On the following day, in order to avoid such another _contretemps_,
the charcoal was secured in the morning whilst they were changing
horses, and placed in a sack under the seat of the carriage.
It happened on this day that the road was very hilly, and as the
horses slowly dragged the carriage up the ascents, Madame Louison
proposed walking to warm themselves. They all descended; but Tina,
being stout, and heavy on her feet, was soon tired, and got in again;
whilst Mazzuolo, with a view to his design against Adelaide, fell
into conversation with the driver about the different stations they
would have to stop at. He wanted to extract all the information he
could--so he walked beside the carriage, whilst Madame Louison and
Karl, who were very cold, walked on as fast as they could.
'You look quite chilled, Karl,' said she; 'let us see who will be at
the top of the hill first--a race will warm us.'
The youth strode on without saying anything; but as she was the more
active, she got before him; and when she reached the top, she turned
round, and playfully clapping her hands, said, 'Karl, I've beaten
you!' Karl said he had had an illness lately, and was not so strong
as he used to be; he had gone into the water when he was very warm,
and had nearly died of the consequences.
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