jumped over a hedge about nine feet high (which, considering the weight of the coach, was rather difficult) into a field, and came out again by another jump into the road beyond the other carriage. I then went back for the horses, and placing one upon my head, and the other under my left arm, by the same means brought them to my coach, put to, and proceeded to an inn at the end of our stage. I should have told you that the horse under my arm was very spirited and not above four years old; in making my second spring over the hedge, he expressed great dislike to that violent kind of motion by kicking and snorting; however, I confined his hind legs by putting them into my coat-pocket. After we arrived at the inn, my postilion and I refreshed ourselves: he hung his hat on a peg near the kitchen fire; I sat on the other side. Suddenly we heard a tereng! tereng! teng! teng! We looked round, and now found the reason why the postilion had not been able to sound his horn; his tunes were frozen up in the horn, and came out now by thawing, plain enough, and much to the credit of the driver; so that the honest fellow entertained us for some time with a variety of tunes, without putting his mouth to the horn The King of Prussia's March-Over the Hill and Over the Dale with many other favorite tunes. At length the thawing entertainment concluded, as I shall this short account of my Russian travels.

UNDT, KLARA MÜLLER ("LOUISE MUHLBACH "), a German novelist; born at Neubrandenburg, January 2, 1814; died at Berlin, September 26, 1873. She was the daughter of the Oberbürghermaster of Neubrandenburg, who gave her a good education. While in Italy, in 1836, she met Theodor Mundt, a young author, to whom she was

married in 1838. They lived in Berlin until he was appointed professor in the University of Breslau. Mundt died in Berlin in 1861, and from that time until her death his wife resided there. Her house was the resort of many distinguished persons, and her salons became famous. Her numerous books were of three classes: romantic stories, holding moral or social themes; stories of every-day life, and historical novels. They became very popular, and were translated into several languages. Among them are First and Last Love (1838); Voyage Birds (1840); Fortune and Money (1842); Gisela (1843); Eva (1844); Sketches of Travel (1846); Court Histories (1847); Aphra Behn (1849); Berlin and Sans Souci (1850); The Nursling of Society (1850); Frederick the Great and his Court (1853); Joseph II. and his Court (1858); Queen Hortense; Andreas Hofer; Old Fritz and the New Era; The Empress Josephine, Napoleon and Blücher (1858-59); Two Paths (1860); Archduke Johann and His Times (1860–62); Letters from Switzerland (1863); Louisa of Prussia and Her Times (1864); Henry VIII. and Catherine Parr (1864); Germany in Storm and Stress (1867); From Solferino to Königgrätz (1869–70); Letters from Egypt (1871); and From Königgrätz to Chiselhurst (1873).

court.

AN INNOCENT OFFENDER.

The Emperor was popular everywhere except at His candor was unacceptable, and his occasional sarcasms had stung the pride of the royal family. The King never pardoned him the unpalatable advice he had bestowed relative to the hospitals, the Invalides, and the military schools. The Queen, too, was irritated to see that, whereas her brother might have expressed his disapprobation of her acts in private, he never failed

to do so in presence of the court. The consequence was, that, like the King and the rest of the royal family, Marie-Antoinette was relieved when this long-wishedfor visit of the Emperor was over. This did not prevent her from clinging to his neck, and shedding abundant tears as she felt his warm and loving embrace. The Emperor drew her close to his heart, whispering meanwhile, "Remember that we must see each other in private. Send someone to me to conduct me to the room in the palace which you call your asylum."

"How!" said the Queen with surprise, “you have heard of my asylum? Who told you of it?"

Hush, Antoinette, you will awaken the King's suspicions, for all eyes are upon us! Will you admit me?" Yes, I will send Louis to conduct you this afternoon," and, withdrawing herself from her brother's arms the Queen and the royal family took leave of Count Frankenstein.

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His carriage and his suite had all left Paris, and Joseph, too, was supposed to have gone long before the hour when he was conducted to the Queen's "asylum" by her faithful servant Louis. This asylum" was in an obscure corner of the Tuileries, and to reach it the Emperor was introduced into the palace by a side door. He was led through dark passages and up narrow staircases until they reached a small door which Louis opened with a key which he took from his pocket. He clapped his hands three times, and, the signal being answered, he made a profound inclination to the Emperor. "Your Majesty can enter. The Queen is there."

Joseph found himself in a small, simple apartment, of which the furniture was of white wood covered with chintz. On the wall was a hanging etagére with books; opposite, an open harpsichord, and in the recess of the window a table covered with papers. The Emperor hastily surveyed this room, and no one coming forward he passed into another. Here he found his sister, no longer the magnificent Queen whose rich toilettes were as proverbial as her beauty, but a lovely, unpretending woman, without rouge, without jewels, clad in a dress of India muslin, which was confined at the waist by a

simple sash of pale lilac ribbon. Marie-Antoinette came forward with both hands outstretched. "I am dressed as is my custom," said she, "when the few friends I possess come to visit me here - here in my asylum, where sometimes I am able to forget that I am Queen of France."

"You have no right ever to forget it, Antoinette, and it was expressly to remind you of this that I asked for a private interview with my sister."

"You wished to see this asylum of which you have heard, did you not?" said the Queen with a shade of bitterness. "I have been calumniated to you as I have been to the King and to the French people. Oh! I know how my enemies are trying to make my subjects hate me! I know that about these very rooms, lewd songs are sung on the Pont-neuf which make the Comte de Provence hold his sides with laughter!"

"Yes, Antoinette, I have heard these things, and I come hither expressly to visit this asylum.""

"Well, Joseph, it is before you. The room through which you passed and this one form my suite. The door yonder leads to the apartments of the Princess de Lamballe, and I have never opened it to enter my retreat except in her company."

"You had never the right to enter it at all. A retreat of this kind is improper for you, and woe to you, Antoinette, if ever another man besides myself should cross its threshold! It would give a coloring of truth to the evil reports of your powerful enemies."

"Gracious God of Heaven!" cried the Queen, pale with horror, "what do they say of me?"

"It would avail you nothing to repeat their calumnies, poor child. I have come hither to warn you that some dark cloud hangs over the destiny of France. You must seek means to disperse it, or it will burst and destroy both you and your husband."

"I have already felt a presentiment of evil, dear brother, and for that very reason I come to these little simple rooms, that I may for a few hours forget the destiny that awaits me, the court which hates and vilifies

me and, in short, my supremest sorrow, the indifference of my husband."

"Dear sister, you are wrong. You should never have sought to forget these things. You have too lightly broken down the barriers, which etiquette, hundreds of years ago, had built around the Queens of France."

"This from you, Joseph, you who despise all etiquette."

"Nay, Antoinette, I am a man, and that justifies me in many an indiscretion. I have a right to attend an opera-ball unmasked, but you have not."

"I had the King's permission, and was attended by my ladies of honor, and the princes of the royal family." "An Emperor may ride in a hackney-coach, if the whim strike him, but not a Queen, Antoinette."

"That was an accident, Joseph. I was returning from a ball with the Duchesse de Duras, when our carriage broke and Louis was obliged to seek a hackneycoach, or we would have returned to the palace on foot."

"Let it pass then. An Emperor or a King, were he very young, might indulge himself in a game of blindman's-bluff without impropriety, but when a Queen ventures to do as much, she loses her dignity. Nevertheless, you have been known to romp with the other ladies of the court, when your husband had gone to his room and was sound asleep."

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But whoever went to bed as early as the King?" said Marie-Antoinette, deprecatingly.

"Does he go to bed too early, Antoinette? Then it is strange that on one evening when you were waiting for him to retire, so that you and your ladies might visit the Duchesse de Duras, you should have advanced the clock by half an hour, and sent your husband to bed at half-past ten, when of course he found no one in the apartments to wait upon him. All Paris has laughed. at this mischievous prank of the Queen. Can you deny this, my thoughtless sister?"

"I never tell an untruth, Joseph, but I can confess that I am astonished to see with what police-like dex