brows of the distant hills; without them French scenery would lose half
its charm.






CHAPTER VI.





GERMANY, AUSTRIA, AND HUNGARY.

Notwithstanding Alsace was French territory only fourteen years ago
(1871) there is a noticeable difference in the inhabitants, to me the
most acceptable being their great linguistic superiority over the people
on the French side of the border. I linger in Saarburg only about thirty
minutes, yet am addressed twice by natives in my own tongue; and at
Pfalzburg, a smaller town, where I remain over night, I find the same
characteristic. Ere I penetrate thirty kilometres into German territory,
however, I have to record what was never encountered in France; an
insolent teamster, who, having his horses strung across a narrow road-
way in the suburbs of Saarburg, refuses to turn his leaders' heads to
enable me to ride past, thus compelling me to dismount. Soldiers drilling,
soldiers at target practice, and soldiers in companies marching about
in every direction, greet my eyes upon approaching Pfalzburg; and although
there appears to be less beating of drums and blare of trumpets than in