of the others. This amusement-in which I must confess I made one of the four-did however serve one good purpose: it gave a transitory gleam of pleasure to the existence of the miserable and incarcerated fowls outside whose prison bars we played. These birds appeared to take the most extraordinary interest in the game. At every throw they stretched their necks through the bars, and clucked and crowed in high excitement. One old white hen in particular, who was in a top coop, let her feelings of interest so carry her away that she nearly strangled herself in her efforts to see well, and I thought she would have choked in her exultation whenever a ring fell into the bucket nearest to her. It was agreeable to me to reflect that I was to leave the steamer next morning, if for no other reason, that I should thus escape any chance of eating a bit of that lively but dilapidated old fowl. Her exceeding vivacity, combined with her extreme age, strongly reminded me of Mrs. Skewton.

About eight o'clock that evening we anchored in the bay of Gibraltar. The rain fell in torrents, but almost every one went on deck to gaze at the famous rock towering up above us to the sky; nothing being visible through the shadows of the night, save its great dark outline, and the twinkling lights of the town clustering around its base. Every one now-who had never been there before,-began to call Gibraltar Gib," particularly the knowing old men of seventeen

or thereabouts, who drank brandy and soda-water, and ate devilled bones for breakfast. In the morning we were up early to stare at the rock again, but were considerably disappointed to find it enveloped in a dreary cloud of mist, which hung about it, almost completely hiding it from view. The clouds too quite overhung the Spanish mountains opposite; and the little town of Algeciras at the other side of the bay, directly facing Gibraltar, was only visible now and then, when the sun, which was vainly struggling to assert his rightful ascendency in the skies of this part of the world, occasionally broke through the dense fog that interposed itself between him and the earth.

CHAPTER II.

GIBRALTAR.

We landed immediately after breakfast. As the steamer had to coal, she went right alongside the New Mole, so we could walk on shore, and were saved the trouble of boats. A band of what appeared to my unsophisticated mind to be brigands disguised as porters, rushed on board and seized on the luggage. I selected the least ruffianly-looking of these freebooters to carry my possessions from the steamer. He, however, on this instantly retained under him quite the two most villanouslooking of the band; when, each having seized one of my boxes (I had three), and divided the small articles among them, they rushed on shore and away out of sight. I followed as fast as I could go, feeling terrible doubts as to whether my property was not being carried off to some hidden fastnesses, there to become the booty of the brigand porters. But my

fears proved unfounded, for having pursued the ruffians to their lair, I found it was only a car-stand; where, however, my boxes had already been taken possession of by another ruffian, a car-driver, who was piling them up hastily in his vehicle. I instantly followed my property into the car,-which was like a tea-caddy with the top off,-and sat down among it, having some sus

picion of a confederacy between the porters and the driver; the part of the latter being possibly to drive off with the booty to the den, in which case I was resolved to go too and defend it with my life. However I was wrong again; for, the luggage being in, the driver showed no disposition at all to drive away, and I perceived that the confederacy, if it did exist, was for another object. I had paid the least objectionable-looking of the crew, he whom I had first selected, the sum which I had been informed was sufficient for the service. Now I found that the second and third ruffians, whom he had retained under him, claimed each severally a like amount on his own behalf; and that the fourth ruffian, the cardriver, purposed detaining me there until I had paid it. Knowing no Spanish I was unable to express in words my indignation at these demands, and my determination to resist them; so I was obliged to have recourse to pantomime, which, however, proved equally effective. I first pointed with my umbrella at the coins in the open outstretched palm of ruffian number one, and then pointed at ruffians number two and three, to signify that they were to be paid out of the sum I had bestowed on their leader. They, with many gesticulations, and much that I have no doubt was forcible but was to me incomprehensible language, expressed their abhorrence of this arrangement, and their resolve not to agree to it. At that I laughed to show my astonishment at

their audacity, frowned to express my resentment at it, shook my head determinately to show its inutility; shut my purse, put my purse into my bag, shut my bag, opened my umbrella, held my umbrella down over my head, and said to ruffian number four-the driver— in simple English, that I doubted not from previous experiences of the same kind he well understood,— "Drive on."

This course of conduct proved satisfactory to me. The first three ruffians began to clamour more loudly, and gesticulate more violently, and the fourth hesitated, but I said, "Yes; drive on," again from under the umbrella, and more decisively, and then the villain felt compelled to obey, and he drove off under a torrent of bad language shouted after us by his baffled and frenzied confrères. At least I am sure that the language these persons made use of was bad; for though I had never travelled before in foreign lands, my knowledge from home experiences of that portion of humanity which carries luggage for the rest of humanity, led me inevitably to the conclusion that, under the above circumstances, bad language is the certain conclusion to such negociations.

We had a drive of nearly a quarter of an hour to the town. The horse was a most wretched animal, but the driver used his whip to such effect, that the brute darted off at a pace that sent all my luggage tumbling about in the vehicle, and rendered it a matter of no small