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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:16:41 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:16:41 -0700 |
| commit | 33fc58fd32bb496ae965e98942f421059cf8465a (patch) | |
| tree | 0e3ac3d411a1171484b28bfaa618207540e70471 | |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/25355-8.txt b/25355-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..25dd718 --- /dev/null +++ b/25355-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5384 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Rollo in Geneva, by Jacob Abbott + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Rollo in Geneva + +Author: Jacob Abbott + +Release Date: May 6, 2008 [EBook #25355] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROLLO IN GENEVA *** + + + + +Produced by D. Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + ROLLO IN GENEVA, + + BY + + JACOB ABBOTT. + + NEW YORK: + SHELDON & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS, + 498 & 500 BROADWAY. + 1867. + + + + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, + +by JACOB ABBOTT, + +In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of +Massachusetts. + + +[Illustration: THE CASTLE OF CHILLON.] + + + [Illustration: ROLLO'S TOUR IN EUROPE. + SHELDON & CO., + PUBLISHERS, N. Y.] + + + + +ROLLO'S TOUR IN EUROPE. + + +ORDER OF THE VOLUMES. + + ROLLO ON THE ATLANTIC. + ROLLO IN PARIS. + ROLLO IN SWITZERLAND. + ROLLO IN LONDON. + ROLLO ON THE RHINE. + ROLLO IN SCOTLAND. + ROLLO IN GENEVA. + ROLLO IN HOLLAND. + ROLLO IN NAPLES. + ROLLO IN ROME. + + +PRINCIPAL PERSONS OF THE STORY. + + ROLLO; twelve years of age. + MR. and MRS. HOLIDAY; Rollo's father and mother, travelling in Europe. + THANNY; Rollo's younger brother. + JANE; Rollo's cousin, adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Holiday. + MR. GEORGE; a young gentleman, Rollo's uncle. + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I.--THE FAME OF GENEVA, 11 + + II.--PLANNING, 24 + + III.--THE RIDE TO GENEVA, 35 + + IV.--THE TOWN, 55 + + V.--THE HOTEL, 64 + + VI.--A RIDE IN THE ENVIRONS, 71 + + VII.--THE JUNCTION OF THE ARVE, 93 + + VIII.--SEEING MONT BLANC GO OUT, 108 + + IX.--A LAW QUESTION, 122 + + X.--AN EXCURSION ON THE LAKE, 134 + + XI.--VILLENEUVE, 148 + + XII.--THE CASTLE OF CHILLON, 155 + + XIII.--PLAN FORMED, 171 + + XIV.--WALK TO AIGLE, 179 + + XV.--THE JEWELRY, 197 + + XVI.--A FORTUNATE ACCIDENT, 209 + + + ENGRAVINGS. + + + PAGE + + THE CASTLE OF CHILLON, (Frontispiece.) + + THE GREAT NET, 30 + + GOING THROUGH THE VILLAGE, 46 + + VIEW OF GENEVA, 58 + + THE WATER WHEEL, 100 + + FISHING, 104 + + GOING TO TAKE A SAIL, 132 + + THE DUNGEONS OF CHILLON, 161 + + THE BASKET RIDE, 185 + + SHOPPING AT GENEVA, 203 + + + + +ROLLO IN GENEVA. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE FAME OF GENEVA. + + +Geneva is one of the most remarkable and most celebrated cities in +Europe. It derives its celebrity, however, not so much from its size, or +from the magnificence of its edifices, as from the peculiar beauty of +its situation, and from the circumstances of its history. + +Geneva is situated upon the confines of France, Switzerland, and +Sardinia, at the outlet of the Lake of Geneva, which is perhaps the most +beautiful, and certainly the most celebrated, lake in Switzerland. It is +shaped like a crescent,--that is, like the new moon, or rather like the +moon after it is about four or five days old. The lower end of the +lake--that is, the end where Geneva is situated--lies in a comparatively +open country, though vast ranges of lofty mountains, some of them +covered with perpetual snow, are to be seen in the distance all around. +All the country near, however, at this end of the lake, is gently +undulating, and it is extremely fertile and beautiful. There are a great +many elegant country seats along the shore of the lake, and on the banks +of the River Rhone, which flows out of it. The waters of the lake at +this end, and of the river which issues from it, are very clear, and of +a deep and beautiful blue color. This blue color is so remarkable that +it attracts the attention of every one who looks down into it from a +bridge or from a boat, and there have been a great many suppositions and +speculations made in respect to the cause of it; but I believe that, +after all, nobody has yet been able to find out what the cause is. + +The city of Geneva is situated exactly at the lower end of the lake, +that is, at the western end; and the River Rhone, in coming out of the +lake, flows directly through the town. + +The lake is about fifty miles long, and the eastern end of it runs far +in among the mountains. These mountains are very dark and sombre, and +their sides rise so precipitously from the margin of the water that in +many places there is scarcely room for a road along the shore. Indeed, +you go generally to that end of the lake in a steamer; and as you +advance, the mountains seem to shut you in completely at the end of the +lake. But when you get near to the end, you see a narrow valley opening +before you, with high mountains on either hand, and the River Rhone +flowing very swiftly between green and beautiful banks in the middle of +it. Besides the river, there is a magnificent road to be seen running +along this valley. This is the great high road leading from France into +Italy; and it has been known and travelled as such ever since the days +of the old Romans. + +The River Rhone, where it flows into the lake at the eastern end of it, +is very thick and turbid, being formed from torrents coming down the +mountain sides, or from muddy streams derived from the melting of the +glaciers. At the western end, on the other hand, where it issues from +the lake, the water is beautifully pellucid and clear. The reason of +this is, that during its slow passage through the lake it has had time +to settle. The impurities which the torrents bring down into it from the +mountains all subside to the bottom of the lake, and are left there, and +thus the water comes out at the lower end quite clear. The lake itself, +however, is of course gradually filling up by means of this process. + +There are several large and handsome houses on the northern shore of +the lake; but Geneva, at the western end of it, entirely surpasses them +all. + +Geneva is, however, after all, a comparatively small town. It contains +only thirty or forty thousand inhabitants. It would take ten Genevas to +make a New York, and nearly a hundred to make a Paris or London. + +Why, then, since Geneva is comparatively so small, is it so celebrated? +Almost every person who goes to Europe visits Geneva, and talks of +Geneva when he comes back; while there are multitudes of other cities +and towns, many times as large in extent and population, that he never +thinks of or speaks of at all. + +There are several reasons for this. + +1. The first reason is, that this town stands on the great high road +leading from England and France into Italy. Of course it comes naturally +in the way of all travellers making the grand tour. It is true that at +the present day, since steam has been introduced upon the Mediterranean, +a very large proportion of travellers, instead of passing through +Switzerland, go down the Rhone to Marseilles, and embark there. But +before the introduction of steam, for many ages, the way by Geneva was +almost the only way to Italy; and the city acquired great celebrity +through the accounts of tourists and travellers who visited it on their +journeys. + +2. The second reason is, that Geneva is a convenient and agreeable point +for entering Switzerland, and for making excursions among the Alps. +There are two great avenues into Switzerland from France and +Germany--one by way of Geneva, and the other by way of Basle. By the way +of Basle we go to the Jungfrau and the Oberland Alps which lie around +that mountain, and to the beautiful lakes of Zurich and of Lucerne. All +these lie in the eastern part of the Alpine region. By the way of Geneva +we go to the valley of Chamouni and Mont Blanc, and visit the vast +glaciers and the stupendous mountain scenery that lie around this great +monarch of the Alps. + +There is a great question among travellers which of these two Alpine +regions is the most grand. Some prefer the mountains about Mont Blanc, +which are called the Alps of Savoy. Others like better those about the +Jungfrau, which are called the Oberland Alps. The scenery and the +objects of interest are very different in the two localities; and it +seems to me that any difference which travellers may observe in the +grandeur of the emotions which they severally produce upon the mind must +be due to the peculiar circumstances or moods of mind in which they are +visited. It is true you can get nearer to the Jungfrau than you can to +Mont Blanc, and so can obtain a more impressive view of his icy and +rocky sides and glittering summit. But then, on the other hand, Mont +Blanc is really the highest peak, and is looked upon as the great +monarch of them all. + +And here, as the name of Mont Blanc will of course often appear in this +volume, I have a word or two to say in respect to the proper +pronunciation of it in America; for the proper mode of pronouncing the +name of any place is not fixed, as many persons think, but varies with +the language which you are using in speaking of it. Thus the name of the +capital of France, when we are in France, and speaking French, is +pronounced _Par-ree_; but when we are in England and America, and are +speaking English, we universally pronounce it _Par-is_. It is so with +almost all names of places. They change the pronunciation, and often the +mode of spelling, according to the analogy of the language used by the +person speaking of them. + +Many persons suppose that in order correctly to pronounce the name of +any place we must pronounce it as the people do who live in and around +the place. But this is not so. The rule, on the other hand, is, that we +must pronounce it as the people do who live in and around the place _the +language of which we are speaking_. Thus the people of France call their +capital _Par-ree_; those of Spain call theirs something like +this,--_Madhreedth_; the Italians pronounce theirs _Roma_; but we, in +talking English, say simply, _Paris_, _Madrid_, and _Rome_; in other +words, when we are talking English, we _talk English throughout_, using +English words for names of things, and English pronunciation for names +of places, in all cases where there is an English pronunciation +established,--as there is in respect to all the rivers, towns, +mountains, and other localities on the globe that are well known and +often spoken of in the English world. + +Mont Blanc is one of these. Like the word _Paris_ it has its French +pronunciation for the French, and its English pronunciation for the +English; and its English pronunciation is as if it were spelled Mount +Blank or Mont Blank. Under this name it has been known and spoken of +familiarly all over England and America for centuries; and this, it +seems to me, is the proper name to give it when we are speaking English. + +Its French pronunciation is very different. It is one which none but a +practical French scholar can possibly imitate, except in a very awkward +manner. Those who have visited France and Switzerland, and have been +accustomed to the French sound, often give the word the French +pronunciation; but it is not at all necessary to do so. The word, like +_Paris_, has its own established English sound; and if it is not +pedantry to attempt to give it the French sound when speaking English, +it certainly is not a mispronunciation to give it the English one. +Indeed, to require the French pronunciation of the word from English +speakers would be in effect to banish it almost altogether from +conversation; for among the ten millions, more or less, in England or +America, who speak English well, there is probably not one in a thousand +that can possibly give the word its true French pronunciation. + +In reading this book, therefore, and in speaking of the great Swiss +mountain, you are perfectly safe in giving it its plain English sound, +as if it were written Mont Blank; and remember the principle, as +applicable to all other similar cases. Wherever a foreign name has +become so familiar to the English world as to have obtained an +established English pronunciation, in speaking English we give it that +pronunciation, without any regard to the usage of the people who live on +the spot. + +But now I must return to Geneva, and give some further account of the +reasons why it has been so celebrated. + +3. The third reason why Geneva has acquired so much celebrity among +mankind is the great number of learned and distinguished philosophers +and scholars that have from time to time lived there. Switzerland is a +republic, and the canton of Geneva is Protestant; and thus the place has +served as a sort of resort and refuge for all the most distinguished +foes both of spiritual and political tyranny that have risen up in +Europe at intervals during the last five hundred years. Geneva was +indeed one of the chief centres of the Reformation; and almost all the +great reformers visited it and wrote about it, and thus made all the +world familiar with it, during the exciting times in which they lived. + +Besides this, Geneva has been made the residence and home of a great +many moral and political writers within the last one or two centuries; +for the country, being republican, is much more open and free than most +of the other countries of Europe. Men who have incurred the displeasure +of their own governments by their writings or their acts find a safe +asylum in Geneva, where they can think and say what they please. All +this has tended very strongly to attract the attention of mankind to +Geneva, as to a sort of luminous point in respect to moral and +political science, from which light radiates to every part of the +civilized world. + +4. There is one more reason, very different from the preceding, which +tends to make Geneva famous, and to draw travellers to visit it at the +present day; and that is, it is a great manufacturing place for watches +and jewelry--one of the greatest, indeed, in the world. Travellers, in +making the tour of Europe,--and American travellers in +particular,--always wish to bring home with them a great number and +variety of purchases; and the things that they buy they very naturally +desire to buy at the places where they are made. It is not merely that +they hope to get them better and cheaper there, but it is a pleasant +thought to be associated always afterwards with any object of use or +luxury that we possess, that we bought it ourselves at the place of its +original manufacture. Thus the gentlemen who travel in Europe like to +bring home a fowling-piece from Birmingham, a telescope from London, or +a painting from Italy; and the ladies, in planning their tour, wish it +to include Brussels or Valenciennes for laces, and Geneva for a watch. + +Thus, for one reason or another, immense numbers of people go every year +to Geneva, in the course of the tour they make in Europe, either for +business or pleasure. It is estimated that the number of these visitors +annually is not less than thirty thousand; and the chief streets and +quays of the town are marked almost as strikingly by the conspicuousness +and splendor of the hotels as Broadway in New York. + +The place of departure in France for Geneva is Lyons. If you look upon +the map you will see the situation of Lyons on the River Rhone, almost +opposite to Geneva. There is a railroad from Paris to Lyons, and so on +down the Rhone to Marseilles. But from Lyons up to Geneva--which is +likewise situated on the Rhone, at the place where it issues from the +Lake of Geneva--there was no railroad at the time of Rollo's visit, +though there was one in the process of construction. The party were +obliged to travel by _diligence_ on that part of the journey. The +diligence is the French stage coach. The diligence leaves Lyons in the +evening, and travels all night. As Mr. Holiday arrived at Lyons the +evening before, Rollo had the whole of the day to walk about the town +before setting out for his evening ride. His father gave him leave to go +out alone, and ramble where he pleased. + +"The most curious places," said his father, "are on the other side of +the river, where the silk weavers live. Notice what bridge you go over, +so that you will know it again, and then if you get lost on the other +side it will be no matter. All you will have to do is to keep coming +down hill till you reach the river, and then look up and down till you +see the bridge where you went over. That will bring you home. And be +sure to be at home by five o'clock. We are going to have dinner at half +past five." + +"Then won't it be in season," asked Rollo, "if I am at home by half past +five?" + +"In season for what?" asked his father. + +"Why, to save my dinner," said Rollo. + +"Yes," said his father; "it might be in season to save your dinner, but +that is not what I am planning to save. I have no particular uneasiness +about your dinner." + +"Why, father!" said Rollo, surprised. + +"I have no wish to have you go hungry," replied his father; "but then if +by any chance you happened to be late at dinner, it would be of no great +consequence, for you could buy something, and eat it in the diligence by +the way. So I was not planning to save your dinner." + +"Then what were you planning to save, father?" asked Rollo. + +"My own and mother's quiet of mind," replied Mr. Holiday, "especially +mother's. If five minutes of the dinner hour were to come and you +should not appear, she would begin to be uneasy; and indeed so should +I. In such cases as this, children ought always to come before the time +when their parents would begin to feel any uneasiness respecting them." + +Rollo saw at once the correctness of this principle, and he secretly +resolved that he would be at home a quarter before five. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +PLANNING. + + +"What part of the diligence are we going to ride in, father?" asked +Rollo, as they were seated at dinner. + +"In the coupé,"[A] said Mr. Holiday. + +[Footnote A: Pronounced _coupay_.] + +"Ah, father!" said Rollo; "I wish you would go on the banquette. We can +see so much better on the banquette." + +"It would be rather hard climbing for mother," said Mr. Holiday, "to get +up to the banquette--such a long ladder." + +"O, mother can get up just as easily as not," said Rollo. "Couldn't you, +mother?" + +"I am more afraid about getting _down_ than getting up," said his +mother. + +"But it is a great deal pleasanter on the banquette," said Rollo. "They +keep talking all the time--the conductor, and the drivers, and the other +passengers that are there; while in the coupé we shall be all by +ourselves. Besides, it is so much cheaper." + +"It is cheaper, I know," said Mr. Holiday; "but then as to the talking, +I think we shall want to be quiet, and go to sleep if we can. You see it +will be night." + +"Yes, father, that is true," said Rollo; "but I had rather hear them +talk. I can understand almost all they say. And then I like to see them +change horses, and to see the conductor climb up and down. Then, +besides, at almost all the villages they have parcels to leave at the +inns; and it is good fun to see them take the parcels out and toss them +down, and tell the bar maid at the inn what she is to do with them." + +"All that must be very amusing," said Mr. Holiday; "but it would not be +so comfortable for your mother to mount up there. Besides, I have +engaged our places already in the coupé, and paid for them." + +"Why, father!" said Rollo. "When did you do it?" + +"I sent last evening," said Mr. Holiday. "It is necessary to engage the +places beforehand at this season. There is so much travelling into +Switzerland now that the diligences are all full. I had to send to three +offices before I could get places." + +"Are there three offices?" asked Rollo. + +"Yes," said his father; "there are three different lines. + +"But I'll tell you what you may do, Rollo, if you please," continued his +father. "You may go to the bureau,[B] and see if you can exchange your +seat in the coupé for one in the banquette, if you think you would like +better to ride there. There may be some passenger who could not get a +place in the coupé, on account of my having taken them all, and who, +consequently, took one on the banquette, and would now be glad to +exchange, and pay the difference." + +[Footnote B: Bureau is the French word meaning office; and English +people, when travelling in France, fall into the habit of using the word +in that sense.] + +"How much would the difference be?" asked Rollo. + +"I don't know," said Mr. Holiday; "five or six francs, probably. You +would save that sum by riding on the banquette, and you could have it to +buy something with in Geneva." + +"Well, sir," said Rollo, joyfully, "I should like that plan very much." + +"But do you think," said Mrs. Holiday, "that you know French enough to +explain it at the bureau, and make the change?" + +"O, yes, mother," said Rollo; "I have no doubt I can." + +So Rollo said he would finish his dinner as soon as he could, and go off +at once to the bureau. + +"There is one other condition," said his father. "If I let you ride on +the banquette, and let you have all the money that you save for your +own, you must write a full account of your night's journey, and send it +to your cousin Lucy." + +"Well, sir," said Rollo, "I will." + +Rollo left the dinner table while his father and mother were taking +their coffee. The table was one of a number of separate tables arranged +along by the windows on the front side of a quaint and queer-looking +dining room--or _salle à manger_, as they call it--in one of the Lyons +inns. Indeed, the whole inn was very quaint and queer, with its old +stone staircases, and long corridors leading to the various apartments, +and its antique ceiling,--reminding one, as Mr. Holiday said, of the +inns we read of in Don Quixote and other ancient romances. + +Rollo left his father and mother at this table, taking their coffee, and +sallied forth to find his way to the bureau of the diligence. + +"If you meet with any difficulty," said Mr. Holiday, as Rollo went away, +"engage the first cab you see, and the cabman will take you directly +there for a franc or so." + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo, "I will." + +"And if you don't find any cab readily," continued his father, "engage a +commissioner to go with you and show you the way." + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo. + +A commissioner is a sort of porter who stands at the corners of the +streets in the French towns, ready to do any thing for any body that +calls upon him. + +Rollo resolved not to employ either a cabman or a commissioner, if it +could possibly be avoided. He took the address of the bureau from his +father, and sallied forth. + +He first went round the corner to a bookstore where he recollected to +have seen a map of Lyons hanging in the window. He looked at this map, +and found the street on it where he wished to go. He then studied out +the course which he was to take. Lyons stands at, or rather near, the +confluence of the two rivers Rhone and Saone. In coming to Lyons from +Paris, the party had come down the valley of the Saone; but now they +were to leave this valley, and follow up that of the Rhone to Geneva, +which is situated, as has already been said, on the Rhone, at the point +where that river issues from the Lake of Geneva. + +The hotel where Rollo's father had taken lodgings was near the Saone; +and Rollo found that the bureau was on the other side of the town, where +it fronts on the Rhone. + +So Rollo followed the course which he had marked out for himself on the +map. In a short time he saw before him signs of bridges and a river. + +"Ah," says he to himself; "I am right; I am coming to the Rhone." + +He went on, drawing nearer and nearer. At length he came out upon the +broad and beautiful quay, with large and elegant stone buildings on one +side of it, and a broad but low parapet wall on the other, separating +the quay from the water. There was a sidewalk along this wall, with many +people walking on it; and here and there men were to be seen leaning +upon the wall, and looking over at the boats on the river. The river was +broad, and it flowed very rapidly, as almost all water does which has +just come from Switzerland and the Alps. On looking up and down, Rollo +saw a great number of bridges crossing this stream, with teams and +diligences, and in one place a long troop of soldiers passing over. On +the other side, the bank was lined with massive blocks of stone +buildings. In a word, the whole scene presented a very bright and +animated spectacle to view. + +Nearly opposite to the place where Rollo came out upon the river, he +saw, over the parapet wall that extended along on the outer side of the +quay, a very large, square net suspended in the air. It was hung by +means of ropes at the four corners, which met in a point above, whence +a larger rope went up to a pulley which was attached to the end of a +spar that projected from the stern of a boat. The net was slowly +descending into the water when Rollo first caught a view of it; so he +ran across, and looked over the parapet to see. + +[Illustration: THE GREAT NET.] + +The net descended slowly into the water. It was let down by men in the +boat paying out the line that held it. + +"Ah," said Rollo to himself; "that's a curious way to rig a net. I +should like to stay and see them pull it up again, so as to see how many +fish they take; but business first and pleasure afterwards is the rule." + +So he left the parapet, and walked along the quay towards the place +where the bureau was situated. + +"I'll come back here," said he to himself, "when I have got my place on +the banquette, and see them fish a little while, if I find there is +time." + +In a few minutes Rollo came to the place he was seeking. It was in a +little square, called Concert Place, opening towards the river. Rollo +knew the bureau by seeing the diligence standing before the door. It had +been brought up there to be ready for the baggage, though the horses +were not yet harnessed to it. + +Rollo went into the office. He found himself in a small room, with +trunks and baggage arranged along on one side of it, and a little +enclosure of railings, with a desk behind it, on the other. There was a +young man sitting at this desk, writing. + +"This must be a clerk, I suppose," said Rollo to himself. + +Opposite to where the clerk was sitting there was a little opening in +the railings, for people to pay their money and take their tickets; for +people take tickets for places in the diligence, in Europe, just as they +do for the railroad. Rollo advanced to this opening, and, looking +through it, he stated his case to the clerk. He said that he had a place +in the coupé that his father had taken for him, but that he would rather +ride on the banquette, if there was room there, and if any body would +take his place in the coupé. + +The clerk said that there had been a great many persons after a place in +the coupé since it had been taken, and that one lady had taken a place +on the banquette, because all the other places in the coach had been +engaged. + +"I think," said the clerk, "that she will be very glad to exchange with +you, and pay you the difference. She lives not far from here, and if you +will wait a few minutes, I will send and see." + +So the clerk called a commissioner who stood at the door, and after +giving him his directions, sent him away. In a few minutes the +commissioner returned, saying that the lady was very glad indeed to +exchange. He brought in his hand a five franc piece and three francs, +which was the difference in the price of the two places. The clerk gave +this money to Rollo, and altered the entry on his books so as to put +the lady in the coupé and Rollo on the banquette. Thus the affair was +all arranged. + +Rollo found that it was now six o'clock. The diligence was not to set +out until half past seven; but by the rules of the service the +passengers were all to be on the spot, with their baggage, half an hour +before the time; so that Rollo knew that his father and mother would be +there at seven. + +"That gives me just an hour," said he to himself; "so I shall have +plenty of time to go and see how they manage fishing with that big net." + +He accordingly went to see the fishing, but was very careful to return +some minutes before the appointed time. + +Rollo had a very pleasant ride that night to Geneva. He wrote a long and +full account of it afterwards, and sent it to his cousin Lucy. This +letter I shall give in the next chapter. + +The reason why Rollo wrote so long an account of his journey was this: +that his father required him, when travelling, to spend one hour and a +half every day in study of some kind; and writing letters, or any other +intellectual occupation that was calculated to advance his education, +was considered as study. In consequence of this arrangement, Rollo was +never in a hurry to come to the end of his letters, for he liked the +work of writing them better than writing French exercises, or working on +arithmetic, or engaging in any of the other avocations which devolved +upon him when he had no letters on hand. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE RIDE TO GENEVA. + + +"DEAR LUCY: + +"I am going to give you an account of my night ride from Lyons to +Geneva. + +"I got to the diligence office before father came, because I was going +to ride up in the bellows-top. I call it the bellows-top so that you may +understand it better. It is a place up in the second story of the +diligence, where there are seats for four persons, and a great +bellows-top over their heads. _I_ think it is the best place, though +people have to pay more for the coupé, which is right under it. I got +eight francs, which is more than a dollar and a half, for exchanging my +seat in the coupé for one on the banquette. I exchanged with a lady. I +suppose she did not like to climb up the ladder. You see in the coupé +you step right in as you would into a carriage; but you have to go up +quite a long ladder to get to the banquette. I counted the steps. There +were thirteen. + +"When I got to the office, the men were using the ladder to put up the +baggage. They put the baggage on the top of the diligence, along the +whole length of it behind the bellows-top. They pack it all in very +closely, beginning immediately behind, and coming regularly forward, as +far as it will reach. There is a frame over it, and a great leather +covering. They pull the covering forward as fast as they get the trunks +packed, until at last the baggage is all covered over as far forward as +to the back of the bellows-top. + +"The men were using the ladders when I came, getting up the baggage; so +I climbed up by the little steps that are made on the side of the +diligence. I liked my seat very much. Before me was a great leather +boot. The boot was fastened to an iron bar that went across in front, so +that it did not come against my knees. Above me was the bellows-top, to +keep off the rain. Up under the roof of the bellows-top there was a sash +folded together and fastened up by straps. I unfastened one of the +straps, and saw that I could let down the sash if I wished, and thus +make a glass window in front of me, so as to shut me in nicely from the +wind, if it should grow cold in the night. Behind me was a curtain. The +curtain was loose. I pushed it back, and found I could look out on the +top of the diligence where the men were at work packing the trunks and +baggage. The men wore blue frocks shaped like cartmen's frocks.[C] + +[Footnote C: Such a frock is called a _blouse_--pronounced _blooze_. +Almost all working men in France wear them. Hence the class of workmen +in France are sometimes called the _blouses_.] + +"Right before the boot was the postilion's seat. It was a little lower +than my seat, and was large enough for two. The conductor's seat was at +the end of my seat, under the bellows-top. There was one thing curious +about his seat, and that is, that there was a joint in the iron bar of +the boot, so that he could open his end of it, and get out and in +without disturbing the boot before the rest of the passengers. When I +wanted to get out I had to climb over the boot to the postilion's seat, +and so get down by the little iron steps. + +"The reason I wanted to get down was so as to buy some oranges. There +was a woman down there with oranges to sell. She had them in a basket. I +thought perhaps that I might be thirsty in the night, and that I could +not get down very well to get a drink of water. So I climbed down and +bought four oranges. I bought one for myself, and two to give father and +mother, and one more because the woman looked so poor. Besides, they +were not very dear--only fifteen centimes apiece. It takes five centimes +to make a sou, and a sou is about as much as a cent. + +"When I had bought my oranges I climbed up into my place again. + +"There were several people beginning to come and stand about the door of +the bureau. I suppose they were the travellers. Some came in cabs, with +their trunks on before with the postilion. I counted up how many the +diligence would hold, and found that in all, including the two +postilion's seats, and the conductor's, that there were places for +twenty-one. But when we started we had twenty-four in all. Where the +other three sat you will see by and by.[D] + +[Footnote D: The diligence is very large. It has four separate +compartments. For a more full account of the construction of the +vehicle, and for one or two engravings representing it, see Rollo's Tour +in Switzerland.] + +"As fast as the passengers came to the office, the men took their +baggage and packed it with the rest, on the top of the diligence, and +the passengers themselves stood about the door, waiting for the horses +to be put in. + +"Some of the passengers came on foot, with commissioners to bring their +baggage. The commissioners carried their baggage on their backs. They +had a frame something like an old-fashioned kitchen chair strapped to +their shoulders, and the baggage was piled upon this very high. One +commissioner that came had on his frame, first a big black trunk, +placed endwise, and then a portmanteau, then a carpet bag, and on the +top a bandbox. The bandbox reached far above his head. I should not +think they could possibly carry such heavy loads. + +"Presently I saw father and mother coming in a cab. So I climbed down to +meet them. The men in the blouses took their trunk and carried it up the +ladder, and then I opened the coupé door for them, and let them get in. +I told mother that my place was exactly over her head, and that I was +then going to climb up to it, and that when I was there I would knock on +the floor, and she would know that I had got there safely; and I did. + +"By and by they got all the baggage packed, and they pulled the great +leather covering over it, and fastened it to the back of the +bellows-top. Then I could push up the curtain behind me and look in at +the place where the baggage was stowed. It looked like a garret. It was +not quite full. There was room for several more trunks at the forward +end of it. + +"Pretty soon after this they brought round the horses and harnessed them +in. Then the clerk came out of the bureau and called off the names of +the passengers from his list. First he called the names of those who +were to go in the coupé. He said, in a loud voice,-- + +"'Monsieur Holiday and Madame Holiday!' + +"And he looked in at the coupé door, and father said, 'Here.' + +"Then he called out,-- + +"'Madame Tournay!' + +"That was the name of the lady that had changed places with me. So she +got into the coupé. That made the coupé full. + +"In the same manner the clerk called off the names of those who were to +go in the interior, which is the centre compartment. The interior holds +six. + +"Then he called off the names of those that were to go in the 'rotonde,' +which is the back compartment. You get into the rotonde by a door +behind, like the door of an omnibus. + +"Then the clerk called out the names of the people that were to come up +to the banquette with me. There were six of them, and there seemed to be +only room for three. So I could not imagine where they were all going to +sit. They came in a row, one behind the other, up the ladder. Very soon +I saw how they were going to sit; for the three that came first--a man +and woman and a girl--when they came into the banquette, pushed up the +curtain at the back side of it, and so climbed in behind to the garret, +and sat on the trunks. When the curtain was down, after they were in, +they were all in the dark there. + +"However, pretty soon they contrived to fasten up the curtain, and then +they could see out a little over our shoulders. The girl sat directly +behind me. I asked her if she could see, and she said she could, very +well. + +"The postilion then climbed up, with the reins in his hand, and called +out to the horses to start on. He talked to his horses in French, and +they seemed to understand him very well. The great thing, though, was +cracking his whip. You can scarcely conceive how fast and loud he +cracked his whip, first on one side and then on the other, till the +whole court rang again. The horses sprang forward and trotted off at +great speed out of the place, and wheeled round the corner to the quay; +and while they were going, the conductor came climbing up the side of +the coach to his place. + +"The conductor never gets into his place before the diligence starts. He +waits till the horses set out, and then jumps on to the step, and so +climbs up the side while the horses are going. + +"A diligence is a monstrous great machine; and when it sets out on a +journey in a city, the rumbling of the wheels on the pavement, and the +clattering of the horses' feet, and the continual cracking of the +coachman's whip, and the echoes of all these sounds on the walls of the +buildings, make a wonderful noise and din, and every body, when the +diligence is coming, hurries to get out of the way. Indeed, I believe +the coachman likes to make all the noise he can; for he has sleigh bells +on the harness, and, besides cracking his whip, he keeps continually +shouting out to the horses and the teamsters on the road before him; and +whenever he is passing through a town or a village he does all this more +than any where else, because, as I suppose, there are more people there +to hear him. + +"Presently, after driving along the quay a little way, we turned off to +one of the great stone bridges that lead across the Rhone. We went over +this bridge in splendid style. I could see far up and down the river, +and trains of wagons and multitudes of people going and coming on the +other bridges. The water in the river was running very swift. There were +some boats along the shore, but I don't see how the people could dare to +venture out in them in such a current. + +"As soon as we had got over the bridge, we struck into a beautiful road +across the country, and the postilion cracked on faster and harder than +ever. We had five horses, three abreast before, and two behind. They +went upon the gallop, and the postilion kept cracking his whip about +them and over their ears all the time. I thought for a while that he was +whipping them; but when I leaned forward, so that I could look down and +see, I found that he did not touch them with his whip at all, but only +cracked the snapper about them, and shouted at them in French, to make +them go. The road was as hard and smooth as a floor, and it was almost +as white as a floor of marble. + +"The country was very beautiful as long as we could see. There were no +fences, but there were beautiful fields on each side of the road, +divided into squares, like the beds of a garden, with all sorts of +things growing in them. + +"Every now and then we came to a village. These villages were the +queerest looking places that you can imagine. They were formed of rows +of stone houses, close to each other and close to the street. They were +so close to the street, and the street was usually so narrow, that there +was scarcely room sometimes to pass through. I could almost shake hands +with the people looking out the second story windows. I cannot imagine +why they should leave the passage so narrow between the houses on such a +great road. If there were any people in the street of the village when +we went through, they had to back up against the wall when we passed +them, to prevent being knocked down. + +"When we were going through any of these villages, the postilion drove +faster than ever. He would crack his whip, and cheer on his horses, and +make noise and uproar enough to frighten half the town. + +"We went on in this way till it began to grow dark. The postilion handed +the lanterns up to the conductor, and he lighted them with some matches +that he carried in his pocket. The lanterns had reflectors in the back +of them, and were very bright. When the postilion put them back in their +places on the front of the coach, the light shone down on the road +before us, so that the way where the horses were going was as bright as +day. + +[Illustration: GOING THROUGH THE VILLAGE.] + +"After a time the moon rose, and that made it pretty bright every where. +Still I could not see very far, and as the people around me were +talking, I listened to what they were saying. The conductor was telling +stories about diligences that had been robbed. He said that once, when +he was travelling somewhere, the diligence was attacked by robbers, and +he was shot by one of them. He was shot in the neck; and he had to keep +in his bed six months before he got well. I listened as well as I could, +but the diligence made such a noise that I could not understand all +he said, and I did not hear where it was that this happened. I suppose +it was probably in Italy, for I have heard that there were a great many +robbers there. + +"After a while I began to feel sleepy. I don't remember going to sleep, +for the first thing I knew after I began to feel sleepy was that I was +waking up. We were stopping to change horses. We stopped to change +horses very often--oftener than once an hour. When we changed horses we +always changed the postilion too. A new postilion always came with every +new team. It was only the conductor that we did not change. He went with +us all the way. + +"We changed horses usually in a village; and it was very curious to see +what queer-looking hostlers and stable boys came out with the new teams. +Generally the hostlers were all ready, waiting for the diligence to +come; but sometimes they would be all asleep, and the conductor and the +postilion would make a great shouting and uproar in waking them up. + +"When the new team was harnessed in, the new postilion would climb up to +his seat, with the reins in his hands, and, without waiting a moment, he +would start the horses on at full speed, leaving the poor conductor to +get on the best way he could. By the time the horses began to go on the +gallop, the conductor would come climbing up the side of the coach into +his place. + +"It was curious to see how different the different teams were in regard +to the number of horses. Sometimes we had four horses, sometimes five, +and once we had seven. For a long time I could not tell what the reason +was for such a difference. But at last I found out. It was because some +of the stages were pretty nearly level, and others were almost all up +hill. Of course, where there was a great deal of up hill they required +more horses. At the time when they put on seven horses I knew that we +had come to a place where it was almost all up hill; and it was. The +road went winding around through a region of hills and valleys, but +ascending all the time. Still the road was so hard and smooth, and the +horses were so full of life, that we went on the full trot the whole +way. Four horses could not have done this, though, with such a heavy +load. It took seven. + +"In almost all the villages we came to we saw long lines of wagons by +the road side. They were very curious wagons indeed. They were small. +Each one was to be drawn by one horse. There was no body to them, but +only two long poles going from the forward axletree to the back +axletree; and the load was packed on these poles, and covered with +canvas. It looked just like a big bundle tied up in a cloth. These were +wagons that had stopped for the night. Afterwards, when the morning +came, we overtook a great many trains of these wagons, on the road to +Geneva. They were loaded with merchandise going from France into +Switzerland. There was only one driver to the whole train. He went along +with the front wagon, and all the rest followed on in a line. The horses +were trained to follow in this way. Thus one man could take charge of a +train of six or eight wagons. + +"There was one very curious thing in the arrangement, and that was, that +the last horse in the train had a bell on his neck, something like a cow +bell. This was to prevent the driver from having to look round +continually to see whether the rest of the horses were coming or not. As +long as he could hear the bell on the last one's neck he knew they were +all coming; for none of the middle ones could stop without stopping all +behind them. + +"I suppose that sometimes some of the horses in the train would stop; +then the driver would observe that the bell ceased to ring, and he would +stop his own wagon, and go back to see what was the matter. If he found +that any of them stopped to eat grass by the way, or because they were +lazy, he would give them a whipping, and start them on, and that would +teach them to keep marching on the next time. + +"I know what I would do if I were the last horse. Whenever I wanted to +stop and rest I would keep shaking my head all the time, and that would +make the driver think that I was coming along. + +"One time, when we were stopping to change horses, I heard some one +below me calling to me, + +"'Rollo!' + +"I believe I was asleep at that time, and dreaming about something, +though I don't remember what it was. I started up and reached out as far +as I could over the boot, and looked down. I found it was my mother +calling to me. + +"'Rollo,' says she, 'how do you get along?' + +"'Very nicely indeed, mother,' says I; 'and how do you get along?' + +"'Very well,' says she. + +"Just then I happened to think of my oranges; so I asked mother if she +was not thirsty, and she said she was a little thirsty, but she did not +see how she could get any drink until the morning, for the houses were +all shut up, and the people were in bed and asleep. So I told her that I +had an orange for her and for father. She said she was very glad indeed. + +"I could not get down very well to give the oranges to her, so I put +them in my little knapsack, and let them down by a string. I had the +string in my pocket. + +"Mother took the oranges out of the knapsack, and then I pulled it up +again. I told her that I had plenty more for myself. + +"Father cut a hole in one of the oranges that I sent down to mother, and +then she squeezed the juice of it out into her mouth. She said +afterwards that I could not conceive how much it refreshed her. I don't +think _she_ could conceive how glad I was that I had bought it for her. + +"A little while after sunrise we came to a village where we were going +to change horses, and the conductor said that we should stop long enough +to go into the inn if we pleased, and get some coffee. So father and +mother got out of the coupé, and went in. I climbed down from my place, +and went with them. Mother said she went in more to see what sort of a +place the inn was than for the sake of the coffee. + +"It was a very funny place. The floor was of stone. There was one table, +with cups on it for coffee, and plates, and bread and butter. The loaves +of bread were shaped like a man's arm--about as big round, and a good +deal longer. The coffee was very good indeed, on account of there being +plenty of hot milk to put into it. + +"After we had had our breakfast we went on, and the rest of our ride was +through a most magnificent country. There was a long, winding valley, +with beautiful hills and mountains on each side, and a deep chasm in the +middle, with the River Rhone roaring and tumbling over the stones down +at the bottom of it. The road went wheeling on down long slopes, and +around the hills and promontories, with beautiful green swells of land +above it and below it. The horses went upon the run. The postilion had a +little handle close by his seat--a sort of crank--that he could turn +round and round, and so bring a brake to bear against the wheels, and +thus help to hold the carriage back. When he began to go down a slope he +would turn this crank round and round as fast as he could, till it was +screwed up tight, cheering the horses on all the time; and then he would +take his whip and crack it about their ears, and so we go down the +hills, and wheel round the great curves, almost on the run, and could +look down on the fields and meadows and houses in the valley, a thousand +feet below us. It was the grandest ride I ever had. + +"But I have been so long writing this letter that I am beginning to be +tired of it, though I have not got yet to Geneva; so I am going to stop +now. The rest I will tell you when I see you. + + "Your affectionate cousin, + + "ROLLO." + +"P.S. There is one thing more that I will tell you, and that is, that +we went through a castle at one place in the valley. It was a castle +built by the French to guard their frontier. Indeed, there were two +castles. The road passes directly through one of them, and the other is +high up on the rocks exactly above it. The valley is so narrow, and the +banks are so steep, that there is no other possible place for the road +except through the lower castle. The road has to twist and twine about, +too, just before it comes to the castle gates, and after it goes away +from them on the other side, so that every thing that passes along has +some guns or other pointing at them from the castle for more than a +mile. I don't see how any enemy could possibly get into France this way. + +"There was also a place where the Rhone goes under ground, or, rather, +under the rocks, and so loses itself for a time, and then after a while +comes out again. It is a place where the river runs along in the bottom +of a very deep and rocky chasm, and the rocks have fallen down from +above, so as to fill up the chasm from one side to the other, and all +the water gets through underneath them. We looked down into the chasm as +the diligence went by, and saw the water tumbling over the rocks just +above the place where it goes down. I should have liked to stop, and to +climb down there and see the place, but I knew that the diligence would +not wait." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE TOWN. + + +The valley described by Rollo in his letter to Lucy, contained in the +last chapter, is indeed a very remarkable pass. The Romans travelled it +nearly two thousand years ago, in going from Italy to France, or, as +they called it, Gaul. Cæsar describes the country in his Commentaries; +and from that day to this it has been one of the greatest thoroughfares +of Europe. + +The valley is very tortuous, and in some places it is very narrow; and +the road runs along through it like a white thread, suspended, as it +were, half way between the lofty summits of the mountains and the +roaring torrent of the Rhone in the deep abyss below. + +After emerging from this narrow pass, the road comes out into an open +country, which is as fertile and beautiful, and as richly adorned with +hamlets, villas, parks, gardens, and smiling fields of corn and grain, +as any country in the world. At length, on coming over the summit of a +gentle swell of land, that rises in the midst of this paradise, the +great chain of the Alps, with the snowy peak of Mont Blanc crowning it +with its glittering canopy of snow, comes suddenly into view. + +"Look there!" said the conductor to the company on the banquette. "See +there! the Mont Blanc, all uncovered!" + +The French always call Mont Blanc _the_ Mont Blanc, and for _all clear +and in plain view_ they say _all uncovered_. + +It is calculated that there are only about sixty days in the year, upon +an average, when Mont Blanc appears with his head uncovered. They, +therefore, whose coming into Switzerland he honors by taking off his +cap, have reason greatly to rejoice in their good fortune. + +Rollo had seen snow-covered mountains shining in the sun before; but he +was greatly delighted with this new view of them. There is indeed a +peculiar charm in the sight of these eternal snows, especially when we +see them basking, as it were, in the rays of a warm summer's sun, that +is wholly indescribable. The sublime and thrilling grandeur of the +spectacle no pen or pencil can portray. + +[Illustration: VIEW OF GENEVA] + +After passing over the hill, and descending into the valley again, the +company in the diligence came soon in sight of the environs of Geneva. +They passed by a great many charming country seats, with neat walls of +masonry bordering the gardens, and wide gateways opening into pretty +courts, and little green lawns surrounding the chateaux. At length the +diligence came thundering down a narrow paved street into the town. +Every thing made haste to get out of the way. The postilion cracked his +whip, and cheered on his horses, and shouted out to the cartmen and +footmen before him to clear the way, and made generally as much noise +and uproar as possible, as if the glory of a diligence consisted in the +noise it made, and the sensation it produced in coming into town. + +At length the immense vehicle wheeled round a corner, and came out upon +a broad and beautiful quay. The quay had a range of very elegant and +palace-like looking houses and hotels on one side, and the water of the +lake--exceedingly clear, and bright, and blue--on the other. The place +was at the point where the water of the lake was just beginning to draw +in towards the outlet; so that there was a pretty swift current. + +The engraving represents the scene. In the foreground we see the broad +quay, with the buildings on one side, and the low parapet wall +separating it from the water on the other. In the middle distance we see +the diligence just coming out upon the quay from the street by which it +came into the town. A little farther on we see the bridge by which the +diligence will pass across to the other side of the river--the diligence +offices being situated in the row of buildings that we see on the +farther side. This bridge is not straight. There is an angle in it at +the centre. From the apex of this angle there is a branch bridge which +goes out to a little island in the lake. This island is arranged as a +promenade, and is a great place of resort for the people of Geneva. +There are walks through it and all around it, and seats under the trees, +and a parapet wall or railing encircling the margin of it, to prevent +children from falling into the water. + +As the diligence rolled along the quay, and turned to go over the +bridge, Rollo could look out in one direction over the broad surface of +the lake, which was seen extending for many miles, bordered by gently +sloping shores coming down to the water. On the other side the current +was seen rapidly converging and flowing swiftly under another bridge, +and thence directly through the very heart of the town. + +The diligence went over the bridge. While it was going over, Rollo +looked out first one way, towards the lake, and then the other way, down +the river. On the lake side there was a steamboat coming in. She was +crowded with passengers, and the quay at the other end of the bridge, +where the steamer was going to land, was crowded with people waiting to +see. + +On the other side of the bridge, that is, looking down the stream, Rollo +saw a deep blue river running more and more swiftly as it grew narrower. +There were several other bridges in sight, and an island also, which +stood in the middle of the stream, and was covered with tall and +ancient-looking buildings. These buildings indeed more than covered the +original island; they extended out over the water--the outer walls +seeming to rest on piles, between and around which the water flowed with +the utmost impetuosity. The banks of the river on each side were walled +up, and there were streets or platform walks along the margin, between +the houses and the water. There were a great many bridges, some wide and +some narrow, leading across from one bank to the other, and from each +bank to the island between. + +The diligence passed on so rapidly that Rollo had very little +opportunity to see these things; but he resolved that as soon as they +got established in the hotel he would come out and take a walk, and +explore all those bridges. + +"It is just such a town as I like," said he to himself. "A swift river +running through the middle of it--water as clear as a bell--plenty of +foot bridges down very near to the water, and ever so many little +platforms and sidewalks along the margin, where you can stand and fish +over the railings." + +In the mean time the diligence went thundering on over the bridge, and +then drove along the quay, on the farther side, past one office after +another, until it came to its own. Here the horses were reined in, and +the great machine came to a stand. The doors of the lower compartments +were opened, and the passengers began to get out. Two ladders were +placed against the side, one for the passengers on the banquette to get +down by, and the other to enable the blouses that stood waiting there to +uncover and get down the baggage. Rollo did not wait for his turn at the +ladder, but climbed down the side of the coach by means of any +projecting irons or steps that he could find to cling to. + +"Now, Rollo," said Mr. Holiday, "the hotel is pretty near, and we are +going to walk there. I am going to leave you here to select out our +baggage, when they get it down, and to bring it along by means of a +porter." + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "I should like to do that. But what hotel is +it?" + +"The Hotel de l'Ecu," said Mr. Holiday. + +So Mr. and Mrs. Holiday walked along the pier to the hotel, leaving +Rollo to engage a porter and to follow in due time. + +The porter carried the baggage on his back, by means of a frame, such as +has been already described. Rollo followed him, and thus he arrived at +last safely at the hotel. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE HOTEL. + + +One of the greatest sources of interest and pleasure for travellers who +visit Switzerland and the Alps for the first time, especially if they +are travellers from America, is the novelty of the arrangements and +usages of the hotels. + +One reason why every thing is so different in a Swiss hotel from what we +witness in America is, that all the arrangements are made to accommodate +parties travelling for pleasure. Every thing is planned, therefore, with +a view of making the hotel as attractive and agreeable to the guests as +possible. + +The Hotel de l'Ecu, where our party have now arrived, is very pleasantly +situated on the quay facing the lake. It stands near the further end of +the bridge, as seen in the engraving on page 58. It is the building +where you see the flag flying. + +Indeed, all the principal hotels in Geneva are situated on the quay. +Quite a number of the large and handsome edifices which you see in the +engraving, on both sides the water, are hotels. The hotel keepers know +very well that most of the travellers that come to Switzerland come not +on business, but to see the lakes, and mountains, and other grand +scenery of their country. Accordingly, in almost every place, the +situation chosen for the hotels is the one which commands the prettiest +views. + +Then, in arranging the interior of the house, they always place the +public apartments, such as the breakfast and dining rooms, and the +reading room, in the pleasantest part of it; and they have large windows +opening down to the floor, and pretty little tables in the recesses of +them, so that while you are eating your breakfast or reading the +newspapers you have only to raise your eyes and look out upon the most +charming prospects that the town affords. + +Then, besides this, they have gardens, and summer houses, and raised +terraces, overlooking roads, or rivers, or beautiful valleys, and little +observatories, and many other such contrivances to add to the charms of +the hotel, and make the traveller's residence in it more agreeable. + +They hope in this way to induce the traveller to prolong his stay at +their house. And it has the intended effect. Indeed, at almost every +hotel where a party of travellers arrive, in a new town, their first +feeling almost always is, that they shall wish to remain there a week. + +What a pleasant place! they say to each other; and what a beautiful +room! Look at the mountains! Look at the torrent pouring through the +valley! What a pretty garden! And this terrace, where we may sit in the +evening, and have our tea, and watch the people across the valley, going +up and down the mountain paths. I should like to stay here all summer. + +Then the next place where they stop may be on a lake; and there, when +they go to the window of their rooms, or of the breakfast room, they +look out and say,-- + +Ah! see what a beautiful view of the lake! How blue the water is! See +the sail boats and the row boats going to and fro. And down the lake, as +far as I can see, there is a steamer coming. I see the smoke. And +beyond, what a magnificent range of mountains, the tops all covered with +glaciers and snow! + +When Rollo entered the hotel at Geneva, he found himself ushered first +into a large, open apartment, which occupied the whole centre of the +building, and extended up through all the stories, and was covered with +a glass roof above. There were galleries all around this apartment, in +the different stories. Doors from these galleries, on the back sides of +them, led to the various rooms, while on the front sides were railings, +where you could stand and look down to the floor below, and see the +travellers coming and going. + +At one end of this hall was a winding staircase, with broad and easy +stone steps. This staircase ascended from story to story, and +communicated by proper landings with the galleries of the several +floors. + +This hall, though it was thus very public in its character, was very +prettily arranged. The galleries which opened upon it on the different +stories were adorned with balconies, and the walls of it were hung with +maps and pictures of Alpine scenery, pretty engravings of hotels +standing in picturesque spots on the margins of lakes, or on the banks +of running streams, or hidden away in some shady glen, in the midst of +stupendous mountains. Then, besides these pictures, the hall was adorned +with statues, and vases of flowers; and there was a neat little table, +with writing materials and the visitor's book upon it, and various other +fixtures and contrivances to give the place an agreeable and home-like +air. + +As Rollo came into the hall, accompanied by the porter, a clerk came out +to meet him from a little office on one side, and told him that his +father and mother were in their room; and he sent a messenger to show +Rollo and the porter the way to it. + +Rollo accordingly followed the messenger and the porter up stairs, and +was ushered into a very pleasant room on the second story, looking out +upon the lake and the river. Rollo went immediately to the window. His +mother was sitting at the window when he entered the room. + +"This is a pretty window, Rollo," said she; "come and look out. + +"See how many bridges!" said she, when Rollo had come to her side. + +"And how swift the water runs under them!" said Rollo. + +"There are some boys fishing," said Mrs. Holiday. + +"Yes," said Rollo; "I should think there would be plenty of trout in +such a river as this, it runs so swift and is so clear. This is just +such a place as I like. See that big water wheel, mother." + +So saying, Rollo pointed to a large mill wheel which was slowly +revolving by the side of a building that projected out over the water, +on the island. + +The island where Rollo saw the wheel was not the one seen in the +engraving on page 58. That is called the _islet_, and it stands _in the +lake_, entirely on the outer side of the first bridge. The _island_, on +the other hand, stands in the rapid current of the river, below the +second bridge, and is entirely covered, as has already been said, with +tall and very antique looking buildings. The current is so rapid along +the sides of this island, and along the adjacent shores, that it will +carry a mill any where wherever they set a wheel. + +"After we have had breakfast," said Rollo, "I mean to go out and explore +all those bridges, and go about all over the island." + +"Yes," said Mrs. Holiday; "that will be very pleasant. I should like +very much to go with you; and I will, if the sun does not come out too +warm." + +By this time Mr. Holiday had paid and dismissed the porter; and he now +turned to Rollo, and asked him if he would like to go down and order +breakfast. Rollo said that he should like to go very much. + +"Go down, then," said Mr. Holiday, "into the dining room, and choose a +table there, near a pleasant window, and order breakfast." + +"What shall I order?" asked Rollo. + +"Any thing you please," said Mr. Holiday; "you know what will make a +good breakfast." + +So Rollo went out of the room, in order to go down stairs. He passed +all around the gallery of the story he was in, looking at the pictures +that were hung upon the walls as he went, and then descended the +staircase to the lower floor. Here he found doors opening into the +dining room, which extended along the whole front of the hotel towards +the lake. The room was large, and was very beautifully furnished. There +was a long table extending up and down the middle of it. On the back +side were sofas, between the doors. On the front side was a range of +windows looking out upon the river. The windows were large, and as the +walls of the hotel were very thick, a recess was formed for each, and +opposite each recess was a round table. These tables were all set for +breakfasts or dinners. + +Some of these tables were occupied. Rollo chose the pleasantest of the +ones that were at liberty, and took his seat by the side of it. +Presently a very neatly-dressed and pleasant-looking young man came to +him, to ask what he would have. This was the waiter; and Rollo made +arrangements with him for a breakfast. He ordered fried trout, veal +cutlets, fried potatoes, an omelette, coffee, and bread and honey. His +father and mother, when they came to eat the breakfast, said they were +perfectly satisfied with it in every respect. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +A RIDE IN THE ENVIRONS. + + +One morning, a day or two after our party arrived at Geneva, Mr. Holiday +told Rollo, as they were sitting at their round breakfast table, at one +of the windows looking out upon the lake, that he had planned a ride for +that day; and he said that Rollo, if he wished, might go too. + +"Well, sir," said Rollo; "only I think I should like better to go and +take a sail." + +"I believe boys generally like to sail better than to ride," said Mr. +Holiday; "but the places that we are going to are where we cannot reach +them in a boat. However, I will make you an offer. We are going to ride +in a carriage to-day, and we should like very much to have you go with +us. Now, if you will go with us on this ride, I will go and take you out +on the lake to sail some other day." + +"Well, sir," said Rollo, joyfully. "But how far will you take me?" + +"As far as you wish to go," said Mr. Holiday. + +"O, father!" said Rollo; "I should wish to go to the very farthest end +of the lake." + +"Well," said his father, "I will take you there." + +It must not at all be supposed from this conversation that Mr. Holiday +considered it necessary to make a bargain with his boy, to induce him to +go any where or to do any thing that he desired. He put the case in this +way to amuse Rollo, and to interest him more in proposed expeditions. + +"There are three distinguished personages," said Mr. Holiday, "whose +names and histories are intimately associated with Geneva, because they +all lived in Geneva, or in the environs of it. These three persons are +Madame de Stael, John Calvin, and Voltaire. I will tell you something +about them on the way. As soon as you have finished your breakfast you +may go and engage a carriage for us. Get a carriage with two horses, and +have it ready at half past ten." + +Rollo was always much pleased with such a commission as this. He engaged +a very pretty carriage, with two elegant black horses. The carriage had +a top which could be put up or down at pleasure. Rollo had it put down; +for, though it was a pleasant day, there were clouds enough in the sky +to make it pretty shady. + +There was a front seat in the carriage, where Rollo might sit if he +chose; but he preferred riding outside with the postilion. + +"And then," said Rollo to his father, "if there are any directions to be +given to the postilion, or if you have any questions for me to ask, I +can speak to him more conveniently." + +"Is that the true reason why you wish to ride there?" asked his father. + +"Why, no, father," said Rollo. "The true reason is, that I can see +better." + +"They are both very good reasons," said Mr. Holiday. "Then, besides, +when you get tired of riding there you can come inside." + +Accordingly, when the carriage came to the door, Rollo, after seeing his +father and mother safely seated inside, mounted on the top with the +postilion, and so they rode away. + +They repassed the bridge by which they had entered Geneva, and then +turned to the right by a road which led along the margin of the lake, at +a little distance from the shore. + +The road was very smooth and hard, and the country was beautiful. +Sometimes the road was bordered on each side by high walls, which formed +the enclosures of gardens or pleasure grounds. Sometimes it was open, +and afforded most enchanting views of the lake and of the ranges of +mountains beyond. But what chiefly amused and occupied Rollo's mind was +the novelties which he observed in the form and structure of every thing +he saw by the wayside. Such queer-looking carts and wheelbarrows, such +odd dresses, such groups of children at play, such gates, such +farmyards, such pumps and fountains by the roadside--every thing, +indeed, was new and strange. + +After the party had been riding about an hour and a half, they passed +through a village which consisted, like those which Rollo had seen on +the road from Lyons, of compact rows of old and quaint-looking stone +houses, close to the roadside. The postilion stopped at this village to +give the horses a little drink. + +"Now, Rollo," said Mr. Holiday, "I wish you would get down, and come +inside a little while." + +Rollo obeyed; and when the carriage began to go on again, his father +addressed him as follows: + +"We are going to see the residence of Madame de Stael. She was one of +the most celebrated ladies that ever lived. She was distinguished as an +authoress. You don't know any thing about her now, and I suppose you +don't care much about her." + +"No, sir," said Rollo; "I do not." + +"But then," continued his father, "in a few years more you will very +probably read some of her writings; and at any rate you will often hear +of them. One of the most celebrated of her works is a tale called +Corinne." + +"Ah, yes," said Rollo; "I have heard of Corinne. The first class in +French studied it at school." + +"Very likely," said Mr. Holiday. "It is a very good text book for +studying French. At any rate it is a famous book, and Madame de Stael is +a very celebrated author. She was a lady, too, while she lived, of great +personal distinction. Her rank and position in society were very +exalted. She associated with kings and princes, and was closely +connected with many of the great political transactions of the day in +which she lived. This, of course, added greatly to her renown. + +"Her father was a very distinguished man, too. His name was Monsieur +Necker. He was a great statesman and financier. The King of France got +his money affairs in the greatest confusion and difficulty, and he +appointed Monsieur Necker his minister of finance, to try to put them in +order." + +"And did he succeed?" asked Rollo. + +"No," said Mr. Holiday; "it was too late. The disorder was hopeless, and +it ended in the great French revolution. But Necker became a very +celebrated character in history. We are going to see the chateau where +he lived. We shall see the room where his daughter wrote Corinne. I +wish you to observe carefully all that you see, and remember it. +Hereafter, when you come to read the history of France and the writings +of Madame de Stael, you will look back with great pleasure to the visit +you made when a boy to the chateau of Necker, near Geneva." + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo, "I will." + +A short time after this the carriage stopped in a shady place under some +trees, near the entrance to a village. The postilion descended and +opened the carriage door, and then pointed up an avenue of trees, which +he said led to the chateau. Mr. and Mrs. Holiday got out of the carriage +and walked up the avenue. Rollo followed them. + +They came at length to the chateau. There was a large portal, closed by +an iron gate. On one side of the portal was a lodge. A porter came out +of the lodge, and Mr. Holiday asked him if they could see the chateau. +He answered very politely that they could; and immediately opening the +iron gate, he ushered the whole party into the court yard. + +The court yard was a very pleasant place. It was surrounded on three +sides by the buildings of the chateau, which were quite imposing in +their character, like a palace. The fourth side was formed by a handsome +wall, with a large ornamented gateway in the centre of it, leading into +a garden. + +The entrance to the chateau was at a large door in the middle of one +side of the yard. The porter ascended the steps, and rang the bell. He +said to Mr. Holiday that some one would come to conduct the party over +the chateau, and then went back to his lodge. + +Presently a well-dressed man came to the door. He received the party in +a very polite and friendly manner, and invited them in. + +The first apartment that they entered was a hall. The hall was very +large, and was finished and furnished like a room, with chairs, sofas, +and a great fireplace. On one side was a broad stone staircase, +ornamented with a massive balustrade. The concierge led the way up this +staircase to a sort of gallery on the second story. From this gallery a +door opened, leading to the suite of apartments which Monsieur Necker +and his distinguished daughter had occupied. + +The rooms were constructed and arranged in the style common in French +palaces. They were situated in the line of building which formed the +front of the chateau; and on the front side of each of them were windows +looking out upon the lake. Of course these windows formed the range of +windows in the second story of the principal front of the edifice. + +On the back side of each of these rooms was a door communicating with +the gallery behind them, or with some subordinate apartments depending +upon them. + +Besides these doors, there were others which connected the different +apartments of the suite with each other. These doors were all in a line, +and they were near the side of the room where the windows were which +looked out upon the lake. Thus one could pass through the whole suite of +apartments by walking along from one to another through these doors, +passing thus just in front of the range of windows. + +The rooms were all beautifully furnished in the French style. There were +richly carved cabinets and book cases, and splendid mirrors, and sofas +and chairs, and paintings and statues. One room was the library. Another +was a bedroom. In one there were several portraits on the wall. Mr. and +Mrs. Holiday seemed particularly interested in examining these +portraits. One represented Madame de Stael herself; another, her father, +Monsieur Necker; a third, her mother, Madame Necker. Besides these, +there were some others of the family. + +Rollo looked at all these portraits, as his father requested him to do; +but he was more interested in two other objects which stood on a table +in the same room. These objects were two little figures, one +representing a horse and the other a lamb. These figures were under a +glass. The horse was about a foot long, and the lamb about six inches. +The horse was of a very pretty form, and was covered with hair, like a +living animal. The lamb in the same manner was covered with wool. +Indeed, they were both in all respects models of the animals they +represented in miniature. + +Rollo asked the concierge what they were. + +"Ah," said he, "those are models of a favorite horse and a favorite lamb +that belonged to Monsieur Necker. When they died he was very sorry; and +he had these models of them made, to perpetuate the memory of them." + +After this, in other rooms, the party were shown the table at which +Madame de Stael sat in writing Corinne, and the inkstand that she used; +and when they went down stairs, the concierge showed them into a large +hall, which was situated directly below the rooms they had been +visiting, where he said Madame de Stael used to have her dramas +performed from time to time before an audience of friends and visitors +from the neighborhood. + +At length the concierge conducted the party to the door where they had +come in. There Mr. Holiday, after giving him a franc, thanked him for +his politeness, and bade him good bye. The party took a little walk in +the garden, and then returned to the carriage and rode away. + +The bodies of Monsieur Necker and of his daughter lie buried in a little +grove of trees near the house. The party saw the grove, but visitors are +not allowed to go to the graves. + +On leaving the chateau, the carriage turned off from the lake, and took +a road that led back more into the interior. + +"What are we going to see next, father?" said Rollo. + +"We are going to see the house where the famous philosopher, Voltaire, +lived," replied Mr. Holiday; "though on the way we are going to see a +fountain and cascade." + +"Is there any thing very remarkable about the fountain?" asked Rollo. + +"I don't know," said Mr. Holiday; "only it is mentioned in the guide +books as worth being visited." + +So the carriage drove on through a very beautiful country, with fields, +and gardens, and country seats, and ancient chateaux bordering the way. +From time to time, Rollo, on looking back, obtained splendid views of +the lake behind him, and of the gently-sloping and highly-cultivated +shore on the opposite side, with the snowy range of the Alps beyond, +shining in the sun. + +At length they arrived at a village, and stopped before an inn. The +postilion said that they were to stop there with the carriage, and go to +the fountain on foot. + +"I will call some one to show you the way," said he. + +So he went to one of the houses across the street, and called a woman of +the village, and she said that she would go to the school and call her +boy. + +"But it is a pity," said Mr. Holiday, "to take the boy away from his +school." + +"O, no," said the woman; "that is nothing at all." + +So she ran along the street of the village until she came to the school +house, and presently she returned with the boy. He had a book in his +hand. Rollo looked at the book, and found that it was a grammar. The +covers of it were worn, and the leaves tumbled, and the beginning and +end of it were filled with names scribbled on the blank pages, and rude +drawings, which made it look exactly like the school books of idle boys, +as Rollo had often seen them in America. + +Rollo gave back the book to the boy, and the boy gave it to his mother, +and then he began walking along the road, to show the party the way to +the fountain. + +He led them out of the village, and along the pleasant road, until at +length they came to a place where there was an open gateway, through +which they could see the beautiful grounds of a large country house, +which appeared like a hotel. There were ladies and gentlemen walking +about the grounds, along the margin of a large stream of water, or +sitting in groups under the trees. + +"What place is that?" said Rollo to the boy. + +"It is a place of baths," said the boy. + +Rollo wished to go in there and see the grounds; but the boy walked on, +and so Rollo followed him. After a time the guide turned off into a +field, and there took a path which led down toward a wood, where they +could hear water running. When they came into the wood they saw the +water. It was a large stream, large enough for a mill stream, and it ran +foaming and tumbling down over its rocky bed in a very picturesque +manner. + +The walk led along the bank of the stream, under the trees. It was a +wide and very pleasant walk, and was well gravelled. Here and there +there were little seats, too, at pretty places formed by the windings of +the glen. + +After walking along a little way, and not coming to any thing more, Mrs. +Holiday began to be tired. + +"I wonder," said she, "if there is any thing remarkable to see at the +end of this path." + +"I'll ask the boy," said Rollo. + +"Boy," he added, speaking to the little guide, "what is there to see up +here?" + +"It is this," said the boy, pointing to the brook. + +"Isn't there any thing else besides this stream?" asked Rollo. + +"No," said the boy. + +"He says there is not any thing else," said Rollo to his mother; "and so +I don't believe it is worth while to go any farther. We have seen this +brook enough, and you will get very tired." + +Mrs. Holiday sat down upon a green bench that happened to be near, at a +turn of the stream, in order to take time to consider the question. + +Mr. Holiday sat down beside her. + +"We will wait here, Rollo, while you go on with the boy, and see what +you can find. I think there must be something or other remarkable, for +they would not make so good a path as this to lead to nothing at all. +You may go on with the boy, and see what it comes to, and then you can +come back and tell us." + +Rollo liked this plan very much, and so he and the boy walked on. + +In about five minutes Mr. Holiday heard Rollo calling to him. + +"FA-THER! FA-THER!" said he. + +"_Well_," said Mr. Holiday, "_I hear_." + +"Come up here," said Rollo, calling out again. "It is a very curious +place indeed." + +So Mr. and Mrs. Holiday rose, and after following the path a short +distance farther through the wood, they came to where Rollo was. They +found, to their astonishment, that there the brook which they had been +following so long came to a sudden end, or rather to a sudden beginning; +for the whole volume of water that composed it was seen here to come +boiling up out of the ground in a sort of shallow basin, which was +formed on the hill side at the head of the glen. + +The place was very secluded, but it was very beautiful. It was shaded +with trees, which overhung the paths, and the basin, and the various +channels of water which flowed from it and around it. The water boiled +up very copiously from between the stones that had been set up to form +the margin of the basin, and also among the sands which formed the +bottom of it. The walk was conducted all around this singular fountain; +and it passed across the outlet, where the stream flowed away from it, +over a neat little stone dike, which formed the edge of the basin on the +lower side. + +Rollo led the way to the middle of this dike, and his father and mother +followed. They stood there for some time, looking down into the basin +to see the water boil up from between the stones and among the sands. + +"This is a very curious place indeed," said Mrs. Holiday. + +"It certainly is," said Mr. Holiday. + +"Well, father," said Rollo, after gazing for some time into the bubbling +and boiling fountain, "where does all this water come from? What makes +it come up out of the ground?" + +"Why, the truth is," said Mr. Holiday, "though it seems to come _up_, it +really comes _down_. + +"Do you see all this mountain up here?" he added. So saying he pointed +to the land which seemed to rise to a great height above the head of the +glen. + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo. + +"Well, this mountain," continued Mr. Holiday, "is full of water. All +mountains are full of water, for it rains on the summits and sides of +them almost continually, and this keeps them always full. Generally this +water drains off down into the valleys, through the beds of sand and +gravel that lie in the heart of the mountain, and so is not particularly +observed. Sometimes it breaks out in small springs, at various places on +the mountain sides; and sometimes the shape of the rocks and openings in +the mountain are such as to collect a great quantity of it in one +place, where it breaks out into the open ground altogether, as it does +here. There are a great many such fountains in Switzerland." + +"Are there any larger than this?" asked Rollo. + +"Yes," said Mr. Holiday, "ten times as large. Sometimes the water forms +quite a little river almost immediately after it comes out of the +ground." + +"I should like to see them," said Rollo. + +"Very likely you will see some of them," said his father. + +"But then, father," said Rollo, "if this water all comes from the rain, +I should think that when it stops raining on the mountain above, then or +soon afterwards the water would stop boiling up here." + +"No," said his father; "the mountain is so large, and the immense beds +of sand, gravel, and rock which it contains hold so much water, that +before all that has fallen in one rain has time to get drained away, +another rain comes, and so there is a perpetual supply, especially for +such fountains as come from channels that reach far into the mountain." + +After rambling about this spot for some time, the party returned down +the path; but instead of going back into the road again by the way they +came, the boy led them through a gate into the grounds of the hotel +which they had seen in coming. + +The grounds were very beautiful, being shaded with trees, and full of +walks; and the stream which came down the glen spread itself out in +various directions all over them, filling a great number of channels and +basins which had been opened here and there, and were seen in every +direction among the trees and foliage. The water flowed very swiftly +along from one of these basins to another, sometimes in a continuous +torrent, and sometimes by a series of cascades and waterfalls; and in +the bottoms of all the little ponds the water was seen boiling up in the +clean gray sand, just as it had done in the fountain up the glen. + +There were walks every where along the banks of these streams, and +little bridges leading across them. There were seats, too, and bowers, +and a great many other pretty places. At one spot under a tree was a +large white swan, or rather a sculptured image of one, sitting on a +marble stone, and pouring out a constant stream of clear cold water from +his mouth. Underneath, on a little marble slab, was a tumbler, placed +there to enable people to take a drink. Rollo stopped to take a drink; +but instead of using the tumbler, he caught the water in a drinking cup +which he had bought in Scotland, and which he always carried in his +pocket. + +After rambling about these grounds for some time, the party went back +through the yard of the hotel to the village. There they dismissed the +boy. Mr. Holiday gave him half a franc for guiding them. Then they got +into their carriage again, and rode on. + +In about an hour they came to a little village named Ferney, near which +was the chateau that was formerly the residence of the celebrated +philosopher Voltaire. The carriage stopped under some ancient trees, and +Mr. and Mrs. Holiday and Rollo got out and walked up an avenue. At the +head of the avenue they came to a gate which led into the grounds of the +chateau. + +There was a bell cord hanging by this gate, and a placard up, requesting +visitors to ring the bell, and not to enter the grounds until the +domestic should come to guide them. + +"Shall I ring, father?" said Rollo. + +"Yes," said Mr. Holiday; "ring away." + +So Rollo pulled the bell rope, and very soon a domestic came. He +received the company very politely, and invited them to follow him. + +Mr. and Mrs. Holiday and Rollo accordingly followed him into the yard. +The domestic led them round to the front of the house, which was turned +away from the road. The front faced a beautiful lawn, ornamented with +walks and trees. In one place there was a table under the trees, with +seats around it, as if the family were accustomed sometimes to take +their tea there. From this lawn there was a beautiful view of the lake +and of the mountains beyond. + +The domestic led them into the house, and showed them the two rooms in +it which contained most of the memorials of Voltaire. The most +remarkable of these memorials was a marble monument which stood on one +side of the room, and which Rollo said looked like an ornamental stove, +that contained Voltaire's _heart_. His body was buried in Paris, but his +heart was deposited in this sepulchral urn. + +Besides this there were a number of pictures in the room, which had been +placed there by Voltaire. Some of them had been given to him by the +emperors and kings that he had been acquainted with. + +Rollo, however, did not take much interest in any of these things. The +singular appearance of the room and of the furniture interested him in +some degree by its novelty, but in other respects he was very little +amused by what he saw. He was glad when the visit to the house was over, +and he came out again upon the lawn. + +From the lawn there was a very splendid view. There was a broad and very +fertile slope of land extending for several miles down to the shore of +the lake. Beyond it was seen the blue expanse of the water, and still +farther another magnificent slope of fertile and richly-cultivated land, +which extended back beyond the lake to the foot of the mountains. A +lofty range of snow-clad summits rose in the distance, the towering +summit of Mont Blanc reposing like a monarch in the midst of them. + +There was a curious covered walk along on one side of this lawn. It was +a walk covered with foliage. It was walled in on the sides, too, as well +as covered above with the foliage. Two hedges had been planted, one on +each side; and as they had grown, the leaves and branches had been +trimmed off straight and smooth like a wall. Then the tops had been +trained to meet overhead, and the foliage had been trimmed square and +flat on the upper side, and in an arch on the under side. So dense was +the growth of the leaves and branches that the whole alley was closely +and completely enclosed, so that it would not have been possible to look +out of it at all, had it not been that a row of square openings like +windows had been made on the side towards the lake. Any one could look +out and view the scenery through these openings as he walked along. + +Voltaire used to compose his works in this alley, it was said. He would +walk up and down, and dictate as he walked to his amanuensis, who sat +near at hand with pen and ink to write down the philosopher's words. + +After this the domestic conducted the party through a wood, and showed +them a tree which Voltaire had planted. It was now a tree of great size, +and apparently far advanced in age. + +Rollo took very little interest in this tree, and even his father and +mother did not appear to pay much attention to it. It seemed, however, +that other visitors had not felt the same indifference to it, for those +who had come to see it had picked off and cut off so many pieces of bark +to carry away as relics that the tree, on one side had become entirely +excoriated, and there was danger that in the end the poor sufferer from +these depredations would be killed. In order to protect it, therefore, +from any further injury, the proprietor had surrounded it with a little +circular paling, so that now nobody could come near enough to touch the +tree. + +Rollo was glad when the visit to this place was ended; so he ran on +before his father and mother in going out, and was on his seat by the +side of the postilion long before they came to the carriage. + +Ferney, though so near to Geneva, is within the confines of France, and +the carriage passed the line between the two countries in going home. +There was a little custom house and two or three armed policemen at the +frontier; but the party of travellers were not molested, and so in due +time they arrived safely home. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE JUNCTION OF THE ARVE. + + +One evening, when Rollo was walking with his father and mother on one of +the bridges which led over the river, they stopped at a place where two +boys were fishing, and looked down over the railing into the water. The +water was quite deep, but they could see the stones on the bottom of it +almost as distinctly as if they had been looking only through the air. + +"How very clear the water is!" said Mrs. Holiday; "and what a beautiful +tinge it has! What is the reason of it?" + +"I don't know what the reason is of the blue tinge," said Mr. Holiday; +"but the cause of its being so clear is, that it flows out of this great +lake, where it has been lying so long that it has had time to settle +perfectly. + +"There is a great difference in the streams of Switzerland," continued +Mr. Holiday. "Some are exceedingly clear, and some are exceedingly +turbid. There are two ways by which the turbid waters become purified. +One is, by being filtered through the sands under ground; and the other +is, by '_settling_', as we call it, in the lakes. The water of the +fountain that we saw on our way to Ferney was beautifully clear, and it +was made so by filtration in the sand, in coming down through the heart +of the mountain. This water, on the other hand, is made clear by its +impurities subsiding in the lake." + +"And it comes in muddy at the other end," said Rollo. + +"Not muddy, exactly," rejoined Mr. Holiday, "but very turbid. The +turbidness of it is not mud precisely. It comes from the grinding up of +rocks by the slow march of the glaciers over and among them. Thus all +the streams that come from glaciers are very turbid; and so long as the +waters flow on in an uninterrupted stream they continue turbid; but when +they form a lake, the particles of stone subside, and the water comes +out at the lower end of the lake perfectly clear." + +"And then continues clear till it gets to the ocean, I suppose," said +Mrs. Holiday. + +"Yes," replied Mr. Holiday, "unless some other turbid stream, which has +no lake to settle itself in, falls into it and pollutes it again. + +"That is the case with this river. It is very clear and beautiful here, +where it comes out of the lake, but the Arve comes in a mile or two +below Geneva, and brings an immense volume of turbid water. This makes +the whole river turbid again after the waters of the two rivers have +flowed long enough together to get well mixed, and then it continues +turbid all the way to the sea. There is no other lake to settle it. + +"I am told," said Mr. Holiday, "that the coming in of the turbid torrent +of the Arve into the clear blue waters of the Rhone is a very pretty +spectacle, and I should like very much to see it; but it is rather too +far to go." + +"O, no, father," said Rollo; "let us go." + +"How far is it?" asked Mrs. Holiday. + +"About a mile, I should think, by the map," said Mr. Holiday; "but there +seems to be no carriage road to the place. If there had been a carriage +road I should have taken you there; for I should like very well to have +you see the place." + +"But, father, we can walk there very easily," said Rollo. "There is a +nice path along the bank of the river. I saw it the other day, when I +was down below the bridge." + +"Well," said Mrs. Holiday, "I should like to go very much, if we could +go in the morning or in the evening, when it is cool. Is the walk shady, +Rollo?" + +"Yes, mother, it is shady in the morning. There is a high hedge all +along on one side of the path, and that keeps the sun off in the +morning. In the evening the sun comes round to the other side." + +"Then we will go in the morning," said Mrs. Holiday. "Let us get up +early to-morrow morning, and go before breakfast." + +Mrs. Holiday was really desirous of seeing this famous junction of the +Rhone and the Arve; but her chief interest in making the excursion arose +from her sympathy with Rollo, and from observing how much he wished to +go. It is always so with a mother. When her children are kind and +attentive to her, and obedient to her wishes, she always desires most +strongly to do what will most gratify them. + +The plan was arranged according to Mrs. Holiday's proposal, and the next +morning the party set out at half past six o'clock. Rollo led the way. + +"What I should like best," said Rollo, turning round so as to face his +father and mother, and walking backward, "would be to take a boat, and +shoot down the river under these bridges." + +"Ah," said his father, "that would not do. The current is too swift. At +any rate, if you were to go down you would never get the boat back +again. The water runs like a mill race. + +"Indeed, it _is_ a mill race," continued Mr. Holiday. "Don't you see the +mill wheels projecting into the stream, here and there? They are carried +by the natural force of the current." + +After passing by the buildings of the town, Rollo led the way over a +narrow wooden bridge, which passed across the old moat of the town. The +remains of a monstrous bastion were to be seen beyond it. + +"This is a part of the old fortifications," said Rollo. "They are +cutting them all to pieces now with roads and bridges leading in and out +the town." + +After going beyond these embankments, Rollo led the way to a path which +lay along the river side. Very soon the path began to be a very pleasant +one indeed. Mrs. Holiday was delighted with it. It was close to the +margin of the water, and only a very few inches above the level of it. +The current was very swift, and the water was so blue, and clear, and +beautiful, that it was a continual pleasure to look down into it, and to +watch the little waves and ripples that curled, and twirled, and dashed +against the shore. + +There was a row of willows between the paths and the water, or rather in +the margin of the water, for the path was so near to the stream that +there was scarcely room for the willows on the land. On the other side +of the path there was a close hedge, which formed the boundary of a +region of fields, meadows, and gardens. Here and there were gates +leading through this hedge; and the party, as they walked along, could +look through the openings and see the peasant girls coming out to their +work from the houses. The whole region, though it was highly cultivated +and extremely beautiful, was very flat and level, and was only raised +two or three feet above the level of the water. + +From each gateway or other opening through the hedge there were paths +leading off through the fields and gardens to the houses; and there were +steps at the gates leading down to the pathway that lay along the margin +of the stream. The people of the houses were accustomed, it seemed, to +come down there to get water. + +Thus the party walked along, with the rapid current of the river close +to their feet on one side, and the high green hedge shutting them in on +the other, while the tops of the willow trees spreading over their heads +completed the coolness and shadiness of the pathway. Rollo led the way, +and his father and mother followed, one by one, for the path was not +wide enough for two to walk together. + +[Illustration: THE WATER WHEEL.] + +Presently they came to a place where a large water wheel of a very +curious construction was seen revolving quite near the shore. They +stopped to look at it. They liked to see it revolving; and then besides +they wished to examine the construction of it. It was mounted on a frame +of timbers that had been set up for it in the water, at a little +distance from the shore. The wheel itself was much like the wheel of a +steamboat; only, in addition to the ordinary float boards, it had a +series of buckets on the edge of it, which took up the water from the +stream, as the wheel revolved, and emptied it into a trough above, as +they went over. From this trough there was a circular pipe, made very +strong, which conveyed the water by a subterranean aqueduct into the +field opposite, where it rose into a reservoir by the pressure of the +column in the pipe, and was used to irrigate the ground. + +Across the river at this place was a beautiful view of fields, +vineyards, terraces, and gardens; for on that side the bank was high, +and as the sun shone directly upon it, the whole scene presented to view +was extremely bright and beautiful. + +At one of the gates which opened through the hedge, Rollo stopped to +look in. He saw gardens laid out in squares, with corn, and beans, and +various garden vegetables growing luxuriantly in them. There were rows +of fruit trees, too, bordering the paths, and at a distance were to be +seen houses scattered here and there over the plain, the dwellings of +the owners of the land. Each house had its little barns and granaries +connected with it, the whole group being half concealed by the foliage +of the trees and shrubs that had been planted around it. + +"Will it do for us to go in," said Rollo to his father, "and walk a part +of the way through these gardens?" + +"Yes," said his father, "I presume it will do; but perhaps we had better +go down all the way by the path, and come back by the gardens." + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "that will be much the best plan. + +"But, father," continued Rollo, "if we should go across these gardens, +and keep on in that direction for some time, I suppose that we should +come to the Arve." + +"Yes," said his father; "the Arve is coming down from the mountains, and +flowing towards the Rhone not very far from here, on the other side of +this flat land. This land constitutes a sort of tongue lying between the +two rivers. I suppose it has been formed by the deposits that the Arve +brings down. I have no doubt that if we should walk across the tongue of +land, we should come to the Arve; but it is better to go on down the +path till we reach the point where the two rivers come together." + +"Well," said Rollo, "we will go on." + +So they went on along the path, as before. + +Rollo soon had occasion to be glad that he had acceded so readily to his +father's wishes to continue in the path; for he soon came to something +that amused him very much. It was a man sitting in the top of one of the +willow trees that overhung the path, fishing. The willow leaned very +much, and this made it easy to climb the stem of it. It had been headed +down, too, so that there was a pretty good place to sit on the top of +it. It was on the very brink of the stream, and indeed the leaning of +the stem carried the top of the willow somewhat over the water, and thus +it made quite a good place to sit and fish. + +The current flowed very swiftly under the willow tree, and the fishing +line was carried far down the stream. + +"Ah!" said Rollo; "that is just such a place as I should like to have. I +should like to sit up in that tree and fish all the morning." + +"I should think it might be a little lonesome," said Mr. Holiday. + +"No," said Rollo; "or perhaps there might be some other boys in the +other trees." + +So saying, Rollo looked up and down the stream, to see if there were +any other trees so formed as to furnish a seat for a fisherman in the +top of them; but there were none. + +Here you see a picture of the man as Rollo saw him. + +[Illustration: FISHING.] + +As the party went on after this they found evidences increasing that +they were drawing near to the junction of the rivers. The hedge became +less regular, and at length ceased altogether. Its place was supplied +by dense thickets formed of alders, willows, and long grass. The ground +became more and more uneven, and at length nothing of the path was left +but a narrow ridge or dike that had been formed artificially along the +shore, with a crooked little footway on the top of it. + +At last Rollo began to see through the bushes occasional glimpses of +water on the other side. + +"There, father!" said he, "there! We are coming to the Arve." + +"Yes," said Mrs. Holiday; "and I don't suppose that we can go much +farther." + +Indeed, it would have been impossible to go much farther, if there had +not been a small embankment made to serve for a pathway. The party, +though expecting every moment to be obliged to turn back, still went on. +At length the whole expanse of the Arve opened before them as it came in +from the left--its waters boiling, whirling, and sweeping in great +circles as it came on, and the whole surface of it as gray as the sand +on the shores. On the other side was the Rhone, blue, and pellucid, and +beautiful as the sky above. + +"What an extraordinary spectacle!" said Mr. Holiday. + +"Come, mother," said Rollo, "we can go on a good deal farther yet." + +Rollo was right; for the walk, instead of coming to an end at the +extremity of the point which separated the two rivers, was continued +along a little dike or embankment which seemed to have been made +artificially some distance down between the two streams. This dike was +very narrow, being just wide enough indeed for a narrow footpath. + +In advancing along this path it was very curious to observe the totally +different aspects of the water on the two sides of it. On the one side +it was turbid and gray, and perfectly opaque. You could not have seen +the pollywogs in the shallowest places along the margin. On the other +side it was so clear and transparent that you could have seen fishes +swimming where it was ten feet deep. It was of such a rich and beautiful +blue color, too, as if it had been tinted with a dye, and the color was +of so rich and brilliant a hue, that Mrs. Holiday was continually +admiring and praising it. + +This narrow path, dividing thus the waters of the two rivers, continued +several yards; but at length it came to an end. The party all went on +till they reached the extremity of it, and there, looking still farther +on, they saw the line of demarcation between the gray water and the +blue extending itself before them as far as they could see. The two +rivers remained for a long distance perfectly distinct, though +struggling and contending against each other, as it were, all the way. +The line was broken and indented all along by the strife of the +waters--the gray for a moment penetrating into the blue, and then the +next instant the blue forcing itself into the gray. The waters went on +struggling against each other in this manner as far as the eye could +follow them. + +The party remained on the extremity of the point a long time, observing +this singular phenomenon. At length it began to be pretty warm there; +for the narrow tongue of land which projected so far between the two +currents was exposed to the sun, which had now risen so high that there +was a good deal of heat in his rays. + +So they set out on their return home. On the way back they walked a +considerable distance through the fields and gardens. They went into +them from the path along the shore, through one of the open gates, and +they went back to the path again by another. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +SEEING MONT BLANC GO OUT. + + +"Father," said Rollo to Mr. Holiday, at dinner one day, "what are you +going to do this evening?" + +"We are going to see Mont Blanc go out," said his father. + +Mr. Holiday answered Rollo in French, using a phrase very common in +Geneva to denote the gradual fading away of the rosy light left upon +Mont Blanc by the setting sun; for the sun, just at the time of its +setting, gilds the mountain with a peculiar rosy light, as if it were a +cloud. This light gradually fades away as the sun goes down, until the +lower part of the mountain becomes of a dead and ghostly white, while +the roseate hue still lingers on the summit, as if the top of the +mountain were tipped with flame. These last beams finally disappear, and +then the whole expanse of snow assumes a deathlike and wintry whiteness. +The inhabitants of Geneva, and those who live in the environs, often go +out to their gardens and summer houses in the summer evenings, just as +the sun is going down, to see, as they express it, Mont Blanc go out;[E] +and strangers who visit Geneva always desire, if they can, to witness +the spectacle. There are, however, not a great many evenings in the year +when it can be witnessed to advantage, the mountain is so often +enveloped in clouds. + +[Footnote E: The phrase is, in French, _Pour voir le Mont Blanc +s'eteindre_.] + +Rollo had heard the phrase before, and he knew very well what his father +meant. + +"Well," said he, in a tone of satisfaction; "and may I go too?" + +"Yes," said his father; "we should like to have you go very much. But +there is a question to be decided--how we shall go. The best point of +view is somewhere on the shore along the lake, on the other side of the +bridge. There are three ways of going. We can walk across the bridge, +and then follow the road along the shore till we come to a good place, +or we can take a carriage, and order the coachman to drive out any where +into the neighborhood, where there is a good view of the mountain, or we +can go in a boat." + +"In a boat, father!" said Rollo, eagerly. "Let us go in a boat!" + +"The objection to that," said Mr. Holiday, "is, that it is more trouble +to go and engage a boat. There are plenty of carriages here at the very +door, and I can have one at a moment's notice, by just holding up my +finger." + +"And, father," said Rollo, "so there are plenty of boats right down here +by the quay, and I can get one of them in a moment, just by holding up +my finger." + +"Well," said Mr. Holiday, "we will go in a boat if you will take all the +trouble of engaging one." + +Rollo liked nothing better than this, and as soon as dinner was over he +went out upon the quay to engage a boat, while his father and mother +went up to their room to get ready to go. + +Rollo found plenty of boats at the landing. Some of them were very +pretty. He chose one which seemed to have comfortable seats in it for +his father and mother. It was a boat, too, that had the American flag +flying at the stern. Some of the boatmen get American flags, and raise +them on their boats, out of compliment to their numerous American +customers. + +Soon after Rollo had engaged the boat, his father and mother came, and +they all embarked on board. The boatman rowed them off from the shore. +The sun was just going down. There were a great many boats plying to and +fro about the lake, and the quays and the little islet were crowded with +people. + +After rowing about a quarter of a mile, the boatman brought the range of +the Alps into full view through an opening between the nearer hills. The +sun was shining full upon them, and illuminating them with a dazzling +white light, very beautiful, but without any rosy hue. + +"They don't look rosy at all," said Rollo. + +"No," said Mr. Holiday, "not now. They do not take the rosy hue till the +sun has gone down." + +The boatman rowed on a little farther, so as to obtain a still better +view. Mr. and Mrs. Holiday watched the mountains; but Rollo was more +interested in the scene immediately around him. He watched the boats +that were plying to and fro over the surface of the lake, and the +different parties of ladies and gentlemen in them. He gazed on the +quays, too, all around, and on the islet, which was not far off, and on +the people that he saw there, some walking to and fro, and others +leaning over the parapet and looking out upon the water. + +"Rollo," said Mr. Holiday, "see if there is a rudder." + +"Yes, father, there is," said Rollo. So saying, he climbed over the +seats, between his father and mother, and took his place by the rudder. + +"Steer us, then, over to the opposite shore, wherever you see there is a +pleasant place to land." + +Rollo was glad and sorry both to receive this command. He was glad to +have the pleasure of steering, but he was sorry that his father intended +to land. He would have preferred remaining out upon the water. + +He, however, obeyed his father's command, and steered towards the +farther shore, turning the head of the boat in an oblique direction, a +little way up the lake. Presently Mr. Holiday saw some friends of his in +a boat that was coming in the opposite direction. He ordered Rollo to +steer towards them. Rollo did so, and soon the boats came alongside. The +oarsmen of both boats stopped rowing, and the two parties in them came +to a parley. + +There was a little girl in the other boat, named Lucia. There was no +other child in that boat, and so there was nobody for Lucia to play +with. Lucia therefore asked her father and mother to allow her to get +over into Mr. Holiday's boat, so that she could have somebody to play +with. + +"Why, Lucia," said her mother, "Rollo is a great boy. He is too big to +play with you." + +"I know it," said Lucia; "but then he is better than nobody." + +Rollo might perhaps have been made to feel somewhat piqued at being +considered by a young lady as only better than nobody for a companion, +had it not been for the nature of the objection, which was only that he +was too large. So he felt complimented rather than otherwise, and he +cordially seconded Lucia's wish that she might be transferred to his +father's boat, and at length her mother consented. Lucia stepped +carefully over the gunwales, and thus got into Mr. Holiday's boat. She +immediately passed along to the stern, and took her place by the side of +Rollo at the rudder. The boats then separated from each other, and each +went on its own way. + +"What is this handle," said Lucia, "that you are taking hold of?" + +"It is the tiller," said Rollo. + +"And what is it for?" asked Lucia. + +"It is the handle of the rudder," said Rollo. "The rudder is what we +steer the boat by, and the tiller is the handle of it. The rudder itself +is down below the water." + +So Rollo let Lucia look over the end of the boat and see the rudder in +the water. + +Rollo then proceeded to explain the operation of the rudder. + +"You see," said he, "that when I move the tiller over _this_ way, then +the head of the boat turns the other way; and when I move it over _that_ +way, then the head of the boat comes round this way. The head of the +boat always goes the contrary way." + +"I don't see why it should go the contrary way," said Lucia. "I should +think it ought to go the same way." + +"No," replied Rollo; "it goes the contrary way. And now I am going to +steer to a good place to land on the shore over there." + +So saying, Rollo pointed to the shore towards which the boat was going. + +The boat was now drawing near the shore. There was first a landing, +where several small vessels were drawn up, and immense piles of wood in +great wood yards. + +This wood had a very singular appearance. The bark was all off, and the +ends of the logs looked rounded and worn, as if they had been washed in +the water. The reason was, that the wood had grown on the sides of the +mountains, and had been brought down to the lake by the torrents which +pour down the mountain sides with great force in time of rain. + +"We won't land in the wood yards--will we?" said Rollo. + +"No," said Lucia; "but _there's_ a pretty place to land, a little +farther on." + +So saying, Lucia pointed to a very pretty part of the shore, a little +farther on. There seemed to be a garden, and a little green lawn, with +large trees overshadowing it; and at one place there was a projecting +point where there was a summer house with a table in it, and a seat +outside, near the beach, under a bower. + +"Yes," said Rollo; "that is a very pretty place; but it looks like +private ground. I think we must not land there." + +As the boat glided by this place, Rollo and Lucia saw some ladies and +gentlemen sitting in the summer house. The gentlemen took off their hats +and bowed to Mr. and Mrs. Holiday as they passed by. + +Next the boat came to a place where there was a low parapet wall along +the shore, and behind it were to be seen the heads of a number of men +who seemed to be sitting at tables, and drinking coffee or beer. + +"Here is a good place to land," said Lucia. + +"No," said Rollo; "this seems to be some sort of public place, full of +men. We had better go a little farther." + +So Rollo steered on, keeping all the time at just a safe distance from +the shore. The water was most beautifully transparent and clear, so that +all the pretty stones and pebbles on the bottom could be seen very +distinctly at a great depth. + +"What pretty water!" said Lucia. + +"Yes," said Rollo, "it is so clear." + +"What makes it so clear?" asked Lucia. + +"Because the lake is so long," said Rollo, "and this is the lower end of +it, and the water has time to settle. At the other end, where the water +comes in, it is not so clear. This is the end where the water runs out." + +A moment afterwards they came to a very pleasant landing, at a place +where the road lay pretty near the water. Between the road and the +water, however, there was a space of green grass, with large trees +overshadowing it, and several wooden settees, painted green, under the +trees. + +"Ah!" said Rollo, "here is just the place for us. + +"Father," he added, "do you think it would be a good plan to land here?" + +"Yes," said his father; "we could not have had a better place. I thought +you would find a pleasant landing for us if I gave you the command." + +So Rollo brought the boat up to the shore, and they all got out. Mr. and +Mrs. Holiday walked up and took their seats on one of the settees, while +Rollo and Lucia began to run about and play along the parapet wall which +separated the promenade from the water. + +Mr. and Mrs. Holiday watched the mountains. The sun had now just gone +down, though his beams still tipped the summits of the hills, and were +reflected from the windows of the distant houses. The snow on the +mountains, too, began to assume a very beautiful rosy hue, which +increased in brilliancy the farther the sun went down, and the more the +lower lands became darkened. + +"How beautiful it is!" said Mrs. Holiday. + +"It is very beautiful indeed," said her husband. + +"Rollo," said Mrs. Holiday, "look at Mont Blanc. See how bright and rosy +he looks." + +"Yes, mother," said Rollo; "and look out on the lake, and see the heads +of those two boys swimming in the water." + +"Are those the heads of boys?" asked Mrs. Holiday. + +"Yes, mother," said Rollo; "see how far they are swimming out." + +When Mrs. Holiday looked back at the mountain, she found, to her great +disappointment, that the rosy color which had appeared so beautiful a +moment before had now disappeared; and the whole snowy side of the +range, up to the summits of the loftiest peaks, was of a cold, dead +white, as if the rays of the sun had been entirely withdrawn. + +"Ah! look!" she said to Mr. Holiday, in a tone of disappointment; "Mont +Blanc has gone out while we have been looking another way." + +Mr. Holiday gazed intently at the mountain, and very soon he saw the +rosy tint beginning to appear again on one of the summits, more +brilliant than ever. + +"No," said he, "the sun has not gone. I thought it could not have gone +down so soon. There must have been a cloud in the way." + +While Mr. Holiday had been speaking, the rekindling of the mountain had +gone on apace, and now the whole side of it was all in a glow. + +Just at this instant Rollo heard the sound of a gun. Lucia started and +looked alarmed. + +"What is that gun?" said Rollo; "and where was it? Let us look for the +smoke." + +So Rollo and Lucia, leaning over the parapet, began to look all about +among the boats and vessels of the lake, and along the opposite shore, +in the direction from which the sound of the report had seemed to come, +and very soon their eyes rested upon a volume of blue smoke which was +ascending from the bows of a little vessel that had just come in, and +was floating off gracefully into the air. + +"It is that vessel that has just got in," said Rollo. + +"Rollo," said Mrs. Holiday, "look at the mountain." + +Rollo turned his eye for a moment towards the mountain. All the lower +part of it was of a cold and deathlike whiteness, while the tip of the +summit was glowing as if it had been on fire. He was, however, too much +interested in the smoke of the gun to look long at the mountain. + +"Hark!" said he to Lucia; "let us see if they will not fire again." + +They did not fire again; and just as Rollo began to give up expecting +that they would, his attention, as well as that of Lucia, was attracted +to a little child who was playing with a small hammer in the gravel not +far from where they were standing. The mother of the child was sitting +on a bench near by, knitting. The hammer was small, and the claw of it +was straight and flat. The child was using it for a hoe, to dig a hole +in the gravel. + +"Now," said Rollo, "if I could find a shingle any where about here, I +would make that child a shovel to dig with." + +Rollo looked about, but there was nothing like a shingle to be seen. + +In a few minutes his father called him. + +"Rollo," said he, "we are going back. Mont Blanc has gone out. See!" + +Rollo looked. He saw that the last lingering rays of the sun had gone +from the summit of the mountain, though they still gilded a small +rounded cloud that floated just above it in the sky. + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo. "I'll go and call the boat." + +"We are not going back in the boat," said Mr. Holiday; "we have +concluded to walk round by land, and over the bridge. It will be better +for Lucia to go with us; but you may do as you please. You may walk with +us, or go in the boat with the boatman." + +Rollo at first thought that he should prefer to go in the boat; but he +finally concluded to accompany his father and mother. So the whole party +returned together by a pleasant road which led through a village by the +shore. + +When they came out to the quay they heard a band of music playing. The +band was stationed on the little islet which has already been described. +The party stopped on the bridge to listen; at least Mr. and Mrs. Holiday +listened, but Rollo and Lucia occupied themselves the while in looking +down in the clear depths of the water, which was running so swiftly and +so blue beneath the piers of the bridge, and watching to see if they +could see any fishes there. Lucia thought at one time that she saw one; +but Rollo, on examining the spot, said it was only a little crevice of +the rock wiggling. + +"What makes it wiggle?" asked Lucia. + +"The little waves and ripples of the current," said Rollo. + + * * * * * + +When Rollo reached the hotel, a gentleman who met the party in the hall +said to him,-- + +"Well, Rollo, have you been to see Mont Blanc go out?" + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo. + +"And how did you like it?" said the gentleman. + +"I liked it very much indeed," said Rollo. "I think it was sublime." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A LAW QUESTION. + + +"Now, father," said Rollo, one evening, as he was sitting at the window +with his father and mother, looking out upon the blue waters of the +Rhone, that were shooting so swiftly under the bridges beneath the +windows of the hotel, "you promised me that you would take as long a +sail on the lake with me as I wished." + +"Well," said his father, "I acknowledge the promise, and am ready to +perform it." + +"When?" asked Rollo. + +"At any time," said his father. + +"Then, father, let us go to-morrow," said Rollo. "We can't go to-night, +for I am going so far that it will take all day. I am going to the +farther end of the lake." + +"Very well," said his father; "I said I would take as long a sail as you +wished." + +"And I will go this evening and engage a sail boat," said Rollo, "so as +to have it all ready." + +There was always quite a little fleet of sail boats and row boats of +all kinds lying near the principal landing at the quay, ready for +excursions. Rollo's plan was to engage one of these. + +"No," said his father; "we will not take a sail boat; we will take a +steamboat." + +Besides the sail boats and row boats, there were a number of large and +handsome steamboats plying on the lake. There were two or three that +left in the morning, between seven and eight o'clock, and then there +were one or two at noon also. Those that left in the morning had time to +go to the farther end of the lake and return the same day; while those +that left at noon came back the next morning. Thus, to see the lake, you +could go in the forenoon of one day, and come back in the afternoon of +the same, or you could go in the afternoon of one day, and come back in +the morning of the next. + +"Which would you do?" said Mr. Holiday to Rollo. + +"But, father," said Rollo, "I think it would be pleasanter to go in a +sail boat. Besides, you said that you would take me to a sail; and going +in a steamboat is not sailing." + +"What is it doing?" said Mr. Holiday. + +"Steaming," said Rollo. "A steamer does not sail in any sense." + +Mr. Holiday smiled and then paused. He was reflecting, apparently, upon +what Rollo had been saying. + +"Then, besides," said Rollo, "don't you think, father, it would be +pleasanter to go in a sail boat?" + +"The first question is," said Mr. Holiday, "whether I am bound by my +promise to go with you in a sail boat, if you prefer it. I said I would +take you to a sail. Would taking you in a steamboat be a fulfilment of +that promise? Suppose we refer the question to an umpire, and see how he +will decide it." + +"Yes; but, father," said Rollo, "if you think it is best to go in the +steamer, I should not insist upon the sail boat, by any means; so it is +not necessary to leave it to any umpire. I will give it up." + +"I know you would be willing to give it up," said Mr. Holiday; "but then +we may as well first ascertain how the case actually stands. Let us +first determine what the promise binds me to. If it does not bind me to +go in a sail boat, then it is all right; there will be no need of any +giving up. If, on the other hand, my promise does bind me to go in a +sail boat, then you will consider whether you will release me from it or +not, if I ask it. Besides, it will amuse us to have the question +regularly decided; and it will also be a good lesson for you, in +teaching you to think and speak with precision when you make promises, +and to draw exact lines in respect to the performance of them." + +"Well, sir," said Rollo; "who shall be the umpire?" + +"Mr. Hall," said his father. "He is down in the dining room now, taking +tea." + +Mr. Hall was a lawyer, an acquaintance of Mr. Holiday's, whom he had +accidentally met at Geneva. + +"He is a lawyer," said Mr. Holiday, "and he will be a very good umpire." + +"Is it a law question?" asked Rollo. + +"Not exactly a law question," said Mr. Holiday, "but all such questions +require for an umpire a man who is accustomed to think precisely. That +is their very business. It is true that there are a great many other men +besides lawyers who think precisely; and there are some lawyers who +think and reason very loosely, and come to hasty and incorrect +conclusions. Still, you are more likely to get a good opinion on such a +subject from a lawyer than from other men taken at random. So, if you +please, you may go down and state the question to Mr. Hall, and I will +abide by his decision." + +"Well, sir," said Rollo, "I will." + +"Only," said Mr. Holiday, "you must state the question fairly. Boys +generally, when they go to state a question of this kind in which they +are interested, state it very unfairly." + +"How, for instance?" asked Rollo. + +"Why, suppose," said Mr. Holiday, "that you were to go to Mr. Hall, and +say, 'Mr. Hall, father promised me that he would take me out on a sail +upon the lake, as far as I wanted to go, and don't you think he ought to +do it?'" + +Rollo laughed heartily at this mode of putting the question. "Yes," said +he, "that sounds exactly like a boy. And what would be a fair way of +stating it?" + +"A fair way would be," said Mr. Holiday, "to present the simple question +itself, without any reference to your own interest in it, and without +any indication whatever of your own wish or opinion in respect to the +decision of it; as, for example, thus: 'Mr. Hall, I have a question to +ask you. Suppose one person promises another that he will take him out +to sail on the lake on a certain day; then, when the day comes, the +promiser proposes to go in the steamboat. Would that be a good +fulfilment of the promise, or not?'" + +"Well, sir," said Rollo, "I will state it so." + +So Rollo went down stairs into the dining room. There were various +parties there, seated at the different tables. Some were taking tea, +some were looking at maps and guide books, and some discussing the plan +of their tours. One of the sofas had half a dozen knapsacks upon it, +which belonged to a party of pedestrians that had just come in. + +Rollo looked about the room, and presently saw Mr. Hall, with his wife +and daughter, sitting at a table near a window. He went to him, and +stated the question. + +The lawyer heard Rollo attentively to the end, and then, instead of +answering at once, O, yes, or O, no, as Rollo had expected, he seemed to +stop to consider. + +"That is quite a nice question," said Mr. Hall. "Let us look at it. The +point is, whether an excursion in a steamboat is a _sail_, in the sense +intended by the promise." + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "that is the point exactly. I think it is not; +father thinks it is." + +The instant that these words were out of Rollo's mouth he was sorry that +he had spoken them; for by speaking them he had furnished an indication +to the umpire of what his own opinion and his own interests were in +respect to the decision, which it never is fair to do in such a case, +when the other party is not present to express _his_ views and advocate +his interests. The words once spoken, however, could not be recalled. + +"Steamboats are certainly not propelled by sails," said the lawyer, "but +yet we often apply the word _sailing_ to them. We say, for instance, +that a certain steamer will sail on such or such a day. So we say, There +was no news from such or such a place when the steamer sailed." + +"But it seems to me," said Rollo, "that the question is not what people +call it, but what it really is. The going of a steamboat is certainly +not sailing, in any sense." + +It was quite ingenious arguing on Rollo's part, it must be acknowledged; +but then it was wholly out of order for him to argue the question at +all. He should have confined himself strictly to a simple statement of +the point, since, as his father was not present to defend _his_ side of +the question, it was obviously not fair that Rollo should urge and +advocate his. + +"It might, at first view," said Mr. Hall, "seem to be as you say, and +that the question would be solely what the steamer actually does. But, +on reflection, you will see that it is not exactly so. Contracts and +promises are made in language; and in making them, people use language +as other people use it, and it is to be interpreted in that way. For +instance: suppose a lodging-house keeper in the country should agree to +furnish a lady a room in the summer where the sun did not come in at +all, and then should give her one on the south side of the house, which +was intolerably hot, and should claim that he had fulfilled his +agreement because the sun did not itself _come_ into the room at all, +but only shone in; that would not be a good defence. We must interpret +contracts and promises according to the ordinary use and custom of +people in the employment of language. + +"Still," said Mr. Hall, "although we certainly do apply the simple term +_sailing_ to a steamer, I hardly think that a trip in a steamer on a +regular and established route would be called, according to the ordinary +and established use of language, taking a sail. Was that the +promise--that one party would go with the other to _take a sail_ on the +lake?" + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "he promised to go and take a sail with me on +the lake, as far as I wanted to go." + +"Then," said Mr. Hall, "I should think, on the whole, that, in such a +place as this, where there are so many regular sail boats, and where +excursions on the lake in them are so common and so well recognized as a +distinct amusement, the phrase _taking a sail_ ought to be held to mean +going in a sail boat, and that making a voyage in a steamer would not be +fulfilling the promise." + +Rollo was extremely delighted in having thus gained his case, and he +went back to report the result to his father, in a state of great +exultation. + +After communicating to his father the decision of the umpire, Rollo said +that, after all, he did not wish to go in a sail boat if his father +thought it best to go in a steamer. + +"Well," said Mr. Holiday, "that depends upon how far we go. It is +pleasant enough to go out a short distance on the water in a sail boat, +but for a long excursion the steamer is generally considered much +pleasanter. In a sail boat you are down very low, near the surface of +the water, and so you have no commanding views. Then you have no shelter +either from the sun, if it is clear, or from the rain, if it is cloudy. +You are closely confined, too, or at least you can move about only a +very little; whereas in the steamer there is plenty of space, and there +are a great many groups of people, and little incidents are constantly +occurring to amuse you." + +"Besides," said Mrs. Holiday, "if you go in the steamer, I can go with +you." + +"Why, mother, could not you go in a sail boat too?" + +"No," said Mrs. Holiday; "I am afraid of sail boats." + +"O mother!" said Rollo; "there is not any danger at all." + +"Yes, Rollo," said his father, "there is some danger, for sail boats do +sometimes upset." + +"And steamboats sometimes blow up," said Rollo. + +"True," said his father; "but that only shows that there is danger in +steamboats too--not that there is no danger in sail boats." + +"Well, what I mean," said Rollo, "is, that there is very little danger, +and that mother has no occasion to be afraid." + +"There is very little danger, I grant," said Mr. Holiday; "but there is +just enough to keep ladies, who are less accustomed to the water than we +are, almost all the time uneasy, and thus to destroy for them the +pleasure of the excursion. + +"I'll tell you what I think will be the best plan. You and I will go out +and take a little sail to-night on the lake in a sail boat, and mother +may stay and watch us from the window, as she reads and sews. Then +to-morrow we will go together to make an excursion on the lake." + +Rollo liked this plan very much indeed, and his father sent him down to +the landing to engage the boat. "I will come down," said Mr. Holiday, +"by the time you get ready." + +So Rollo went down and engaged a boat. It was rigged, as all the boats +on the Lake of Geneva are, with what are called lateen sails. His +father soon came down, and they immediately embarked on board the boat, +and sailed away from the landing. As the boat moved away Rollo waved his +handkerchief to his mother whom he saw sitting on the balcony of the +hotel, waving hers to him. + +[Illustration: GOING TO TAKE A SAIL.] + +Rollo and his father sailed about the lake for nearly an hour. Mr. +Holiday said it was one of the pleasantest sails he ever had in his +life, and that he was very glad indeed that Mr. Hall decided against +him. + +He gave Rollo's mother a full account of the excursion when he got home. + +"The water was very smooth," said he, "and the air was cool and balmy. +There was a gentle breath of wind, just enough to float us smoothly and +quietly over the water. We had charming views of the town and of the +shores of the lake, and also of the stupendous ranges of snow-covered +mountains beyond." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +AN EXCURSION ON THE LAKE. + + +The Lake of Geneva is shaped, as has already been said, like the new +moon. One of the horns is towards the west; the other is towards the +south. Geneva is at the tip of the western horn. + +Of course, in sailing from Geneva to the other end of the lake, we go +from the west towards the east; and this renders it rather more +agreeable to make the excursion by an afternoon boat than by a morning +one; for in the afternoon, the sun, being then in the western part of +the sky, will be behind you, and so will not shine in your face; but, +instead of shining in your face and dazzling your eyes, it will be +shining upon and illuminating brilliantly the slopes of the mountains +that you are going to see. In other words, in the morning the mountains +are in shadow and the sun in your eyes; in the evening your eyes are +shaded, and the mountains glow with brilliancy and beauty. + +It is often very important to take notice thus of the manner in which +the sun shines in different parts of the day, in planning excursions +among the Alps. + +The middle of the day is a very exciting and animating time on the quay +at Geneva. It is then that the boats which left the other end of the +lake in the morning are expected to arrive; and a great concourse of +porters, guides, postilions, and bystanders of all sorts assemble to +receive the travellers. As the boats come in, it is very amusing to sit +on the balconies, or at the windows of the hotels which overlook the +quay, and watch the procession of tourists as they come over the plank +to land. There are family groups consisting of fathers, mothers, and +children, followed by porters bearing immense trunks, while they +themselves are loaded with shawls, cloaks, umbrellas, and carpet bags; +and parties of students, with all their travelling effects in knapsacks +on their backs; and schoolboys who have been making a tour of the Alps +with their teacher; and young brides, almost equally proud of their +husbands, of the new dignity of their own position, and of the grandeur +of an Alpine bridal tour. All these people, and the hundreds of +spectators that assemble to see them, fill the quay, and form a very +animated and exciting spectacle. + +When the time approaches for a boat to sail, which is in half an hour +after she arrives, we have a counterpart of this scene, the direction of +the current only being reversed. The tourists now go to the boat, the +porters, with their baggage, preceding them. A soldier stands at the +entrance to the plank, to look at the passports. Lines of officials on +each side guard the way. On the deck of the steamer, as soon as you get +on board, you find a great variety of picturesque looking groups, all, +however, having the air of being travellers for pleasure. Some are +arranging themselves in good seats for seeing the scenery. Others take +out their maps and guide books, and prepare to read the descriptions of +the places that they are going to see. Here and there children are to be +seen--the boys with little knapsacks, and the girls wearing very +broad-brimmed Swiss hats--neither paying any attention to the scenery, +but amusing themselves with whatever they find at hand to play with--one +with a little dog, another with a doll which has been bought for her at +Geneva, and a third, perhaps, with a whip, or a little wagon. + +Rollo took his seat by the side of his father and mother, in the midst +of such a scene as this, on the day of their embarkation, and occupied +himself sometimes by looking at the shores of the lake and the mountains +beyond, and sometimes by watching the movements and actions of the +various groups of tourists before him. In the mean time, the boat left +the landing, and began to glide along rapidly on her way over the +surface of the water. + +The shores of the lake are very fertile and populous, and at every eight +or ten miles, especially on the northern shore, you come to a large +town. The steamboats stop at these towns to take and leave passengers. +They do not, in such cases, usually land at a pier, but the passengers +come and go in large boats, and meet the steamer at a little way from +the shore. Rollo used to take great pleasure in going forward to the +bows of the steamer, and watch these boats as they came out from the +shore. If there were two of them, they would come out so far that the +track of the steamer should lie between them, and then, when the steamer +stopped her paddles, they would come up, one on one side and the other +on the other, and the passengers would come up on board by means of a +flight of steps let down from the steamer, just abaft the paddle boxes. +When the passengers had thus come up, the baggage would be passed up +too; and then those passengers who wished to go ashore at that place +would go down the steps in the boats, and when all were embarked, the +boats would cast off from the steamer, and the steamer would go on her +way as before. The boats then would row slowly to the land, with the +passengers in them that were to stop at that place. + +The way of paying for one's passage on board these boats was very +different from that adopted in America. There was no colored waiter to +go about the decks and saloons ringing a bell, and calling out, in a +loud and authoritative voice, Passengers who haven't settled their fare +will please call at the captain's office and settle. Instead of this, +the clerk of the boat came himself, after each landing, to the new +passengers that had come on board at that landing, and, touching his hat +to them, in the most polite manner, asked them to what place they wished +to go. He had a little slate in his hand, with the names of all the +towns where the steamer was to touch marked upon it. As the several +passengers to whom he applied gave him the name of the place of their +destination, he made a mark opposite to the name of the place on his +slate. When he had in this way applied to all the new comers, he went to +the office and provided himself with the proper number of tickets for +each place, and then went round again to distribute them. In going +around thus a second time, to distribute the tickets, he took a cash box +with him to make change. This cash box was slung before him by means of +a strap about the neck. + +"How much more polite and agreeable a mode this is of collecting the +fares," said Mrs. Holiday to her husband, "than ours in America! There a +boy comes around, dinging a bell in every body's ears, and then the +gentlemen have to go in a crowd and elbow their way up to the window of +the captain's office. I wish we could have some of these polite and +agreeable customs introduced into our country." + +"They are very agreeable," said Mr. Holiday, "and are very suitable for +pleasure travel like this, where the boats are small, and the number of +passengers few; but I presume it would be very difficult to collect the +fares in this way on a North River steamer, where there are sometimes a +thousand passengers on board. Here there are usually not more than eight +or ten passengers that come on board at a time, and they mix with only +fifty or sixty that were on board before. But in America we often have +fifty or sixty come on board at a time, and they mix with eight hundred +or a thousand. In such a case as that I think that this plan would be +well nigh impracticable." + +"I did not think of that," said Mrs. Holiday. + +"The difference between the circumstances of the case in Europe and in +America is very often not thought of by travellers who find themselves +wishing that the European customs in respect to travelling and the +hotels could be introduced into our country. In Europe the number of +travellers is comparatively small, and a very large proportion of those +who make journeys go for pleasure. The arrangements can all, +consequently, be made to save them trouble, and to make the journey +agreeable to them; and the price is increased accordingly. In America, +people travel on business, and they go in immense numbers. Their main +object is, to be taken safely and expeditiously to the end of their +journey, and at as little expense as possible. The arrangements of the +conveyances and of the hotels are all made accordingly. The consequence +is, a vast difference in the expense of travelling, and a corresponding +difference, of course, to some extent, in ease and comfort. The price of +passage, for instance, in the Geneva steamboats, from one end of the +lake to the other, a distance of about fifty miles, is two dollars, +without berth or meals; whereas you can go from New York to Albany, +which is more than three times as far, for half a dollar. This +difference is owing to the number of travellers that go in the American +boats, and the wholesale character, so to speak, of the arrangements +made for them. + +"In other words, the passengers in a public conveyance in Europe are not +only conveyed from place to place, but they are waited upon by the way, +and they have to pay both for the conveyance and the attendance. In +America they are only conveyed, and are left to wait upon themselves; +and they are charged accordingly. Each plan is good, and each is adapted +to the wants and ideas of the countries that respectively adopt them. + +"Shall we go to the end of the lake to-day?" said Mr. Holiday, "or only +part of the way? The clerk will come pretty soon to ask us." + +"Are there any pretty places to stop at on the way?" asked Mrs. Holiday. + +"Yes," said her husband; "all the places are pretty." + +"Tell us about some of them," said Rollo. + +"First there is Lausanne," said his father. "Lausanne is a large town up +among the hills, a mile or two from the water. There is a little port, +called Ouchy, on the shore, where the steamer stops. There there is a +landing and a pier, and some pretty boarding houses, with gardens and +grounds around them, and a large, old-fashioned inn, built like a castle +of the middle ages, but kept very nicely. We can stop there, and go up +in an omnibus to Lausanne, which is a large, old town, two miles up the +side of the mountain. + +"Then, secondly," continued Mr. Holiday, "there is Vevay, which is +famous for a new and fashionable hotel facing the lake, with a beautiful +terrace between it and the water, where you can sit on nice benches +under the trees, and watch the steamers going by over the blue waters of +the lake, or the row boats and sail boats coming and going about the +terrace landing, or the fleecy clouds floating along the sides of the +dark mountains around the head of the lake." + +"I should like to stop at both places," said Mrs. Holiday. + +"Then we will stop at Ouchy to-night," said Mr. Holiday, "for that comes +first." + +So it was decided that they should take tickets for Ouchy. + +The boat at Ouchy did not land passengers by boats, but went up to the +pier. Only a few passengers went ashore. The pier was at some little +distance from the hotel, the way to it being by a quiet and pleasant +walk along the shore. + +There was an omnibus marked Lausanne standing at the head of the pier. + +"Now, we can get into the omnibus," said Mr. Holiday, "and go directly +up to Lausanne, or we can go to the hotel here, and take lodgings, and +then go up to Lausanne to see the town after dinner." + +It was at this time about four o'clock. The usual time of dinner for +travellers in Switzerland is five. + +Mrs. Holiday, observing that the hotel at Ouchy was very prettily +situated, close to the water, and recollecting that her husband had said +that it resembled in its character a castle of the middle ages, +concluded that she would like as well to take rooms there. + +A woman with a queer-shaped basket on her back, which she carried by +means of straps over her shoulders, here came up to Mr. Holiday, and +asked if she should take _the baggages_ to the inn. Mr. Holiday said +yes. So she put the valise and the carpet bag into her basket, and +walked away with them to the inn. + +Women often act as porters in France and Switzerland, and they perform, +also, all sorts of out-door work. They use these baskets, too, very +often, for carrying burdens. Rollo afterwards saw a woman take her child +out to ride in one of them. + +Mrs. Holiday was extremely pleased with the inn at Ouchy. She said that +she should like to remain there a week. It seemed precisely, with its +antique-looking rooms, and long stone paved corridors, like the castles +which she had read about when she was a girl in the old romances. + +After dinner, Mr. Holiday sent for a carriage, and took Mrs. Holiday and +Rollo to ride. They went up the ascent of land behind the town, the road +winding as it went among green and beautiful glades and dells, but still +always ascending until they came to Lausanne. This was nearly two miles +from the lake, and very much above it. From Lausanne they went back +still farther, ascending all the time, and obtaining more and more +commanding views of the lake at every turn. + +When the sun went down, they turned their faces homeward. They came +down, of course, very fast, the road winding continually this way and +that, to make the descent more gradual. At length, about half past +eight, they returned to the inn. + +The landlady of the inn, who was very kind and obliging to them, took +them to see a room in her hotel where Lord Byron wrote his celebrated +poem entitled the PRISONER OF CHILLON. Chillon is an ancient castle +which stands on the shore, twenty or thirty miles beyond, and very near, +in fact, to the extremity of the lake. Byron has made this castle +renowned throughout the world by spending a few days, while he was +stopped at this inn at Ouchy by a storm, when travelling on the lake, in +writing a poem in which he describes the emotions and sufferings of +some imaginary prisoners whom he supposed to be confined there. + +"Can we go to see the Castle of Chillon?" said Mrs. Holiday. + +"Yes," said Mr. Holiday. "We shall sail directly by it in going to the +head of the lake, and if we stop there we can go to it very easily." + +The head of the lake--that is, the eastern end of it--is surrounded with +mountains, the slopes of which seem to rise very abruptly from the +water, and ascend to such a height that patches of snow lie on the +summits of them all the summer. These mountains, especially if +overshadowed by clouds, give a very dark and sombre expression to the +whole region when seen from a distance, in coming in from the centre of +the lake. This sombre expression, however, entirely disappears when you +arrive at the head of the lake, and land there. + +You would not suppose, when viewing these shores from a distance, that +there was any place to land, so closely do the precipitous slopes of the +mountains seem to shut the water in. But on drawing near the shore, you +see that there is a pretty broad belt of land along the shore, which, +though it ascends rapidly, is not too steep to be cultivated. This belt +of land is covered with villages, hamlets, vineyards, orchards, and +gardens, and it forms a most enchanting series of landscapes, from +whatever point it is seen, while the more precipitous slopes of the +mountains, towering above in grandeur and sublimity, complete the +enchantment of the view. + +The Castle of Chillon stands on the very margin of the lake, just in the +edge of the water. Indeed, the foundations on which it stands form a +little island, which is separated by a narrow channel from the shore. +This channel is crossed by a drawbridge. It is possible, however, that +it may be in some measure artificial. The island may have originally +been a small rocky point, and it may have been made an island by the +cutting of a ditch between it and the main land. + +The steamer passed along the shore, very near to this castle, in going +to the head of the lake, as you see represented in the engraving.[F] +There is no steamboat landing at the castle itself, but there is one at +the village of Montreux, a little before you come to it, and another at +Villeneuve, a little beyond. Numbers of tourists come in every steamer +to visit the castle, and stop for this purpose at one of these landings +or the other. The distance is only twenty minutes' brisk walking from +either of them. + +[Footnote F: See Frontispiece.] + +Villeneuve, the last landing mentioned above, is at the very extremity +of the lake. We see it in the distance in the engraving. Here travellers +who are going to continue their journey up the valley of the Rhone, +either for the purpose of penetrating into the heart of Switzerland, or +of going by the pass of the Simplon into Italy, leave the boat and take +the diligence to continue their journey by land, or else engage a +private carriage, and also a guide, if they wish for one. Mr. Holiday +did not intend at this time to go on far up the valley, but he purposed +to stop a day or two at Villeneuve, to visit Chillon, and perhaps make +some other excursions, and also to enjoy the views presented there, on +all sides, of the slopes and summits of the surrounding mountains. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +VILLENEUVE. + + +At Villeneuve, a pretty long, though small and very neatly made pier +projects out from the shore, for the landing of passengers from the +steamer. + +Exactly opposite this pier, and facing the water, stands the inn. It is +placed very nearly on a level with the water. This can always be the +case with buildings standing on the margin of a lake, for a lake not +being subject to tides or inundations, all buildings, whether houses, +bridges, or piers, may be built very near the water, without any danger +of being overflowed. + +Before the inn is an open space, extending between it and the shore; so +that from the front windows of the inn you can look down first upon this +open space, and beyond, upon the margin of the lake and upon the pier, +with the steamer lying at the landing-place at the head of it. + +The sides of this square, Rollo observed, were formed of the ends of two +buildings which stood on the shore, and along this space were wooden +benches, which were filled, when the steamer arrived, with guides, +postilions, voituriers, and other people of that class, waiting to be +engaged by the travellers that should come in her. + +There were also two or three omnibuses and diligences waiting to receive +such persons as were intending to travel by the public conveyances. One +of these omnibuses belonged to a large hotel and boarding house which +stands on the shore of the lake, not far from Villeneuve, between it and +the Castle of Chillon. You can see this hotel in the engraving. It is +the large building in the middle distance, standing back a little from +the lake, and to the left of the castle. This hotel is beautifully +situated in a commanding position on the shores of the lake, and is a +great place of resort for English families in the summer season. + +The travellers that landed from the steamer at Villeneuve soon +separated, after arriving at the open square before the inn. Some took +their seats in the diligences that were standing there; some got into +the omnibuses to go to the hotel; some engaged voituriers from among the +number that were waiting there to be so employed, and, entering the +carriages, they drove away; while a party of students, with knapsacks on +their backs and pikestaves in their hands, set off on foot up the +valley. Mr. Holiday and his party, not intending to proceed any farther +that night, went directly to the inn. + +They went first into the dining room. The dining room in the Swiss inns +is usually the only public room, and travellers on entering the inn +generally go directly there. + +The dining room was very plain and simple in all its arrangements. There +was no carpet on the floor, and the woodwork was unpainted. There were +two windows in front, which looked out upon the lake. Directly beneath +the windows was the road, and the open space, already described, between +the hotel and the pier. + +There was a boy with a knapsack on his back standing by the window, +looking out. Rollo went to the window, and began to look out too. + +"Do you speak English?" said Rollo to the boy. + +"_Nein_," said the boy, shaking his head. + +_Nein_ is the German word for _no_. This Rollo knew very well, and so he +inferred that the boy was a German. He, however, thought it possible +that he might speak French, and so he asked again,-- + +"Do you speak French?" + +"Very little," said the boy, answering now in the French language. "I am +studying it at school. I am at school at Berne, and my class is making +an excursion to Geneva." + +"Do you travel on foot?" asked Rollo. + +"Yes," said the boy; "unless there is a steamboat, and then we go in the +steamboat." + +"And I suppose you are going to take the steamboat here to-morrow +morning to go to Geneva." + +"No," said the boy; "we are going to see Chillon to-night, and then we +are going along the shore of the lake beyond, to Montreux, and take the +boat there to-morrow morning." + +It was quite amusing to Rollo to talk thus with a strange boy in a +language which both had learned at school, and which neither of them +could speak well, but which was, nevertheless, the only language they +had in common. + +"How many boys are there in your class?" asked Rollo. + +"Sixteen," said the boy; "sixteen--six." The boy then held up the five +fingers of one hand, and one of the other, to show to Rollo that six was +the number he meant. The words six and sixteen are very similar in the +French language, and for a moment the boy confounded them. + +"And the teacher too, I suppose," said Rollo. + +"Yes," said the boy, "and the teacher." + +Here there was a short pause. + +"Are you going to Chillon?" said the boy to Rollo. + +"Yes," said Rollo. "I am going with my father and mother." + +"I wish you were going with us," said the boy. + +"I wish so too," said Rollo; "I mean to ask my father to let me." + +During this time Mr. Holiday had been making an arrangement with the +maid of the inn for two bedrooms, one for himself and his wife, and the +other for Rollo; and the maid was now just going to show the party the +way to their rooms. So Rollo went with his father, and after seeing that +all their effects were put in the rooms, he informed his father that he +had made acquaintance with a young German schoolboy who was going with +his class and the teacher to visit Chillon; and he asked his father's +consent that he might go with them. + +"I can walk there with them," said Rollo, "and wait there till you and +mother come." + +"Does the boy speak English?" asked Mr. Holiday. + +"No, sir," said Rollo; "but he can speak French a little. He speaks it +just about as well as I can, and we can get along together very well." + +"Is the teacher willing that you should go?" asked Mr. Holiday. + +"I don't know," said Rollo; "we have not asked him yet." + +"Then the first thing is to ask him," said Mr. Holiday. "Let your friend +ask the teacher if he is willing to have another boy invited to go with +his party; and if he is willing, you may go. If you get to Chillon +first, you may go about the castle with the boys, and then wait at the +castle gates till we come." + +"How soon shall you come?" asked Rollo. + +"Very soon," said Mr. Holiday. "I have ordered the carriage already, and +we shall perhaps get there as soon as you do." + +So Rollo went down stairs again to his friend, the German boy. + +"Do you think," said Rollo, "that the teacher would be willing to have +me go with you?" + +"Yes," said the boy, "I am sure he will. He is always very glad to have +us meet with an opportunity to speak French. Besides, there are some +boys in the school who are learning English, and he would like to have +you talk a little with them." + +"Go and ask him," said Rollo. + +So the boy went off to ask the teacher. He met him on the stairs, coming +down with the rest of the boys. The teacher was very much pleased with +the plan of having an American boy invited to join the party, and so it +was settled that Rollo was to go. + +The boys all went down stairs, and rendezvoused at the door of the inn. +Most of the omnibuses and diligences had gone. The boys of the school +all accosted Rollo in a very cordial manner; and the teacher shook hands +with him, and said that he was very glad to have him join their party. +The teacher spoke to him in French. There were two other boys who tried +to speak to him in English. They succeeded pretty well, but they could +not speak very fluently, and they made several mistakes. But Rollo was +very careful not to laugh at their mistakes, and they did not laugh at +those which he made in talking French; and so they all got along very +well together. + +Thus they set out on the road which led along the shore of the lake +towards the Castle of Chillon. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE CASTLE OF CHILLON. + + +The party of boys walked along the road very pleasantly together, each +one with his knapsack on his back and his pikestaff in his hand. Rollo +talked with them by the way--with some in English, and with others in +French; but inasmuch as it happened that whichever language was used, +one or the other of the parties to the conversation was very imperfectly +acquainted with it, the conversation was necessarily carried on by means +of very short and simple sentences, and the meaning was often helped out +by signs, and gestures, and curious pantomime of all sorts, with an +accompaniment, of course, of continual peals of laughter. + +Rollo, however, learned a good deal about the boys, and about the +arrangements they made for travelling, and also learned a great many +particulars in respect to the adventures they had met with in coming +over the mountains. + +Rollo learned, for example, that every boy had a fishing line in his +knapsack, and that when they got tired of walking, and wished to stop to +rest, if there was a good place, they stopped and fished a little while +in a mountain stream or a lake. + +Another thing they did was to watch for butterflies, in order to catch +any new species that they might find, to add to the teacher's cabinet of +natural history. For this purpose one of the boys had a gauze net on the +end of a long but light handle; and when a butterfly came in sight that +seemed at all curious or new, one of the boys set off with the rest to +catch him. If the specimen was found valuable, it was preserved. The +specimens thus kept were secured with a pin in the bottom of a broad, +but flat and very light box, which one of the older boys carried with +his knapsack. The boy opened this box, and showed Rollo the butterflies +which they had taken. They had quite a pretty collection. There were +several that Rollo did not recollect ever to have seen before. + +Talking in this way, they went on till they came to the part of the road +which was opposite to the Hotel Byron. The hotel was on an eminence +above the road, and back from the lake. Broad gravelled avenues led up +to it. There were also winding walks, and seats under the trees, and +terraces, and gardens, and parties of ladies and gentlemen walking +about, and children playing here and there, under the charge of their +nurses. + +The boys gave only a passing glance at these things as they went by. +They were much more interested in gazing up from time to time at the +stupendous cliffs and precipices which they saw crowning the mountain +ranges which seemed to border the road; and on the other side, in +looking out far over the water of the lake at the sail boats, or the +steamer, or the little row boats which they beheld in the offing. + +The road went winding on, following the little indentations of the +shore, till at length it reached the castle. It passed close under the +castle walls, or, rather, close along the margin of the ditch which +separated the foundations of the castle from the main land. There was a +bridge across this ditch. This bridge was enclosed, and a little room +was built upon it, with windows and a door. The outer door was, of +course, towards the road, and it was open when the boys arrived at the +place. + +The teacher led the way in by this door, and the boys followed him. +There was a man there, dressed in the uniform of a soldier. He was a +sort of sentinel, to keep the door of the castle. He had a table on one +side, with various engravings spread out upon it, representing +different views of the castle, both of the interior and of the exterior. +There were also little books of description, giving an account of the +castle and of its history, and copies of Byron's poem, the Prisoner of +Chillon. All these things were for sale to the visitors who should come +to see the castle. + +The engravings were kept from being blown away by the wind by means of +little stone paper weights made of rounded pebble stones, about as large +as the palm of the hand, with views of the castle and of the surrounding +scenery painted on them. The paper weights were for sale too. + +The boys looked at these things a moment, but did not seem to pay much +attention to them. They walked on, following their teacher, to the end +of the bridge room, where they came to the great castle gates. These +were open, too, and they went in. They found themselves in a paved +courtyard, with towers, and battlements, and lofty walls all around +them. There was a man there, waiting to receive them in charge, and show +them into the dungeons. + +He led the way through a door, and thence down a flight of stone steps +to a series of subterranean chambers, which were very dimly lighted by +little windows opening towards the lake. The back sides of the rooms +consisted of the living rock; the front sides were formed of the castle +wall that bordered the lake. + +"Here is the room," said the guide, "where the prisoners who were +condemned to death in the castle in former times spent the last night +before their execution. That stone was the bed where they had to lie." + +So saying, the guide pointed to a broad, smooth, and sloping surface of +rock, which was formed by the ledge on the back side of the dungeon. The +stone was part of the solid ledge, and was surrounded with ragged crags, +just as they had been left by the excavators in making the dungeon; but +whether the smooth and sloping surface of this particular portion of the +rock was natural or artificial, that is, whether it had been expressly +made so to form a bed for the poor condemned criminal, or whether the +rock had accidentally broken into that form by means of some natural +fissure, and so had been appropriated by the governor of the castle to +that use, the boys could not determine. + +The guide led the boys a little farther on, to a place where there was a +dark recess, and pointing up towards the ceiling, he said,-- + +"There is where the criminals were hung. Up where I point there is a +beam built into the rock; and from that the rope was suspended." + +The boys all crowded round the spot, and looked eagerly up, but they +could not see any beam. + +"You cannot see it," said the guide, "now, because you have just come +out from the light of day. We shall come back this way pretty soon, and +then you will be able to see it; for your eyes will then get accustomed +a little to the darkness of the dungeon." + +So the guide went on, and the boys followed him. + +They next came into a very large apartment. The front side and the back +side of it were both curved. The back side consisted of the living rock. +The front side was formed of the outer castle wall, which was built on +the rock at the very margin of the water. In the centre was a range of +seven massive stone columns, placed there to support the arches on which +rested the floor of the principal story of the castle above. The roof of +this dungeon of course was vaulted, the arches and groins being carried +over from this range of central pillars towards the wall in front, and +towards the solid rock behind. All this you will plainly see represented +in the engraving. + +[Illustration: THE DUNGEON IN THE CASTLE OF CHILLON.] + +This great dungeon was lighted by means of very small loopholes cut in +the wall, high up from the floor. The light from these windows, +instead of coming _down_, and shining upon the floor, seemed to go _up_, +and to lose itself in a faint attempt to illuminate the vaulted roof +above. The reason was, that at the particular hour when the boys made +their visit, the beams of the sun which shone directly from it in the +sky were excluded, and only those that were reflected upward from the +waters of the lake could come in. + +The guide led the boys to one of the central pillars, and pointed to an +iron ring which was built into the stone. He told them that there was +the place where one prisoner was confined in the dungeon for six years. +He was chained to that ring by a short chain, which enabled him only to +walk to and fro a few steps each way about the pillar. These steps had +worn a place in the rock. + +After the boys had looked at this pillar, and at the iron ring, and at +the place worn in the floor by the footsteps of the prisoner, as long as +they wished, they followed the guide on to the end of the dungeon, where +they were stopped by the solid rock. Here the guide brought them to a +dark and gloomy place in a corner, where, by standing a little back, +they could see all the pillars in a row; and he said that if they would +count them they would find that there were exactly seven. The boys did +so, and they found that there were seven; but they did not understand +why the number was of any importance. But the teacher explained it to +them. He said that Byron had mentioned seven as the number of the +pillars in his poem, and that most people who had read the poem were +pleased to observe the correspondence between his description and the +reality. + +The teacher quoted the lines. They were these:-- + + "In Chillon's dungeons, deep and old, + There are seven columns, massy and gray, + Dim with a dull, imprisoned ray-- + A sunbeam that hath lost its way, + And through the crevice and the cleft + Of the thick wall is fallen and left + Creeping o'er the floor so damp, + Like a marsh's meteor lamp." + +In repeating these lines, the teacher spoke in a strong foreign accent. +All the boys listened attentively while he spoke, though of course only +Rollo and those of the boys who had studied English could understand +him. + +After this the boys came back through the whole range of dungeons, by +the same way that they had come in. They could now see the beam from +which the condemned criminals were hung. It passed across from rock to +rock, high above their heads, in a dark and gloomy place, and seemed +perfectly black with age. + +When the party came out of the dungeons, a young woman took them in +charge, to show them the apartments above. She conducted them up a broad +flight of stone stairs to a massive doorway, which led to the principal +story of the castle. Here the boys passed through one after another of +several large halls, which were formerly used for various purposes when +the castle was inhabited, but are employed now for the storage of brass +cannons, and of ammunition belonging to the Swiss government. When the +castle was built, the country in which it stands belonged to a +neighboring state, called Savoy; and it was the Duke of Savoy, who was a +sort of king, that built it, and it was he that confined the prisoners +in it so cruelly. Many of them were confined there on account of being +accused of conspiring against his government. At length, however, the +war broke out between Switzerland and Savoy, and the Swiss were +victorious. They besieged this castle by an army on the land and by a +fleet of galleys on the lake, and in due time they took it. They let all +the prisoners which they found confined there go free, and since then +they have used the castle as a place of storage for arms and ammunition. + +One of the halls which the boys went into, the guide said, used to be a +senate house, and another was the court room where the prisoners were +tried. There was a staircase which led from the court room down to the +dungeon below, where the great black beam was, from which they were to +be hung. + +The boys, however, did not pay a great deal of attention to what the +guide said about the former uses of these rooms. They seemed to be much +more interested in the purposes that they were now serving, and so went +about examining very eagerly the great brass cannons and the ammunition +wagons that stood in them. + +At length, however, they came to something which specially attracted +their attention. It was a small room, which the guide said was an +ancient torturing room. There was a large wooden post in the centre of +the room, extending from the floor to the vault above. The post was worn +and blackened by time and decay, and there were various hooks, and +staples, and pulleys attached to it at different heights, which the +guide said were used for securing the prisoners to the post, when they +were to be tortured. The post itself was burned in many places, as if by +hot irons. + +The boys saw another place in a room beyond, which was in some respects +still more dreadful than this. It was a place where there was an +opening in the floor, near the wall of the room, that looked like a trap +door. There was the beginning of a stone stair leading down. A small +railing was built round the opening, as if to keep people from falling +in. The boys all crowded round the railing, and looked down. + +They saw that the stair only went down three steps, and then it came to +a sudden end, and all below was a dark and dismal pit, which seemed +bottomless. On looking more intently, however, they could at length see +a glimmer of light, and hear the rippling of the waves of the lake, at a +great depth below. The guide said that this was one of the _oubliettes_, +that is, a place where men could be destroyed secretly, and in such a +manner that no one should ever know what became of them. They were +conducted to this door, and directed to go down. It was dark, so that +they could only see the first steps of the stair. They would suppose, +however, that the stair was continued, and that it would lead them down +to some room, where they were to go. So they would walk on carefully, +feeling for the steps of the stair; but after the third there would be +no more, and they would fall down to a great depth on ragged rocks, and +be killed. To make it certain that they would be killed by the fall, +there were sharp blades, like the ends of scythes, fixed in the rock, +far below, to cut them in pieces as they fell. + +It seems these tyrants, hateful and merciless as they were, did not +wish, or perhaps did not dare, to destroy the souls as well as the +bodies of their victims, and so they contrived it that the last act +which the poor wretch should perform before going down into this +dreadful pit should be an act of devotion. To this end there was made a +little niche in the wall, just over the trap door, and there was placed +there an image of the Virgin Mary, who is worshipped in Catholic +countries as divine. The prisoner was invited to kiss this image as he +passed by, just as he began to descend the stair. Thus the very last +moment of his life would be spent in performing an act of devotion, and +thus, as they supposed, his soul would be saved. What a strange +combination is this of superstition and tyranny! + +After seeing all these things, the boys returned towards the entrance of +the castle. They met several parties of ladies and gentlemen coming in; +and just as they got to the door again, the carriage containing Mr. and +Mrs. Holiday drove up. So Rollo bade the teacher and all the boys good +by, after accompanying them a few minutes, as they walked along the road +towards the place where they were to go. By this time his father and +mother had descended from their carriage, and were ready to go in. So +Rollo joined them, and went through the castle again, and saw all the +places a second time. + +When they came out, and were getting into the carriage, Mr. Holiday said +that it was a very interesting place. + +"Yes," said Mrs. Holiday; "and we have seen all that Byron speaks of in +his poem, except the little island. Where is the little island?" + +Mr. Holiday pointed out over the water of the lake, where a group of +three tall trees seemed to be growing directly out of the water, only +that there was a little wall around them below. They looked like three +flowers growing in a flower pot set in the water. + +"Yes," said Mrs. Holiday, "that must certainly be it. It corresponds +exactly." So she repeated the following lines from Byron's poem, which +describes the island in the language of one of the prisoners, who saw it +from his dungeon window, + + "And then there was a little isle, + Which in my very face did smile-- + The only one in view; + A small green isle, it seemed no more, + Scarce broader than my dungeon floor; + But in it there were three tall trees, + And o'er it blew the mountain breeze, + And by it there were waters flowing, + And on it there were young flowers growing, + Of gentle breath and hue." + +"That's pretty poetry," said Rollo. + +"Very pretty indeed," said his father. + +The horse now began to trot along the road. The little island continued +in view for a while, and then disappeared, and afterwards came into view +again, as the road went turning and winding around, following the +indentations of the shore. + +At length, after a short but very pleasant ride, the party arrived +safely at the inn again at Villeneuve. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +PLAN FORMED. + + +The reason why the Lake of Geneva is of a crescent form is, that that is +the shape of the space in the bottom of the valley which it fills. There +are two ranges of mountains running in a curved direction almost +parallel to each other, and the space between them, for a certain +distance, is filled with water, owing to the spreading out of the waters +of the Rhone in flowing through. Thus the lake is produced by the +valley, and takes its form from it. + +The valley does not come to an end when you reach the head of the lake, +but continues for more than a hundred miles beyond, the two mountain +ranges continuing to border it all that distance, and the River Rhone to +flow through the centre of it. Thus at Villeneuve you look in one +direction, and you have a winding valley filled with water, extending +for fifty miles, to Geneva; while in the other direction, the same +valley--though now the floor of it is a green and fertile +plain--continues, with the same stupendous walls of mountain bordering +the sides of it, for a hundred miles or more, to the sources of the +Rhone. + +There is another thing that is very curious in respect to this valley, +and that is, that the floor of it is as flat, and smooth, and level, +almost, where it is formed of land, as where it is formed of water. + +Geologists suppose that the reason why the bottom of the valley, when it +consists of land, is so perfectly level, is because the land has been +formed by deposits from the river, in the course of a long succession of +ages. Of course the river could never build the land any higher, in any +part, than it rises itself in the highest inundations. Indeed, land +formed by river deposits is almost always nearly level, and the surface +of it is but little raised above the ordinary level of the stream, and +never above that of the highest inundations. + +It must, however, by no means be supposed that because the surface of +the valley above the head of the lake is flat and level, that it is on +that account monotonous and uninteresting. Indeed, it is quite the +reverse. It forms one of the richest and most enchanting landscapes that +can be conceived. It is abundantly shaded with trees, some planted in +avenues along the roadside, some bearing fruit in orchards and gardens, +and some standing in picturesque groups about the houses, or in pretty +groves by the margin of the fields. The land is laid out in a very +charming manner, in gardens, orchards, meadows, and fields of corn and +grain, with no fences to separate them either from each other or from +the road; so that in walking along the public highway you seem to walk +in one of the broad alleys of an immense and most beautiful garden. + +Besides all these beauties of the scene itself, the pleasure of walking +through it is greatly increased by the number and variety of groups and +figures of peasant girls and boys, and women and men, that you meet +coming along the road, or see working in the fields, all dressed in the +pretty Swiss costume, and each performing some curious operation, which +is either in itself, or in the manner of performing it, entirely +different from what is seen in any other land. + +Rollo followed the main road leading up the valley a little way one +evening, while his father and mother were at Villeneuve, in order, as he +said, to see where the diligences went to. He was so much pleased with +what he saw that he went back to the hotel, and began studying the guide +book, in order to find how far it was to the next town, and what +objects of interest there were to be seen on the way. He was so well +satisfied with the result of his investigations that he resolved to +propose to his father and mother to make a pedestrian excursion up the +valley. + +"Now, mother," said he, "I have a plan to propose, and that is, that we +all set out to-morrow morning, and make a pedestrian excursion up the +valley, to the next town, or the next town but one." + +"How far is it?" asked Mrs. Holiday. + +"Why, the best place to go to," said Rollo, "is Aigle, which is the +second town, and that is only six miles from here." + +"O Rollo!" said Mrs. Holiday; "I could not possibly walk six miles." + +"O, yes, mother," said Rollo. "The road is as smooth, and level, and +hard as a floor. Besides, you said that you meant to make a pedestrian +excursion somewhere while you were in Switzerland, and there could not +be a better place than this." + +"I know I said so," replied Mrs. Holiday, "but I was not really in +earnest. Besides, I don't think I could possibly walk six miles. But we +will take a carriage and ride there, if your father is willing." + +"But, mother, it is not so pleasant to ride You can't see so well, for +the top of the carriage, or else the driver on his high seat before, +will be more or less in the way. Then when you are walking you can stop +so easily any minute, and look around. But if you are in a carriage, it +makes a fuss and trouble to be calling continually upon the coachman to +stop; and then, besides, half of the time, before he gets the carriage +stopped you have got by the place you wanted to see." + +What Rollo said is very true. We can see a country containing a series +of fine landscapes much more thoroughly by walking through it, or riding +on horseback, than by going in a carriage. I do not think, however, +that, after all, this advantage constituted the real inducement in +Rollo's mind which made him so desirous of walking to Aigle. The truth +was, that the little walk which he had taken to Chillon with the party +of pedestrian boys had quite filled his imagination with the pleasures +and the independent dignity of this mode of travelling, and he was very +ambitious of making an experiment of it himself. + +"And, mother," continued Rollo, "after all, it is only about two hours +and a half or three hours, at two or three miles an hour. Now, you are +often gone as much as that, making calls; and when you are making calls +you generally go, I am sure, as much as two or three miles an hour." + +"But I generally ride, making calls," said Mrs. Holiday. + +"Yes, mother, but sometimes you walk; and I think when you walk you are +often gone more than three hours." + +"That is true," said Mrs. Holiday, "I admit; but then, you know, when I +am making calls I am resting a great deal of the time at the houses +where I call." + +"I know that," said Rollo; "and so we will rest, sitting down by the +road side." + +Mrs. Holiday admitted that Rollo had rather the best of the argument; +but she was still quite unwilling to believe that she could really walk +six miles. + +"And back again, too," she added. "You must consider that we shall have +to come back again." + +"Ah, but I don't wish to have you walk back again," said Rollo. "We will +come back by the diligence. There are several diligences and omnibuses +that come by Aigle, on the way here, in the course of the day." + +Mrs. Holiday was still undecided. She was very desirous of gratifying +Rollo, but yet she had not courage to undertake quite so great a feat +as to walk six miles. At length Mr. Holiday proposed that they should at +least set out and go a little way. + +"We can try it for half an hour," said he, "and then go on or turn back, +just as we feel inclined. Or if we go on several miles, and then get +tired, we shall soon come to a village, where we shall be able to get +some sort of vehicle or other to bring us back; and at all events we +shall have an adventure." + +Mrs. Holiday consented to this plan, and it was settled that the party +should breakfast at eight o'clock the next morning, and set out +immediately afterwards. + +Rollo had a sort of haversack which he used to carry sometimes on his +walks, and he always kept it with him in the steamboat or carriage, when +he travelled in those conveyances. This haversack he got ready, +supplying it with all that he thought would be required for the +excursion. He put in it his drinking cup,--the one which he had bought +in Scotland,--a little spy glass, which he used for viewing the scenery, +a book that his mother was reading, a little portfolio containing some +drawing paper and a pencil, a guide book and map, and, lastly, a paper +of small cakes and sugar plums, to give to any children that he might +chance to meet on the way. + +Rollo made all these preparations the evening before, so that every +thing might be ready in the morning, when the hour for setting out +should arrive. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +WALK TO AIGLE. + + +"Now, Rollo," said Mr. Holiday, as the party sallied forth from the inn +to commence their walk up the valley, "we depend entirely on you. This +is your excursion, and we expect you will take care and see that every +thing goes right." + +"Well, sir," said Rollo. "Come with me. I'll show you the way." + +On the borders of the village they passed to a high stone bridge which +crossed a small stream. This stream came in a slow and meandering course +through the meadows, and here emptied into the lake. Farther back it was +a torrent leaping from rock to rock and crag to crag, for many thousand +feet down the mountain side; but here it flowed so gently, and lay so +quietly in its bed, that pond lilies grew and bloomed in its waters. + +Just above the bridge there was a square enclosure in the margin of the +water, with a solid stone wall all around it. A man stood on the wall +with a net in his hand. The net was attached to a pole. The man was just +dipping the net into the water when Rollo, with his father and mother, +came upon the bridge. + +"Let us stop a minute, and see what that man is going to do," said +Rollo. "I saw that square wall yesterday, and I could not imagine what +it was for." + +The man put his net down to the bottom of the reservoir, and after +drawing it along on the bottom, he took it out again. There was nothing +in it. He then repeated the operation, and this time he brought up two +large fishes that looked like trout. They were both more than a foot +long. + +The man uttered a slight exclamation of satisfaction, and then lifting +the net over the wall, he let the fish fall into a basket which he had +placed outside. He then went away, carrying the basket with one hand, +and the net on his shoulder with the other. + +"That's a very curious plan," said Rollo. "I suppose they catch the fish +in the lake, and then put them in that pen and keep them there till they +are ready to eat them." + +So they walked on. + +Presently Rollo saw some of the pond lilies growing in the stream, the +course of which was here, for a short distance, near the road. + +"I wish very much, mother," said he, "that I could get one of those pond +lilies for you, but I cannot. I tried yesterday, but they are too far +from the shore, and it is so finished, and smooth, and nice about here +that there is no such thing as a pole or a stick to be found any where +to reach with." + +Presently, however, Rollo came to a boy who was fishing on the bank of +the stream, and he asked him if he would be good enough to hook in one +of those lilies for him with his pole and line. The boy was very willing +to do it. He threw a loop of his line over one of the pond lilies, and +drew it in. Rollo thanked the boy for his kindness, and gave the pond +lily to his mother. + +Perhaps there are no flowers that give a higher pleasure to the +possessors than those which a boy of Rollo's age gathers for his mother. + +The party walked on. Mrs. Holiday's attention was soon strongly +attracted to the various groups of peasants which she saw working in the +fields, or walking along the road. First came a young girl, with a +broad-brimmed straw hat on her head, driving a donkey cart loaded with +sheaves of grain. Next an old and decrepit-looking woman, with a great +bundle of sticks on her head. It seemed impossible that she could carry +so great a load in such a manner. As our party went by, she turned her +head slowly round a little way, to look at them; and it was curious to +see the great bundle of sticks--which was two feet in diameter, and four +or five feet long--slowly turn round with her head, and then slowly turn +back again as she went on her way. + +Next Mrs. Holiday paused a moment to look at some girls who were hoeing +in the field. The girls looked smilingly upon the strangers, and bade +them good morning. + +"Ask them," said Mrs. Holiday to Rollo, "if their work is not very +hard." + +So Rollo asked them the question. Mrs. Holiday requested him to do it +because she did not speak French very well, and so she did not like to +try. + +The girls said that the work was not hard at all. They laughed, and went +on working faster than ever. + +Next they came to a poor wayfaring woman, who was sitting by the +roadside with an infant in her arms. Rollo immediately took out one of +the little cakes from the parcel in his knapsack, and handed it to the +child. The mother seemed very much pleased. She bowed to Rollo, and +said,-- + +"She thanks you infinitely, sir." + +Thus they went on for about three quarters of an hour. During all this +time Mrs. Holiday's attention was so much taken up with what she +saw,--sometimes with the groups of peasants and the pretty little views +of gardens, cottages, and fields which attracted her notice by the road +side, ever and anon by the glimpses which she obtained of the stupendous +mountain ranges that bordered the valley on either hand, and that were +continually presenting their towering crags and dizzy precipices to view +through the opening of the trees on the plain,--that she had not time to +think of being fatigued. At length Rollo asked her how she liked the +walk. + +"Very well," said she; "only I think now I have walked full as far as I +should ever have to go at home, when making calls, before coming to the +first house. So as soon as you can you may find me a place to sit down +and rest a little while." + +"Well," said Rollo, "I see a grove of trees by the roadside, on ahead a +little way. When we get there we will sit down in the shade and rest." + +So they went on till they came to the grove. The grove proved to be a +very pretty one, though it consisted of only four or five trees; but +unfortunately there was no place to sit down in it. Rollo looked about +for some time in vain, and seemed quite disappointed. + +"Never mind," said his mother; "sometimes, when I make a call, I find +that the lady I have called to see is not at home; and then, even if I +am tired and want to rest, I have to go on to the next house. We will +suppose that at this place the lady is not at home." + +Rollo laughed and walked on. It was not long before they reached a place +where there was a kind of granary, or some other farm building of that +sort, near the road, with a little yard where some logs were lying. +Rollo found excellent seats for his father and mother on these logs. +They sat on one of them, and leaned their backs against another that was +a little higher up. They were in the shade of the building, too, so that +the place was very cool. + +"This is a very nice place to rest," said Mrs. Holiday; "and while we +are sitting, we can amuse ourselves in looking at the people that go +by." + +The first person that came was a pretty-looking peasant girl of about +seventeen, who had a tub upon her head. What was in the tub Rollo could +not see. With such a burden on her head, however, it is plain that the +girl could not wear her hat in the ordinary manner, and so she carried +it tied to the back of her neck, with its broad brim covering her +shoulders. This, Mr. Holiday said, seemed to him to be carrying the +modern fashion of wearing the bonnet quite to an extreme. + +[Illustration: THE BASKET RIDE.] + +The Swiss women have other ways of bearing burdens, besides loading them +upon their heads. They carry them upon their backs, sometimes, in +baskets fitted to their shoulders. A woman came by, while Rollo and his +father and mother were sitting upon the logs, with her child taking a +ride in such a basket on her back. As soon as this woman was past, +Rollo was so much struck with the comical appearance that the child +made, sitting upright in the basket, and looking around, that he took +out some paper and a pencil immediately from his portfolio, and asked +his mother to make a drawing of the woman, with the child in the basket +on her back. This Mrs. Holiday could easily do, even from the brief +glimpse which she had of the woman as she went by; for the outlines of +the figure and dress of the woman and of the basket and child were very +simple. Mrs. Holiday afterwards put in some of the scenery for a +background. + +When the drawing was finished, Rollo told his mother that he calculated +that they had come one third of the way, and asked her if she felt +tired; and she said she did not feel tired at all, and so they rose and +went on. + +In a short time they came to a village. It consisted of a narrow street, +with stone houses on each side of it. The houses were close together and +close to the street. In one place several people were sitting out before +the door, and among them was a poor, sickly child, such as are found +very often in the low valleys of Switzerland, of the kind called +_cretins_. These children are entirely helpless, and they have no +reason, or at least very little. The one which Rollo saw was a girl, +and appeared to be about ten years old; but it did not seem to have +strength enough to sit up in its chair. It was continually lolling and +falling about on this side and that, and trying to look up. The mother +of the child sat by her, and kept her from falling out of the chair. She +was talking, the mean while, with the neighbors, who were sitting there +on a bench, knitting or sewing. + +The face of the child was deformed, and had scarcely a human expression. +Both Rollo and his mother were much shocked at the spectacle. + +"It is a _cretin_--is it not?" said Mrs. Holiday to her husband, in a +whisper, as soon as they had passed by. + +"Yes," said Mr. Holiday. + +"Mother," said Rollo, "would you give that poor little thing a cake?" + +"Yes," said Mrs. Holiday; "I would." + +"Do you think she will understand?" asked Rollo. + +"Yes," said Mrs. Holiday; "I think she will; and at any rate her mother +will." + +Rollo had by this time taken out his cake. He went back with it to the +place where the women were sitting, and held it out, half, as it were, +to the mother, and half to the child, so that either of them might take +it, saying, at the same time, to the mother, in French,-- + +"For this poor little child." + +The mother smiled, and looked very much pleased. The cretin, whose eyes +caught a glimpse of the cake, laughed, and began to try to reach out her +hand to take it. It seemed hard for her to guide her hand to the place, +and she fell over from side to side all the time while attempting to do +so. She would have fallen entirely if her mother had not held her up. At +length she succeeded in getting hold of the cake, which she carried +directly to her mouth, and then laughed again with a laugh that seemed +scarcely human, and was hideous to see. + +"Does she understand?" asked Rollo. + +"Yes," said the mother; "she understands, but she can't speak, poor +thing. But she is very much obliged to you indeed." + +So Rollo bowed to the mother of the child, and to the other women, and +then went on and rejoined his father and mother. + +They passed through the village, and then came into the open country +again. Sometimes the mountains that bordered the valley receded to some +distance; at other times they came very near; and there was one place +where they formed a range of lofty precipices a thousand feet high, that +seemed almost to overhang the road. Here Rollo stopped to look up. He +saw, near a rounded mass of rock, half way up the mountain, two young +eagles that had apparently just left their nest, and were trying to +learn to fly. The old eagles were soaring around them, screaming. They +seemed to be afraid that their young ones would fall down the rocks and +get killed. Rollo wished that they would fall down, or at least fly +down, to where he was, in order that he might catch one of them. But +they did not. They took only short flights from rock to rock and from +thicket to thicket, but they did not come down. So, after watching them +for a time, Rollo went on. + +Next they came to a place where the valley took a turn so as to expose +the mountain side to the sun in such a manner as to make a good place +there for grapes to grow and ripen. The people had accordingly terraced +the whole declivity by building walls, one above another, to support the +earth for the vineyards; and when Rollo was going by the place he looked +up and saw a man standing on the wall of one of the terraces, with the +tool which he had been working with in his hand. He seemed suspended in +mid air, and looked down on the road and on the people walking along it +as a man would look down upon a street in London from the gallery under +the dome of St. Paul's. + +"That's a pleasant place to work," said Rollo, "away up there, between +the heavens and the earth." + +"Yes," said his mother; "and I should think that taking care of vines +and gathering the grapes would be very pretty work to do." + +There was a little building on the corner of one of the terraces, which +Mr. Holiday said was a watch tower. There were windows on all the sides +of it. + +"When the grapes begin to ripen," said he, "there is a man stationed +there to watch all the vineyards around, in order to prevent people from +stealing the grapes." + +"I should think there would be danger of their stealing the grapes," +said Rollo. + +After going on a little way beyond this, they began to approach the town +of Aigle. Mrs. Holiday was surprised that she could have come so far +with so little fatigue. Rollo told her that it was because she had +walked along so slowly. + +"Yes," said Mr. Holiday; "and because there have been so many things to +take up our attention by the way." + +When they arrived at the village they went directly to the inn. The inns +in these country towns in Switzerland are the largest and most +conspicuous looking buildings to be seen. Rollo went first, and led the +way. He went directly to the dining room. + +The dining rooms in these inns, as I have already said, are the public +rooms, where the company always go, whether they wish for any thing to +eat or not. There is usually one large table, for dinner, in the centre +of the room, and several smaller tables at the sides or at the windows, +for breakfasts and luncheons, and also for small dinner parties of two +or three. Besides these tables, there is often one with a pen and ink +upon it for writing, and another for knapsacks and carpet bags; and +there are sofas for the company to repose upon while the waiter is +setting the table for them. + +Rollo accordingly led the way at once to the dining room of the inn, and +conducted his mother to a sofa. + +"Now, Rollo," said Mr. Holiday, "order us a dinner." + +So Rollo went to the waiter, and after talking with him a little while, +came back and said that he had ordered some fried trout, some veal +cutlets, fried potatoes, an omelette, and some coffee. + +"And besides that," said Rollo, "he is going to give us some plums and +some pears. This is a famous place for plums and pears." + +"And for grapes, too, in the season of them," said Mr. Holiday. + +This was very true. Indeed, on looking about the walls of the room, to +see the maps and the pretty pictures of Swiss scenery that were there, +Rollo found among the other things an advertisement of what was called +the _grape cure_. It seems that eating ripe grapes was considered a cure +for sickness in that country, and that people were accustomed to come to +that very town of Aigle to procure them. There was no place in +Switzerland, the advertisement said, where the grapes were richer and +sweeter than there. + +The advertisement went on to say that the season for the grape cure was +in September, October, and November; that there were a number of fine +vineyards in the vicinity of the town which produced the most delicious +grapes; and that these vineyards were placed at the disposal of the +guests of the hotel at the rate of a franc a day for each person; so +that for that sum they could have every day as many as they could eat; +and this was to be their medicine, to make them well. + +Rollo read this advertisement aloud to his father and mother, with a +tone of voice which indicated a very eager interest in it. + +"Father," said he, "I wish you would come here and try it. Perhaps it +would make you well." + +The advertisement was in French, and Rollo translated it as he read it. +He succeeded very well in rendering into English all that was said about +the grapes, and the manner of taking them, and the terms for boarders at +the hotel; but when he came to the names of the diseases that the grapes +would cure, he was at a loss, as most of them were learned medical +words, which he had never seen before. So he read off the names in +French, and concluded by asking his father whether he did not think it +was some of those things that was the matter with him. + +"Very likely," said his father. + +"Then, father," said Rollo, "I wish you would come here in October, and +try the grape cure, and bring me too." + +"Very likely I may," said his father. "This is on the great road to +Italy, and we may conclude to go to Italy this winter." + +Just at this time the door of the dining room opened, and a new party +came in. It consisted of a gentleman and lady, who seemed to be a new +married pair. They came in a carriage. Rollo looked out the window, and +saw the carriage drive away from the door to go to the stable. + +The gentleman put his haversack and the lady's satchel and shawl down +upon the table, and then took a seat with her upon another sofa which +was in the room. + +The dinner which Rollo had ordered was soon ready, and they sat down to +eat it with excellent appetites. While they were at dinner, Rollo +inquired of the waiter what time the omnibus went to Villeneuve, and he +learned that it did not go for some hours. So Mr. Holiday told his wife +that she might either have a chamber, and lie down and rest herself +during that time, or they might go out and take a walk. + +Mrs. Holiday said that she did not feel at all fatigued, and so she +would like to go and take a walk. + +There was a castle on a rising ground just in the rear of the village, +which had attracted her attention in coming into the town, and she was +desirous of going to see it. + +So they all set off to go and see the castle. They found their way to it +without any difficulty. It proved to be an ancient castle, built in the +middle ages, but it was used now for a prison. The family of the jailer +lived in it too. It looked old and gone to decay. + +When they entered the court yard, a woman looked up to the windows and +called out _Julie!_ Presently a young girl answered to the call, and the +woman told her that here were some people come to see the castle. So +Julie came down and took them under her charge. + +The party spent half an hour in rambling over the castle. They went +through all sorts of intricate passages, and up and down flights of +stone stairs, steep, and narrow, and winding. They saw a number of +dismal dungeons. Some were dark, so that the girl had to take a candle +to light the way. The doors were old, and blackened by time, and they +moved heavily on rusty hinges. The bolts, and bars, and locks were all +rusted, too, so that it was very difficult to move them. + +The visitors did not see all the dungeons and cells, for some of them +had prisoners in them then, and those doors Julie said she was not +allowed to open, for fear that the prisoners should get away. + +After rambling about the old castle as much as they desired to do, and +ascending to the tower to view the scenery, the party came down again, +and returned to the inn. + +They found the dining room full of boys. These boys were sitting at a +long table, eating a luncheon. They were the boys of a school. The +teacher was at the head of the table. Rollo talked with some of the +boys, for he found two or three that could talk French and English, +though their English was not very good. + +In due time the omnibus came to the door, and then Rollo conducted his +father and mother to it, and assisted them to get in. The sun was now +nearly down, and the party had a delightful ride, in the cool air of the +evening, back to Villeneuve. + +The next day they embarked on board the steamer, and returned to Geneva. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE JEWELRY. + + +I have already said that Geneva is a very famous place for the +manufacture of watches and jewelry, and that almost every person who +goes there likes to buy some specimen of these manufactures as a +souvenir of their visit. + +There is a great difference in ladies, in respect to the interest which +they take in dress and ornaments. Some greatly undervalue them, some +greatly overvalue them. + +Some ladies, especially such as are of a very conscientious and +religious turn of mind, are apt to imagine that there is something wrong +in itself in wearing ornaments or in taking pleasure in them. But we +should remember that God himself has ornamented every thing in nature +that has not power to ornament itself. Look at the flowers, the fruits, +the birds, the fields, the butterflies, the insects; see how beautiful +they all are made by _ornaments_ with which God has embellished them. + +God has not ornamented man, nor has he clothed him; but he has given him +the powers and faculties necessary to clothe and ornament himself. He +has provided him with the means, too, and with the means as much for the +one as for the other. There are cotton and flax which he can procure +from plants, and wool and fur from animals, for his clothing; and then +there are gold and silver in the earth, and rubies, emeralds, and +diamonds, for his ornaments; and if we are not to use them, what were +they made for? + +They, therefore, seem to be in error who discard all ornaments, and +think that to wear them or to take pleasure in them is wrong. + +But this, after all, is not the common failing. The danger is usually +altogether the other way. A great many ladies overvalue ornaments. They +seem to think of scarcely any thing else. They cannot have too many +rings, pins, bracelets, and jewels. They spend _all_ their surplus money +for these things, and even sometimes pinch themselves in comforts and +necessaries, to add to their already abundant supplies. This excessive +fondness for dress and articles for personal adornment is a mark of a +weak mind. It is seen most strongly in savages, and in people of the +lowest stages of refinement and cultivation. The opposite error, though +far less common, is equally an error; and though it is not the mark of +any weakness of the mind, it certainly denotes a degree of perversion in +some of the workings of it. + +The morning after the return of our party to Geneva from their excursion +along the lake, they made their arrangements for leaving Geneva finally +on the following day. + +"And now," said Mr. Holiday to his wife, "Geneva is a famous place for +ornaments and jewelry; and before we go, I think you had better go with +me to some of the shops, and buy something of that kind, as a souvenir +of your visit." + +"Well," said Mrs. Holiday, "if you think it is best, we will. Only I +don't think much of ornaments and jewelry." + +"I know you do not," said Mr. Holiday; "and that is the reason why I +think you had better buy some here." + +Mrs. Holiday laughed. She thought it was rather a queer reason for +wishing her to buy a thing--that she did not care much about it. + +Rollo was present during this conversation between his father and +mother, and listened to it; and when, finally, it was decided that his +mother should go to one or two of the shops in Geneva, to look at, and +perhaps purchase, some of the ornaments and jewelry, he wished to go +too. + +"Why?" said his mother; "do _you_ wish to buy any of those things?" + +Rollo said he did. He wished to buy some for presents. + +"Have you got any money?" asked his father. + +"Yes, sir, plenty," said Rollo. + +Rollo was a very good manager in respect to his finances, and always +kept a good supply of cash on hand, laid up from his allowance, so as to +be provided in case of any sudden emergency like this. + +So the party set out together, after breakfast, to look at the shops. +They knew the shops where jewelry was kept for sale by the display of +rings, pins, bracelets, and pretty little watches, that were put up at +the windows. They went into several of them. The shops were not large, +but the interior of them presented quite a peculiar aspect. There were +no goods of any kind, except those in the windows, to be seen, nor were +there even any shelves; but the three sides of the room were filled with +little drawers, extending from the floor to the ceiling. These drawers +were filled with jewelry of the richest and most costly description; and +thus, though there was nothing to be seen at first view, the value of +the merchandise ready to be displayed at a moment's notice was very +great. + +In the centre of the room, in front of the drawers, were +counters--usually two, one on each side; and sometimes there was a table +besides. The table and the counters were elegantly made, of fine cabinet +work, and before them were placed handsome chairs and sofas, nicely +cushioned, so that the customers might sit at their ease, and examine +the ornaments which the shopkeeper showed them. The counters were of the +same height as the table, and there were drawers in them below, and also +in the table, like those along the sides of the room. + +At the first shop where our party went in, two ladies, very showily +dressed, were sitting at a table, looking at a great variety of pins, +rings, and bracelets that the shopkeeper had placed before them. The +articles were contained in little rosewood and mahogany trays, lined +with velvet; and they looked very brilliant and beautiful as they lay, +each in its own little velvet nest. + +The ladies looked up from the table, and gazed with a peculiar sort of +stare, well known among fashionable people of a certain sort, upon Mrs. +Holiday, as she came in. One of them put up a little eye glass to her +eye, in order to see her more distinctly. Mr. and Mrs. Holiday, followed +by Rollo, advanced and took their places on a sofa before one of the +counters. The ladies then continued their conversation, apparently +taking no notice of the new comers. + +One of the ladies was holding a bracelet in her hand. She had already +two bracelets on each wrist, and ever so many rings on her fingers, +besides a large brooch in her collar, and a double gold chain to her +watch, with a great number of breloques and charms attached to it. She +seemed to be considering whether she should buy the bracelet that she +was holding in her hand or not. + +"It certainly is a beauty," said she. + +"Yes," said the other; "and if I were you, Almira, I would take it +without hesitating a moment. You can afford it just as well as not." + +"It is so high!" said Almira, doubtingly, and holding up the bracelet, +so as to see the light reflected from the surfaces of the precious +stones. + +"I don't think it is high at all," said her friend; "that is, for such +stones and such setting. A thousand francs, he says, and that is only +two hundred dollars. That is nothing at all for so rich a husband as +yours." + +"I know," said Almira; "but then he always makes such wry faces if I buy +any thing that costs more than fifty or seventy-five dollars." + +[Illustration: SHOPPING AT GENEVA.] + +"I would not mind his wry faces at all," said her friend. "He does +not mean any thing by them. Depend upon it, he is as proud to see you +wear handsome things as any man, after he has once paid for them. Then, +besides, perhaps the man will take something off from the thousand +francs." + +"I will ask him," said Almira. + +So she called the shopman to her, and asked him in French whether he +could not take eight hundred francs for the bracelet. + +She accosted him in French, for that is the language of Geneva; and the +two ladies had talked very freely to each other in English, supposing +that neither the shopkeeper nor the new party of customers would +understand what they were saying. But it happened that the shopkeeper +himself, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Holiday, understood English very well, +and thus he knew the meaning of all that the ladies had been saying; and +he was too well acquainted with human nature not to know that the end of +such a consultation and deliberation as that would be the purchase of +the bracelet, and was therefore not at all disposed to abate the price. + +"No, madam," said he, speaking in French, and in a very polite and +obliging manner; "I cannot vary from the price I named at all. We are +obliged to adopt the system of having only one price here. Besides, +that bracelet could not possibly be afforded for less than a thousand +francs. Earlier in the season we asked twelve hundred francs for it; and +I assure you, madam, that it is a great bargain at a thousand." + +After looking at the bracelet a little longer, and holding it up again +in different lights, and hearing her friend's solicitations that she +would purchase it repeated in various forms, Almira finally concluded to +take it. + +It may seem, at first view, that Almira's friend evinced a great deal of +generosity in urging her thus to buy an ornament more rich and costly +than she could hope to purchase for herself; but her secret motive was +not a generous one at all. She wished to quote Almira's example to her +own husband, as a justification for her having bought a richer piece of +jewelry than he would otherwise have approved of. + +"Mine only cost eight hundred francs," she was going to say; "and cousin +Almira bought one that cost a thousand." + +In this way she hoped to exhibit to her husband that which he might +otherwise have regarded as foolish extravagance in the light of +self-denial and prudent economy. + +In the mean time, while Almira and her friend had been making their +purchases at the table, another shopman had been displaying a great +many trays to Mrs. Holiday on one of the counters. The ornaments +contained in these trays were by no means as costly as those which had +been shown to the two ladies at the table; for Mrs. Holiday had said to +the shopman, as she came in, that she wished to see only some simple +pins and other ornaments worth from fifty to one hundred francs. They +were, however, just as pretty in Mrs. Holiday's opinion. Indeed, the +beauty of such ornaments as these seldom has any relation to the +costliness of them. This, however, constitutes no reason, in the opinion +of many ladies, why they should buy the less expensive ones; for with +these ladies it is the costliness of an ornament, rather than the beauty +of it, that constitutes its charm. + +The two ladies paid for their purchases with gold coins which they took +from elegant gold-mounted porte-monnaies that they carried in their +hands, and then, with a dash and a flourish, went away. + +Mrs. Holiday took up one after another of the ornaments before her, and +looked at them with a musing air and manner, that seemed to denote that +her thoughts were not upon them. She was thinking how erroneous an +estimate those ladies form of the comparative value of the different +sources of happiness within the reach of women who sacrifice the +confidence and love of their husbands to the possession of a pearl +necklace or a diamond pin. + +Mrs. Holiday finally bought two ornaments, and Rollo bought two also. +Rollo's were small pins. They were very pretty indeed. One of them cost +twelve francs, and the other fifteen. His mother asked him whether he +was going to wear them himself. + +"O, no, mother," said he; "I have bought them to give away." + +His mother then asked him whom he was going to give them to. He laughed, +and said that that was a secret. He would tell her, however, he said, +whom one of them was for. It was for his cousin Lucy. + +"And which of them is for her?" asked his mother. + +"This one," said Rollo. So saying he showed his mother the one that cost +twelve francs. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +A FORTUNATE ACCIDENT. + + +The day before Rollo left Geneva, he met with an accident which his +father called a fortunate one, though Rollo himself was at first +inclined to consider it quite an unfortunate one. The reason why Mr. +Holiday considered it fortunate was, that no evil result followed from +it, except giving Rollo a good fright. "It is always a lucky thing for a +boy," said Mr. Holiday, "when he meets with any accident that frightens +him well, provided it does not hurt him much." + +The accident that happened to Rollo was this: There was a boy at the +hotel, who had recently come with his father and mother from India. He +was the son of an English army officer. His name was Gerald. He was a +tall and handsome boy, and was about a year older than Rollo. + +In the afternoon of the day before the party were to leave Geneva, Rollo +came in from the quay, where he had been out to take a walk, and asked +permission to go out on the lake, a little way, in a boat, with Gerald. + +"Does Gerald understand how to manage a boat?" asked Mr. Holiday. + +"O, yes, sir," said Rollo. "He has been all over the world, and he knows +how to manage every thing. Besides, I can manage a boat myself well +enough to go out on this lake. It is as smooth as a mill pond." + +"Very well," said Mr. Holiday. "Only it must not be a sail boat. You +must take oars; and look out well that the Rhone does not catch you." + +Rollo understood very well that his father meant by this that he must be +careful not to let the current, which was all the time drawing the water +of the lake off under the bridge, and thus forming the Rhone below, +carry the boat down. Rollo said that he would be very careful; and off +he went to rejoin Gerald on the quay. + +Gerald was already in the boat. He had with him, also, a Swiss boy, whom +he had engaged to go too, as a sort of attendant, and to help row, if +necessary. An English boy, in such cases, never considers the party +complete unless he has some one to occupy the place of a servant, and to +be under his command. + +So the three boys got into the boat, and pushed off from the shore. For +a time every thing went on well and pleasantly. Rollo and the others had +a fine time in rowing to and fro over the smooth water, from one +beautiful point of land to another, on the lake shores, and sometimes in +lying still on the calm surface, to rest from the labor, and to amuse +themselves in looking down in the beautiful blue depths beneath them, +and watching the fishes that were swimming about there. At last, in the +course of their manoeuvrings, they happened to take the boat rather +too near the bridge. The attention of the boys was at the time directed +to something that they saw in the water; and they did not perceive how +near the bridge they were until Rollo happened to observe that the +stones at the bottom seemed to be rapidly moving along in the direction +towards the lake. + +"My!" said Rollo; "see how fast the stones are going!" + +"The stones!" exclaimed Gerald, starting up, and seizing an oar. "It's +the boat! We are going under the bridge, as sure as fate! Put out your +oar, Rollo, and pull for your life! Pull!" + +Both Rollo and the Swiss boy immediately put out their oars and pulled; +but Gerald soon found that the current was too strong for them. In spite +of all they could do, the boat was evidently slowly drifting towards the +bridge. + +"It is of no use," said Gerald, at last. "We shall have to go through; +but that will do no harm if we can only manage to keep her from striking +the piers. Take in your oars, boys, and let me pull her round so as to +head down stream, and you stand ready to fend off when we are going +under." + +The excitement of this scene was very great, and Rollo's first impulse +was to scream for help; but observing how cool and collected Gerald +appeared, he felt somewhat reassured, and at once obeyed Gerald's +orders. He took in his oar, and holding it in his hands, as if it had +been a boat hook or a setting pole, he prepared to fend off from the +piers when the boat went through. In the mean time Gerald had succeeded +in getting the boat round, so as to point the bows down stream, just as +she reached the bridge; and in this position she shot under it like an +arrow. Several boys who were standing on the bridge at this time, after +watching at the upper side till the boat went under, ran across to the +lower side, to see her come out. + +The boat passed through the bridge safely, though the stern struck +against the pier on one side, just as it was emerging. The reason of +this was, that Gerald, in bringing it round so as to head down the +stream, had given it a rotating motion, which continued while it was +passing under the bridge, and thus brought the stern round against the +pier. No harm was done, however, except that the boat received a rather +rude concussion by the blow. + +"Now, boys," said Gerald, speaking in French, "we must keep her head and +stern up and down the stream, or we shall make shipwreck." + +"Yes," said Rollo, in English; "if we should strike a snag or any thing, +broadside on, the boat would roll right over." + +"A snag!" repeated Gerald, contemptuously. The idea was indeed absurd of +finding a snag in the River Rhone; for a snag is formed by a floating +tree, which is washed into the river by the undermining of the banks, +and is then carried down until it gets lodged. There are millions of +such trees in the Mississippi, but none in the Rhone. + +However, Rollo was right in his general idea. There might be +obstructions of some sort in the river, which it would be dangerous for +the boat to encounter broadside on; so he took hold resolutely of the +work of helping Gerald bring it into a position parallel with the +direction of the stream. In the mean time the boat was swept down the +torrent with fearful rapidity. It glided swiftly on amid boiling +whirlpools and sheets of rippling foam, that were quite frightful to +see. The buildings of the town here bordered the banks of the river on +each side, and there were little jutting piers and platforms here and +there, with boys upon them in some places, fishing, and women washing +clothes in others. The boys in the boat did not call for help, and so +nobody attempted to come and help them. Gerald's plan was to keep the +boat headed right, and so let her drift on until she had passed through +the town, in hopes of being able to bring her up somewhere on the shore +below. + +At one time the force of the current carried them quite near to the +shore, at a place where Gerald thought it would be dangerous to attempt +to land, and he called out aloud to Rollo to "fend off." Rollo attempted +to do so, and in the attempt he lost his oar. He was standing near the +bows at the time, and as he planted his oar against the bottom, the +current carried the boat on with such irresistible impetuosity that the +oar was wrested from his hand in an instant. If he had not let go of it +he would have been pulled over himself. Gerald, however, had the +presence of mind to reach out his own oar at once, and draw the lost one +back towards the boat, so that the Swiss boy seized it, and, to Rollo's +great joy, took it in again. + +The boat at one time came very near drifting against one of the great +water wheels which were revolving in the stream. Gerald perceived the +danger just in time, and he contrived to turn the head of the boat out +towards the centre of the river, and then commanding Rollo and the Swiss +boy to row, and pulling, himself, with all his force, he just succeeded +in escaping the danger. + +By this time the boat had passed by the town, and it now came to a part +of the river which was bordered by smooth, grassy banks on each side, +and with a row of willows growing near the margin of the water. This was +the place, in fact, where Rollo had walked along the shore with his +mother, in going down to visit the junction of the Rhone and the Arve. + +"Now," said Gerald, "here is a chance for us to make a landing. I'll +head her in towards the shore." + +So Gerald turned the head of the boat in towards the bank, and then, by +dint of hard rowing, the boys contrived gradually to draw nearer and +nearer to the shore, though they were all the time drifting rapidly +down. At last the boat came so near that the bow was just ready to touch +the bank, and then Gerald seized the painter, and, watching his +opportunity, leaped ashore, and, running to the nearest willow, wound +the painter round it. This at once checked the motion of the bow, and +caused the stern to swing round. Gerald immediately unwound the painter, +and ran to the willow next below, where he wound it round again, and +there succeeded at last in making it fast, and stopping the motion of +the boat altogether. Rollo and the Swiss boy then made their escape safe +to land. + +"There!" said Rollo, taking at the same time a high jump, to express his +exultation; "there! Here we are safe, and who cares?" + +"Ah!" said Gerald, calmly; "it is very easy to say Who cares? now that +we have got safe to land; but you'll find me looking out sharp not to +get sucked into those ripples again." + +So the boys went home. Gerald found a man to go down and bring back the +boat, while Rollo proceeded to the hotel, to report the affair to his +father and mother. Mrs. Holiday was very much alarmed, but Mr. Holiday +seemed to take the matter quite coolly. He said he thought that Rollo +was now, for all the rest of his life, in much less danger of being +drowned by getting carried down rapids in a river than he was before. + +"He understands the subject now somewhat practically," said Mr. Holiday. + +The term of Mr. Holiday's visit had now expired, and the arrangements +were to be made for leaving town, with a view of returning again to +Paris. Rollo, however, was very desirous that before going back to Paris +they should make at least a short excursion among the mountains. + +"Where shall we go?" said his father. + +"To the valley of Chamouni," said Rollo. "They say that that is the +prettiest place in all Switzerland." + +"How long will it take us to go?" asked Mr. Holiday. + +"We can go in a day," said Rollo. "There are plenty of diligences. The +offices of them are here all along the quay. + +"Or, if you don't choose to go so far in a day," continued Rollo, "you +can go in half a day to the entrance of the valley, where there is a +good place to stop, and then we can go to Chamouni the next day. I have +studied it all out in the guide book." + +"Very well," said Mr. Holiday. "It seems that we can get into the valley +of Chamouni very easily; and now how is it about getting out?" + +At this question Rollo's countenance fell a little, and he replied that +it was not so easy to get out. + +"There is no way to get out," said he, "except to go over the +mountains, unless we come back the same way we go in." + +"That would not be quite so pleasant," said Mr. Holiday. + +"No, sir," said Rollo; "it would be better to go out some new way. But +there is not any way. It is a long, narrow valley, very high up among +the mountain glaciers. There is a way to get out at the upper end, but +it is only a mountain pass, and we should have to ride over on mules. +But you could ride on a mule--could not you, father?" + +"Why, yes," said Mr. Holiday, "perhaps I could; but it might be too +fatiguing for your mother. She has not been accustomed to ride on +horseback much of late years. + +"Besides," he continued, "I suppose that as it is a mountain pass, the +road must be pretty steep and difficult." + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "it is steep some part of the way. You have to +go up for half an hour by zigzags--right up the side of the mountain. I +read about it in the guide book. Then, after we get up to the top of the +pass, we have a monstrous long way to go down. We have to go down for +two hours, as steep as we can go." + +"I should think we should have to go _up_ as much as _down_," said Mr. +Holiday; "for it is necessary to ascend as much to get to the top of +any hill from the bottom as you _descend_ in going down to the bottom +from the top." + +"Ah, but in Chamouni," said Rollo, "we are very near the top already. It +is a valley, it is true; but it is up very high among the mountains, and +is surrounded with snow and glaciers. That is what makes it so +interesting to go there. Besides, we can see the top of Mont Blanc +there, and with a spy glass we can watch the people going up, as they +walk along over the fields of snow." + +"Well," said Mr. Holiday, "I should like to go there very well, if your +mother consents; and then, if she does not feel adventurous enough to go +over the mountain pass on a mule, we can, at all events, come back the +same way we go." + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "and, besides, father," he continued, eagerly, +"there is another way that we can do. Mother can go over the mountain +pass on a carrying chair. They have carrying chairs there, expressly to +carry ladies over the passes. They are good, comfortable chairs, with +poles each side of them, fastened very strong. The lady sits in the +chair, and then two men take hold of the poles, one before and the other +behind, and so they carry her over the mountains." + +"I should think that would be very easy and very comfortable," said Mr. +Holiday. "Go and find your mother, and explain it all to her, and hear +what she says. Tell her what sort of a place Chamouni is, and what there +is to be seen there, and then tell her of the different ways there will +be of getting out when once we get in. If she would like it we will go." + +Mrs. Holiday did like the plan of going to Chamouni very much. She said +she thought that she could go over the mountain pass on a mule; and that +at any rate she could go on the carrying chair. So the excursion was +decided upon, and the party set off the next day. + + * * * * * + +And here I must end the story of Rollo at Geneva, only adding that it +proved in the end that the fifteen franc pin which Rollo bought, and the +destination of which he made a secret of, was intended for his mother. +He kept the pin in his trunk until he returned to America, and then sent +it into his mother's room, with a little note, one morning when she was +there alone. His mother kept the pin a great many years, and wore it a +great many times; and she said she valued it more than any other +ornament she had, though she had several in her little strong box that +had cost in money fifty times as much. + + + + +ABBOTT'S AMERICAN HISTORY. + +A SERIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY FOR YOUTH, + +By JACOB ABBOTT. + +Complete in Eight Volumes, 18mo., price $1.25 each. + +Each Volume complete in itself. + +Each volume is illustrated with numerous Maps and Engravings, from +original designs by F. O. C. Darley, J. R. Chapin, G. Perkins, Charles +Parsons, H. W. Herrick, E. F. Beaulieu, H. L. Stephens, and others. + +This Series, by the well-known author of the "ROLLO BOOKS" "ROLLO'S TOUR +IN EUROPE," "HARPER'S SERIES OF EUROPEAN HISTORIES," "THE FLORENCE +STORIES," &c., consists of the following volumes: + + 1. ABORIGINAL AMERICA. + 2. DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. + 3. THE SOUTHERN COLONIES. + 4. THE NORTHERN COLONIES. + 5. WARS OF THE COLONIES. + 6. THE REVOLT OF THE COLONIES. + 7. THE REVOLUTION. + 8. WASHINGTON. + +Notices of the Initial Volume. + +_From the Boston Traveller._ + +"The most excellent publication of the kind ever undertaken." + +_From the Boston Advertiser._ + +"The illustrations are well designed and executed." + +_From the Boston Post._ + +"One of the most useful of the many good and popular books of which +Mr. Abbott is the author." + +_From the Philadelphia North American._ + +"It is indeed a very vivid and comprehensive presentation of the +physical aspect and aboriginal life visible on this continent before the +discovery by white men." + +_From the Troy Whig._ + +"Mr. Abbott's stories have for years been the delight of thousands." + + + + +_Published by Sheldon & Co._ + + +PETER PARLEY'S OWN STORY. + +From the Personal Narrative of the late SAMUEL G. GOODRICH (Peter +Parley). + +1 vol. 16mo., illustrated, price $1.25. + + + CHILDREN'S SAYINGS; + OR, EARLY LIFE AT HOME. + +By CAROLINE HADLEY. With Illustrations, by WALTER CRANE. + +1 vol. square 16mo., price 90 cents. + + + STORIES OF OLD. + OLD TESTAMENT SERIES. + +By CAROLINE HADLEY. + +1 vol. 12mo., Illustrated, price $1.25. + + + STORIES OF OLD. + NEW TESTAMENT SERIES. + +By CAROLINE HADLEY. + +1 vol. 12mo., Illustrated, price $1.25. + + +ROSE MORTON'S JOURNAL. + +A series of volumes containing Rose Morton's Journal for the several +months of the year. + +Each volume Illustrated, 18mo., 45 cents. + +There are now ready, + + ROSE MORTON'S JOURNAL FOR JANUARY. + ROSE MORTON'S JOURNAL FOR FEBRUARY. + ROSE MORTON'S JOURNAL FOR MARCH. + ROSE MORTON'S JOURNAL FOR APRIL. + ROSE MORTON'S JOURNAL FOR MAY. + + +WALTER'S TOUR IN THE EAST. + +A Series of interesting Travels through Egypt, Palestine Turkey, and +Syria. By Rev. D. C. EDDY, D.D. + +Each volume beautifully Illustrated from Designs brought from those +countries. + +Each volume, 16mo., price 90 cents. + +There are now ready, + + Walter in Egypt. + Walter in Jerusalem. + Walter in Samaria. + Walter in Damascus. + Walter in Constantinople. (In press.) + +_From the New York Commercial Advertiser._ + +"Dr. Eddy is known as the author of 'The Percy Family,' and is a most +pleasing and instructive writer for the young. The present volume is one +of a series of six, describing a visit of a company of young tourists to +the most interesting and sacred spots on the earth. The incidents +recited and the facts presented are just such as will captivate while +they instruct intelligent youth, and give even adult minds some correct +ideas of Eastern countries and habits. In the present volume, Walter +travels through Egypt, and his story is told in some two hundred and +twenty pages; so compactly told, indeed, that not a line could have been +omitted without injury. It is just the book for an intelligent child." + +_From the Pittsburgh Gazette._ + +"There are four very appropriate illustrations, representing the scenery +and incidents of travel in Egypt. The volume, moreover, is well written, +handsomely printed at the Riverside press, neatly bound in cloth, and +therefore may be commended as a suitable holiday present,--a book that +will both instruct and interest youthful readers." + +_From the Buffalo Express._ + +"This beautiful little volume is the first of a series of six, +describing the visit of a company of young tourists to the most +interesting and sacred spots on the earth. In the one under +consideration, a number of incidents are recited, and facts presented, +which will be found not only exceedingly interesting and instructive to +boys and girls, but will give even adult minds some idea of the romantic +East. It is elegantly bound, and illustrated with a number of finely +executed wood-cuts. We recommend it to the attention of parents as a +most suitable and beautiful holiday present." + + +THE BRIGHTHOPE SERIES. + +By J. T. TROWBRIDGE. + + The Old Battle Ground, + Father Brighthope, + Hearts and Faces. + Iron Thorpe, + Burr Cliff. + +5 vols. 18mo., in cloth, gilt back, uniform. Price $4.00. + +_From the Boston Transcript._ + +"Mr. Trowbridge has never written anything that was not popular, and +each new work has added to his fame. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Rollo in Geneva + +Author: Jacob Abbott + +Release Date: May 6, 2008 [EBook #25355] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROLLO IN GENEVA *** + + + + +Produced by D. Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p class="smallgap"> </p> + +<h1>ROLLO IN GENEVA,</h1> + +<p class="gap"> </p> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<p class="gap"> </p> + +<h2>JACOB ABBOTT.</h2> + +<hr class="tiny" /> + +<p class="biggap"> </p> + +<p class="center">NEW YORK:</p> + +<p class="center">SHELDON & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS,</p> + +<p class="center">498 & 500 BROADWAY.</p> + +<hr class="minuscule" /> + +<p class="center">1867.</p> + +<hr class="large" /> +<p class="center">Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858,</p> + +<p class="center">by <span class="smcap">Jacob Abbott</span>,</p> + +<p class="center">In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of +Massachusetts.</p> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<p><a name="Frontispiece" id="Frontispiece" /></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/i003.jpg" width="500" height="320" alt="THE CASTLE OF CHILLON." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE CASTLE OF CHILLON.</span> +</div> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 306px;"> +<img src="images/i004.jpg" width="306" height="500" alt="ROLLO'S TOUR IN EUROPE. + +SHELDON & CO., + +PUBLISHERS, N. Y." title="" /></div> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<div class="centerbox bbox"> +<h4><a name="ROLLOS_TOUR_IN_EUROPE" id="ROLLOS_TOUR_IN_EUROPE"></a>ROLLO'S TOUR IN EUROPE.</h4> + +<p class="center">ORDER OF THE VOLUMES</p> + +<p class="center"> +ROLLO ON THE ATLANTIC.<br /> +ROLLO IN PARIS.<br /> +ROLLO IN SWITZERLAND.<br /> +ROLLO IN LONDON.<br /> +ROLLO ON THE RHINE.<br /> +ROLLO IN SCOTLAND.<br /> +ROLLO IN GENEVA.<br /> +ROLLO IN HOLLAND.<br /> +ROLLO IN NAPLES.<br /> +ROLLO IN ROME.<br /> +</p></div> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<h3>PRINCIPAL PERSONS OF THE STORY.</h3> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="PRINCIPAL PERSONS OF THE STORY."> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Rollo</span>; twelve years of age.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Mr.</span> and <span class="smcap">Mrs. Holiday</span>; Rollo's father and mother, travelling in Europe.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Thanny</span>; Rollo's younger brother.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Jane</span>; Rollo's cousin, adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Holiday.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Mr. George</span>; a young gentleman, Rollo's uncle.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr class="large" /> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="55%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="CONTENTS"> + +<tr> +<td align="right">CHAPTER</td> +<td align="left"> </td> +<td align="right">PAGE</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">I.—</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Fame of Geneva,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#ROLLO_IN_GENEVA">11</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">II.—</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Planning,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_II">24</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">III.—</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Ride to Geneva,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_III">35</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">IV.—</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Town,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_IV">55</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">V.—</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Hotel,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_V">64</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">VI.—</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Ride in the Environs,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_VI">71</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">VII.—</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Junction of the Arve,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_VII">93</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">VIII.—</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Seeing Mont Blanc go out,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_VIII">108</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">IX.—</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Law Question,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_IX">122</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">X.—</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">An Excursion on the Lake,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_X">134</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">XI.—</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Villeneuve,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XI">148</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">XII.—</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Castle of Chillon,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XII">155</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">XIII.—</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Plan Formed,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XIII">171</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">XIV.—</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Walk to Aigle,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XIV">179</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">XV.—</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Jewelry,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XV">197</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">XVI.—</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Fortunate Accident,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XVI">209</a></td></tr> + +</table></div> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<h2>ENGRAVINGS.</h2> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="55%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="ENGRAVINGS"> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> </td> +<td align="right">PAGE</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Castle of Chillon,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Frontispiece">Frontispiece</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Great Net,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Going through the Village,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">View of Geneva,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Water Wheel,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_100">100</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Fishing,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Going to take a Sail,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_132">132</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Dungeons of Chillon,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_161">161</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Basket Ride,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Shopping at Geneva,</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_203">203</a></td></tr> + +</table></div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="ROLLO_IN_GENEVA" id="ROLLO_IN_GENEVA"></a>ROLLO IN GENEVA.</h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter I.</span></h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">The Fame of Geneva.</span></h3> + +<p>Geneva is one of the most remarkable and most celebrated cities in +Europe. It derives its celebrity, however, not so much from its size, or +from the magnificence of its edifices, as from the peculiar beauty of +its situation, and from the circumstances of its history.</p> + +<p>Geneva is situated upon the confines of France, Switzerland, and +Sardinia, at the outlet of the Lake of Geneva, which is perhaps the most +beautiful, and certainly the most celebrated, lake in Switzerland. It is +shaped like a crescent,—that is, like the new moon, or rather like the +moon after it is about four or five days old. The lower end of the +lake—that is, the end where Geneva is situated—lies in a comparatively +open country, though vast ranges of lofty mountains, some <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>of them +covered with perpetual snow, are to be seen in the distance all around. +All the country near, however, at this end of the lake, is gently +undulating, and it is extremely fertile and beautiful. There are a great +many elegant country seats along the shore of the lake, and on the banks +of the River Rhone, which flows out of it. The waters of the lake at +this end, and of the river which issues from it, are very clear, and of +a deep and beautiful blue color. This blue color is so remarkable that +it attracts the attention of every one who looks down into it from a +bridge or from a boat, and there have been a great many suppositions and +speculations made in respect to the cause of it; but I believe that, +after all, nobody has yet been able to find out what the cause is.</p> + +<p>The city of Geneva is situated exactly at the lower end of the lake, +that is, at the western end; and the River Rhone, in coming out of the +lake, flows directly through the town.</p> + +<p>The lake is about fifty miles long, and the eastern end of it runs far +in among the mountains. These mountains are very dark and sombre, and +their sides rise so precipitously from the margin of the water that in +many places there is scarcely room for a road along the shore. Indeed, +you go generally to that end of the lake in a steamer; and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>as you +advance, the mountains seem to shut you in completely at the end of the +lake. But when you get near to the end, you see a narrow valley opening +before you, with high mountains on either hand, and the River Rhone +flowing very swiftly between green and beautiful banks in the middle of +it. Besides the river, there is a magnificent road to be seen running +along this valley. This is the great high road leading from France into +Italy; and it has been known and travelled as such ever since the days +of the old Romans.</p> + +<p>The River Rhone, where it flows into the lake at the eastern end of it, +is very thick and turbid, being formed from torrents coming down the +mountain sides, or from muddy streams derived from the melting of the +glaciers. At the western end, on the other hand, where it issues from +the lake, the water is beautifully pellucid and clear. The reason of +this is, that during its slow passage through the lake it has had time +to settle. The impurities which the torrents bring down into it from the +mountains all subside to the bottom of the lake, and are left there, and +thus the water comes out at the lower end quite clear. The lake itself, +however, is of course gradually filling up by means of this process.</p> + +<p>There are several large and handsome houses <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>on the northern shore of +the lake; but Geneva, at the western end of it, entirely surpasses them +all.</p> + +<p>Geneva is, however, after all, a comparatively small town. It contains +only thirty or forty thousand inhabitants. It would take ten Genevas to +make a New York, and nearly a hundred to make a Paris or London.</p> + +<p>Why, then, since Geneva is comparatively so small, is it so celebrated? +Almost every person who goes to Europe visits Geneva, and talks of +Geneva when he comes back; while there are multitudes of other cities +and towns, many times as large in extent and population, that he never +thinks of or speaks of at all.</p> + +<p>There are several reasons for this.</p> + +<p>1. The first reason is, that this town stands on the great high road +leading from England and France into Italy. Of course it comes naturally +in the way of all travellers making the grand tour. It is true that at +the present day, since steam has been introduced upon the Mediterranean, +a very large proportion of travellers, instead of passing through +Switzerland, go down the Rhone to Marseilles, and embark there. But +before the introduction of steam, for many ages, the way by Geneva was +almost the only way to Italy; and the city acquired great celebrity +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>through the accounts of tourists and travellers who visited it on their +journeys.</p> + +<p>2. The second reason is, that Geneva is a convenient and agreeable point +for entering Switzerland, and for making excursions among the Alps. +There are two great avenues into Switzerland from France and +Germany—one by way of Geneva, and the other by way of Basle. By the way +of Basle we go to the Jungfrau and the Oberland Alps which lie around +that mountain, and to the beautiful lakes of Zurich and of Lucerne. All +these lie in the eastern part of the Alpine region. By the way of Geneva +we go to the valley of Chamouni and Mont Blanc, and visit the vast +glaciers and the stupendous mountain scenery that lie around this great +monarch of the Alps.</p> + +<p>There is a great question among travellers which of these two Alpine +regions is the most grand. Some prefer the mountains about Mont Blanc, +which are called the Alps of Savoy. Others like better those about the +Jungfrau, which are called the Oberland Alps. The scenery and the +objects of interest are very different in the two localities; and it +seems to me that any difference which travellers may observe in the +grandeur of the emotions which they severally produce upon the mind must +be due to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>peculiar circumstances or moods of mind in which they are +visited. It is true you can get nearer to the Jungfrau than you can to +Mont Blanc, and so can obtain a more impressive view of his icy and +rocky sides and glittering summit. But then, on the other hand, Mont +Blanc is really the highest peak, and is looked upon as the great +monarch of them all.</p> + +<p>And here, as the name of Mont Blanc will of course often appear in this +volume, I have a word or two to say in respect to the proper +pronunciation of it in America; for the proper mode of pronouncing the +name of any place is not fixed, as many persons think, but varies with +the language which you are using in speaking of it. Thus the name of the +capital of France, when we are in France, and speaking French, is +pronounced <i>Par-ree</i>; but when we are in England and America, and are +speaking English, we universally pronounce it <i>Par-is</i>. It is so with +almost all names of places. They change the pronunciation, and often the +mode of spelling, according to the analogy of the language used by the +person speaking of them.</p> + +<p>Many persons suppose that in order correctly to pronounce the name of +any place we must pronounce it as the people do who live in and around +the place. But this is not so. The rule, on the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>other hand, is, that we +must pronounce it as the people do who live in and around the place <i>the +language of which we are speaking</i>. Thus the people of France call their +capital <i>Par-ree</i>; those of Spain call theirs something like +this,—<i>Madhreedth</i>; the Italians pronounce theirs <i>Roma</i>; but we, in +talking English, say simply, <i>Paris</i>, <i>Madrid</i>, and <i>Rome</i>; in other +words, when we are talking English, we <i>talk English throughout</i>, using +English words for names of things, and English pronunciation for names +of places, in all cases where there is an English pronunciation +established,—as there is in respect to all the rivers, towns, +mountains, and other localities on the globe that are well known and +often spoken of in the English world.</p> + +<p>Mont Blanc is one of these. Like the word <i>Paris</i> it has its French +pronunciation for the French, and its English pronunciation for the +English; and its English pronunciation is as if it were spelled Mount +Blank or Mont Blank. Under this name it has been known and spoken of +familiarly all over England and America for centuries; and this, it +seems to me, is the proper name to give it when we are speaking English.</p> + +<p>Its French pronunciation is very different. It is one which none but a +practical French scholar can possibly imitate, except in a very awkward +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>manner. Those who have visited France and Switzerland, and have been +accustomed to the French sound, often give the word the French +pronunciation; but it is not at all necessary to do so. The word, like +<i>Paris</i>, has its own established English sound; and if it is not +pedantry to attempt to give it the French sound when speaking English, +it certainly is not a mispronunciation to give it the English one. +Indeed, to require the French pronunciation of the word from English +speakers would be in effect to banish it almost altogether from +conversation; for among the ten millions, more or less, in England or +America, who speak English well, there is probably not one in a thousand +that can possibly give the word its true French pronunciation.</p> + +<p>In reading this book, therefore, and in speaking of the great Swiss +mountain, you are perfectly safe in giving it its plain English sound, +as if it were written Mont Blank; and remember the principle, as +applicable to all other similar cases. Wherever a foreign name has +become so familiar to the English world as to have obtained an +established English pronunciation, in speaking English we give it that +pronunciation, without any regard to the usage of the people who live on +the spot.</p> + +<p>But now I must return to Geneva, and give <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>some further account of the +reasons why it has been so celebrated.</p> + +<p>3. The third reason why Geneva has acquired so much celebrity among +mankind is the great number of learned and distinguished philosophers +and scholars that have from time to time lived there. Switzerland is a +republic, and the canton of Geneva is Protestant; and thus the place has +served as a sort of resort and refuge for all the most distinguished +foes both of spiritual and political tyranny that have risen up in +Europe at intervals during the last five hundred years. Geneva was +indeed one of the chief centres of the Reformation; and almost all the +great reformers visited it and wrote about it, and thus made all the +world familiar with it, during the exciting times in which they lived.</p> + +<p>Besides this, Geneva has been made the residence and home of a great +many moral and political writers within the last one or two centuries; +for the country, being republican, is much more open and free than most +of the other countries of Europe. Men who have incurred the displeasure +of their own governments by their writings or their acts find a safe +asylum in Geneva, where they can think and say what they please. All +this has tended very strongly to attract the attention of mankind to +Geneva, as to a sort of luminous <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>point in respect to moral and +political science, from which light radiates to every part of the +civilized world.</p> + +<p>4. There is one more reason, very different from the preceding, which +tends to make Geneva famous, and to draw travellers to visit it at the +present day; and that is, it is a great manufacturing place for watches +and jewelry—one of the greatest, indeed, in the world. Travellers, in +making the tour of Europe,—and American travellers in +particular,—always wish to bring home with them a great number and +variety of purchases; and the things that they buy they very naturally +desire to buy at the places where they are made. It is not merely that +they hope to get them better and cheaper there, but it is a pleasant +thought to be associated always afterwards with any object of use or +luxury that we possess, that we bought it ourselves at the place of its +original manufacture. Thus the gentlemen who travel in Europe like to +bring home a fowling-piece from Birmingham, a telescope from London, or +a painting from Italy; and the ladies, in planning their tour, wish it +to include Brussels or Valenciennes for laces, and Geneva for a watch.</p> + +<p>Thus, for one reason or another, immense numbers of people go every year +to Geneva, in the course of the tour they make in Europe, either <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>for +business or pleasure. It is estimated that the number of these visitors +annually is not less than thirty thousand; and the chief streets and +quays of the town are marked almost as strikingly by the conspicuousness +and splendor of the hotels as Broadway in New York.</p> + +<p>The place of departure in France for Geneva is Lyons. If you look upon +the map you will see the situation of Lyons on the River Rhone, almost +opposite to Geneva. There is a railroad from Paris to Lyons, and so on +down the Rhone to Marseilles. But from Lyons up to Geneva—which is +likewise situated on the Rhone, at the place where it issues from the +Lake of Geneva—there was no railroad at the time of Rollo's visit, +though there was one in the process of construction. The party were +obliged to travel by <i>diligence</i> on that part of the journey. The +diligence is the French stage coach. The diligence leaves Lyons in the +evening, and travels all night. As Mr. Holiday arrived at Lyons the +evening before, Rollo had the whole of the day to walk about the town +before setting out for his evening ride. His father gave him leave to go +out alone, and ramble where he pleased.</p> + +<p>"The most curious places," said his father, "are on the other side of +the river, where the silk weavers live. Notice what bridge you go <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>over, +so that you will know it again, and then if you get lost on the other +side it will be no matter. All you will have to do is to keep coming +down hill till you reach the river, and then look up and down till you +see the bridge where you went over. That will bring you home. And be +sure to be at home by five o'clock. We are going to have dinner at half +past five."</p> + +<p>"Then won't it be in season," asked Rollo, "if I am at home by half past +five?"</p> + +<p>"In season for what?" asked his father.</p> + +<p>"Why, to save my dinner," said Rollo.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said his father; "it might be in season to save your dinner, but +that is not what I am planning to save. I have no particular uneasiness +about your dinner."</p> + +<p>"Why, father!" said Rollo, surprised.</p> + +<p>"I have no wish to have you go hungry," replied his father; "but then if +by any chance you happened to be late at dinner, it would be of no great +consequence, for you could buy something, and eat it in the diligence by +the way. So I was not planning to save your dinner."</p> + +<p>"Then what were you planning to save, father?" asked Rollo.</p> + +<p>"My own and mother's quiet of mind," replied Mr. Holiday, "especially +mother's. If five minutes of the dinner hour were to come and you +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>should not appear, she would begin to be uneasy; and indeed so should +I. In such cases as this, children ought always to come before the time +when their parents would begin to feel any uneasiness respecting them."</p> + +<p>Rollo saw at once the correctness of this principle, and he secretly +resolved that he would be at home a quarter before five.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 157px;"> +<img src="images/i022.jpg" width="157" height="200" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_II" id="Chapter_II"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter II.</span></h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Planning.</span></h3> + +<p>"What part of the diligence are we going to ride in, father?" asked +Rollo, as they were seated at dinner.</p> + +<p>"In the coupé,"<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> said Mr. Holiday.</p> + +<p>"Ah, father!" said Rollo; "I wish you would go on the banquette. We can +see so much better on the banquette."</p> + +<p>"It would be rather hard climbing for mother," said Mr. Holiday, "to get +up to the banquette—such a long ladder."</p> + +<p>"O, mother can get up just as easily as not," said Rollo. "Couldn't you, +mother?"</p> + +<p>"I am more afraid about getting <i>down</i> than getting up," said his +mother.</p> + +<p>"But it is a great deal pleasanter on the banquette," said Rollo. "They +keep talking all the time—the conductor, and the drivers, and the other +passengers that are there; while in the coupé we shall be all by +ourselves. Besides, it is so much cheaper."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p><p>"It is cheaper, I know," said Mr. Holiday; "but then as to the talking, +I think we shall want to be quiet, and go to sleep if we can. You see it +will be night."</p> + +<p>"Yes, father, that is true," said Rollo; "but I had rather hear them +talk. I can understand almost all they say. And then I like to see them +change horses, and to see the conductor climb up and down. Then, +besides, at almost all the villages they have parcels to leave at the +inns; and it is good fun to see them take the parcels out and toss them +down, and tell the bar maid at the inn what she is to do with them."</p> + +<p>"All that must be very amusing," said Mr. Holiday; "but it would not be +so comfortable for your mother to mount up there. Besides, I have +engaged our places already in the coupé, and paid for them."</p> + +<p>"Why, father!" said Rollo. "When did you do it?"</p> + +<p>"I sent last evening," said Mr. Holiday. "It is necessary to engage the +places beforehand at this season. There is so much travelling into +Switzerland now that the diligences are all full. I had to send to three +offices before I could get places."</p> + +<p>"Are there three offices?" asked Rollo.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said his father; "there are three different lines.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p><p>"But I'll tell you what you may do, Rollo, if you please," continued his +father. "You may go to the bureau,<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> and see if you can exchange your +seat in the coupé for one in the banquette, if you think you would like +better to ride there. There may be some passenger who could not get a +place in the coupé, on account of my having taken them all, and who, +consequently, took one on the banquette, and would now be glad to +exchange, and pay the difference."</p> + +<p>"How much would the difference be?" asked Rollo.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," said Mr. Holiday; "five or six francs, probably. You +would save that sum by riding on the banquette, and you could have it to +buy something with in Geneva."</p> + +<p>"Well, sir," said Rollo, joyfully, "I should like that plan very much."</p> + +<p>"But do you think," said Mrs. Holiday, "that you know French enough to +explain it at the bureau, and make the change?"</p> + +<p>"O, yes, mother," said Rollo; "I have no doubt I can."</p> + +<p>So Rollo said he would finish his dinner as soon as he could, and go off +at once to the bureau.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p><p>"There is one other condition," said his father. "If I let you ride on +the banquette, and let you have all the money that you save for your +own, you must write a full account of your night's journey, and send it +to your cousin Lucy."</p> + +<p>"Well, sir," said Rollo, "I will."</p> + +<p>Rollo left the dinner table while his father and mother were taking +their coffee. The table was one of a number of separate tables arranged +along by the windows on the front side of a quaint and queer-looking +dining room—or <i>salle à manger</i>, as they call it—in one of the Lyons +inns. Indeed, the whole inn was very quaint and queer, with its old +stone staircases, and long corridors leading to the various apartments, +and its antique ceiling,—reminding one, as Mr. Holiday said, of the +inns we read of in Don Quixote and other ancient romances.</p> + +<p>Rollo left his father and mother at this table, taking their coffee, and +sallied forth to find his way to the bureau of the diligence.</p> + +<p>"If you meet with any difficulty," said Mr. Holiday, as Rollo went away, +"engage the first cab you see, and the cabman will take you directly +there for a franc or so."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," said Rollo, "I will."</p> + +<p>"And if you don't find any cab readily," continued his father, "engage a +commissioner to go with you and show you the way."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p><p>"Yes, sir," said Rollo.</p> + +<p>A commissioner is a sort of porter who stands at the corners of the +streets in the French towns, ready to do any thing for any body that +calls upon him.</p> + +<p>Rollo resolved not to employ either a cabman or a commissioner, if it +could possibly be avoided. He took the address of the bureau from his +father, and sallied forth.</p> + +<p>He first went round the corner to a bookstore where he recollected to +have seen a map of Lyons hanging in the window. He looked at this map, +and found the street on it where he wished to go. He then studied out +the course which he was to take. Lyons stands at, or rather near, the +confluence of the two rivers Rhone and Saone. In coming to Lyons from +Paris, the party had come down the valley of the Saone; but now they +were to leave this valley, and follow up that of the Rhone to Geneva, +which is situated, as has already been said, on the Rhone, at the point +where that river issues from the Lake of Geneva.</p> + +<p>The hotel where Rollo's father had taken lodgings was near the Saone; +and Rollo found that the bureau was on the other side of the town, where +it fronts on the Rhone.</p> + +<p>So Rollo followed the course which he had marked out for himself on the +map. In a short <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>time he saw before him signs of bridges and a river.</p> + +<p>"Ah," says he to himself; "I am right; I am coming to the Rhone."</p> + +<p>He went on, drawing nearer and nearer. At length he came out upon the +broad and beautiful quay, with large and elegant stone buildings on one +side of it, and a broad but low parapet wall on the other, separating +the quay from the water. There was a sidewalk along this wall, with many +people walking on it; and here and there men were to be seen leaning +upon the wall, and looking over at the boats on the river. The river was +broad, and it flowed very rapidly, as almost all water does which has +just come from Switzerland and the Alps. On looking up and down, Rollo +saw a great number of bridges crossing this stream, with teams and +diligences, and in one place a long troop of soldiers passing over. On +the other side, the bank was lined with massive blocks of stone +buildings. In a word, the whole scene presented a very bright and +animated spectacle to view.</p> + +<p>Nearly opposite to the place where Rollo came out upon the river, he +saw, over the parapet wall that extended along on the outer side of the +quay, a very large, square net suspended in the air. It was hung by +means of ropes at the four <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>corners, which met in a point above, whence +a larger rope went up to a pulley which was attached to the end of a +spar that projected from the stern of a boat. The net was slowly +descending into the water when Rollo first caught a view of it; so he +ran across, and looked over the parapet to see.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 369px;"> +<img src="images/i029.jpg" width="369" height="350" alt="THE GREAT NET." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE GREAT NET.</span> +</div> + +<p>The net descended slowly into the water. It <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>was let down by men in the +boat paying out the line that held it.</p> + +<p>"Ah," said Rollo to himself; "that's a curious way to rig a net. I +should like to stay and see them pull it up again, so as to see how many +fish they take; but business first and pleasure afterwards is the rule."</p> + +<p>So he left the parapet, and walked along the quay towards the place +where the bureau was situated.</p> + +<p>"I'll come back here," said he to himself, "when I have got my place on +the banquette, and see them fish a little while, if I find there is +time."</p> + +<p>In a few minutes Rollo came to the place he was seeking. It was in a +little square, called Concert Place, opening towards the river. Rollo +knew the bureau by seeing the diligence standing before the door. It had +been brought up there to be ready for the baggage, though the horses +were not yet harnessed to it.</p> + +<p>Rollo went into the office. He found himself in a small room, with +trunks and baggage arranged along on one side of it, and a little +enclosure of railings, with a desk behind it, on the other. There was a +young man sitting at this desk, writing.</p> + +<p>"This must be a clerk, I suppose," said Rollo to himself.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p><p>Opposite to where the clerk was sitting there was a little opening in +the railings, for people to pay their money and take their tickets; for +people take tickets for places in the diligence, in Europe, just as they +do for the railroad. Rollo advanced to this opening, and, looking +through it, he stated his case to the clerk. He said that he had a place +in the coupé that his father had taken for him, but that he would rather +ride on the banquette, if there was room there, and if any body would +take his place in the coupé.</p> + +<p>The clerk said that there had been a great many persons after a place in +the coupé since it had been taken, and that one lady had taken a place +on the banquette, because all the other places in the coach had been +engaged.</p> + +<p>"I think," said the clerk, "that she will be very glad to exchange with +you, and pay you the difference. She lives not far from here, and if you +will wait a few minutes, I will send and see."</p> + +<p>So the clerk called a commissioner who stood at the door, and after +giving him his directions, sent him away. In a few minutes the +commissioner returned, saying that the lady was very glad indeed to +exchange. He brought in his hand a five franc piece and three francs, +which was the difference in the price of the two places. The clerk gave +this money to Rollo, and altered <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>the entry on his books so as to put +the lady in the coupé and Rollo on the banquette. Thus the affair was +all arranged.</p> + +<p>Rollo found that it was now six o'clock. The diligence was not to set +out until half past seven; but by the rules of the service the +passengers were all to be on the spot, with their baggage, half an hour +before the time; so that Rollo knew that his father and mother would be +there at seven.</p> + +<p>"That gives me just an hour," said he to himself; "so I shall have +plenty of time to go and see how they manage fishing with that big net."</p> + +<p>He accordingly went to see the fishing, but was very careful to return +some minutes before the appointed time.</p> + +<p>Rollo had a very pleasant ride that night to Geneva. He wrote a long and +full account of it afterwards, and sent it to his cousin Lucy. This +letter I shall give in the next chapter.</p> + +<p>The reason why Rollo wrote so long an account of his journey was this: +that his father required him, when travelling, to spend one hour and a +half every day in study of some kind; and writing letters, or any other +intellectual occupation that was calculated to advance his education, +was considered as study. In consequence of this arrangement, Rollo was +never in a hurry to come <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>to the end of his letters, for he liked the +work of writing them better than writing French exercises, or working on +arithmetic, or engaging in any of the other avocations which devolved +upon him when he had no letters on hand.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/i033.jpg" width="150" height="200" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_III" id="Chapter_III"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter III.</span></h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">The Ride To Geneva.</span></h3> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Lucy:</span></p> + +<p>"I am going to give you an account of my night ride from Lyons to +Geneva.</p> + +<p>"I got to the diligence office before father came, because I was going +to ride up in the bellows-top. I call it the bellows-top so that you may +understand it better. It is a place up in the second story of the +diligence, where there are seats for four persons, and a great +bellows-top over their heads. <i>I</i> think it is the best place, though +people have to pay more for the coupé, which is right under it. I got +eight francs, which is more than a dollar and a half, for exchanging my +seat in the coupé for one on the banquette. I exchanged with a lady. I +suppose she did not like to climb up the ladder. You see in the coupé +you step right in as you would into a carriage; but you have to go up +quite a long ladder to get to the banquette. I counted the steps. There +were thirteen.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p><p>"When I got to the office, the men were using the ladder to put up the +baggage. They put the baggage on the top of the diligence, along the +whole length of it behind the bellows-top. They pack it all in very +closely, beginning immediately behind, and coming regularly forward, as +far as it will reach. There is a frame over it, and a great leather +covering. They pull the covering forward as fast as they get the trunks +packed, until at last the baggage is all covered over as far forward as +to the back of the bellows-top.</p> + +<p>"The men were using the ladders when I came, getting up the baggage; so +I climbed up by the little steps that are made on the side of the +diligence. I liked my seat very much. Before me was a great leather +boot. The boot was fastened to an iron bar that went across in front, so +that it did not come against my knees. Above me was the bellows-top, to +keep off the rain. Up under the roof of the bellows-top there was a sash +folded together and fastened up by straps. I unfastened one of the +straps, and saw that I could let down the sash if I wished, and thus +make a glass window in front of me, so as to shut me in nicely from the +wind, if it should grow cold in the night. Behind me was a curtain. The +curtain was loose. I pushed it back, and found I could look out on the +top of the diligence <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>where the men were at work packing the trunks and +baggage. The men wore blue frocks shaped like cartmen's frocks.<a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a></p> + +<p>"Right before the boot was the postilion's seat. It was a little lower +than my seat, and was large enough for two. The conductor's seat was at +the end of my seat, under the bellows-top. There was one thing curious +about his seat, and that is, that there was a joint in the iron bar of +the boot, so that he could open his end of it, and get out and in +without disturbing the boot before the rest of the passengers. When I +wanted to get out I had to climb over the boot to the postilion's seat, +and so get down by the little iron steps.</p> + +<p>"The reason I wanted to get down was so as to buy some oranges. There +was a woman down there with oranges to sell. She had them in a basket. I +thought perhaps that I might be thirsty in the night, and that I could +not get down very well to get a drink of water. So I climbed down and +bought four oranges. I bought one for myself, and two to give father and +mother, and one more because the woman looked so poor. Besides, they +were not very dear—only fifteen centimes apiece. It takes five centimes +to make a sou, and a sou is about as much as a cent.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p><p>"When I had bought my oranges I climbed up into my place again.</p> + +<p>"There were several people beginning to come and stand about the door of +the bureau. I suppose they were the travellers. Some came in cabs, with +their trunks on before with the postilion. I counted up how many the +diligence would hold, and found that in all, including the two +postilion's seats, and the conductor's, that there were places for +twenty-one. But when we started we had twenty-four in all. Where the +other three sat you will see by and by.<a name="FNanchor_D_4" id="FNanchor_D_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4" class="fnanchor">[D]</a></p> + +<p>"As fast as the passengers came to the office, the men took their +baggage and packed it with the rest, on the top of the diligence, and +the passengers themselves stood about the door, waiting for the horses +to be put in.</p> + +<p>"Some of the passengers came on foot, with commissioners to bring their +baggage. The commissioners carried their baggage on their backs. They +had a frame something like an old-fashioned kitchen chair strapped to +their shoulders, and the baggage was piled upon this very high. One +commissioner that came had on his frame, first a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>big black trunk, +placed endwise, and then a portmanteau, then a carpet bag, and on the +top a bandbox. The bandbox reached far above his head. I should not +think they could possibly carry such heavy loads.</p> + +<p>"Presently I saw father and mother coming in a cab. So I climbed down to +meet them. The men in the blouses took their trunk and carried it up the +ladder, and then I opened the coupé door for them, and let them get in. +I told mother that my place was exactly over her head, and that I was +then going to climb up to it, and that when I was there I would knock on +the floor, and she would know that I had got there safely; and I did.</p> + +<p>"By and by they got all the baggage packed, and they pulled the great +leather covering over it, and fastened it to the back of the +bellows-top. Then I could push up the curtain behind me and look in at +the place where the baggage was stowed. It looked like a garret. It was +not quite full. There was room for several more trunks at the forward +end of it.</p> + +<p>"Pretty soon after this they brought round the horses and harnessed them +in. Then the clerk came out of the bureau and called off the names of +the passengers from his list. First he called the names of those who +were to go in the coupé. He said, in a loud voice,—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p><p>"'Monsieur Holiday and Madame Holiday!'</p> + +<p>"And he looked in at the coupé door, and father said, 'Here.'</p> + +<p>"Then he called out,—</p> + +<p>"'Madame Tournay!'</p> + +<p>"That was the name of the lady that had changed places with me. So she +got into the coupé. That made the coupé full.</p> + +<p>"In the same manner the clerk called off the names of those who were to +go in the interior, which is the centre compartment. The interior holds +six.</p> + +<p>"Then he called off the names of those that were to go in the 'rotonde,' +which is the back compartment. You get into the rotonde by a door +behind, like the door of an omnibus.</p> + +<p>"Then the clerk called out the names of the people that were to come up +to the banquette with me. There were six of them, and there seemed to be +only room for three. So I could not imagine where they were all going to +sit. They came in a row, one behind the other, up the ladder. Very soon +I saw how they were going to sit; for the three that came first—a man +and woman and a girl—when they came into the banquette, pushed up the +curtain at the back side of it, and so climbed in behind to the garret, +and sat on the trunks. When the curtain was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>down, after they were in, +they were all in the dark there.</p> + +<p>"However, pretty soon they contrived to fasten up the curtain, and then +they could see out a little over our shoulders. The girl sat directly +behind me. I asked her if she could see, and she said she could, very +well.</p> + +<p>"The postilion then climbed up, with the reins in his hand, and called +out to the horses to start on. He talked to his horses in French, and +they seemed to understand him very well. The great thing, though, was +cracking his whip. You can scarcely conceive how fast and loud he +cracked his whip, first on one side and then on the other, till the +whole court rang again. The horses sprang forward and trotted off at +great speed out of the place, and wheeled round the corner to the quay; +and while they were going, the conductor came climbing up the side of +the coach to his place.</p> + +<p>"The conductor never gets into his place before the diligence starts. He +waits till the horses set out, and then jumps on to the step, and so +climbs up the side while the horses are going.</p> + +<p>"A diligence is a monstrous great machine; and when it sets out on a +journey in a city, the rumbling of the wheels on the pavement, and the +clattering of the horses' feet, and the continual <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>cracking of the +coachman's whip, and the echoes of all these sounds on the walls of the +buildings, make a wonderful noise and din, and every body, when the +diligence is coming, hurries to get out of the way. Indeed, I believe +the coachman likes to make all the noise he can; for he has sleigh bells +on the harness, and, besides cracking his whip, he keeps continually +shouting out to the horses and the teamsters on the road before him; and +whenever he is passing through a town or a village he does all this more +than any where else, because, as I suppose, there are more people there +to hear him.</p> + +<p>"Presently, after driving along the quay a little way, we turned off to +one of the great stone bridges that lead across the Rhone. We went over +this bridge in splendid style. I could see far up and down the river, +and trains of wagons and multitudes of people going and coming on the +other bridges. The water in the river was running very swift. There were +some boats along the shore, but I don't see how the people could dare to +venture out in them in such a current.</p> + +<p>"As soon as we had got over the bridge, we struck into a beautiful road +across the country, and the postilion cracked on faster and harder than +ever. We had five horses, three abreast before, and two behind. They +went upon the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>gallop, and the postilion kept cracking his whip about +them and over their ears all the time. I thought for a while that he was +whipping them; but when I leaned forward, so that I could look down and +see, I found that he did not touch them with his whip at all, but only +cracked the snapper about them, and shouted at them in French, to make +them go. The road was as hard and smooth as a floor, and it was almost +as white as a floor of marble.</p> + +<p>"The country was very beautiful as long as we could see. There were no +fences, but there were beautiful fields on each side of the road, +divided into squares, like the beds of a garden, with all sorts of +things growing in them.</p> + +<p>"Every now and then we came to a village. These villages were the +queerest looking places that you can imagine. They were formed of rows +of stone houses, close to each other and close to the street. They were +so close to the street, and the street was usually so narrow, that there +was scarcely room sometimes to pass through. I could almost shake hands +with the people looking out the second story windows. I cannot imagine +why they should leave the passage so narrow between the houses on such a +great road. If there were any people in the street of the village when +we went through, they had to back up <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>against the wall when we passed +them, to prevent being knocked down.</p> + +<p>"When we were going through any of these villages, the postilion drove +faster than ever. He would crack his whip, and cheer on his horses, and +make noise and uproar enough to frighten half the town.</p> + +<p>"We went on in this way till it began to grow dark. The postilion handed +the lanterns up to the conductor, and he lighted them with some matches +that he carried in his pocket. The lanterns had reflectors in the back +of them, and were very bright. When the postilion put them back in their +places on the front of the coach, the light shone down on the road +before us, so that the way where the horses were going was as bright as +day.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 45-46]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 389px;"> +<img src="images/i044.jpg" width="389" height="500" alt="GOING THROUGH THE VILLAGE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">GOING THROUGH THE VILLAGE.</span> +</div> + +<p>"After a time the moon rose, and that made it pretty bright every where. +Still I could not see very far, and as the people around me were +talking, I listened to what they were saying. The conductor was telling +stories about diligences that had been robbed. He said that once, when +he was travelling somewhere, the diligence was attacked by robbers, and +he was shot by one of them. He was shot in the neck; and he had to keep +in his bed six months before he got well. I listened as well as I could, +but the diligence made <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p><p>such a noise that I could not understand all he said, and I did not hear +where it was that this happened. I suppose it was probably in Italy, for +I have heard that there were a great many robbers there.</p> + +<p>"After a while I began to feel sleepy. I don't remember going to sleep, +for the first thing I knew after I began to feel sleepy was that I was +waking up. We were stopping to change horses. We stopped to change +horses very often—oftener than once an hour. When we changed horses we +always changed the postilion too. A new postilion always came with every +new team. It was only the conductor that we did not change. He went with +us all the way.</p> + +<p>"We changed horses usually in a village; and it was very curious to see +what queer-looking hostlers and stable boys came out with the new teams. +Generally the hostlers were all ready, waiting for the diligence to +come; but sometimes they would be all asleep, and the conductor and the +postilion would make a great shouting and uproar in waking them up.</p> + +<p>"When the new team was harnessed in, the new postilion would climb up to +his seat, with the reins in his hands, and, without waiting a moment, he +would start the horses on at full speed, leaving the poor conductor to +get on the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>best way he could. By the time the horses began to go on the +gallop, the conductor would come climbing up the side of the coach into +his place.</p> + +<p>"It was curious to see how different the different teams were in regard +to the number of horses. Sometimes we had four horses, sometimes five, +and once we had seven. For a long time I could not tell what the reason +was for such a difference. But at last I found out. It was because some +of the stages were pretty nearly level, and others were almost all up +hill. Of course, where there was a great deal of up hill they required +more horses. At the time when they put on seven horses I knew that we +had come to a place where it was almost all up hill; and it was. The +road went winding around through a region of hills and valleys, but +ascending all the time. Still the road was so hard and smooth, and the +horses were so full of life, that we went on the full trot the whole +way. Four horses could not have done this, though, with such a heavy +load. It took seven.</p> + +<p>"In almost all the villages we came to we saw long lines of wagons by +the road side. They were very curious wagons indeed. They were small. +Each one was to be drawn by one horse. There was no body to them, but +only two long poles going from the forward axletree to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>back +axletree; and the load was packed on these poles, and covered with +canvas. It looked just like a big bundle tied up in a cloth. These were +wagons that had stopped for the night. Afterwards, when the morning +came, we overtook a great many trains of these wagons, on the road to +Geneva. They were loaded with merchandise going from France into +Switzerland. There was only one driver to the whole train. He went along +with the front wagon, and all the rest followed on in a line. The horses +were trained to follow in this way. Thus one man could take charge of a +train of six or eight wagons.</p> + +<p>"There was one very curious thing in the arrangement, and that was, that +the last horse in the train had a bell on his neck, something like a cow +bell. This was to prevent the driver from having to look round +continually to see whether the rest of the horses were coming or not. As +long as he could hear the bell on the last one's neck he knew they were +all coming; for none of the middle ones could stop without stopping all +behind them.</p> + +<p>"I suppose that sometimes some of the horses in the train would stop; +then the driver would observe that the bell ceased to ring, and he would +stop his own wagon, and go back to see what was the matter. If he found +that any of them stopped <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>to eat grass by the way, or because they were +lazy, he would give them a whipping, and start them on, and that would +teach them to keep marching on the next time.</p> + +<p>"I know what I would do if I were the last horse. Whenever I wanted to +stop and rest I would keep shaking my head all the time, and that would +make the driver think that I was coming along.</p> + +<p>"One time, when we were stopping to change horses, I heard some one +below me calling to me,</p> + +<p>"'Rollo!'</p> + +<p>"I believe I was asleep at that time, and dreaming about something, +though I don't remember what it was. I started up and reached out as far +as I could over the boot, and looked down. I found it was my mother +calling to me.</p> + +<p>"'Rollo,' says she, 'how do you get along?'</p> + +<p>"'Very nicely indeed, mother,' says I; 'and how do you get along?'</p> + +<p>"'Very well,' says she.</p> + +<p>"Just then I happened to think of my oranges; so I asked mother if she +was not thirsty, and she said she was a little thirsty, but she did not +see how she could get any drink until the morning, for the houses were +all shut up, and the people were in bed and asleep. So I told her that I +had an orange for her and for father. She said she was very glad indeed.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p><p>"I could not get down very well to give the oranges to her, so I put +them in my little knapsack, and let them down by a string. I had the +string in my pocket.</p> + +<p>"Mother took the oranges out of the knapsack, and then I pulled it up +again. I told her that I had plenty more for myself.</p> + +<p>"Father cut a hole in one of the oranges that I sent down to mother, and +then she squeezed the juice of it out into her mouth. She said +afterwards that I could not conceive how much it refreshed her. I don't +think <i>she</i> could conceive how glad I was that I had bought it for her.</p> + +<p>"A little while after sunrise we came to a village where we were going +to change horses, and the conductor said that we should stop long enough +to go into the inn if we pleased, and get some coffee. So father and +mother got out of the coupé, and went in. I climbed down from my place, +and went with them. Mother said she went in more to see what sort of a +place the inn was than for the sake of the coffee.</p> + +<p>"It was a very funny place. The floor was of stone. There was one table, +with cups on it for coffee, and plates, and bread and butter. The loaves +of bread were shaped like a man's arm—about as big round, and a good +deal longer. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>coffee was very good indeed, on account of there being +plenty of hot milk to put into it.</p> + +<p>"After we had had our breakfast we went on, and the rest of our ride was +through a most magnificent country. There was a long, winding valley, +with beautiful hills and mountains on each side, and a deep chasm in the +middle, with the River Rhone roaring and tumbling over the stones down +at the bottom of it. The road went wheeling on down long slopes, and +around the hills and promontories, with beautiful green swells of land +above it and below it. The horses went upon the run. The postilion had a +little handle close by his seat—a sort of crank—that he could turn +round and round, and so bring a brake to bear against the wheels, and +thus help to hold the carriage back. When he began to go down a slope he +would turn this crank round and round as fast as he could, till it was +screwed up tight, cheering the horses on all the time; and then he would +take his whip and crack it about their ears, and so we go down the +hills, and wheel round the great curves, almost on the run, and could +look down on the fields and meadows and houses in the valley, a thousand +feet below us. It was the grandest ride I ever had.</p> + +<p>"But I have been so long writing this letter that I am beginning to be +tired of it, though I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>have not got yet to Geneva; so I am going to stop +now. The rest I will tell you when I see you.</p> + +<p class="right">"Your affectionate cousin,<br /><br /> +"<span class="smcap">Rollo</span>."</p> + +<p>"P.S. There is one thing more that I will tell you, and that is, that +we went through a castle at one place in the valley. It was a castle +built by the French to guard their frontier. Indeed, there were two +castles. The road passes directly through one of them, and the other is +high up on the rocks exactly above it. The valley is so narrow, and the +banks are so steep, that there is no other possible place for the road +except through the lower castle. The road has to twist and twine about, +too, just before it comes to the castle gates, and after it goes away +from them on the other side, so that every thing that passes along has +some guns or other pointing at them from the castle for more than a +mile. I don't see how any enemy could possibly get into France this way.</p> + +<p>"There was also a place where the Rhone goes under ground, or, rather, +under the rocks, and so loses itself for a time, and then after a while +comes out again. It is a place where the river runs along in the bottom +of a very deep and rocky chasm, and the rocks have fallen down <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>from +above, so as to fill up the chasm from one side to the other, and all +the water gets through underneath them. We looked down into the chasm as +the diligence went by, and saw the water tumbling over the rocks just +above the place where it goes down. I should have liked to stop, and to +climb down there and see the place, but I knew that the diligence would +not wait."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 148px;"> +<img src="images/i053.jpg" width="148" height="200" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_IV" id="Chapter_IV"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter IV.</span></h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">The Town.</span></h3> + +<p>The valley described by Rollo in his letter to Lucy, contained in the +last chapter, is indeed a very remarkable pass. The Romans travelled it +nearly two thousand years ago, in going from Italy to France, or, as +they called it, Gaul. Cæsar describes the country in his Commentaries; +and from that day to this it has been one of the greatest thoroughfares +of Europe.</p> + +<p>The valley is very tortuous, and in some places it is very narrow; and +the road runs along through it like a white thread, suspended, as it +were, half way between the lofty summits of the mountains and the +roaring torrent of the Rhone in the deep abyss below.</p> + +<p>After emerging from this narrow pass, the road comes out into an open +country, which is as fertile and beautiful, and as richly adorned with +hamlets, villas, parks, gardens, and smiling fields of corn and grain, +as any country in the world. At length, on coming over the summit of a +gentle <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>swell of land, that rises in the midst of this paradise, the +great chain of the Alps, with the snowy peak of Mont Blanc crowning it +with its glittering canopy of snow, comes suddenly into view.</p> + +<p>"Look there!" said the conductor to the company on the banquette. "See +there! the Mont Blanc, all uncovered!"</p> + +<p>The French always call Mont Blanc <i>the</i> Mont Blanc, and for <i>all clear +and in plain view</i> they say <i>all uncovered</i>.</p> + +<p>It is calculated that there are only about sixty days in the year, upon +an average, when Mont Blanc appears with his head uncovered. They, +therefore, whose coming into Switzerland he honors by taking off his +cap, have reason greatly to rejoice in their good fortune.</p> + +<p>Rollo had seen snow-covered mountains shining in the sun before; but he +was greatly delighted with this new view of them. There is indeed a +peculiar charm in the sight of these eternal snows, especially when we +see them basking, as it were, in the rays of a warm summer's sun, that +is wholly indescribable. The sublime and thrilling grandeur of the +spectacle no pen or pencil can portray.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 57-58]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/i056.jpg" width="500" height="331" alt="VIEW OF GENEVA" title="" /> +<span class="caption">VIEW OF GENEVA</span> +</div> + +<p>After passing over the hill, and descending into the valley again, the +company in the diligence came soon in sight of the environs of Geneva. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>They passed by a great many charming country seats, with neat walls of +masonry bordering the gardens, and wide gateways opening into pretty +courts, and little green lawns surrounding the chateaux. At length the +diligence came thundering down a narrow paved street into the town. +Every thing made haste to get out of the way. The postilion cracked his +whip, and cheered on his horses, and shouted out to the cartmen and +footmen before him to clear the way, and made generally as much noise +and uproar as possible, as if the glory of a diligence consisted in the +noise it made, and the sensation it produced in coming into town.</p> + +<p>At length the immense vehicle wheeled round a corner, and came out upon +a broad and beautiful quay. The quay had a range of very elegant and +palace-like looking houses and hotels on one side, and the water of the +lake—exceedingly clear, and bright, and blue—on the other. The place +was at the point where the water of the lake was just beginning to draw +in towards the outlet; so that there was a pretty swift current.</p> + +<p>The engraving represents the scene. In the foreground we see the broad +quay, with the buildings on one side, and the low parapet wall +separating it from the water on the other. In the middle distance we see +the diligence just coming <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>out upon the quay from the street by which it +came into the town. A little farther on we see the bridge by which the +diligence will pass across to the other side of the river—the diligence +offices being situated in the row of buildings that we see on the +farther side. This bridge is not straight. There is an angle in it at +the centre. From the apex of this angle there is a branch bridge which +goes out to a little island in the lake. This island is arranged as a +promenade, and is a great place of resort for the people of Geneva. +There are walks through it and all around it, and seats under the trees, +and a parapet wall or railing encircling the margin of it, to prevent +children from falling into the water.</p> + +<p>As the diligence rolled along the quay, and turned to go over the +bridge, Rollo could look out in one direction over the broad surface of +the lake, which was seen extending for many miles, bordered by gently +sloping shores coming down to the water. On the other side the current +was seen rapidly converging and flowing swiftly under another bridge, +and thence directly through the very heart of the town.</p> + +<p>The diligence went over the bridge. While it was going over, Rollo +looked out first one way, towards the lake, and then the other way, down +the river. On the lake side there was a steamboat <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>coming in. She was +crowded with passengers, and the quay at the other end of the bridge, +where the steamer was going to land, was crowded with people waiting to +see.</p> + +<p>On the other side of the bridge, that is, looking down the stream, Rollo +saw a deep blue river running more and more swiftly as it grew narrower. +There were several other bridges in sight, and an island also, which +stood in the middle of the stream, and was covered with tall and +ancient-looking buildings. These buildings indeed more than covered the +original island; they extended out over the water—the outer walls +seeming to rest on piles, between and around which the water flowed with +the utmost impetuosity. The banks of the river on each side were walled +up, and there were streets or platform walks along the margin, between +the houses and the water. There were a great many bridges, some wide and +some narrow, leading across from one bank to the other, and from each +bank to the island between.</p> + +<p>The diligence passed on so rapidly that Rollo had very little +opportunity to see these things; but he resolved that as soon as they +got established in the hotel he would come out and take a walk, and +explore all those bridges.</p> + +<p>"It is just such a town as I like," said he to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>himself. "A swift river +running through the middle of it—water as clear as a bell—plenty of +foot bridges down very near to the water, and ever so many little +platforms and sidewalks along the margin, where you can stand and fish +over the railings."</p> + +<p>In the mean time the diligence went thundering on over the bridge, and +then drove along the quay, on the farther side, past one office after +another, until it came to its own. Here the horses were reined in, and +the great machine came to a stand. The doors of the lower compartments +were opened, and the passengers began to get out. Two ladders were +placed against the side, one for the passengers on the banquette to get +down by, and the other to enable the blouses that stood waiting there to +uncover and get down the baggage. Rollo did not wait for his turn at the +ladder, but climbed down the side of the coach by means of any +projecting irons or steps that he could find to cling to.</p> + +<p>"Now, Rollo," said Mr. Holiday, "the hotel is pretty near, and we are +going to walk there. I am going to leave you here to select out our +baggage, when they get it down, and to bring it along by means of a +porter."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "I should like to do that. But what hotel is +it?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p><p>"The Hotel de l'Ecu," said Mr. Holiday.</p> + +<p>So Mr. and Mrs. Holiday walked along the pier to the hotel, leaving +Rollo to engage a porter and to follow in due time.</p> + +<p>The porter carried the baggage on his back, by means of a frame, such as +has been already described. Rollo followed him, and thus he arrived at +last safely at the hotel.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 211px;"> +<img src="images/i062.jpg" width="211" height="200" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_V" id="Chapter_V"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter V.</span></h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">The Hotel.</span></h3> + +<p>One of the greatest sources of interest and pleasure for travellers who +visit Switzerland and the Alps for the first time, especially if they +are travellers from America, is the novelty of the arrangements and +usages of the hotels.</p> + +<p>One reason why every thing is so different in a Swiss hotel from what we +witness in America is, that all the arrangements are made to accommodate +parties travelling for pleasure. Every thing is planned, therefore, with +a view of making the hotel as attractive and agreeable to the guests as +possible.</p> + +<p>The Hotel de l'Ecu, where our party have now arrived, is very pleasantly +situated on the quay facing the lake. It stands near the further end of +the bridge, as seen in the engraving on page 58. It is the building +where you see the flag flying.</p> + +<p>Indeed, all the principal hotels in Geneva are situated on the quay. +Quite a number of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>large and handsome edifices which you see in the +engraving, on both sides the water, are hotels. The hotel keepers know +very well that most of the travellers that come to Switzerland come not +on business, but to see the lakes, and mountains, and other grand +scenery of their country. Accordingly, in almost every place, the +situation chosen for the hotels is the one which commands the prettiest +views.</p> + +<p>Then, in arranging the interior of the house, they always place the +public apartments, such as the breakfast and dining rooms, and the +reading room, in the pleasantest part of it; and they have large windows +opening down to the floor, and pretty little tables in the recesses of +them, so that while you are eating your breakfast or reading the +newspapers you have only to raise your eyes and look out upon the most +charming prospects that the town affords.</p> + +<p>Then, besides this, they have gardens, and summer houses, and raised +terraces, overlooking roads, or rivers, or beautiful valleys, and little +observatories, and many other such contrivances to add to the charms of +the hotel, and make the traveller's residence in it more agreeable.</p> + +<p>They hope in this way to induce the traveller to prolong his stay at +their house. And it has the intended effect. Indeed, at almost every +hotel <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>where a party of travellers arrive, in a new town, their first +feeling almost always is, that they shall wish to remain there a week.</p> + +<p>What a pleasant place! they say to each other; and what a beautiful +room! Look at the mountains! Look at the torrent pouring through the +valley! What a pretty garden! And this terrace, where we may sit in the +evening, and have our tea, and watch the people across the valley, going +up and down the mountain paths. I should like to stay here all summer.</p> + +<p>Then the next place where they stop may be on a lake; and there, when +they go to the window of their rooms, or of the breakfast room, they +look out and say,—</p> + +<p>Ah! see what a beautiful view of the lake! How blue the water is! See +the sail boats and the row boats going to and fro. And down the lake, as +far as I can see, there is a steamer coming. I see the smoke. And +beyond, what a magnificent range of mountains, the tops all covered with +glaciers and snow!</p> + +<p>When Rollo entered the hotel at Geneva, he found himself ushered first +into a large, open apartment, which occupied the whole centre of the +building, and extended up through all the stories, and was covered with +a glass roof above. There were galleries all around this apartment, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>in +the different stories. Doors from these galleries, on the back sides of +them, led to the various rooms, while on the front sides were railings, +where you could stand and look down to the floor below, and see the +travellers coming and going.</p> + +<p>At one end of this hall was a winding staircase, with broad and easy +stone steps. This staircase ascended from story to story, and +communicated by proper landings with the galleries of the several +floors.</p> + +<p>This hall, though it was thus very public in its character, was very +prettily arranged. The galleries which opened upon it on the different +stories were adorned with balconies, and the walls of it were hung with +maps and pictures of Alpine scenery, pretty engravings of hotels +standing in picturesque spots on the margins of lakes, or on the banks +of running streams, or hidden away in some shady glen, in the midst of +stupendous mountains. Then, besides these pictures, the hall was adorned +with statues, and vases of flowers; and there was a neat little table, +with writing materials and the visitor's book upon it, and various other +fixtures and contrivances to give the place an agreeable and home-like +air.</p> + +<p>As Rollo came into the hall, accompanied by the porter, a clerk came out +to meet him from a little office on one side, and told him that his +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>father and mother were in their room; and he sent a messenger to show +Rollo and the porter the way to it.</p> + +<p>Rollo accordingly followed the messenger and the porter up stairs, and +was ushered into a very pleasant room on the second story, looking out +upon the lake and the river. Rollo went immediately to the window. His +mother was sitting at the window when he entered the room.</p> + +<p>"This is a pretty window, Rollo," said she; "come and look out.</p> + +<p>"See how many bridges!" said she, when Rollo had come to her side.</p> + +<p>"And how swift the water runs under them!" said Rollo.</p> + +<p>"There are some boys fishing," said Mrs. Holiday.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Rollo; "I should think there would be plenty of trout in +such a river as this, it runs so swift and is so clear. This is just +such a place as I like. See that big water wheel, mother."</p> + +<p>So saying, Rollo pointed to a large mill wheel which was slowly +revolving by the side of a building that projected out over the water, +on the island.</p> + +<p>The island where Rollo saw the wheel was not the one seen in the +engraving on page 58. That <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>is called the <i>islet</i>, and it stands <i>in the +lake</i>, entirely on the outer side of the first bridge. The <i>island</i>, on +the other hand, stands in the rapid current of the river, below the +second bridge, and is entirely covered, as has already been said, with +tall and very antique looking buildings. The current is so rapid along +the sides of this island, and along the adjacent shores, that it will +carry a mill any where wherever they set a wheel.</p> + +<p>"After we have had breakfast," said Rollo, "I mean to go out and explore +all those bridges, and go about all over the island."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mrs. Holiday; "that will be very pleasant. I should like +very much to go with you; and I will, if the sun does not come out too +warm."</p> + +<p>By this time Mr. Holiday had paid and dismissed the porter; and he now +turned to Rollo, and asked him if he would like to go down and order +breakfast. Rollo said that he should like to go very much.</p> + +<p>"Go down, then," said Mr. Holiday, "into the dining room, and choose a +table there, near a pleasant window, and order breakfast."</p> + +<p>"What shall I order?" asked Rollo.</p> + +<p>"Any thing you please," said Mr. Holiday; "you know what will make a +good breakfast."</p> + +<p>So Rollo went out of the room, in order to go <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>down stairs. He passed +all around the gallery of the story he was in, looking at the pictures +that were hung upon the walls as he went, and then descended the +staircase to the lower floor. Here he found doors opening into the +dining room, which extended along the whole front of the hotel towards +the lake. The room was large, and was very beautifully furnished. There +was a long table extending up and down the middle of it. On the back +side were sofas, between the doors. On the front side was a range of +windows looking out upon the river. The windows were large, and as the +walls of the hotel were very thick, a recess was formed for each, and +opposite each recess was a round table. These tables were all set for +breakfasts or dinners.</p> + +<p>Some of these tables were occupied. Rollo chose the pleasantest of the +ones that were at liberty, and took his seat by the side of it. +Presently a very neatly-dressed and pleasant-looking young man came to +him, to ask what he would have. This was the waiter; and Rollo made +arrangements with him for a breakfast. He ordered fried trout, veal +cutlets, fried potatoes, an omelette, coffee, and bread and honey. His +father and mother, when they came to eat the breakfast, said they were +perfectly satisfied with it in every respect.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_VI" id="Chapter_VI"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter VI.</span></h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">A Ride in the Environs.</span></h3> + +<p>One morning, a day or two after our party arrived at Geneva, Mr. Holiday +told Rollo, as they were sitting at their round breakfast table, at one +of the windows looking out upon the lake, that he had planned a ride for +that day; and he said that Rollo, if he wished, might go too.</p> + +<p>"Well, sir," said Rollo; "only I think I should like better to go and +take a sail."</p> + +<p>"I believe boys generally like to sail better than to ride," said Mr. +Holiday; "but the places that we are going to are where we cannot reach +them in a boat. However, I will make you an offer. We are going to ride +in a carriage to-day, and we should like very much to have you go with +us. Now, if you will go with us on this ride, I will go and take you out +on the lake to sail some other day."</p> + +<p>"Well, sir," said Rollo, joyfully. "But how far will you take me?"</p> + +<p>"As far as you wish to go," said Mr. Holiday.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p><p>"O, father!" said Rollo; "I should wish to go to the very farthest end +of the lake."</p> + +<p>"Well," said his father, "I will take you there."</p> + +<p>It must not at all be supposed from this conversation that Mr. Holiday +considered it necessary to make a bargain with his boy, to induce him to +go any where or to do any thing that he desired. He put the case in this +way to amuse Rollo, and to interest him more in proposed expeditions.</p> + +<p>"There are three distinguished personages," said Mr. Holiday, "whose +names and histories are intimately associated with Geneva, because they +all lived in Geneva, or in the environs of it. These three persons are +Madame de Stael, John Calvin, and Voltaire. I will tell you something +about them on the way. As soon as you have finished your breakfast you +may go and engage a carriage for us. Get a carriage with two horses, and +have it ready at half past ten."</p> + +<p>Rollo was always much pleased with such a commission as this. He engaged +a very pretty carriage, with two elegant black horses. The carriage had +a top which could be put up or down at pleasure. Rollo had it put down; +for, though it was a pleasant day, there were clouds enough in the sky +to make it pretty shady.</p> + +<p>There was a front seat in the carriage, where Rollo might sit if he +chose; but he preferred riding outside with the postilion.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p><p>"And then," said Rollo to his father, "if there are any directions to be +given to the postilion, or if you have any questions for me to ask, I +can speak to him more conveniently."</p> + +<p>"Is that the true reason why you wish to ride there?" asked his father.</p> + +<p>"Why, no, father," said Rollo. "The true reason is, that I can see +better."</p> + +<p>"They are both very good reasons," said Mr. Holiday. "Then, besides, +when you get tired of riding there you can come inside."</p> + +<p>Accordingly, when the carriage came to the door, Rollo, after seeing his +father and mother safely seated inside, mounted on the top with the +postilion, and so they rode away.</p> + +<p>They repassed the bridge by which they had entered Geneva, and then +turned to the right by a road which led along the margin of the lake, at +a little distance from the shore.</p> + +<p>The road was very smooth and hard, and the country was beautiful. +Sometimes the road was bordered on each side by high walls, which formed +the enclosures of gardens or pleasure grounds. Sometimes it was open, +and afforded most enchanting views of the lake and of the ranges of +mountains beyond. But what chiefly amused and occupied Rollo's mind was +the novelties which he observed in the form and structure of every thing +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>he saw by the wayside. Such queer-looking carts and wheelbarrows, such +odd dresses, such groups of children at play, such gates, such +farmyards, such pumps and fountains by the roadside—every thing, +indeed, was new and strange.</p> + +<p>After the party had been riding about an hour and a half, they passed +through a village which consisted, like those which Rollo had seen on +the road from Lyons, of compact rows of old and quaint-looking stone +houses, close to the roadside. The postilion stopped at this village to +give the horses a little drink.</p> + +<p>"Now, Rollo," said Mr. Holiday, "I wish you would get down, and come +inside a little while."</p> + +<p>Rollo obeyed; and when the carriage began to go on again, his father +addressed him as follows:</p> + +<p>"We are going to see the residence of Madame de Stael. She was one of +the most celebrated ladies that ever lived. She was distinguished as an +authoress. You don't know any thing about her now, and I suppose you +don't care much about her."</p> + +<p>"No, sir," said Rollo; "I do not."</p> + +<p>"But then," continued his father, "in a few years more you will very +probably read some of her writings; and at any rate you will often hear +of them. One of the most celebrated of her works is a tale called +Corinne."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p><p>"Ah, yes," said Rollo; "I have heard of Corinne. The first class in +French studied it at school."</p> + +<p>"Very likely," said Mr. Holiday. "It is a very good text book for +studying French. At any rate it is a famous book, and Madame de Stael is +a very celebrated author. She was a lady, too, while she lived, of great +personal distinction. Her rank and position in society were very +exalted. She associated with kings and princes, and was closely +connected with many of the great political transactions of the day in +which she lived. This, of course, added greatly to her renown.</p> + +<p>"Her father was a very distinguished man, too. His name was Monsieur +Necker. He was a great statesman and financier. The King of France got +his money affairs in the greatest confusion and difficulty, and he +appointed Monsieur Necker his minister of finance, to try to put them in +order."</p> + +<p>"And did he succeed?" asked Rollo.</p> + +<p>"No," said Mr. Holiday; "it was too late. The disorder was hopeless, and +it ended in the great French revolution. But Necker became a very +celebrated character in history. We are going to see the chateau where +he lived. We shall see the room where his daughter wrote Corinne. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>I +wish you to observe carefully all that you see, and remember it. +Hereafter, when you come to read the history of France and the writings +of Madame de Stael, you will look back with great pleasure to the visit +you made when a boy to the chateau of Necker, near Geneva."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," said Rollo, "I will."</p> + +<p>A short time after this the carriage stopped in a shady place under some +trees, near the entrance to a village. The postilion descended and +opened the carriage door, and then pointed up an avenue of trees, which +he said led to the chateau. Mr. and Mrs. Holiday got out of the carriage +and walked up the avenue. Rollo followed them.</p> + +<p>They came at length to the chateau. There was a large portal, closed by +an iron gate. On one side of the portal was a lodge. A porter came out +of the lodge, and Mr. Holiday asked him if they could see the chateau. +He answered very politely that they could; and immediately opening the +iron gate, he ushered the whole party into the court yard.</p> + +<p>The court yard was a very pleasant place. It was surrounded on three +sides by the buildings of the chateau, which were quite imposing in +their character, like a palace. The fourth side was formed by a handsome +wall, with a large ornamented gateway in the centre of it, leading into +a garden.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p><p>The entrance to the chateau was at a large door in the middle of one +side of the yard. The porter ascended the steps, and rang the bell. He +said to Mr. Holiday that some one would come to conduct the party over +the chateau, and then went back to his lodge.</p> + +<p>Presently a well-dressed man came to the door. He received the party in +a very polite and friendly manner, and invited them in.</p> + +<p>The first apartment that they entered was a hall. The hall was very +large, and was finished and furnished like a room, with chairs, sofas, +and a great fireplace. On one side was a broad stone staircase, +ornamented with a massive balustrade. The concierge led the way up this +staircase to a sort of gallery on the second story. From this gallery a +door opened, leading to the suite of apartments which Monsieur Necker +and his distinguished daughter had occupied.</p> + +<p>The rooms were constructed and arranged in the style common in French +palaces. They were situated in the line of building which formed the +front of the chateau; and on the front side of each of them were windows +looking out upon the lake. Of course these windows formed the range of +windows in the second story of the principal front of the edifice.</p> + +<p>On the back side of each of these rooms was a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>door communicating with +the gallery behind them, or with some subordinate apartments depending +upon them.</p> + +<p>Besides these doors, there were others which connected the different +apartments of the suite with each other. These doors were all in a line, +and they were near the side of the room where the windows were which +looked out upon the lake. Thus one could pass through the whole suite of +apartments by walking along from one to another through these doors, +passing thus just in front of the range of windows.</p> + +<p>The rooms were all beautifully furnished in the French style. There were +richly carved cabinets and book cases, and splendid mirrors, and sofas +and chairs, and paintings and statues. One room was the library. Another +was a bedroom. In one there were several portraits on the wall. Mr. and +Mrs. Holiday seemed particularly interested in examining these +portraits. One represented Madame de Stael herself; another, her father, +Monsieur Necker; a third, her mother, Madame Necker. Besides these, +there were some others of the family.</p> + +<p>Rollo looked at all these portraits, as his father requested him to do; +but he was more interested in two other objects which stood on a table +in the same room. These objects were two little <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>figures, one +representing a horse and the other a lamb. These figures were under a +glass. The horse was about a foot long, and the lamb about six inches. +The horse was of a very pretty form, and was covered with hair, like a +living animal. The lamb in the same manner was covered with wool. +Indeed, they were both in all respects models of the animals they +represented in miniature.</p> + +<p>Rollo asked the concierge what they were.</p> + +<p>"Ah," said he, "those are models of a favorite horse and a favorite lamb +that belonged to Monsieur Necker. When they died he was very sorry; and +he had these models of them made, to perpetuate the memory of them."</p> + +<p>After this, in other rooms, the party were shown the table at which +Madame de Stael sat in writing Corinne, and the inkstand that she used; +and when they went down stairs, the concierge showed them into a large +hall, which was situated directly below the rooms they had been +visiting, where he said Madame de Stael used to have her dramas +performed from time to time before an audience of friends and visitors +from the neighborhood.</p> + +<p>At length the concierge conducted the party to the door where they had +come in. There Mr. Holiday, after giving him a franc, thanked him <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>for +his politeness, and bade him good bye. The party took a little walk in +the garden, and then returned to the carriage and rode away.</p> + +<p>The bodies of Monsieur Necker and of his daughter lie buried in a little +grove of trees near the house. The party saw the grove, but visitors are +not allowed to go to the graves.</p> + +<p>On leaving the chateau, the carriage turned off from the lake, and took +a road that led back more into the interior.</p> + +<p>"What are we going to see next, father?" said Rollo.</p> + +<p>"We are going to see the house where the famous philosopher, Voltaire, +lived," replied Mr. Holiday; "though on the way we are going to see a +fountain and cascade."</p> + +<p>"Is there any thing very remarkable about the fountain?" asked Rollo.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," said Mr. Holiday; "only it is mentioned in the guide +books as worth being visited."</p> + +<p>So the carriage drove on through a very beautiful country, with fields, +and gardens, and country seats, and ancient chateaux bordering the way. +From time to time, Rollo, on looking back, obtained splendid views of +the lake behind him, and of the gently-sloping and highly-cultivated +shore on the opposite side, with the snowy range of the Alps beyond, +shining in the sun.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p><p>At length they arrived at a village, and stopped before an inn. The +postilion said that they were to stop there with the carriage, and go to +the fountain on foot.</p> + +<p>"I will call some one to show you the way," said he.</p> + +<p>So he went to one of the houses across the street, and called a woman of +the village, and she said that she would go to the school and call her +boy.</p> + +<p>"But it is a pity," said Mr. Holiday, "to take the boy away from his +school."</p> + +<p>"O, no," said the woman; "that is nothing at all."</p> + +<p>So she ran along the street of the village until she came to the school +house, and presently she returned with the boy. He had a book in his +hand. Rollo looked at the book, and found that it was a grammar. The +covers of it were worn, and the leaves tumbled, and the beginning and +end of it were filled with names scribbled on the blank pages, and rude +drawings, which made it look exactly like the school books of idle boys, +as Rollo had often seen them in America.</p> + +<p>Rollo gave back the book to the boy, and the boy gave it to his mother, +and then he began walking along the road, to show the party the way to +the fountain.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p><p>He led them out of the village, and along the pleasant road, until at +length they came to a place where there was an open gateway, through +which they could see the beautiful grounds of a large country house, +which appeared like a hotel. There were ladies and gentlemen walking +about the grounds, along the margin of a large stream of water, or +sitting in groups under the trees.</p> + +<p>"What place is that?" said Rollo to the boy.</p> + +<p>"It is a place of baths," said the boy.</p> + +<p>Rollo wished to go in there and see the grounds; but the boy walked on, +and so Rollo followed him. After a time the guide turned off into a +field, and there took a path which led down toward a wood, where they +could hear water running. When they came into the wood they saw the +water. It was a large stream, large enough for a mill stream, and it ran +foaming and tumbling down over its rocky bed in a very picturesque +manner.</p> + +<p>The walk led along the bank of the stream, under the trees. It was a +wide and very pleasant walk, and was well gravelled. Here and there +there were little seats, too, at pretty places formed by the windings of +the glen.</p> + +<p>After walking along a little way, and not coming to any thing more, Mrs. +Holiday began to be tired.</p> + +<p>"I wonder," said she, "if there is any thing remarkable to see at the +end of this path."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p><p>"I'll ask the boy," said Rollo.</p> + +<p>"Boy," he added, speaking to the little guide, "what is there to see up +here?"</p> + +<p>"It is this," said the boy, pointing to the brook.</p> + +<p>"Isn't there any thing else besides this stream?" asked Rollo.</p> + +<p>"No," said the boy.</p> + +<p>"He says there is not any thing else," said Rollo to his mother; "and so +I don't believe it is worth while to go any farther. We have seen this +brook enough, and you will get very tired."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Holiday sat down upon a green bench that happened to be near, at a +turn of the stream, in order to take time to consider the question.</p> + +<p>Mr. Holiday sat down beside her.</p> + +<p>"We will wait here, Rollo, while you go on with the boy, and see what +you can find. I think there must be something or other remarkable, for +they would not make so good a path as this to lead to nothing at all. +You may go on with the boy, and see what it comes to, and then you can +come back and tell us."</p> + +<p>Rollo liked this plan very much, and so he and the boy walked on.</p> + +<p>In about five minutes Mr. Holiday heard Rollo calling to him.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Fa-ther!</span> <span class="smcap">FA-THER!</span>" said he.</p> + +<p>"<i>Well</i>," said Mr. Holiday, "<i>I hear</i>."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p><p>"Come up here," said Rollo, calling out again. "It is a very curious +place indeed."</p> + +<p>So Mr. and Mrs. Holiday rose, and after following the path a short +distance farther through the wood, they came to where Rollo was. They +found, to their astonishment, that there the brook which they had been +following so long came to a sudden end, or rather to a sudden beginning; +for the whole volume of water that composed it was seen here to come +boiling up out of the ground in a sort of shallow basin, which was +formed on the hill side at the head of the glen.</p> + +<p>The place was very secluded, but it was very beautiful. It was shaded +with trees, which overhung the paths, and the basin, and the various +channels of water which flowed from it and around it. The water boiled +up very copiously from between the stones that had been set up to form +the margin of the basin, and also among the sands which formed the +bottom of it. The walk was conducted all around this singular fountain; +and it passed across the outlet, where the stream flowed away from it, +over a neat little stone dike, which formed the edge of the basin on the +lower side.</p> + +<p>Rollo led the way to the middle of this dike, and his father and mother +followed. They stood there for some time, looking down into the basin +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>to see the water boil up from between the stones and among the sands.</p> + +<p>"This is a very curious place indeed," said Mrs. Holiday.</p> + +<p>"It certainly is," said Mr. Holiday.</p> + +<p>"Well, father," said Rollo, after gazing for some time into the bubbling +and boiling fountain, "where does all this water come from? What makes +it come up out of the ground?"</p> + +<p>"Why, the truth is," said Mr. Holiday, "though it seems to come <i>up</i>, it +really comes <i>down</i>.</p> + +<p>"Do you see all this mountain up here?" he added. So saying he pointed +to the land which seemed to rise to a great height above the head of the +glen.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," said Rollo.</p> + +<p>"Well, this mountain," continued Mr. Holiday, "is full of water. All +mountains are full of water, for it rains on the summits and sides of +them almost continually, and this keeps them always full. Generally this +water drains off down into the valleys, through the beds of sand and +gravel that lie in the heart of the mountain, and so is not particularly +observed. Sometimes it breaks out in small springs, at various places on +the mountain sides; and sometimes the shape of the rocks and openings in +the mountain are such as to collect a great quantity of it in one +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>place, where it breaks out into the open ground altogether, as it does +here. There are a great many such fountains in Switzerland."</p> + +<p>"Are there any larger than this?" asked Rollo.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mr. Holiday, "ten times as large. Sometimes the water forms +quite a little river almost immediately after it comes out of the +ground."</p> + +<p>"I should like to see them," said Rollo.</p> + +<p>"Very likely you will see some of them," said his father.</p> + +<p>"But then, father," said Rollo, "if this water all comes from the rain, +I should think that when it stops raining on the mountain above, then or +soon afterwards the water would stop boiling up here."</p> + +<p>"No," said his father; "the mountain is so large, and the immense beds +of sand, gravel, and rock which it contains hold so much water, that +before all that has fallen in one rain has time to get drained away, +another rain comes, and so there is a perpetual supply, especially for +such fountains as come from channels that reach far into the mountain."</p> + +<p>After rambling about this spot for some time, the party returned down +the path; but instead of going back into the road again by the way they +came, the boy led them through a gate into <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>the grounds of the hotel +which they had seen in coming.</p> + +<p>The grounds were very beautiful, being shaded with trees, and full of +walks; and the stream which came down the glen spread itself out in +various directions all over them, filling a great number of channels and +basins which had been opened here and there, and were seen in every +direction among the trees and foliage. The water flowed very swiftly +along from one of these basins to another, sometimes in a continuous +torrent, and sometimes by a series of cascades and waterfalls; and in +the bottoms of all the little ponds the water was seen boiling up in the +clean gray sand, just as it had done in the fountain up the glen.</p> + +<p>There were walks every where along the banks of these streams, and +little bridges leading across them. There were seats, too, and bowers, +and a great many other pretty places. At one spot under a tree was a +large white swan, or rather a sculptured image of one, sitting on a +marble stone, and pouring out a constant stream of clear cold water from +his mouth. Underneath, on a little marble slab, was a tumbler, placed +there to enable people to take a drink. Rollo stopped to take a drink; +but instead of using the tumbler, he caught the water in a drinking cup +which he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>had bought in Scotland, and which he always carried in his +pocket.</p> + +<p>After rambling about these grounds for some time, the party went back +through the yard of the hotel to the village. There they dismissed the +boy. Mr. Holiday gave him half a franc for guiding them. Then they got +into their carriage again, and rode on.</p> + +<p>In about an hour they came to a little village named Ferney, near which +was the chateau that was formerly the residence of the celebrated +philosopher Voltaire. The carriage stopped under some ancient trees, and +Mr. and Mrs. Holiday and Rollo got out and walked up an avenue. At the +head of the avenue they came to a gate which led into the grounds of the +chateau.</p> + +<p>There was a bell cord hanging by this gate, and a placard up, requesting +visitors to ring the bell, and not to enter the grounds until the +domestic should come to guide them.</p> + +<p>"Shall I ring, father?" said Rollo.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mr. Holiday; "ring away."</p> + +<p>So Rollo pulled the bell rope, and very soon a domestic came. He +received the company very politely, and invited them to follow him.</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Holiday and Rollo accordingly followed him into the yard. +The domestic led them round to the front of the house, which was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>turned +away from the road. The front faced a beautiful lawn, ornamented with +walks and trees. In one place there was a table under the trees, with +seats around it, as if the family were accustomed sometimes to take +their tea there. From this lawn there was a beautiful view of the lake +and of the mountains beyond.</p> + +<p>The domestic led them into the house, and showed them the two rooms in +it which contained most of the memorials of Voltaire. The most +remarkable of these memorials was a marble monument which stood on one +side of the room, and which Rollo said looked like an ornamental stove, +that contained Voltaire's <i>heart</i>. His body was buried in Paris, but his +heart was deposited in this sepulchral urn.</p> + +<p>Besides this there were a number of pictures in the room, which had been +placed there by Voltaire. Some of them had been given to him by the +emperors and kings that he had been acquainted with.</p> + +<p>Rollo, however, did not take much interest in any of these things. The +singular appearance of the room and of the furniture interested him in +some degree by its novelty, but in other respects he was very little +amused by what he saw. He was glad when the visit to the house was over, +and he came out again upon the lawn.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p><p>From the lawn there was a very splendid view. There was a broad and very +fertile slope of land extending for several miles down to the shore of +the lake. Beyond it was seen the blue expanse of the water, and still +farther another magnificent slope of fertile and richly-cultivated land, +which extended back beyond the lake to the foot of the mountains. A +lofty range of snow-clad summits rose in the distance, the towering +summit of Mont Blanc reposing like a monarch in the midst of them.</p> + +<p>There was a curious covered walk along on one side of this lawn. It was +a walk covered with foliage. It was walled in on the sides, too, as well +as covered above with the foliage. Two hedges had been planted, one on +each side; and as they had grown, the leaves and branches had been +trimmed off straight and smooth like a wall. Then the tops had been +trained to meet overhead, and the foliage had been trimmed square and +flat on the upper side, and in an arch on the under side. So dense was +the growth of the leaves and branches that the whole alley was closely +and completely enclosed, so that it would not have been possible to look +out of it at all, had it not been that a row of square openings like +windows had been made on the side towards the lake. Any one could look +out and view the scenery through these openings as he walked along.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p><p>Voltaire used to compose his works in this alley, it was said. He would +walk up and down, and dictate as he walked to his amanuensis, who sat +near at hand with pen and ink to write down the philosopher's words.</p> + +<p>After this the domestic conducted the party through a wood, and showed +them a tree which Voltaire had planted. It was now a tree of great size, +and apparently far advanced in age.</p> + +<p>Rollo took very little interest in this tree, and even his father and +mother did not appear to pay much attention to it. It seemed, however, +that other visitors had not felt the same indifference to it, for those +who had come to see it had picked off and cut off so many pieces of bark +to carry away as relics that the tree, on one side had become entirely +excoriated, and there was danger that in the end the poor sufferer from +these depredations would be killed. In order to protect it, therefore, +from any further injury, the proprietor had surrounded it with a little +circular paling, so that now nobody could come near enough to touch the +tree.</p> + +<p>Rollo was glad when the visit to this place was ended; so he ran on +before his father and mother in going out, and was on his seat by the +side of the postilion long before they came to the carriage.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p><p>Ferney, though so near to Geneva, is within the confines of France, and +the carriage passed the line between the two countries in going home. +There was a little custom house and two or three armed policemen at the +frontier; but the party of travellers were not molested, and so in due +time they arrived safely home.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 157px;"> +<img src="images/i091.jpg" width="157" height="200" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_VII" id="Chapter_VII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter VII.</span></h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">The Junction of the Arve.</span></h3> + +<p>One evening, when Rollo was walking with his father and mother on one of +the bridges which led over the river, they stopped at a place where two +boys were fishing, and looked down over the railing into the water. The +water was quite deep, but they could see the stones on the bottom of it +almost as distinctly as if they had been looking only through the air.</p> + +<p>"How very clear the water is!" said Mrs. Holiday; "and what a beautiful +tinge it has! What is the reason of it?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know what the reason is of the blue tinge," said Mr. Holiday; +"but the cause of its being so clear is, that it flows out of this great +lake, where it has been lying so long that it has had time to settle +perfectly.</p> + +<p>"There is a great difference in the streams of Switzerland," continued +Mr. Holiday. "Some are exceedingly clear, and some are exceedingly +turbid. There are two ways by which the turbid <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>waters become purified. +One is, by being filtered through the sands under ground; and the other +is, by '<i>settling</i>', as we call it, in the lakes. The water of the +fountain that we saw on our way to Ferney was beautifully clear, and it +was made so by filtration in the sand, in coming down through the heart +of the mountain. This water, on the other hand, is made clear by its +impurities subsiding in the lake."</p> + +<p>"And it comes in muddy at the other end," said Rollo.</p> + +<p>"Not muddy, exactly," rejoined Mr. Holiday, "but very turbid. The +turbidness of it is not mud precisely. It comes from the grinding up of +rocks by the slow march of the glaciers over and among them. Thus all +the streams that come from glaciers are very turbid; and so long as the +waters flow on in an uninterrupted stream they continue turbid; but when +they form a lake, the particles of stone subside, and the water comes +out at the lower end of the lake perfectly clear."</p> + +<p>"And then continues clear till it gets to the ocean, I suppose," said +Mrs. Holiday.</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Mr. Holiday, "unless some other turbid stream, which has +no lake to settle itself in, falls into it and pollutes it again.</p> + +<p>"That is the case with this river. It is very <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>clear and beautiful here, +where it comes out of the lake, but the Arve comes in a mile or two +below Geneva, and brings an immense volume of turbid water. This makes +the whole river turbid again after the waters of the two rivers have +flowed long enough together to get well mixed, and then it continues +turbid all the way to the sea. There is no other lake to settle it.</p> + +<p>"I am told," said Mr. Holiday, "that the coming in of the turbid torrent +of the Arve into the clear blue waters of the Rhone is a very pretty +spectacle, and I should like very much to see it; but it is rather too +far to go."</p> + +<p>"O, no, father," said Rollo; "let us go."</p> + +<p>"How far is it?" asked Mrs. Holiday.</p> + +<p>"About a mile, I should think, by the map," said Mr. Holiday; "but there +seems to be no carriage road to the place. If there had been a carriage +road I should have taken you there; for I should like very well to have +you see the place."</p> + +<p>"But, father, we can walk there very easily," said Rollo. "There is a +nice path along the bank of the river. I saw it the other day, when I +was down below the bridge."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mrs. Holiday, "I should like to go very much, if we could +go in the morning or in the evening, when it is cool. Is the walk shady, +Rollo?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p><p>"Yes, mother, it is shady in the morning. There is a high hedge all +along on one side of the path, and that keeps the sun off in the +morning. In the evening the sun comes round to the other side."</p> + +<p>"Then we will go in the morning," said Mrs. Holiday. "Let us get up +early to-morrow morning, and go before breakfast."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Holiday was really desirous of seeing this famous junction of the +Rhone and the Arve; but her chief interest in making the excursion arose +from her sympathy with Rollo, and from observing how much he wished to +go. It is always so with a mother. When her children are kind and +attentive to her, and obedient to her wishes, she always desires most +strongly to do what will most gratify them.</p> + +<p>The plan was arranged according to Mrs. Holiday's proposal, and the next +morning the party set out at half past six o'clock. Rollo led the way.</p> + +<p>"What I should like best," said Rollo, turning round so as to face his +father and mother, and walking backward, "would be to take a boat, and +shoot down the river under these bridges."</p> + +<p>"Ah," said his father, "that would not do. The current is too swift. At +any rate, if you were to go down you would never get the boat back +again. The water runs like a mill race.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p><p>"Indeed, it <i>is</i> a mill race," continued Mr. Holiday. "Don't you see the +mill wheels projecting into the stream, here and there? They are carried +by the natural force of the current."</p> + +<p>After passing by the buildings of the town, Rollo led the way over a +narrow wooden bridge, which passed across the old moat of the town. The +remains of a monstrous bastion were to be seen beyond it.</p> + +<p>"This is a part of the old fortifications," said Rollo. "They are +cutting them all to pieces now with roads and bridges leading in and out +the town."</p> + +<p>After going beyond these embankments, Rollo led the way to a path which +lay along the river side. Very soon the path began to be a very pleasant +one indeed. Mrs. Holiday was delighted with it. It was close to the +margin of the water, and only a very few inches above the level of it. +The current was very swift, and the water was so blue, and clear, and +beautiful, that it was a continual pleasure to look down into it, and to +watch the little waves and ripples that curled, and twirled, and dashed +against the shore.</p> + +<p>There was a row of willows between the paths and the water, or rather in +the margin of the water, for the path was so near to the stream that +there was scarcely room for the willows on <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>the land. On the other side +of the path there was a close hedge, which formed the boundary of a +region of fields, meadows, and gardens. Here and there were gates +leading through this hedge; and the party, as they walked along, could +look through the openings and see the peasant girls coming out to their +work from the houses. The whole region, though it was highly cultivated +and extremely beautiful, was very flat and level, and was only raised +two or three feet above the level of the water.</p> + +<p>From each gateway or other opening through the hedge there were paths +leading off through the fields and gardens to the houses; and there were +steps at the gates leading down to the pathway that lay along the margin +of the stream. The people of the houses were accustomed, it seemed, to +come down there to get water.</p> + +<p>Thus the party walked along, with the rapid current of the river close +to their feet on one side, and the high green hedge shutting them in on +the other, while the tops of the willow trees spreading over their heads +completed the coolness and shadiness of the pathway. Rollo led the way, +and his father and mother followed, one by one, for the path was not +wide enough for two to walk together.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 99-100]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/i098.jpg" width="500" height="318" alt="THE WATER WHEEL." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE WATER WHEEL.</span> +</div> + +<p>Presently they came to a place where a large <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>water wheel of a very curious construction was seen revolving quite near +the shore. They stopped to look at it. They liked to see it revolving; +and then besides they wished to examine the construction of it. It was +mounted on a frame of timbers that had been set up for it in the water, +at a little distance from the shore. The wheel itself was much like the +wheel of a steamboat; only, in addition to the ordinary float boards, it +had a series of buckets on the edge of it, which took up the water from +the stream, as the wheel revolved, and emptied it into a trough above, +as they went over. From this trough there was a circular pipe, made very +strong, which conveyed the water by a subterranean aqueduct into the +field opposite, where it rose into a reservoir by the pressure of the +column in the pipe, and was used to irrigate the ground.</p> + +<p>Across the river at this place was a beautiful view of fields, +vineyards, terraces, and gardens; for on that side the bank was high, +and as the sun shone directly upon it, the whole scene presented to view +was extremely bright and beautiful.</p> + +<p>At one of the gates which opened through the hedge, Rollo stopped to +look in. He saw gardens laid out in squares, with corn, and beans, and +various garden vegetables growing luxuriantly in them. There were rows +of fruit trees, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>too, bordering the paths, and at a distance were to be +seen houses scattered here and there over the plain, the dwellings of +the owners of the land. Each house had its little barns and granaries +connected with it, the whole group being half concealed by the foliage +of the trees and shrubs that had been planted around it.</p> + +<p>"Will it do for us to go in," said Rollo to his father, "and walk a part +of the way through these gardens?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said his father, "I presume it will do; but perhaps we had better +go down all the way by the path, and come back by the gardens."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "that will be much the best plan.</p> + +<p>"But, father," continued Rollo, "if we should go across these gardens, +and keep on in that direction for some time, I suppose that we should +come to the Arve."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said his father; "the Arve is coming down from the mountains, and +flowing towards the Rhone not very far from here, on the other side of +this flat land. This land constitutes a sort of tongue lying between the +two rivers. I suppose it has been formed by the deposits that the Arve +brings down. I have no doubt that if we should walk across the tongue of +land, we should come to the Arve; but it is better to go <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>on down the +path till we reach the point where the two rivers come together."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Rollo, "we will go on."</p> + +<p>So they went on along the path, as before.</p> + +<p>Rollo soon had occasion to be glad that he had acceded so readily to his +father's wishes to continue in the path; for he soon came to something +that amused him very much. It was a man sitting in the top of one of the +willow trees that overhung the path, fishing. The willow leaned very +much, and this made it easy to climb the stem of it. It had been headed +down, too, so that there was a pretty good place to sit on the top of +it. It was on the very brink of the stream, and indeed the leaning of +the stem carried the top of the willow somewhat over the water, and thus +it made quite a good place to sit and fish.</p> + +<p>The current flowed very swiftly under the willow tree, and the fishing +line was carried far down the stream.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said Rollo; "that is just such a place as I should like to have. I +should like to sit up in that tree and fish all the morning."</p> + +<p>"I should think it might be a little lonesome," said Mr. Holiday.</p> + +<p>"No," said Rollo; "or perhaps there might be some other boys in the +other trees."</p> + +<p>So saying, Rollo looked up and down the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>stream, to see if there were +any other trees so formed as to furnish a seat for a fisherman in the +top of them; but there were none.</p> + +<p>Here you see a picture of the man as Rollo saw him.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 340px;"> +<img src="images/i103.jpg" width="340" height="350" alt="FISHING." title="" /> +<span class="caption">FISHING.</span> +</div> + +<p>As the party went on after this they found evidences increasing that +they were drawing near to the junction of the rivers. The hedge became +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>less regular, and at length ceased altogether. Its place was supplied +by dense thickets formed of alders, willows, and long grass. The ground +became more and more uneven, and at length nothing of the path was left +but a narrow ridge or dike that had been formed artificially along the +shore, with a crooked little footway on the top of it.</p> + +<p>At last Rollo began to see through the bushes occasional glimpses of +water on the other side.</p> + +<p>"There, father!" said he, "there! We are coming to the Arve."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mrs. Holiday; "and I don't suppose that we can go much +farther."</p> + +<p>Indeed, it would have been impossible to go much farther, if there had +not been a small embankment made to serve for a pathway. The party, +though expecting every moment to be obliged to turn back, still went on. +At length the whole expanse of the Arve opened before them as it came in +from the left—its waters boiling, whirling, and sweeping in great +circles as it came on, and the whole surface of it as gray as the sand +on the shores. On the other side was the Rhone, blue, and pellucid, and +beautiful as the sky above.</p> + +<p>"What an extraordinary spectacle!" said Mr. Holiday.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p><p>"Come, mother," said Rollo, "we can go on a good deal farther yet."</p> + +<p>Rollo was right; for the walk, instead of coming to an end at the +extremity of the point which separated the two rivers, was continued +along a little dike or embankment which seemed to have been made +artificially some distance down between the two streams. This dike was +very narrow, being just wide enough indeed for a narrow footpath.</p> + +<p>In advancing along this path it was very curious to observe the totally +different aspects of the water on the two sides of it. On the one side +it was turbid and gray, and perfectly opaque. You could not have seen +the pollywogs in the shallowest places along the margin. On the other +side it was so clear and transparent that you could have seen fishes +swimming where it was ten feet deep. It was of such a rich and beautiful +blue color, too, as if it had been tinted with a dye, and the color was +of so rich and brilliant a hue, that Mrs. Holiday was continually +admiring and praising it.</p> + +<p>This narrow path, dividing thus the waters of the two rivers, continued +several yards; but at length it came to an end. The party all went on +till they reached the extremity of it, and there, looking still farther +on, they saw the line of demarcation <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>between the gray water and the +blue extending itself before them as far as they could see. The two +rivers remained for a long distance perfectly distinct, though +struggling and contending against each other, as it were, all the way. +The line was broken and indented all along by the strife of the +waters—the gray for a moment penetrating into the blue, and then the +next instant the blue forcing itself into the gray. The waters went on +struggling against each other in this manner as far as the eye could +follow them.</p> + +<p>The party remained on the extremity of the point a long time, observing +this singular phenomenon. At length it began to be pretty warm there; +for the narrow tongue of land which projected so far between the two +currents was exposed to the sun, which had now risen so high that there +was a good deal of heat in his rays.</p> + +<p>So they set out on their return home. On the way back they walked a +considerable distance through the fields and gardens. They went into +them from the path along the shore, through one of the open gates, and +they went back to the path again by another.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 546px;"> +<img src="images/i106.jpg" width="546" height="200" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_VIII" id="Chapter_VIII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter VIII.</span></h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Seeing Mont Blanc Go Out.</span></h3> + +<p>"Father," said Rollo to Mr. Holiday, at dinner one day, "what are you +going to do this evening?"</p> + +<p>"We are going to see Mont Blanc go out," said his father.</p> + +<p>Mr. Holiday answered Rollo in French, using a phrase very common in +Geneva to denote the gradual fading away of the rosy light left upon +Mont Blanc by the setting sun; for the sun, just at the time of its +setting, gilds the mountain with a peculiar rosy light, as if it were a +cloud. This light gradually fades away as the sun goes down, until the +lower part of the mountain becomes of a dead and ghostly white, while +the roseate hue still lingers on the summit, as if the top of the +mountain were tipped with flame. These last beams finally disappear, and +then the whole expanse of snow assumes a deathlike and wintry whiteness. +The inhabitants of Geneva, and those who live in the environs, often go +out to their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>gardens and summer houses in the summer evenings, just as +the sun is going down, to see, as they express it, Mont Blanc go out;<a name="FNanchor_E_5" id="FNanchor_E_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_5" class="fnanchor">[E]</a> +and strangers who visit Geneva always desire, if they can, to witness +the spectacle. There are, however, not a great many evenings in the year +when it can be witnessed to advantage, the mountain is so often +enveloped in clouds.</p> + +<p>Rollo had heard the phrase before, and he knew very well what his father +meant.</p> + +<p>"Well," said he, in a tone of satisfaction; "and may I go too?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said his father; "we should like to have you go very much. But +there is a question to be decided—how we shall go. The best point of +view is somewhere on the shore along the lake, on the other side of the +bridge. There are three ways of going. We can walk across the bridge, +and then follow the road along the shore till we come to a good place, +or we can take a carriage, and order the coachman to drive out any where +into the neighborhood, where there is a good view of the mountain, or we +can go in a boat."</p> + +<p>"In a boat, father!" said Rollo, eagerly. "Let us go in a boat!"</p> + +<p>"The objection to that," said Mr. Holiday, "is, that it is more trouble +to go and engage a boat. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>There are plenty of carriages here at the very +door, and I can have one at a moment's notice, by just holding up my +finger."</p> + +<p>"And, father," said Rollo, "so there are plenty of boats right down here +by the quay, and I can get one of them in a moment, just by holding up +my finger."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mr. Holiday, "we will go in a boat if you will take all the +trouble of engaging one."</p> + +<p>Rollo liked nothing better than this, and as soon as dinner was over he +went out upon the quay to engage a boat, while his father and mother +went up to their room to get ready to go.</p> + +<p>Rollo found plenty of boats at the landing. Some of them were very +pretty. He chose one which seemed to have comfortable seats in it for +his father and mother. It was a boat, too, that had the American flag +flying at the stern. Some of the boatmen get American flags, and raise +them on their boats, out of compliment to their numerous American +customers.</p> + +<p>Soon after Rollo had engaged the boat, his father and mother came, and +they all embarked on board. The boatman rowed them off from the shore. +The sun was just going down. There were a great many boats plying to and +fro about the lake, and the quays and the little islet were crowded with +people.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p><p>After rowing about a quarter of a mile, the boatman brought the range of +the Alps into full view through an opening between the nearer hills. The +sun was shining full upon them, and illuminating them with a dazzling +white light, very beautiful, but without any rosy hue.</p> + +<p>"They don't look rosy at all," said Rollo.</p> + +<p>"No," said Mr. Holiday, "not now. They do not take the rosy hue till the +sun has gone down."</p> + +<p>The boatman rowed on a little farther, so as to obtain a still better +view. Mr. and Mrs. Holiday watched the mountains; but Rollo was more +interested in the scene immediately around him. He watched the boats +that were plying to and fro over the surface of the lake, and the +different parties of ladies and gentlemen in them. He gazed on the +quays, too, all around, and on the islet, which was not far off, and on +the people that he saw there, some walking to and fro, and others +leaning over the parapet and looking out upon the water.</p> + +<p>"Rollo," said Mr. Holiday, "see if there is a rudder."</p> + +<p>"Yes, father, there is," said Rollo. So saying, he climbed over the +seats, between his father and mother, and took his place by the rudder.</p> + +<p>"Steer us, then, over to the opposite shore, wherever you see there is a +pleasant place to land."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p><p>Rollo was glad and sorry both to receive this command. He was glad to +have the pleasure of steering, but he was sorry that his father intended +to land. He would have preferred remaining out upon the water.</p> + +<p>He, however, obeyed his father's command, and steered towards the +farther shore, turning the head of the boat in an oblique direction, a +little way up the lake. Presently Mr. Holiday saw some friends of his in +a boat that was coming in the opposite direction. He ordered Rollo to +steer towards them. Rollo did so, and soon the boats came alongside. The +oarsmen of both boats stopped rowing, and the two parties in them came +to a parley.</p> + +<p>There was a little girl in the other boat, named Lucia. There was no +other child in that boat, and so there was nobody for Lucia to play +with. Lucia therefore asked her father and mother to allow her to get +over into Mr. Holiday's boat, so that she could have somebody to play +with.</p> + +<p>"Why, Lucia," said her mother, "Rollo is a great boy. He is too big to +play with you."</p> + +<p>"I know it," said Lucia; "but then he is better than nobody."</p> + +<p>Rollo might perhaps have been made to feel somewhat piqued at being +considered by a young lady as only better than nobody for a companion, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>had it not been for the nature of the objection, which was only that he +was too large. So he felt complimented rather than otherwise, and he +cordially seconded Lucia's wish that she might be transferred to his +father's boat, and at length her mother consented. Lucia stepped +carefully over the gunwales, and thus got into Mr. Holiday's boat. She +immediately passed along to the stern, and took her place by the side of +Rollo at the rudder. The boats then separated from each other, and each +went on its own way.</p> + +<p>"What is this handle," said Lucia, "that you are taking hold of?"</p> + +<p>"It is the tiller," said Rollo.</p> + +<p>"And what is it for?" asked Lucia.</p> + +<p>"It is the handle of the rudder," said Rollo. "The rudder is what we +steer the boat by, and the tiller is the handle of it. The rudder itself +is down below the water."</p> + +<p>So Rollo let Lucia look over the end of the boat and see the rudder in +the water.</p> + +<p>Rollo then proceeded to explain the operation of the rudder.</p> + +<p>"You see," said he, "that when I move the tiller over <i>this</i> way, then +the head of the boat turns the other way; and when I move it over <i>that</i> +way, then the head of the boat comes round <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>this way. The head of the +boat always goes the contrary way."</p> + +<p>"I don't see why it should go the contrary way," said Lucia. "I should +think it ought to go the same way."</p> + +<p>"No," replied Rollo; "it goes the contrary way. And now I am going to +steer to a good place to land on the shore over there."</p> + +<p>So saying, Rollo pointed to the shore towards which the boat was going.</p> + +<p>The boat was now drawing near the shore. There was first a landing, +where several small vessels were drawn up, and immense piles of wood in +great wood yards.</p> + +<p>This wood had a very singular appearance. The bark was all off, and the +ends of the logs looked rounded and worn, as if they had been washed in +the water. The reason was, that the wood had grown on the sides of the +mountains, and had been brought down to the lake by the torrents which +pour down the mountain sides with great force in time of rain.</p> + +<p>"We won't land in the wood yards—will we?" said Rollo.</p> + +<p>"No," said Lucia; "but <i>there's</i> a pretty place to land, a little +farther on."</p> + +<p>So saying, Lucia pointed to a very pretty part of the shore, a little +farther on. There seemed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>to be a garden, and a little green lawn, with +large trees overshadowing it; and at one place there was a projecting +point where there was a summer house with a table in it, and a seat +outside, near the beach, under a bower.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Rollo; "that is a very pretty place; but it looks like +private ground. I think we must not land there."</p> + +<p>As the boat glided by this place, Rollo and Lucia saw some ladies and +gentlemen sitting in the summer house. The gentlemen took off their hats +and bowed to Mr. and Mrs. Holiday as they passed by.</p> + +<p>Next the boat came to a place where there was a low parapet wall along +the shore, and behind it were to be seen the heads of a number of men +who seemed to be sitting at tables, and drinking coffee or beer.</p> + +<p>"Here is a good place to land," said Lucia.</p> + +<p>"No," said Rollo; "this seems to be some sort of public place, full of +men. We had better go a little farther."</p> + +<p>So Rollo steered on, keeping all the time at just a safe distance from +the shore. The water was most beautifully transparent and clear, so that +all the pretty stones and pebbles on the bottom could be seen very +distinctly at a great depth.</p> + +<p>"What pretty water!" said Lucia.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p><p>"Yes," said Rollo, "it is so clear."</p> + +<p>"What makes it so clear?" asked Lucia.</p> + +<p>"Because the lake is so long," said Rollo, "and this is the lower end of +it, and the water has time to settle. At the other end, where the water +comes in, it is not so clear. This is the end where the water runs out."</p> + +<p>A moment afterwards they came to a very pleasant landing, at a place +where the road lay pretty near the water. Between the road and the +water, however, there was a space of green grass, with large trees +overshadowing it, and several wooden settees, painted green, under the +trees.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said Rollo, "here is just the place for us.</p> + +<p>"Father," he added, "do you think it would be a good plan to land here?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said his father; "we could not have had a better place. I thought +you would find a pleasant landing for us if I gave you the command."</p> + +<p>So Rollo brought the boat up to the shore, and they all got out. Mr. and +Mrs. Holiday walked up and took their seats on one of the settees, while +Rollo and Lucia began to run about and play along the parapet wall which +separated the promenade from the water.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p><p>Mr. and Mrs. Holiday watched the mountains. The sun had now just gone +down, though his beams still tipped the summits of the hills, and were +reflected from the windows of the distant houses. The snow on the +mountains, too, began to assume a very beautiful rosy hue, which +increased in brilliancy the farther the sun went down, and the more the +lower lands became darkened.</p> + +<p>"How beautiful it is!" said Mrs. Holiday.</p> + +<p>"It is very beautiful indeed," said her husband.</p> + +<p>"Rollo," said Mrs. Holiday, "look at Mont Blanc. See how bright and rosy +he looks."</p> + +<p>"Yes, mother," said Rollo; "and look out on the lake, and see the heads +of those two boys swimming in the water."</p> + +<p>"Are those the heads of boys?" asked Mrs. Holiday.</p> + +<p>"Yes, mother," said Rollo; "see how far they are swimming out."</p> + +<p>When Mrs. Holiday looked back at the mountain, she found, to her great +disappointment, that the rosy color which had appeared so beautiful a +moment before had now disappeared; and the whole snowy side of the +range, up to the summits of the loftiest peaks, was of a cold, dead +white, as if the rays of the sun had been entirely withdrawn.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p><p>"Ah! look!" she said to Mr. Holiday, in a tone of disappointment; "Mont +Blanc has gone out while we have been looking another way."</p> + +<p>Mr. Holiday gazed intently at the mountain, and very soon he saw the +rosy tint beginning to appear again on one of the summits, more +brilliant than ever.</p> + +<p>"No," said he, "the sun has not gone. I thought it could not have gone +down so soon. There must have been a cloud in the way."</p> + +<p>While Mr. Holiday had been speaking, the rekindling of the mountain had +gone on apace, and now the whole side of it was all in a glow.</p> + +<p>Just at this instant Rollo heard the sound of a gun. Lucia started and +looked alarmed.</p> + +<p>"What is that gun?" said Rollo; "and where was it? Let us look for the +smoke."</p> + +<p>So Rollo and Lucia, leaning over the parapet, began to look all about +among the boats and vessels of the lake, and along the opposite shore, +in the direction from which the sound of the report had seemed to come, +and very soon their eyes rested upon a volume of blue smoke which was +ascending from the bows of a little vessel that had just come in, and +was floating off gracefully into the air.</p> + +<p>"It is that vessel that has just got in," said Rollo.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p><p>"Rollo," said Mrs. Holiday, "look at the mountain."</p> + +<p>Rollo turned his eye for a moment towards the mountain. All the lower +part of it was of a cold and deathlike whiteness, while the tip of the +summit was glowing as if it had been on fire. He was, however, too much +interested in the smoke of the gun to look long at the mountain.</p> + +<p>"Hark!" said he to Lucia; "let us see if they will not fire again."</p> + +<p>They did not fire again; and just as Rollo began to give up expecting +that they would, his attention, as well as that of Lucia, was attracted +to a little child who was playing with a small hammer in the gravel not +far from where they were standing. The mother of the child was sitting +on a bench near by, knitting. The hammer was small, and the claw of it +was straight and flat. The child was using it for a hoe, to dig a hole +in the gravel.</p> + +<p>"Now," said Rollo, "if I could find a shingle any where about here, I +would make that child a shovel to dig with."</p> + +<p>Rollo looked about, but there was nothing like a shingle to be seen.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes his father called him.</p> + +<p>"Rollo," said he, "we are going back. Mont Blanc has gone out. See!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p><p>Rollo looked. He saw that the last lingering rays of the sun had gone +from the summit of the mountain, though they still gilded a small +rounded cloud that floated just above it in the sky.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," said Rollo. "I'll go and call the boat."</p> + +<p>"We are not going back in the boat," said Mr. Holiday; "we have +concluded to walk round by land, and over the bridge. It will be better +for Lucia to go with us; but you may do as you please. You may walk with +us, or go in the boat with the boatman."</p> + +<p>Rollo at first thought that he should prefer to go in the boat; but he +finally concluded to accompany his father and mother. So the whole party +returned together by a pleasant road which led through a village by the +shore.</p> + +<p>When they came out to the quay they heard a band of music playing. The +band was stationed on the little islet which has already been described. +The party stopped on the bridge to listen; at least Mr. and Mrs. Holiday +listened, but Rollo and Lucia occupied themselves the while in looking +down in the clear depths of the water, which was running so swiftly and +so blue beneath the piers of the bridge, and watching to see if they +could see any fishes there. Lucia thought at one time that she saw one; +but Rollo, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>on examining the spot, said it was only a little crevice of +the rock wiggling.</p> + +<p>"What makes it wiggle?" asked Lucia.</p> + +<p>"The little waves and ripples of the current," said Rollo.</p> + +<hr class="small" /> + +<p>When Rollo reached the hotel, a gentleman who met the party in the hall +said to him,—</p> + +<p>"Well, Rollo, have you been to see Mont Blanc go out?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," said Rollo.</p> + +<p>"And how did you like it?" said the gentleman.</p> + +<p>"I liked it very much indeed," said Rollo. "I think it was sublime."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 339px;"> +<img src="images/i120.jpg" width="339" height="200" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_IX" id="Chapter_IX"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter IX.</span></h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">A Law Question.</span></h3> + +<p>"Now, father," said Rollo, one evening, as he was sitting at the window +with his father and mother, looking out upon the blue waters of the +Rhone, that were shooting so swiftly under the bridges beneath the +windows of the hotel, "you promised me that you would take as long a +sail on the lake with me as I wished."</p> + +<p>"Well," said his father, "I acknowledge the promise, and am ready to +perform it."</p> + +<p>"When?" asked Rollo.</p> + +<p>"At any time," said his father.</p> + +<p>"Then, father, let us go to-morrow," said Rollo. "We can't go to-night, +for I am going so far that it will take all day. I am going to the +farther end of the lake."</p> + +<p>"Very well," said his father; "I said I would take as long a sail as you +wished."</p> + +<p>"And I will go this evening and engage a sail boat," said Rollo, "so as +to have it all ready."</p> + +<p>There was always quite a little fleet of sail <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>boats and row boats of +all kinds lying near the principal landing at the quay, ready for +excursions. Rollo's plan was to engage one of these.</p> + +<p>"No," said his father; "we will not take a sail boat; we will take a +steamboat."</p> + +<p>Besides the sail boats and row boats, there were a number of large and +handsome steamboats plying on the lake. There were two or three that +left in the morning, between seven and eight o'clock, and then there +were one or two at noon also. Those that left in the morning had time to +go to the farther end of the lake and return the same day; while those +that left at noon came back the next morning. Thus, to see the lake, you +could go in the forenoon of one day, and come back in the afternoon of +the same, or you could go in the afternoon of one day, and come back in +the morning of the next.</p> + +<p>"Which would you do?" said Mr. Holiday to Rollo.</p> + +<p>"But, father," said Rollo, "I think it would be pleasanter to go in a +sail boat. Besides, you said that you would take me to a sail; and going +in a steamboat is not sailing."</p> + +<p>"What is it doing?" said Mr. Holiday.</p> + +<p>"Steaming," said Rollo. "A steamer does not sail in any sense."</p> + +<p>Mr. Holiday smiled and then paused. He was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>reflecting, apparently, upon +what Rollo had been saying.</p> + +<p>"Then, besides," said Rollo, "don't you think, father, it would be +pleasanter to go in a sail boat?"</p> + +<p>"The first question is," said Mr. Holiday, "whether I am bound by my +promise to go with you in a sail boat, if you prefer it. I said I would +take you to a sail. Would taking you in a steamboat be a fulfilment of +that promise? Suppose we refer the question to an umpire, and see how he +will decide it."</p> + +<p>"Yes; but, father," said Rollo, "if you think it is best to go in the +steamer, I should not insist upon the sail boat, by any means; so it is +not necessary to leave it to any umpire. I will give it up."</p> + +<p>"I know you would be willing to give it up," said Mr. Holiday; "but then +we may as well first ascertain how the case actually stands. Let us +first determine what the promise binds me to. If it does not bind me to +go in a sail boat, then it is all right; there will be no need of any +giving up. If, on the other hand, my promise does bind me to go in a +sail boat, then you will consider whether you will release me from it or +not, if I ask it. Besides, it will amuse us to have the question +regularly decided; and it will also be a good <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>lesson for you, in +teaching you to think and speak with precision when you make promises, +and to draw exact lines in respect to the performance of them."</p> + +<p>"Well, sir," said Rollo; "who shall be the umpire?"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hall," said his father. "He is down in the dining room now, taking +tea."</p> + +<p>Mr. Hall was a lawyer, an acquaintance of Mr. Holiday's, whom he had +accidentally met at Geneva.</p> + +<p>"He is a lawyer," said Mr. Holiday, "and he will be a very good umpire."</p> + +<p>"Is it a law question?" asked Rollo.</p> + +<p>"Not exactly a law question," said Mr. Holiday, "but all such questions +require for an umpire a man who is accustomed to think precisely. That +is their very business. It is true that there are a great many other men +besides lawyers who think precisely; and there are some lawyers who +think and reason very loosely, and come to hasty and incorrect +conclusions. Still, you are more likely to get a good opinion on such a +subject from a lawyer than from other men taken at random. So, if you +please, you may go down and state the question to Mr. Hall, and I will +abide by his decision."</p> + +<p>"Well, sir," said Rollo, "I will."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p><p>"Only," said Mr. Holiday, "you must state the question fairly. Boys +generally, when they go to state a question of this kind in which they +are interested, state it very unfairly."</p> + +<p>"How, for instance?" asked Rollo.</p> + +<p>"Why, suppose," said Mr. Holiday, "that you were to go to Mr. Hall, and +say, 'Mr. Hall, father promised me that he would take me out on a sail +upon the lake, as far as I wanted to go, and don't you think he ought to +do it?'"</p> + +<p>Rollo laughed heartily at this mode of putting the question. "Yes," said +he, "that sounds exactly like a boy. And what would be a fair way of +stating it?"</p> + +<p>"A fair way would be," said Mr. Holiday, "to present the simple question +itself, without any reference to your own interest in it, and without +any indication whatever of your own wish or opinion in respect to the +decision of it; as, for example, thus: 'Mr. Hall, I have a question to +ask you. Suppose one person promises another that he will take him out +to sail on the lake on a certain day; then, when the day comes, the +promiser proposes to go in the steamboat. Would that be a good +fulfilment of the promise, or not?'"</p> + +<p>"Well, sir," said Rollo, "I will state it so."</p> + +<p>So Rollo went down stairs into the dining room. There were various +parties there, seated <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>at the different tables. Some were taking tea, +some were looking at maps and guide books, and some discussing the plan +of their tours. One of the sofas had half a dozen knapsacks upon it, +which belonged to a party of pedestrians that had just come in.</p> + +<p>Rollo looked about the room, and presently saw Mr. Hall, with his wife +and daughter, sitting at a table near a window. He went to him, and +stated the question.</p> + +<p>The lawyer heard Rollo attentively to the end, and then, instead of +answering at once, O, yes, or O, no, as Rollo had expected, he seemed to +stop to consider.</p> + +<p>"That is quite a nice question," said Mr. Hall. "Let us look at it. The +point is, whether an excursion in a steamboat is a <i>sail</i>, in the sense +intended by the promise."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "that is the point exactly. I think it is not; +father thinks it is."</p> + +<p>The instant that these words were out of Rollo's mouth he was sorry that +he had spoken them; for by speaking them he had furnished an indication +to the umpire of what his own opinion and his own interests were in +respect to the decision, which it never is fair to do in such a case, +when the other party is not present to express <i>his</i> views and advocate +his interests. The words once spoken, however, could not be recalled.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p><p>"Steamboats are certainly not propelled by sails," said the lawyer, "but +yet we often apply the word <i>sailing</i> to them. We say, for instance, +that a certain steamer will sail on such or such a day. So we say, There +was no news from such or such a place when the steamer sailed."</p> + +<p>"But it seems to me," said Rollo, "that the question is not what people +call it, but what it really is. The going of a steamboat is certainly +not sailing, in any sense."</p> + +<p>It was quite ingenious arguing on Rollo's part, it must be acknowledged; +but then it was wholly out of order for him to argue the question at +all. He should have confined himself strictly to a simple statement of +the point, since, as his father was not present to defend <i>his</i> side of +the question, it was obviously not fair that Rollo should urge and +advocate his.</p> + +<p>"It might, at first view," said Mr. Hall, "seem to be as you say, and +that the question would be solely what the steamer actually does. But, +on reflection, you will see that it is not exactly so. Contracts and +promises are made in language; and in making them, people use language +as other people use it, and it is to be interpreted in that way. For +instance: suppose a lodging-house keeper in the country should agree to +furnish a lady a room in the summer where the sun did not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>come in at +all, and then should give her one on the south side of the house, which +was intolerably hot, and should claim that he had fulfilled his +agreement because the sun did not itself <i>come</i> into the room at all, +but only shone in; that would not be a good defence. We must interpret +contracts and promises according to the ordinary use and custom of +people in the employment of language.</p> + +<p>"Still," said Mr. Hall, "although we certainly do apply the simple term +<i>sailing</i> to a steamer, I hardly think that a trip in a steamer on a +regular and established route would be called, according to the ordinary +and established use of language, taking a sail. Was that the +promise—that one party would go with the other to <i>take a sail</i> on the +lake?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "he promised to go and take a sail with me on +the lake, as far as I wanted to go."</p> + +<p>"Then," said Mr. Hall, "I should think, on the whole, that, in such a +place as this, where there are so many regular sail boats, and where +excursions on the lake in them are so common and so well recognized as a +distinct amusement, the phrase <i>taking a sail</i> ought to be held to mean +going in a sail boat, and that making a voyage in a steamer would not be +fulfilling the promise."</p> + +<p>Rollo was extremely delighted in having thus <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>gained his case, and he +went back to report the result to his father, in a state of great +exultation.</p> + +<p>After communicating to his father the decision of the umpire, Rollo said +that, after all, he did not wish to go in a sail boat if his father +thought it best to go in a steamer.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mr. Holiday, "that depends upon how far we go. It is +pleasant enough to go out a short distance on the water in a sail boat, +but for a long excursion the steamer is generally considered much +pleasanter. In a sail boat you are down very low, near the surface of +the water, and so you have no commanding views. Then you have no shelter +either from the sun, if it is clear, or from the rain, if it is cloudy. +You are closely confined, too, or at least you can move about only a +very little; whereas in the steamer there is plenty of space, and there +are a great many groups of people, and little incidents are constantly +occurring to amuse you."</p> + +<p>"Besides," said Mrs. Holiday, "if you go in the steamer, I can go with +you."</p> + +<p>"Why, mother, could not you go in a sail boat too?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Mrs. Holiday; "I am afraid of sail boats."</p> + +<p>"O mother!" said Rollo; "there is not any danger at all."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p><p>"Yes, Rollo," said his father, "there is some danger, for sail boats do +sometimes upset."</p> + +<p>"And steamboats sometimes blow up," said Rollo.</p> + +<p>"True," said his father; "but that only shows that there is danger in +steamboats too—not that there is no danger in sail boats."</p> + +<p>"Well, what I mean," said Rollo, "is, that there is very little danger, +and that mother has no occasion to be afraid."</p> + +<p>"There is very little danger, I grant," said Mr. Holiday; "but there is +just enough to keep ladies, who are less accustomed to the water than we +are, almost all the time uneasy, and thus to destroy for them the +pleasure of the excursion.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you what I think will be the best plan. You and I will go out +and take a little sail to-night on the lake in a sail boat, and mother +may stay and watch us from the window, as she reads and sews. Then +to-morrow we will go together to make an excursion on the lake."</p> + +<p>Rollo liked this plan very much indeed, and his father sent him down to +the landing to engage the boat. "I will come down," said Mr. Holiday, +"by the time you get ready."</p> + +<p>So Rollo went down and engaged a boat. It was rigged, as all the boats +on the Lake of Geneva are, with what are called lateen sails. His +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>father soon came down, and they immediately embarked on board the boat, +and sailed away from the landing. As the boat moved away Rollo waved his +handkerchief to his mother whom he saw sitting on the balcony of the +hotel, waving hers to him.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 332px;"> +<img src="images/i131.jpg" width="332" height="350" alt="GOING TO TAKE A SAIL." title="" /> +<span class="caption">GOING TO TAKE A SAIL.</span> +</div> + +<p>Rollo and his father sailed about the lake for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>nearly an hour. Mr. +Holiday said it was one of the pleasantest sails he ever had in his +life, and that he was very glad indeed that Mr. Hall decided against +him.</p> + +<p>He gave Rollo's mother a full account of the excursion when he got home.</p> + +<p>"The water was very smooth," said he, "and the air was cool and balmy. +There was a gentle breath of wind, just enough to float us smoothly and +quietly over the water. We had charming views of the town and of the +shores of the lake, and also of the stupendous ranges of snow-covered +mountains beyond."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 289px;"> +<img src="images/i132.jpg" width="289" height="200" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_X" id="Chapter_X"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter X.</span></h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">An Excursion on the Lake.</span></h3> + +<p>The Lake of Geneva is shaped, as has already been said, like the new +moon. One of the horns is towards the west; the other is towards the +south. Geneva is at the tip of the western horn.</p> + +<p>Of course, in sailing from Geneva to the other end of the lake, we go +from the west towards the east; and this renders it rather more +agreeable to make the excursion by an afternoon boat than by a morning +one; for in the afternoon, the sun, being then in the western part of +the sky, will be behind you, and so will not shine in your face; but, +instead of shining in your face and dazzling your eyes, it will be +shining upon and illuminating brilliantly the slopes of the mountains +that you are going to see. In other words, in the morning the mountains +are in shadow and the sun in your eyes; in the evening your eyes are +shaded, and the mountains glow with brilliancy and beauty.</p> + +<p>It is often very important to take notice thus <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>of the manner in which +the sun shines in different parts of the day, in planning excursions +among the Alps.</p> + +<p>The middle of the day is a very exciting and animating time on the quay +at Geneva. It is then that the boats which left the other end of the +lake in the morning are expected to arrive; and a great concourse of +porters, guides, postilions, and bystanders of all sorts assemble to +receive the travellers. As the boats come in, it is very amusing to sit +on the balconies, or at the windows of the hotels which overlook the +quay, and watch the procession of tourists as they come over the plank +to land. There are family groups consisting of fathers, mothers, and +children, followed by porters bearing immense trunks, while they +themselves are loaded with shawls, cloaks, umbrellas, and carpet bags; +and parties of students, with all their travelling effects in knapsacks +on their backs; and schoolboys who have been making a tour of the Alps +with their teacher; and young brides, almost equally proud of their +husbands, of the new dignity of their own position, and of the grandeur +of an Alpine bridal tour. All these people, and the hundreds of +spectators that assemble to see them, fill the quay, and form a very +animated and exciting spectacle.</p> + +<p>When the time approaches for a boat to sail, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>which is in half an hour +after she arrives, we have a counterpart of this scene, the direction of +the current only being reversed. The tourists now go to the boat, the +porters, with their baggage, preceding them. A soldier stands at the +entrance to the plank, to look at the passports. Lines of officials on +each side guard the way. On the deck of the steamer, as soon as you get +on board, you find a great variety of picturesque looking groups, all, +however, having the air of being travellers for pleasure. Some are +arranging themselves in good seats for seeing the scenery. Others take +out their maps and guide books, and prepare to read the descriptions of +the places that they are going to see. Here and there children are to be +seen—the boys with little knapsacks, and the girls wearing very +broad-brimmed Swiss hats—neither paying any attention to the scenery, +but amusing themselves with whatever they find at hand to play with—one +with a little dog, another with a doll which has been bought for her at +Geneva, and a third, perhaps, with a whip, or a little wagon.</p> + +<p>Rollo took his seat by the side of his father and mother, in the midst +of such a scene as this, on the day of their embarkation, and occupied +himself sometimes by looking at the shores of the lake and the mountains +beyond, and sometimes <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>by watching the movements and actions of the +various groups of tourists before him. In the mean time, the boat left +the landing, and began to glide along rapidly on her way over the +surface of the water.</p> + +<p>The shores of the lake are very fertile and populous, and at every eight +or ten miles, especially on the northern shore, you come to a large +town. The steamboats stop at these towns to take and leave passengers. +They do not, in such cases, usually land at a pier, but the passengers +come and go in large boats, and meet the steamer at a little way from +the shore. Rollo used to take great pleasure in going forward to the +bows of the steamer, and watch these boats as they came out from the +shore. If there were two of them, they would come out so far that the +track of the steamer should lie between them, and then, when the steamer +stopped her paddles, they would come up, one on one side and the other +on the other, and the passengers would come up on board by means of a +flight of steps let down from the steamer, just abaft the paddle boxes. +When the passengers had thus come up, the baggage would be passed up +too; and then those passengers who wished to go ashore at that place +would go down the steps in the boats, and when all were embarked, the +boats would cast off from the steamer, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>and the steamer would go on her +way as before. The boats then would row slowly to the land, with the +passengers in them that were to stop at that place.</p> + +<p>The way of paying for one's passage on board these boats was very +different from that adopted in America. There was no colored waiter to +go about the decks and saloons ringing a bell, and calling out, in a +loud and authoritative voice, Passengers who haven't settled their fare +will please call at the captain's office and settle. Instead of this, +the clerk of the boat came himself, after each landing, to the new +passengers that had come on board at that landing, and, touching his hat +to them, in the most polite manner, asked them to what place they wished +to go. He had a little slate in his hand, with the names of all the +towns where the steamer was to touch marked upon it. As the several +passengers to whom he applied gave him the name of the place of their +destination, he made a mark opposite to the name of the place on his +slate. When he had in this way applied to all the new comers, he went to +the office and provided himself with the proper number of tickets for +each place, and then went round again to distribute them. In going +around thus a second time, to distribute the tickets, he took a cash box +with him to make change. This <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>cash box was slung before him by means of +a strap about the neck.</p> + +<p>"How much more polite and agreeable a mode this is of collecting the +fares," said Mrs. Holiday to her husband, "than ours in America! There a +boy comes around, dinging a bell in every body's ears, and then the +gentlemen have to go in a crowd and elbow their way up to the window of +the captain's office. I wish we could have some of these polite and +agreeable customs introduced into our country."</p> + +<p>"They are very agreeable," said Mr. Holiday, "and are very suitable for +pleasure travel like this, where the boats are small, and the number of +passengers few; but I presume it would be very difficult to collect the +fares in this way on a North River steamer, where there are sometimes a +thousand passengers on board. Here there are usually not more than eight +or ten passengers that come on board at a time, and they mix with only +fifty or sixty that were on board before. But in America we often have +fifty or sixty come on board at a time, and they mix with eight hundred +or a thousand. In such a case as that I think that this plan would be +well nigh impracticable."</p> + +<p>"I did not think of that," said Mrs. Holiday.</p> + +<p>"The difference between the circumstances of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>the case in Europe and in +America is very often not thought of by travellers who find themselves +wishing that the European customs in respect to travelling and the +hotels could be introduced into our country. In Europe the number of +travellers is comparatively small, and a very large proportion of those +who make journeys go for pleasure. The arrangements can all, +consequently, be made to save them trouble, and to make the journey +agreeable to them; and the price is increased accordingly. In America, +people travel on business, and they go in immense numbers. Their main +object is, to be taken safely and expeditiously to the end of their +journey, and at as little expense as possible. The arrangements of the +conveyances and of the hotels are all made accordingly. The consequence +is, a vast difference in the expense of travelling, and a corresponding +difference, of course, to some extent, in ease and comfort. The price of +passage, for instance, in the Geneva steamboats, from one end of the +lake to the other, a distance of about fifty miles, is two dollars, +without berth or meals; whereas you can go from New York to Albany, +which is more than three times as far, for half a dollar. This +difference is owing to the number of travellers that go in the American +boats, and the wholesale character, so to speak, of the arrangements +made for them.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p><p>"In other words, the passengers in a public conveyance in Europe are not +only conveyed from place to place, but they are waited upon by the way, +and they have to pay both for the conveyance and the attendance. In +America they are only conveyed, and are left to wait upon themselves; +and they are charged accordingly. Each plan is good, and each is adapted +to the wants and ideas of the countries that respectively adopt them.</p> + +<p>"Shall we go to the end of the lake to-day?" said Mr. Holiday, "or only +part of the way? The clerk will come pretty soon to ask us."</p> + +<p>"Are there any pretty places to stop at on the way?" asked Mrs. Holiday.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said her husband; "all the places are pretty."</p> + +<p>"Tell us about some of them," said Rollo.</p> + +<p>"First there is Lausanne," said his father. "Lausanne is a large town up +among the hills, a mile or two from the water. There is a little port, +called Ouchy, on the shore, where the steamer stops. There there is a +landing and a pier, and some pretty boarding houses, with gardens and +grounds around them, and a large, old-fashioned inn, built like a castle +of the middle ages, but kept very nicely. We can stop there, and go up +in an omnibus to Lausanne, which is a large, old town, two miles up the +side of the mountain.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p><p>"Then, secondly," continued Mr. Holiday, "there is Vevay, which is +famous for a new and fashionable hotel facing the lake, with a beautiful +terrace between it and the water, where you can sit on nice benches +under the trees, and watch the steamers going by over the blue waters of +the lake, or the row boats and sail boats coming and going about the +terrace landing, or the fleecy clouds floating along the sides of the +dark mountains around the head of the lake."</p> + +<p>"I should like to stop at both places," said Mrs. Holiday.</p> + +<p>"Then we will stop at Ouchy to-night," said Mr. Holiday, "for that comes +first."</p> + +<p>So it was decided that they should take tickets for Ouchy.</p> + +<p>The boat at Ouchy did not land passengers by boats, but went up to the +pier. Only a few passengers went ashore. The pier was at some little +distance from the hotel, the way to it being by a quiet and pleasant +walk along the shore.</p> + +<p>There was an omnibus marked Lausanne standing at the head of the pier.</p> + +<p>"Now, we can get into the omnibus," said Mr. Holiday, "and go directly +up to Lausanne, or we can go to the hotel here, and take lodgings, and +then go up to Lausanne to see the town after dinner."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p><p>It was at this time about four o'clock. The usual time of dinner for +travellers in Switzerland is five.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Holiday, observing that the hotel at Ouchy was very prettily +situated, close to the water, and recollecting that her husband had said +that it resembled in its character a castle of the middle ages, +concluded that she would like as well to take rooms there.</p> + +<p>A woman with a queer-shaped basket on her back, which she carried by +means of straps over her shoulders, here came up to Mr. Holiday, and +asked if she should take <i>the baggages</i> to the inn. Mr. Holiday said +yes. So she put the valise and the carpet bag into her basket, and +walked away with them to the inn.</p> + +<p>Women often act as porters in France and Switzerland, and they perform, +also, all sorts of out-door work. They use these baskets, too, very +often, for carrying burdens. Rollo afterwards saw a woman take her child +out to ride in one of them.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Holiday was extremely pleased with the inn at Ouchy. She said that +she should like to remain there a week. It seemed precisely, with its +antique-looking rooms, and long stone paved corridors, like the castles +which she had read about when she was a girl in the old romances.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p><p>After dinner, Mr. Holiday sent for a carriage, and took Mrs. Holiday and +Rollo to ride. They went up the ascent of land behind the town, the road +winding as it went among green and beautiful glades and dells, but still +always ascending until they came to Lausanne. This was nearly two miles +from the lake, and very much above it. From Lausanne they went back +still farther, ascending all the time, and obtaining more and more +commanding views of the lake at every turn.</p> + +<p>When the sun went down, they turned their faces homeward. They came +down, of course, very fast, the road winding continually this way and +that, to make the descent more gradual. At length, about half past +eight, they returned to the inn.</p> + +<p>The landlady of the inn, who was very kind and obliging to them, took +them to see a room in her hotel where Lord Byron wrote his celebrated +poem entitled the <span class="smcap">Prisoner of Chillon</span>. Chillon is an ancient castle +which stands on the shore, twenty or thirty miles beyond, and very near, +in fact, to the extremity of the lake. Byron has made this castle +renowned throughout the world by spending a few days, while he was +stopped at this inn at Ouchy by a storm, when travelling on the lake, in +writing a poem in which he describes <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>the emotions and sufferings of +some imaginary prisoners whom he supposed to be confined there.</p> + +<p>"Can we go to see the Castle of Chillon?" said Mrs. Holiday.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mr. Holiday. "We shall sail directly by it in going to the +head of the lake, and if we stop there we can go to it very easily."</p> + +<p>The head of the lake—that is, the eastern end of it—is surrounded with +mountains, the slopes of which seem to rise very abruptly from the +water, and ascend to such a height that patches of snow lie on the +summits of them all the summer. These mountains, especially if +overshadowed by clouds, give a very dark and sombre expression to the +whole region when seen from a distance, in coming in from the centre of +the lake. This sombre expression, however, entirely disappears when you +arrive at the head of the lake, and land there.</p> + +<p>You would not suppose, when viewing these shores from a distance, that +there was any place to land, so closely do the precipitous slopes of the +mountains seem to shut the water in. But on drawing near the shore, you +see that there is a pretty broad belt of land along the shore, which, +though it ascends rapidly, is not too steep to be cultivated. This belt +of land is covered with villages, hamlets, vineyards, orchards, and +gardens, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>and it forms a most enchanting series of landscapes, from +whatever point it is seen, while the more precipitous slopes of the +mountains, towering above in grandeur and sublimity, complete the +enchantment of the view.</p> + +<p>The Castle of Chillon stands on the very margin of the lake, just in the +edge of the water. Indeed, the foundations on which it stands form a +little island, which is separated by a narrow channel from the shore. +This channel is crossed by a drawbridge. It is possible, however, that +it may be in some measure artificial. The island may have originally +been a small rocky point, and it may have been made an island by the +cutting of a ditch between it and the main land.</p> + +<p>The steamer passed along the shore, very near to this castle, in going +to the head of the lake, as you see represented in the engraving.<a name="FNanchor_F_6" id="FNanchor_F_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_F_6" class="fnanchor">[F]</a> +There is no steamboat landing at the castle itself, but there is one at +the village of Montreux, a little before you come to it, and another at +Villeneuve, a little beyond. Numbers of tourists come in every steamer +to visit the castle, and stop for this purpose at one of these landings +or the other. The distance is only twenty minutes' brisk walking from +either of them.</p> + +<p>Villeneuve, the last landing mentioned above, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>is at the very extremity +of the lake. We see it in the distance in the engraving. Here travellers +who are going to continue their journey up the valley of the Rhone, +either for the purpose of penetrating into the heart of Switzerland, or +of going by the pass of the Simplon into Italy, leave the boat and take +the diligence to continue their journey by land, or else engage a +private carriage, and also a guide, if they wish for one. Mr. Holiday +did not intend at this time to go on far up the valley, but he purposed +to stop a day or two at Villeneuve, to visit Chillon, and perhaps make +some other excursions, and also to enjoy the views presented there, on +all sides, of the slopes and summits of the surrounding mountains.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 262px;"> +<img src="images/i146.jpg" width="262" height="200" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XI" id="Chapter_XI"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XI.</span></h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Villeneuve.</span></h3> + +<p>At Villeneuve, a pretty long, though small and very neatly made pier +projects out from the shore, for the landing of passengers from the +steamer.</p> + +<p>Exactly opposite this pier, and facing the water, stands the inn. It is +placed very nearly on a level with the water. This can always be the +case with buildings standing on the margin of a lake, for a lake not +being subject to tides or inundations, all buildings, whether houses, +bridges, or piers, may be built very near the water, without any danger +of being overflowed.</p> + +<p>Before the inn is an open space, extending between it and the shore; so +that from the front windows of the inn you can look down first upon this +open space, and beyond, upon the margin of the lake and upon the pier, +with the steamer lying at the landing-place at the head of it.</p> + +<p>The sides of this square, Rollo observed, were formed of the ends of two +buildings which stood on the shore, and along this space were wooden +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>benches, which were filled, when the steamer arrived, with guides, +postilions, voituriers, and other people of that class, waiting to be +engaged by the travellers that should come in her.</p> + +<p>There were also two or three omnibuses and diligences waiting to receive +such persons as were intending to travel by the public conveyances. One +of these omnibuses belonged to a large hotel and boarding house which +stands on the shore of the lake, not far from Villeneuve, between it and +the Castle of Chillon. You can see this hotel in the engraving. It is +the large building in the middle distance, standing back a little from +the lake, and to the left of the castle. This hotel is beautifully +situated in a commanding position on the shores of the lake, and is a +great place of resort for English families in the summer season.</p> + +<p>The travellers that landed from the steamer at Villeneuve soon +separated, after arriving at the open square before the inn. Some took +their seats in the diligences that were standing there; some got into +the omnibuses to go to the hotel; some engaged voituriers from among the +number that were waiting there to be so employed, and, entering the +carriages, they drove away; while a party of students, with knapsacks on +their backs and pikestaves in their hands, set off on foot up <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>the +valley. Mr. Holiday and his party, not intending to proceed any farther +that night, went directly to the inn.</p> + +<p>They went first into the dining room. The dining room in the Swiss inns +is usually the only public room, and travellers on entering the inn +generally go directly there.</p> + +<p>The dining room was very plain and simple in all its arrangements. There +was no carpet on the floor, and the woodwork was unpainted. There were +two windows in front, which looked out upon the lake. Directly beneath +the windows was the road, and the open space, already described, between +the hotel and the pier.</p> + +<p>There was a boy with a knapsack on his back standing by the window, +looking out. Rollo went to the window, and began to look out too.</p> + +<p>"Do you speak English?" said Rollo to the boy.</p> + +<p>"<i>Nein</i>," said the boy, shaking his head.</p> + +<p><i>Nein</i> is the German word for <i>no</i>. This Rollo knew very well, and so he +inferred that the boy was a German. He, however, thought it possible +that he might speak French, and so he asked again,—</p> + +<p>"Do you speak French?"</p> + +<p>"Very little," said the boy, answering now in the French language. "I am +studying it at school. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>I am at school at Berne, and my class is making +an excursion to Geneva."</p> + +<p>"Do you travel on foot?" asked Rollo.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the boy; "unless there is a steamboat, and then we go in the +steamboat."</p> + +<p>"And I suppose you are going to take the steamboat here to-morrow +morning to go to Geneva."</p> + +<p>"No," said the boy; "we are going to see Chillon to-night, and then we +are going along the shore of the lake beyond, to Montreux, and take the +boat there to-morrow morning."</p> + +<p>It was quite amusing to Rollo to talk thus with a strange boy in a +language which both had learned at school, and which neither of them +could speak well, but which was, nevertheless, the only language they +had in common.</p> + +<p>"How many boys are there in your class?" asked Rollo.</p> + +<p>"Sixteen," said the boy; "sixteen—six." The boy then held up the five +fingers of one hand, and one of the other, to show to Rollo that six was +the number he meant. The words six and sixteen are very similar in the +French language, and for a moment the boy confounded them.</p> + +<p>"And the teacher too, I suppose," said Rollo.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the boy, "and the teacher."</p> + +<p>Here there was a short pause.</p> + +<p>"Are you going to Chillon?" said the boy to Rollo.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p><p>"Yes," said Rollo. "I am going with my father and mother."</p> + +<p>"I wish you were going with us," said the boy.</p> + +<p>"I wish so too," said Rollo; "I mean to ask my father to let me."</p> + +<p>During this time Mr. Holiday had been making an arrangement with the +maid of the inn for two bedrooms, one for himself and his wife, and the +other for Rollo; and the maid was now just going to show the party the +way to their rooms. So Rollo went with his father, and after seeing that +all their effects were put in the rooms, he informed his father that he +had made acquaintance with a young German schoolboy who was going with +his class and the teacher to visit Chillon; and he asked his father's +consent that he might go with them.</p> + +<p>"I can walk there with them," said Rollo, "and wait there till you and +mother come."</p> + +<p>"Does the boy speak English?" asked Mr. Holiday.</p> + +<p>"No, sir," said Rollo; "but he can speak French a little. He speaks it +just about as well as I can, and we can get along together very well."</p> + +<p>"Is the teacher willing that you should go?" asked Mr. Holiday.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," said Rollo; "we have not asked him yet."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p><p>"Then the first thing is to ask him," said Mr. Holiday. "Let your friend +ask the teacher if he is willing to have another boy invited to go with +his party; and if he is willing, you may go. If you get to Chillon +first, you may go about the castle with the boys, and then wait at the +castle gates till we come."</p> + +<p>"How soon shall you come?" asked Rollo.</p> + +<p>"Very soon," said Mr. Holiday. "I have ordered the carriage already, and +we shall perhaps get there as soon as you do."</p> + +<p>So Rollo went down stairs again to his friend, the German boy.</p> + +<p>"Do you think," said Rollo, "that the teacher would be willing to have +me go with you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the boy, "I am sure he will. He is always very glad to have +us meet with an opportunity to speak French. Besides, there are some +boys in the school who are learning English, and he would like to have +you talk a little with them."</p> + +<p>"Go and ask him," said Rollo.</p> + +<p>So the boy went off to ask the teacher. He met him on the stairs, coming +down with the rest of the boys. The teacher was very much pleased with +the plan of having an American boy invited to join the party, and so it +was settled that Rollo was to go.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p><p>The boys all went down stairs, and rendezvoused at the door of the inn. +Most of the omnibuses and diligences had gone. The boys of the school +all accosted Rollo in a very cordial manner; and the teacher shook hands +with him, and said that he was very glad to have him join their party. +The teacher spoke to him in French. There were two other boys who tried +to speak to him in English. They succeeded pretty well, but they could +not speak very fluently, and they made several mistakes. But Rollo was +very careful not to laugh at their mistakes, and they did not laugh at +those which he made in talking French; and so they all got along very +well together.</p> + +<p>Thus they set out on the road which led along the shore of the lake +towards the Castle of Chillon.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 342px;"> +<img src="images/i154.jpg" width="342" height="200" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XII" id="Chapter_XII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XII.</span></h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">The Castle of Chillon</span>.</h3> + +<p>The party of boys walked along the road very pleasantly together, each +one with his knapsack on his back and his pikestaff in his hand. Rollo +talked with them by the way—with some in English, and with others in +French; but inasmuch as it happened that whichever language was used, +one or the other of the parties to the conversation was very imperfectly +acquainted with it, the conversation was necessarily carried on by means +of very short and simple sentences, and the meaning was often helped out +by signs, and gestures, and curious pantomime of all sorts, with an +accompaniment, of course, of continual peals of laughter.</p> + +<p>Rollo, however, learned a good deal about the boys, and about the +arrangements they made for travelling, and also learned a great many +particulars in respect to the adventures they had met with in coming +over the mountains.</p> + +<p>Rollo learned, for example, that every boy had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>a fishing line in his +knapsack, and that when they got tired of walking, and wished to stop to +rest, if there was a good place, they stopped and fished a little while +in a mountain stream or a lake.</p> + +<p>Another thing they did was to watch for butterflies, in order to catch +any new species that they might find, to add to the teacher's cabinet of +natural history. For this purpose one of the boys had a gauze net on the +end of a long but light handle; and when a butterfly came in sight that +seemed at all curious or new, one of the boys set off with the rest to +catch him. If the specimen was found valuable, it was preserved. The +specimens thus kept were secured with a pin in the bottom of a broad, +but flat and very light box, which one of the older boys carried with +his knapsack. The boy opened this box, and showed Rollo the butterflies +which they had taken. They had quite a pretty collection. There were +several that Rollo did not recollect ever to have seen before.</p> + +<p>Talking in this way, they went on till they came to the part of the road +which was opposite to the Hotel Byron. The hotel was on an eminence +above the road, and back from the lake. Broad gravelled avenues led up +to it. There were also winding walks, and seats under the trees, and +terraces, and gardens, and parties of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>ladies and gentlemen walking +about, and children playing here and there, under the charge of their +nurses.</p> + +<p>The boys gave only a passing glance at these things as they went by. +They were much more interested in gazing up from time to time at the +stupendous cliffs and precipices which they saw crowning the mountain +ranges which seemed to border the road; and on the other side, in +looking out far over the water of the lake at the sail boats, or the +steamer, or the little row boats which they beheld in the offing.</p> + +<p>The road went winding on, following the little indentations of the +shore, till at length it reached the castle. It passed close under the +castle walls, or, rather, close along the margin of the ditch which +separated the foundations of the castle from the main land. There was a +bridge across this ditch. This bridge was enclosed, and a little room +was built upon it, with windows and a door. The outer door was, of +course, towards the road, and it was open when the boys arrived at the +place.</p> + +<p>The teacher led the way in by this door, and the boys followed him. +There was a man there, dressed in the uniform of a soldier. He was a +sort of sentinel, to keep the door of the castle. He had a table on one +side, with various engravings <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>spread out upon it, representing +different views of the castle, both of the interior and of the exterior. +There were also little books of description, giving an account of the +castle and of its history, and copies of Byron's poem, the Prisoner of +Chillon. All these things were for sale to the visitors who should come +to see the castle.</p> + +<p>The engravings were kept from being blown away by the wind by means of +little stone paper weights made of rounded pebble stones, about as large +as the palm of the hand, with views of the castle and of the surrounding +scenery painted on them. The paper weights were for sale too.</p> + +<p>The boys looked at these things a moment, but did not seem to pay much +attention to them. They walked on, following their teacher, to the end +of the bridge room, where they came to the great castle gates. These +were open, too, and they went in. They found themselves in a paved +courtyard, with towers, and battlements, and lofty walls all around +them. There was a man there, waiting to receive them in charge, and show +them into the dungeons.</p> + +<p>He led the way through a door, and thence down a flight of stone steps +to a series of subterranean chambers, which were very dimly lighted by +little windows opening towards the lake. The back sides of the rooms +consisted of the living <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>rock; the front sides were formed of the castle +wall that bordered the lake.</p> + +<p>"Here is the room," said the guide, "where the prisoners who were +condemned to death in the castle in former times spent the last night +before their execution. That stone was the bed where they had to lie."</p> + +<p>So saying, the guide pointed to a broad, smooth, and sloping surface of +rock, which was formed by the ledge on the back side of the dungeon. The +stone was part of the solid ledge, and was surrounded with ragged crags, +just as they had been left by the excavators in making the dungeon; but +whether the smooth and sloping surface of this particular portion of the +rock was natural or artificial, that is, whether it had been expressly +made so to form a bed for the poor condemned criminal, or whether the +rock had accidentally broken into that form by means of some natural +fissure, and so had been appropriated by the governor of the castle to +that use, the boys could not determine.</p> + +<p>The guide led the boys a little farther on, to a place where there was a +dark recess, and pointing up towards the ceiling, he said,—</p> + +<p>"There is where the criminals were hung. Up where I point there is a +beam built into the rock; and from that the rope was suspended."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p><p>The boys all crowded round the spot, and looked eagerly up, but they +could not see any beam.</p> + +<p>"You cannot see it," said the guide, "now, because you have just come +out from the light of day. We shall come back this way pretty soon, and +then you will be able to see it; for your eyes will then get accustomed +a little to the darkness of the dungeon."</p> + +<p>So the guide went on, and the boys followed him.</p> + +<p>They next came into a very large apartment. The front side and the back +side of it were both curved. The back side consisted of the living rock. +The front side was formed of the outer castle wall, which was built on +the rock at the very margin of the water. In the centre was a range of +seven massive stone columns, placed there to support the arches on which +rested the floor of the principal story of the castle above. The roof of +this dungeon of course was vaulted, the arches and groins being carried +over from this range of central pillars towards the wall in front, and +towards the solid rock behind. All this you will plainly see represented +in the engraving.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161-162]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 329px;"> +<img src="images/i160.jpg" width="329" height="500" alt="THE DUNGEON IN THE CASTLE OF CHILLON." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE DUNGEON IN THE CASTLE OF CHILLON.</span> +</div> + +<p>This great dungeon was lighted by means of very small loopholes cut in +the wall, high up from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>the floor. The light from these windows, instead of coming <i>down</i>, and +shining upon the floor, seemed to go <i>up</i>, and to lose itself in a faint +attempt to illuminate the vaulted roof above. The reason was, that at +the particular hour when the boys made their visit, the beams of the sun +which shone directly from it in the sky were excluded, and only those +that were reflected upward from the waters of the lake could come in.</p> + +<p>The guide led the boys to one of the central pillars, and pointed to an +iron ring which was built into the stone. He told them that there was +the place where one prisoner was confined in the dungeon for six years. +He was chained to that ring by a short chain, which enabled him only to +walk to and fro a few steps each way about the pillar. These steps had +worn a place in the rock.</p> + +<p>After the boys had looked at this pillar, and at the iron ring, and at +the place worn in the floor by the footsteps of the prisoner, as long as +they wished, they followed the guide on to the end of the dungeon, where +they were stopped by the solid rock. Here the guide brought them to a +dark and gloomy place in a corner, where, by standing a little back, +they could see all the pillars in a row; and he said that if they would +count them they would find that there were exactly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>seven. The boys did +so, and they found that there were seven; but they did not understand +why the number was of any importance. But the teacher explained it to +them. He said that Byron had mentioned seven as the number of the +pillars in his poem, and that most people who had read the poem were +pleased to observe the correspondence between his description and the +reality.</p> + +<p>The teacher quoted the lines. They were these:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"In Chillon's dungeons, deep and old,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There are seven columns, massy and gray,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dim with a dull, imprisoned ray—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A sunbeam that hath lost its way,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And through the crevice and the cleft<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of the thick wall is fallen and left<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Creeping o'er the floor so damp,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Like a marsh's meteor lamp."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In repeating these lines, the teacher spoke in a strong foreign accent. +All the boys listened attentively while he spoke, though of course only +Rollo and those of the boys who had studied English could understand +him.</p> + +<p>After this the boys came back through the whole range of dungeons, by +the same way that they had come in. They could now see the beam from +which the condemned criminals were hung. It passed across from rock to +rock, high above <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>their heads, in a dark and gloomy place, and seemed +perfectly black with age.</p> + +<p>When the party came out of the dungeons, a young woman took them in +charge, to show them the apartments above. She conducted them up a broad +flight of stone stairs to a massive doorway, which led to the principal +story of the castle. Here the boys passed through one after another of +several large halls, which were formerly used for various purposes when +the castle was inhabited, but are employed now for the storage of brass +cannons, and of ammunition belonging to the Swiss government. When the +castle was built, the country in which it stands belonged to a +neighboring state, called Savoy; and it was the Duke of Savoy, who was a +sort of king, that built it, and it was he that confined the prisoners +in it so cruelly. Many of them were confined there on account of being +accused of conspiring against his government. At length, however, the +war broke out between Switzerland and Savoy, and the Swiss were +victorious. They besieged this castle by an army on the land and by a +fleet of galleys on the lake, and in due time they took it. They let all +the prisoners which they found confined there go free, and since then +they have used the castle as a place of storage for arms and ammunition.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p><p>One of the halls which the boys went into, the guide said, used to be a +senate house, and another was the court room where the prisoners were +tried. There was a staircase which led from the court room down to the +dungeon below, where the great black beam was, from which they were to +be hung.</p> + +<p>The boys, however, did not pay a great deal of attention to what the +guide said about the former uses of these rooms. They seemed to be much +more interested in the purposes that they were now serving, and so went +about examining very eagerly the great brass cannons and the ammunition +wagons that stood in them.</p> + +<p>At length, however, they came to something which specially attracted +their attention. It was a small room, which the guide said was an +ancient torturing room. There was a large wooden post in the centre of +the room, extending from the floor to the vault above. The post was worn +and blackened by time and decay, and there were various hooks, and +staples, and pulleys attached to it at different heights, which the +guide said were used for securing the prisoners to the post, when they +were to be tortured. The post itself was burned in many places, as if by +hot irons.</p> + +<p>The boys saw another place in a room beyond, which was in some respects +still more dreadful <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>than this. It was a place where there was an +opening in the floor, near the wall of the room, that looked like a trap +door. There was the beginning of a stone stair leading down. A small +railing was built round the opening, as if to keep people from falling +in. The boys all crowded round the railing, and looked down.</p> + +<p>They saw that the stair only went down three steps, and then it came to +a sudden end, and all below was a dark and dismal pit, which seemed +bottomless. On looking more intently, however, they could at length see +a glimmer of light, and hear the rippling of the waves of the lake, at a +great depth below. The guide said that this was one of the <i>oubliettes</i>, +that is, a place where men could be destroyed secretly, and in such a +manner that no one should ever know what became of them. They were +conducted to this door, and directed to go down. It was dark, so that +they could only see the first steps of the stair. They would suppose, +however, that the stair was continued, and that it would lead them down +to some room, where they were to go. So they would walk on carefully, +feeling for the steps of the stair; but after the third there would be +no more, and they would fall down to a great depth on ragged rocks, and +be killed. To make it certain that they would be killed by the fall, +there were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>sharp blades, like the ends of scythes, fixed in the rock, +far below, to cut them in pieces as they fell.</p> + +<p>It seems these tyrants, hateful and merciless as they were, did not +wish, or perhaps did not dare, to destroy the souls as well as the +bodies of their victims, and so they contrived it that the last act +which the poor wretch should perform before going down into this +dreadful pit should be an act of devotion. To this end there was made a +little niche in the wall, just over the trap door, and there was placed +there an image of the Virgin Mary, who is worshipped in Catholic +countries as divine. The prisoner was invited to kiss this image as he +passed by, just as he began to descend the stair. Thus the very last +moment of his life would be spent in performing an act of devotion, and +thus, as they supposed, his soul would be saved. What a strange +combination is this of superstition and tyranny!</p> + +<p>After seeing all these things, the boys returned towards the entrance of +the castle. They met several parties of ladies and gentlemen coming in; +and just as they got to the door again, the carriage containing Mr. and +Mrs. Holiday drove up. So Rollo bade the teacher and all the boys good +by, after accompanying them a few minutes, as they walked along the road +towards the place where they were to go. By this time his father <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>and +mother had descended from their carriage, and were ready to go in. So +Rollo joined them, and went through the castle again, and saw all the +places a second time.</p> + +<p>When they came out, and were getting into the carriage, Mr. Holiday said +that it was a very interesting place.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mrs. Holiday; "and we have seen all that Byron speaks of in +his poem, except the little island. Where is the little island?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Holiday pointed out over the water of the lake, where a group of +three tall trees seemed to be growing directly out of the water, only +that there was a little wall around them below. They looked like three +flowers growing in a flower pot set in the water.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mrs. Holiday, "that must certainly be it. It corresponds +exactly." So she repeated the following lines from Byron's poem, which +describes the island in the language of one of the prisoners, who saw it +from his dungeon window,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"And then there was a little isle,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which in my very face did smile—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The only one in view;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A small green isle, it seemed no more,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Scarce broader than my dungeon floor;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But in it there were three tall trees,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And o'er it blew the mountain breeze,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And by it there were waters flowing,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And on it there were young flowers growing,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of gentle breath and hue."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p><p>"That's pretty poetry," said Rollo.</p> + +<p>"Very pretty indeed," said his father.</p> + +<p>The horse now began to trot along the road. The little island continued +in view for a while, and then disappeared, and afterwards came into view +again, as the road went turning and winding around, following the +indentations of the shore.</p> + +<p>At length, after a short but very pleasant ride, the party arrived +safely at the inn again at Villeneuve.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 270px;"> +<img src="images/i169.jpg" width="270" height="200" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XIII" id="Chapter_XIII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XIII.</span></h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Plan Formed.</span></h3> + +<p>The reason why the Lake of Geneva is of a crescent form is, that that is +the shape of the space in the bottom of the valley which it fills. There +are two ranges of mountains running in a curved direction almost +parallel to each other, and the space between them, for a certain +distance, is filled with water, owing to the spreading out of the waters +of the Rhone in flowing through. Thus the lake is produced by the +valley, and takes its form from it.</p> + +<p>The valley does not come to an end when you reach the head of the lake, +but continues for more than a hundred miles beyond, the two mountain +ranges continuing to border it all that distance, and the River Rhone to +flow through the centre of it. Thus at Villeneuve you look in one +direction, and you have a winding valley filled with water, extending +for fifty miles, to Geneva; while in the other direction, the same +valley—though now the floor of it is a green <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>and fertile +plain—continues, with the same stupendous walls of mountain bordering +the sides of it, for a hundred miles or more, to the sources of the +Rhone.</p> + +<p>There is another thing that is very curious in respect to this valley, +and that is, that the floor of it is as flat, and smooth, and level, +almost, where it is formed of land, as where it is formed of water.</p> + +<p>Geologists suppose that the reason why the bottom of the valley, when it +consists of land, is so perfectly level, is because the land has been +formed by deposits from the river, in the course of a long succession of +ages. Of course the river could never build the land any higher, in any +part, than it rises itself in the highest inundations. Indeed, land +formed by river deposits is almost always nearly level, and the surface +of it is but little raised above the ordinary level of the stream, and +never above that of the highest inundations.</p> + +<p>It must, however, by no means be supposed that because the surface of +the valley above the head of the lake is flat and level, that it is on +that account monotonous and uninteresting. Indeed, it is quite the +reverse. It forms one of the richest and most enchanting landscapes that +can be conceived. It is abundantly shaded with trees, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>some planted in +avenues along the roadside, some bearing fruit in orchards and gardens, +and some standing in picturesque groups about the houses, or in pretty +groves by the margin of the fields. The land is laid out in a very +charming manner, in gardens, orchards, meadows, and fields of corn and +grain, with no fences to separate them either from each other or from +the road; so that in walking along the public highway you seem to walk +in one of the broad alleys of an immense and most beautiful garden.</p> + +<p>Besides all these beauties of the scene itself, the pleasure of walking +through it is greatly increased by the number and variety of groups and +figures of peasant girls and boys, and women and men, that you meet +coming along the road, or see working in the fields, all dressed in the +pretty Swiss costume, and each performing some curious operation, which +is either in itself, or in the manner of performing it, entirely +different from what is seen in any other land.</p> + +<p>Rollo followed the main road leading up the valley a little way one +evening, while his father and mother were at Villeneuve, in order, as he +said, to see where the diligences went to. He was so much pleased with +what he saw that he went back to the hotel, and began studying the guide +book, in order to find how far it was to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>next town, and what +objects of interest there were to be seen on the way. He was so well +satisfied with the result of his investigations that he resolved to +propose to his father and mother to make a pedestrian excursion up the +valley.</p> + +<p>"Now, mother," said he, "I have a plan to propose, and that is, that we +all set out to-morrow morning, and make a pedestrian excursion up the +valley, to the next town, or the next town but one."</p> + +<p>"How far is it?" asked Mrs. Holiday.</p> + +<p>"Why, the best place to go to," said Rollo, "is Aigle, which is the +second town, and that is only six miles from here."</p> + +<p>"O Rollo!" said Mrs. Holiday; "I could not possibly walk six miles."</p> + +<p>"O, yes, mother," said Rollo. "The road is as smooth, and level, and +hard as a floor. Besides, you said that you meant to make a pedestrian +excursion somewhere while you were in Switzerland, and there could not +be a better place than this."</p> + +<p>"I know I said so," replied Mrs. Holiday, "but I was not really in +earnest. Besides, I don't think I could possibly walk six miles. But we +will take a carriage and ride there, if your father is willing."</p> + +<p>"But, mother, it is not so pleasant to ride <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>You can't see so well, for +the top of the carriage, or else the driver on his high seat before, +will be more or less in the way. Then when you are walking you can stop +so easily any minute, and look around. But if you are in a carriage, it +makes a fuss and trouble to be calling continually upon the coachman to +stop; and then, besides, half of the time, before he gets the carriage +stopped you have got by the place you wanted to see."</p> + +<p>What Rollo said is very true. We can see a country containing a series +of fine landscapes much more thoroughly by walking through it, or riding +on horseback, than by going in a carriage. I do not think, however, +that, after all, this advantage constituted the real inducement in +Rollo's mind which made him so desirous of walking to Aigle. The truth +was, that the little walk which he had taken to Chillon with the party +of pedestrian boys had quite filled his imagination with the pleasures +and the independent dignity of this mode of travelling, and he was very +ambitious of making an experiment of it himself.</p> + +<p>"And, mother," continued Rollo, "after all, it is only about two hours +and a half or three hours, at two or three miles an hour. Now, you are +often gone as much as that, making calls; and when you are making calls +you generally go, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>I am sure, as much as two or three miles an hour."</p> + +<p>"But I generally ride, making calls," said Mrs. Holiday.</p> + +<p>"Yes, mother, but sometimes you walk; and I think when you walk you are +often gone more than three hours."</p> + +<p>"That is true," said Mrs. Holiday, "I admit; but then, you know, when I +am making calls I am resting a great deal of the time at the houses +where I call."</p> + +<p>"I know that," said Rollo; "and so we will rest, sitting down by the +road side."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Holiday admitted that Rollo had rather the best of the argument; +but she was still quite unwilling to believe that she could really walk +six miles.</p> + +<p>"And back again, too," she added. "You must consider that we shall have +to come back again."</p> + +<p>"Ah, but I don't wish to have you walk back again," said Rollo. "We will +come back by the diligence. There are several diligences and omnibuses +that come by Aigle, on the way here, in the course of the day."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Holiday was still undecided. She was very desirous of gratifying +Rollo, but yet she had not courage to undertake quite so great a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>feat +as to walk six miles. At length Mr. Holiday proposed that they should at +least set out and go a little way.</p> + +<p>"We can try it for half an hour," said he, "and then go on or turn back, +just as we feel inclined. Or if we go on several miles, and then get +tired, we shall soon come to a village, where we shall be able to get +some sort of vehicle or other to bring us back; and at all events we +shall have an adventure."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Holiday consented to this plan, and it was settled that the party +should breakfast at eight o'clock the next morning, and set out +immediately afterwards.</p> + +<p>Rollo had a sort of haversack which he used to carry sometimes on his +walks, and he always kept it with him in the steamboat or carriage, when +he travelled in those conveyances. This haversack he got ready, +supplying it with all that he thought would be required for the +excursion. He put in it his drinking cup,—the one which he had bought +in Scotland,—a little spy glass, which he used for viewing the scenery, +a book that his mother was reading, a little portfolio containing some +drawing paper and a pencil, a guide book and map, and, lastly, a paper +of small cakes and sugar plums, to give <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>to any children that he might +chance to meet on the way.</p> + +<p>Rollo made all these preparations the evening before, so that every +thing might be ready in the morning, when the hour for setting out +should arrive.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 249px;"> +<img src="images/i177.jpg" width="249" height="200" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XIV" id="Chapter_XIV"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XIV.</span></h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Walk To Aigle.</span></h3> + +<p>"Now, Rollo," said Mr. Holiday, as the party sallied forth from the inn +to commence their walk up the valley, "we depend entirely on you. This +is your excursion, and we expect you will take care and see that every +thing goes right."</p> + +<p>"Well, sir," said Rollo. "Come with me. I'll show you the way."</p> + +<p>On the borders of the village they passed to a high stone bridge which +crossed a small stream. This stream came in a slow and meandering course +through the meadows, and here emptied into the lake. Farther back it was +a torrent leaping from rock to rock and crag to crag, for many thousand +feet down the mountain side; but here it flowed so gently, and lay so +quietly in its bed, that pond lilies grew and bloomed in its waters.</p> + +<p>Just above the bridge there was a square enclosure in the margin of the +water, with a solid stone wall all around it. A man stood on the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>wall +with a net in his hand. The net was attached to a pole. The man was just +dipping the net into the water when Rollo, with his father and mother, +came upon the bridge.</p> + +<p>"Let us stop a minute, and see what that man is going to do," said +Rollo. "I saw that square wall yesterday, and I could not imagine what +it was for."</p> + +<p>The man put his net down to the bottom of the reservoir, and after +drawing it along on the bottom, he took it out again. There was nothing +in it. He then repeated the operation, and this time he brought up two +large fishes that looked like trout. They were both more than a foot +long.</p> + +<p>The man uttered a slight exclamation of satisfaction, and then lifting +the net over the wall, he let the fish fall into a basket which he had +placed outside. He then went away, carrying the basket with one hand, +and the net on his shoulder with the other.</p> + +<p>"That's a very curious plan," said Rollo. "I suppose they catch the fish +in the lake, and then put them in that pen and keep them there till they +are ready to eat them."</p> + +<p>So they walked on.</p> + +<p>Presently Rollo saw some of the pond lilies growing in the stream, the +course of which was here, for a short distance, near the road.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p><p>"I wish very much, mother," said he, "that I could get one of those pond +lilies for you, but I cannot. I tried yesterday, but they are too far +from the shore, and it is so finished, and smooth, and nice about here +that there is no such thing as a pole or a stick to be found any where +to reach with."</p> + +<p>Presently, however, Rollo came to a boy who was fishing on the bank of +the stream, and he asked him if he would be good enough to hook in one +of those lilies for him with his pole and line. The boy was very willing +to do it. He threw a loop of his line over one of the pond lilies, and +drew it in. Rollo thanked the boy for his kindness, and gave the pond +lily to his mother.</p> + +<p>Perhaps there are no flowers that give a higher pleasure to the +possessors than those which a boy of Rollo's age gathers for his mother.</p> + +<p>The party walked on. Mrs. Holiday's attention was soon strongly +attracted to the various groups of peasants which she saw working in the +fields, or walking along the road. First came a young girl, with a +broad-brimmed straw hat on her head, driving a donkey cart loaded with +sheaves of grain. Next an old and decrepit-looking woman, with a great +bundle of sticks on her head. It seemed impossible that she could carry +so great a load in such a manner. As our <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>party went by, she turned her +head slowly round a little way, to look at them; and it was curious to +see the great bundle of sticks—which was two feet in diameter, and four +or five feet long—slowly turn round with her head, and then slowly turn +back again as she went on her way.</p> + +<p>Next Mrs. Holiday paused a moment to look at some girls who were hoeing +in the field. The girls looked smilingly upon the strangers, and bade +them good morning.</p> + +<p>"Ask them," said Mrs. Holiday to Rollo, "if their work is not very +hard."</p> + +<p>So Rollo asked them the question. Mrs. Holiday requested him to do it +because she did not speak French very well, and so she did not like to +try.</p> + +<p>The girls said that the work was not hard at all. They laughed, and went +on working faster than ever.</p> + +<p>Next they came to a poor wayfaring woman, who was sitting by the +roadside with an infant in her arms. Rollo immediately took out one of +the little cakes from the parcel in his knapsack, and handed it to the +child. The mother seemed very much pleased. She bowed to Rollo, and +said,—</p> + +<p>"She thanks you infinitely, sir."</p> + +<p>Thus they went on for about three quarters of an hour. During all this +time Mrs. Holiday's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>attention was so much taken up with what she +saw,—sometimes with the groups of peasants and the pretty little views +of gardens, cottages, and fields which attracted her notice by the road +side, ever and anon by the glimpses which she obtained of the stupendous +mountain ranges that bordered the valley on either hand, and that were +continually presenting their towering crags and dizzy precipices to view +through the opening of the trees on the plain,—that she had not time to +think of being fatigued. At length Rollo asked her how she liked the +walk.</p> + +<p>"Very well," said she; "only I think now I have walked full as far as I +should ever have to go at home, when making calls, before coming to the +first house. So as soon as you can you may find me a place to sit down +and rest a little while."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Rollo, "I see a grove of trees by the roadside, on ahead a +little way. When we get there we will sit down in the shade and rest."</p> + +<p>So they went on till they came to the grove. The grove proved to be a +very pretty one, though it consisted of only four or five trees; but +unfortunately there was no place to sit down in it. Rollo looked about +for some time in vain, and seemed quite disappointed.</p> + +<p>"Never mind," said his mother; "sometimes, when I make a call, I find +that the lady I have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>called to see is not at home; and then, even if I +am tired and want to rest, I have to go on to the next house. We will +suppose that at this place the lady is not at home."</p> + +<p>Rollo laughed and walked on. It was not long before they reached a place +where there was a kind of granary, or some other farm building of that +sort, near the road, with a little yard where some logs were lying. +Rollo found excellent seats for his father and mother on these logs. +They sat on one of them, and leaned their backs against another that was +a little higher up. They were in the shade of the building, too, so that +the place was very cool.</p> + +<p>"This is a very nice place to rest," said Mrs. Holiday; "and while we +are sitting, we can amuse ourselves in looking at the people that go +by."</p> + +<p>The first person that came was a pretty-looking peasant girl of about +seventeen, who had a tub upon her head. What was in the tub Rollo could +not see. With such a burden on her head, however, it is plain that the +girl could not wear her hat in the ordinary manner, and so she carried +it tied to the back of her neck, with its broad brim covering her +shoulders. This, Mr. Holiday said, seemed to him to be carrying the +modern fashion of wearing the bonnet quite to an extreme.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 322px;"> +<img src="images/i184.jpg" width="322" height="350" alt="THE BASKET RIDE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE BASKET RIDE.</span> +</div> + +<p>The Swiss women have other ways of bearing burdens, besides loading them +upon their heads. They carry them upon their backs, sometimes, in +baskets fitted to their shoulders. A woman came by, while Rollo and his +father and mother were sitting upon the logs, with her child taking a +ride in such a basket on her back. As soon as this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>woman was past, +Rollo was so much struck with the comical appearance that the child +made, sitting upright in the basket, and looking around, that he took +out some paper and a pencil immediately from his portfolio, and asked +his mother to make a drawing of the woman, with the child in the basket +on her back. This Mrs. Holiday could easily do, even from the brief +glimpse which she had of the woman as she went by; for the outlines of +the figure and dress of the woman and of the basket and child were very +simple. Mrs. Holiday afterwards put in some of the scenery for a +background.</p> + +<p>When the drawing was finished, Rollo told his mother that he calculated +that they had come one third of the way, and asked her if she felt +tired; and she said she did not feel tired at all, and so they rose and +went on.</p> + +<p>In a short time they came to a village. It consisted of a narrow street, +with stone houses on each side of it. The houses were close together and +close to the street. In one place several people were sitting out before +the door, and among them was a poor, sickly child, such as are found +very often in the low valleys of Switzerland, of the kind called +<i>cretins</i>. These children are entirely helpless, and they have no +reason, or at least very little. The one which Rollo saw <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>was a girl, +and appeared to be about ten years old; but it did not seem to have +strength enough to sit up in its chair. It was continually lolling and +falling about on this side and that, and trying to look up. The mother +of the child sat by her, and kept her from falling out of the chair. She +was talking, the mean while, with the neighbors, who were sitting there +on a bench, knitting or sewing.</p> + +<p>The face of the child was deformed, and had scarcely a human expression. +Both Rollo and his mother were much shocked at the spectacle.</p> + +<p>"It is a <i>cretin</i>—is it not?" said Mrs. Holiday to her husband, in a +whisper, as soon as they had passed by.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mr. Holiday.</p> + +<p>"Mother," said Rollo, "would you give that poor little thing a cake?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mrs. Holiday; "I would."</p> + +<p>"Do you think she will understand?" asked Rollo.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mrs. Holiday; "I think she will; and at any rate her mother +will."</p> + +<p>Rollo had by this time taken out his cake. He went back with it to the +place where the women were sitting, and held it out, half, as it were, +to the mother, and half to the child, so that either of them might take +it, saying, at the same time, to the mother, in French,—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p><p>"For this poor little child."</p> + +<p>The mother smiled, and looked very much pleased. The cretin, whose eyes +caught a glimpse of the cake, laughed, and began to try to reach out her +hand to take it. It seemed hard for her to guide her hand to the place, +and she fell over from side to side all the time while attempting to do +so. She would have fallen entirely if her mother had not held her up. At +length she succeeded in getting hold of the cake, which she carried +directly to her mouth, and then laughed again with a laugh that seemed +scarcely human, and was hideous to see.</p> + +<p>"Does she understand?" asked Rollo.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the mother; "she understands, but she can't speak, poor +thing. But she is very much obliged to you indeed."</p> + +<p>So Rollo bowed to the mother of the child, and to the other women, and +then went on and rejoined his father and mother.</p> + +<p>They passed through the village, and then came into the open country +again. Sometimes the mountains that bordered the valley receded to some +distance; at other times they came very near; and there was one place +where they formed a range of lofty precipices a thousand feet high, that +seemed almost to overhang the road. Here Rollo stopped to look up. He +saw, near a rounded <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>mass of rock, half way up the mountain, two young +eagles that had apparently just left their nest, and were trying to +learn to fly. The old eagles were soaring around them, screaming. They +seemed to be afraid that their young ones would fall down the rocks and +get killed. Rollo wished that they would fall down, or at least fly +down, to where he was, in order that he might catch one of them. But +they did not. They took only short flights from rock to rock and from +thicket to thicket, but they did not come down. So, after watching them +for a time, Rollo went on.</p> + +<p>Next they came to a place where the valley took a turn so as to expose +the mountain side to the sun in such a manner as to make a good place +there for grapes to grow and ripen. The people had accordingly terraced +the whole declivity by building walls, one above another, to support the +earth for the vineyards; and when Rollo was going by the place he looked +up and saw a man standing on the wall of one of the terraces, with the +tool which he had been working with in his hand. He seemed suspended in +mid air, and looked down on the road and on the people walking along it +as a man would look down upon a street in London from the gallery under +the dome of St. Paul's.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p><p>"That's a pleasant place to work," said Rollo, "away up there, between +the heavens and the earth."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said his mother; "and I should think that taking care of vines +and gathering the grapes would be very pretty work to do."</p> + +<p>There was a little building on the corner of one of the terraces, which +Mr. Holiday said was a watch tower. There were windows on all the sides +of it.</p> + +<p>"When the grapes begin to ripen," said he, "there is a man stationed +there to watch all the vineyards around, in order to prevent people from +stealing the grapes."</p> + +<p>"I should think there would be danger of their stealing the grapes," +said Rollo.</p> + +<p>After going on a little way beyond this, they began to approach the town +of Aigle. Mrs. Holiday was surprised that she could have come so far +with so little fatigue. Rollo told her that it was because she had +walked along so slowly.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mr. Holiday; "and because there have been so many things to +take up our attention by the way."</p> + +<p>When they arrived at the village they went directly to the inn. The inns +in these country towns in Switzerland are the largest and most +conspicuous looking buildings to be seen. Rollo <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>went first, and led the +way. He went directly to the dining room.</p> + +<p>The dining rooms in these inns, as I have already said, are the public +rooms, where the company always go, whether they wish for any thing to +eat or not. There is usually one large table, for dinner, in the centre +of the room, and several smaller tables at the sides or at the windows, +for breakfasts and luncheons, and also for small dinner parties of two +or three. Besides these tables, there is often one with a pen and ink +upon it for writing, and another for knapsacks and carpet bags; and +there are sofas for the company to repose upon while the waiter is +setting the table for them.</p> + +<p>Rollo accordingly led the way at once to the dining room of the inn, and +conducted his mother to a sofa.</p> + +<p>"Now, Rollo," said Mr. Holiday, "order us a dinner."</p> + +<p>So Rollo went to the waiter, and after talking with him a little while, +came back and said that he had ordered some fried trout, some veal +cutlets, fried potatoes, an omelette, and some coffee.</p> + +<p>"And besides that," said Rollo, "he is going to give us some plums and +some pears. This is a famous place for plums and pears."</p> + +<p>"And for grapes, too, in the season of them," said Mr. Holiday.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p><p>This was very true. Indeed, on looking about the walls of the room, to +see the maps and the pretty pictures of Swiss scenery that were there, +Rollo found among the other things an advertisement of what was called +the <i>grape cure</i>. It seems that eating ripe grapes was considered a cure +for sickness in that country, and that people were accustomed to come to +that very town of Aigle to procure them. There was no place in +Switzerland, the advertisement said, where the grapes were richer and +sweeter than there.</p> + +<p>The advertisement went on to say that the season for the grape cure was +in September, October, and November; that there were a number of fine +vineyards in the vicinity of the town which produced the most delicious +grapes; and that these vineyards were placed at the disposal of the +guests of the hotel at the rate of a franc a day for each person; so +that for that sum they could have every day as many as they could eat; +and this was to be their medicine, to make them well.</p> + +<p>Rollo read this advertisement aloud to his father and mother, with a +tone of voice which indicated a very eager interest in it.</p> + +<p>"Father," said he, "I wish you would come here and try it. Perhaps it +would make you well."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p><p>The advertisement was in French, and Rollo translated it as he read it. +He succeeded very well in rendering into English all that was said about +the grapes, and the manner of taking them, and the terms for boarders at +the hotel; but when he came to the names of the diseases that the grapes +would cure, he was at a loss, as most of them were learned medical +words, which he had never seen before. So he read off the names in +French, and concluded by asking his father whether he did not think it +was some of those things that was the matter with him.</p> + +<p>"Very likely," said his father.</p> + +<p>"Then, father," said Rollo, "I wish you would come here in October, and +try the grape cure, and bring me too."</p> + +<p>"Very likely I may," said his father. "This is on the great road to +Italy, and we may conclude to go to Italy this winter."</p> + +<p>Just at this time the door of the dining room opened, and a new party +came in. It consisted of a gentleman and lady, who seemed to be a new +married pair. They came in a carriage. Rollo looked out the window, and +saw the carriage drive away from the door to go to the stable.</p> + +<p>The gentleman put his haversack and the lady's satchel and shawl down +upon the table, and then <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>took a seat with her upon another sofa which +was in the room.</p> + +<p>The dinner which Rollo had ordered was soon ready, and they sat down to +eat it with excellent appetites. While they were at dinner, Rollo +inquired of the waiter what time the omnibus went to Villeneuve, and he +learned that it did not go for some hours. So Mr. Holiday told his wife +that she might either have a chamber, and lie down and rest herself +during that time, or they might go out and take a walk.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Holiday said that she did not feel at all fatigued, and so she +would like to go and take a walk.</p> + +<p>There was a castle on a rising ground just in the rear of the village, +which had attracted her attention in coming into the town, and she was +desirous of going to see it.</p> + +<p>So they all set off to go and see the castle. They found their way to it +without any difficulty. It proved to be an ancient castle, built in the +middle ages, but it was used now for a prison. The family of the jailer +lived in it too. It looked old and gone to decay.</p> + +<p>When they entered the court yard, a woman looked up to the windows and +called out <i>Julie!</i> Presently a young girl answered to the call, and the +woman told her that here were some people <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>come to see the castle. So +Julie came down and took them under her charge.</p> + +<p>The party spent half an hour in rambling over the castle. They went +through all sorts of intricate passages, and up and down flights of +stone stairs, steep, and narrow, and winding. They saw a number of +dismal dungeons. Some were dark, so that the girl had to take a candle +to light the way. The doors were old, and blackened by time, and they +moved heavily on rusty hinges. The bolts, and bars, and locks were all +rusted, too, so that it was very difficult to move them.</p> + +<p>The visitors did not see all the dungeons and cells, for some of them +had prisoners in them then, and those doors Julie said she was not +allowed to open, for fear that the prisoners should get away.</p> + +<p>After rambling about the old castle as much as they desired to do, and +ascending to the tower to view the scenery, the party came down again, +and returned to the inn.</p> + +<p>They found the dining room full of boys. These boys were sitting at a +long table, eating a luncheon. They were the boys of a school. The +teacher was at the head of the table. Rollo talked with some of the +boys, for he found two or three that could talk French and English, +though their English was not very good.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p><p>In due time the omnibus came to the door, and then Rollo conducted his +father and mother to it, and assisted them to get in. The sun was now +nearly down, and the party had a delightful ride, in the cool air of the +evening, back to Villeneuve.</p> + +<p>The next day they embarked on board the steamer, and returned to Geneva.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 247px;"> +<img src="images/i195.jpg" width="247" height="200" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XV" id="Chapter_XV"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XV.</span></h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">The Jewelry.</span></h3> + +<p>I have already said that Geneva is a very famous place for the +manufacture of watches and jewelry, and that almost every person who +goes there likes to buy some specimen of these manufactures as a +souvenir of their visit.</p> + +<p>There is a great difference in ladies, in respect to the interest which +they take in dress and ornaments. Some greatly undervalue them, some +greatly overvalue them.</p> + +<p>Some ladies, especially such as are of a very conscientious and +religious turn of mind, are apt to imagine that there is something wrong +in itself in wearing ornaments or in taking pleasure in them. But we +should remember that God himself has ornamented every thing in nature +that has not power to ornament itself. Look at the flowers, the fruits, +the birds, the fields, the butterflies, the insects; see how beautiful +they all are made by <i>ornaments</i> with which God has embellished them.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></p><p>God has not ornamented man, nor has he clothed him; but he has given him +the powers and faculties necessary to clothe and ornament himself. He +has provided him with the means, too, and with the means as much for the +one as for the other. There are cotton and flax which he can procure +from plants, and wool and fur from animals, for his clothing; and then +there are gold and silver in the earth, and rubies, emeralds, and +diamonds, for his ornaments; and if we are not to use them, what were +they made for?</p> + +<p>They, therefore, seem to be in error who discard all ornaments, and +think that to wear them or to take pleasure in them is wrong.</p> + +<p>But this, after all, is not the common failing. The danger is usually +altogether the other way. A great many ladies overvalue ornaments. They +seem to think of scarcely any thing else. They cannot have too many +rings, pins, bracelets, and jewels. They spend <i>all</i> their surplus money +for these things, and even sometimes pinch themselves in comforts and +necessaries, to add to their already abundant supplies. This excessive +fondness for dress and articles for personal adornment is a mark of a +weak mind. It is seen most strongly in savages, and in people of the +lowest stages of refinement and cultivation. The opposite error, though +far less common, is equally an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>error; and though it is not the mark of +any weakness of the mind, it certainly denotes a degree of perversion in +some of the workings of it.</p> + +<p>The morning after the return of our party to Geneva from their excursion +along the lake, they made their arrangements for leaving Geneva finally +on the following day.</p> + +<p>"And now," said Mr. Holiday to his wife, "Geneva is a famous place for +ornaments and jewelry; and before we go, I think you had better go with +me to some of the shops, and buy something of that kind, as a souvenir +of your visit."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mrs. Holiday, "if you think it is best, we will. Only I +don't think much of ornaments and jewelry."</p> + +<p>"I know you do not," said Mr. Holiday; "and that is the reason why I +think you had better buy some here."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Holiday laughed. She thought it was rather a queer reason for +wishing her to buy a thing—that she did not care much about it.</p> + +<p>Rollo was present during this conversation between his father and +mother, and listened to it; and when, finally, it was decided that his +mother should go to one or two of the shops in Geneva, to look at, and +perhaps purchase, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>some of the ornaments and jewelry, he wished to go +too.</p> + +<p>"Why?" said his mother; "do <i>you</i> wish to buy any of those things?"</p> + +<p>Rollo said he did. He wished to buy some for presents.</p> + +<p>"Have you got any money?" asked his father.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, plenty," said Rollo.</p> + +<p>Rollo was a very good manager in respect to his finances, and always +kept a good supply of cash on hand, laid up from his allowance, so as to +be provided in case of any sudden emergency like this.</p> + +<p>So the party set out together, after breakfast, to look at the shops. +They knew the shops where jewelry was kept for sale by the display of +rings, pins, bracelets, and pretty little watches, that were put up at +the windows. They went into several of them. The shops were not large, +but the interior of them presented quite a peculiar aspect. There were +no goods of any kind, except those in the windows, to be seen, nor were +there even any shelves; but the three sides of the room were filled with +little drawers, extending from the floor to the ceiling. These drawers +were filled with jewelry of the richest and most costly description; and +thus, though there was nothing to be seen at first view, the value of +the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>merchandise ready to be displayed at a moment's notice was very +great.</p> + +<p>In the centre of the room, in front of the drawers, were +counters—usually two, one on each side; and sometimes there was a table +besides. The table and the counters were elegantly made, of fine cabinet +work, and before them were placed handsome chairs and sofas, nicely +cushioned, so that the customers might sit at their ease, and examine +the ornaments which the shopkeeper showed them. The counters were of the +same height as the table, and there were drawers in them below, and also +in the table, like those along the sides of the room.</p> + +<p>At the first shop where our party went in, two ladies, very showily +dressed, were sitting at a table, looking at a great variety of pins, +rings, and bracelets that the shopkeeper had placed before them. The +articles were contained in little rosewood and mahogany trays, lined +with velvet; and they looked very brilliant and beautiful as they lay, +each in its own little velvet nest.</p> + +<p>The ladies looked up from the table, and gazed with a peculiar sort of +stare, well known among fashionable people of a certain sort, upon Mrs. +Holiday, as she came in. One of them put up a little eye glass to her +eye, in order to see her more distinctly. Mr. and Mrs. Holiday, followed +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>by Rollo, advanced and took their places on a sofa before one of the +counters. The ladies then continued their conversation, apparently +taking no notice of the new comers.</p> + +<p>One of the ladies was holding a bracelet in her hand. She had already +two bracelets on each wrist, and ever so many rings on her fingers, +besides a large brooch in her collar, and a double gold chain to her +watch, with a great number of breloques and charms attached to it. She +seemed to be considering whether she should buy the bracelet that she +was holding in her hand or not.</p> + +<p>"It certainly is a beauty," said she.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the other; "and if I were you, Almira, I would take it +without hesitating a moment. You can afford it just as well as not."</p> + +<p>"It is so high!" said Almira, doubtingly, and holding up the bracelet, +so as to see the light reflected from the surfaces of the precious +stones.</p> + +<p>"I don't think it is high at all," said her friend; "that is, for such +stones and such setting. A thousand francs, he says, and that is only +two hundred dollars. That is nothing at all for so rich a husband as +yours."</p> + +<p>"I know," said Almira; "but then he always makes such wry faces if I buy +any thing that costs more than fifty or seventy-five dollars."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203-204]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/i202.jpg" width="500" height="322" alt="SHOPPING AT GENEVA." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SHOPPING AT GENEVA.</span> +</div> + +<p>"I would not mind his wry faces at all," said +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>her friend. "He does not mean any thing by them. Depend upon it, he is +as proud to see you wear handsome things as any man, after he has once +paid for them. Then, besides, perhaps the man will take something off +from the thousand francs."</p> + +<p>"I will ask him," said Almira.</p> + +<p>So she called the shopman to her, and asked him in French whether he +could not take eight hundred francs for the bracelet.</p> + +<p>She accosted him in French, for that is the language of Geneva; and the +two ladies had talked very freely to each other in English, supposing +that neither the shopkeeper nor the new party of customers would +understand what they were saying. But it happened that the shopkeeper +himself, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Holiday, understood English very well, +and thus he knew the meaning of all that the ladies had been saying; and +he was too well acquainted with human nature not to know that the end of +such a consultation and deliberation as that would be the purchase of +the bracelet, and was therefore not at all disposed to abate the price.</p> + +<p>"No, madam," said he, speaking in French, and in a very polite and +obliging manner; "I cannot vary from the price I named at all. We are +obliged to adopt the system of having only one <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>price here. Besides, +that bracelet could not possibly be afforded for less than a thousand +francs. Earlier in the season we asked twelve hundred francs for it; and +I assure you, madam, that it is a great bargain at a thousand."</p> + +<p>After looking at the bracelet a little longer, and holding it up again +in different lights, and hearing her friend's solicitations that she +would purchase it repeated in various forms, Almira finally concluded to +take it.</p> + +<p>It may seem, at first view, that Almira's friend evinced a great deal of +generosity in urging her thus to buy an ornament more rich and costly +than she could hope to purchase for herself; but her secret motive was +not a generous one at all. She wished to quote Almira's example to her +own husband, as a justification for her having bought a richer piece of +jewelry than he would otherwise have approved of.</p> + +<p>"Mine only cost eight hundred francs," she was going to say; "and cousin +Almira bought one that cost a thousand."</p> + +<p>In this way she hoped to exhibit to her husband that which he might +otherwise have regarded as foolish extravagance in the light of +self-denial and prudent economy.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, while Almira and her friend had been making their +purchases at the table, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>another shopman had been displaying a great +many trays to Mrs. Holiday on one of the counters. The ornaments +contained in these trays were by no means as costly as those which had +been shown to the two ladies at the table; for Mrs. Holiday had said to +the shopman, as she came in, that she wished to see only some simple +pins and other ornaments worth from fifty to one hundred francs. They +were, however, just as pretty in Mrs. Holiday's opinion. Indeed, the +beauty of such ornaments as these seldom has any relation to the +costliness of them. This, however, constitutes no reason, in the opinion +of many ladies, why they should buy the less expensive ones; for with +these ladies it is the costliness of an ornament, rather than the beauty +of it, that constitutes its charm.</p> + +<p>The two ladies paid for their purchases with gold coins which they took +from elegant gold-mounted porte-monnaies that they carried in their +hands, and then, with a dash and a flourish, went away.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Holiday took up one after another of the ornaments before her, and +looked at them with a musing air and manner, that seemed to denote that +her thoughts were not upon them. She was thinking how erroneous an +estimate those ladies form of the comparative value of the different +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>sources of happiness within the reach of women who sacrifice the +confidence and love of their husbands to the possession of a pearl +necklace or a diamond pin.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Holiday finally bought two ornaments, and Rollo bought two also. +Rollo's were small pins. They were very pretty indeed. One of them cost +twelve francs, and the other fifteen. His mother asked him whether he +was going to wear them himself.</p> + +<p>"O, no, mother," said he; "I have bought them to give away."</p> + +<p>His mother then asked him whom he was going to give them to. He laughed, +and said that that was a secret. He would tell her, however, he said, +whom one of them was for. It was for his cousin Lucy.</p> + +<p>"And which of them is for her?" asked his mother.</p> + +<p>"This one," said Rollo. So saying he showed his mother the one that cost +twelve francs.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XVI" id="Chapter_XVI"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XVI.</span></h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">A Fortunate Accident.</span></h3> + +<p>The day before Rollo left Geneva, he met with an accident which his +father called a fortunate one, though Rollo himself was at first +inclined to consider it quite an unfortunate one. The reason why Mr. +Holiday considered it fortunate was, that no evil result followed from +it, except giving Rollo a good fright. "It is always a lucky thing for a +boy," said Mr. Holiday, "when he meets with any accident that frightens +him well, provided it does not hurt him much."</p> + +<p>The accident that happened to Rollo was this: There was a boy at the +hotel, who had recently come with his father and mother from India. He +was the son of an English army officer. His name was Gerald. He was a +tall and handsome boy, and was about a year older than Rollo.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon of the day before the party were to leave Geneva, Rollo +came in from the quay, where he had been out to take a walk, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>asked +permission to go out on the lake, a little way, in a boat, with Gerald.</p> + +<p>"Does Gerald understand how to manage a boat?" asked Mr. Holiday.</p> + +<p>"O, yes, sir," said Rollo. "He has been all over the world, and he knows +how to manage every thing. Besides, I can manage a boat myself well +enough to go out on this lake. It is as smooth as a mill pond."</p> + +<p>"Very well," said Mr. Holiday. "Only it must not be a sail boat. You +must take oars; and look out well that the Rhone does not catch you."</p> + +<p>Rollo understood very well that his father meant by this that he must be +careful not to let the current, which was all the time drawing the water +of the lake off under the bridge, and thus forming the Rhone below, +carry the boat down. Rollo said that he would be very careful; and off +he went to rejoin Gerald on the quay.</p> + +<p>Gerald was already in the boat. He had with him, also, a Swiss boy, whom +he had engaged to go too, as a sort of attendant, and to help row, if +necessary. An English boy, in such cases, never considers the party +complete unless he has some one to occupy the place of a servant, and to +be under his command.</p> + +<p>So the three boys got into the boat, and pushed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>off from the shore. For +a time every thing went on well and pleasantly. Rollo and the others had +a fine time in rowing to and fro over the smooth water, from one +beautiful point of land to another, on the lake shores, and sometimes in +lying still on the calm surface, to rest from the labor, and to amuse +themselves in looking down in the beautiful blue depths beneath them, +and watching the fishes that were swimming about there. At last, in the +course of their manœuvrings, they happened to take the boat rather +too near the bridge. The attention of the boys was at the time directed +to something that they saw in the water; and they did not perceive how +near the bridge they were until Rollo happened to observe that the +stones at the bottom seemed to be rapidly moving along in the direction +towards the lake.</p> + +<p>"My!" said Rollo; "see how fast the stones are going!"</p> + +<p>"The stones!" exclaimed Gerald, starting up, and seizing an oar. "It's +the boat! We are going under the bridge, as sure as fate! Put out your +oar, Rollo, and pull for your life! Pull!"</p> + +<p>Both Rollo and the Swiss boy immediately put out their oars and pulled; +but Gerald soon found that the current was too strong for them. In spite +of all they could do, the boat was evidently slowly drifting towards the +bridge.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>"It is of no use," said Gerald, at last. "We shall have to go through; +but that will do no harm if we can only manage to keep her from striking +the piers. Take in your oars, boys, and let me pull her round so as to +head down stream, and you stand ready to fend off when we are going +under."</p> + +<p>The excitement of this scene was very great, and Rollo's first impulse +was to scream for help; but observing how cool and collected Gerald +appeared, he felt somewhat reassured, and at once obeyed Gerald's +orders. He took in his oar, and holding it in his hands, as if it had +been a boat hook or a setting pole, he prepared to fend off from the +piers when the boat went through. In the mean time Gerald had succeeded +in getting the boat round, so as to point the bows down stream, just as +she reached the bridge; and in this position she shot under it like an +arrow. Several boys who were standing on the bridge at this time, after +watching at the upper side till the boat went under, ran across to the +lower side, to see her come out.</p> + +<p>The boat passed through the bridge safely, though the stern struck +against the pier on one side, just as it was emerging. The reason of +this was, that Gerald, in bringing it round so as to head down the +stream, had given it a rotating <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>motion, which continued while it was +passing under the bridge, and thus brought the stern round against the +pier. No harm was done, however, except that the boat received a rather +rude concussion by the blow.</p> + +<p>"Now, boys," said Gerald, speaking in French, "we must keep her head and +stern up and down the stream, or we shall make shipwreck."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Rollo, in English; "if we should strike a snag or any thing, +broadside on, the boat would roll right over."</p> + +<p>"A snag!" repeated Gerald, contemptuously. The idea was indeed absurd of +finding a snag in the River Rhone; for a snag is formed by a floating +tree, which is washed into the river by the undermining of the banks, +and is then carried down until it gets lodged. There are millions of +such trees in the Mississippi, but none in the Rhone.</p> + +<p>However, Rollo was right in his general idea. There might be +obstructions of some sort in the river, which it would be dangerous for +the boat to encounter broadside on; so he took hold resolutely of the +work of helping Gerald bring it into a position parallel with the +direction of the stream. In the mean time the boat was swept down the +torrent with fearful rapidity. It glided swiftly on amid boiling +whirlpools and sheets of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>rippling foam, that were quite frightful to +see. The buildings of the town here bordered the banks of the river on +each side, and there were little jutting piers and platforms here and +there, with boys upon them in some places, fishing, and women washing +clothes in others. The boys in the boat did not call for help, and so +nobody attempted to come and help them. Gerald's plan was to keep the +boat headed right, and so let her drift on until she had passed through +the town, in hopes of being able to bring her up somewhere on the shore +below.</p> + +<p>At one time the force of the current carried them quite near to the +shore, at a place where Gerald thought it would be dangerous to attempt +to land, and he called out aloud to Rollo to "fend off." Rollo attempted +to do so, and in the attempt he lost his oar. He was standing near the +bows at the time, and as he planted his oar against the bottom, the +current carried the boat on with such irresistible impetuosity that the +oar was wrested from his hand in an instant. If he had not let go of it +he would have been pulled over himself. Gerald, however, had the +presence of mind to reach out his own oar at once, and draw the lost one +back towards the boat, so that the Swiss boy seized it, and, to Rollo's +great joy, took it in again.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>The boat at one time came very near drifting against one of the great +water wheels which were revolving in the stream. Gerald perceived the +danger just in time, and he contrived to turn the head of the boat out +towards the centre of the river, and then commanding Rollo and the Swiss +boy to row, and pulling, himself, with all his force, he just succeeded +in escaping the danger.</p> + +<p>By this time the boat had passed by the town, and it now came to a part +of the river which was bordered by smooth, grassy banks on each side, +and with a row of willows growing near the margin of the water. This was +the place, in fact, where Rollo had walked along the shore with his +mother, in going down to visit the junction of the Rhone and the Arve.</p> + +<p>"Now," said Gerald, "here is a chance for us to make a landing. I'll +head her in towards the shore."</p> + +<p>So Gerald turned the head of the boat in towards the bank, and then, by +dint of hard rowing, the boys contrived gradually to draw nearer and +nearer to the shore, though they were all the time drifting rapidly +down. At last the boat came so near that the bow was just ready to touch +the bank, and then Gerald seized the painter, and, watching his +opportunity, leaped ashore, and, running to the nearest willow, wound +the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>painter round it. This at once checked the motion of the bow, and +caused the stern to swing round. Gerald immediately unwound the painter, +and ran to the willow next below, where he wound it round again, and +there succeeded at last in making it fast, and stopping the motion of +the boat altogether. Rollo and the Swiss boy then made their escape safe +to land.</p> + +<p>"There!" said Rollo, taking at the same time a high jump, to express his +exultation; "there! Here we are safe, and who cares?"</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said Gerald, calmly; "it is very easy to say Who cares? now that +we have got safe to land; but you'll find me looking out sharp not to +get sucked into those ripples again."</p> + +<p>So the boys went home. Gerald found a man to go down and bring back the +boat, while Rollo proceeded to the hotel, to report the affair to his +father and mother. Mrs. Holiday was very much alarmed, but Mr. Holiday +seemed to take the matter quite coolly. He said he thought that Rollo +was now, for all the rest of his life, in much less danger of being +drowned by getting carried down rapids in a river than he was before.</p> + +<p>"He understands the subject now somewhat practically," said Mr. Holiday.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>The term of Mr. Holiday's visit had now expired, and the arrangements +were to be made for leaving town, with a view of returning again to +Paris. Rollo, however, was very desirous that before going back to Paris +they should make at least a short excursion among the mountains.</p> + +<p>"Where shall we go?" said his father.</p> + +<p>"To the valley of Chamouni," said Rollo. "They say that that is the +prettiest place in all Switzerland."</p> + +<p>"How long will it take us to go?" asked Mr. Holiday.</p> + +<p>"We can go in a day," said Rollo. "There are plenty of diligences. The +offices of them are here all along the quay.</p> + +<p>"Or, if you don't choose to go so far in a day," continued Rollo, "you +can go in half a day to the entrance of the valley, where there is a +good place to stop, and then we can go to Chamouni the next day. I have +studied it all out in the guide book."</p> + +<p>"Very well," said Mr. Holiday. "It seems that we can get into the valley +of Chamouni very easily; and now how is it about getting out?"</p> + +<p>At this question Rollo's countenance fell a little, and he replied that +it was not so easy to get out.</p> + +<p>"There is no way to get out," said he, "except <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>to go over the +mountains, unless we come back the same way we go in."</p> + +<p>"That would not be quite so pleasant," said Mr. Holiday.</p> + +<p>"No, sir," said Rollo; "it would be better to go out some new way. But +there is not any way. It is a long, narrow valley, very high up among +the mountain glaciers. There is a way to get out at the upper end, but +it is only a mountain pass, and we should have to ride over on mules. +But you could ride on a mule—could not you, father?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes," said Mr. Holiday, "perhaps I could; but it might be too +fatiguing for your mother. She has not been accustomed to ride on +horseback much of late years.</p> + +<p>"Besides," he continued, "I suppose that as it is a mountain pass, the +road must be pretty steep and difficult."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "it is steep some part of the way. You have to +go up for half an hour by zigzags—right up the side of the mountain. I +read about it in the guide book. Then, after we get up to the top of the +pass, we have a monstrous long way to go down. We have to go down for +two hours, as steep as we can go."</p> + +<p>"I should think we should have to go <i>up</i> as much as <i>down</i>," said Mr. +Holiday; "for it is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>necessary to ascend as much to get to the top of +any hill from the bottom as you <i>descend</i> in going down to the bottom +from the top."</p> + +<p>"Ah, but in Chamouni," said Rollo, "we are very near the top already. It +is a valley, it is true; but it is up very high among the mountains, and +is surrounded with snow and glaciers. That is what makes it so +interesting to go there. Besides, we can see the top of Mont Blanc +there, and with a spy glass we can watch the people going up, as they +walk along over the fields of snow."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mr. Holiday, "I should like to go there very well, if your +mother consents; and then, if she does not feel adventurous enough to go +over the mountain pass on a mule, we can, at all events, come back the +same way we go."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "and, besides, father," he continued, eagerly, +"there is another way that we can do. Mother can go over the mountain +pass on a carrying chair. They have carrying chairs there, expressly to +carry ladies over the passes. They are good, comfortable chairs, with +poles each side of them, fastened very strong. The lady sits in the +chair, and then two men take hold of the poles, one before and the other +behind, and so they carry her over the mountains."</p> + +<p>"I should think that would be very easy and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>very comfortable," said Mr. +Holiday. "Go and find your mother, and explain it all to her, and hear +what she says. Tell her what sort of a place Chamouni is, and what there +is to be seen there, and then tell her of the different ways there will +be of getting out when once we get in. If she would like it we will go."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Holiday did like the plan of going to Chamouni very much. She said +she thought that she could go over the mountain pass on a mule; and that +at any rate she could go on the carrying chair. So the excursion was +decided upon, and the party set off the next day.</p> + +<hr class="small" /> + +<p>And here I must end the story of Rollo at Geneva, only adding that it +proved in the end that the fifteen franc pin which Rollo bought, and the +destination of which he made a secret of, was intended for his mother. +He kept the pin in his trunk until he returned to America, and then sent +it into his mother's room, with a little note, one morning when she was +there alone. His mother kept the pin a great many years, and wore it a +great many times; and she said she valued it more than any other +ornament she had, though she had several in her little strong box that +had cost in money fifty times as much.</p> + +<hr class="large" /> +<h2><a name="ABBOTTS_AMERICAN_HISTORY" id="ABBOTTS_AMERICAN_HISTORY"></a>ABBOTT'S AMERICAN HISTORY.</h2> + +<h3>A SERIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY FOR YOUTH,</h3> + +<p class="center">By <span class="smcap">Jacob Abbott</span>.</p> + +<p class="center">Complete in Eight Volumes, 18mo., price $1.25 each.</p> + +<p class="center">Each Volume complete in itself.</p> + +<p class="blockquot2">Each volume is illustrated with numerous Maps and Engravings, +from original designs by F. O. C. Darley, J. R. Chapin, G. Perkins, Charles +Parsons, H. W. Herrick, E. F. Beaulieu, H. L. Stephens, and others.</p> + +<p class="blockquot2">This Series, by the well-known author of the "<span class="smcap">Rollo Books</span>" "<span class="smcap">Rollo's Tour +in Europe</span>," "<span class="smcap">Harper's Series of European Histories</span>," "<span class="smcap">The Florence +Stories</span>," &c., consists of the following volumes:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i10">1. ABORIGINAL AMERICA.<br /></span> +<span class="i11">2. DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.<br /></span> +<span class="i12">3. THE SOUTHERN COLONIES.<br /></span> +<span class="i13">4. THE NORTHERN COLONIES.<br /></span> +<span class="i14">5. WARS OF THE COLONIES.<br /></span> +<span class="i15">6. THE REVOLT OF THE COLONIES.<br /></span> +<span class="i16">7. THE REVOLUTION.<br /></span> +<span class="i17">8. WASHINGTON.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="center">Notices of the Initial Volume.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>From the Boston Traveller.</i></p> + +<p class="blockquot2">"The most excellent publication of the kind ever undertaken."</p> + +<p class="center"><i>From the Boston Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p class="blockquot2">"The illustrations are well designed and executed."</p> + +<p class="center"><i>From the Boston Post.</i></p> + +<p class="blockquot2">"One of the most useful of the many good and popular books of which +Mr. Abbott is the author."</p> + +<p class="center"><i>From the Philadelphia North American.</i></p> + +<p class="blockquot2">"It is indeed a very vivid and comprehensive presentation of the physical +aspect and aboriginal life visible on this continent before the discovery by white men."</p> + +<p class="center"><i>From the Troy Whig.</i></p> + +<p class="blockquot2">"Mr. Abbott's stories have for years been the delight of thousands."</p> + +<hr class="smaller" /> + +<p class="center"><i>Books Published by Sheldon & Co.</i></p> + +<h3>PETER PARLEY'S OWN STORY.</h3> + +<p class="center">From the Personal Narrative of the late <span class="smcap">Samuel G. Goodrich</span> (Peter +Parley).</p> + +<p class="center">1 vol. 16mo., illustrated, price $1.25.</p> + +<h3>CHILDREN'S SAYINGS;</h3> + +<p class="center">OR, EARLY LIFE AT HOME.</p> + +<p class="center">By <span class="smcap">Caroline Hadley</span>. With Illustrations, by <span class="smcap">Walter Crane</span>.</p> + +<p class="center">1 vol. square 16mo., price 90 cents.</p> + +<h3>STORIES OF OLD.</h3> + +<p class="center">OLD TESTAMENT SERIES.</p> + +<p class="center">By <span class="smcap">Caroline Hadley</span>.</p> + +<p class="center">1 vol. 12mo., Illustrated, price $1.25.</p> + +<h3>STORIES OF OLD.</h3> + +<p class="center">NEW TESTAMENT SERIES.</p> + +<p class="center">By <span class="smcap">Caroline Hadley</span>.</p> + +<p class="center">1 vol. 12mo., Illustrated, price $1.25.</p> + +<h3>ROSE MORTON'S JOURNAL.</h3> + +<p class="blockquot2">A series of volumes containing Rose Morton's Journal for the several +months of the year.</p> + +<p class="center">Each volume Illustrated, 18mo., 45 cents.</p> + +<p class="blockquot2">There are now ready,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i10">ROSE MORTON'S JOURNAL FOR JANUARY.<br /></span> +<span class="i10">ROSE MORTON'S JOURNAL FOR FEBRUARY.<br /></span> +<span class="i10">ROSE MORTON'S JOURNAL FOR MARCH.<br /></span> +<span class="i10">ROSE MORTON'S JOURNAL FOR APRIL.<br /></span> +<span class="i10">ROSE MORTON'S JOURNAL FOR MAY.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<h3>WALTER'S TOUR IN THE EAST.</h3> + +<p class="blockquot2">A Series of interesting Travels through Egypt, Palestine Turkey, and +Syria. By Rev. <span class="smcap">D. C. Eddy</span>, D.D.</p> + +<p class="blockquot2">Each volume beautifully Illustrated from Designs brought from those +countries.</p> + +<p class="center">Each volume, 16mo., price 90 cents.</p> + +<p class="blockquot2">There are now ready,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i10">Walter in Egypt.<br /></span> +<span class="i10">Walter in Jerusalem.<br /></span> +<span class="i10">Walter in Samaria.<br /></span> +<span class="i10">Walter in Damascus.<br /></span> +<span class="i10">Walter in Constantinople. (In press.)<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="center"><i>From the New York Commercial Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p class="blockquot2">"Dr. Eddy is known as the author of 'The Percy Family,' and is a most +pleasing and instructive writer for the young. The present volume is one +of a series of six, describing a visit of a company of young tourists to +the most interesting and sacred spots on the earth. The incidents +recited and the facts presented are just such as will captivate while +they instruct intelligent youth, and give even adult minds some correct +ideas of Eastern countries and habits. In the present volume, Walter +travels through Egypt, and his story is told in some two hundred and +twenty pages; so compactly told, indeed, that not a line could have been +omitted without injury. It is just the book for an intelligent child."</p> + +<p class="center"><i>From the Pittsburgh Gazette.</i></p> + +<p class="blockquot2">"There are four very appropriate illustrations, representing the scenery +and incidents of travel in Egypt. The volume, moreover, is well written, +handsomely printed at the Riverside press, neatly bound in cloth, and +therefore may be commended as a suitable holiday present,—a book that +will both instruct and interest youthful readers."</p> + +<p class="center"><i>From the Buffalo Express.</i></p> + +<p class="blockquot2">"This beautiful little volume is the first of a series of six, +describing the visit of a company of young tourists to the most +interesting and sacred spots on the earth. In the one under +consideration, a number of incidents are recited, and facts presented, +which will be found not only exceedingly interesting and instructive to +boys and girls, but will give even adult minds some idea of the romantic +East. It is elegantly bound, and illustrated with a number of finely +executed wood-cuts. We recommend it to the attention of parents as a +most suitable and beautiful holiday present."</p> + +<h3>THE BRIGHTHOPE SERIES.</h3> + +<p class="center">By <span class="smcap">J. T. Trowbridge</span>.</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="45%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="GELDART"> + +<tr> +<td align="left">The Old Battle Ground,</td> +<td align="left">Iron Thorpe,</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Father Brighthope,</td> +<td align="left">Burr Cliff.</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Hearts and Faces.</td> +<td align="left"> </td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p class="center">5 vols. 18mo., in cloth, gilt back, uniform. Price $4.00.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>From the Boston Transcript.</i></p> + +<p class="blockquot2">"Mr. Trowbridge has never written anything that was not popular, and +each new work has added to his fame. He has a wonderful faculty as a +portrayer of New England characteristics, and New England scenes."</p> + +<p class="center"><i>From the Salem Register.</i></p> + +<p class="blockquot2">"Mr. Trowbridge will find many welcomers to the field of authorship as +often as he chooses to enter it, and to leave as pleasant a record +behind him as the story of "Father Brighthope." The "Old Battle Ground" +is worthy of his reputation as one of the very best portrayers of New +England character and describers of New England scenes."</p> + +<h3>THE GELDART SERIES.</h3> + +<p class="center">By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Thomas Geldart</span>.</p> + +<p class="center">6 vols. 16mo. Illustrated by <span class="smcap">John Gilbert</span>.</p> + +<p class="center">Price of each 60 cents.</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="45%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="GELDART"> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Daily Thoughts for a Child,</td> +<td align="left">Sunday Evening Thoughts,</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Truth is Everything,</td> +<td align="left">Emilie the Peacemaker,</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Sunday Morning Thoughts,</td> +<td align="left">Stories of Scotland.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p class="center"><i>From the Boston Register.</i></p> + +<p class="blockquot2">"These charming volumes are the much admired Geldart Series of books for +the young, which have established a very enviable reputation in England +for their wholesome moral tendency. They are beautifully printed 16mo. +volumes, with gilt backs, and are sold at 50 cents each. There are five +volumes in the series, and they will form a very choice addition to a +youth's library."</p> + +<p class="center"><i>From the Worcester Palladium.</i></p> + +<p class="blockquot2">"What children read they often long retain; therefore it is desirable +that their books should be of a high moral tone. In this respect Mrs. +Geldart has few equals as an author, and we hope that her works will be +found in every child's library."</p> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<h3>FOOTNOTES</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> Pronounced <i>coupay</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> Bureau is the French word meaning office; and English +people, when travelling in France, fall into the habit of using the word +in that sense.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_3" id="Footnote_C_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> Such a frock is called a <i>blouse</i>—pronounced <i>blooze</i>. +Almost all working men in France wear them. Hence the class of workmen +in France are sometimes called the <i>blouses</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_4" id="Footnote_D_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_4"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> The diligence is very large. It has four separate +compartments. For a more full account of the construction of the +vehicle, and for one or two engravings representing it, see Rollo's Tour +in Switzerland.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_E_5" id="Footnote_E_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_E_5"><span class="label">[E]</span></a> The phrase is, in French, <i>Pour voir le Mont Blanc +s'eteindre</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_F_6" id="Footnote_F_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_F_6"><span class="label">[F]</span></a> See Frontispiece.</p></div> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<h3>TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES</h3> +<p>Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters errors and to +ensure consistency across the text in spelling and punctuation usage; +otherwise, every effort has been made to ensure that this e-text is true +to the originial book.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Rollo in Geneva, by Jacob Abbott + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROLLO IN GENEVA *** + +***** This file should be named 25355-h.htm or 25355-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/3/5/25355/ + +Produced by D. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Rollo in Geneva + +Author: Jacob Abbott + +Release Date: May 6, 2008 [EBook #25355] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROLLO IN GENEVA *** + + + + +Produced by D. Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + ROLLO IN GENEVA, + + BY + + JACOB ABBOTT. + + NEW YORK: + SHELDON & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS, + 498 & 500 BROADWAY. + 1867. + + + + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, + +by JACOB ABBOTT, + +In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of +Massachusetts. + + +[Illustration: THE CASTLE OF CHILLON.] + + + [Illustration: ROLLO'S TOUR IN EUROPE. + SHELDON & CO., + PUBLISHERS, N. Y.] + + + + +ROLLO'S TOUR IN EUROPE. + + +ORDER OF THE VOLUMES. + + ROLLO ON THE ATLANTIC. + ROLLO IN PARIS. + ROLLO IN SWITZERLAND. + ROLLO IN LONDON. + ROLLO ON THE RHINE. + ROLLO IN SCOTLAND. + ROLLO IN GENEVA. + ROLLO IN HOLLAND. + ROLLO IN NAPLES. + ROLLO IN ROME. + + +PRINCIPAL PERSONS OF THE STORY. + + ROLLO; twelve years of age. + MR. and MRS. HOLIDAY; Rollo's father and mother, travelling in Europe. + THANNY; Rollo's younger brother. + JANE; Rollo's cousin, adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Holiday. + MR. GEORGE; a young gentleman, Rollo's uncle. + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I.--THE FAME OF GENEVA, 11 + + II.--PLANNING, 24 + + III.--THE RIDE TO GENEVA, 35 + + IV.--THE TOWN, 55 + + V.--THE HOTEL, 64 + + VI.--A RIDE IN THE ENVIRONS, 71 + + VII.--THE JUNCTION OF THE ARVE, 93 + + VIII.--SEEING MONT BLANC GO OUT, 108 + + IX.--A LAW QUESTION, 122 + + X.--AN EXCURSION ON THE LAKE, 134 + + XI.--VILLENEUVE, 148 + + XII.--THE CASTLE OF CHILLON, 155 + + XIII.--PLAN FORMED, 171 + + XIV.--WALK TO AIGLE, 179 + + XV.--THE JEWELRY, 197 + + XVI.--A FORTUNATE ACCIDENT, 209 + + + ENGRAVINGS. + + + PAGE + + THE CASTLE OF CHILLON, (Frontispiece.) + + THE GREAT NET, 30 + + GOING THROUGH THE VILLAGE, 46 + + VIEW OF GENEVA, 58 + + THE WATER WHEEL, 100 + + FISHING, 104 + + GOING TO TAKE A SAIL, 132 + + THE DUNGEONS OF CHILLON, 161 + + THE BASKET RIDE, 185 + + SHOPPING AT GENEVA, 203 + + + + +ROLLO IN GENEVA. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE FAME OF GENEVA. + + +Geneva is one of the most remarkable and most celebrated cities in +Europe. It derives its celebrity, however, not so much from its size, or +from the magnificence of its edifices, as from the peculiar beauty of +its situation, and from the circumstances of its history. + +Geneva is situated upon the confines of France, Switzerland, and +Sardinia, at the outlet of the Lake of Geneva, which is perhaps the most +beautiful, and certainly the most celebrated, lake in Switzerland. It is +shaped like a crescent,--that is, like the new moon, or rather like the +moon after it is about four or five days old. The lower end of the +lake--that is, the end where Geneva is situated--lies in a comparatively +open country, though vast ranges of lofty mountains, some of them +covered with perpetual snow, are to be seen in the distance all around. +All the country near, however, at this end of the lake, is gently +undulating, and it is extremely fertile and beautiful. There are a great +many elegant country seats along the shore of the lake, and on the banks +of the River Rhone, which flows out of it. The waters of the lake at +this end, and of the river which issues from it, are very clear, and of +a deep and beautiful blue color. This blue color is so remarkable that +it attracts the attention of every one who looks down into it from a +bridge or from a boat, and there have been a great many suppositions and +speculations made in respect to the cause of it; but I believe that, +after all, nobody has yet been able to find out what the cause is. + +The city of Geneva is situated exactly at the lower end of the lake, +that is, at the western end; and the River Rhone, in coming out of the +lake, flows directly through the town. + +The lake is about fifty miles long, and the eastern end of it runs far +in among the mountains. These mountains are very dark and sombre, and +their sides rise so precipitously from the margin of the water that in +many places there is scarcely room for a road along the shore. Indeed, +you go generally to that end of the lake in a steamer; and as you +advance, the mountains seem to shut you in completely at the end of the +lake. But when you get near to the end, you see a narrow valley opening +before you, with high mountains on either hand, and the River Rhone +flowing very swiftly between green and beautiful banks in the middle of +it. Besides the river, there is a magnificent road to be seen running +along this valley. This is the great high road leading from France into +Italy; and it has been known and travelled as such ever since the days +of the old Romans. + +The River Rhone, where it flows into the lake at the eastern end of it, +is very thick and turbid, being formed from torrents coming down the +mountain sides, or from muddy streams derived from the melting of the +glaciers. At the western end, on the other hand, where it issues from +the lake, the water is beautifully pellucid and clear. The reason of +this is, that during its slow passage through the lake it has had time +to settle. The impurities which the torrents bring down into it from the +mountains all subside to the bottom of the lake, and are left there, and +thus the water comes out at the lower end quite clear. The lake itself, +however, is of course gradually filling up by means of this process. + +There are several large and handsome houses on the northern shore of +the lake; but Geneva, at the western end of it, entirely surpasses them +all. + +Geneva is, however, after all, a comparatively small town. It contains +only thirty or forty thousand inhabitants. It would take ten Genevas to +make a New York, and nearly a hundred to make a Paris or London. + +Why, then, since Geneva is comparatively so small, is it so celebrated? +Almost every person who goes to Europe visits Geneva, and talks of +Geneva when he comes back; while there are multitudes of other cities +and towns, many times as large in extent and population, that he never +thinks of or speaks of at all. + +There are several reasons for this. + +1. The first reason is, that this town stands on the great high road +leading from England and France into Italy. Of course it comes naturally +in the way of all travellers making the grand tour. It is true that at +the present day, since steam has been introduced upon the Mediterranean, +a very large proportion of travellers, instead of passing through +Switzerland, go down the Rhone to Marseilles, and embark there. But +before the introduction of steam, for many ages, the way by Geneva was +almost the only way to Italy; and the city acquired great celebrity +through the accounts of tourists and travellers who visited it on their +journeys. + +2. The second reason is, that Geneva is a convenient and agreeable point +for entering Switzerland, and for making excursions among the Alps. +There are two great avenues into Switzerland from France and +Germany--one by way of Geneva, and the other by way of Basle. By the way +of Basle we go to the Jungfrau and the Oberland Alps which lie around +that mountain, and to the beautiful lakes of Zurich and of Lucerne. All +these lie in the eastern part of the Alpine region. By the way of Geneva +we go to the valley of Chamouni and Mont Blanc, and visit the vast +glaciers and the stupendous mountain scenery that lie around this great +monarch of the Alps. + +There is a great question among travellers which of these two Alpine +regions is the most grand. Some prefer the mountains about Mont Blanc, +which are called the Alps of Savoy. Others like better those about the +Jungfrau, which are called the Oberland Alps. The scenery and the +objects of interest are very different in the two localities; and it +seems to me that any difference which travellers may observe in the +grandeur of the emotions which they severally produce upon the mind must +be due to the peculiar circumstances or moods of mind in which they are +visited. It is true you can get nearer to the Jungfrau than you can to +Mont Blanc, and so can obtain a more impressive view of his icy and +rocky sides and glittering summit. But then, on the other hand, Mont +Blanc is really the highest peak, and is looked upon as the great +monarch of them all. + +And here, as the name of Mont Blanc will of course often appear in this +volume, I have a word or two to say in respect to the proper +pronunciation of it in America; for the proper mode of pronouncing the +name of any place is not fixed, as many persons think, but varies with +the language which you are using in speaking of it. Thus the name of the +capital of France, when we are in France, and speaking French, is +pronounced _Par-ree_; but when we are in England and America, and are +speaking English, we universally pronounce it _Par-is_. It is so with +almost all names of places. They change the pronunciation, and often the +mode of spelling, according to the analogy of the language used by the +person speaking of them. + +Many persons suppose that in order correctly to pronounce the name of +any place we must pronounce it as the people do who live in and around +the place. But this is not so. The rule, on the other hand, is, that we +must pronounce it as the people do who live in and around the place _the +language of which we are speaking_. Thus the people of France call their +capital _Par-ree_; those of Spain call theirs something like +this,--_Madhreedth_; the Italians pronounce theirs _Roma_; but we, in +talking English, say simply, _Paris_, _Madrid_, and _Rome_; in other +words, when we are talking English, we _talk English throughout_, using +English words for names of things, and English pronunciation for names +of places, in all cases where there is an English pronunciation +established,--as there is in respect to all the rivers, towns, +mountains, and other localities on the globe that are well known and +often spoken of in the English world. + +Mont Blanc is one of these. Like the word _Paris_ it has its French +pronunciation for the French, and its English pronunciation for the +English; and its English pronunciation is as if it were spelled Mount +Blank or Mont Blank. Under this name it has been known and spoken of +familiarly all over England and America for centuries; and this, it +seems to me, is the proper name to give it when we are speaking English. + +Its French pronunciation is very different. It is one which none but a +practical French scholar can possibly imitate, except in a very awkward +manner. Those who have visited France and Switzerland, and have been +accustomed to the French sound, often give the word the French +pronunciation; but it is not at all necessary to do so. The word, like +_Paris_, has its own established English sound; and if it is not +pedantry to attempt to give it the French sound when speaking English, +it certainly is not a mispronunciation to give it the English one. +Indeed, to require the French pronunciation of the word from English +speakers would be in effect to banish it almost altogether from +conversation; for among the ten millions, more or less, in England or +America, who speak English well, there is probably not one in a thousand +that can possibly give the word its true French pronunciation. + +In reading this book, therefore, and in speaking of the great Swiss +mountain, you are perfectly safe in giving it its plain English sound, +as if it were written Mont Blank; and remember the principle, as +applicable to all other similar cases. Wherever a foreign name has +become so familiar to the English world as to have obtained an +established English pronunciation, in speaking English we give it that +pronunciation, without any regard to the usage of the people who live on +the spot. + +But now I must return to Geneva, and give some further account of the +reasons why it has been so celebrated. + +3. The third reason why Geneva has acquired so much celebrity among +mankind is the great number of learned and distinguished philosophers +and scholars that have from time to time lived there. Switzerland is a +republic, and the canton of Geneva is Protestant; and thus the place has +served as a sort of resort and refuge for all the most distinguished +foes both of spiritual and political tyranny that have risen up in +Europe at intervals during the last five hundred years. Geneva was +indeed one of the chief centres of the Reformation; and almost all the +great reformers visited it and wrote about it, and thus made all the +world familiar with it, during the exciting times in which they lived. + +Besides this, Geneva has been made the residence and home of a great +many moral and political writers within the last one or two centuries; +for the country, being republican, is much more open and free than most +of the other countries of Europe. Men who have incurred the displeasure +of their own governments by their writings or their acts find a safe +asylum in Geneva, where they can think and say what they please. All +this has tended very strongly to attract the attention of mankind to +Geneva, as to a sort of luminous point in respect to moral and +political science, from which light radiates to every part of the +civilized world. + +4. There is one more reason, very different from the preceding, which +tends to make Geneva famous, and to draw travellers to visit it at the +present day; and that is, it is a great manufacturing place for watches +and jewelry--one of the greatest, indeed, in the world. Travellers, in +making the tour of Europe,--and American travellers in +particular,--always wish to bring home with them a great number and +variety of purchases; and the things that they buy they very naturally +desire to buy at the places where they are made. It is not merely that +they hope to get them better and cheaper there, but it is a pleasant +thought to be associated always afterwards with any object of use or +luxury that we possess, that we bought it ourselves at the place of its +original manufacture. Thus the gentlemen who travel in Europe like to +bring home a fowling-piece from Birmingham, a telescope from London, or +a painting from Italy; and the ladies, in planning their tour, wish it +to include Brussels or Valenciennes for laces, and Geneva for a watch. + +Thus, for one reason or another, immense numbers of people go every year +to Geneva, in the course of the tour they make in Europe, either for +business or pleasure. It is estimated that the number of these visitors +annually is not less than thirty thousand; and the chief streets and +quays of the town are marked almost as strikingly by the conspicuousness +and splendor of the hotels as Broadway in New York. + +The place of departure in France for Geneva is Lyons. If you look upon +the map you will see the situation of Lyons on the River Rhone, almost +opposite to Geneva. There is a railroad from Paris to Lyons, and so on +down the Rhone to Marseilles. But from Lyons up to Geneva--which is +likewise situated on the Rhone, at the place where it issues from the +Lake of Geneva--there was no railroad at the time of Rollo's visit, +though there was one in the process of construction. The party were +obliged to travel by _diligence_ on that part of the journey. The +diligence is the French stage coach. The diligence leaves Lyons in the +evening, and travels all night. As Mr. Holiday arrived at Lyons the +evening before, Rollo had the whole of the day to walk about the town +before setting out for his evening ride. His father gave him leave to go +out alone, and ramble where he pleased. + +"The most curious places," said his father, "are on the other side of +the river, where the silk weavers live. Notice what bridge you go over, +so that you will know it again, and then if you get lost on the other +side it will be no matter. All you will have to do is to keep coming +down hill till you reach the river, and then look up and down till you +see the bridge where you went over. That will bring you home. And be +sure to be at home by five o'clock. We are going to have dinner at half +past five." + +"Then won't it be in season," asked Rollo, "if I am at home by half past +five?" + +"In season for what?" asked his father. + +"Why, to save my dinner," said Rollo. + +"Yes," said his father; "it might be in season to save your dinner, but +that is not what I am planning to save. I have no particular uneasiness +about your dinner." + +"Why, father!" said Rollo, surprised. + +"I have no wish to have you go hungry," replied his father; "but then if +by any chance you happened to be late at dinner, it would be of no great +consequence, for you could buy something, and eat it in the diligence by +the way. So I was not planning to save your dinner." + +"Then what were you planning to save, father?" asked Rollo. + +"My own and mother's quiet of mind," replied Mr. Holiday, "especially +mother's. If five minutes of the dinner hour were to come and you +should not appear, she would begin to be uneasy; and indeed so should +I. In such cases as this, children ought always to come before the time +when their parents would begin to feel any uneasiness respecting them." + +Rollo saw at once the correctness of this principle, and he secretly +resolved that he would be at home a quarter before five. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +PLANNING. + + +"What part of the diligence are we going to ride in, father?" asked +Rollo, as they were seated at dinner. + +"In the coupe,"[A] said Mr. Holiday. + +[Footnote A: Pronounced _coupay_.] + +"Ah, father!" said Rollo; "I wish you would go on the banquette. We can +see so much better on the banquette." + +"It would be rather hard climbing for mother," said Mr. Holiday, "to get +up to the banquette--such a long ladder." + +"O, mother can get up just as easily as not," said Rollo. "Couldn't you, +mother?" + +"I am more afraid about getting _down_ than getting up," said his +mother. + +"But it is a great deal pleasanter on the banquette," said Rollo. "They +keep talking all the time--the conductor, and the drivers, and the other +passengers that are there; while in the coupe we shall be all by +ourselves. Besides, it is so much cheaper." + +"It is cheaper, I know," said Mr. Holiday; "but then as to the talking, +I think we shall want to be quiet, and go to sleep if we can. You see it +will be night." + +"Yes, father, that is true," said Rollo; "but I had rather hear them +talk. I can understand almost all they say. And then I like to see them +change horses, and to see the conductor climb up and down. Then, +besides, at almost all the villages they have parcels to leave at the +inns; and it is good fun to see them take the parcels out and toss them +down, and tell the bar maid at the inn what she is to do with them." + +"All that must be very amusing," said Mr. Holiday; "but it would not be +so comfortable for your mother to mount up there. Besides, I have +engaged our places already in the coupe, and paid for them." + +"Why, father!" said Rollo. "When did you do it?" + +"I sent last evening," said Mr. Holiday. "It is necessary to engage the +places beforehand at this season. There is so much travelling into +Switzerland now that the diligences are all full. I had to send to three +offices before I could get places." + +"Are there three offices?" asked Rollo. + +"Yes," said his father; "there are three different lines. + +"But I'll tell you what you may do, Rollo, if you please," continued his +father. "You may go to the bureau,[B] and see if you can exchange your +seat in the coupe for one in the banquette, if you think you would like +better to ride there. There may be some passenger who could not get a +place in the coupe, on account of my having taken them all, and who, +consequently, took one on the banquette, and would now be glad to +exchange, and pay the difference." + +[Footnote B: Bureau is the French word meaning office; and English +people, when travelling in France, fall into the habit of using the word +in that sense.] + +"How much would the difference be?" asked Rollo. + +"I don't know," said Mr. Holiday; "five or six francs, probably. You +would save that sum by riding on the banquette, and you could have it to +buy something with in Geneva." + +"Well, sir," said Rollo, joyfully, "I should like that plan very much." + +"But do you think," said Mrs. Holiday, "that you know French enough to +explain it at the bureau, and make the change?" + +"O, yes, mother," said Rollo; "I have no doubt I can." + +So Rollo said he would finish his dinner as soon as he could, and go off +at once to the bureau. + +"There is one other condition," said his father. "If I let you ride on +the banquette, and let you have all the money that you save for your +own, you must write a full account of your night's journey, and send it +to your cousin Lucy." + +"Well, sir," said Rollo, "I will." + +Rollo left the dinner table while his father and mother were taking +their coffee. The table was one of a number of separate tables arranged +along by the windows on the front side of a quaint and queer-looking +dining room--or _salle a manger_, as they call it--in one of the Lyons +inns. Indeed, the whole inn was very quaint and queer, with its old +stone staircases, and long corridors leading to the various apartments, +and its antique ceiling,--reminding one, as Mr. Holiday said, of the +inns we read of in Don Quixote and other ancient romances. + +Rollo left his father and mother at this table, taking their coffee, and +sallied forth to find his way to the bureau of the diligence. + +"If you meet with any difficulty," said Mr. Holiday, as Rollo went away, +"engage the first cab you see, and the cabman will take you directly +there for a franc or so." + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo, "I will." + +"And if you don't find any cab readily," continued his father, "engage a +commissioner to go with you and show you the way." + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo. + +A commissioner is a sort of porter who stands at the corners of the +streets in the French towns, ready to do any thing for any body that +calls upon him. + +Rollo resolved not to employ either a cabman or a commissioner, if it +could possibly be avoided. He took the address of the bureau from his +father, and sallied forth. + +He first went round the corner to a bookstore where he recollected to +have seen a map of Lyons hanging in the window. He looked at this map, +and found the street on it where he wished to go. He then studied out +the course which he was to take. Lyons stands at, or rather near, the +confluence of the two rivers Rhone and Saone. In coming to Lyons from +Paris, the party had come down the valley of the Saone; but now they +were to leave this valley, and follow up that of the Rhone to Geneva, +which is situated, as has already been said, on the Rhone, at the point +where that river issues from the Lake of Geneva. + +The hotel where Rollo's father had taken lodgings was near the Saone; +and Rollo found that the bureau was on the other side of the town, where +it fronts on the Rhone. + +So Rollo followed the course which he had marked out for himself on the +map. In a short time he saw before him signs of bridges and a river. + +"Ah," says he to himself; "I am right; I am coming to the Rhone." + +He went on, drawing nearer and nearer. At length he came out upon the +broad and beautiful quay, with large and elegant stone buildings on one +side of it, and a broad but low parapet wall on the other, separating +the quay from the water. There was a sidewalk along this wall, with many +people walking on it; and here and there men were to be seen leaning +upon the wall, and looking over at the boats on the river. The river was +broad, and it flowed very rapidly, as almost all water does which has +just come from Switzerland and the Alps. On looking up and down, Rollo +saw a great number of bridges crossing this stream, with teams and +diligences, and in one place a long troop of soldiers passing over. On +the other side, the bank was lined with massive blocks of stone +buildings. In a word, the whole scene presented a very bright and +animated spectacle to view. + +Nearly opposite to the place where Rollo came out upon the river, he +saw, over the parapet wall that extended along on the outer side of the +quay, a very large, square net suspended in the air. It was hung by +means of ropes at the four corners, which met in a point above, whence +a larger rope went up to a pulley which was attached to the end of a +spar that projected from the stern of a boat. The net was slowly +descending into the water when Rollo first caught a view of it; so he +ran across, and looked over the parapet to see. + +[Illustration: THE GREAT NET.] + +The net descended slowly into the water. It was let down by men in the +boat paying out the line that held it. + +"Ah," said Rollo to himself; "that's a curious way to rig a net. I +should like to stay and see them pull it up again, so as to see how many +fish they take; but business first and pleasure afterwards is the rule." + +So he left the parapet, and walked along the quay towards the place +where the bureau was situated. + +"I'll come back here," said he to himself, "when I have got my place on +the banquette, and see them fish a little while, if I find there is +time." + +In a few minutes Rollo came to the place he was seeking. It was in a +little square, called Concert Place, opening towards the river. Rollo +knew the bureau by seeing the diligence standing before the door. It had +been brought up there to be ready for the baggage, though the horses +were not yet harnessed to it. + +Rollo went into the office. He found himself in a small room, with +trunks and baggage arranged along on one side of it, and a little +enclosure of railings, with a desk behind it, on the other. There was a +young man sitting at this desk, writing. + +"This must be a clerk, I suppose," said Rollo to himself. + +Opposite to where the clerk was sitting there was a little opening in +the railings, for people to pay their money and take their tickets; for +people take tickets for places in the diligence, in Europe, just as they +do for the railroad. Rollo advanced to this opening, and, looking +through it, he stated his case to the clerk. He said that he had a place +in the coupe that his father had taken for him, but that he would rather +ride on the banquette, if there was room there, and if any body would +take his place in the coupe. + +The clerk said that there had been a great many persons after a place in +the coupe since it had been taken, and that one lady had taken a place +on the banquette, because all the other places in the coach had been +engaged. + +"I think," said the clerk, "that she will be very glad to exchange with +you, and pay you the difference. She lives not far from here, and if you +will wait a few minutes, I will send and see." + +So the clerk called a commissioner who stood at the door, and after +giving him his directions, sent him away. In a few minutes the +commissioner returned, saying that the lady was very glad indeed to +exchange. He brought in his hand a five franc piece and three francs, +which was the difference in the price of the two places. The clerk gave +this money to Rollo, and altered the entry on his books so as to put +the lady in the coupe and Rollo on the banquette. Thus the affair was +all arranged. + +Rollo found that it was now six o'clock. The diligence was not to set +out until half past seven; but by the rules of the service the +passengers were all to be on the spot, with their baggage, half an hour +before the time; so that Rollo knew that his father and mother would be +there at seven. + +"That gives me just an hour," said he to himself; "so I shall have +plenty of time to go and see how they manage fishing with that big net." + +He accordingly went to see the fishing, but was very careful to return +some minutes before the appointed time. + +Rollo had a very pleasant ride that night to Geneva. He wrote a long and +full account of it afterwards, and sent it to his cousin Lucy. This +letter I shall give in the next chapter. + +The reason why Rollo wrote so long an account of his journey was this: +that his father required him, when travelling, to spend one hour and a +half every day in study of some kind; and writing letters, or any other +intellectual occupation that was calculated to advance his education, +was considered as study. In consequence of this arrangement, Rollo was +never in a hurry to come to the end of his letters, for he liked the +work of writing them better than writing French exercises, or working on +arithmetic, or engaging in any of the other avocations which devolved +upon him when he had no letters on hand. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE RIDE TO GENEVA. + + +"DEAR LUCY: + +"I am going to give you an account of my night ride from Lyons to +Geneva. + +"I got to the diligence office before father came, because I was going +to ride up in the bellows-top. I call it the bellows-top so that you may +understand it better. It is a place up in the second story of the +diligence, where there are seats for four persons, and a great +bellows-top over their heads. _I_ think it is the best place, though +people have to pay more for the coupe, which is right under it. I got +eight francs, which is more than a dollar and a half, for exchanging my +seat in the coupe for one on the banquette. I exchanged with a lady. I +suppose she did not like to climb up the ladder. You see in the coupe +you step right in as you would into a carriage; but you have to go up +quite a long ladder to get to the banquette. I counted the steps. There +were thirteen. + +"When I got to the office, the men were using the ladder to put up the +baggage. They put the baggage on the top of the diligence, along the +whole length of it behind the bellows-top. They pack it all in very +closely, beginning immediately behind, and coming regularly forward, as +far as it will reach. There is a frame over it, and a great leather +covering. They pull the covering forward as fast as they get the trunks +packed, until at last the baggage is all covered over as far forward as +to the back of the bellows-top. + +"The men were using the ladders when I came, getting up the baggage; so +I climbed up by the little steps that are made on the side of the +diligence. I liked my seat very much. Before me was a great leather +boot. The boot was fastened to an iron bar that went across in front, so +that it did not come against my knees. Above me was the bellows-top, to +keep off the rain. Up under the roof of the bellows-top there was a sash +folded together and fastened up by straps. I unfastened one of the +straps, and saw that I could let down the sash if I wished, and thus +make a glass window in front of me, so as to shut me in nicely from the +wind, if it should grow cold in the night. Behind me was a curtain. The +curtain was loose. I pushed it back, and found I could look out on the +top of the diligence where the men were at work packing the trunks and +baggage. The men wore blue frocks shaped like cartmen's frocks.[C] + +[Footnote C: Such a frock is called a _blouse_--pronounced _blooze_. +Almost all working men in France wear them. Hence the class of workmen +in France are sometimes called the _blouses_.] + +"Right before the boot was the postilion's seat. It was a little lower +than my seat, and was large enough for two. The conductor's seat was at +the end of my seat, under the bellows-top. There was one thing curious +about his seat, and that is, that there was a joint in the iron bar of +the boot, so that he could open his end of it, and get out and in +without disturbing the boot before the rest of the passengers. When I +wanted to get out I had to climb over the boot to the postilion's seat, +and so get down by the little iron steps. + +"The reason I wanted to get down was so as to buy some oranges. There +was a woman down there with oranges to sell. She had them in a basket. I +thought perhaps that I might be thirsty in the night, and that I could +not get down very well to get a drink of water. So I climbed down and +bought four oranges. I bought one for myself, and two to give father and +mother, and one more because the woman looked so poor. Besides, they +were not very dear--only fifteen centimes apiece. It takes five centimes +to make a sou, and a sou is about as much as a cent. + +"When I had bought my oranges I climbed up into my place again. + +"There were several people beginning to come and stand about the door of +the bureau. I suppose they were the travellers. Some came in cabs, with +their trunks on before with the postilion. I counted up how many the +diligence would hold, and found that in all, including the two +postilion's seats, and the conductor's, that there were places for +twenty-one. But when we started we had twenty-four in all. Where the +other three sat you will see by and by.[D] + +[Footnote D: The diligence is very large. It has four separate +compartments. For a more full account of the construction of the +vehicle, and for one or two engravings representing it, see Rollo's Tour +in Switzerland.] + +"As fast as the passengers came to the office, the men took their +baggage and packed it with the rest, on the top of the diligence, and +the passengers themselves stood about the door, waiting for the horses +to be put in. + +"Some of the passengers came on foot, with commissioners to bring their +baggage. The commissioners carried their baggage on their backs. They +had a frame something like an old-fashioned kitchen chair strapped to +their shoulders, and the baggage was piled upon this very high. One +commissioner that came had on his frame, first a big black trunk, +placed endwise, and then a portmanteau, then a carpet bag, and on the +top a bandbox. The bandbox reached far above his head. I should not +think they could possibly carry such heavy loads. + +"Presently I saw father and mother coming in a cab. So I climbed down to +meet them. The men in the blouses took their trunk and carried it up the +ladder, and then I opened the coupe door for them, and let them get in. +I told mother that my place was exactly over her head, and that I was +then going to climb up to it, and that when I was there I would knock on +the floor, and she would know that I had got there safely; and I did. + +"By and by they got all the baggage packed, and they pulled the great +leather covering over it, and fastened it to the back of the +bellows-top. Then I could push up the curtain behind me and look in at +the place where the baggage was stowed. It looked like a garret. It was +not quite full. There was room for several more trunks at the forward +end of it. + +"Pretty soon after this they brought round the horses and harnessed them +in. Then the clerk came out of the bureau and called off the names of +the passengers from his list. First he called the names of those who +were to go in the coupe. He said, in a loud voice,-- + +"'Monsieur Holiday and Madame Holiday!' + +"And he looked in at the coupe door, and father said, 'Here.' + +"Then he called out,-- + +"'Madame Tournay!' + +"That was the name of the lady that had changed places with me. So she +got into the coupe. That made the coupe full. + +"In the same manner the clerk called off the names of those who were to +go in the interior, which is the centre compartment. The interior holds +six. + +"Then he called off the names of those that were to go in the 'rotonde,' +which is the back compartment. You get into the rotonde by a door +behind, like the door of an omnibus. + +"Then the clerk called out the names of the people that were to come up +to the banquette with me. There were six of them, and there seemed to be +only room for three. So I could not imagine where they were all going to +sit. They came in a row, one behind the other, up the ladder. Very soon +I saw how they were going to sit; for the three that came first--a man +and woman and a girl--when they came into the banquette, pushed up the +curtain at the back side of it, and so climbed in behind to the garret, +and sat on the trunks. When the curtain was down, after they were in, +they were all in the dark there. + +"However, pretty soon they contrived to fasten up the curtain, and then +they could see out a little over our shoulders. The girl sat directly +behind me. I asked her if she could see, and she said she could, very +well. + +"The postilion then climbed up, with the reins in his hand, and called +out to the horses to start on. He talked to his horses in French, and +they seemed to understand him very well. The great thing, though, was +cracking his whip. You can scarcely conceive how fast and loud he +cracked his whip, first on one side and then on the other, till the +whole court rang again. The horses sprang forward and trotted off at +great speed out of the place, and wheeled round the corner to the quay; +and while they were going, the conductor came climbing up the side of +the coach to his place. + +"The conductor never gets into his place before the diligence starts. He +waits till the horses set out, and then jumps on to the step, and so +climbs up the side while the horses are going. + +"A diligence is a monstrous great machine; and when it sets out on a +journey in a city, the rumbling of the wheels on the pavement, and the +clattering of the horses' feet, and the continual cracking of the +coachman's whip, and the echoes of all these sounds on the walls of the +buildings, make a wonderful noise and din, and every body, when the +diligence is coming, hurries to get out of the way. Indeed, I believe +the coachman likes to make all the noise he can; for he has sleigh bells +on the harness, and, besides cracking his whip, he keeps continually +shouting out to the horses and the teamsters on the road before him; and +whenever he is passing through a town or a village he does all this more +than any where else, because, as I suppose, there are more people there +to hear him. + +"Presently, after driving along the quay a little way, we turned off to +one of the great stone bridges that lead across the Rhone. We went over +this bridge in splendid style. I could see far up and down the river, +and trains of wagons and multitudes of people going and coming on the +other bridges. The water in the river was running very swift. There were +some boats along the shore, but I don't see how the people could dare to +venture out in them in such a current. + +"As soon as we had got over the bridge, we struck into a beautiful road +across the country, and the postilion cracked on faster and harder than +ever. We had five horses, three abreast before, and two behind. They +went upon the gallop, and the postilion kept cracking his whip about +them and over their ears all the time. I thought for a while that he was +whipping them; but when I leaned forward, so that I could look down and +see, I found that he did not touch them with his whip at all, but only +cracked the snapper about them, and shouted at them in French, to make +them go. The road was as hard and smooth as a floor, and it was almost +as white as a floor of marble. + +"The country was very beautiful as long as we could see. There were no +fences, but there were beautiful fields on each side of the road, +divided into squares, like the beds of a garden, with all sorts of +things growing in them. + +"Every now and then we came to a village. These villages were the +queerest looking places that you can imagine. They were formed of rows +of stone houses, close to each other and close to the street. They were +so close to the street, and the street was usually so narrow, that there +was scarcely room sometimes to pass through. I could almost shake hands +with the people looking out the second story windows. I cannot imagine +why they should leave the passage so narrow between the houses on such a +great road. If there were any people in the street of the village when +we went through, they had to back up against the wall when we passed +them, to prevent being knocked down. + +"When we were going through any of these villages, the postilion drove +faster than ever. He would crack his whip, and cheer on his horses, and +make noise and uproar enough to frighten half the town. + +"We went on in this way till it began to grow dark. The postilion handed +the lanterns up to the conductor, and he lighted them with some matches +that he carried in his pocket. The lanterns had reflectors in the back +of them, and were very bright. When the postilion put them back in their +places on the front of the coach, the light shone down on the road +before us, so that the way where the horses were going was as bright as +day. + +[Illustration: GOING THROUGH THE VILLAGE.] + +"After a time the moon rose, and that made it pretty bright every where. +Still I could not see very far, and as the people around me were +talking, I listened to what they were saying. The conductor was telling +stories about diligences that had been robbed. He said that once, when +he was travelling somewhere, the diligence was attacked by robbers, and +he was shot by one of them. He was shot in the neck; and he had to keep +in his bed six months before he got well. I listened as well as I could, +but the diligence made such a noise that I could not understand all +he said, and I did not hear where it was that this happened. I suppose +it was probably in Italy, for I have heard that there were a great many +robbers there. + +"After a while I began to feel sleepy. I don't remember going to sleep, +for the first thing I knew after I began to feel sleepy was that I was +waking up. We were stopping to change horses. We stopped to change +horses very often--oftener than once an hour. When we changed horses we +always changed the postilion too. A new postilion always came with every +new team. It was only the conductor that we did not change. He went with +us all the way. + +"We changed horses usually in a village; and it was very curious to see +what queer-looking hostlers and stable boys came out with the new teams. +Generally the hostlers were all ready, waiting for the diligence to +come; but sometimes they would be all asleep, and the conductor and the +postilion would make a great shouting and uproar in waking them up. + +"When the new team was harnessed in, the new postilion would climb up to +his seat, with the reins in his hands, and, without waiting a moment, he +would start the horses on at full speed, leaving the poor conductor to +get on the best way he could. By the time the horses began to go on the +gallop, the conductor would come climbing up the side of the coach into +his place. + +"It was curious to see how different the different teams were in regard +to the number of horses. Sometimes we had four horses, sometimes five, +and once we had seven. For a long time I could not tell what the reason +was for such a difference. But at last I found out. It was because some +of the stages were pretty nearly level, and others were almost all up +hill. Of course, where there was a great deal of up hill they required +more horses. At the time when they put on seven horses I knew that we +had come to a place where it was almost all up hill; and it was. The +road went winding around through a region of hills and valleys, but +ascending all the time. Still the road was so hard and smooth, and the +horses were so full of life, that we went on the full trot the whole +way. Four horses could not have done this, though, with such a heavy +load. It took seven. + +"In almost all the villages we came to we saw long lines of wagons by +the road side. They were very curious wagons indeed. They were small. +Each one was to be drawn by one horse. There was no body to them, but +only two long poles going from the forward axletree to the back +axletree; and the load was packed on these poles, and covered with +canvas. It looked just like a big bundle tied up in a cloth. These were +wagons that had stopped for the night. Afterwards, when the morning +came, we overtook a great many trains of these wagons, on the road to +Geneva. They were loaded with merchandise going from France into +Switzerland. There was only one driver to the whole train. He went along +with the front wagon, and all the rest followed on in a line. The horses +were trained to follow in this way. Thus one man could take charge of a +train of six or eight wagons. + +"There was one very curious thing in the arrangement, and that was, that +the last horse in the train had a bell on his neck, something like a cow +bell. This was to prevent the driver from having to look round +continually to see whether the rest of the horses were coming or not. As +long as he could hear the bell on the last one's neck he knew they were +all coming; for none of the middle ones could stop without stopping all +behind them. + +"I suppose that sometimes some of the horses in the train would stop; +then the driver would observe that the bell ceased to ring, and he would +stop his own wagon, and go back to see what was the matter. If he found +that any of them stopped to eat grass by the way, or because they were +lazy, he would give them a whipping, and start them on, and that would +teach them to keep marching on the next time. + +"I know what I would do if I were the last horse. Whenever I wanted to +stop and rest I would keep shaking my head all the time, and that would +make the driver think that I was coming along. + +"One time, when we were stopping to change horses, I heard some one +below me calling to me, + +"'Rollo!' + +"I believe I was asleep at that time, and dreaming about something, +though I don't remember what it was. I started up and reached out as far +as I could over the boot, and looked down. I found it was my mother +calling to me. + +"'Rollo,' says she, 'how do you get along?' + +"'Very nicely indeed, mother,' says I; 'and how do you get along?' + +"'Very well,' says she. + +"Just then I happened to think of my oranges; so I asked mother if she +was not thirsty, and she said she was a little thirsty, but she did not +see how she could get any drink until the morning, for the houses were +all shut up, and the people were in bed and asleep. So I told her that I +had an orange for her and for father. She said she was very glad indeed. + +"I could not get down very well to give the oranges to her, so I put +them in my little knapsack, and let them down by a string. I had the +string in my pocket. + +"Mother took the oranges out of the knapsack, and then I pulled it up +again. I told her that I had plenty more for myself. + +"Father cut a hole in one of the oranges that I sent down to mother, and +then she squeezed the juice of it out into her mouth. She said +afterwards that I could not conceive how much it refreshed her. I don't +think _she_ could conceive how glad I was that I had bought it for her. + +"A little while after sunrise we came to a village where we were going +to change horses, and the conductor said that we should stop long enough +to go into the inn if we pleased, and get some coffee. So father and +mother got out of the coupe, and went in. I climbed down from my place, +and went with them. Mother said she went in more to see what sort of a +place the inn was than for the sake of the coffee. + +"It was a very funny place. The floor was of stone. There was one table, +with cups on it for coffee, and plates, and bread and butter. The loaves +of bread were shaped like a man's arm--about as big round, and a good +deal longer. The coffee was very good indeed, on account of there being +plenty of hot milk to put into it. + +"After we had had our breakfast we went on, and the rest of our ride was +through a most magnificent country. There was a long, winding valley, +with beautiful hills and mountains on each side, and a deep chasm in the +middle, with the River Rhone roaring and tumbling over the stones down +at the bottom of it. The road went wheeling on down long slopes, and +around the hills and promontories, with beautiful green swells of land +above it and below it. The horses went upon the run. The postilion had a +little handle close by his seat--a sort of crank--that he could turn +round and round, and so bring a brake to bear against the wheels, and +thus help to hold the carriage back. When he began to go down a slope he +would turn this crank round and round as fast as he could, till it was +screwed up tight, cheering the horses on all the time; and then he would +take his whip and crack it about their ears, and so we go down the +hills, and wheel round the great curves, almost on the run, and could +look down on the fields and meadows and houses in the valley, a thousand +feet below us. It was the grandest ride I ever had. + +"But I have been so long writing this letter that I am beginning to be +tired of it, though I have not got yet to Geneva; so I am going to stop +now. The rest I will tell you when I see you. + + "Your affectionate cousin, + + "ROLLO." + +"P.S. There is one thing more that I will tell you, and that is, that +we went through a castle at one place in the valley. It was a castle +built by the French to guard their frontier. Indeed, there were two +castles. The road passes directly through one of them, and the other is +high up on the rocks exactly above it. The valley is so narrow, and the +banks are so steep, that there is no other possible place for the road +except through the lower castle. The road has to twist and twine about, +too, just before it comes to the castle gates, and after it goes away +from them on the other side, so that every thing that passes along has +some guns or other pointing at them from the castle for more than a +mile. I don't see how any enemy could possibly get into France this way. + +"There was also a place where the Rhone goes under ground, or, rather, +under the rocks, and so loses itself for a time, and then after a while +comes out again. It is a place where the river runs along in the bottom +of a very deep and rocky chasm, and the rocks have fallen down from +above, so as to fill up the chasm from one side to the other, and all +the water gets through underneath them. We looked down into the chasm as +the diligence went by, and saw the water tumbling over the rocks just +above the place where it goes down. I should have liked to stop, and to +climb down there and see the place, but I knew that the diligence would +not wait." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE TOWN. + + +The valley described by Rollo in his letter to Lucy, contained in the +last chapter, is indeed a very remarkable pass. The Romans travelled it +nearly two thousand years ago, in going from Italy to France, or, as +they called it, Gaul. Caesar describes the country in his Commentaries; +and from that day to this it has been one of the greatest thoroughfares +of Europe. + +The valley is very tortuous, and in some places it is very narrow; and +the road runs along through it like a white thread, suspended, as it +were, half way between the lofty summits of the mountains and the +roaring torrent of the Rhone in the deep abyss below. + +After emerging from this narrow pass, the road comes out into an open +country, which is as fertile and beautiful, and as richly adorned with +hamlets, villas, parks, gardens, and smiling fields of corn and grain, +as any country in the world. At length, on coming over the summit of a +gentle swell of land, that rises in the midst of this paradise, the +great chain of the Alps, with the snowy peak of Mont Blanc crowning it +with its glittering canopy of snow, comes suddenly into view. + +"Look there!" said the conductor to the company on the banquette. "See +there! the Mont Blanc, all uncovered!" + +The French always call Mont Blanc _the_ Mont Blanc, and for _all clear +and in plain view_ they say _all uncovered_. + +It is calculated that there are only about sixty days in the year, upon +an average, when Mont Blanc appears with his head uncovered. They, +therefore, whose coming into Switzerland he honors by taking off his +cap, have reason greatly to rejoice in their good fortune. + +Rollo had seen snow-covered mountains shining in the sun before; but he +was greatly delighted with this new view of them. There is indeed a +peculiar charm in the sight of these eternal snows, especially when we +see them basking, as it were, in the rays of a warm summer's sun, that +is wholly indescribable. The sublime and thrilling grandeur of the +spectacle no pen or pencil can portray. + +[Illustration: VIEW OF GENEVA] + +After passing over the hill, and descending into the valley again, the +company in the diligence came soon in sight of the environs of Geneva. +They passed by a great many charming country seats, with neat walls of +masonry bordering the gardens, and wide gateways opening into pretty +courts, and little green lawns surrounding the chateaux. At length the +diligence came thundering down a narrow paved street into the town. +Every thing made haste to get out of the way. The postilion cracked his +whip, and cheered on his horses, and shouted out to the cartmen and +footmen before him to clear the way, and made generally as much noise +and uproar as possible, as if the glory of a diligence consisted in the +noise it made, and the sensation it produced in coming into town. + +At length the immense vehicle wheeled round a corner, and came out upon +a broad and beautiful quay. The quay had a range of very elegant and +palace-like looking houses and hotels on one side, and the water of the +lake--exceedingly clear, and bright, and blue--on the other. The place +was at the point where the water of the lake was just beginning to draw +in towards the outlet; so that there was a pretty swift current. + +The engraving represents the scene. In the foreground we see the broad +quay, with the buildings on one side, and the low parapet wall +separating it from the water on the other. In the middle distance we see +the diligence just coming out upon the quay from the street by which it +came into the town. A little farther on we see the bridge by which the +diligence will pass across to the other side of the river--the diligence +offices being situated in the row of buildings that we see on the +farther side. This bridge is not straight. There is an angle in it at +the centre. From the apex of this angle there is a branch bridge which +goes out to a little island in the lake. This island is arranged as a +promenade, and is a great place of resort for the people of Geneva. +There are walks through it and all around it, and seats under the trees, +and a parapet wall or railing encircling the margin of it, to prevent +children from falling into the water. + +As the diligence rolled along the quay, and turned to go over the +bridge, Rollo could look out in one direction over the broad surface of +the lake, which was seen extending for many miles, bordered by gently +sloping shores coming down to the water. On the other side the current +was seen rapidly converging and flowing swiftly under another bridge, +and thence directly through the very heart of the town. + +The diligence went over the bridge. While it was going over, Rollo +looked out first one way, towards the lake, and then the other way, down +the river. On the lake side there was a steamboat coming in. She was +crowded with passengers, and the quay at the other end of the bridge, +where the steamer was going to land, was crowded with people waiting to +see. + +On the other side of the bridge, that is, looking down the stream, Rollo +saw a deep blue river running more and more swiftly as it grew narrower. +There were several other bridges in sight, and an island also, which +stood in the middle of the stream, and was covered with tall and +ancient-looking buildings. These buildings indeed more than covered the +original island; they extended out over the water--the outer walls +seeming to rest on piles, between and around which the water flowed with +the utmost impetuosity. The banks of the river on each side were walled +up, and there were streets or platform walks along the margin, between +the houses and the water. There were a great many bridges, some wide and +some narrow, leading across from one bank to the other, and from each +bank to the island between. + +The diligence passed on so rapidly that Rollo had very little +opportunity to see these things; but he resolved that as soon as they +got established in the hotel he would come out and take a walk, and +explore all those bridges. + +"It is just such a town as I like," said he to himself. "A swift river +running through the middle of it--water as clear as a bell--plenty of +foot bridges down very near to the water, and ever so many little +platforms and sidewalks along the margin, where you can stand and fish +over the railings." + +In the mean time the diligence went thundering on over the bridge, and +then drove along the quay, on the farther side, past one office after +another, until it came to its own. Here the horses were reined in, and +the great machine came to a stand. The doors of the lower compartments +were opened, and the passengers began to get out. Two ladders were +placed against the side, one for the passengers on the banquette to get +down by, and the other to enable the blouses that stood waiting there to +uncover and get down the baggage. Rollo did not wait for his turn at the +ladder, but climbed down the side of the coach by means of any +projecting irons or steps that he could find to cling to. + +"Now, Rollo," said Mr. Holiday, "the hotel is pretty near, and we are +going to walk there. I am going to leave you here to select out our +baggage, when they get it down, and to bring it along by means of a +porter." + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "I should like to do that. But what hotel is +it?" + +"The Hotel de l'Ecu," said Mr. Holiday. + +So Mr. and Mrs. Holiday walked along the pier to the hotel, leaving +Rollo to engage a porter and to follow in due time. + +The porter carried the baggage on his back, by means of a frame, such as +has been already described. Rollo followed him, and thus he arrived at +last safely at the hotel. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE HOTEL. + + +One of the greatest sources of interest and pleasure for travellers who +visit Switzerland and the Alps for the first time, especially if they +are travellers from America, is the novelty of the arrangements and +usages of the hotels. + +One reason why every thing is so different in a Swiss hotel from what we +witness in America is, that all the arrangements are made to accommodate +parties travelling for pleasure. Every thing is planned, therefore, with +a view of making the hotel as attractive and agreeable to the guests as +possible. + +The Hotel de l'Ecu, where our party have now arrived, is very pleasantly +situated on the quay facing the lake. It stands near the further end of +the bridge, as seen in the engraving on page 58. It is the building +where you see the flag flying. + +Indeed, all the principal hotels in Geneva are situated on the quay. +Quite a number of the large and handsome edifices which you see in the +engraving, on both sides the water, are hotels. The hotel keepers know +very well that most of the travellers that come to Switzerland come not +on business, but to see the lakes, and mountains, and other grand +scenery of their country. Accordingly, in almost every place, the +situation chosen for the hotels is the one which commands the prettiest +views. + +Then, in arranging the interior of the house, they always place the +public apartments, such as the breakfast and dining rooms, and the +reading room, in the pleasantest part of it; and they have large windows +opening down to the floor, and pretty little tables in the recesses of +them, so that while you are eating your breakfast or reading the +newspapers you have only to raise your eyes and look out upon the most +charming prospects that the town affords. + +Then, besides this, they have gardens, and summer houses, and raised +terraces, overlooking roads, or rivers, or beautiful valleys, and little +observatories, and many other such contrivances to add to the charms of +the hotel, and make the traveller's residence in it more agreeable. + +They hope in this way to induce the traveller to prolong his stay at +their house. And it has the intended effect. Indeed, at almost every +hotel where a party of travellers arrive, in a new town, their first +feeling almost always is, that they shall wish to remain there a week. + +What a pleasant place! they say to each other; and what a beautiful +room! Look at the mountains! Look at the torrent pouring through the +valley! What a pretty garden! And this terrace, where we may sit in the +evening, and have our tea, and watch the people across the valley, going +up and down the mountain paths. I should like to stay here all summer. + +Then the next place where they stop may be on a lake; and there, when +they go to the window of their rooms, or of the breakfast room, they +look out and say,-- + +Ah! see what a beautiful view of the lake! How blue the water is! See +the sail boats and the row boats going to and fro. And down the lake, as +far as I can see, there is a steamer coming. I see the smoke. And +beyond, what a magnificent range of mountains, the tops all covered with +glaciers and snow! + +When Rollo entered the hotel at Geneva, he found himself ushered first +into a large, open apartment, which occupied the whole centre of the +building, and extended up through all the stories, and was covered with +a glass roof above. There were galleries all around this apartment, in +the different stories. Doors from these galleries, on the back sides of +them, led to the various rooms, while on the front sides were railings, +where you could stand and look down to the floor below, and see the +travellers coming and going. + +At one end of this hall was a winding staircase, with broad and easy +stone steps. This staircase ascended from story to story, and +communicated by proper landings with the galleries of the several +floors. + +This hall, though it was thus very public in its character, was very +prettily arranged. The galleries which opened upon it on the different +stories were adorned with balconies, and the walls of it were hung with +maps and pictures of Alpine scenery, pretty engravings of hotels +standing in picturesque spots on the margins of lakes, or on the banks +of running streams, or hidden away in some shady glen, in the midst of +stupendous mountains. Then, besides these pictures, the hall was adorned +with statues, and vases of flowers; and there was a neat little table, +with writing materials and the visitor's book upon it, and various other +fixtures and contrivances to give the place an agreeable and home-like +air. + +As Rollo came into the hall, accompanied by the porter, a clerk came out +to meet him from a little office on one side, and told him that his +father and mother were in their room; and he sent a messenger to show +Rollo and the porter the way to it. + +Rollo accordingly followed the messenger and the porter up stairs, and +was ushered into a very pleasant room on the second story, looking out +upon the lake and the river. Rollo went immediately to the window. His +mother was sitting at the window when he entered the room. + +"This is a pretty window, Rollo," said she; "come and look out. + +"See how many bridges!" said she, when Rollo had come to her side. + +"And how swift the water runs under them!" said Rollo. + +"There are some boys fishing," said Mrs. Holiday. + +"Yes," said Rollo; "I should think there would be plenty of trout in +such a river as this, it runs so swift and is so clear. This is just +such a place as I like. See that big water wheel, mother." + +So saying, Rollo pointed to a large mill wheel which was slowly +revolving by the side of a building that projected out over the water, +on the island. + +The island where Rollo saw the wheel was not the one seen in the +engraving on page 58. That is called the _islet_, and it stands _in the +lake_, entirely on the outer side of the first bridge. The _island_, on +the other hand, stands in the rapid current of the river, below the +second bridge, and is entirely covered, as has already been said, with +tall and very antique looking buildings. The current is so rapid along +the sides of this island, and along the adjacent shores, that it will +carry a mill any where wherever they set a wheel. + +"After we have had breakfast," said Rollo, "I mean to go out and explore +all those bridges, and go about all over the island." + +"Yes," said Mrs. Holiday; "that will be very pleasant. I should like +very much to go with you; and I will, if the sun does not come out too +warm." + +By this time Mr. Holiday had paid and dismissed the porter; and he now +turned to Rollo, and asked him if he would like to go down and order +breakfast. Rollo said that he should like to go very much. + +"Go down, then," said Mr. Holiday, "into the dining room, and choose a +table there, near a pleasant window, and order breakfast." + +"What shall I order?" asked Rollo. + +"Any thing you please," said Mr. Holiday; "you know what will make a +good breakfast." + +So Rollo went out of the room, in order to go down stairs. He passed +all around the gallery of the story he was in, looking at the pictures +that were hung upon the walls as he went, and then descended the +staircase to the lower floor. Here he found doors opening into the +dining room, which extended along the whole front of the hotel towards +the lake. The room was large, and was very beautifully furnished. There +was a long table extending up and down the middle of it. On the back +side were sofas, between the doors. On the front side was a range of +windows looking out upon the river. The windows were large, and as the +walls of the hotel were very thick, a recess was formed for each, and +opposite each recess was a round table. These tables were all set for +breakfasts or dinners. + +Some of these tables were occupied. Rollo chose the pleasantest of the +ones that were at liberty, and took his seat by the side of it. +Presently a very neatly-dressed and pleasant-looking young man came to +him, to ask what he would have. This was the waiter; and Rollo made +arrangements with him for a breakfast. He ordered fried trout, veal +cutlets, fried potatoes, an omelette, coffee, and bread and honey. His +father and mother, when they came to eat the breakfast, said they were +perfectly satisfied with it in every respect. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +A RIDE IN THE ENVIRONS. + + +One morning, a day or two after our party arrived at Geneva, Mr. Holiday +told Rollo, as they were sitting at their round breakfast table, at one +of the windows looking out upon the lake, that he had planned a ride for +that day; and he said that Rollo, if he wished, might go too. + +"Well, sir," said Rollo; "only I think I should like better to go and +take a sail." + +"I believe boys generally like to sail better than to ride," said Mr. +Holiday; "but the places that we are going to are where we cannot reach +them in a boat. However, I will make you an offer. We are going to ride +in a carriage to-day, and we should like very much to have you go with +us. Now, if you will go with us on this ride, I will go and take you out +on the lake to sail some other day." + +"Well, sir," said Rollo, joyfully. "But how far will you take me?" + +"As far as you wish to go," said Mr. Holiday. + +"O, father!" said Rollo; "I should wish to go to the very farthest end +of the lake." + +"Well," said his father, "I will take you there." + +It must not at all be supposed from this conversation that Mr. Holiday +considered it necessary to make a bargain with his boy, to induce him to +go any where or to do any thing that he desired. He put the case in this +way to amuse Rollo, and to interest him more in proposed expeditions. + +"There are three distinguished personages," said Mr. Holiday, "whose +names and histories are intimately associated with Geneva, because they +all lived in Geneva, or in the environs of it. These three persons are +Madame de Stael, John Calvin, and Voltaire. I will tell you something +about them on the way. As soon as you have finished your breakfast you +may go and engage a carriage for us. Get a carriage with two horses, and +have it ready at half past ten." + +Rollo was always much pleased with such a commission as this. He engaged +a very pretty carriage, with two elegant black horses. The carriage had +a top which could be put up or down at pleasure. Rollo had it put down; +for, though it was a pleasant day, there were clouds enough in the sky +to make it pretty shady. + +There was a front seat in the carriage, where Rollo might sit if he +chose; but he preferred riding outside with the postilion. + +"And then," said Rollo to his father, "if there are any directions to be +given to the postilion, or if you have any questions for me to ask, I +can speak to him more conveniently." + +"Is that the true reason why you wish to ride there?" asked his father. + +"Why, no, father," said Rollo. "The true reason is, that I can see +better." + +"They are both very good reasons," said Mr. Holiday. "Then, besides, +when you get tired of riding there you can come inside." + +Accordingly, when the carriage came to the door, Rollo, after seeing his +father and mother safely seated inside, mounted on the top with the +postilion, and so they rode away. + +They repassed the bridge by which they had entered Geneva, and then +turned to the right by a road which led along the margin of the lake, at +a little distance from the shore. + +The road was very smooth and hard, and the country was beautiful. +Sometimes the road was bordered on each side by high walls, which formed +the enclosures of gardens or pleasure grounds. Sometimes it was open, +and afforded most enchanting views of the lake and of the ranges of +mountains beyond. But what chiefly amused and occupied Rollo's mind was +the novelties which he observed in the form and structure of every thing +he saw by the wayside. Such queer-looking carts and wheelbarrows, such +odd dresses, such groups of children at play, such gates, such +farmyards, such pumps and fountains by the roadside--every thing, +indeed, was new and strange. + +After the party had been riding about an hour and a half, they passed +through a village which consisted, like those which Rollo had seen on +the road from Lyons, of compact rows of old and quaint-looking stone +houses, close to the roadside. The postilion stopped at this village to +give the horses a little drink. + +"Now, Rollo," said Mr. Holiday, "I wish you would get down, and come +inside a little while." + +Rollo obeyed; and when the carriage began to go on again, his father +addressed him as follows: + +"We are going to see the residence of Madame de Stael. She was one of +the most celebrated ladies that ever lived. She was distinguished as an +authoress. You don't know any thing about her now, and I suppose you +don't care much about her." + +"No, sir," said Rollo; "I do not." + +"But then," continued his father, "in a few years more you will very +probably read some of her writings; and at any rate you will often hear +of them. One of the most celebrated of her works is a tale called +Corinne." + +"Ah, yes," said Rollo; "I have heard of Corinne. The first class in +French studied it at school." + +"Very likely," said Mr. Holiday. "It is a very good text book for +studying French. At any rate it is a famous book, and Madame de Stael is +a very celebrated author. She was a lady, too, while she lived, of great +personal distinction. Her rank and position in society were very +exalted. She associated with kings and princes, and was closely +connected with many of the great political transactions of the day in +which she lived. This, of course, added greatly to her renown. + +"Her father was a very distinguished man, too. His name was Monsieur +Necker. He was a great statesman and financier. The King of France got +his money affairs in the greatest confusion and difficulty, and he +appointed Monsieur Necker his minister of finance, to try to put them in +order." + +"And did he succeed?" asked Rollo. + +"No," said Mr. Holiday; "it was too late. The disorder was hopeless, and +it ended in the great French revolution. But Necker became a very +celebrated character in history. We are going to see the chateau where +he lived. We shall see the room where his daughter wrote Corinne. I +wish you to observe carefully all that you see, and remember it. +Hereafter, when you come to read the history of France and the writings +of Madame de Stael, you will look back with great pleasure to the visit +you made when a boy to the chateau of Necker, near Geneva." + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo, "I will." + +A short time after this the carriage stopped in a shady place under some +trees, near the entrance to a village. The postilion descended and +opened the carriage door, and then pointed up an avenue of trees, which +he said led to the chateau. Mr. and Mrs. Holiday got out of the carriage +and walked up the avenue. Rollo followed them. + +They came at length to the chateau. There was a large portal, closed by +an iron gate. On one side of the portal was a lodge. A porter came out +of the lodge, and Mr. Holiday asked him if they could see the chateau. +He answered very politely that they could; and immediately opening the +iron gate, he ushered the whole party into the court yard. + +The court yard was a very pleasant place. It was surrounded on three +sides by the buildings of the chateau, which were quite imposing in +their character, like a palace. The fourth side was formed by a handsome +wall, with a large ornamented gateway in the centre of it, leading into +a garden. + +The entrance to the chateau was at a large door in the middle of one +side of the yard. The porter ascended the steps, and rang the bell. He +said to Mr. Holiday that some one would come to conduct the party over +the chateau, and then went back to his lodge. + +Presently a well-dressed man came to the door. He received the party in +a very polite and friendly manner, and invited them in. + +The first apartment that they entered was a hall. The hall was very +large, and was finished and furnished like a room, with chairs, sofas, +and a great fireplace. On one side was a broad stone staircase, +ornamented with a massive balustrade. The concierge led the way up this +staircase to a sort of gallery on the second story. From this gallery a +door opened, leading to the suite of apartments which Monsieur Necker +and his distinguished daughter had occupied. + +The rooms were constructed and arranged in the style common in French +palaces. They were situated in the line of building which formed the +front of the chateau; and on the front side of each of them were windows +looking out upon the lake. Of course these windows formed the range of +windows in the second story of the principal front of the edifice. + +On the back side of each of these rooms was a door communicating with +the gallery behind them, or with some subordinate apartments depending +upon them. + +Besides these doors, there were others which connected the different +apartments of the suite with each other. These doors were all in a line, +and they were near the side of the room where the windows were which +looked out upon the lake. Thus one could pass through the whole suite of +apartments by walking along from one to another through these doors, +passing thus just in front of the range of windows. + +The rooms were all beautifully furnished in the French style. There were +richly carved cabinets and book cases, and splendid mirrors, and sofas +and chairs, and paintings and statues. One room was the library. Another +was a bedroom. In one there were several portraits on the wall. Mr. and +Mrs. Holiday seemed particularly interested in examining these +portraits. One represented Madame de Stael herself; another, her father, +Monsieur Necker; a third, her mother, Madame Necker. Besides these, +there were some others of the family. + +Rollo looked at all these portraits, as his father requested him to do; +but he was more interested in two other objects which stood on a table +in the same room. These objects were two little figures, one +representing a horse and the other a lamb. These figures were under a +glass. The horse was about a foot long, and the lamb about six inches. +The horse was of a very pretty form, and was covered with hair, like a +living animal. The lamb in the same manner was covered with wool. +Indeed, they were both in all respects models of the animals they +represented in miniature. + +Rollo asked the concierge what they were. + +"Ah," said he, "those are models of a favorite horse and a favorite lamb +that belonged to Monsieur Necker. When they died he was very sorry; and +he had these models of them made, to perpetuate the memory of them." + +After this, in other rooms, the party were shown the table at which +Madame de Stael sat in writing Corinne, and the inkstand that she used; +and when they went down stairs, the concierge showed them into a large +hall, which was situated directly below the rooms they had been +visiting, where he said Madame de Stael used to have her dramas +performed from time to time before an audience of friends and visitors +from the neighborhood. + +At length the concierge conducted the party to the door where they had +come in. There Mr. Holiday, after giving him a franc, thanked him for +his politeness, and bade him good bye. The party took a little walk in +the garden, and then returned to the carriage and rode away. + +The bodies of Monsieur Necker and of his daughter lie buried in a little +grove of trees near the house. The party saw the grove, but visitors are +not allowed to go to the graves. + +On leaving the chateau, the carriage turned off from the lake, and took +a road that led back more into the interior. + +"What are we going to see next, father?" said Rollo. + +"We are going to see the house where the famous philosopher, Voltaire, +lived," replied Mr. Holiday; "though on the way we are going to see a +fountain and cascade." + +"Is there any thing very remarkable about the fountain?" asked Rollo. + +"I don't know," said Mr. Holiday; "only it is mentioned in the guide +books as worth being visited." + +So the carriage drove on through a very beautiful country, with fields, +and gardens, and country seats, and ancient chateaux bordering the way. +From time to time, Rollo, on looking back, obtained splendid views of +the lake behind him, and of the gently-sloping and highly-cultivated +shore on the opposite side, with the snowy range of the Alps beyond, +shining in the sun. + +At length they arrived at a village, and stopped before an inn. The +postilion said that they were to stop there with the carriage, and go to +the fountain on foot. + +"I will call some one to show you the way," said he. + +So he went to one of the houses across the street, and called a woman of +the village, and she said that she would go to the school and call her +boy. + +"But it is a pity," said Mr. Holiday, "to take the boy away from his +school." + +"O, no," said the woman; "that is nothing at all." + +So she ran along the street of the village until she came to the school +house, and presently she returned with the boy. He had a book in his +hand. Rollo looked at the book, and found that it was a grammar. The +covers of it were worn, and the leaves tumbled, and the beginning and +end of it were filled with names scribbled on the blank pages, and rude +drawings, which made it look exactly like the school books of idle boys, +as Rollo had often seen them in America. + +Rollo gave back the book to the boy, and the boy gave it to his mother, +and then he began walking along the road, to show the party the way to +the fountain. + +He led them out of the village, and along the pleasant road, until at +length they came to a place where there was an open gateway, through +which they could see the beautiful grounds of a large country house, +which appeared like a hotel. There were ladies and gentlemen walking +about the grounds, along the margin of a large stream of water, or +sitting in groups under the trees. + +"What place is that?" said Rollo to the boy. + +"It is a place of baths," said the boy. + +Rollo wished to go in there and see the grounds; but the boy walked on, +and so Rollo followed him. After a time the guide turned off into a +field, and there took a path which led down toward a wood, where they +could hear water running. When they came into the wood they saw the +water. It was a large stream, large enough for a mill stream, and it ran +foaming and tumbling down over its rocky bed in a very picturesque +manner. + +The walk led along the bank of the stream, under the trees. It was a +wide and very pleasant walk, and was well gravelled. Here and there +there were little seats, too, at pretty places formed by the windings of +the glen. + +After walking along a little way, and not coming to any thing more, Mrs. +Holiday began to be tired. + +"I wonder," said she, "if there is any thing remarkable to see at the +end of this path." + +"I'll ask the boy," said Rollo. + +"Boy," he added, speaking to the little guide, "what is there to see up +here?" + +"It is this," said the boy, pointing to the brook. + +"Isn't there any thing else besides this stream?" asked Rollo. + +"No," said the boy. + +"He says there is not any thing else," said Rollo to his mother; "and so +I don't believe it is worth while to go any farther. We have seen this +brook enough, and you will get very tired." + +Mrs. Holiday sat down upon a green bench that happened to be near, at a +turn of the stream, in order to take time to consider the question. + +Mr. Holiday sat down beside her. + +"We will wait here, Rollo, while you go on with the boy, and see what +you can find. I think there must be something or other remarkable, for +they would not make so good a path as this to lead to nothing at all. +You may go on with the boy, and see what it comes to, and then you can +come back and tell us." + +Rollo liked this plan very much, and so he and the boy walked on. + +In about five minutes Mr. Holiday heard Rollo calling to him. + +"FA-THER! FA-THER!" said he. + +"_Well_," said Mr. Holiday, "_I hear_." + +"Come up here," said Rollo, calling out again. "It is a very curious +place indeed." + +So Mr. and Mrs. Holiday rose, and after following the path a short +distance farther through the wood, they came to where Rollo was. They +found, to their astonishment, that there the brook which they had been +following so long came to a sudden end, or rather to a sudden beginning; +for the whole volume of water that composed it was seen here to come +boiling up out of the ground in a sort of shallow basin, which was +formed on the hill side at the head of the glen. + +The place was very secluded, but it was very beautiful. It was shaded +with trees, which overhung the paths, and the basin, and the various +channels of water which flowed from it and around it. The water boiled +up very copiously from between the stones that had been set up to form +the margin of the basin, and also among the sands which formed the +bottom of it. The walk was conducted all around this singular fountain; +and it passed across the outlet, where the stream flowed away from it, +over a neat little stone dike, which formed the edge of the basin on the +lower side. + +Rollo led the way to the middle of this dike, and his father and mother +followed. They stood there for some time, looking down into the basin +to see the water boil up from between the stones and among the sands. + +"This is a very curious place indeed," said Mrs. Holiday. + +"It certainly is," said Mr. Holiday. + +"Well, father," said Rollo, after gazing for some time into the bubbling +and boiling fountain, "where does all this water come from? What makes +it come up out of the ground?" + +"Why, the truth is," said Mr. Holiday, "though it seems to come _up_, it +really comes _down_. + +"Do you see all this mountain up here?" he added. So saying he pointed +to the land which seemed to rise to a great height above the head of the +glen. + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo. + +"Well, this mountain," continued Mr. Holiday, "is full of water. All +mountains are full of water, for it rains on the summits and sides of +them almost continually, and this keeps them always full. Generally this +water drains off down into the valleys, through the beds of sand and +gravel that lie in the heart of the mountain, and so is not particularly +observed. Sometimes it breaks out in small springs, at various places on +the mountain sides; and sometimes the shape of the rocks and openings in +the mountain are such as to collect a great quantity of it in one +place, where it breaks out into the open ground altogether, as it does +here. There are a great many such fountains in Switzerland." + +"Are there any larger than this?" asked Rollo. + +"Yes," said Mr. Holiday, "ten times as large. Sometimes the water forms +quite a little river almost immediately after it comes out of the +ground." + +"I should like to see them," said Rollo. + +"Very likely you will see some of them," said his father. + +"But then, father," said Rollo, "if this water all comes from the rain, +I should think that when it stops raining on the mountain above, then or +soon afterwards the water would stop boiling up here." + +"No," said his father; "the mountain is so large, and the immense beds +of sand, gravel, and rock which it contains hold so much water, that +before all that has fallen in one rain has time to get drained away, +another rain comes, and so there is a perpetual supply, especially for +such fountains as come from channels that reach far into the mountain." + +After rambling about this spot for some time, the party returned down +the path; but instead of going back into the road again by the way they +came, the boy led them through a gate into the grounds of the hotel +which they had seen in coming. + +The grounds were very beautiful, being shaded with trees, and full of +walks; and the stream which came down the glen spread itself out in +various directions all over them, filling a great number of channels and +basins which had been opened here and there, and were seen in every +direction among the trees and foliage. The water flowed very swiftly +along from one of these basins to another, sometimes in a continuous +torrent, and sometimes by a series of cascades and waterfalls; and in +the bottoms of all the little ponds the water was seen boiling up in the +clean gray sand, just as it had done in the fountain up the glen. + +There were walks every where along the banks of these streams, and +little bridges leading across them. There were seats, too, and bowers, +and a great many other pretty places. At one spot under a tree was a +large white swan, or rather a sculptured image of one, sitting on a +marble stone, and pouring out a constant stream of clear cold water from +his mouth. Underneath, on a little marble slab, was a tumbler, placed +there to enable people to take a drink. Rollo stopped to take a drink; +but instead of using the tumbler, he caught the water in a drinking cup +which he had bought in Scotland, and which he always carried in his +pocket. + +After rambling about these grounds for some time, the party went back +through the yard of the hotel to the village. There they dismissed the +boy. Mr. Holiday gave him half a franc for guiding them. Then they got +into their carriage again, and rode on. + +In about an hour they came to a little village named Ferney, near which +was the chateau that was formerly the residence of the celebrated +philosopher Voltaire. The carriage stopped under some ancient trees, and +Mr. and Mrs. Holiday and Rollo got out and walked up an avenue. At the +head of the avenue they came to a gate which led into the grounds of the +chateau. + +There was a bell cord hanging by this gate, and a placard up, requesting +visitors to ring the bell, and not to enter the grounds until the +domestic should come to guide them. + +"Shall I ring, father?" said Rollo. + +"Yes," said Mr. Holiday; "ring away." + +So Rollo pulled the bell rope, and very soon a domestic came. He +received the company very politely, and invited them to follow him. + +Mr. and Mrs. Holiday and Rollo accordingly followed him into the yard. +The domestic led them round to the front of the house, which was turned +away from the road. The front faced a beautiful lawn, ornamented with +walks and trees. In one place there was a table under the trees, with +seats around it, as if the family were accustomed sometimes to take +their tea there. From this lawn there was a beautiful view of the lake +and of the mountains beyond. + +The domestic led them into the house, and showed them the two rooms in +it which contained most of the memorials of Voltaire. The most +remarkable of these memorials was a marble monument which stood on one +side of the room, and which Rollo said looked like an ornamental stove, +that contained Voltaire's _heart_. His body was buried in Paris, but his +heart was deposited in this sepulchral urn. + +Besides this there were a number of pictures in the room, which had been +placed there by Voltaire. Some of them had been given to him by the +emperors and kings that he had been acquainted with. + +Rollo, however, did not take much interest in any of these things. The +singular appearance of the room and of the furniture interested him in +some degree by its novelty, but in other respects he was very little +amused by what he saw. He was glad when the visit to the house was over, +and he came out again upon the lawn. + +From the lawn there was a very splendid view. There was a broad and very +fertile slope of land extending for several miles down to the shore of +the lake. Beyond it was seen the blue expanse of the water, and still +farther another magnificent slope of fertile and richly-cultivated land, +which extended back beyond the lake to the foot of the mountains. A +lofty range of snow-clad summits rose in the distance, the towering +summit of Mont Blanc reposing like a monarch in the midst of them. + +There was a curious covered walk along on one side of this lawn. It was +a walk covered with foliage. It was walled in on the sides, too, as well +as covered above with the foliage. Two hedges had been planted, one on +each side; and as they had grown, the leaves and branches had been +trimmed off straight and smooth like a wall. Then the tops had been +trained to meet overhead, and the foliage had been trimmed square and +flat on the upper side, and in an arch on the under side. So dense was +the growth of the leaves and branches that the whole alley was closely +and completely enclosed, so that it would not have been possible to look +out of it at all, had it not been that a row of square openings like +windows had been made on the side towards the lake. Any one could look +out and view the scenery through these openings as he walked along. + +Voltaire used to compose his works in this alley, it was said. He would +walk up and down, and dictate as he walked to his amanuensis, who sat +near at hand with pen and ink to write down the philosopher's words. + +After this the domestic conducted the party through a wood, and showed +them a tree which Voltaire had planted. It was now a tree of great size, +and apparently far advanced in age. + +Rollo took very little interest in this tree, and even his father and +mother did not appear to pay much attention to it. It seemed, however, +that other visitors had not felt the same indifference to it, for those +who had come to see it had picked off and cut off so many pieces of bark +to carry away as relics that the tree, on one side had become entirely +excoriated, and there was danger that in the end the poor sufferer from +these depredations would be killed. In order to protect it, therefore, +from any further injury, the proprietor had surrounded it with a little +circular paling, so that now nobody could come near enough to touch the +tree. + +Rollo was glad when the visit to this place was ended; so he ran on +before his father and mother in going out, and was on his seat by the +side of the postilion long before they came to the carriage. + +Ferney, though so near to Geneva, is within the confines of France, and +the carriage passed the line between the two countries in going home. +There was a little custom house and two or three armed policemen at the +frontier; but the party of travellers were not molested, and so in due +time they arrived safely home. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE JUNCTION OF THE ARVE. + + +One evening, when Rollo was walking with his father and mother on one of +the bridges which led over the river, they stopped at a place where two +boys were fishing, and looked down over the railing into the water. The +water was quite deep, but they could see the stones on the bottom of it +almost as distinctly as if they had been looking only through the air. + +"How very clear the water is!" said Mrs. Holiday; "and what a beautiful +tinge it has! What is the reason of it?" + +"I don't know what the reason is of the blue tinge," said Mr. Holiday; +"but the cause of its being so clear is, that it flows out of this great +lake, where it has been lying so long that it has had time to settle +perfectly. + +"There is a great difference in the streams of Switzerland," continued +Mr. Holiday. "Some are exceedingly clear, and some are exceedingly +turbid. There are two ways by which the turbid waters become purified. +One is, by being filtered through the sands under ground; and the other +is, by '_settling_', as we call it, in the lakes. The water of the +fountain that we saw on our way to Ferney was beautifully clear, and it +was made so by filtration in the sand, in coming down through the heart +of the mountain. This water, on the other hand, is made clear by its +impurities subsiding in the lake." + +"And it comes in muddy at the other end," said Rollo. + +"Not muddy, exactly," rejoined Mr. Holiday, "but very turbid. The +turbidness of it is not mud precisely. It comes from the grinding up of +rocks by the slow march of the glaciers over and among them. Thus all +the streams that come from glaciers are very turbid; and so long as the +waters flow on in an uninterrupted stream they continue turbid; but when +they form a lake, the particles of stone subside, and the water comes +out at the lower end of the lake perfectly clear." + +"And then continues clear till it gets to the ocean, I suppose," said +Mrs. Holiday. + +"Yes," replied Mr. Holiday, "unless some other turbid stream, which has +no lake to settle itself in, falls into it and pollutes it again. + +"That is the case with this river. It is very clear and beautiful here, +where it comes out of the lake, but the Arve comes in a mile or two +below Geneva, and brings an immense volume of turbid water. This makes +the whole river turbid again after the waters of the two rivers have +flowed long enough together to get well mixed, and then it continues +turbid all the way to the sea. There is no other lake to settle it. + +"I am told," said Mr. Holiday, "that the coming in of the turbid torrent +of the Arve into the clear blue waters of the Rhone is a very pretty +spectacle, and I should like very much to see it; but it is rather too +far to go." + +"O, no, father," said Rollo; "let us go." + +"How far is it?" asked Mrs. Holiday. + +"About a mile, I should think, by the map," said Mr. Holiday; "but there +seems to be no carriage road to the place. If there had been a carriage +road I should have taken you there; for I should like very well to have +you see the place." + +"But, father, we can walk there very easily," said Rollo. "There is a +nice path along the bank of the river. I saw it the other day, when I +was down below the bridge." + +"Well," said Mrs. Holiday, "I should like to go very much, if we could +go in the morning or in the evening, when it is cool. Is the walk shady, +Rollo?" + +"Yes, mother, it is shady in the morning. There is a high hedge all +along on one side of the path, and that keeps the sun off in the +morning. In the evening the sun comes round to the other side." + +"Then we will go in the morning," said Mrs. Holiday. "Let us get up +early to-morrow morning, and go before breakfast." + +Mrs. Holiday was really desirous of seeing this famous junction of the +Rhone and the Arve; but her chief interest in making the excursion arose +from her sympathy with Rollo, and from observing how much he wished to +go. It is always so with a mother. When her children are kind and +attentive to her, and obedient to her wishes, she always desires most +strongly to do what will most gratify them. + +The plan was arranged according to Mrs. Holiday's proposal, and the next +morning the party set out at half past six o'clock. Rollo led the way. + +"What I should like best," said Rollo, turning round so as to face his +father and mother, and walking backward, "would be to take a boat, and +shoot down the river under these bridges." + +"Ah," said his father, "that would not do. The current is too swift. At +any rate, if you were to go down you would never get the boat back +again. The water runs like a mill race. + +"Indeed, it _is_ a mill race," continued Mr. Holiday. "Don't you see the +mill wheels projecting into the stream, here and there? They are carried +by the natural force of the current." + +After passing by the buildings of the town, Rollo led the way over a +narrow wooden bridge, which passed across the old moat of the town. The +remains of a monstrous bastion were to be seen beyond it. + +"This is a part of the old fortifications," said Rollo. "They are +cutting them all to pieces now with roads and bridges leading in and out +the town." + +After going beyond these embankments, Rollo led the way to a path which +lay along the river side. Very soon the path began to be a very pleasant +one indeed. Mrs. Holiday was delighted with it. It was close to the +margin of the water, and only a very few inches above the level of it. +The current was very swift, and the water was so blue, and clear, and +beautiful, that it was a continual pleasure to look down into it, and to +watch the little waves and ripples that curled, and twirled, and dashed +against the shore. + +There was a row of willows between the paths and the water, or rather in +the margin of the water, for the path was so near to the stream that +there was scarcely room for the willows on the land. On the other side +of the path there was a close hedge, which formed the boundary of a +region of fields, meadows, and gardens. Here and there were gates +leading through this hedge; and the party, as they walked along, could +look through the openings and see the peasant girls coming out to their +work from the houses. The whole region, though it was highly cultivated +and extremely beautiful, was very flat and level, and was only raised +two or three feet above the level of the water. + +From each gateway or other opening through the hedge there were paths +leading off through the fields and gardens to the houses; and there were +steps at the gates leading down to the pathway that lay along the margin +of the stream. The people of the houses were accustomed, it seemed, to +come down there to get water. + +Thus the party walked along, with the rapid current of the river close +to their feet on one side, and the high green hedge shutting them in on +the other, while the tops of the willow trees spreading over their heads +completed the coolness and shadiness of the pathway. Rollo led the way, +and his father and mother followed, one by one, for the path was not +wide enough for two to walk together. + +[Illustration: THE WATER WHEEL.] + +Presently they came to a place where a large water wheel of a very +curious construction was seen revolving quite near the shore. They +stopped to look at it. They liked to see it revolving; and then besides +they wished to examine the construction of it. It was mounted on a frame +of timbers that had been set up for it in the water, at a little +distance from the shore. The wheel itself was much like the wheel of a +steamboat; only, in addition to the ordinary float boards, it had a +series of buckets on the edge of it, which took up the water from the +stream, as the wheel revolved, and emptied it into a trough above, as +they went over. From this trough there was a circular pipe, made very +strong, which conveyed the water by a subterranean aqueduct into the +field opposite, where it rose into a reservoir by the pressure of the +column in the pipe, and was used to irrigate the ground. + +Across the river at this place was a beautiful view of fields, +vineyards, terraces, and gardens; for on that side the bank was high, +and as the sun shone directly upon it, the whole scene presented to view +was extremely bright and beautiful. + +At one of the gates which opened through the hedge, Rollo stopped to +look in. He saw gardens laid out in squares, with corn, and beans, and +various garden vegetables growing luxuriantly in them. There were rows +of fruit trees, too, bordering the paths, and at a distance were to be +seen houses scattered here and there over the plain, the dwellings of +the owners of the land. Each house had its little barns and granaries +connected with it, the whole group being half concealed by the foliage +of the trees and shrubs that had been planted around it. + +"Will it do for us to go in," said Rollo to his father, "and walk a part +of the way through these gardens?" + +"Yes," said his father, "I presume it will do; but perhaps we had better +go down all the way by the path, and come back by the gardens." + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "that will be much the best plan. + +"But, father," continued Rollo, "if we should go across these gardens, +and keep on in that direction for some time, I suppose that we should +come to the Arve." + +"Yes," said his father; "the Arve is coming down from the mountains, and +flowing towards the Rhone not very far from here, on the other side of +this flat land. This land constitutes a sort of tongue lying between the +two rivers. I suppose it has been formed by the deposits that the Arve +brings down. I have no doubt that if we should walk across the tongue of +land, we should come to the Arve; but it is better to go on down the +path till we reach the point where the two rivers come together." + +"Well," said Rollo, "we will go on." + +So they went on along the path, as before. + +Rollo soon had occasion to be glad that he had acceded so readily to his +father's wishes to continue in the path; for he soon came to something +that amused him very much. It was a man sitting in the top of one of the +willow trees that overhung the path, fishing. The willow leaned very +much, and this made it easy to climb the stem of it. It had been headed +down, too, so that there was a pretty good place to sit on the top of +it. It was on the very brink of the stream, and indeed the leaning of +the stem carried the top of the willow somewhat over the water, and thus +it made quite a good place to sit and fish. + +The current flowed very swiftly under the willow tree, and the fishing +line was carried far down the stream. + +"Ah!" said Rollo; "that is just such a place as I should like to have. I +should like to sit up in that tree and fish all the morning." + +"I should think it might be a little lonesome," said Mr. Holiday. + +"No," said Rollo; "or perhaps there might be some other boys in the +other trees." + +So saying, Rollo looked up and down the stream, to see if there were +any other trees so formed as to furnish a seat for a fisherman in the +top of them; but there were none. + +Here you see a picture of the man as Rollo saw him. + +[Illustration: FISHING.] + +As the party went on after this they found evidences increasing that +they were drawing near to the junction of the rivers. The hedge became +less regular, and at length ceased altogether. Its place was supplied +by dense thickets formed of alders, willows, and long grass. The ground +became more and more uneven, and at length nothing of the path was left +but a narrow ridge or dike that had been formed artificially along the +shore, with a crooked little footway on the top of it. + +At last Rollo began to see through the bushes occasional glimpses of +water on the other side. + +"There, father!" said he, "there! We are coming to the Arve." + +"Yes," said Mrs. Holiday; "and I don't suppose that we can go much +farther." + +Indeed, it would have been impossible to go much farther, if there had +not been a small embankment made to serve for a pathway. The party, +though expecting every moment to be obliged to turn back, still went on. +At length the whole expanse of the Arve opened before them as it came in +from the left--its waters boiling, whirling, and sweeping in great +circles as it came on, and the whole surface of it as gray as the sand +on the shores. On the other side was the Rhone, blue, and pellucid, and +beautiful as the sky above. + +"What an extraordinary spectacle!" said Mr. Holiday. + +"Come, mother," said Rollo, "we can go on a good deal farther yet." + +Rollo was right; for the walk, instead of coming to an end at the +extremity of the point which separated the two rivers, was continued +along a little dike or embankment which seemed to have been made +artificially some distance down between the two streams. This dike was +very narrow, being just wide enough indeed for a narrow footpath. + +In advancing along this path it was very curious to observe the totally +different aspects of the water on the two sides of it. On the one side +it was turbid and gray, and perfectly opaque. You could not have seen +the pollywogs in the shallowest places along the margin. On the other +side it was so clear and transparent that you could have seen fishes +swimming where it was ten feet deep. It was of such a rich and beautiful +blue color, too, as if it had been tinted with a dye, and the color was +of so rich and brilliant a hue, that Mrs. Holiday was continually +admiring and praising it. + +This narrow path, dividing thus the waters of the two rivers, continued +several yards; but at length it came to an end. The party all went on +till they reached the extremity of it, and there, looking still farther +on, they saw the line of demarcation between the gray water and the +blue extending itself before them as far as they could see. The two +rivers remained for a long distance perfectly distinct, though +struggling and contending against each other, as it were, all the way. +The line was broken and indented all along by the strife of the +waters--the gray for a moment penetrating into the blue, and then the +next instant the blue forcing itself into the gray. The waters went on +struggling against each other in this manner as far as the eye could +follow them. + +The party remained on the extremity of the point a long time, observing +this singular phenomenon. At length it began to be pretty warm there; +for the narrow tongue of land which projected so far between the two +currents was exposed to the sun, which had now risen so high that there +was a good deal of heat in his rays. + +So they set out on their return home. On the way back they walked a +considerable distance through the fields and gardens. They went into +them from the path along the shore, through one of the open gates, and +they went back to the path again by another. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +SEEING MONT BLANC GO OUT. + + +"Father," said Rollo to Mr. Holiday, at dinner one day, "what are you +going to do this evening?" + +"We are going to see Mont Blanc go out," said his father. + +Mr. Holiday answered Rollo in French, using a phrase very common in +Geneva to denote the gradual fading away of the rosy light left upon +Mont Blanc by the setting sun; for the sun, just at the time of its +setting, gilds the mountain with a peculiar rosy light, as if it were a +cloud. This light gradually fades away as the sun goes down, until the +lower part of the mountain becomes of a dead and ghostly white, while +the roseate hue still lingers on the summit, as if the top of the +mountain were tipped with flame. These last beams finally disappear, and +then the whole expanse of snow assumes a deathlike and wintry whiteness. +The inhabitants of Geneva, and those who live in the environs, often go +out to their gardens and summer houses in the summer evenings, just as +the sun is going down, to see, as they express it, Mont Blanc go out;[E] +and strangers who visit Geneva always desire, if they can, to witness +the spectacle. There are, however, not a great many evenings in the year +when it can be witnessed to advantage, the mountain is so often +enveloped in clouds. + +[Footnote E: The phrase is, in French, _Pour voir le Mont Blanc +s'eteindre_.] + +Rollo had heard the phrase before, and he knew very well what his father +meant. + +"Well," said he, in a tone of satisfaction; "and may I go too?" + +"Yes," said his father; "we should like to have you go very much. But +there is a question to be decided--how we shall go. The best point of +view is somewhere on the shore along the lake, on the other side of the +bridge. There are three ways of going. We can walk across the bridge, +and then follow the road along the shore till we come to a good place, +or we can take a carriage, and order the coachman to drive out any where +into the neighborhood, where there is a good view of the mountain, or we +can go in a boat." + +"In a boat, father!" said Rollo, eagerly. "Let us go in a boat!" + +"The objection to that," said Mr. Holiday, "is, that it is more trouble +to go and engage a boat. There are plenty of carriages here at the very +door, and I can have one at a moment's notice, by just holding up my +finger." + +"And, father," said Rollo, "so there are plenty of boats right down here +by the quay, and I can get one of them in a moment, just by holding up +my finger." + +"Well," said Mr. Holiday, "we will go in a boat if you will take all the +trouble of engaging one." + +Rollo liked nothing better than this, and as soon as dinner was over he +went out upon the quay to engage a boat, while his father and mother +went up to their room to get ready to go. + +Rollo found plenty of boats at the landing. Some of them were very +pretty. He chose one which seemed to have comfortable seats in it for +his father and mother. It was a boat, too, that had the American flag +flying at the stern. Some of the boatmen get American flags, and raise +them on their boats, out of compliment to their numerous American +customers. + +Soon after Rollo had engaged the boat, his father and mother came, and +they all embarked on board. The boatman rowed them off from the shore. +The sun was just going down. There were a great many boats plying to and +fro about the lake, and the quays and the little islet were crowded with +people. + +After rowing about a quarter of a mile, the boatman brought the range of +the Alps into full view through an opening between the nearer hills. The +sun was shining full upon them, and illuminating them with a dazzling +white light, very beautiful, but without any rosy hue. + +"They don't look rosy at all," said Rollo. + +"No," said Mr. Holiday, "not now. They do not take the rosy hue till the +sun has gone down." + +The boatman rowed on a little farther, so as to obtain a still better +view. Mr. and Mrs. Holiday watched the mountains; but Rollo was more +interested in the scene immediately around him. He watched the boats +that were plying to and fro over the surface of the lake, and the +different parties of ladies and gentlemen in them. He gazed on the +quays, too, all around, and on the islet, which was not far off, and on +the people that he saw there, some walking to and fro, and others +leaning over the parapet and looking out upon the water. + +"Rollo," said Mr. Holiday, "see if there is a rudder." + +"Yes, father, there is," said Rollo. So saying, he climbed over the +seats, between his father and mother, and took his place by the rudder. + +"Steer us, then, over to the opposite shore, wherever you see there is a +pleasant place to land." + +Rollo was glad and sorry both to receive this command. He was glad to +have the pleasure of steering, but he was sorry that his father intended +to land. He would have preferred remaining out upon the water. + +He, however, obeyed his father's command, and steered towards the +farther shore, turning the head of the boat in an oblique direction, a +little way up the lake. Presently Mr. Holiday saw some friends of his in +a boat that was coming in the opposite direction. He ordered Rollo to +steer towards them. Rollo did so, and soon the boats came alongside. The +oarsmen of both boats stopped rowing, and the two parties in them came +to a parley. + +There was a little girl in the other boat, named Lucia. There was no +other child in that boat, and so there was nobody for Lucia to play +with. Lucia therefore asked her father and mother to allow her to get +over into Mr. Holiday's boat, so that she could have somebody to play +with. + +"Why, Lucia," said her mother, "Rollo is a great boy. He is too big to +play with you." + +"I know it," said Lucia; "but then he is better than nobody." + +Rollo might perhaps have been made to feel somewhat piqued at being +considered by a young lady as only better than nobody for a companion, +had it not been for the nature of the objection, which was only that he +was too large. So he felt complimented rather than otherwise, and he +cordially seconded Lucia's wish that she might be transferred to his +father's boat, and at length her mother consented. Lucia stepped +carefully over the gunwales, and thus got into Mr. Holiday's boat. She +immediately passed along to the stern, and took her place by the side of +Rollo at the rudder. The boats then separated from each other, and each +went on its own way. + +"What is this handle," said Lucia, "that you are taking hold of?" + +"It is the tiller," said Rollo. + +"And what is it for?" asked Lucia. + +"It is the handle of the rudder," said Rollo. "The rudder is what we +steer the boat by, and the tiller is the handle of it. The rudder itself +is down below the water." + +So Rollo let Lucia look over the end of the boat and see the rudder in +the water. + +Rollo then proceeded to explain the operation of the rudder. + +"You see," said he, "that when I move the tiller over _this_ way, then +the head of the boat turns the other way; and when I move it over _that_ +way, then the head of the boat comes round this way. The head of the +boat always goes the contrary way." + +"I don't see why it should go the contrary way," said Lucia. "I should +think it ought to go the same way." + +"No," replied Rollo; "it goes the contrary way. And now I am going to +steer to a good place to land on the shore over there." + +So saying, Rollo pointed to the shore towards which the boat was going. + +The boat was now drawing near the shore. There was first a landing, +where several small vessels were drawn up, and immense piles of wood in +great wood yards. + +This wood had a very singular appearance. The bark was all off, and the +ends of the logs looked rounded and worn, as if they had been washed in +the water. The reason was, that the wood had grown on the sides of the +mountains, and had been brought down to the lake by the torrents which +pour down the mountain sides with great force in time of rain. + +"We won't land in the wood yards--will we?" said Rollo. + +"No," said Lucia; "but _there's_ a pretty place to land, a little +farther on." + +So saying, Lucia pointed to a very pretty part of the shore, a little +farther on. There seemed to be a garden, and a little green lawn, with +large trees overshadowing it; and at one place there was a projecting +point where there was a summer house with a table in it, and a seat +outside, near the beach, under a bower. + +"Yes," said Rollo; "that is a very pretty place; but it looks like +private ground. I think we must not land there." + +As the boat glided by this place, Rollo and Lucia saw some ladies and +gentlemen sitting in the summer house. The gentlemen took off their hats +and bowed to Mr. and Mrs. Holiday as they passed by. + +Next the boat came to a place where there was a low parapet wall along +the shore, and behind it were to be seen the heads of a number of men +who seemed to be sitting at tables, and drinking coffee or beer. + +"Here is a good place to land," said Lucia. + +"No," said Rollo; "this seems to be some sort of public place, full of +men. We had better go a little farther." + +So Rollo steered on, keeping all the time at just a safe distance from +the shore. The water was most beautifully transparent and clear, so that +all the pretty stones and pebbles on the bottom could be seen very +distinctly at a great depth. + +"What pretty water!" said Lucia. + +"Yes," said Rollo, "it is so clear." + +"What makes it so clear?" asked Lucia. + +"Because the lake is so long," said Rollo, "and this is the lower end of +it, and the water has time to settle. At the other end, where the water +comes in, it is not so clear. This is the end where the water runs out." + +A moment afterwards they came to a very pleasant landing, at a place +where the road lay pretty near the water. Between the road and the +water, however, there was a space of green grass, with large trees +overshadowing it, and several wooden settees, painted green, under the +trees. + +"Ah!" said Rollo, "here is just the place for us. + +"Father," he added, "do you think it would be a good plan to land here?" + +"Yes," said his father; "we could not have had a better place. I thought +you would find a pleasant landing for us if I gave you the command." + +So Rollo brought the boat up to the shore, and they all got out. Mr. and +Mrs. Holiday walked up and took their seats on one of the settees, while +Rollo and Lucia began to run about and play along the parapet wall which +separated the promenade from the water. + +Mr. and Mrs. Holiday watched the mountains. The sun had now just gone +down, though his beams still tipped the summits of the hills, and were +reflected from the windows of the distant houses. The snow on the +mountains, too, began to assume a very beautiful rosy hue, which +increased in brilliancy the farther the sun went down, and the more the +lower lands became darkened. + +"How beautiful it is!" said Mrs. Holiday. + +"It is very beautiful indeed," said her husband. + +"Rollo," said Mrs. Holiday, "look at Mont Blanc. See how bright and rosy +he looks." + +"Yes, mother," said Rollo; "and look out on the lake, and see the heads +of those two boys swimming in the water." + +"Are those the heads of boys?" asked Mrs. Holiday. + +"Yes, mother," said Rollo; "see how far they are swimming out." + +When Mrs. Holiday looked back at the mountain, she found, to her great +disappointment, that the rosy color which had appeared so beautiful a +moment before had now disappeared; and the whole snowy side of the +range, up to the summits of the loftiest peaks, was of a cold, dead +white, as if the rays of the sun had been entirely withdrawn. + +"Ah! look!" she said to Mr. Holiday, in a tone of disappointment; "Mont +Blanc has gone out while we have been looking another way." + +Mr. Holiday gazed intently at the mountain, and very soon he saw the +rosy tint beginning to appear again on one of the summits, more +brilliant than ever. + +"No," said he, "the sun has not gone. I thought it could not have gone +down so soon. There must have been a cloud in the way." + +While Mr. Holiday had been speaking, the rekindling of the mountain had +gone on apace, and now the whole side of it was all in a glow. + +Just at this instant Rollo heard the sound of a gun. Lucia started and +looked alarmed. + +"What is that gun?" said Rollo; "and where was it? Let us look for the +smoke." + +So Rollo and Lucia, leaning over the parapet, began to look all about +among the boats and vessels of the lake, and along the opposite shore, +in the direction from which the sound of the report had seemed to come, +and very soon their eyes rested upon a volume of blue smoke which was +ascending from the bows of a little vessel that had just come in, and +was floating off gracefully into the air. + +"It is that vessel that has just got in," said Rollo. + +"Rollo," said Mrs. Holiday, "look at the mountain." + +Rollo turned his eye for a moment towards the mountain. All the lower +part of it was of a cold and deathlike whiteness, while the tip of the +summit was glowing as if it had been on fire. He was, however, too much +interested in the smoke of the gun to look long at the mountain. + +"Hark!" said he to Lucia; "let us see if they will not fire again." + +They did not fire again; and just as Rollo began to give up expecting +that they would, his attention, as well as that of Lucia, was attracted +to a little child who was playing with a small hammer in the gravel not +far from where they were standing. The mother of the child was sitting +on a bench near by, knitting. The hammer was small, and the claw of it +was straight and flat. The child was using it for a hoe, to dig a hole +in the gravel. + +"Now," said Rollo, "if I could find a shingle any where about here, I +would make that child a shovel to dig with." + +Rollo looked about, but there was nothing like a shingle to be seen. + +In a few minutes his father called him. + +"Rollo," said he, "we are going back. Mont Blanc has gone out. See!" + +Rollo looked. He saw that the last lingering rays of the sun had gone +from the summit of the mountain, though they still gilded a small +rounded cloud that floated just above it in the sky. + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo. "I'll go and call the boat." + +"We are not going back in the boat," said Mr. Holiday; "we have +concluded to walk round by land, and over the bridge. It will be better +for Lucia to go with us; but you may do as you please. You may walk with +us, or go in the boat with the boatman." + +Rollo at first thought that he should prefer to go in the boat; but he +finally concluded to accompany his father and mother. So the whole party +returned together by a pleasant road which led through a village by the +shore. + +When they came out to the quay they heard a band of music playing. The +band was stationed on the little islet which has already been described. +The party stopped on the bridge to listen; at least Mr. and Mrs. Holiday +listened, but Rollo and Lucia occupied themselves the while in looking +down in the clear depths of the water, which was running so swiftly and +so blue beneath the piers of the bridge, and watching to see if they +could see any fishes there. Lucia thought at one time that she saw one; +but Rollo, on examining the spot, said it was only a little crevice of +the rock wiggling. + +"What makes it wiggle?" asked Lucia. + +"The little waves and ripples of the current," said Rollo. + + * * * * * + +When Rollo reached the hotel, a gentleman who met the party in the hall +said to him,-- + +"Well, Rollo, have you been to see Mont Blanc go out?" + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo. + +"And how did you like it?" said the gentleman. + +"I liked it very much indeed," said Rollo. "I think it was sublime." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A LAW QUESTION. + + +"Now, father," said Rollo, one evening, as he was sitting at the window +with his father and mother, looking out upon the blue waters of the +Rhone, that were shooting so swiftly under the bridges beneath the +windows of the hotel, "you promised me that you would take as long a +sail on the lake with me as I wished." + +"Well," said his father, "I acknowledge the promise, and am ready to +perform it." + +"When?" asked Rollo. + +"At any time," said his father. + +"Then, father, let us go to-morrow," said Rollo. "We can't go to-night, +for I am going so far that it will take all day. I am going to the +farther end of the lake." + +"Very well," said his father; "I said I would take as long a sail as you +wished." + +"And I will go this evening and engage a sail boat," said Rollo, "so as +to have it all ready." + +There was always quite a little fleet of sail boats and row boats of +all kinds lying near the principal landing at the quay, ready for +excursions. Rollo's plan was to engage one of these. + +"No," said his father; "we will not take a sail boat; we will take a +steamboat." + +Besides the sail boats and row boats, there were a number of large and +handsome steamboats plying on the lake. There were two or three that +left in the morning, between seven and eight o'clock, and then there +were one or two at noon also. Those that left in the morning had time to +go to the farther end of the lake and return the same day; while those +that left at noon came back the next morning. Thus, to see the lake, you +could go in the forenoon of one day, and come back in the afternoon of +the same, or you could go in the afternoon of one day, and come back in +the morning of the next. + +"Which would you do?" said Mr. Holiday to Rollo. + +"But, father," said Rollo, "I think it would be pleasanter to go in a +sail boat. Besides, you said that you would take me to a sail; and going +in a steamboat is not sailing." + +"What is it doing?" said Mr. Holiday. + +"Steaming," said Rollo. "A steamer does not sail in any sense." + +Mr. Holiday smiled and then paused. He was reflecting, apparently, upon +what Rollo had been saying. + +"Then, besides," said Rollo, "don't you think, father, it would be +pleasanter to go in a sail boat?" + +"The first question is," said Mr. Holiday, "whether I am bound by my +promise to go with you in a sail boat, if you prefer it. I said I would +take you to a sail. Would taking you in a steamboat be a fulfilment of +that promise? Suppose we refer the question to an umpire, and see how he +will decide it." + +"Yes; but, father," said Rollo, "if you think it is best to go in the +steamer, I should not insist upon the sail boat, by any means; so it is +not necessary to leave it to any umpire. I will give it up." + +"I know you would be willing to give it up," said Mr. Holiday; "but then +we may as well first ascertain how the case actually stands. Let us +first determine what the promise binds me to. If it does not bind me to +go in a sail boat, then it is all right; there will be no need of any +giving up. If, on the other hand, my promise does bind me to go in a +sail boat, then you will consider whether you will release me from it or +not, if I ask it. Besides, it will amuse us to have the question +regularly decided; and it will also be a good lesson for you, in +teaching you to think and speak with precision when you make promises, +and to draw exact lines in respect to the performance of them." + +"Well, sir," said Rollo; "who shall be the umpire?" + +"Mr. Hall," said his father. "He is down in the dining room now, taking +tea." + +Mr. Hall was a lawyer, an acquaintance of Mr. Holiday's, whom he had +accidentally met at Geneva. + +"He is a lawyer," said Mr. Holiday, "and he will be a very good umpire." + +"Is it a law question?" asked Rollo. + +"Not exactly a law question," said Mr. Holiday, "but all such questions +require for an umpire a man who is accustomed to think precisely. That +is their very business. It is true that there are a great many other men +besides lawyers who think precisely; and there are some lawyers who +think and reason very loosely, and come to hasty and incorrect +conclusions. Still, you are more likely to get a good opinion on such a +subject from a lawyer than from other men taken at random. So, if you +please, you may go down and state the question to Mr. Hall, and I will +abide by his decision." + +"Well, sir," said Rollo, "I will." + +"Only," said Mr. Holiday, "you must state the question fairly. Boys +generally, when they go to state a question of this kind in which they +are interested, state it very unfairly." + +"How, for instance?" asked Rollo. + +"Why, suppose," said Mr. Holiday, "that you were to go to Mr. Hall, and +say, 'Mr. Hall, father promised me that he would take me out on a sail +upon the lake, as far as I wanted to go, and don't you think he ought to +do it?'" + +Rollo laughed heartily at this mode of putting the question. "Yes," said +he, "that sounds exactly like a boy. And what would be a fair way of +stating it?" + +"A fair way would be," said Mr. Holiday, "to present the simple question +itself, without any reference to your own interest in it, and without +any indication whatever of your own wish or opinion in respect to the +decision of it; as, for example, thus: 'Mr. Hall, I have a question to +ask you. Suppose one person promises another that he will take him out +to sail on the lake on a certain day; then, when the day comes, the +promiser proposes to go in the steamboat. Would that be a good +fulfilment of the promise, or not?'" + +"Well, sir," said Rollo, "I will state it so." + +So Rollo went down stairs into the dining room. There were various +parties there, seated at the different tables. Some were taking tea, +some were looking at maps and guide books, and some discussing the plan +of their tours. One of the sofas had half a dozen knapsacks upon it, +which belonged to a party of pedestrians that had just come in. + +Rollo looked about the room, and presently saw Mr. Hall, with his wife +and daughter, sitting at a table near a window. He went to him, and +stated the question. + +The lawyer heard Rollo attentively to the end, and then, instead of +answering at once, O, yes, or O, no, as Rollo had expected, he seemed to +stop to consider. + +"That is quite a nice question," said Mr. Hall. "Let us look at it. The +point is, whether an excursion in a steamboat is a _sail_, in the sense +intended by the promise." + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "that is the point exactly. I think it is not; +father thinks it is." + +The instant that these words were out of Rollo's mouth he was sorry that +he had spoken them; for by speaking them he had furnished an indication +to the umpire of what his own opinion and his own interests were in +respect to the decision, which it never is fair to do in such a case, +when the other party is not present to express _his_ views and advocate +his interests. The words once spoken, however, could not be recalled. + +"Steamboats are certainly not propelled by sails," said the lawyer, "but +yet we often apply the word _sailing_ to them. We say, for instance, +that a certain steamer will sail on such or such a day. So we say, There +was no news from such or such a place when the steamer sailed." + +"But it seems to me," said Rollo, "that the question is not what people +call it, but what it really is. The going of a steamboat is certainly +not sailing, in any sense." + +It was quite ingenious arguing on Rollo's part, it must be acknowledged; +but then it was wholly out of order for him to argue the question at +all. He should have confined himself strictly to a simple statement of +the point, since, as his father was not present to defend _his_ side of +the question, it was obviously not fair that Rollo should urge and +advocate his. + +"It might, at first view," said Mr. Hall, "seem to be as you say, and +that the question would be solely what the steamer actually does. But, +on reflection, you will see that it is not exactly so. Contracts and +promises are made in language; and in making them, people use language +as other people use it, and it is to be interpreted in that way. For +instance: suppose a lodging-house keeper in the country should agree to +furnish a lady a room in the summer where the sun did not come in at +all, and then should give her one on the south side of the house, which +was intolerably hot, and should claim that he had fulfilled his +agreement because the sun did not itself _come_ into the room at all, +but only shone in; that would not be a good defence. We must interpret +contracts and promises according to the ordinary use and custom of +people in the employment of language. + +"Still," said Mr. Hall, "although we certainly do apply the simple term +_sailing_ to a steamer, I hardly think that a trip in a steamer on a +regular and established route would be called, according to the ordinary +and established use of language, taking a sail. Was that the +promise--that one party would go with the other to _take a sail_ on the +lake?" + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "he promised to go and take a sail with me on +the lake, as far as I wanted to go." + +"Then," said Mr. Hall, "I should think, on the whole, that, in such a +place as this, where there are so many regular sail boats, and where +excursions on the lake in them are so common and so well recognized as a +distinct amusement, the phrase _taking a sail_ ought to be held to mean +going in a sail boat, and that making a voyage in a steamer would not be +fulfilling the promise." + +Rollo was extremely delighted in having thus gained his case, and he +went back to report the result to his father, in a state of great +exultation. + +After communicating to his father the decision of the umpire, Rollo said +that, after all, he did not wish to go in a sail boat if his father +thought it best to go in a steamer. + +"Well," said Mr. Holiday, "that depends upon how far we go. It is +pleasant enough to go out a short distance on the water in a sail boat, +but for a long excursion the steamer is generally considered much +pleasanter. In a sail boat you are down very low, near the surface of +the water, and so you have no commanding views. Then you have no shelter +either from the sun, if it is clear, or from the rain, if it is cloudy. +You are closely confined, too, or at least you can move about only a +very little; whereas in the steamer there is plenty of space, and there +are a great many groups of people, and little incidents are constantly +occurring to amuse you." + +"Besides," said Mrs. Holiday, "if you go in the steamer, I can go with +you." + +"Why, mother, could not you go in a sail boat too?" + +"No," said Mrs. Holiday; "I am afraid of sail boats." + +"O mother!" said Rollo; "there is not any danger at all." + +"Yes, Rollo," said his father, "there is some danger, for sail boats do +sometimes upset." + +"And steamboats sometimes blow up," said Rollo. + +"True," said his father; "but that only shows that there is danger in +steamboats too--not that there is no danger in sail boats." + +"Well, what I mean," said Rollo, "is, that there is very little danger, +and that mother has no occasion to be afraid." + +"There is very little danger, I grant," said Mr. Holiday; "but there is +just enough to keep ladies, who are less accustomed to the water than we +are, almost all the time uneasy, and thus to destroy for them the +pleasure of the excursion. + +"I'll tell you what I think will be the best plan. You and I will go out +and take a little sail to-night on the lake in a sail boat, and mother +may stay and watch us from the window, as she reads and sews. Then +to-morrow we will go together to make an excursion on the lake." + +Rollo liked this plan very much indeed, and his father sent him down to +the landing to engage the boat. "I will come down," said Mr. Holiday, +"by the time you get ready." + +So Rollo went down and engaged a boat. It was rigged, as all the boats +on the Lake of Geneva are, with what are called lateen sails. His +father soon came down, and they immediately embarked on board the boat, +and sailed away from the landing. As the boat moved away Rollo waved his +handkerchief to his mother whom he saw sitting on the balcony of the +hotel, waving hers to him. + +[Illustration: GOING TO TAKE A SAIL.] + +Rollo and his father sailed about the lake for nearly an hour. Mr. +Holiday said it was one of the pleasantest sails he ever had in his +life, and that he was very glad indeed that Mr. Hall decided against +him. + +He gave Rollo's mother a full account of the excursion when he got home. + +"The water was very smooth," said he, "and the air was cool and balmy. +There was a gentle breath of wind, just enough to float us smoothly and +quietly over the water. We had charming views of the town and of the +shores of the lake, and also of the stupendous ranges of snow-covered +mountains beyond." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +AN EXCURSION ON THE LAKE. + + +The Lake of Geneva is shaped, as has already been said, like the new +moon. One of the horns is towards the west; the other is towards the +south. Geneva is at the tip of the western horn. + +Of course, in sailing from Geneva to the other end of the lake, we go +from the west towards the east; and this renders it rather more +agreeable to make the excursion by an afternoon boat than by a morning +one; for in the afternoon, the sun, being then in the western part of +the sky, will be behind you, and so will not shine in your face; but, +instead of shining in your face and dazzling your eyes, it will be +shining upon and illuminating brilliantly the slopes of the mountains +that you are going to see. In other words, in the morning the mountains +are in shadow and the sun in your eyes; in the evening your eyes are +shaded, and the mountains glow with brilliancy and beauty. + +It is often very important to take notice thus of the manner in which +the sun shines in different parts of the day, in planning excursions +among the Alps. + +The middle of the day is a very exciting and animating time on the quay +at Geneva. It is then that the boats which left the other end of the +lake in the morning are expected to arrive; and a great concourse of +porters, guides, postilions, and bystanders of all sorts assemble to +receive the travellers. As the boats come in, it is very amusing to sit +on the balconies, or at the windows of the hotels which overlook the +quay, and watch the procession of tourists as they come over the plank +to land. There are family groups consisting of fathers, mothers, and +children, followed by porters bearing immense trunks, while they +themselves are loaded with shawls, cloaks, umbrellas, and carpet bags; +and parties of students, with all their travelling effects in knapsacks +on their backs; and schoolboys who have been making a tour of the Alps +with their teacher; and young brides, almost equally proud of their +husbands, of the new dignity of their own position, and of the grandeur +of an Alpine bridal tour. All these people, and the hundreds of +spectators that assemble to see them, fill the quay, and form a very +animated and exciting spectacle. + +When the time approaches for a boat to sail, which is in half an hour +after she arrives, we have a counterpart of this scene, the direction of +the current only being reversed. The tourists now go to the boat, the +porters, with their baggage, preceding them. A soldier stands at the +entrance to the plank, to look at the passports. Lines of officials on +each side guard the way. On the deck of the steamer, as soon as you get +on board, you find a great variety of picturesque looking groups, all, +however, having the air of being travellers for pleasure. Some are +arranging themselves in good seats for seeing the scenery. Others take +out their maps and guide books, and prepare to read the descriptions of +the places that they are going to see. Here and there children are to be +seen--the boys with little knapsacks, and the girls wearing very +broad-brimmed Swiss hats--neither paying any attention to the scenery, +but amusing themselves with whatever they find at hand to play with--one +with a little dog, another with a doll which has been bought for her at +Geneva, and a third, perhaps, with a whip, or a little wagon. + +Rollo took his seat by the side of his father and mother, in the midst +of such a scene as this, on the day of their embarkation, and occupied +himself sometimes by looking at the shores of the lake and the mountains +beyond, and sometimes by watching the movements and actions of the +various groups of tourists before him. In the mean time, the boat left +the landing, and began to glide along rapidly on her way over the +surface of the water. + +The shores of the lake are very fertile and populous, and at every eight +or ten miles, especially on the northern shore, you come to a large +town. The steamboats stop at these towns to take and leave passengers. +They do not, in such cases, usually land at a pier, but the passengers +come and go in large boats, and meet the steamer at a little way from +the shore. Rollo used to take great pleasure in going forward to the +bows of the steamer, and watch these boats as they came out from the +shore. If there were two of them, they would come out so far that the +track of the steamer should lie between them, and then, when the steamer +stopped her paddles, they would come up, one on one side and the other +on the other, and the passengers would come up on board by means of a +flight of steps let down from the steamer, just abaft the paddle boxes. +When the passengers had thus come up, the baggage would be passed up +too; and then those passengers who wished to go ashore at that place +would go down the steps in the boats, and when all were embarked, the +boats would cast off from the steamer, and the steamer would go on her +way as before. The boats then would row slowly to the land, with the +passengers in them that were to stop at that place. + +The way of paying for one's passage on board these boats was very +different from that adopted in America. There was no colored waiter to +go about the decks and saloons ringing a bell, and calling out, in a +loud and authoritative voice, Passengers who haven't settled their fare +will please call at the captain's office and settle. Instead of this, +the clerk of the boat came himself, after each landing, to the new +passengers that had come on board at that landing, and, touching his hat +to them, in the most polite manner, asked them to what place they wished +to go. He had a little slate in his hand, with the names of all the +towns where the steamer was to touch marked upon it. As the several +passengers to whom he applied gave him the name of the place of their +destination, he made a mark opposite to the name of the place on his +slate. When he had in this way applied to all the new comers, he went to +the office and provided himself with the proper number of tickets for +each place, and then went round again to distribute them. In going +around thus a second time, to distribute the tickets, he took a cash box +with him to make change. This cash box was slung before him by means of +a strap about the neck. + +"How much more polite and agreeable a mode this is of collecting the +fares," said Mrs. Holiday to her husband, "than ours in America! There a +boy comes around, dinging a bell in every body's ears, and then the +gentlemen have to go in a crowd and elbow their way up to the window of +the captain's office. I wish we could have some of these polite and +agreeable customs introduced into our country." + +"They are very agreeable," said Mr. Holiday, "and are very suitable for +pleasure travel like this, where the boats are small, and the number of +passengers few; but I presume it would be very difficult to collect the +fares in this way on a North River steamer, where there are sometimes a +thousand passengers on board. Here there are usually not more than eight +or ten passengers that come on board at a time, and they mix with only +fifty or sixty that were on board before. But in America we often have +fifty or sixty come on board at a time, and they mix with eight hundred +or a thousand. In such a case as that I think that this plan would be +well nigh impracticable." + +"I did not think of that," said Mrs. Holiday. + +"The difference between the circumstances of the case in Europe and in +America is very often not thought of by travellers who find themselves +wishing that the European customs in respect to travelling and the +hotels could be introduced into our country. In Europe the number of +travellers is comparatively small, and a very large proportion of those +who make journeys go for pleasure. The arrangements can all, +consequently, be made to save them trouble, and to make the journey +agreeable to them; and the price is increased accordingly. In America, +people travel on business, and they go in immense numbers. Their main +object is, to be taken safely and expeditiously to the end of their +journey, and at as little expense as possible. The arrangements of the +conveyances and of the hotels are all made accordingly. The consequence +is, a vast difference in the expense of travelling, and a corresponding +difference, of course, to some extent, in ease and comfort. The price of +passage, for instance, in the Geneva steamboats, from one end of the +lake to the other, a distance of about fifty miles, is two dollars, +without berth or meals; whereas you can go from New York to Albany, +which is more than three times as far, for half a dollar. This +difference is owing to the number of travellers that go in the American +boats, and the wholesale character, so to speak, of the arrangements +made for them. + +"In other words, the passengers in a public conveyance in Europe are not +only conveyed from place to place, but they are waited upon by the way, +and they have to pay both for the conveyance and the attendance. In +America they are only conveyed, and are left to wait upon themselves; +and they are charged accordingly. Each plan is good, and each is adapted +to the wants and ideas of the countries that respectively adopt them. + +"Shall we go to the end of the lake to-day?" said Mr. Holiday, "or only +part of the way? The clerk will come pretty soon to ask us." + +"Are there any pretty places to stop at on the way?" asked Mrs. Holiday. + +"Yes," said her husband; "all the places are pretty." + +"Tell us about some of them," said Rollo. + +"First there is Lausanne," said his father. "Lausanne is a large town up +among the hills, a mile or two from the water. There is a little port, +called Ouchy, on the shore, where the steamer stops. There there is a +landing and a pier, and some pretty boarding houses, with gardens and +grounds around them, and a large, old-fashioned inn, built like a castle +of the middle ages, but kept very nicely. We can stop there, and go up +in an omnibus to Lausanne, which is a large, old town, two miles up the +side of the mountain. + +"Then, secondly," continued Mr. Holiday, "there is Vevay, which is +famous for a new and fashionable hotel facing the lake, with a beautiful +terrace between it and the water, where you can sit on nice benches +under the trees, and watch the steamers going by over the blue waters of +the lake, or the row boats and sail boats coming and going about the +terrace landing, or the fleecy clouds floating along the sides of the +dark mountains around the head of the lake." + +"I should like to stop at both places," said Mrs. Holiday. + +"Then we will stop at Ouchy to-night," said Mr. Holiday, "for that comes +first." + +So it was decided that they should take tickets for Ouchy. + +The boat at Ouchy did not land passengers by boats, but went up to the +pier. Only a few passengers went ashore. The pier was at some little +distance from the hotel, the way to it being by a quiet and pleasant +walk along the shore. + +There was an omnibus marked Lausanne standing at the head of the pier. + +"Now, we can get into the omnibus," said Mr. Holiday, "and go directly +up to Lausanne, or we can go to the hotel here, and take lodgings, and +then go up to Lausanne to see the town after dinner." + +It was at this time about four o'clock. The usual time of dinner for +travellers in Switzerland is five. + +Mrs. Holiday, observing that the hotel at Ouchy was very prettily +situated, close to the water, and recollecting that her husband had said +that it resembled in its character a castle of the middle ages, +concluded that she would like as well to take rooms there. + +A woman with a queer-shaped basket on her back, which she carried by +means of straps over her shoulders, here came up to Mr. Holiday, and +asked if she should take _the baggages_ to the inn. Mr. Holiday said +yes. So she put the valise and the carpet bag into her basket, and +walked away with them to the inn. + +Women often act as porters in France and Switzerland, and they perform, +also, all sorts of out-door work. They use these baskets, too, very +often, for carrying burdens. Rollo afterwards saw a woman take her child +out to ride in one of them. + +Mrs. Holiday was extremely pleased with the inn at Ouchy. She said that +she should like to remain there a week. It seemed precisely, with its +antique-looking rooms, and long stone paved corridors, like the castles +which she had read about when she was a girl in the old romances. + +After dinner, Mr. Holiday sent for a carriage, and took Mrs. Holiday and +Rollo to ride. They went up the ascent of land behind the town, the road +winding as it went among green and beautiful glades and dells, but still +always ascending until they came to Lausanne. This was nearly two miles +from the lake, and very much above it. From Lausanne they went back +still farther, ascending all the time, and obtaining more and more +commanding views of the lake at every turn. + +When the sun went down, they turned their faces homeward. They came +down, of course, very fast, the road winding continually this way and +that, to make the descent more gradual. At length, about half past +eight, they returned to the inn. + +The landlady of the inn, who was very kind and obliging to them, took +them to see a room in her hotel where Lord Byron wrote his celebrated +poem entitled the PRISONER OF CHILLON. Chillon is an ancient castle +which stands on the shore, twenty or thirty miles beyond, and very near, +in fact, to the extremity of the lake. Byron has made this castle +renowned throughout the world by spending a few days, while he was +stopped at this inn at Ouchy by a storm, when travelling on the lake, in +writing a poem in which he describes the emotions and sufferings of +some imaginary prisoners whom he supposed to be confined there. + +"Can we go to see the Castle of Chillon?" said Mrs. Holiday. + +"Yes," said Mr. Holiday. "We shall sail directly by it in going to the +head of the lake, and if we stop there we can go to it very easily." + +The head of the lake--that is, the eastern end of it--is surrounded with +mountains, the slopes of which seem to rise very abruptly from the +water, and ascend to such a height that patches of snow lie on the +summits of them all the summer. These mountains, especially if +overshadowed by clouds, give a very dark and sombre expression to the +whole region when seen from a distance, in coming in from the centre of +the lake. This sombre expression, however, entirely disappears when you +arrive at the head of the lake, and land there. + +You would not suppose, when viewing these shores from a distance, that +there was any place to land, so closely do the precipitous slopes of the +mountains seem to shut the water in. But on drawing near the shore, you +see that there is a pretty broad belt of land along the shore, which, +though it ascends rapidly, is not too steep to be cultivated. This belt +of land is covered with villages, hamlets, vineyards, orchards, and +gardens, and it forms a most enchanting series of landscapes, from +whatever point it is seen, while the more precipitous slopes of the +mountains, towering above in grandeur and sublimity, complete the +enchantment of the view. + +The Castle of Chillon stands on the very margin of the lake, just in the +edge of the water. Indeed, the foundations on which it stands form a +little island, which is separated by a narrow channel from the shore. +This channel is crossed by a drawbridge. It is possible, however, that +it may be in some measure artificial. The island may have originally +been a small rocky point, and it may have been made an island by the +cutting of a ditch between it and the main land. + +The steamer passed along the shore, very near to this castle, in going +to the head of the lake, as you see represented in the engraving.[F] +There is no steamboat landing at the castle itself, but there is one at +the village of Montreux, a little before you come to it, and another at +Villeneuve, a little beyond. Numbers of tourists come in every steamer +to visit the castle, and stop for this purpose at one of these landings +or the other. The distance is only twenty minutes' brisk walking from +either of them. + +[Footnote F: See Frontispiece.] + +Villeneuve, the last landing mentioned above, is at the very extremity +of the lake. We see it in the distance in the engraving. Here travellers +who are going to continue their journey up the valley of the Rhone, +either for the purpose of penetrating into the heart of Switzerland, or +of going by the pass of the Simplon into Italy, leave the boat and take +the diligence to continue their journey by land, or else engage a +private carriage, and also a guide, if they wish for one. Mr. Holiday +did not intend at this time to go on far up the valley, but he purposed +to stop a day or two at Villeneuve, to visit Chillon, and perhaps make +some other excursions, and also to enjoy the views presented there, on +all sides, of the slopes and summits of the surrounding mountains. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +VILLENEUVE. + + +At Villeneuve, a pretty long, though small and very neatly made pier +projects out from the shore, for the landing of passengers from the +steamer. + +Exactly opposite this pier, and facing the water, stands the inn. It is +placed very nearly on a level with the water. This can always be the +case with buildings standing on the margin of a lake, for a lake not +being subject to tides or inundations, all buildings, whether houses, +bridges, or piers, may be built very near the water, without any danger +of being overflowed. + +Before the inn is an open space, extending between it and the shore; so +that from the front windows of the inn you can look down first upon this +open space, and beyond, upon the margin of the lake and upon the pier, +with the steamer lying at the landing-place at the head of it. + +The sides of this square, Rollo observed, were formed of the ends of two +buildings which stood on the shore, and along this space were wooden +benches, which were filled, when the steamer arrived, with guides, +postilions, voituriers, and other people of that class, waiting to be +engaged by the travellers that should come in her. + +There were also two or three omnibuses and diligences waiting to receive +such persons as were intending to travel by the public conveyances. One +of these omnibuses belonged to a large hotel and boarding house which +stands on the shore of the lake, not far from Villeneuve, between it and +the Castle of Chillon. You can see this hotel in the engraving. It is +the large building in the middle distance, standing back a little from +the lake, and to the left of the castle. This hotel is beautifully +situated in a commanding position on the shores of the lake, and is a +great place of resort for English families in the summer season. + +The travellers that landed from the steamer at Villeneuve soon +separated, after arriving at the open square before the inn. Some took +their seats in the diligences that were standing there; some got into +the omnibuses to go to the hotel; some engaged voituriers from among the +number that were waiting there to be so employed, and, entering the +carriages, they drove away; while a party of students, with knapsacks on +their backs and pikestaves in their hands, set off on foot up the +valley. Mr. Holiday and his party, not intending to proceed any farther +that night, went directly to the inn. + +They went first into the dining room. The dining room in the Swiss inns +is usually the only public room, and travellers on entering the inn +generally go directly there. + +The dining room was very plain and simple in all its arrangements. There +was no carpet on the floor, and the woodwork was unpainted. There were +two windows in front, which looked out upon the lake. Directly beneath +the windows was the road, and the open space, already described, between +the hotel and the pier. + +There was a boy with a knapsack on his back standing by the window, +looking out. Rollo went to the window, and began to look out too. + +"Do you speak English?" said Rollo to the boy. + +"_Nein_," said the boy, shaking his head. + +_Nein_ is the German word for _no_. This Rollo knew very well, and so he +inferred that the boy was a German. He, however, thought it possible +that he might speak French, and so he asked again,-- + +"Do you speak French?" + +"Very little," said the boy, answering now in the French language. "I am +studying it at school. I am at school at Berne, and my class is making +an excursion to Geneva." + +"Do you travel on foot?" asked Rollo. + +"Yes," said the boy; "unless there is a steamboat, and then we go in the +steamboat." + +"And I suppose you are going to take the steamboat here to-morrow +morning to go to Geneva." + +"No," said the boy; "we are going to see Chillon to-night, and then we +are going along the shore of the lake beyond, to Montreux, and take the +boat there to-morrow morning." + +It was quite amusing to Rollo to talk thus with a strange boy in a +language which both had learned at school, and which neither of them +could speak well, but which was, nevertheless, the only language they +had in common. + +"How many boys are there in your class?" asked Rollo. + +"Sixteen," said the boy; "sixteen--six." The boy then held up the five +fingers of one hand, and one of the other, to show to Rollo that six was +the number he meant. The words six and sixteen are very similar in the +French language, and for a moment the boy confounded them. + +"And the teacher too, I suppose," said Rollo. + +"Yes," said the boy, "and the teacher." + +Here there was a short pause. + +"Are you going to Chillon?" said the boy to Rollo. + +"Yes," said Rollo. "I am going with my father and mother." + +"I wish you were going with us," said the boy. + +"I wish so too," said Rollo; "I mean to ask my father to let me." + +During this time Mr. Holiday had been making an arrangement with the +maid of the inn for two bedrooms, one for himself and his wife, and the +other for Rollo; and the maid was now just going to show the party the +way to their rooms. So Rollo went with his father, and after seeing that +all their effects were put in the rooms, he informed his father that he +had made acquaintance with a young German schoolboy who was going with +his class and the teacher to visit Chillon; and he asked his father's +consent that he might go with them. + +"I can walk there with them," said Rollo, "and wait there till you and +mother come." + +"Does the boy speak English?" asked Mr. Holiday. + +"No, sir," said Rollo; "but he can speak French a little. He speaks it +just about as well as I can, and we can get along together very well." + +"Is the teacher willing that you should go?" asked Mr. Holiday. + +"I don't know," said Rollo; "we have not asked him yet." + +"Then the first thing is to ask him," said Mr. Holiday. "Let your friend +ask the teacher if he is willing to have another boy invited to go with +his party; and if he is willing, you may go. If you get to Chillon +first, you may go about the castle with the boys, and then wait at the +castle gates till we come." + +"How soon shall you come?" asked Rollo. + +"Very soon," said Mr. Holiday. "I have ordered the carriage already, and +we shall perhaps get there as soon as you do." + +So Rollo went down stairs again to his friend, the German boy. + +"Do you think," said Rollo, "that the teacher would be willing to have +me go with you?" + +"Yes," said the boy, "I am sure he will. He is always very glad to have +us meet with an opportunity to speak French. Besides, there are some +boys in the school who are learning English, and he would like to have +you talk a little with them." + +"Go and ask him," said Rollo. + +So the boy went off to ask the teacher. He met him on the stairs, coming +down with the rest of the boys. The teacher was very much pleased with +the plan of having an American boy invited to join the party, and so it +was settled that Rollo was to go. + +The boys all went down stairs, and rendezvoused at the door of the inn. +Most of the omnibuses and diligences had gone. The boys of the school +all accosted Rollo in a very cordial manner; and the teacher shook hands +with him, and said that he was very glad to have him join their party. +The teacher spoke to him in French. There were two other boys who tried +to speak to him in English. They succeeded pretty well, but they could +not speak very fluently, and they made several mistakes. But Rollo was +very careful not to laugh at their mistakes, and they did not laugh at +those which he made in talking French; and so they all got along very +well together. + +Thus they set out on the road which led along the shore of the lake +towards the Castle of Chillon. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE CASTLE OF CHILLON. + + +The party of boys walked along the road very pleasantly together, each +one with his knapsack on his back and his pikestaff in his hand. Rollo +talked with them by the way--with some in English, and with others in +French; but inasmuch as it happened that whichever language was used, +one or the other of the parties to the conversation was very imperfectly +acquainted with it, the conversation was necessarily carried on by means +of very short and simple sentences, and the meaning was often helped out +by signs, and gestures, and curious pantomime of all sorts, with an +accompaniment, of course, of continual peals of laughter. + +Rollo, however, learned a good deal about the boys, and about the +arrangements they made for travelling, and also learned a great many +particulars in respect to the adventures they had met with in coming +over the mountains. + +Rollo learned, for example, that every boy had a fishing line in his +knapsack, and that when they got tired of walking, and wished to stop to +rest, if there was a good place, they stopped and fished a little while +in a mountain stream or a lake. + +Another thing they did was to watch for butterflies, in order to catch +any new species that they might find, to add to the teacher's cabinet of +natural history. For this purpose one of the boys had a gauze net on the +end of a long but light handle; and when a butterfly came in sight that +seemed at all curious or new, one of the boys set off with the rest to +catch him. If the specimen was found valuable, it was preserved. The +specimens thus kept were secured with a pin in the bottom of a broad, +but flat and very light box, which one of the older boys carried with +his knapsack. The boy opened this box, and showed Rollo the butterflies +which they had taken. They had quite a pretty collection. There were +several that Rollo did not recollect ever to have seen before. + +Talking in this way, they went on till they came to the part of the road +which was opposite to the Hotel Byron. The hotel was on an eminence +above the road, and back from the lake. Broad gravelled avenues led up +to it. There were also winding walks, and seats under the trees, and +terraces, and gardens, and parties of ladies and gentlemen walking +about, and children playing here and there, under the charge of their +nurses. + +The boys gave only a passing glance at these things as they went by. +They were much more interested in gazing up from time to time at the +stupendous cliffs and precipices which they saw crowning the mountain +ranges which seemed to border the road; and on the other side, in +looking out far over the water of the lake at the sail boats, or the +steamer, or the little row boats which they beheld in the offing. + +The road went winding on, following the little indentations of the +shore, till at length it reached the castle. It passed close under the +castle walls, or, rather, close along the margin of the ditch which +separated the foundations of the castle from the main land. There was a +bridge across this ditch. This bridge was enclosed, and a little room +was built upon it, with windows and a door. The outer door was, of +course, towards the road, and it was open when the boys arrived at the +place. + +The teacher led the way in by this door, and the boys followed him. +There was a man there, dressed in the uniform of a soldier. He was a +sort of sentinel, to keep the door of the castle. He had a table on one +side, with various engravings spread out upon it, representing +different views of the castle, both of the interior and of the exterior. +There were also little books of description, giving an account of the +castle and of its history, and copies of Byron's poem, the Prisoner of +Chillon. All these things were for sale to the visitors who should come +to see the castle. + +The engravings were kept from being blown away by the wind by means of +little stone paper weights made of rounded pebble stones, about as large +as the palm of the hand, with views of the castle and of the surrounding +scenery painted on them. The paper weights were for sale too. + +The boys looked at these things a moment, but did not seem to pay much +attention to them. They walked on, following their teacher, to the end +of the bridge room, where they came to the great castle gates. These +were open, too, and they went in. They found themselves in a paved +courtyard, with towers, and battlements, and lofty walls all around +them. There was a man there, waiting to receive them in charge, and show +them into the dungeons. + +He led the way through a door, and thence down a flight of stone steps +to a series of subterranean chambers, which were very dimly lighted by +little windows opening towards the lake. The back sides of the rooms +consisted of the living rock; the front sides were formed of the castle +wall that bordered the lake. + +"Here is the room," said the guide, "where the prisoners who were +condemned to death in the castle in former times spent the last night +before their execution. That stone was the bed where they had to lie." + +So saying, the guide pointed to a broad, smooth, and sloping surface of +rock, which was formed by the ledge on the back side of the dungeon. The +stone was part of the solid ledge, and was surrounded with ragged crags, +just as they had been left by the excavators in making the dungeon; but +whether the smooth and sloping surface of this particular portion of the +rock was natural or artificial, that is, whether it had been expressly +made so to form a bed for the poor condemned criminal, or whether the +rock had accidentally broken into that form by means of some natural +fissure, and so had been appropriated by the governor of the castle to +that use, the boys could not determine. + +The guide led the boys a little farther on, to a place where there was a +dark recess, and pointing up towards the ceiling, he said,-- + +"There is where the criminals were hung. Up where I point there is a +beam built into the rock; and from that the rope was suspended." + +The boys all crowded round the spot, and looked eagerly up, but they +could not see any beam. + +"You cannot see it," said the guide, "now, because you have just come +out from the light of day. We shall come back this way pretty soon, and +then you will be able to see it; for your eyes will then get accustomed +a little to the darkness of the dungeon." + +So the guide went on, and the boys followed him. + +They next came into a very large apartment. The front side and the back +side of it were both curved. The back side consisted of the living rock. +The front side was formed of the outer castle wall, which was built on +the rock at the very margin of the water. In the centre was a range of +seven massive stone columns, placed there to support the arches on which +rested the floor of the principal story of the castle above. The roof of +this dungeon of course was vaulted, the arches and groins being carried +over from this range of central pillars towards the wall in front, and +towards the solid rock behind. All this you will plainly see represented +in the engraving. + +[Illustration: THE DUNGEON IN THE CASTLE OF CHILLON.] + +This great dungeon was lighted by means of very small loopholes cut in +the wall, high up from the floor. The light from these windows, +instead of coming _down_, and shining upon the floor, seemed to go _up_, +and to lose itself in a faint attempt to illuminate the vaulted roof +above. The reason was, that at the particular hour when the boys made +their visit, the beams of the sun which shone directly from it in the +sky were excluded, and only those that were reflected upward from the +waters of the lake could come in. + +The guide led the boys to one of the central pillars, and pointed to an +iron ring which was built into the stone. He told them that there was +the place where one prisoner was confined in the dungeon for six years. +He was chained to that ring by a short chain, which enabled him only to +walk to and fro a few steps each way about the pillar. These steps had +worn a place in the rock. + +After the boys had looked at this pillar, and at the iron ring, and at +the place worn in the floor by the footsteps of the prisoner, as long as +they wished, they followed the guide on to the end of the dungeon, where +they were stopped by the solid rock. Here the guide brought them to a +dark and gloomy place in a corner, where, by standing a little back, +they could see all the pillars in a row; and he said that if they would +count them they would find that there were exactly seven. The boys did +so, and they found that there were seven; but they did not understand +why the number was of any importance. But the teacher explained it to +them. He said that Byron had mentioned seven as the number of the +pillars in his poem, and that most people who had read the poem were +pleased to observe the correspondence between his description and the +reality. + +The teacher quoted the lines. They were these:-- + + "In Chillon's dungeons, deep and old, + There are seven columns, massy and gray, + Dim with a dull, imprisoned ray-- + A sunbeam that hath lost its way, + And through the crevice and the cleft + Of the thick wall is fallen and left + Creeping o'er the floor so damp, + Like a marsh's meteor lamp." + +In repeating these lines, the teacher spoke in a strong foreign accent. +All the boys listened attentively while he spoke, though of course only +Rollo and those of the boys who had studied English could understand +him. + +After this the boys came back through the whole range of dungeons, by +the same way that they had come in. They could now see the beam from +which the condemned criminals were hung. It passed across from rock to +rock, high above their heads, in a dark and gloomy place, and seemed +perfectly black with age. + +When the party came out of the dungeons, a young woman took them in +charge, to show them the apartments above. She conducted them up a broad +flight of stone stairs to a massive doorway, which led to the principal +story of the castle. Here the boys passed through one after another of +several large halls, which were formerly used for various purposes when +the castle was inhabited, but are employed now for the storage of brass +cannons, and of ammunition belonging to the Swiss government. When the +castle was built, the country in which it stands belonged to a +neighboring state, called Savoy; and it was the Duke of Savoy, who was a +sort of king, that built it, and it was he that confined the prisoners +in it so cruelly. Many of them were confined there on account of being +accused of conspiring against his government. At length, however, the +war broke out between Switzerland and Savoy, and the Swiss were +victorious. They besieged this castle by an army on the land and by a +fleet of galleys on the lake, and in due time they took it. They let all +the prisoners which they found confined there go free, and since then +they have used the castle as a place of storage for arms and ammunition. + +One of the halls which the boys went into, the guide said, used to be a +senate house, and another was the court room where the prisoners were +tried. There was a staircase which led from the court room down to the +dungeon below, where the great black beam was, from which they were to +be hung. + +The boys, however, did not pay a great deal of attention to what the +guide said about the former uses of these rooms. They seemed to be much +more interested in the purposes that they were now serving, and so went +about examining very eagerly the great brass cannons and the ammunition +wagons that stood in them. + +At length, however, they came to something which specially attracted +their attention. It was a small room, which the guide said was an +ancient torturing room. There was a large wooden post in the centre of +the room, extending from the floor to the vault above. The post was worn +and blackened by time and decay, and there were various hooks, and +staples, and pulleys attached to it at different heights, which the +guide said were used for securing the prisoners to the post, when they +were to be tortured. The post itself was burned in many places, as if by +hot irons. + +The boys saw another place in a room beyond, which was in some respects +still more dreadful than this. It was a place where there was an +opening in the floor, near the wall of the room, that looked like a trap +door. There was the beginning of a stone stair leading down. A small +railing was built round the opening, as if to keep people from falling +in. The boys all crowded round the railing, and looked down. + +They saw that the stair only went down three steps, and then it came to +a sudden end, and all below was a dark and dismal pit, which seemed +bottomless. On looking more intently, however, they could at length see +a glimmer of light, and hear the rippling of the waves of the lake, at a +great depth below. The guide said that this was one of the _oubliettes_, +that is, a place where men could be destroyed secretly, and in such a +manner that no one should ever know what became of them. They were +conducted to this door, and directed to go down. It was dark, so that +they could only see the first steps of the stair. They would suppose, +however, that the stair was continued, and that it would lead them down +to some room, where they were to go. So they would walk on carefully, +feeling for the steps of the stair; but after the third there would be +no more, and they would fall down to a great depth on ragged rocks, and +be killed. To make it certain that they would be killed by the fall, +there were sharp blades, like the ends of scythes, fixed in the rock, +far below, to cut them in pieces as they fell. + +It seems these tyrants, hateful and merciless as they were, did not +wish, or perhaps did not dare, to destroy the souls as well as the +bodies of their victims, and so they contrived it that the last act +which the poor wretch should perform before going down into this +dreadful pit should be an act of devotion. To this end there was made a +little niche in the wall, just over the trap door, and there was placed +there an image of the Virgin Mary, who is worshipped in Catholic +countries as divine. The prisoner was invited to kiss this image as he +passed by, just as he began to descend the stair. Thus the very last +moment of his life would be spent in performing an act of devotion, and +thus, as they supposed, his soul would be saved. What a strange +combination is this of superstition and tyranny! + +After seeing all these things, the boys returned towards the entrance of +the castle. They met several parties of ladies and gentlemen coming in; +and just as they got to the door again, the carriage containing Mr. and +Mrs. Holiday drove up. So Rollo bade the teacher and all the boys good +by, after accompanying them a few minutes, as they walked along the road +towards the place where they were to go. By this time his father and +mother had descended from their carriage, and were ready to go in. So +Rollo joined them, and went through the castle again, and saw all the +places a second time. + +When they came out, and were getting into the carriage, Mr. Holiday said +that it was a very interesting place. + +"Yes," said Mrs. Holiday; "and we have seen all that Byron speaks of in +his poem, except the little island. Where is the little island?" + +Mr. Holiday pointed out over the water of the lake, where a group of +three tall trees seemed to be growing directly out of the water, only +that there was a little wall around them below. They looked like three +flowers growing in a flower pot set in the water. + +"Yes," said Mrs. Holiday, "that must certainly be it. It corresponds +exactly." So she repeated the following lines from Byron's poem, which +describes the island in the language of one of the prisoners, who saw it +from his dungeon window, + + "And then there was a little isle, + Which in my very face did smile-- + The only one in view; + A small green isle, it seemed no more, + Scarce broader than my dungeon floor; + But in it there were three tall trees, + And o'er it blew the mountain breeze, + And by it there were waters flowing, + And on it there were young flowers growing, + Of gentle breath and hue." + +"That's pretty poetry," said Rollo. + +"Very pretty indeed," said his father. + +The horse now began to trot along the road. The little island continued +in view for a while, and then disappeared, and afterwards came into view +again, as the road went turning and winding around, following the +indentations of the shore. + +At length, after a short but very pleasant ride, the party arrived +safely at the inn again at Villeneuve. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +PLAN FORMED. + + +The reason why the Lake of Geneva is of a crescent form is, that that is +the shape of the space in the bottom of the valley which it fills. There +are two ranges of mountains running in a curved direction almost +parallel to each other, and the space between them, for a certain +distance, is filled with water, owing to the spreading out of the waters +of the Rhone in flowing through. Thus the lake is produced by the +valley, and takes its form from it. + +The valley does not come to an end when you reach the head of the lake, +but continues for more than a hundred miles beyond, the two mountain +ranges continuing to border it all that distance, and the River Rhone to +flow through the centre of it. Thus at Villeneuve you look in one +direction, and you have a winding valley filled with water, extending +for fifty miles, to Geneva; while in the other direction, the same +valley--though now the floor of it is a green and fertile +plain--continues, with the same stupendous walls of mountain bordering +the sides of it, for a hundred miles or more, to the sources of the +Rhone. + +There is another thing that is very curious in respect to this valley, +and that is, that the floor of it is as flat, and smooth, and level, +almost, where it is formed of land, as where it is formed of water. + +Geologists suppose that the reason why the bottom of the valley, when it +consists of land, is so perfectly level, is because the land has been +formed by deposits from the river, in the course of a long succession of +ages. Of course the river could never build the land any higher, in any +part, than it rises itself in the highest inundations. Indeed, land +formed by river deposits is almost always nearly level, and the surface +of it is but little raised above the ordinary level of the stream, and +never above that of the highest inundations. + +It must, however, by no means be supposed that because the surface of +the valley above the head of the lake is flat and level, that it is on +that account monotonous and uninteresting. Indeed, it is quite the +reverse. It forms one of the richest and most enchanting landscapes that +can be conceived. It is abundantly shaded with trees, some planted in +avenues along the roadside, some bearing fruit in orchards and gardens, +and some standing in picturesque groups about the houses, or in pretty +groves by the margin of the fields. The land is laid out in a very +charming manner, in gardens, orchards, meadows, and fields of corn and +grain, with no fences to separate them either from each other or from +the road; so that in walking along the public highway you seem to walk +in one of the broad alleys of an immense and most beautiful garden. + +Besides all these beauties of the scene itself, the pleasure of walking +through it is greatly increased by the number and variety of groups and +figures of peasant girls and boys, and women and men, that you meet +coming along the road, or see working in the fields, all dressed in the +pretty Swiss costume, and each performing some curious operation, which +is either in itself, or in the manner of performing it, entirely +different from what is seen in any other land. + +Rollo followed the main road leading up the valley a little way one +evening, while his father and mother were at Villeneuve, in order, as he +said, to see where the diligences went to. He was so much pleased with +what he saw that he went back to the hotel, and began studying the guide +book, in order to find how far it was to the next town, and what +objects of interest there were to be seen on the way. He was so well +satisfied with the result of his investigations that he resolved to +propose to his father and mother to make a pedestrian excursion up the +valley. + +"Now, mother," said he, "I have a plan to propose, and that is, that we +all set out to-morrow morning, and make a pedestrian excursion up the +valley, to the next town, or the next town but one." + +"How far is it?" asked Mrs. Holiday. + +"Why, the best place to go to," said Rollo, "is Aigle, which is the +second town, and that is only six miles from here." + +"O Rollo!" said Mrs. Holiday; "I could not possibly walk six miles." + +"O, yes, mother," said Rollo. "The road is as smooth, and level, and +hard as a floor. Besides, you said that you meant to make a pedestrian +excursion somewhere while you were in Switzerland, and there could not +be a better place than this." + +"I know I said so," replied Mrs. Holiday, "but I was not really in +earnest. Besides, I don't think I could possibly walk six miles. But we +will take a carriage and ride there, if your father is willing." + +"But, mother, it is not so pleasant to ride You can't see so well, for +the top of the carriage, or else the driver on his high seat before, +will be more or less in the way. Then when you are walking you can stop +so easily any minute, and look around. But if you are in a carriage, it +makes a fuss and trouble to be calling continually upon the coachman to +stop; and then, besides, half of the time, before he gets the carriage +stopped you have got by the place you wanted to see." + +What Rollo said is very true. We can see a country containing a series +of fine landscapes much more thoroughly by walking through it, or riding +on horseback, than by going in a carriage. I do not think, however, +that, after all, this advantage constituted the real inducement in +Rollo's mind which made him so desirous of walking to Aigle. The truth +was, that the little walk which he had taken to Chillon with the party +of pedestrian boys had quite filled his imagination with the pleasures +and the independent dignity of this mode of travelling, and he was very +ambitious of making an experiment of it himself. + +"And, mother," continued Rollo, "after all, it is only about two hours +and a half or three hours, at two or three miles an hour. Now, you are +often gone as much as that, making calls; and when you are making calls +you generally go, I am sure, as much as two or three miles an hour." + +"But I generally ride, making calls," said Mrs. Holiday. + +"Yes, mother, but sometimes you walk; and I think when you walk you are +often gone more than three hours." + +"That is true," said Mrs. Holiday, "I admit; but then, you know, when I +am making calls I am resting a great deal of the time at the houses +where I call." + +"I know that," said Rollo; "and so we will rest, sitting down by the +road side." + +Mrs. Holiday admitted that Rollo had rather the best of the argument; +but she was still quite unwilling to believe that she could really walk +six miles. + +"And back again, too," she added. "You must consider that we shall have +to come back again." + +"Ah, but I don't wish to have you walk back again," said Rollo. "We will +come back by the diligence. There are several diligences and omnibuses +that come by Aigle, on the way here, in the course of the day." + +Mrs. Holiday was still undecided. She was very desirous of gratifying +Rollo, but yet she had not courage to undertake quite so great a feat +as to walk six miles. At length Mr. Holiday proposed that they should at +least set out and go a little way. + +"We can try it for half an hour," said he, "and then go on or turn back, +just as we feel inclined. Or if we go on several miles, and then get +tired, we shall soon come to a village, where we shall be able to get +some sort of vehicle or other to bring us back; and at all events we +shall have an adventure." + +Mrs. Holiday consented to this plan, and it was settled that the party +should breakfast at eight o'clock the next morning, and set out +immediately afterwards. + +Rollo had a sort of haversack which he used to carry sometimes on his +walks, and he always kept it with him in the steamboat or carriage, when +he travelled in those conveyances. This haversack he got ready, +supplying it with all that he thought would be required for the +excursion. He put in it his drinking cup,--the one which he had bought +in Scotland,--a little spy glass, which he used for viewing the scenery, +a book that his mother was reading, a little portfolio containing some +drawing paper and a pencil, a guide book and map, and, lastly, a paper +of small cakes and sugar plums, to give to any children that he might +chance to meet on the way. + +Rollo made all these preparations the evening before, so that every +thing might be ready in the morning, when the hour for setting out +should arrive. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +WALK TO AIGLE. + + +"Now, Rollo," said Mr. Holiday, as the party sallied forth from the inn +to commence their walk up the valley, "we depend entirely on you. This +is your excursion, and we expect you will take care and see that every +thing goes right." + +"Well, sir," said Rollo. "Come with me. I'll show you the way." + +On the borders of the village they passed to a high stone bridge which +crossed a small stream. This stream came in a slow and meandering course +through the meadows, and here emptied into the lake. Farther back it was +a torrent leaping from rock to rock and crag to crag, for many thousand +feet down the mountain side; but here it flowed so gently, and lay so +quietly in its bed, that pond lilies grew and bloomed in its waters. + +Just above the bridge there was a square enclosure in the margin of the +water, with a solid stone wall all around it. A man stood on the wall +with a net in his hand. The net was attached to a pole. The man was just +dipping the net into the water when Rollo, with his father and mother, +came upon the bridge. + +"Let us stop a minute, and see what that man is going to do," said +Rollo. "I saw that square wall yesterday, and I could not imagine what +it was for." + +The man put his net down to the bottom of the reservoir, and after +drawing it along on the bottom, he took it out again. There was nothing +in it. He then repeated the operation, and this time he brought up two +large fishes that looked like trout. They were both more than a foot +long. + +The man uttered a slight exclamation of satisfaction, and then lifting +the net over the wall, he let the fish fall into a basket which he had +placed outside. He then went away, carrying the basket with one hand, +and the net on his shoulder with the other. + +"That's a very curious plan," said Rollo. "I suppose they catch the fish +in the lake, and then put them in that pen and keep them there till they +are ready to eat them." + +So they walked on. + +Presently Rollo saw some of the pond lilies growing in the stream, the +course of which was here, for a short distance, near the road. + +"I wish very much, mother," said he, "that I could get one of those pond +lilies for you, but I cannot. I tried yesterday, but they are too far +from the shore, and it is so finished, and smooth, and nice about here +that there is no such thing as a pole or a stick to be found any where +to reach with." + +Presently, however, Rollo came to a boy who was fishing on the bank of +the stream, and he asked him if he would be good enough to hook in one +of those lilies for him with his pole and line. The boy was very willing +to do it. He threw a loop of his line over one of the pond lilies, and +drew it in. Rollo thanked the boy for his kindness, and gave the pond +lily to his mother. + +Perhaps there are no flowers that give a higher pleasure to the +possessors than those which a boy of Rollo's age gathers for his mother. + +The party walked on. Mrs. Holiday's attention was soon strongly +attracted to the various groups of peasants which she saw working in the +fields, or walking along the road. First came a young girl, with a +broad-brimmed straw hat on her head, driving a donkey cart loaded with +sheaves of grain. Next an old and decrepit-looking woman, with a great +bundle of sticks on her head. It seemed impossible that she could carry +so great a load in such a manner. As our party went by, she turned her +head slowly round a little way, to look at them; and it was curious to +see the great bundle of sticks--which was two feet in diameter, and four +or five feet long--slowly turn round with her head, and then slowly turn +back again as she went on her way. + +Next Mrs. Holiday paused a moment to look at some girls who were hoeing +in the field. The girls looked smilingly upon the strangers, and bade +them good morning. + +"Ask them," said Mrs. Holiday to Rollo, "if their work is not very +hard." + +So Rollo asked them the question. Mrs. Holiday requested him to do it +because she did not speak French very well, and so she did not like to +try. + +The girls said that the work was not hard at all. They laughed, and went +on working faster than ever. + +Next they came to a poor wayfaring woman, who was sitting by the +roadside with an infant in her arms. Rollo immediately took out one of +the little cakes from the parcel in his knapsack, and handed it to the +child. The mother seemed very much pleased. She bowed to Rollo, and +said,-- + +"She thanks you infinitely, sir." + +Thus they went on for about three quarters of an hour. During all this +time Mrs. Holiday's attention was so much taken up with what she +saw,--sometimes with the groups of peasants and the pretty little views +of gardens, cottages, and fields which attracted her notice by the road +side, ever and anon by the glimpses which she obtained of the stupendous +mountain ranges that bordered the valley on either hand, and that were +continually presenting their towering crags and dizzy precipices to view +through the opening of the trees on the plain,--that she had not time to +think of being fatigued. At length Rollo asked her how she liked the +walk. + +"Very well," said she; "only I think now I have walked full as far as I +should ever have to go at home, when making calls, before coming to the +first house. So as soon as you can you may find me a place to sit down +and rest a little while." + +"Well," said Rollo, "I see a grove of trees by the roadside, on ahead a +little way. When we get there we will sit down in the shade and rest." + +So they went on till they came to the grove. The grove proved to be a +very pretty one, though it consisted of only four or five trees; but +unfortunately there was no place to sit down in it. Rollo looked about +for some time in vain, and seemed quite disappointed. + +"Never mind," said his mother; "sometimes, when I make a call, I find +that the lady I have called to see is not at home; and then, even if I +am tired and want to rest, I have to go on to the next house. We will +suppose that at this place the lady is not at home." + +Rollo laughed and walked on. It was not long before they reached a place +where there was a kind of granary, or some other farm building of that +sort, near the road, with a little yard where some logs were lying. +Rollo found excellent seats for his father and mother on these logs. +They sat on one of them, and leaned their backs against another that was +a little higher up. They were in the shade of the building, too, so that +the place was very cool. + +"This is a very nice place to rest," said Mrs. Holiday; "and while we +are sitting, we can amuse ourselves in looking at the people that go +by." + +The first person that came was a pretty-looking peasant girl of about +seventeen, who had a tub upon her head. What was in the tub Rollo could +not see. With such a burden on her head, however, it is plain that the +girl could not wear her hat in the ordinary manner, and so she carried +it tied to the back of her neck, with its broad brim covering her +shoulders. This, Mr. Holiday said, seemed to him to be carrying the +modern fashion of wearing the bonnet quite to an extreme. + +[Illustration: THE BASKET RIDE.] + +The Swiss women have other ways of bearing burdens, besides loading them +upon their heads. They carry them upon their backs, sometimes, in +baskets fitted to their shoulders. A woman came by, while Rollo and his +father and mother were sitting upon the logs, with her child taking a +ride in such a basket on her back. As soon as this woman was past, +Rollo was so much struck with the comical appearance that the child +made, sitting upright in the basket, and looking around, that he took +out some paper and a pencil immediately from his portfolio, and asked +his mother to make a drawing of the woman, with the child in the basket +on her back. This Mrs. Holiday could easily do, even from the brief +glimpse which she had of the woman as she went by; for the outlines of +the figure and dress of the woman and of the basket and child were very +simple. Mrs. Holiday afterwards put in some of the scenery for a +background. + +When the drawing was finished, Rollo told his mother that he calculated +that they had come one third of the way, and asked her if she felt +tired; and she said she did not feel tired at all, and so they rose and +went on. + +In a short time they came to a village. It consisted of a narrow street, +with stone houses on each side of it. The houses were close together and +close to the street. In one place several people were sitting out before +the door, and among them was a poor, sickly child, such as are found +very often in the low valleys of Switzerland, of the kind called +_cretins_. These children are entirely helpless, and they have no +reason, or at least very little. The one which Rollo saw was a girl, +and appeared to be about ten years old; but it did not seem to have +strength enough to sit up in its chair. It was continually lolling and +falling about on this side and that, and trying to look up. The mother +of the child sat by her, and kept her from falling out of the chair. She +was talking, the mean while, with the neighbors, who were sitting there +on a bench, knitting or sewing. + +The face of the child was deformed, and had scarcely a human expression. +Both Rollo and his mother were much shocked at the spectacle. + +"It is a _cretin_--is it not?" said Mrs. Holiday to her husband, in a +whisper, as soon as they had passed by. + +"Yes," said Mr. Holiday. + +"Mother," said Rollo, "would you give that poor little thing a cake?" + +"Yes," said Mrs. Holiday; "I would." + +"Do you think she will understand?" asked Rollo. + +"Yes," said Mrs. Holiday; "I think she will; and at any rate her mother +will." + +Rollo had by this time taken out his cake. He went back with it to the +place where the women were sitting, and held it out, half, as it were, +to the mother, and half to the child, so that either of them might take +it, saying, at the same time, to the mother, in French,-- + +"For this poor little child." + +The mother smiled, and looked very much pleased. The cretin, whose eyes +caught a glimpse of the cake, laughed, and began to try to reach out her +hand to take it. It seemed hard for her to guide her hand to the place, +and she fell over from side to side all the time while attempting to do +so. She would have fallen entirely if her mother had not held her up. At +length she succeeded in getting hold of the cake, which she carried +directly to her mouth, and then laughed again with a laugh that seemed +scarcely human, and was hideous to see. + +"Does she understand?" asked Rollo. + +"Yes," said the mother; "she understands, but she can't speak, poor +thing. But she is very much obliged to you indeed." + +So Rollo bowed to the mother of the child, and to the other women, and +then went on and rejoined his father and mother. + +They passed through the village, and then came into the open country +again. Sometimes the mountains that bordered the valley receded to some +distance; at other times they came very near; and there was one place +where they formed a range of lofty precipices a thousand feet high, that +seemed almost to overhang the road. Here Rollo stopped to look up. He +saw, near a rounded mass of rock, half way up the mountain, two young +eagles that had apparently just left their nest, and were trying to +learn to fly. The old eagles were soaring around them, screaming. They +seemed to be afraid that their young ones would fall down the rocks and +get killed. Rollo wished that they would fall down, or at least fly +down, to where he was, in order that he might catch one of them. But +they did not. They took only short flights from rock to rock and from +thicket to thicket, but they did not come down. So, after watching them +for a time, Rollo went on. + +Next they came to a place where the valley took a turn so as to expose +the mountain side to the sun in such a manner as to make a good place +there for grapes to grow and ripen. The people had accordingly terraced +the whole declivity by building walls, one above another, to support the +earth for the vineyards; and when Rollo was going by the place he looked +up and saw a man standing on the wall of one of the terraces, with the +tool which he had been working with in his hand. He seemed suspended in +mid air, and looked down on the road and on the people walking along it +as a man would look down upon a street in London from the gallery under +the dome of St. Paul's. + +"That's a pleasant place to work," said Rollo, "away up there, between +the heavens and the earth." + +"Yes," said his mother; "and I should think that taking care of vines +and gathering the grapes would be very pretty work to do." + +There was a little building on the corner of one of the terraces, which +Mr. Holiday said was a watch tower. There were windows on all the sides +of it. + +"When the grapes begin to ripen," said he, "there is a man stationed +there to watch all the vineyards around, in order to prevent people from +stealing the grapes." + +"I should think there would be danger of their stealing the grapes," +said Rollo. + +After going on a little way beyond this, they began to approach the town +of Aigle. Mrs. Holiday was surprised that she could have come so far +with so little fatigue. Rollo told her that it was because she had +walked along so slowly. + +"Yes," said Mr. Holiday; "and because there have been so many things to +take up our attention by the way." + +When they arrived at the village they went directly to the inn. The inns +in these country towns in Switzerland are the largest and most +conspicuous looking buildings to be seen. Rollo went first, and led the +way. He went directly to the dining room. + +The dining rooms in these inns, as I have already said, are the public +rooms, where the company always go, whether they wish for any thing to +eat or not. There is usually one large table, for dinner, in the centre +of the room, and several smaller tables at the sides or at the windows, +for breakfasts and luncheons, and also for small dinner parties of two +or three. Besides these tables, there is often one with a pen and ink +upon it for writing, and another for knapsacks and carpet bags; and +there are sofas for the company to repose upon while the waiter is +setting the table for them. + +Rollo accordingly led the way at once to the dining room of the inn, and +conducted his mother to a sofa. + +"Now, Rollo," said Mr. Holiday, "order us a dinner." + +So Rollo went to the waiter, and after talking with him a little while, +came back and said that he had ordered some fried trout, some veal +cutlets, fried potatoes, an omelette, and some coffee. + +"And besides that," said Rollo, "he is going to give us some plums and +some pears. This is a famous place for plums and pears." + +"And for grapes, too, in the season of them," said Mr. Holiday. + +This was very true. Indeed, on looking about the walls of the room, to +see the maps and the pretty pictures of Swiss scenery that were there, +Rollo found among the other things an advertisement of what was called +the _grape cure_. It seems that eating ripe grapes was considered a cure +for sickness in that country, and that people were accustomed to come to +that very town of Aigle to procure them. There was no place in +Switzerland, the advertisement said, where the grapes were richer and +sweeter than there. + +The advertisement went on to say that the season for the grape cure was +in September, October, and November; that there were a number of fine +vineyards in the vicinity of the town which produced the most delicious +grapes; and that these vineyards were placed at the disposal of the +guests of the hotel at the rate of a franc a day for each person; so +that for that sum they could have every day as many as they could eat; +and this was to be their medicine, to make them well. + +Rollo read this advertisement aloud to his father and mother, with a +tone of voice which indicated a very eager interest in it. + +"Father," said he, "I wish you would come here and try it. Perhaps it +would make you well." + +The advertisement was in French, and Rollo translated it as he read it. +He succeeded very well in rendering into English all that was said about +the grapes, and the manner of taking them, and the terms for boarders at +the hotel; but when he came to the names of the diseases that the grapes +would cure, he was at a loss, as most of them were learned medical +words, which he had never seen before. So he read off the names in +French, and concluded by asking his father whether he did not think it +was some of those things that was the matter with him. + +"Very likely," said his father. + +"Then, father," said Rollo, "I wish you would come here in October, and +try the grape cure, and bring me too." + +"Very likely I may," said his father. "This is on the great road to +Italy, and we may conclude to go to Italy this winter." + +Just at this time the door of the dining room opened, and a new party +came in. It consisted of a gentleman and lady, who seemed to be a new +married pair. They came in a carriage. Rollo looked out the window, and +saw the carriage drive away from the door to go to the stable. + +The gentleman put his haversack and the lady's satchel and shawl down +upon the table, and then took a seat with her upon another sofa which +was in the room. + +The dinner which Rollo had ordered was soon ready, and they sat down to +eat it with excellent appetites. While they were at dinner, Rollo +inquired of the waiter what time the omnibus went to Villeneuve, and he +learned that it did not go for some hours. So Mr. Holiday told his wife +that she might either have a chamber, and lie down and rest herself +during that time, or they might go out and take a walk. + +Mrs. Holiday said that she did not feel at all fatigued, and so she +would like to go and take a walk. + +There was a castle on a rising ground just in the rear of the village, +which had attracted her attention in coming into the town, and she was +desirous of going to see it. + +So they all set off to go and see the castle. They found their way to it +without any difficulty. It proved to be an ancient castle, built in the +middle ages, but it was used now for a prison. The family of the jailer +lived in it too. It looked old and gone to decay. + +When they entered the court yard, a woman looked up to the windows and +called out _Julie!_ Presently a young girl answered to the call, and the +woman told her that here were some people come to see the castle. So +Julie came down and took them under her charge. + +The party spent half an hour in rambling over the castle. They went +through all sorts of intricate passages, and up and down flights of +stone stairs, steep, and narrow, and winding. They saw a number of +dismal dungeons. Some were dark, so that the girl had to take a candle +to light the way. The doors were old, and blackened by time, and they +moved heavily on rusty hinges. The bolts, and bars, and locks were all +rusted, too, so that it was very difficult to move them. + +The visitors did not see all the dungeons and cells, for some of them +had prisoners in them then, and those doors Julie said she was not +allowed to open, for fear that the prisoners should get away. + +After rambling about the old castle as much as they desired to do, and +ascending to the tower to view the scenery, the party came down again, +and returned to the inn. + +They found the dining room full of boys. These boys were sitting at a +long table, eating a luncheon. They were the boys of a school. The +teacher was at the head of the table. Rollo talked with some of the +boys, for he found two or three that could talk French and English, +though their English was not very good. + +In due time the omnibus came to the door, and then Rollo conducted his +father and mother to it, and assisted them to get in. The sun was now +nearly down, and the party had a delightful ride, in the cool air of the +evening, back to Villeneuve. + +The next day they embarked on board the steamer, and returned to Geneva. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE JEWELRY. + + +I have already said that Geneva is a very famous place for the +manufacture of watches and jewelry, and that almost every person who +goes there likes to buy some specimen of these manufactures as a +souvenir of their visit. + +There is a great difference in ladies, in respect to the interest which +they take in dress and ornaments. Some greatly undervalue them, some +greatly overvalue them. + +Some ladies, especially such as are of a very conscientious and +religious turn of mind, are apt to imagine that there is something wrong +in itself in wearing ornaments or in taking pleasure in them. But we +should remember that God himself has ornamented every thing in nature +that has not power to ornament itself. Look at the flowers, the fruits, +the birds, the fields, the butterflies, the insects; see how beautiful +they all are made by _ornaments_ with which God has embellished them. + +God has not ornamented man, nor has he clothed him; but he has given him +the powers and faculties necessary to clothe and ornament himself. He +has provided him with the means, too, and with the means as much for the +one as for the other. There are cotton and flax which he can procure +from plants, and wool and fur from animals, for his clothing; and then +there are gold and silver in the earth, and rubies, emeralds, and +diamonds, for his ornaments; and if we are not to use them, what were +they made for? + +They, therefore, seem to be in error who discard all ornaments, and +think that to wear them or to take pleasure in them is wrong. + +But this, after all, is not the common failing. The danger is usually +altogether the other way. A great many ladies overvalue ornaments. They +seem to think of scarcely any thing else. They cannot have too many +rings, pins, bracelets, and jewels. They spend _all_ their surplus money +for these things, and even sometimes pinch themselves in comforts and +necessaries, to add to their already abundant supplies. This excessive +fondness for dress and articles for personal adornment is a mark of a +weak mind. It is seen most strongly in savages, and in people of the +lowest stages of refinement and cultivation. The opposite error, though +far less common, is equally an error; and though it is not the mark of +any weakness of the mind, it certainly denotes a degree of perversion in +some of the workings of it. + +The morning after the return of our party to Geneva from their excursion +along the lake, they made their arrangements for leaving Geneva finally +on the following day. + +"And now," said Mr. Holiday to his wife, "Geneva is a famous place for +ornaments and jewelry; and before we go, I think you had better go with +me to some of the shops, and buy something of that kind, as a souvenir +of your visit." + +"Well," said Mrs. Holiday, "if you think it is best, we will. Only I +don't think much of ornaments and jewelry." + +"I know you do not," said Mr. Holiday; "and that is the reason why I +think you had better buy some here." + +Mrs. Holiday laughed. She thought it was rather a queer reason for +wishing her to buy a thing--that she did not care much about it. + +Rollo was present during this conversation between his father and +mother, and listened to it; and when, finally, it was decided that his +mother should go to one or two of the shops in Geneva, to look at, and +perhaps purchase, some of the ornaments and jewelry, he wished to go +too. + +"Why?" said his mother; "do _you_ wish to buy any of those things?" + +Rollo said he did. He wished to buy some for presents. + +"Have you got any money?" asked his father. + +"Yes, sir, plenty," said Rollo. + +Rollo was a very good manager in respect to his finances, and always +kept a good supply of cash on hand, laid up from his allowance, so as to +be provided in case of any sudden emergency like this. + +So the party set out together, after breakfast, to look at the shops. +They knew the shops where jewelry was kept for sale by the display of +rings, pins, bracelets, and pretty little watches, that were put up at +the windows. They went into several of them. The shops were not large, +but the interior of them presented quite a peculiar aspect. There were +no goods of any kind, except those in the windows, to be seen, nor were +there even any shelves; but the three sides of the room were filled with +little drawers, extending from the floor to the ceiling. These drawers +were filled with jewelry of the richest and most costly description; and +thus, though there was nothing to be seen at first view, the value of +the merchandise ready to be displayed at a moment's notice was very +great. + +In the centre of the room, in front of the drawers, were +counters--usually two, one on each side; and sometimes there was a table +besides. The table and the counters were elegantly made, of fine cabinet +work, and before them were placed handsome chairs and sofas, nicely +cushioned, so that the customers might sit at their ease, and examine +the ornaments which the shopkeeper showed them. The counters were of the +same height as the table, and there were drawers in them below, and also +in the table, like those along the sides of the room. + +At the first shop where our party went in, two ladies, very showily +dressed, were sitting at a table, looking at a great variety of pins, +rings, and bracelets that the shopkeeper had placed before them. The +articles were contained in little rosewood and mahogany trays, lined +with velvet; and they looked very brilliant and beautiful as they lay, +each in its own little velvet nest. + +The ladies looked up from the table, and gazed with a peculiar sort of +stare, well known among fashionable people of a certain sort, upon Mrs. +Holiday, as she came in. One of them put up a little eye glass to her +eye, in order to see her more distinctly. Mr. and Mrs. Holiday, followed +by Rollo, advanced and took their places on a sofa before one of the +counters. The ladies then continued their conversation, apparently +taking no notice of the new comers. + +One of the ladies was holding a bracelet in her hand. She had already +two bracelets on each wrist, and ever so many rings on her fingers, +besides a large brooch in her collar, and a double gold chain to her +watch, with a great number of breloques and charms attached to it. She +seemed to be considering whether she should buy the bracelet that she +was holding in her hand or not. + +"It certainly is a beauty," said she. + +"Yes," said the other; "and if I were you, Almira, I would take it +without hesitating a moment. You can afford it just as well as not." + +"It is so high!" said Almira, doubtingly, and holding up the bracelet, +so as to see the light reflected from the surfaces of the precious +stones. + +"I don't think it is high at all," said her friend; "that is, for such +stones and such setting. A thousand francs, he says, and that is only +two hundred dollars. That is nothing at all for so rich a husband as +yours." + +"I know," said Almira; "but then he always makes such wry faces if I buy +any thing that costs more than fifty or seventy-five dollars." + +[Illustration: SHOPPING AT GENEVA.] + +"I would not mind his wry faces at all," said her friend. "He does +not mean any thing by them. Depend upon it, he is as proud to see you +wear handsome things as any man, after he has once paid for them. Then, +besides, perhaps the man will take something off from the thousand +francs." + +"I will ask him," said Almira. + +So she called the shopman to her, and asked him in French whether he +could not take eight hundred francs for the bracelet. + +She accosted him in French, for that is the language of Geneva; and the +two ladies had talked very freely to each other in English, supposing +that neither the shopkeeper nor the new party of customers would +understand what they were saying. But it happened that the shopkeeper +himself, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Holiday, understood English very well, +and thus he knew the meaning of all that the ladies had been saying; and +he was too well acquainted with human nature not to know that the end of +such a consultation and deliberation as that would be the purchase of +the bracelet, and was therefore not at all disposed to abate the price. + +"No, madam," said he, speaking in French, and in a very polite and +obliging manner; "I cannot vary from the price I named at all. We are +obliged to adopt the system of having only one price here. Besides, +that bracelet could not possibly be afforded for less than a thousand +francs. Earlier in the season we asked twelve hundred francs for it; and +I assure you, madam, that it is a great bargain at a thousand." + +After looking at the bracelet a little longer, and holding it up again +in different lights, and hearing her friend's solicitations that she +would purchase it repeated in various forms, Almira finally concluded to +take it. + +It may seem, at first view, that Almira's friend evinced a great deal of +generosity in urging her thus to buy an ornament more rich and costly +than she could hope to purchase for herself; but her secret motive was +not a generous one at all. She wished to quote Almira's example to her +own husband, as a justification for her having bought a richer piece of +jewelry than he would otherwise have approved of. + +"Mine only cost eight hundred francs," she was going to say; "and cousin +Almira bought one that cost a thousand." + +In this way she hoped to exhibit to her husband that which he might +otherwise have regarded as foolish extravagance in the light of +self-denial and prudent economy. + +In the mean time, while Almira and her friend had been making their +purchases at the table, another shopman had been displaying a great +many trays to Mrs. Holiday on one of the counters. The ornaments +contained in these trays were by no means as costly as those which had +been shown to the two ladies at the table; for Mrs. Holiday had said to +the shopman, as she came in, that she wished to see only some simple +pins and other ornaments worth from fifty to one hundred francs. They +were, however, just as pretty in Mrs. Holiday's opinion. Indeed, the +beauty of such ornaments as these seldom has any relation to the +costliness of them. This, however, constitutes no reason, in the opinion +of many ladies, why they should buy the less expensive ones; for with +these ladies it is the costliness of an ornament, rather than the beauty +of it, that constitutes its charm. + +The two ladies paid for their purchases with gold coins which they took +from elegant gold-mounted porte-monnaies that they carried in their +hands, and then, with a dash and a flourish, went away. + +Mrs. Holiday took up one after another of the ornaments before her, and +looked at them with a musing air and manner, that seemed to denote that +her thoughts were not upon them. She was thinking how erroneous an +estimate those ladies form of the comparative value of the different +sources of happiness within the reach of women who sacrifice the +confidence and love of their husbands to the possession of a pearl +necklace or a diamond pin. + +Mrs. Holiday finally bought two ornaments, and Rollo bought two also. +Rollo's were small pins. They were very pretty indeed. One of them cost +twelve francs, and the other fifteen. His mother asked him whether he +was going to wear them himself. + +"O, no, mother," said he; "I have bought them to give away." + +His mother then asked him whom he was going to give them to. He laughed, +and said that that was a secret. He would tell her, however, he said, +whom one of them was for. It was for his cousin Lucy. + +"And which of them is for her?" asked his mother. + +"This one," said Rollo. So saying he showed his mother the one that cost +twelve francs. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +A FORTUNATE ACCIDENT. + + +The day before Rollo left Geneva, he met with an accident which his +father called a fortunate one, though Rollo himself was at first +inclined to consider it quite an unfortunate one. The reason why Mr. +Holiday considered it fortunate was, that no evil result followed from +it, except giving Rollo a good fright. "It is always a lucky thing for a +boy," said Mr. Holiday, "when he meets with any accident that frightens +him well, provided it does not hurt him much." + +The accident that happened to Rollo was this: There was a boy at the +hotel, who had recently come with his father and mother from India. He +was the son of an English army officer. His name was Gerald. He was a +tall and handsome boy, and was about a year older than Rollo. + +In the afternoon of the day before the party were to leave Geneva, Rollo +came in from the quay, where he had been out to take a walk, and asked +permission to go out on the lake, a little way, in a boat, with Gerald. + +"Does Gerald understand how to manage a boat?" asked Mr. Holiday. + +"O, yes, sir," said Rollo. "He has been all over the world, and he knows +how to manage every thing. Besides, I can manage a boat myself well +enough to go out on this lake. It is as smooth as a mill pond." + +"Very well," said Mr. Holiday. "Only it must not be a sail boat. You +must take oars; and look out well that the Rhone does not catch you." + +Rollo understood very well that his father meant by this that he must be +careful not to let the current, which was all the time drawing the water +of the lake off under the bridge, and thus forming the Rhone below, +carry the boat down. Rollo said that he would be very careful; and off +he went to rejoin Gerald on the quay. + +Gerald was already in the boat. He had with him, also, a Swiss boy, whom +he had engaged to go too, as a sort of attendant, and to help row, if +necessary. An English boy, in such cases, never considers the party +complete unless he has some one to occupy the place of a servant, and to +be under his command. + +So the three boys got into the boat, and pushed off from the shore. For +a time every thing went on well and pleasantly. Rollo and the others had +a fine time in rowing to and fro over the smooth water, from one +beautiful point of land to another, on the lake shores, and sometimes in +lying still on the calm surface, to rest from the labor, and to amuse +themselves in looking down in the beautiful blue depths beneath them, +and watching the fishes that were swimming about there. At last, in the +course of their manoeuvrings, they happened to take the boat rather +too near the bridge. The attention of the boys was at the time directed +to something that they saw in the water; and they did not perceive how +near the bridge they were until Rollo happened to observe that the +stones at the bottom seemed to be rapidly moving along in the direction +towards the lake. + +"My!" said Rollo; "see how fast the stones are going!" + +"The stones!" exclaimed Gerald, starting up, and seizing an oar. "It's +the boat! We are going under the bridge, as sure as fate! Put out your +oar, Rollo, and pull for your life! Pull!" + +Both Rollo and the Swiss boy immediately put out their oars and pulled; +but Gerald soon found that the current was too strong for them. In spite +of all they could do, the boat was evidently slowly drifting towards the +bridge. + +"It is of no use," said Gerald, at last. "We shall have to go through; +but that will do no harm if we can only manage to keep her from striking +the piers. Take in your oars, boys, and let me pull her round so as to +head down stream, and you stand ready to fend off when we are going +under." + +The excitement of this scene was very great, and Rollo's first impulse +was to scream for help; but observing how cool and collected Gerald +appeared, he felt somewhat reassured, and at once obeyed Gerald's +orders. He took in his oar, and holding it in his hands, as if it had +been a boat hook or a setting pole, he prepared to fend off from the +piers when the boat went through. In the mean time Gerald had succeeded +in getting the boat round, so as to point the bows down stream, just as +she reached the bridge; and in this position she shot under it like an +arrow. Several boys who were standing on the bridge at this time, after +watching at the upper side till the boat went under, ran across to the +lower side, to see her come out. + +The boat passed through the bridge safely, though the stern struck +against the pier on one side, just as it was emerging. The reason of +this was, that Gerald, in bringing it round so as to head down the +stream, had given it a rotating motion, which continued while it was +passing under the bridge, and thus brought the stern round against the +pier. No harm was done, however, except that the boat received a rather +rude concussion by the blow. + +"Now, boys," said Gerald, speaking in French, "we must keep her head and +stern up and down the stream, or we shall make shipwreck." + +"Yes," said Rollo, in English; "if we should strike a snag or any thing, +broadside on, the boat would roll right over." + +"A snag!" repeated Gerald, contemptuously. The idea was indeed absurd of +finding a snag in the River Rhone; for a snag is formed by a floating +tree, which is washed into the river by the undermining of the banks, +and is then carried down until it gets lodged. There are millions of +such trees in the Mississippi, but none in the Rhone. + +However, Rollo was right in his general idea. There might be +obstructions of some sort in the river, which it would be dangerous for +the boat to encounter broadside on; so he took hold resolutely of the +work of helping Gerald bring it into a position parallel with the +direction of the stream. In the mean time the boat was swept down the +torrent with fearful rapidity. It glided swiftly on amid boiling +whirlpools and sheets of rippling foam, that were quite frightful to +see. The buildings of the town here bordered the banks of the river on +each side, and there were little jutting piers and platforms here and +there, with boys upon them in some places, fishing, and women washing +clothes in others. The boys in the boat did not call for help, and so +nobody attempted to come and help them. Gerald's plan was to keep the +boat headed right, and so let her drift on until she had passed through +the town, in hopes of being able to bring her up somewhere on the shore +below. + +At one time the force of the current carried them quite near to the +shore, at a place where Gerald thought it would be dangerous to attempt +to land, and he called out aloud to Rollo to "fend off." Rollo attempted +to do so, and in the attempt he lost his oar. He was standing near the +bows at the time, and as he planted his oar against the bottom, the +current carried the boat on with such irresistible impetuosity that the +oar was wrested from his hand in an instant. If he had not let go of it +he would have been pulled over himself. Gerald, however, had the +presence of mind to reach out his own oar at once, and draw the lost one +back towards the boat, so that the Swiss boy seized it, and, to Rollo's +great joy, took it in again. + +The boat at one time came very near drifting against one of the great +water wheels which were revolving in the stream. Gerald perceived the +danger just in time, and he contrived to turn the head of the boat out +towards the centre of the river, and then commanding Rollo and the Swiss +boy to row, and pulling, himself, with all his force, he just succeeded +in escaping the danger. + +By this time the boat had passed by the town, and it now came to a part +of the river which was bordered by smooth, grassy banks on each side, +and with a row of willows growing near the margin of the water. This was +the place, in fact, where Rollo had walked along the shore with his +mother, in going down to visit the junction of the Rhone and the Arve. + +"Now," said Gerald, "here is a chance for us to make a landing. I'll +head her in towards the shore." + +So Gerald turned the head of the boat in towards the bank, and then, by +dint of hard rowing, the boys contrived gradually to draw nearer and +nearer to the shore, though they were all the time drifting rapidly +down. At last the boat came so near that the bow was just ready to touch +the bank, and then Gerald seized the painter, and, watching his +opportunity, leaped ashore, and, running to the nearest willow, wound +the painter round it. This at once checked the motion of the bow, and +caused the stern to swing round. Gerald immediately unwound the painter, +and ran to the willow next below, where he wound it round again, and +there succeeded at last in making it fast, and stopping the motion of +the boat altogether. Rollo and the Swiss boy then made their escape safe +to land. + +"There!" said Rollo, taking at the same time a high jump, to express his +exultation; "there! Here we are safe, and who cares?" + +"Ah!" said Gerald, calmly; "it is very easy to say Who cares? now that +we have got safe to land; but you'll find me looking out sharp not to +get sucked into those ripples again." + +So the boys went home. Gerald found a man to go down and bring back the +boat, while Rollo proceeded to the hotel, to report the affair to his +father and mother. Mrs. Holiday was very much alarmed, but Mr. Holiday +seemed to take the matter quite coolly. He said he thought that Rollo +was now, for all the rest of his life, in much less danger of being +drowned by getting carried down rapids in a river than he was before. + +"He understands the subject now somewhat practically," said Mr. Holiday. + +The term of Mr. Holiday's visit had now expired, and the arrangements +were to be made for leaving town, with a view of returning again to +Paris. Rollo, however, was very desirous that before going back to Paris +they should make at least a short excursion among the mountains. + +"Where shall we go?" said his father. + +"To the valley of Chamouni," said Rollo. "They say that that is the +prettiest place in all Switzerland." + +"How long will it take us to go?" asked Mr. Holiday. + +"We can go in a day," said Rollo. "There are plenty of diligences. The +offices of them are here all along the quay. + +"Or, if you don't choose to go so far in a day," continued Rollo, "you +can go in half a day to the entrance of the valley, where there is a +good place to stop, and then we can go to Chamouni the next day. I have +studied it all out in the guide book." + +"Very well," said Mr. Holiday. "It seems that we can get into the valley +of Chamouni very easily; and now how is it about getting out?" + +At this question Rollo's countenance fell a little, and he replied that +it was not so easy to get out. + +"There is no way to get out," said he, "except to go over the +mountains, unless we come back the same way we go in." + +"That would not be quite so pleasant," said Mr. Holiday. + +"No, sir," said Rollo; "it would be better to go out some new way. But +there is not any way. It is a long, narrow valley, very high up among +the mountain glaciers. There is a way to get out at the upper end, but +it is only a mountain pass, and we should have to ride over on mules. +But you could ride on a mule--could not you, father?" + +"Why, yes," said Mr. Holiday, "perhaps I could; but it might be too +fatiguing for your mother. She has not been accustomed to ride on +horseback much of late years. + +"Besides," he continued, "I suppose that as it is a mountain pass, the +road must be pretty steep and difficult." + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "it is steep some part of the way. You have to +go up for half an hour by zigzags--right up the side of the mountain. I +read about it in the guide book. Then, after we get up to the top of the +pass, we have a monstrous long way to go down. We have to go down for +two hours, as steep as we can go." + +"I should think we should have to go _up_ as much as _down_," said Mr. +Holiday; "for it is necessary to ascend as much to get to the top of +any hill from the bottom as you _descend_ in going down to the bottom +from the top." + +"Ah, but in Chamouni," said Rollo, "we are very near the top already. It +is a valley, it is true; but it is up very high among the mountains, and +is surrounded with snow and glaciers. That is what makes it so +interesting to go there. Besides, we can see the top of Mont Blanc +there, and with a spy glass we can watch the people going up, as they +walk along over the fields of snow." + +"Well," said Mr. Holiday, "I should like to go there very well, if your +mother consents; and then, if she does not feel adventurous enough to go +over the mountain pass on a mule, we can, at all events, come back the +same way we go." + +"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "and, besides, father," he continued, eagerly, +"there is another way that we can do. Mother can go over the mountain +pass on a carrying chair. They have carrying chairs there, expressly to +carry ladies over the passes. They are good, comfortable chairs, with +poles each side of them, fastened very strong. The lady sits in the +chair, and then two men take hold of the poles, one before and the other +behind, and so they carry her over the mountains." + +"I should think that would be very easy and very comfortable," said Mr. +Holiday. "Go and find your mother, and explain it all to her, and hear +what she says. Tell her what sort of a place Chamouni is, and what there +is to be seen there, and then tell her of the different ways there will +be of getting out when once we get in. If she would like it we will go." + +Mrs. Holiday did like the plan of going to Chamouni very much. She said +she thought that she could go over the mountain pass on a mule; and that +at any rate she could go on the carrying chair. So the excursion was +decided upon, and the party set off the next day. + + * * * * * + +And here I must end the story of Rollo at Geneva, only adding that it +proved in the end that the fifteen franc pin which Rollo bought, and the +destination of which he made a secret of, was intended for his mother. +He kept the pin in his trunk until he returned to America, and then sent +it into his mother's room, with a little note, one morning when she was +there alone. His mother kept the pin a great many years, and wore it a +great many times; and she said she valued it more than any other +ornament she had, though she had several in her little strong box that +had cost in money fifty times as much. + + + + +ABBOTT'S AMERICAN HISTORY. + +A SERIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY FOR YOUTH, + +By JACOB ABBOTT. + +Complete in Eight Volumes, 18mo., price $1.25 each. + +Each Volume complete in itself. + +Each volume is illustrated with numerous Maps and Engravings, from +original designs by F. O. C. Darley, J. R. Chapin, G. Perkins, Charles +Parsons, H. W. Herrick, E. F. Beaulieu, H. L. Stephens, and others. + +This Series, by the well-known author of the "ROLLO BOOKS" "ROLLO'S TOUR +IN EUROPE," "HARPER'S SERIES OF EUROPEAN HISTORIES," "THE FLORENCE +STORIES," &c., consists of the following volumes: + + 1. ABORIGINAL AMERICA. + 2. DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. + 3. THE SOUTHERN COLONIES. + 4. THE NORTHERN COLONIES. + 5. WARS OF THE COLONIES. + 6. THE REVOLT OF THE COLONIES. + 7. THE REVOLUTION. + 8. WASHINGTON. + +Notices of the Initial Volume. + +_From the Boston Traveller._ + +"The most excellent publication of the kind ever undertaken." + +_From the Boston Advertiser._ + +"The illustrations are well designed and executed." + +_From the Boston Post._ + +"One of the most useful of the many good and popular books of which +Mr. Abbott is the author." + +_From the Philadelphia North American._ + +"It is indeed a very vivid and comprehensive presentation of the +physical aspect and aboriginal life visible on this continent before the +discovery by white men." + +_From the Troy Whig._ + +"Mr. Abbott's stories have for years been the delight of thousands." + + + + +_Published by Sheldon & Co._ + + +PETER PARLEY'S OWN STORY. + +From the Personal Narrative of the late SAMUEL G. GOODRICH (Peter +Parley). + +1 vol. 16mo., illustrated, price $1.25. + + + CHILDREN'S SAYINGS; + OR, EARLY LIFE AT HOME. + +By CAROLINE HADLEY. With Illustrations, by WALTER CRANE. + +1 vol. square 16mo., price 90 cents. + + + STORIES OF OLD. + OLD TESTAMENT SERIES. + +By CAROLINE HADLEY. + +1 vol. 12mo., Illustrated, price $1.25. + + + STORIES OF OLD. + NEW TESTAMENT SERIES. + +By CAROLINE HADLEY. + +1 vol. 12mo., Illustrated, price $1.25. + + +ROSE MORTON'S JOURNAL. + +A series of volumes containing Rose Morton's Journal for the several +months of the year. + +Each volume Illustrated, 18mo., 45 cents. + +There are now ready, + + ROSE MORTON'S JOURNAL FOR JANUARY. + ROSE MORTON'S JOURNAL FOR FEBRUARY. + ROSE MORTON'S JOURNAL FOR MARCH. + ROSE MORTON'S JOURNAL FOR APRIL. + ROSE MORTON'S JOURNAL FOR MAY. + + +WALTER'S TOUR IN THE EAST. + +A Series of interesting Travels through Egypt, Palestine Turkey, and +Syria. By Rev. D. C. EDDY, D.D. + +Each volume beautifully Illustrated from Designs brought from those +countries. + +Each volume, 16mo., price 90 cents. + +There are now ready, + + Walter in Egypt. + Walter in Jerusalem. + Walter in Samaria. + Walter in Damascus. + Walter in Constantinople. (In press.) + +_From the New York Commercial Advertiser._ + +"Dr. Eddy is known as the author of 'The Percy Family,' and is a most +pleasing and instructive writer for the young. The present volume is one +of a series of six, describing a visit of a company of young tourists to +the most interesting and sacred spots on the earth. The incidents +recited and the facts presented are just such as will captivate while +they instruct intelligent youth, and give even adult minds some correct +ideas of Eastern countries and habits. In the present volume, Walter +travels through Egypt, and his story is told in some two hundred and +twenty pages; so compactly told, indeed, that not a line could have been +omitted without injury. It is just the book for an intelligent child." + +_From the Pittsburgh Gazette._ + +"There are four very appropriate illustrations, representing the scenery +and incidents of travel in Egypt. The volume, moreover, is well written, +handsomely printed at the Riverside press, neatly bound in cloth, and +therefore may be commended as a suitable holiday present,--a book that +will both instruct and interest youthful readers." + +_From the Buffalo Express._ + +"This beautiful little volume is the first of a series of six, +describing the visit of a company of young tourists to the most +interesting and sacred spots on the earth. In the one under +consideration, a number of incidents are recited, and facts presented, +which will be found not only exceedingly interesting and instructive to +boys and girls, but will give even adult minds some idea of the romantic +East. It is elegantly bound, and illustrated with a number of finely +executed wood-cuts. We recommend it to the attention of parents as a +most suitable and beautiful holiday present." + + +THE BRIGHTHOPE SERIES. + +By J. T. TROWBRIDGE. + + The Old Battle Ground, + Father Brighthope, + Hearts and Faces. + Iron Thorpe, + Burr Cliff. + +5 vols. 18mo., in cloth, gilt back, uniform. Price $4.00. + +_From the Boston Transcript._ + +"Mr. Trowbridge has never written anything that was not popular, and +each new work has added to his fame. He has a wonderful faculty as a +portrayer of New England characteristics, and New England scenes." + +_From the Salem Register._ + +"Mr. Trowbridge will find many welcomers to the field of authorship as +often as he chooses to enter it, and to leave as pleasant a record +behind him as the story of "Father Brighthope." The "Old Battle Ground" +is worthy of his reputation as one of the very best portrayers of New +England character and describers of New England scenes." + + +THE GELDART SERIES. + +By Mrs. THOMAS GELDART. + +6 vols. 16mo. Illustrated by JOHN GILBERT. + +Price of each 60 cents. + + Daily Thoughts for a Child, + Truth is Everything, + Sunday Morning Thoughts, + Sunday Evening Thoughts, + Emilie the Peacemaker, + Stories of Scotland. + +_From the Boston Register._ + +"These charming volumes are the much admired Geldart Series of books for +the young, which have established a very enviable reputation in England +for their wholesome moral tendency. They are beautifully printed 16mo. +volumes, with gilt backs, and are sold at 50 cents each. There are five +volumes in the series, and they will form a very choice addition to a +youth's library." + +_From the Worcester Palladium._ + +"What children read they often long retain; therefore it is desirable +that their books should be of a high moral tone. In this respect Mrs. +Geldart has few equals as an author, and we hope that her works will be +found in every child's library." + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES + + +1. Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters errors and to +ensure consistency across the text in spelling and punctuation usage; +otherwise, every effort has been made to ensure that this e-text is true +to the originial book. + +2. The original book had decorative engravings at the end of many +chapters; reference to these endcaps has been omitted in this text +version. 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