are built of stone, and reminded me not a little of some huts in the Kaw Indian reservation. They are made very attractive, however, by being surrounded by neat little gardens, filled with flowers, which are tended with great care.
There was one thing I saw in Rheims which pleased me very much. It was a troop of round, rosy-faced girls, who came running, laughing, and singing, out of a factory, at evening, as full of sport as if they had been playing all day, instead of earning their bread and butter. They were so fresh and wholesome-looking, and apparently enjoyed life so much, that I could not but admire them. Such people as these are the real wealth of a country, and it is no wonder France is rich and prosperous when she has such citizens.
Frankfort and its Surroundings.
From Rheims, we passed on, and made a flying visit to Homburg, the famous watering-place, and from there went to Frankfort on the Main. On one side of the city are to be seen the mountains, while on the other extends a rich, fertile plain. I almost wished that I was the wife of one of those good-natured, honest, industrious German farmers we were constantly meeting, so that I might live and die in a snug, home-like little farm-house, half hidden by the grain, and surrounded by flowering shrubs and vines, such as were to be seen on all sides. Nowhere have I beheld more evidences of solid comfort and downright good living than in the vicinity of Frankfort, and there are no people on the earth happier than these hard-working but contented Germans, who know how to enjoy life in right honest fashion.
The small villages in this section of Europe are quite numerous, and the people are disposed to be most kind and hospitable, particularly to Americans. We met several persons who had been in America, who were apparently rejoiced to see us, and who overwhelmed us with invitations to visit them.
The costumes of the working classes are very odd. The women wear muslin caps, short blue or white skirts, and shoes with wooden soles. The men are attired in blue frocks, and sometimes in the queerest-looking swallow-tailed coats of white and buff linen.
Some of the parks surrounding the mansions of the nobility are very beautiful, being laid out with much taste, and filled
