Climbing the hüls the next morning, I overtook three ladies whose aggregate age certainly equals that of the United States. In spite of knapsacks and heavy climbing shoes, they were thouroughly enjoy- ing themselves. «You must climb the Fürstensteig,» said the whitest-haired of the three. «It is not a difficult trail and it is wonderful.» But clouds settled down from Gaflei and, as my objective was photographs, I returned to Vaduz for the open-air play beside the castle, with some excel- lent acting of an obscure plot, with a Vaduz girl mak- ing a charming heroine and farmer boys not too awkwardly wearing the plumed hats of medieval knighthood. EVENING SOLOS ON AN ALPINE HORN After dark there was the singing evening by the male chorus and solos on the Alpine horn, like a huge clay pipe with a thick stem, whose tones are softer than one would expect from such a lumbering instru- ment. Tables stretched away from the brightly light- ed platform of unpainted boards and far back into the shadows people drank and chatted until the tap of the conductor's baton. One had but to close his eyes and listen to add inches to the stature, dignity to the pose, and grace to the dress of that mixed lot of men. My stay in Liechtenstein was nearing a close. If the weather remained cloudy on the mountain tops, I determined to leave on the morrow; but if the day dawned clear, I promised myself a final glorious tramp. A DAY WHEN LIECHTENSTEIN SHOWED OFF When I awoke, the water splashing into the big stone trough outside my window, had a clearer sound, as though it were no longer a rival of the eaves and the keynote of a general downpour. The sky, as I first glimpsed it from my bed, seemed pea- cock blue with tiny dark wisps in it. My spectacles,
LIECHTENSTEIN IN ALTEN SCHILDERUNGEN NORBERT W. HASLER Purveyors of smiles and friendly gossip. Vaduz is a small place, where one soon knows all about you, and if you smile at a child in the morning, his grand- mother smiles back at you the same afternoon. In- deed, this enchanting town is a sort of whispering gallery of friendliness. The smaller of these two old ladies carries a combina- tion rake and hoe, which is a favorite tool for light gar- dening. 219