Then one of them pointed to the mountain, in the direction of the statues, and made a grimace in imitation of one of them.  I laughed and shuddered expressively, whereon they all burst out laughing too, and chattered hard to one another.  I could make out nothing of what they said, but I think they thought it rather a good joke that I had come past the statues.  Then one among them came forward and motioned me to follow, which I did without hesitation, for I dared not thwart them; moreover, I liked them well enough, and felt tolerably sure that they had no intention of hurting me.

In about a quarter of an hour we got to a small Hamlet built on the side of a hill, with a narrow street and houses huddled up together.  The roofs were large and overhanging.  Some few windows were glazed, but not many.  Altogether the village was exceedingly like one of those that one comes upon in descending the less known passes over the Alps on to Lombardy.  I will pass over the excitement which my arrival caused.  Suffice it, that though there was abundance of curiosity, there was no rudeness.  I was taken to the principal house, which seemed to belong to the people who had captured me.  There I was hospitably entertained, and a supper of milk and goat’s flesh with a kind of oatcake was set before me, of which I ate heartily.  But all the time I was eating I could not help turning my eyes upon the two beautiful girls whom I had first seen, and who seemed to consider me as their lawful prize—­which indeed I was, for I would have gone through fire and water for either of them.

Then came the inevitable surprise at seeing me smoke, which I will spare the reader; but I noticed that when they saw me strike a match, there was a hubbub of excitement which, it struck me, was not altogether unmixed with disapproval:  why, I could not guess.  Then the women retired, and I was left alone with the men, who tried to talk to me in every conceivable way; but we could come to no understanding, except that I was quite alone, and had come from a long way over the mountains.  In the course of time they grew tired, and I very sleepy.  I made signs as though I would sleep on the floor in my blankets, but they gave me one of their bunks with plenty of dried fern and grass, on to which I had no sooner laid myself than I fell fast asleep; nor did I awake till well into the following day, when I found myself in the hut with two men keeping guard over me and an old woman cooking.  When I woke the men seemed pleased, and spoke to me as though bidding me good morning in a pleasant tone.