hillier, but somewhat less muddy. The weather continues showery and
unsettled, and a short distance beyond Void I find myself once again
wandering off along the wrong road. The peasantry hereabout seem to have
retained a lively recollection of the Prussians, my helmet appearing to
have the effect of jogging their memory, and frequently, when stopping
to inquire about the roads, the first word in response will be the pointed
query, "Prussian." By following the directions given by three different
peasants, I wander along the muddy by-roads among the vineyards for two
wet, unhappy hours ere I finally strike the main road to Toul again.
After floundering along the wellnigh unimproved by-ways for two hours
one thoroughly appreciates how much he is indebted to the military
necessities of the French Government for the splendid highways of France,
especially among these hills and valleys, where natural roadways would
be anything but good. Following down the Moselle Valley, I arrive at the
important city of Nancy in the eventide, and am fortunate, I suppose,
in discovering a hotel where a certain, or, more properly speaking, an
uncertain, quantity and quality of English are spoken. Nancy is reputed
to be one of the loveliest towns in France. But I merely remained in it
over night, and long enough next morning to exchange for some German
money, as I cross over the frontier to-day.

Luneville is a town I pass through, some distance nearer the border, and
the military display here made is perfectly overshadowing. Even the
scarecrows in the fields are military figures, with wooden swords
threateningly waving about in their hands with every motion of the wind,
and the most frequent sound heard along the route is the sharp bang!
bang! of muskets, where companies of soldiers are target-practising in
the woods. There seems to be a bellicose element in the very atmosphere;
for every dog in every village I ride through verily takes after me, and
I run clean over one bumptious cur, which, miscalculating the speed at