with me, and be looked upon as a hero by a few fools, and flirt with this painted, vulgar woman, who has already managed to get into the society of her betters, and is miserable because she will never reach a still higher circle. I daresay there are even people who envy Madame de Trémonville too. Is there such a thing as contentment, I wonder? and does everybody wish for something he has not got, and hate it as soon as he gets it? Is it because what I long for would make me so supremely happy that I feel such a certainty of failure?"

He

Saint-Luc had time to debate all these questions, and sundry others, while he was mechanically piloting Madame de Trémonville in and out among the erratic couples who revolved around him. had just arrived at the sage conclusion that the happiest of mortals is the man who has ceased to seek for happiness, when his meditations and his career were alike cut short by the apparition in the doorway of a cap whose violet bows could only belong to Madame de Vaublanc.

"She is coming!" thought Saint-Luc, forgetting all his philosophy; and he brought his partner to a sudden standstill.

Madame de Vaublanc indeed it was; but where, alas! was the tall, graceful figure and the pale, proud face that should have followed her? Saint-Luc, peering anxiously out into the corridor, could discover no familiar countenance save the puzzled and angry one of Mr. Barrington, frowning above the silver lace of the Royal Surrey Yeomanry Cavalry. am not the only one who is disappointed to-night," thought he, with a smile and

"I

a sigh, as he turned to greet Madame de Vaublanc, who clutched his hand as a drowning man seizes a rope.

"Mon Dieu, monsieur!" she exclaimed, "how glad I am to see you! What a terrible crush, is it not?—and not a person here whom I know-and I who have crowds in horror! Is there a possibility, do you think, of my finding a chair anywhere?"

Madame de Trémonville pounced upon the bewildered old lady before Saint-Luc could reply, and saluted her with a feude-joie of shrill ejaculations.

"What, dear madame! You at a ball, and alone too! But where is your charming protégé? What have you done with Mademoiselle Jeanne? I have been looking for her arrival, that I might present to her some most agreeable young men who are dying to make her acquaintance-M. de Monceaux, M. d'Arville

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Mademoiselle de Mersac is not with me," interrupted the old lady, sourly; and if she were, I should not think it my duty to allow her to dance with the first that came.

"Oh, madame! you know that I am discretion itself. My friends are all persons of the highest respectability; if they were not alive at the accession of Louis XVIII. that is neither my fault nor theirs. But I trust Mademoiselle Jeanne will join us before the evening is over."

"She is not coming at all," answered Madame de Vaublanc, too full of her grievance to refrain from speaking of it, even to the enemy. "She wrote to me at the last moment to say she had the migraine. It is very inconsiderate-very inconvenient, I mean. Having accepted the Maréchale's invitation, I felt bound to come here, much as I dislike such entertainments. Indeed, it is only out of politeness that I sometimes attend even the small Monday receptions, though there, of course, I am more among my friends."

At this moment a young aid-de-camp, whose pinched-in waist and voluminous trousers gave his figure somewhat the appearance of a brightly-coloured hourglass, shouldered his way towards the little group. He was an acquaintance of Madame de Trémonville's, who put on

one of her most telling smiles to receive him; but he passed her with a bow, and bent down to offer his arm to Madame de Vaublanc.

"Madame la Maréchale sends me to say that she has a seat for you beside her, madame," said he. “Will you permit me?"

So the violet cap-ribbons went bobbing and nodding away through the crowd beside the blue jacket, and presently Madame de Trémonville had the satisfaction of making out her old friend, seated at the far end of the room, among a circle of magnates whom, bold as she was, she dared not approach. The lady who at that time exercised vice-regal sway over the society of Algeria was generally thought to have leanings toward Legitimists, and was notoriously averse to fast women of the type of Madame de Trémonville. The latter had never been able to obtain an invitation to those Mondays of which Madame de Vaublanc had spoken, and this was a very sore point with her.

Of all the people I have ever met, I think that old woman is the ugliest, the most ill-natured, and the most ill-bred," she cried, with a fine hearty emphasis and unaffected warmth which made Saint-Luc laugh a little.

"Poor old soul !" said he. "She resembles a walnut in character as well as in the appearance of her skin. If you want to get at the good in her, you must break through a hard outer shell of obstinacy and prejudice, beneath which lies a not very thick covering of bitterness against the human race, which has not treated her over well; but the good qualities are there, and not so hard to discover after all."

"Bah! everybody has good qualities," returned Madame de Trémonville, impatiently. "I may say, without vanity, that I also have good qualities. We all know that that frightful old Vaublanc and the Duchesse de Breuil and Mademoiselle de Mersac give money to the poor and visit the sick occasionally; but that is not what society requires of them. If they say their prayers regularly and keep all the ten commandments, so much. the better for them-that is their affair. Society does not concern itself with such things, but simply asks that they should