Part 2 (1/2)
”Well, Rollo, you've done it, I declare. I did not think you were so much of a man.”
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: Carlos was a Spanish boy, who was residing at this time at the same hotel with Mr. George. The manner in which Rollo became acquainted with him is related in Rollo in Paris. Carlos did not understand English, nor Rollo Spanish; but when they were together they usually kept talking all the time, each in his own way.]
[Footnote 2: A courier is a travelling servant and guide.]
CHAPTER II.
CROSSING THE FRONTIER.
On the morning when Mr. George and Rollo were about setting out for Switzerland, Rollo, having got every thing ready himself half an hour before the time, took out his map of Europe and asked his uncle George what route they were going to take. Mr. George was busy at that time putting the last things into his trunk and making ready to lock it up and strap it; so he could not come to Rollo to show him the route, but was obliged to describe it.
”Have you found Paris?” said he.
”Yes,” said Rollo; ”I have got my finger on it.”
”In the first place, then,” said Mr. George, ”there is a railway that goes east from Paris a hundred miles across France to Strasbourg on the Rhine. See if you can find Strasbourg on the Rhine.”
”Yes,” said Rollo; ”here it is.”
”Then,” said Mr. George, ”we take another railway and go south, up the Rhine, towards Switzerland.”
”_Down_ the Rhine,” said Rollo, correcting his uncle; ”it is _down_.”
”No,” rejoined Mr. George. ”It is down on the map; that is, it is down the page; but it is really _up_ the river. The Rhine flows to the north.
It collects the waters of a hundred glaciers in Switzerland and carries them north into the North Sea.”
”Well,” said Rollo.
”This railway,” continued Mr. George, ”will take us up from Strasbourg, along the bank of the Rhine, to Basle, which is in Switzerland, just across the frontier. It is there, I suppose, that we shall have to show our pa.s.sports; and then we shall know if you got them stamped right.”
”I did get them stamped right, I am very sure,” said Rollo.
”Boys are generally very sure that what they do is done right,” rejoined Mr. George.
Soon after this Mr. George and Rollo took their seats in the carriage, which had been for some time standing ready for them in the court yard of the inn, and drove to the Strasbourg station.
Rollo was greatly interested and excited, when he arrived at the Strasbourg station, to see how extensive and magnificent it was. The carriage entered, with a train of other carriages, through a great iron gate and drew up at the front of a very s.p.a.cious and grand-looking building. Porters, dressed in a sort of uniform, which gave them in some degree the appearance of soldiers, were ready to take the two trunks and carry them in. The young gentlemen followed the porters, and they soon found themselves ushered into an immense hall, very neatly and prettily arranged, with great maps of the various railways painted on the walls between the windows on the front side, and openings on the back side leading to ticket offices or waiting rooms. There were seats along the sides of this hall, with groups of neatly-dressed travellers sitting upon them. Other travellers were walking about, attending to their baggage or making inquiries of the porter or policemen. Others still were standing at the openings of the ticket offices buying their tickets. What chiefly struck Rollo's attention, however, and impressed his mind, was the air of silence, order, and decorum which prevailed and which gave to the station an aspect so different from that of an American station. It is true, the hall was very large, and there were a great many people in it going and coming; but they all walked decorously and quietly,--they spoke in an undertone,--and the presence of so many railway officials in their several uniforms, and of police officers with their badges, and here and there a soldier on guard, gave to the whole scene quite a solemn and imposing appearance.
Rollo gazed about the apartment as he came in, surveying the various objects and groups that presented themselves to his view, until his eye rested upon a little party of travellers, consisting of a lady and two boys, who were standing together near a low railing, waiting for the gentleman who was with them to come back from the ticket office with their tickets. What chiefly attracted Rollo's attention, however, was a pretty little dog, with very long ears, and black, glossy hair, which one of the children held by a cord. The cord was attached to the dog's neck by a silver collar.
Rollo looked at this group for a few minutes--his attention being particularly occupied by the dog,--and then turned again towards his uncle, or rather towards the place where his uncle had been standing; but he found, to his surprise, that he was gone.
In a moment, however, he saw his uncle coming towards him. He was clasping his wallet and putting it in his pocket.
”Uncle George,” said he, ”see that beautiful little dog!”