The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1877-11-14
the average culture of our sch ol'bred pop
ulation. - Educational Journal.
THE ENGADINE.

About the time the sun was going down
over the Alpine peaks, we were at st. Mo-
ritz, our objective point in The Engadine.
Our lodging house was the villa Keech6,
and thither we drove. 'Vllla" 10 pleasant
name, you know; suggestive Of the cozy, the
pretty, the picturesq re; of verf ndahs, vines,
bay-windows; of grass plots, fl werS and cool,
,hadowy hooks. So to some extent We had
painted on cur minds the Via Keecb6, but
such was not that vi Ia Not at all. 1t was
aot picturesque, nor shadow, nor floral, nor
oozy. The Villa K eel = God right down
IN the roadside, Without he intervention of
4itber piazza, porch or psling. Not tree
Tor plant relieved It's max dness, nor softened
is plain, hard features In fact, the Villa
K 3ecl 6 looked like friendless orphan left
nut of doors, and when the portals of the
Villa opened, the prospects were scarcely
more CHEEKY and rspiriting. Two women
emerged, daughter and mother apparently,
% give US welcome. We took them for do
nestle but IT., they were the Keech65,
from whom the Villa takes its name--or part
If them at ltast---the paterfamilias being at
that moment off driving his cab, which is his
occupation. The narrow passage into which
20 were ushered was paved with cement, the
stairway was of sto1a. Our apartment was
one fight up, and proved to be very tiny (;
so much so that by the time the baggage was
IN, there was small space for locomotlon or
for entertaining friends; and as there was
no parlor, nor sitting room, nor piazza, this
little room was Of necessity everything TO US.
Breakfast must be served here, and tea also,
if we took it Dinner we must search for
elsewhere. For this apartment We were to
pay two dollars day, meals, lights, etc.,
extra. After about week in these close
quarters, some one left, and then we got a
larger room, with more pleasant outlook.
AS for our acknowledges, they might as well
have been in Kamtschatka. We never saw
them. The "Villa," indeed, was as still as
tomb, and almost as cherries and chilly.
Still we could not complain. Why should
we? Had we not got in at st. Moritz, the
headquarters of the Engadine, at whose gates
so many pilgrims had knocked in vain ?
Were We not in close proximity to the
Spring and baths, whilst others had to jour
ney to them from lodgings in villages miles
away? And with all the apparent loneliness
and dreariness, was it not something to be
thankful for that our femme de chanlbre, Der
Meta Keecf6 was kind-hearted and accom-
modating, her plain, suuburned face always
illumined with a friendly glow, and her
broad lips always speaking pleasant word !?
Though clad in rough, homely frock, and
with no garniture to set eff the plain exterior,
did she not show the refining effects of the
Two years she told US she had spent at VeVay
on the beautiful Lake of Geneva, and did
she not speak French almost as fit had been
her vernacular? And did she not bring to
US good, wholesome bread, and fragrant cups
of that (which cheers but not inebriates, .
and fresh laid eggs, and sometimes tender
beefsteak? And was not the quiet of this
very quiet house what We needed for over
taxed nerves, and for enjoying in full meas
ure " tired natures sweet restorer I" And
after falling heir to the larger room, did not
one window look out on as sweet little pla-
cid, smiling lake as once could wish to see,
whilst the other BOXED off on lofty Alpine
peaks, illumined with patches and streaks of
eternal snow? After all then, might We not
be thankful that we were in the Villa
Keech6? Surely we might have gone fur
Their and Jared worse.-Ertract from Article
By Rev. John Leyburn, d. d., IN Frank
TooLp's 0,,nd1u Mn00zine for December,