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ROLLO IN GENEVA 
 
 Br 
 
 JACOB ABBOTT, 
 
 KEvV YORK: 
 J II X R. A IS^ D E R S O N, 
 
 PUBLISFIJEE. 
 
Entered nrcordlng to Act of Confess, !n lh« yrar 1S58, by 
 JACOB ABBOTT. 
 
 In th« Clerk's Office of the District Conrt of the District of Mati 
 
 chueetU. 
 
PRINCIPAL PERSONS OF THE STORY. 
 
 RoLLO ; twelve years of age. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Holiday ; RoUo's father and mcther, traveU 
 
 ling in Europe. 
 Thanny ; Rollo's 3'ounger brother. 
 
 Jane J Rollo's cousin, adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Holiday. 
 Mr. George; a young- gentleman, Rollo's uncle. 
 
COINTENTS. 
 
 OBAnSB 
 
 I. — The Fame of Geneva, . 
 II. — Planning, 
 
 III. — The Ride to Geneva, . 
 
 IV. — The Town, 
 V. — The Hotel, . 
 
 VI. — A Ride in the Environs, 
 
 VII. — The Junction of the Abvb, 
 
 VIII. — Seeing Mont Blanc go out 
 
 IX. — A Law Question, . 
 
 X. — An Excursion on the Lake 
 
 XL — Villeneuve, . 
 
 XII. — The Castle of Chillon, 
 
 XIII. — Plan Formed, 
 
 XIV. — Walk to Aiglb, . 
 XV. — The Jewelry, 
 
 XVI. — A FOBTUNATB ACCIDENT, 
 
 rk9r 
 
 11 
 24 
 85 
 55 
 
 64 
 71 
 93 
 108 
 122 
 134 
 148 
 155 
 171 
 179 
 197 
 209 
 
 ENGRAVINGS 
 
 The Castle of Chillon, (Frontispiece.) 
 
 
 The Great Net, ... 
 
 . 30 
 
 Going through the Villaob, . 
 
 . . . 46 
 
 View of Geneva, 
 
 . 58 
 
 The Water Wheel, .... 
 
 100 
 
 Fishing, ...... 
 
 104 
 
 Going to take a Sail, 
 
 132 
 
 The Dungeons op Chilloh, 
 
 161 
 
 The Basket Ride, .... 
 
 . 185 
 
 BUOPPINQ AT GxNSTAi .... 
 
 . 203 
 
liOLLO IN GENEVA. 
 
 Chapter I. 
 The Fame of Geneva. 
 
 city of Goneva. The crescent lai>i. 
 
 GENEVA is one of tlic most remarkable and 
 most celebrated cities in Europe. It de- 
 rives its celebrity, however, not so much from it? 
 size, or from tlie 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 Franco, 
 Switzerland, and Sardinia, at the outlet of the 
 Lake of Geneva, which is perhaps the most beau- 
 tiful, and certainly the most celebrated, lake iu 
 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 iowci* 
 end of the lake — tliat is, the end wiiere Geneva 
 is situated — lies in a com})aratively open couii- 
 trv, though vast rantres of loflv mountains, some 
 
 ^11) ' 
 
12 * ROLLO IN G'ENBVA 
 
 riie blue wateis of the lake. The lake, the city, aod the river 
 
 of them covered with perpetual snow, are to be 
 seen in tlie distance all around. All the country 
 near, however, at this end of the lake, is gently 
 undulating, and it is extremely fertile and beau- 
 tiful. There are a great many elegant country 
 seats along the shore of the lake, and on the 
 banks of the River Rlioiie, wliich 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 l)lue 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, no- 
 body has yet been able to lind 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, 
 Oows directly through the town. 
 
 The lake is about fifty miles long, and the eastern 
 end of it runs far in among the mountains. These 
 uioimtains are very dark and sombre, and their 
 sides ris.e 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 gen- 
 erally to that end of the lake in a steamer ; and 
 
The Fame op Geneva. 13 
 
 Tho Khono. The lake of Geneva is gradually being filled up. 
 
 as you advance, tlie mountaius seem to shut yon 
 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 
 iiand, 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 tlie 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 we?^ 
 ern end, on the other hand, where it issues from 
 tlie lake, the water is beautifully pellucid and 
 clear. The reason of this is, that during its slo'vv 
 passage through the lake it has had time to settle 
 The impurities which the torrents bring dowL 
 into it from the mountains all subside to the bot/- 
 tom of the lake, and are left there, and thus th^ 
 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 
 
14 R r. L I N Geneva. 
 
 Size of Geneva. Tlie c.tuses •»!" its cclf britv. 
 
 On the northern sliore of the lake ; brit Geneva, at 
 the western end of it, entirely surpasses them all. 
 
 Geneva is, however, after all, a comparatively 
 Rmall town. It contains only thirty or forty thou 
 sand 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 j»rescnt day, since 
 steam has been introduced upon the Mediterra- 
 nean, a very large proportion of travellers, in- 
 stead of passing through Switzerland, go (h)\vn 
 the Rhone to Marseilles, and embark there. Hul 
 before the introduction of steam, for many agc-a, 
 the way by Geneva \m\s almost the only way to 
 Italy; and the city acquired great celebrity 
 
T u K F A M E OF Geneva. 15 
 
 Thb two n.utfs. The Alps uJ Favoy uinl the Oberknd Al{)9. 
 
 Ihiough the accounts of tourists and traN-elicra 
 who visited it on their journe3^s. 
 
 2. The ?econd reason is, that Geneva is a con- 
 VGiiicnt and agreeable point for entering Switzer- 
 Ijud, and for making excursions among the Alps. 
 There are two great avenues into Switzerland 
 fiom 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 
 Obeiland Alps whicli lie around that mountain, 
 and to tlie beautiful lakes of Zurich and of Lu- 
 cerne. 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 moun- 
 tain scenery that lie around this great monarch 
 Df the Alps. 
 
 There is a great question among travellei*a 
 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 sce- 
 nery 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 sever- 
 ally produce upon the mind must be due to the 
 
16 RoLLO IN Geneva. 
 
 Mont Blauc. Tlie proper piouuiiciatit n of foreign names. 
 
 peculiar circumstances or moods of mind in which 
 thoy are visited. It is true you can get nearer 
 to tlie Jnn2;frau than you can to Mont J31anc. 
 and so can obtain a more impressive ^-icw of hig 
 icy and rocky sides and glittering sunmiit. But 
 then, on the other liand, Mont Blanc is leally the 
 highest peak, and is looked upon as the great 
 monarch of them all. 
 
 And here, as tlie name of Mont Blauc will of 
 course often appear in this volume, I have a word 
 or two to say in respect to the ju'oper pronuncia- 
 tion of it in America ; for the projior mode of 
 pronouncing the name of any place is not fixed, 
 as many persons think, but varies ui[li the lan- 
 guage which you are using in ?(penki:;g of it. 
 Thus the name of the capital of France, when 
 we are in France, and speaking French, is pro- 
 nounced Par-rcc ; but when we uie in England 
 and America, and are sj)caking Knglish, we uni- 
 versally pronounce it Par-is. It is so with almost 
 all names of places. They change the ])ronun- 
 ciation, and often the mode of spelling, according 
 to the analogy of the language used by the per- 
 eon si)eaking of them. 
 
 Many persons sujiposc (hat in order correctly 
 to pronounce the name of any place we must pro- 
 nounce it as the people do who live in and aiound 
 the place. But this is not so. The rule, ou tiie 
 
The Fame of Geneva. 17 
 
 Madrid. Paris. Rome. Mout Blanc. 
 
 otlier 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 
 jKJople of France call their capital Par-rcc ; 
 those of Spain call theirs something like this, — 
 Madhreedth; the Italians pronounce theirs Koran; 
 but we, in talking English, say simply, Paris, 
 Madrid, and Rome ; in other words, when we are 
 talking English, we talk F^iglish throughout, using 
 English words for names of things, and English 
 pronunciation for names of places, in all cases 
 where there is an English pronunciation estab- 
 lished, — as th'Cre is in respect to all the rivers, 
 towns, mountains, and other localities on the 
 globe th-at are well known and often spoken of 
 in the English world. 
 
 Mont Blanc is one of these. Like the word 
 Paris it has its Fi-ench pronunciation for the 
 French, and its Englisli promuiciation for the 
 English; audits English pronunciation is as if it 
 were spelled Mount Blank or Mont Blank. Unde*- 
 this name it has been known and si)oken of fam^^ 
 iarly all over England and America for centu- 
 ries ; and this, it seems to me, is the proper name 
 to give it when we are speaking English. 
 
 Its French pronunciation is very different. \i 
 is one which none but a practical French scholar 
 can possibly imitate, except in a very awkward 
 
18 R I. I. T X G E X E V i 
 
 Methods of prouiinciation. 
 
 manner. Those who liave visited France and 
 Switzerland, and have been accnstonied to the 
 Frencli 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 estab- 
 lished English sound ; and if it is not pedar.try 
 to attempt to give it the Frencli sound when 
 speaking English, it certainly is not a mispronun* 
 ciation to give it the English one. Indeed, to 
 require the French pronunciation of the word 
 from English speakers would be in effect to ban- 
 ish it almost altogether from conversation ; for 
 among the ten millions, more or less, in England 
 or America, who speak English well there ia 
 probably not one in a thousand that can possiblv 
 give the word its true French pronunciation. 
 
 In reading this book, therefore, and in speak- 
 ing of the great Swiss mountain, you are per- 
 fectly safe in giving it its plain English sound, ai 
 if it were written Mont Blank ; and remcmbei 
 the principle, as applicable to all other similar 
 i^'ases. Wherever a foreign name lias become sr 
 familiar to the English world as to have obtained 
 an established English pronunciation, in speakinf* 
 English wc give it that pronunciation, without 
 any regard to the usage of the people wlio livo 
 on the spot. 
 
 But HOW J ;iiusi i(>iurn to Geneva, and giv« 
 
The F a ^r e of Geneva. 19 
 
 The tliir<] cause of tbo fame of Geneva. 
 
 some further account of the reasons why it ha? 
 been so celebrated. 
 
 3. The third reason wii}^ Geneva lias acquirt^l 
 gf) much celebrity among mankind is the great 
 i: umber of learned and distinguished philosopjier? 
 and scholars that have from time to time lived 
 there. Switzerland is a rejDublic, and the canton 
 cf Geneva is Protestant ; and thus the place has 
 nerved as a sort of resort and refuge for all the 
 most distinguished foes both of spiritual and 
 political tyranny tliat 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 reform- 
 ers visited it and wrote about it, and thus made 
 all the world fam.iliar with it, during the exciting 
 times in which they lived. 
 
 Besides this, Geneva has been made the resi- 
 dence and home of a great many moral and polit- 
 ical writers within the last one or two centuries • 
 for the country, being republican, is much moif 
 open and free than most of the other count ii<'.' 
 of Europe. Men who have incurred the displca.-^- 
 ure of their own governments by their writiiijjs 
 or their acts find a safe asylum in Geneva, wheic 
 they can think and say what they please. All 
 chi.^- has tended very strongly to attract the atteii 
 lion of mankind to Geneva, as to a e-ort of lunii 
 
20 RoLLO IN Geneva. 
 
 Tlie mechanical prodticts of Geneva, 
 
 nous point in respect to moral and political 
 science, from which liglit radiates to every part 
 of the civilized world. 
 
 4. There is one more retison, very different 
 from the preceding, whicli tends to make Geneva 
 famous, and to draw travellers to visit it at the 
 present day; and that is, it is a great manufactur- 
 ing place for watches and jewelry — one of the 
 greatest, indeed, in the world. Travellers, in 
 making tho teur of Europe, — and American 
 travellers in particular, — always wish to bring 
 home with tliem a great number and variety of 
 purchases ; and the things that they buy tliey 
 very naturally desire to buy at the places where 
 they arc made. It is not merely that they hope 
 to get them better and clieajxir thei*e, but it is a 
 pleasant thouglit to be associated always after- 
 wards with any object of use or luxury tliat we 
 possess, that we bought it ourselves at the place 
 of its original manufiicture. Thus the gentlemeo 
 wlio travel in Europe like to bring home a fowl- 
 ing-piece from Birmingham, a telescope from Lori 
 do'j, or a painting fi-om Italy ; and the ladies, ic 
 planning their tour, wish it to include Brussels oi 
 Valenciennes for laces, and Geneva for a watch. 
 
 Thus, for ol^e reason or another, immense num- 
 iicrs of peo[)ie go -every year to Geneva, in the 
 coui'sc of the tour tlK?y make in Euro|>e, either 
 
The Fame of G e n e v a . 21 
 
 From Lyons to Geneva. The dilizenrp. Rollo in Lyor.s 
 
 for business or pleasure. It is estimated tliat tho 
 nui^iber of tliest, visitors annually is not less than 
 thirty thousand ; and tlie chief streets and quays 
 of the town are marked olmost as strikingly by 
 the conspicuousness and splendor of the hotels aa 
 B'-oadway in New York. 
 
 The place of departure in France for Geneva 
 is Lyons. If you look upon the map you will 
 sec 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 tlie Rhone, at the 
 place where it issues from the Lake of Geneva — 
 there was no railroad at the time of Hollo's visit, 
 though there was one in the process of construc- 
 tion. Tlie party wei-e obliged to travel by dili- 
 gence 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. 
 Ilis father ga^'e 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 ^o 
 
22 RoLLO IN Geneva. 
 
 3Ir. Holiday's iustrnctioDs to Rc}!o. 
 
 over, SO that 3'ou will know it again, and then if 
 you get lost on the other side it will be no mat* 
 tor. All yon will have to do is to keep coming 
 down hill till you reach the river, and then look 
 np 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 live." 
 
 " Tlien won't it be in season," asked Rollo, " if 
 I am at home by half ]ta?t five? " 
 
 " In season for what ? " asked his father. 
 
 " Why, to save my dinner," said Rollo. 
 
 " Yes,^' said his father : "it might be ii^ season 
 to save your dinner, but that is not what I am 
 planning to save. I have no particular uneasi- 
 ness about your dinner." 
 
 " Why, fatlier ! " said Rollo, surprised. 
 
 " I have no wish to have you go hungry," re- 
 nlied 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 diinier." 
 
 "Then what were you planning to save, father?'' 
 asked Rollo. 
 
 " My own and mother's quiet of mind," replied 
 Afr. Holiday, "especially mother's. If five niin- 
 ritc:} of the dinner hour were to come and yog 
 
The Fame of Geneva 
 
 23 
 
 A rule for children. 
 
 should not appe<ar, she would begin to be uneasy; 
 and indeed so should I. In sueh cases as this, 
 children ought always to come before the (Imo 
 w^hcn their parents would begin to feel any mi- 
 easiness respecting them." 
 
 Rolio saw at once the correctness of this prin* 
 ciplc, and he secretly resolved that be woul'l be 
 ol Home a quarter before five 
 
2i R L I. I N G E X EVA 
 
 The C011116 and the banquette compared. 
 
 Chapter II. 
 Planning. 
 
 *' What part of the diligence are we going to 
 ride in, father ? " asked Rollo, as they were 
 seated at dinner. 
 
 "In tlie coupe,''* paid Mr. Holiday. 
 
 " Ah, father ! " paid Rollo ; " 1 wish you would 
 go on the banquette. We can see so much bet- 
 ter on the banquette." 
 
 " It would be rather hard climbing for mother," 
 said Mr. Holiday, *' to get up to tlic banquette — 
 such a long ladder.'' 
 
 " 0, 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 liis mother. 
 
 " But it is a great deal ])leapanter on the ban- 
 quette," said Rollo. " They keep talking all the 
 time — the conductor, and the drivers, and rhe 
 other i)assengers that are there ; while iy the 
 coupe we shall be all by ourselves. Beside^, it is 
 go much cheaper." 
 
 • FronounceU i-ai/yA/y. 
 
P L A N NM X r, . 25 
 
 CotnforJ in the coup^. ^ Kxcitenient ill the hrtnipiette. 
 
 '•It is cheaper, I knovv/^ said Mr. Holiday; 
 "but, then as to the talking, I tliink we sliall want 
 t(i be quiet, aud go to sleep if wc can. Von sco 
 it \\il] benight.'^' 
 
 "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 vil* 
 lages they have parcels to leave at the inns ; and 
 h 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 comfortablo 
 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 
 doit?" 
 
 "I sent last evening," said Mr. Holiday. "It 
 i^ necessary to engage the places beforehand at 
 iliis season. There is so much travelling into 
 Switzerland now that the diligences are all full. 
 T had to send to three offices before I could get 
 places." 
 
 " Are there three offices? " asked Rollo. 
 
 "Yes," said his fa the'; "there are three dif 
 Cerent lines. 
 
26 R L T. i ^* G E S' E V A . 
 
 5Jr. Holiday pniposcs to Kt llo in )>i-o<-iire :t sr.t ii.> the Intiiuctie. 
 
 '• But I'll tell \"()U what you may do, Rollo, if 
 you please," contiiiiiod liis father. "* You may o-c 
 to the bureau,''^ and see if you can cxcliange ynur 
 .'c;i( ill the coupe for one in the ba»iquettc, if you 
 think you would like better to ride tlierc. 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 ou the ban- 
 quette, and would now be glad to exchange, and 
 pay the difference." 
 
 " How much would the difference be?" asked 
 Rollo. 
 
 "1 don'i know," said ^Ir. Holiday; "five or 
 six franc.'^, ])robably. You would save that sum 
 by riding on the banquette, and you could have 
 it to buy something with in Geneva." 
 
 " Well, sir," ^aid 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, inotlier," said Rollo; "I have no 
 doubt 1 can." 
 
 So Rollo said ho would iinish his dii'ncr aj» 
 Boon as he could, and go off at once to the burea;i, 
 
 • Biirc:iu is the French woril Tnorning uHicc; and English pcrv 
 plo, when triivelling in France, fa.ll ititu the habit of using thr 
 It H-d in that 8cni>c. 
 
Planning. 2'' 
 
 The condition of tlie cxcliange. The quaint old inn. 
 
 " There is one other conditio n/' said his father. 
 " If I let you ride on the banquette, and let 3'ou 
 have all the money that you save for your own, 
 you must write a full account of your ni<]-ht'3 
 journey, and send it to your cousin Lucy." 
 
 "Well, sir," said Rollo, "I will." 
 
 Rollo left the dinner table wliile 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 salk 
 a manger, as they call it — in one of the Lyons 
 inns. Lideed, the whole inn was very quaint and 
 queer, with its old stone staircases, and long cor- 
 ridors leading to tlie various apartments, and its 
 antique ceiling, — reminding one, as Mr. Holiday 
 said, of tlie 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. 
 Uoliday, as Rollo went away, " engage the first 
 cab you see, and the cabman will take you directly 
 thtre for a franc or so." 
 
 '^ Yes, sir," said Rollo, " I will." 
 
 "And if you don't Hud any cab readily," con- 
 tinued his father, "engage a connnissioner to go 
 with you and show you the way." 
 
28 R CM. L O T X G E X E V A . 
 
 The ccmmissioner. Roll.) sturlyin? fho map nf Lyons. 
 
 "Yes, sir," said Rollo. 
 
 A commissioner is a sort of jiorter who standa 
 at the corners of the streets in the French tou-ns, 
 ready to do any thing for any body that calls 
 upon liim. 
 
 Rollo resolved not to employ cither a cabman 
 or a commissioner, if it could possibly be avoided. 
 He took the address of the bureau from his father, 
 and sallied forth. 
 
 lie 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 ma[), 
 and found the street on it where he wished to uo. 
 lie then studied out the course which he was to 
 take. Lyons stands at, or rather near, the conflu- 
 ence of the two rivers Rhone and Saone. lu 
 comiuir to Lyons from Paris, the pjirty had como 
 down the valley of the Saone ; l)ut now ilicy were 
 to leave tins valley, and follow up that of the 
 Rhone to CJeneva, which is situated, as has already 
 been said, on the Rhone, at the |>oint where that 
 river issues from the Lake of Geneva. 
 
 'I'he hotel where Hollo's father had taken lotlg- 
 ings was near the Saone ; and Rollo found that 
 the bureau was on tiie other side of the town, 
 where it fronts on the Rhone. 
 
 So Rollo followed the course which he had 
 mark(Ml oii lor Jii'iiselj" on the niaj». In a short 
 
Planning. 29 
 
 The quay and the parapet along the river. 
 
 time lie saw before him signs of briclgc:^ and a 
 river. 
 
 "All," says lie 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 
 fjuay, 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 tlie 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 ra})idly, as almost ail 
 water does which has just come from Switzerlarid 
 and the Alps. On looking up and down, RoHo 
 saw a great number of bridges crossing this 
 stream, with teams and diligences, and in one 
 place a lung troop of soldiers passing over. Ou 
 the other side, the })aiik was lined with massive 
 blocks of stone buildings. In a word, the whole 
 scene presented a very bright and animated spec- 
 tacle to view. 
 
 Nearly opposite to the place where Rollo camo 
 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 t!.e fcjr 
 
eo 
 
 R L L IN Geneva, 
 
 The gr^Rt net which Rollo saw in Lyoup 
 
 corners, which met in a point above, whence n 
 larger rope went up to a pulley whicli was at 
 tached to the end of a spar that projected IV. )m 
 the stern of a boat. The net was slowly descei.(b 
 ing into the water wlien Rollo first cauiilit a vi. w 
 
 >v 
 
 
 THE OULAf NET. 
 
 ol It ; SO he ran across, and looked over the ^mr 
 apct to see. 
 
 The net descended slowlv into the water, ii 
 
P L A N ^M N a . 31 
 
 "BiiaiueRS before pleasure." T'r.e litiienu. 
 
 was let down by men in the boat paying out tlie 
 line that held it. 
 
 "Ah," said Rollo to himself; "that's a cnri- 
 ous way to rig a net. I should like to stay and 
 see them pull it up again, so as to see how maiij 
 fish they take ; but business first and plcasurG 
 aflcrwards is the rule." 
 
 Po he left the parapet, and walked along the 
 quay towards the place where the bureau waa 
 situated. 
 
 " I'll come back here," said he to himself, 
 " when I have got ray place on the banquette, 
 and see them fish a little while, if I find tliere 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. Roilo 
 knew the bureau by seeing the diligence Btanding 
 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. lie found himself 
 in a small room, with trunks and baggage arrange;-] 
 along on one side of it, and a little enclosure of 
 railings, with a desk behind it, on ih.e other. 
 There was a young man sitting at this desk, 
 writing. 
 
 " This must be a clerk, I suppose," said Rollo 
 to hini'^olf. 
 
82 R L L IN G £ 3f £ V A , 
 
 Jloilo exc-bRiiges bis eeat and g;«iiJ3 eij^hl f».-»;7c?. 
 
 Opposite to wlicrc the clei'k was sittjug theitj 
 was a little openiog in the railing.-*, for jx^?ple to 
 poy tlieir money and take tlicir iicket? ; for peo- 
 ple lake tickets for places in the dHigenco, in 
 Enjope, just as they do for the railroad. Rollo 
 ad\anced to this opening, and, looking tlinmgh 
 it, he stated his ca?e to the clerk. He :^aid that 
 he had a place in the co?i})^ that lii:^ father had 
 taken for him, ])ijt that he wouhl rnther ride on 
 the banquette, if there was rtMMii lliere. and if 
 any body would take his ))lace in the coui-e. 
 
 Tlie clerk said that there had l«eeji a great 
 many persons after a place in Hie cfMipe sitjce it 
 iiad been taken, and that one huh had In ken a 
 place on the banquette, becau:^e all ihe other 
 places in the coach Iiad l>een engaireib 
 
 "I Ihink/'said the clerk, "that she will be vor)' 
 glad to exchange with you, and jniy yrnj the dif« 
 ference. Hhe lives not far from here, and if yoa 
 will wait a few minutes, 1 will send and see." 
 
 ^o the clerk called a connnissioner who stood 
 nt the door, and after giving him his directinnn 
 f^ent him away. In a few minutes ihe commit 
 hiom^r returned, saying that the lady was veiy 
 glad indeed to exchange. He brought in his 
 hand a live franc j)iece and three francs, which 
 was the diflerence in the price of the two places, 
 Th<' clerk gave this money to Hollo, and altered 
 
r L A N' N I X . 33 
 
 Wliat Ro»-.» iUd Ix f.re tlie hour for starting. 
 
 the entry on his books so as to put the lady in 
 the coupe luid Rollo on the banquette. Thus the 
 allair was all arranged. 
 
 Rollo iomid that it was now six o'clock. The 
 diligence was not to set out until half past seven ; 
 but b}^ the ruies of the service the passengers 
 wore 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. 
 
 " Tiiat gives me just an hour," said he to him- 
 self; '* 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 w^as 
 very careful to return some minutes before th*^. 
 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 I^ucy. This 
 letter I shall give in the next chapter. 
 
 The reason why Rollo wrote so long an ac- 
 count of his journey was this : lliat 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 occuj)a- 
 tion that was calculated to advance his education, 
 was considered as study. In consequence of this 
 arrajigeuiont. Roiio was never in a hiii'iy iu come 
 
31 
 
 R L L IN Geneva. 
 
 Hollo at bis studies. 
 
 to the end of bis letters, for he liked tlic work of 
 writing tliem better than writing Frencli eier- 
 cises, or working on arithmetic, or engaging m 
 any of the other avocations wliich devolved \\K)n 
 hiiJi when he had no letters on har d. 
 
 i/i\]i ■. 
 
 iff. 
 
The Ride to Geneva. 35 
 
 Hollo's letter to Lis cousin Lucy. 
 
 Chapter III. 
 The Ride to Gene \' a. 
 
 ' 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 fatlier came, 
 because I was going to ride up in the bellows-top. 
 I call it the bellows-top so that you may under- 
 stand it better. It is a place up in the second 
 story of tlie diligence, where there are seats foi 
 four persons, and a great bellows-top over theii 
 heads. / think it is the best place, though peo- 
 ple have to pay more for the coupe, which is right 
 under it. I got eight francs, wdiich 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 i:p quite a long ladder to get to the 
 banquette. I counted the steps. There wero 
 thirteen. 
 
30 R L L IN Geneva. 
 
 Packing the trunks upon tlit* <)ili_'er!ce. Ki^llds scat. 
 
 " When I got to the office, the men were u<ing 
 ffie ladder to put up the ijaggage. They i)ut the 
 baggage on the top of the diligence, along the 
 ndiole length of it bcliind the l)ellows-to]). They 
 pack it all in very ch)scly, beginning inunediatcly 
 tjehind, and coming regularly forwaid, as far as 
 it will rcacli. There is a fi-anie over it, and a 
 great leather coveri'ig. They pull the covering 
 forward as Aist as they get the trunks j)ackcd, 
 until at last the baggage is all covered over as 
 far forward as to the back of the l>eIlows-top. 
 
 "The men were using the ladders when I came, 
 getting up the baggage ; so I crnubed up by the 
 little steps that are made on the side of the dili- 
 gence. I liked my seat very much. IJefore 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. 
 1 unfastened one of the straps, and saw that I 
 coulil let down the sash if I wished, and thus 
 maki} 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 cur- 
 tain. 'I'lie cuitain was loose. I pushed it back, 
 .uuld look out on the top of the dil- 
 
The Ride to Gexeva. 37 
 
 Thr ^K>stili<'Of r^-iil. K<»no'8 orangeii. 
 
 igcnce where the mcii were at work packing the 
 trunks and baggage. The mea wore blue frocka 
 thaped like cartaien's frock:^.* 
 
 *' Right before the boot was the postiiion's scat. 
 It was a little lower than my seat, and was largo 
 enough for two. The oondui^tor's scat was at the 
 end of luy seat, under the bellows- top. Therf? 
 was one thing curious about his seat, aad 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 liad to climb over the boot to the postilion'R 
 scat, and so get down by the little iron steps. 
 
 " The reason I wanted to get down was so aa 
 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 ver^^ 
 well to get a drink of water. So I climbed down 
 and bouglit four oranges. I bought one for my- 
 self, and two to give father and mother, and ono 
 more because the woman looked so poor. Be- 
 sides, they wei-e not very dear — only li'^ecn cen- 
 times apiece. It takes five centimes tc make a 
 sou, and a sou is about as much as a cent. 
 
 ♦ Such .-x frock is called a bloiis^ — pronounced blooze. Almosl 
 *U worV.iiific men in Frnnce v>-pnr them. Kence the clfl«8 ot wotkf 
 men in France are eoinetimcs called th6 bicute$ 
 
38 R L L IN Geneva 
 
 Tij*" passengers take their plRCt« in tbe diligence. 
 
 " When I liad bought niv orange? I climbed up 
 Into my place again. 
 
 " There were several people beginning to corae 
 gr.d stand about the door of the bureau. 1 sup- 
 pose they were the travellers. Some cauic in 
 cabs, with their trunks on before with the postil- 
 ion. 1 counted up how many the diligence would 
 hohl, 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."^ 
 
 " As fast as the passengers came to the office, 
 the men took their baggage and ])acked it with 
 the rest, on the top of the diligence, and the pas- 
 sengers themselves stood about the door, waiting 
 for the horses to be put in. 
 
 "Some of the jiassengcrs came on foot, with 
 commissioners to bring their baggage. The com- 
 missioners carried their baggage on their backs. 
 Thev had a frame something like an old-fashioned 
 kitchen chair straj)ped to their shoulders, and the 
 baggage was piled upon this very high. One 
 liommissioner that came had on his frame, first 
 
 • The diligence is very lurge. It has four separate compart^ 
 msnts. For a more full account of the construction of the Tchi- 
 cle, and for one or two engravings representing it. see Rollo's Tour 
 in (^witrerland- 
 
The Ride to Geneva. 39 
 
 Tolio's SHitial to his motlipr. 
 
 I'iii- black ti-unk, placed endwise, and llien a port* 
 niantcau, then a carpet bag, and <»n tlic lop a 
 biindbox. Tlie bandl)Ox readied far above liig 
 head. I sbonld not tliink they could possibly 
 carry such lieavy loads. 
 
 " Presently 1 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 
 til at my place was exactly over her head, and that 
 1 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 
 1 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. 
 TJhen I could push up the curtain behind me and 
 look in at the place where the baggaje was 
 fitowed. It looked like a garret. It was not 
 cuite full. There was I'oom for several more 
 t ninks at the forward end of it. 
 
 " Pretty soon after this tliey brought round the 
 HDrses and harnessed them in. Tlien the clerk 
 came out of the bureau and called off the namoa 
 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. — 
 
4{} R LI. IN Geneva. 
 
 Calling the mil. The three /ijm.-^(.-ii}rprs that s;it on ttip trunks. 
 
 " ' Monsieur Holiday and Madame Holiday ! ^ 
 
 " And lie looked in at the coupe door, and fallic 
 Buid, ' Here.' 
 
 "Then he called out,— 
 
 "' Madame Tournaj ! ' 
 
 " 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, 
 wliich is the centre compartment. The interior 
 holds six. 
 
 " Then he called off tlie names of those that 
 wore to go in the ' rotoude,' which is the back 
 coin|)artment. You get into the rotonde by a 
 door behind, like the door of an omnibus. 
 
 " Then the clerk called out the names of the 
 peuple that were to come up to the banquette 
 with me. There were six of them, and there 
 Bcemed 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. Ycvy soon I saw how tiicy were goinji 
 in sit ; for the three that came first — a man an I 
 woman and a girl — when they came into the 
 banquette, pushed up the curtain at the back side 
 of it, and so climbed in l»eliind to the gai-ret, 
 aud sat on the trunks. When the curtain wafi 
 
The Ride to (} e n e v a . 41 
 
 Postilion ilriving. Tlie coiiJiKtor cli!iil:iiig into liis seat. 
 
 down, after they were in, Ihey were all in the 
 dark iliere. 
 
 " However, pretty soon tliey contrived to fasten 
 up the curtain, and then they could see out a liltlo 
 over our shoulders. The girl sat directly beliind 
 inc. I asked her if she could see, and she said 
 elie 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 Fi'cnch, 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 otlier, 
 till the wdiole court rang again. The horses 
 sprang forward and trotted oft' at great speed 
 out of the place, and wheeled round the corner 
 to the quay ; and v/hile they were going, the con- 
 ductor came climbing up the side of the coach to 
 his })lace. 
 
 " 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 macliine, 
 and when it sets out on a journey in a city, tho 
 rumbling of the wheels on the pavement, and the 
 clatteriuiJ: o* the horses' feet, and the coLtinuaJ 
 
42 R L L IN Geneva 
 
 Hollo's account of the diligence. Crossing the River Rhoiie. 
 
 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, 
 wlicn the diligence is coming, liurries to get out 
 of the way. Indeed, I believe the coachmon 
 likes to make all the noise he can ; for lie lias 
 sleigli 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 lit- 
 tle way, we turned off to one of the great stone 
 bridges that lead across the Rhone. We went 
 over this bridge in splendid style. 1 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 1 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 
 itruck into a beautiful road across the country, 
 aud the postilion cracked on faster and harder 
 than ever. Wc had five horses, three abreatt 
 before, ana luu behind. They went upon tlio 
 
The Kidk to Gkneva. 4S 
 
 Thf postilion's wlii[). Tlie roriJ. Fretuli vill;i<:ea. 
 
 gallop, and tlie postilion kept cracking his whip 
 a) tout them and over their ears all the time. I 
 tliought 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 snap- 
 per 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 place? 
 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 look- 
 insr out the second storv 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 vil- 
 lage when we went through, they had to back up 
 
44 RoLLo IN Geneva. 
 
 When Jt grew dark ihe conductor lighted the lanterns. 
 
 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, 
 lie would crack his whip, and cheer on his horses, 
 and make noise and uproar enough to frighteu 
 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 Ian 
 terns had reflectors in the back of them, and were 
 very bright. When the postilion put them i)ack 
 in their places on the front of the coach, the liirht 
 shone down on the road before us, so that the 
 way where the horses were going was as bright 
 as day. 
 
 " After a time the moon rose, and tliat made it 
 pretty bright every where. Still 1 could not see 
 very far. and as the peoi)le around nie were talk- 
 ing, I listened to what they were saying. The 
 conductor was telling stories about diligences 
 that had been robbed. He said that once, wheu 
 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 !o 
 keep in his bed six months before he got well. 1 
 listened a- well as I cuuld. but the diligence mad*' 
 
'^''"--r- GOING THROUOU THE VILLAGB. 
 
The Ride to Geneva. 47 
 
 The 8tv)ry of the conductor about the robbers. Changing horsee. 
 
 such a noise that 1 could not understand all lio 
 said, and I did not hear irhere it was that tliin 
 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 
 reraember 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 postil- 
 ion 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 cui'ious 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 thr 
 
48 R o L L IX Geneva. 
 
 Sometimes the diligf^nce li.ij four horses, sometimes six or seven. 
 
 best way he could. By tlie time the liorscs 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 ho\v different the dif- 
 ferent teams were in regard to the number of 
 horses. Sometimes we had four horses, some- 
 times 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 uy 
 hill they required more horse.^?. 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 a.^^cend- 
 ing 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 ^hv 
 
The Ride to G e x e v a . 49 
 
 The trains of wn,a;nns. Oue tcam-itoi- to six teams 
 
 back axictrcc ; 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 tliat had stopped for the night. After- 
 wards, wlien tlie morning carae, 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 fol- 
 lowed on in a line. The horses were trained to 
 follow in tins way. Thus one man could take 
 charge of a train of six or eight wagons. 
 
 ' There was one very curious thing in tho 
 arrangement, and that was, that the last horse in 
 tlie 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 tnem. 
 
 " 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 
 etop his own wagon, and go back to see what was 
 the matter. If he found that any of them stopped 
 4 
 
So R L L IN Geneva. 
 
 The nne of the ]>eil ou thir hor»e. Iluilo's cxpedienl. 
 
 to cat grass by the way, or because tliev -vYcre 
 la;:y, lie would give them a whipping, and start 
 them on, and that would teach tliem to kcc)) 
 marching on tlic next time. 
 
 " I know what I would do if I were the last 
 horse. Whenever I Avantcd to stop and rest I 
 would keep shaking my head all the time, and 
 that would make the driver think that I was com- 
 ing along. 
 
 " One time, when we were stopping to change 
 horses, I heard some one below me calling to me, 
 
 " ' Rollo ! ' 
 
 " 1 ))elieve I was asleep at that time, and dream- 
 ing about something, though I don't remember 
 what it was. I started up and reached out aa 
 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 1; 'and 
 how do you get along ? ' 
 
 " ' Very well,' says she. 
 
 *' Just then I happened to think of my oranges; 
 BO 1 asked motlier if she was not thirsty, and sho 
 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 tlic i)eoplo 
 were in bed and asleep. So I told her that I 
 hud an orange for her and for father. She said 
 «he was very glad indeed. 
 
The Ride to Geneva. 51 
 
 I'ollo lowers an orange iuto the coup* for his mother. 
 
 " I coul<l not get down very well to give the 
 oranges tc her, so 1 put tlicm in my little knap- 
 sack, and let tlicm down by a string. I had the 
 piling in my pocket. 
 
 " Motlici- took tlic 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 tha^( 
 I sent down to mother, and then she squeezed 
 tlic 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 vil- 
 lage where we were going to change horses, and 
 the conductor said that we should stop long 
 enough to go into tlie inn if we pleased, and gei 
 Boine coffee. So father and mother got out of 
 the cou})e, and went in. I climbed down from 
 my place, and went with them. Mother said she 
 went in more to sec what soi't of a place the inn 
 Wcis than for the sake of the coffee. 
 
 " It was a very funny place. The floor was of 
 gtone. There was one table, with cups on it for 
 (offce, and j)lates, and bread and butter. Tlie 
 loaves of bread were shaped like a man's arm — 
 about as big round, and a good deal longer, Thff 
 
52 RoLLO IX Geneva. 
 
 After breakfast the travellers start again. 
 
 coffee was very good indeed, on account of tlier«j 
 licing plenty of liot milk to put into it. 
 
 " Alter we had had our breakfast we went on. 
 and tlie rest of our ride was through a most mag- 
 nilicent 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 
 Btones down at tlie bottom of it. The road went 
 wheeling on down long slo])es, and around the 
 liills and promontories, with beautiful green swells 
 of land above it and below it. Tiie horses went 
 upon the run. Tlie postilion had a little liandle 
 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 sloj)e he would turn this crank round and 
 round as fast as he could, till it was screwed up 
 light, cheering the horses on all the time; and 
 then he would take his whip and crack it about 
 their ears, ajid so we go down the hills, and wheel 
 round the great curves, almost on the run, and 
 c(juld look down on the ticlds and meadows and 
 houses in the valley, a thousand feet below us. 
 It was the grandest ride I ever had. 
 
 " lUit 1 have been so long writing this letter 
 that I am beginning to be tired of it, thougli ] 
 
The Ride to Geneva. 53 
 
 A postscript. The fortifications upon the road. 
 
 Lave 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. In- 
 deed, tliere were two castles. The road passes 
 directly through one of them, and the other is 
 high up on the rocks exactly above it. The val- 
 ley is so narrow, and the banks are so steep, that 
 there is no other possible place for the road ex- 
 cept 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 e-nemy could possibly get into 
 France this way. 
 
 " There was also a place where the Rhone goca 
 under ground, or, rather, under the rocks, and so 
 lose^ 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 
 
54 
 
 R O I. L o r X G F N E V A 
 
 Tho i-Ik.".- where the l;iv«r Khuno ditatj.iK'Hrs. 
 
 from above, so as to fill up the cliasiii from one 
 side to tlie other, and all the water gets through 
 underneath them. We looked down into tho 
 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 sec the 
 place, );ut I knew that the diligence would not 
 wait." 
 
T IT F Town. 
 
 Tho pass thiough the mountains. 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 T H E T w N . 
 
 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. Cae- 
 sar describes the country in his Commentaries ; 
 and from that day to this it has been cne 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 tho 
 mountains and the roaring torrent of the Rhone 
 in the deep abyss below. 
 
 After emerging from this narrow paos, the road 
 comes out into an open country, which is as fer- 
 tile 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 loiigth, on coming over the summit of a gentle 
 
56 R L L I N G E N E V A . 
 
 The Alps in view. Mont Blanc all uncovered. 
 
 swell of land, tliat rises in the midst of this par 
 adisc, the great chain of the Alps, with the snow) 
 peak of Mont Blanc crowning it with its glitter- 
 ing canopy of snow, comes suddenly into view. 
 
 " Look there I " said the conductor to the com- 
 pany 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 af)pears with his head uncovered. They, 
 therefore, whose coming into Switzerland he hon- 
 ors 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, aa 
 it were, in the rays of a warm summer's sun, that 
 !s wholly indescriliable. The sublime and thrill- 
 ing grandeur of the spectacle no pen or pencil 
 can portray. 
 
 After passing over the hill, and descending into 
 the valley again, the coni})any in the diligence 
 came soon in sight of the environs of rieneva 
 
The Town. 59 
 
 Coming into Geneva. Making a sensation. Tlio quay. 
 
 Thoy passed by a great many charming country 
 ecats, with neat walls of masonry bordering tho 
 gardens, and wide gateways opening into pretty 
 courts, and little green lawns surrounding the 
 chateaux. At length the diligence came thunder- 
 ing 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 hoi-ses, 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 beauti- 
 ful 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 
 forciiiound we see the broad quay, with the build- 
 ings on one side, and the low parapet wall sepa- 
 rating it from the water on the other. In the 
 middle distance we see the diligence just ccuning 
 
60 Vt I \. n T K n E \'\'.v k 
 
 The Is'.aud pnnHPuade iti Ihe L;ikt' of ({meva. 
 
 out Upon the quny fioni llic street by wliioh it 
 came into tiic town. A little farther on we sec 
 tho bridge by which the dilip?nce will pass across 
 to the other side of the river — the diligence 
 ofiQces 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 gieat i>lace of resort for the people of 
 Geneva. There are walks throngh it and all 
 around it, and seats under the trees, and a para- 
 pet wall or railing encircling the margin of it, to 
 prevent children IVom falling into the water. 
 
 As the diligence rolled along the quay, and 
 turned to go over the bridge, Rollo could look 
 out in one diiection over the broad surface of 
 *lie lake, which was seen extending for many 
 miles, bordered by gently sloping shores coming 
 down to the water. On the other side the cur- 
 rent 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, Hollo looked out first one way, 
 towards the lake, and then the other way, down 
 the )-i\('i-. Oil the lake side tlu^io was a ^tear 
 
T H E T W N . 61 
 
 Wli:it Hollo obsPivi-<l I'll the hiki- and tii- river. 
 
 boat coming in. She "was crowdcn' witli pasj^iiv 
 ffcrs, and the quay at the other end of the brid<:o, 
 where tlie steamer was going to land, was crowd- 
 ed \rith people waiting to see. 
 
 On the other side of tlie bridge, that is, look- 
 ing down the stream, Rollo saw a deep blue ri^'cr 
 'running more and more swiftly as it grew nar- 
 rower. There wci-e several other bridges in 
 sight, and an island also, which stood in the mid- 
 die of the stream, juid \va> covci-ed with tall ui;d 
 ancient-looking buildings. 'I'heso buildings in 
 deed more than covei-ed the oi-iginni island ; they 
 extended out over the water — the outer walls 
 seeming to rest on ))iles, between and around 
 which the water flowed with the utmost impetu* 
 osity. The banks of the river on each side were 
 walled up, and there were streets or })latform 
 walks along the margin, between the liouscs and 
 the water. There were a great many bridges, 
 some wide and some narrow, leading across from 
 one bank to the other, and from tach bank to tliQ 
 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 estab* 
 lished in the hotel he would come out and take a 
 walk, and explore all those bridges. 
 
 'Mt is just such a town as i like/' said he lo 
 
R L L IN G E N E V 
 
 ^'hy Rollu liked Geneva. Disembarkinj: tVnni thi- ilili^'enro. 
 
 himself. " A swift river ruiiniDg tlirougli tho 
 niicldle of it — water as clear as a bell — plenty 
 of foot bridges down very near to the water, aim 
 ever so many little platforms and sidewalks along 
 tlic margin, where you can stand and fish over 
 the railings." 
 
 In the mean time the diligence went thunder- 
 ing on over the bridge, and then drove along tlie 
 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. Tlie doors of the lower com- 
 partments were opened, and the passengers began 
 to get out. Two ladders were placed against 
 the side, one for the passengers on the bantiuette 
 to get down Ijy, and the other to ena))le the 
 blouses tliat stood waiting there to uncover and 
 get down the baggage. Rollo did mit wait for 
 his turn at the hukler, but climbed down the side 
 of the coach by meang of any projecting iroL or 
 steps tljat he couhl find to cling to. 
 
 "Now, Kollo." said Mr. Holiday, ''the hotel in 
 pretty near, and we arc going to walk there. 1 
 am going to leave you here to select out our bag- 
 gage, when they get it down, and to bring it 
 along by means of a porter." 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Rollo ; '' I shouH like to do 
 that, But what hotel i» it ? " 
 
The Town. 
 
 (53 
 
 Tho travellers go to the hotel. 
 
 '' The Hotel de FEcii," said Mr. Holiday. 
 
 So Mr. and Mrs. Holiday walked along tut 
 pier to the hotel, leaving Rollo to engage a por- 
 ter and to follow in due time. 
 
 The porter carried the baggage on his hack, by 
 means of a frame, such as has been already de- 
 scribed. Rollo followed him, and thus he arrived 
 at last safely at the hotel. 
 
64 R L L o IX Geneva. 
 
 The Swiss hotels are plan tied for the use of pleasnre p.\rtlM. 
 
 c h after v. 
 The Hotel. 
 
 OxE of the greatest sources of interest and 
 pleasure for travellers who visit Switzerland anr] 
 the Alps for the first time, esi)ecially if they are 
 travellers from America, is the novelty of the 
 arrangements ami 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 tlic anangements are made to accommo- 
 date parties travelling for pleasure. Every thing 
 is planned, therefore, with a view of making tlie 
 hotel as attractive and agreeahlo to the guests a3 
 possible. 
 
 The Hotel de I'Ecu, where our party have now 
 anived, is very pleasantly situated on the quay 
 facin<jr the lake. It stands near the further end 
 of the bridge, as seen in the engraving on page 
 5S. It is the building where you sec ihe hag 
 Hying. 
 
 Indeed, all the principal hotels in Geneva are 
 situated on the quay. Quite a number of tho 
 
T ri .^ H T E L . 65 
 
 The beautiful pnjspuets. Gar Jens, tenaces, and oS»serTatorlo.i. " 
 
 large and handsome edifices which you see in the 
 engraving, on both sides the watei-, are liotels. 
 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. Ac- 
 cordingly, in almost every place, the situation 
 chosen for the hotels is the one which commands 
 the prettiest views. 
 
 Then, in arranging tlie i)iterior of the house, 
 they always place the public apartments, such as 
 tiie 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 :)ut upon the most charming prospects 
 that the town affords. 
 
 Then, besides this, they have gardens, and sum- 
 mer houses, and raised terraces, overlooking roads, 
 or rivers, or beautiful valleys, and little observa- 
 tories, 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 
 
66 RoLLO IN Geneva. 
 
 WliJit tlie travellers eay when they arrive at a new place. 
 
 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 otiier ; 
 and what a beautiful room ! Look at the moun- 
 tains! Look at the torrent pouring through the 
 valley! What a pretty garden ! And this ter- 
 race, 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. 
 
 Tlien the next j)lace where they stop may be 
 on a lake ; and tliere, when tliey go to the win- 
 dow of their rooms, or of the breakfast room, 
 they look out and say, — 
 
 All! see what a beautiful view of the lake! 
 How blue the water is! Sec the sail boats and 
 the row boats going to and fro. And down the 
 lake, as far as 1 can see, there is a steamer com- 
 ing. I see the smoke. And beyond, what a 
 raagniliccnt range of mountains, the tops all cov- 
 ered \\ itli glaciers and snow ! 
 
 When Hollo 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 gla.-s roof alxive. 
 There were gallenes all aruuud this a}»ailmej;t, 
 
TheHotbl. 67 
 
 A description of the Hotel de I'Ecn. 
 
 in the different stories. Doors from these gal 
 leries, on the back sides of them, led to the vari 
 oils 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 stair- 
 case, with broad and easy stone steps. Thia 
 staircase ascended from story to story, and com- 
 municated by proper landings with the galleries 
 of the several floors. 
 
 This hall, though it was thus very puonc in its 
 character, was very prettily arranged. The gal- 
 leries which opened upon it on the different stories 
 were adorned with balconies, and the walls of it 
 were hung w^ith maps and pictures of Alpine sce- 
 nery, pretty engravings of hotels standing in pic- 
 turesque 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 vari- 
 ous 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 
 UUh office on QUQ side, and told Um ihu hij" 
 
68 R L L IN G E N E T A . 
 
 The i)r.jspect from Jlrs. lloliday's irindow. 
 
 father and motlicr were in tlieir room ; and \it 
 sent a messenger to show Kollo and tlie poiter 
 the way to it. 
 
 Eollo accordingly followed the messenger and 
 ihe porter up stairs, and was ushered into a very 
 pleasant room on the second story, looking oux 
 upon the lake and the river. Hollo went imme- 
 diately to the window. IJis mother was sitting 
 at the window when he entered the room. 
 
 "This is a pretty window, Kollo," said she; 
 " come and look out. 
 
 '• See how many bridges ! " said she, when Rullo 
 had come to her side. 
 
 " And how swift the water runs under them ! " 
 said Rollo. 
 
 " There are some boys fishing," said Mrs. Hol- 
 iday. 
 
 *' Yes," said Rollo ; " I should think there 
 would be plenty of truuL 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, Hollo pointed to a large mill wheel 
 which was slowly revolving by the side of a 
 building that })rojected out over the water, on tlie 
 island. 
 
 The inland where RoHo saw the wheel was not 
 the one seen in the cu^jruviu^ in page 58, That 
 
TheHotel. 60 
 
 The ihlel and the island. Tho mill stream. B^eal^fe8t. 
 
 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 oi' 
 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 dis- 
 missed the porter ; and he now turned to Rollo, 
 and asked him if he would like to go down and 
 order breakfast. Roilo 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 
 \)leasant window, and order breakfast." 
 
 '' What shall I order ? " asked Rollo. 
 
 " Any thing you please," said Mr. Holiday ; 
 * vou know what will make a p;ood breakfast." 
 
 So Rollo went out of the room, in order to go 
 
70 R o L L IN Geneva. 
 
 The brcakfivsl room. lU.JIo's order 
 
 down stairs. Uc passed all around the gallery 
 of the story he was in, looking at the picturcg 
 that weie hung upon the walls as he went, and 
 then desc3nded the staircase to the lower floor. 
 Here he found doors 0})ening into tlie 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 tlie back side were sofas, between the 
 doors. On the front side was a range of win- 
 dows 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 op- 
 posite 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. Pres- 
 ently a very neatly-dressed and plea.-ant-looking 
 young man came to him. to ask what he would 
 have. This was the waiter; and Rollo made 
 ariangcments with him for a breakfast. llo 
 ordered fried trout, veal cutlets, fried potatoes, 
 an omelette, coflce, and bread and honey. His 
 father and mother, when they came to eat tho 
 i)rcakfast, said they were perfectly sati^licd witb 
 it in every respect. 
 
A Ride in- the Environs. 7i 
 
 Srcursioug. Hiilii-.g and sailing. A tnrgaiD. 
 
 Chapteu VI. 
 A Ride in the Environs. 
 
 One morning, a clay or two after our party 
 arrived at Geneva, Mr. Holiday told Rollo, aa 
 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 
 ^•ide, 1 will go and take you out on the lake to 
 ^ail some other day." 
 
 ''Well, sir," said Rollo, jovfully. "But how 
 lar will you take me ? " 
 
 " As far as you wish to go," said Mr. Holiday. 
 
72 R L I. I N G E N E V A 
 
 Tlirre dif.Uniruisheti pt-rsonages of Geneva. The cnnlapc. 
 
 '^ 0. father ! " ?aid Rollo ; " I should wish to go 
 to tlic very farthest end of tlic lake." 
 
 '' Well/' said his father, " 1 will take you there.*" 
 
 It must not at all be supposed from this conver- 
 cation 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 1m} desired. 
 He put the case in this way to amuse Kollo, and 
 to interest him more in pi-ojiosed expeditions. 
 
 "There arc three distinguished personages, 
 said Mr. Holiday, "whose naujcs and liistoiies 
 are intimately associated with Geneva, because 
 they all lived in Geneva, or in tlio environs of it. 
 These three persons arc Madame de Stael, John 
 Calvin, and Voltaire. I will tell you something 
 about them on the way. As soon as you have 
 finished your l)reakfast you may go and engag<* a 
 carriage for us. Get a carriage with two horses, 
 and have it ready at half past ten." 
 
 Rollo was always nnich pleased with such a 
 connnission as this. He engaged a very pn-tty 
 carriage, with two elegant black horses. Tlu- 
 carriage had a top which could be put uj) or 
 lown at pleasure. Rollo had it put down ; for, 
 though it was a pleasant day, tlierc were clouds 
 enough in the sky to make it pretty shady. 
 
 There was a front seat in the carriage, where 
 Rollo might sit if ho chose; but he preferred 
 riding outside with the postilion. 
 
A Ride in ^i' ii e E n v irons. 73 
 
 V.oUo chooses a stiit outside. 
 
 " And tlicii/' said Rollo to his fiither, "if there 
 are any directions to be given to the postilion, or 
 if you have any questions for me to ask, I cud 
 gpeak to hiin more conveniently.'' 
 
 " Is tliat the true reason why you wish to ride 
 there ? '' asked his father. 
 
 '' Why, no, father/' said Hollo. '* The true rea- 
 son is, tliat 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 awav. 
 
 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 ironi 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 enchant- 
 ing views of the lake and of the ranges of moun- 
 tains beyond. But what chiefly amused and occu- 
 pied Rollo's mind was the novelties which he 
 observed in the form and structure of every thinir 
 
74 RoLLO 12; Geneva. 
 
 iDcidetits of tlie ride. Interesting infonnati*. a. 
 
 he saw by the wayside. Such queer-looking carta 
 and wheelbarrows, such odd dresses, such groups 
 of children at play, such gates, sucli farmyards, 
 Fuch pumps and fountains by the roadside — 
 t'Tcry thing, indeed, was new and strange. 
 
 After the i)arty had been riding about an hour 
 and a half, tliey 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 aa 
 follows : 
 
 •' We are going to see the residence of Mad- 
 ame de Stael. She was one of the most cele- 
 brated ladies that ever lived. She was distin- 
 guished as an authoress. You don't know any 
 thing about her now, and I suppose you don'* 
 care much about her.'' 
 
 " No, sir," said Rollo ; *' I do not." 
 
 " ]>ut then," continued his fiUhor, "in a few 
 5 ears more you will vci'y jtrobably read some of 
 her writings ; and at any rate you will often hear 
 of them. One of the most celebrated of hw 
 works is a tale called Corinue," 
 
A Ride in xnE Environs. 75 
 
 Ma-'lamc de Ftapl. Monsieui Necker. The French revolution. 
 
 " Ah, yes/* said Rollo ; " I liave heard of Co- 
 fiiine. The first class Id French studied it at 
 Bcliool." 
 
 ''Very likely," said Mr. Holiday. "It is a 
 very good text book for studying French. At 
 any rate it i« a famous book, and Madame de 
 Stael is a very celebrated author. She was a 
 lady, too, while she lived, of great personal dis- 
 tinction. 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 con- 
 fusion and difi&culty, 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. 
 Tlic disorder was hopeless, and it ended in the 
 great French revolution. But Necker became a 
 very celebrated character in history. Wc are 
 going to see the chateau where he lived. We 
 shall see the room whore his da\ighter wrote Co- 
 
^6 RoLLO IN Geneva. 
 
 Tliey vitit Monsieur Netkfr's chati-aii. 
 
 I'inne. I wish you to observe carefully all tlial 
 you see, and remember it. Hereafter, when you 
 come to read the history of France and the writ- 
 inofs of Madame de Stael, vou will look l.uick 
 with great pleasure to the visit you made when a 
 boy to the chateau of Xecker, near Geneva." 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Rollo, '^ I will." 
 
 A short time after this the carriage stopped in 
 a shady jjlacc under some trees, near the entiancc 
 to a villuLre. 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. Hollo 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 tliey could see the chateau. He answered 
 very politely that they could; and immediately 
 opcniniT the iron gate, he ushered the whole party 
 into the court yard. 
 
 Tlie court vard was a very pleasant ])lace. ll 
 was surrounded on three sides by the buildings 
 01* the cliatcau. which were quite imposing in their 
 cliaractcr, like a palace. The fourth side was 
 ioimcd by a handsome wall, with a large orna- 
 n;('iiicd gateway in the centre of it, leading into 
 a iiarden. 
 
A R I 1) b: 1 N T H E K N V I R N s . 77 
 
 The concierge. Tlipy v:\teT tlie chateau. 
 
 The entranco to tlio clmteau T\'as at a largo 
 door in the middle of one side of the yard. The 
 porter asceuded the steps, and rang- the bell. He 
 liaid to Mr. Holiday that some one would como. 
 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 apai'tment 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 tliis 
 gallery a door opened, leading to the suite of 
 apartments which Monsieur Necker and his dis- 
 tinguished 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 
 fif windows in the second story of the principal 
 front of the edifice. 
 
 On the back side ( f each of these rooms waL a 
 
78 R L L I N G E N E r A 
 
 The appearance of the apartments. The family portraits. 
 
 door communicating with the gallery behind them, 
 or with some subordinate apartments depending 
 upon them. 
 
 Besides these doors, there were others whicb 
 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 wiudow^s were wliich 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 tlie 
 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 inter- 
 ested in examining these portraits. One repre- 
 sented Madame de Stael herself; another, her 
 father, Monsieur Necker ; a third, her mother, 
 Madame Necker. Besides these, there were souio 
 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 oltjccts which stood on a table io 
 the same room. These objects were two litllti 
 
A Ride in the Environs. 79 
 
 Models of ptA auimals. Madaaie de Stael's writing table. 
 
 figures, one representing a horse and the otiiei- a 
 Iamb. These figures were under a glass. Tlie 
 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 mini- 
 ature. 
 
 Rollo asked tlie concierge what they were. 
 
 " Ah," said he, " those are models of a favorite 
 horse and a favorite lamb that belonged to Mon- 
 sieur Necker. Wlicn they died he was very 
 sorry ; and he had these models of them made, 
 to perpetuate the memoi-y 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 con- 
 cierge 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 
 
so R L L I X G E N E V A . 
 
 Tile burial ground. The foHiitaia auil tho casnaiie 
 
 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 l)i3 
 daughter lie buried in a little grove of trees near 
 the house. The party saw the grove, but visitor? 
 are not allowed to go to tlie graves. 
 
 On leaving the chateau, the carriage turned ol! 
 from the lake, and took a road that led back 
 more into the interior. 
 
 "What are we going to see next, father?" said 
 Kollo. 
 
 '' We are going to see the house where the 
 famous philosopher, Voltaire, lived," replie<l ^Ir. 
 Holiday ; " though on the way we are going to 
 see a fountain and cascade." 
 
 "Is there any thing very remarkable about 
 Ihe 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 beau- 
 tiful country, with fields, and gartlens, and coun- 
 try seats, and ancient chateaux bordering the 
 way. From time to time, Rollo, on looking back, 
 ohlained s})lendid views of the lake behind hir». 
 and of the gently-sloping and highly-cultivated 
 M|i()n> on the opposite side, with the snowy iuii<-o 
 i»l the Alps lievoiiil. -jhinii.L' in ilif run. 
 
A Ride in the Environs. 81 
 
 Finding a guide. The scboolbuy. His book. 
 
 At length tliej arrived at a village, and stopped 
 before an i n. 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." 
 
 " 0, 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 boyo, 
 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. 
 6 
 
82 RoLLo IN Geneva. 
 
 Che place of baths. A picturesque stream. 
 
 He led them out of the village, and along tlie 
 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 o 
 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. I* 
 was a large stream, large enough for a mill stream, 
 and it ran foaming and tumbling down over ita 
 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 pleas- 
 ant walk, ana was well gravelled. Here and 
 there there were little seats, too, at pretty placca 
 fonoed by the windings of the glen. 
 
 After walking along a little way, and not com 
 ing to any thing more, Mrs. Holiday began to bo 
 tired. 
 
 *' I wonder," said she, " if there is any thing 
 remarkable to see at the end of this path." 
 
A Hide in the E x t i r o n s . 83^ 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Holiday sit down to rest, while IJollo goes on to explore. 
 
 "Til 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 tliis stream? ' 
 ftsked 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 bend> 
 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 Doy, 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 ho ard 
 the boy walked on. 
 
 In about five minutes Mr. Holiday heard LloUc 
 calling to him. 
 
 " F A-THER ! FA-THER ! " said he. 
 
 " WeU/' said Mr Holiday, "i hear." 
 
84 R L L o IX G E N ?■; V A . 
 
 The 1 oiling eiJiiii;;. Tlie «>\irco of the sficam. 
 . — ' < 
 
 " Come up here/' said Rollo, callini^ out again 
 "It is a very curious place indeed." 
 
 So Mr. and Mr?. Holiday rose, and after fol 
 lowing the patli a short distance farther through 
 the wood, they came to where Rollo was. They 
 found, to their astonisliment, tliat there the brook 
 which thev liad l»een rollowin<T so lone: came to a 
 sudden end, or rather to a sudden beginning ; for 
 the whole volume of water tliat 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 over- 
 hung 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 tlie stones that had been set up to 
 form the margin of the basin, and also among 
 the sands which formed the l)Ottom 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 
 etone dike, which foiincd 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 
 
A Ride in the IiIkv irons. 85 
 
 Mr. Kuli.lay explains where tlm water comes from. 
 
 tc 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. 
 
 " Weil, fother," said Rollo, after gazing for 
 some time into the bubbling and boiling fountain, 
 " wliere 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 glcn. 
 
 ''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 
 th.em almost continually, and this keeps thei^i 
 always fuiL Generally this v/ater drains off 
 down u\U) the valleys, through the beds of sand 
 and gravel that lie in tlie hcsrt of the mountairij 
 and so is not particularly observed. Sometimes 
 it breaks out in small springs, at various places 
 on the inoantiin sides ; and someljmes the shape 
 of the rocks and openings in the mountain are 
 auch us to collect a great quantity of it in on& 
 
86 R L L I N G E X E T A . 
 
 Why the spring docs not Ftop Cowing. 
 
 place, Tvhere it breaks out into the open ground 
 altogether, as it does here. There are a great 
 iiiany such foontains 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. 
 
 "]]ut then, fi)ther," 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 
 bclbre all that has fallen in one rain has time to 
 get drained away, another rain comes, and so 
 theie is a perpetual supply, esj)ecially for such 
 fountains as come from channels that reach far 
 into the mountain." 
 
 After rambling about this spot for some time, 
 the ]!arty returned down the path : but instead 
 of going back into the road again by the way 
 tlicy came, the boy led them through a ga'c iiiU? 
 
A Ride in the Environs. 87 
 
 The party ramble about in the hotel grounds. 
 
 the ^rounds of the hotel which thev had seen ia 
 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 continu- 
 ous tcrrent, and sometimes by a series of cas- 
 cades and waterfalls ; and in the bottoms of all 
 the little ponds the water was seen boiling up in 
 tlie 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 
 t-ake a drink ; but instead of using the tumbler, 
 he caught the water in a drinking cup which he 
 
88 R L I. I X G F. NEVA. 
 
 Pisuiissin-r tin* puMe. The ciiatcau of Voltafre. 
 
 had bouglit in Scotland, and which he always 
 caiciod ill his jiockct. 
 
 Arter ramliling about tliose grounds for some 
 time, the parly went back through the yard of 
 the hotel to the village. Tlicre they dismissed 
 tiie 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 celei>rated 
 philosopher Voltaire. The carriage stopped 
 under some ancient trees, and Mr. and Mrs. Hol- 
 iday and Kollo 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. 
 
 'I'here 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 tlic do- 
 mestic should come to guide them. 
 
 "Shall I ring, father?" said Hollo. 
 
 ♦' Ye.s," said Mr. Holiday ; "ring away." 
 
 So Rollo pulled the bell rope, and very soon u 
 domestic came. He received the company very 
 uoliiely, and inviiod them to follow him. 
 
 Ml', and Mrs. Holiday and Hollo accordingly 
 *bl lowed him into the yard. The domestic led 
 Ihcui round to the frout of the house, which wafi 
 
A Ride in the EnviPwOns. 89 
 
 Memorials of Voltaire. The pepulchral urn. 
 
 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, 
 wilh seats around it, as if the family were accus- 
 tomed 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 Yoltaire. 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 Vol- 
 taire. Some of them had been given to him by 
 the emperors and kings that he had been ac- 
 quainted 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 noveliy, but in other respects 
 he was very little amused by what he saw. He 
 was glad when the visit to the house w.as over, 
 and he came out again upon the law^u. 
 
dO R O L L I X G E X E Y A . 
 
 View of Mont Blanc from Voltiiire's cbatcitu. 
 
 Fi^om the lawn there was a yery splendid view. 
 There was a broad and very fertile slope of land 
 extending for several miles down to the shore of 
 tlie lake. Beyond it was seen the blue expanse 
 of the water, and still farther another magnili- 
 cent 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, aa 
 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 oil' straiglit and smooth liko a wall. 
 Then the tops had been trained to meet overhead, 
 and the foliage had been trimmed square and Hat 
 on the upper side, and in an arch on the under 
 side. So dense was the growth of the leaves and 
 l)ranche3 that the whole alley was closely and 
 complet'^ly enclosed, so that it would not have 
 been po?sible 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. 
 
A Ride in the Environs. 9\ 
 
 \oltaire"s alley on the lawn. The extoriUed tn e. 
 
 Voltaire used to compose his works in ll;ig 
 rIIcv, it was said. lie would walk up and down, 
 and dictate as he walked to his amanuensis, w! o 
 Bat near at hand with pen and ink to write do*.', n 
 (he philosopher's words. 
 
 After this the domestic conducted the parly 
 through a wood, and sliowcd tliem a tree which 
 Voltaire had planted. It was now a tree of great 
 size, and apparently fai- advanced in age. 
 
 Rollo took very little interest in this tree, and 
 even his father and motliei- did not appear to ]!ay 
 much attention to it. Jt seemed, however, that 
 other visitors had not felt the same indifference 
 to it, for those who had come to see it had })icked 
 off and cut off so niany pieces of bark to carry 
 away as relics that the tree, on one side had ho 
 come entirely excoriated, and there w^as danger 
 that in the end the poor sufferer from these dep- 
 redations would be killed. In order to protect 
 it, therefore, from any further injury, the propri- 
 etor 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 
 Bide of the postilion long before they came to ll\^ 
 carriage. 
 
92 
 
 Pv L L IN Geneva. 
 
 From Feriuy to Ueueva. Ciwsiug the frontier. Tlie custuni house. 
 
 Ferney, though so near to Geneva, is witliin 
 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 tliiee 
 armed policemen at the frontier ; but the pai ty 
 of travellers were not molested, and so in due 
 time they arrived safely home. 
 
 % 
 
 /^. 
 
 M") 
 
The Junction of the A r v e . 93 
 
 Clear water. The color of it. 
 
 C H A PTER YII. 
 
 The Junction op the Arve. 
 
 One evening, when Rollo was walking with liig 
 father and motlier 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 look- 
 ing only through the air. 
 
 " How very clear the water is ! " said Mrs. Hoi- 
 day ; " and what a beautiful tinge it has I W hat 
 is the reason of it?" 
 
 " I don't know what the reason is of the blue 
 tinge," said Mr. Holiday ; "but the cause of ita 
 being so clear is, that it flows out of this great 
 hike, where it has been lying so long that it has 
 hM'l rune to settle perfectly. 
 
 •' There is a great difference in the streams of 
 Switzerland," continued Mr. Holiday. "Some 
 are exceedingly clear, and some are exceedingly 
 tiniiid. There arc two way^ by which the turbid 
 
94 H I, I i N' G r- S' f: t A . 
 
 FiUciing and Bi-ttling. What Ci\uc5t«« t jrl.idtip«. 
 
 waters become purified. One is, by being filtcrcrl 
 tlirough the sands under ground ; and the othei- i,-. 
 by ^ settling,^ as we call it, in the hikes. The 
 water of the fountain that we saw on our way to 
 Fcrney was beautifully clear, and it was made sn 
 by filtration in the sand, in cominir down throu^di 
 the heart of the mountain. This water, on the 
 other hand, is made clear by its impurities sul>- 
 sidiug in the lake." 
 
 " And it comes in mudily at the otiier end," 
 Baid Rollo. 
 
 "Not muddy, exactly," rejoined Mr. Ilolidny, 
 ** 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 ovc 
 and among them. Thus all the streams tliat 
 come from glaciers are very turbi<l ; and so long 
 as the waters flow on irj an uninterrupted stream 
 they continue turl>id ; 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 geLs (o Iho 
 ocean, I suppose," said Mis. Holiday. 
 
 '* Yes," ie[)lied Mr. Holiday, "unless sontC 
 ether turbid stream, whi<h has no hd<e to settle 
 itself in. falls into it and pollutes it again 
 
 "That is the ca.'-e with lijis rivu. It is verji 
 
T H R Junction o p^ the A r v e . 05 
 
 Mr. Holiday describee the junction of the Aive. 
 
 clear and beautiful here, where it comes out of 
 the lake, but the Arve comes in a mile or two 
 Delow Geneva, and brings an immense volume of 
 turbid water. This makes the whole river tur- 
 bid 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 com- 
 ing in of the turbid torrent of tlie Arve into the 
 clear blue waters of the Rhone is a very pretty 
 spectacle, and I should like very much to see it j 
 but it is rather too far to go." 
 
 " 0, 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 j for 
 I sliould 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?" 
 
96 R L L I N G E X E T A . 
 
 The excursion before breakfast. Wby the p;irty could not go in a boat 
 
 "Yes, mother, it is shady in the morning. 
 T!,e';c is a high hedge all along on one side of 
 tlie path, and that keeps the sun off in the morn- 
 iiic. In the evening the sun comes round to tliQ 
 (itlier side." 
 
 ' Then we will go in the morning," said Mrj, 
 lloliday. " Let us get up early to-morrow morn- 
 ing, 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 cliildren 
 are kind and attentive to her, and obedient to 
 her wishes, she always desires most strongly to 
 do wliat will most gratify them. 
 
 The plan was arranged according to Mrs. Hol- 
 iday's proposal, and the next morning the party 
 set out at lialf past six o'clock. Rollo led the way. 
 
 " What 1 should like best," said Rollo, turning 
 round so as to face his father and mother, and 
 walking backward, '"would be to take a boat, 
 ai.d 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 
 vere to go down you would never get the boat 
 liack again. The water runs like a mill race. 
 
The J rxcTioN OF THB Arve. 97 
 
 Tbe mill race. Olfl fortifications auel new iuaprovenieuts. 
 
 ) 2 
 
 "Indeed, it is a mill race," continued Mr. IIol 
 iday. " Don't yon see tlie mill wheels projectii ^^ 
 into the stream, heie and there? They are car- 
 ried by the natural force of the current." 
 
 After passing by the buildings of the town, 
 Rollo led the way over a narrow wooden bridge, 
 wliich 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 tlie 
 town.'' 
 
 xlfter 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 deliglit- 
 ed with it. It was close to the margin of the 
 water, and only a \erj 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 twilled, 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 
 
 7 
 
9& R L T. IX Geneva. 
 
 The path along the river Fide. 
 
 the land. On the other side of the path tber€ 
 was a close hedge, wliieh formed the boundary of 
 a region of fields, meadows, and gardens. Hero 
 and there were gates leading through tliis hedge; 
 and the party, as they walked along, could look 
 tlirough the openings and see the peasant girls 
 coming out to their work from tlie houses. Tlie 
 wiiole region, though it was higlily cultivated 
 and extremely beautiful, was very flat and level, 
 and was only raised two or three feet above tlie 
 level of the water. 
 
 From each gateway or other (T|)ening through 
 the hedge there were paths leading off through 
 the fields and gardens to the houses ; and tliere 
 were steps at the gates leading down to the path- 
 way that lay along tlie margin of the stream. 
 I'he peo|)ie of the houses were accustomed, it 
 seemed, to come down there to get water. 
 
 Thus the party walked along, with the riijid 
 current oT ine 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 trrrn 
 spreading over their iieads completed the (oul 
 ness and shadiness of the pathway. Rollo h\i 
 the way, and his father and mother followed, our 
 by one, for the j»ath was not wide enough lur twc; 
 to walk together. 
 
 Pieseutly Lhey came to a phice wheie a large 
 
The Ju^^cTIox of the Arve. IJl 
 
 Tho water wheel ou the Rhone. Irrigation. The prospt ct 
 
 water- wheel of a very curious construction \va? 
 seen rcvolv'ing quite near the shore. They stoppo*; 
 to look at it. They liked to see it revolving- ; 
 and tlien besides they wished to examine the con- 
 struction of it. It was mounted on a frame of 
 timbers that had been set up for it in tlie 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 bv 
 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 pre- 
 sented to view was extremely bright and beautiful. 
 
 At one of the gales which opened through the 
 'ledge, Rollo stopped to look in. He saw gar- 
 dens laid out in squares, with corn, and beans, 
 and various garden vegetables growing luxuri- 
 antly in them. There were rows of fruit trees. 
 
102 VI L L IX Geneva. 
 
 The interval lietween the Arve and the Rhone. 
 
 too, bordering the paths, and at a distance wer« 
 to be seen liouses scattered here and there over 
 tlic plain, the dwellings of the owners of the land. 
 Each house had its little barns and gianarics con- 
 nected witli it, the whole group being half con- 
 cealed bj the foliage of the trees and shrubs that 
 had been })lanted 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 tlie irardens." 
 
 "Yes, sir," said Rollo ; " that will be much the 
 best plan. 
 
 •' ])ut, 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 
 Bide of this flat land. This land constitutes a 
 t-ort of tongue lying between the two rivers. I 
 suppose it has been formed by the deposits that 
 the Arve brings down. 1 have no doubt that if 
 we should walk across the tongue of land, wo 
 should come to the Arve ; but it is better to go 
 
The J c n c t 1 n of the A r v e . 103 
 
 The fisherman in the willow tree upon the river bank. 
 
 on down the path till we reach the point wliera 
 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 bad 
 acceded so readily to his father's wishes to con- 
 tinue in the path ; for he soon came to something 
 that amused him very much. It was a man sit- 
 ting in the top of one of the willow trees that 
 overhimg 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 wil- 
 low tree, and the fishing line was carried far 
 down the stream. 
 
 " Ah I " 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/' 
 Baid Mr. Holiday. 
 
 " No," said Rollo ; " or perhaps there might be 
 gome other boys in the other trees." 
 
 go gaying, BpUo Igoked up and clows tUfl 
 
104 
 
 R L L IN (i E X E V A 
 
 A good place fur a fistu-ruiau. 
 
 Btream, to see if tlierc were any otlier trees so 
 formed as to furnisli a seat for a fisherman in the 
 top of them ; but tliere were none. 
 
 Here you see a picture of the man as Hollo 
 saw him. 
 
 rnBiNa. 
 
 As the party went on after this tliey found evi- 
 dences increasing that they were drawing near to 
 the junction of the rivers. The hedge becaiuf 
 
The Juncttox of the Arte. 105 
 
 Coming to the junction. Gray water aod blue. 
 
 less regular, and at length ceased altogctlicr. lis 
 place was supplied by dense thickets formed of 
 aiders, willows, and long grass. The ground be- 
 come more and more uneven, and at length noth- 
 ing 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. 
 
 A.t 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 sup- 
 pose that we can go much farther." 
 
 Indeed, it would have ))een impossible to go 
 much farther, if there had not been a small em- 
 bankment 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 boil- 
 ing, 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 wa« 
 the Rhone, blue, and pellucid, and beautiful aa 
 the sky above. 
 
 " What an extraordinary spectacle! " said Mn 
 Holiday. 
 
lt)6 RoLLO IN Geneva. 
 
 The dike or mole bet-xeen tlie rivere 
 
 '' Come, mother/' said Rollo, " we can go on a 
 good deal farther yet.'' 
 
 Rollo was right ; for the walk, instead of com- 
 ing 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 foot- 
 path. 
 
 In advancing along this path it was very curi- 
 ous to observe the totally diflerent aspects of the 
 water on the two sides of it. On the one side it 
 was turbid and gray, and perfectly opiujut. You 
 could not have seen the pollywogs in the slial- 
 lowest 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 
 Ihe two rivers, continued several yards : bnt at 
 length it came to an end. The party all went on 
 till they reached the extremity of it, and there, 
 lookinjr still farther on, thev saw the line of 'lih 
 
The Junction of the Arte. 101 
 
 The singular phenomenon of the mixing of the waters. 
 
 mai cation between the gray water, and tlie bluG 
 extending itself before tliem as far as tliey could 
 see. Tlie two rivers remained for a long distance 
 perfect!}^ distinct, though struggling and contend- 
 ing 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 in- 
 stant the blue forcing itself into the gray. The 
 waters went on struggling against each other in 
 this manner as far as tlie eye could follow them. 
 
 The party remained on the extremity of the 
 point a long time, observing this singular phe- 
 nomenon. At length it began to be pretty warm 
 there ; for the narrow tongue of land which pro- 
 jected so far between the two currents was ex- 
 posed to the sun, wiiich 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. 
 
108 R L L IX Geneva. 
 
 MoMt B.'v.r. '-goUifr out." A J>eautifnl ^peetsda. 
 
 Chapter VIII. 
 Seeing Mont Blanc go out. 
 
 " Father," said RoUo to Mr. Holiilay, at din- 
 ner one day, " wliat arc you going to do this 
 CYorjing ? " 
 
 " We arc going to see Mont Blanc go ojit,*' 
 said lii? fat])cr. 
 
 ^fr. Holiday answered Rollo in French, n>inpj 
 a jthrase very eonnnon in Geneva to denote the 
 tjradiial fading away of the rosy light left n])on 
 ^lont Blanc hy the setting snn : for the sun, just 
 at the time of its setting, gilds tlie inoujitain with 
 a peculiar rosy light, as if it were a cloud. Tln\s 
 light gradually fades away as the sun goes down, 
 until the lower })art of the mountain l)econ)03 of 
 a dead and ghostly white. Avliilc the roseate huo 
 still lingers on the summit, as if the top of Ihi* 
 mountuiw were ti})]>eil with tlanie. These hi^l 
 beams finally disappear, and theii the whole CX' 
 pause of snow assumes a deathlike and wintry 
 whiteness. The inliabitants of Gerieva, and those 
 vrho live in the environs, ofien go »>ul to their 
 
Seeing Mont Blanc go out. 109 
 
 The various points of view The shore; tho lake. 
 
 gardens and summer houses in the summer even- 
 ings, just as the sun is going down, to see, as they 
 express it. Mont Blanc go out ; * and strangers 
 Tftlio 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. 
 
 Rolio had lieard the phrase before, and he knew 
 very well what his father meant. 
 
 " Well," said he, in a tone of satisfaction ; 
 " and may 1 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 vv'C 
 come to a good place, or we can take a carriage, 
 and oj'der the coachman to drive out any wheio 
 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, engerly. *' Let 
 us go in a boat ! " 
 
 ''The oljjection to tli-at." i^aid Mr Holiday, "is, 
 rliat it is more trouble to go and engage a ])oat. 
 
 • Ibe phrase is, in Freuch, Pour voir le Mont Blatic s'eieindre, 
 
110 RoLLO IN Geneva. 
 
 Rollo uudrt-takee to j^et a l)oat. Embarking 
 
 There arc plenty of carriages here at ilie verj 
 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 vou 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 tlicm 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 
 tliem on their boats, out of compli» jcnt to their 
 numerous American customers. 
 
 Soon after Rollo had engaged the boat, hi? 
 father and mother came, and they all embarked 
 on board. Tlie boatman rowed tliera off froui 
 the shore. The sun was just going down. There 
 were a great many boats plying to and fro about 
 the lake, and tiie quays and the little islet wer« 
 crowded with people. 
 
Seeing iMont Blanc go out. Ill 
 
 I?oatiiis iipou the T-ake of GenovH. 
 
 After rowing about a quarlcr of a mile, ilie 
 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 illumi- 
 nating them with a dazzling white liglit, 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." 
 
 Tlie boatman rowed on a little farther, so as to 
 obtain a still better view. Mr. and ^Irs. Holiday 
 watched the mountains ; but Rollo was more in- 
 terested 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 
 })arties of ladies and gentlemen in them. He 
 gazed on tlie 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 fi-o, and 
 others leaning over the parapet and looking out 
 u{:on the water. 
 
 " Rollo," said Mr. Holiday, '* see if there is a 
 rudder." 
 
 " Yes, father, there is," said Rollo. So saying, 
 be climbed over the seats, between his fatlier 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 IG 
 land." 
 
112 RoLLO IN Geneva, 
 
 The traveller!* meet a party of friends. 
 
 Rollo ^Q.s glad and sorry both to receive thia 
 command. lie was glad to have tlie plcabure of 
 Bloering, but ho was sorry tliat his father intend- 
 ed to land, lie would have prefcried remaining 
 out upon tlie water. 
 
 He, however, obeyed his father's command, and 
 feieered towai-ds the farther sliore, turning the 
 head of the boat in an oblique direction, a little 
 way up the lake. Presently Mr. Holiday saw 
 t<()!ne friends of his in a boat that was coming in 
 tlie npjjo.-ile direction. lie ordered Rollo to steer 
 towards them. Ivollo did so, and soon the boats 
 came alongside. The oarsmen of botli boats 
 .=«lopped rowing, and llic two parties in them 
 came to a parley. 
 
 Thcie was a little girl in the other boat, named 
 Lucia. There was no other child in that boat, 
 and so there was nobody foi- 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 
 yreat. boy. He is too big to play with you.'' 
 
 '' 1 know it," said Lucia ; *' but then he is bettei 
 tlinn nobody." 
 
 Rollo might ]ierliaps have been made to feel 
 Bomewhat piqued at being considered by a young 
 lady as only better than nobody lor a companion, 
 
Seein'g Mont Blanc go out. 113 
 
 A new pasfi^nser. K,.!lu cxitlHimUj; tlie fudde. to Luclli.^ 
 
 had it not been for the nature of the ohjectloiu 
 which was mly that ho was too large, ^o he f(;lt 
 complimented rather than otherwise, and lie cor- 
 dially seconded Lucia's wisli that she might bo 
 transferred to his father's boat, and at lengtli her 
 mother consented. Lucia stepped carefully oveT 
 the gunwales, and thus got into Mr. Holiday's 
 boat. She immediately passed along to the stern, 
 and look her place by the side of RoUo 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 dovfn below the water." 
 
 So Hollo let Lucia look over the end of tiiO 
 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 hoat 
 turns the other way ; and wlieu 1 move it ovei* 
 that way, then the head of thf boat come^^ rouml 
 
114 RoLLO IN Geneva. 
 
 Wood yarda upon the shore of the Lake of Oenera. 
 
 tliis way. The head of the boat always goes the 
 coDtrary way." 
 
 "I don't see wliy it should go the contrary 
 way," said Lucia. " I should think it ouglit to go 
 the same way." 
 
 "No," replied Rollo ; "it goc3 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 tlie 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. 
 
 Tliis wood liad a very singidar appearance. 
 The bark was all off, and the ends of the loga 
 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 l)ecn bronght down to the lake by the 
 torrents which ])0ur down the mountain sides with 
 great force in time of rain. 
 
 "We won't land in the wood yaids — will 
 wc? •' said Rollo. 
 
 •' Xo," said Lucia ; "but there's a pretty place 
 to huul a little farther on." 
 
 So saying, Lucia j)ointed to a very pretty part 
 of the shore, a little farther on. There seemed 
 
Seeijjg Uonn Blajjc go out. 115 
 
 g-R'iss poIiteties3. Exploring for a laiidlng-i-lace^ 
 
 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 
 ilie beach, under a bower. 
 
 " Yes," said Rollo ; " that is a very pretty 
 place ; biA it looks like private ground. I think 
 we must not land there." 
 
 As the boat glided by this place, llollo and 
 Lucia saw some ladies and gentlemen sitting iu 
 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 bot- 
 lorn could be seen very distinctly at a great depth, 
 
 ** What pretty water I " said Lucia. 
 
116 KOL LO FN G EN fi V A . 
 
 Wby the water v.as t le.ir. A ;.le!i«ant !a-.dit)ft 
 
 "Yes," said Rollo, *• it is so clear.'- 
 
 " VvHiat makes it so clear? " a.sked l.uoin. 
 
 " Because the lake is so long," said KoUo, " nii J 
 this is tlie lower end of it, and the water lias time 
 to settle. At the other end, wliere the water 
 CMines in, it is not so clear. This is the cud where 
 the water runs out." * 
 
 A moment afterwards they came to a very 
 pleasant handing, at a place wliere the road lay 
 pretty near the water. Between the road and 
 the water, however, there was a s])ace of green 
 grass, with large trees overshadowing it, and sev- 
 eral wooden settees, j)ainted green, under the 
 trees. 
 
 " Ah I said Rollo, " here is just the }»lace 
 for us. 
 
 "Father," he added, "do you think it would be 
 a good plan to lantl here? " 
 
 " Yes," said his lather ; " we could not have 
 had a better place. I thought yon would lind a 
 pleasant landing for us if 1 gave- von the com- 
 mand." 
 
 So Rollo brought the boat uj) to the shore, and 
 lliey all got out. Mr. nnd Mrs. Holiday walked 
 up and took their scats on one of the settees, 
 while Rollo and Lucia began to run about and 
 play along the parapet wall which separated the 
 Urouienudc from the water 
 
SEEINM7 Mont Blaxc go out. 117 
 
 Thv heA'1 of Moi;r Ji?:«nr. The heads of the ir.iys swimming* 
 
 Mr. and Mrs! Holiday watclied tlic mountains. 
 The sisii Ivtid now just gone down, tliongh his 
 beams still tipped the summits of th.e hills, and 
 were reflected from the windows of the dielant 
 houses. The snow on the mountains, too began 
 to assume a very beautiful rosy hue, which in- 
 creased in brilliancy the farther the sun went 
 down, and the more the lower lands became 
 darkened. 
 
 " How beautiful it is 1 " 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 tv#o boys 
 swimming in the w^ater." 
 
 " Are tliose the heads of boys ? " asked Mrs 
 Holiday. 
 
 " Yes, mother," said Rollo ; " see how far they 
 are sv^^imming out." 
 
 When Mrs, Holiday looked back at the moun- 
 tain, she found, to her great disappointment, thiit 
 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 wUh 
 drawn. 
 
Ii8 RoLLO IN Geneva. 
 
 The magnincfint sunsvt. ITie ^aldta. 
 
 "All! look!'' slic said to Mr. Holiday, in a 
 tone of dipappointnicnt ; " ^lont Blanc lias gone 
 out while we have been looking anothj^r way." 
 
 i\Ir. Holiday gazed intently at the mountain, 
 and TCTY soon he saw the rosy tint beginning to 
 appear again on one of the summits, more brilliant 
 than ever. 
 
 •* No," said he, " tlic 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 Ihe sound of a 
 gun. Lucia started and looked alarmed. 
 
 ** What is that gun ? " said Rollo; *' and where 
 was it? Lot us look for the smoke." 
 
 So Rollo and Lucia, leaning over the parapet, 
 began to look nil about aniong the boats and 
 vessels of the lake, and along the opposite shore, 
 in the direction from which the sound of the 
 rcpoi't 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 lloating off grace* 
 fully into the air. 
 
 " It is that vessel that has just got in," said 
 Hollo. 
 
Seeing Mont Blanc go out. Hi' 
 
 Mont Blanc in the sunset. The Swiss child at play. 
 
 "Rollo," said Mrs. Holiday, "look at the 
 mountaiu." 
 
 RoUo 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 gim to look long at the mountain. 
 
 " Kark ! " said he to Lucia ; " let us see if tliey 
 will not fire again." 
 
 They did not fire again ; and just as Rollo 
 began to give up expecting that they would, liis 
 attention, as well as that of Lucia, was attracted 
 to a little cliild wlio 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 ham- 
 mer 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 cliild a 
 shovel to dig with." 
 
 Rollo looked about, but there wai* nothing lika 
 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 ! " 
 
1 20 R L L IN Geneva. 
 
 Retnriiiiit: to the batel. The baml of mnsic on the islet 
 
 Rollo looked. He saw that the last lingering 
 rays of the sun had gone from tlic summit of the 
 iuountain, though they still gilded a small rounded 
 cloud that lloated just above it in the sky. 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Rollo. " TU go and call the 
 boat." 
 
 " We are not going back in the ooat," 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 witli the boatman.'' 
 
 Rollo at lirst thought that he should jtrefcr to 
 go in the boat ; but he finally concluded to accoin- 
 j)any his father and mother. So the whole party 
 returned together by a ])leasant road whirh led 
 through a vilhige by the shore. 
 
 When they eame out to the quay they heard a 
 band of mu.«^io playing. The Inmd was stationed 
 un tlie little islet which has already been de- 
 scribed. The party stopped on the bridge to 
 listen ; at least ^Ir. and Mrs. Holiday listened, 
 but Rollo and Lucia occupied themselves the 
 while in looking down in the clear depths of the 
 water, whieh was running so swiftly and so bbie 
 luMieatli the jiiers of the bridg(\ and watching to 
 vre if they could see any fishes there. Lucia 
 •Jiou^iht at one lime that she suw one ; hut Rollc^ 
 
SEEixfi Moxi Blanc go out. 121 
 
 What Rollo tlioiight of the sunset. 
 
 on examining tlie spot, said it was only a liUk 
 crovice of tlie rock wiggling. 
 
 " Wliat makes it wiggle? '^ asked Lucia. 
 
 " The little waves and ripples of the ciirreiit," 
 said Rollo. 
 
 When Rollo reached the hotel, a gcnllcman 
 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 iliQ gen- 
 tleman. 
 
 " I liked it very much indeed," said Rollo *' J 
 think it was Bublime." 
 
 ^.a^^^Ste^ 
 
122 RoLLO IN Gene^ta. 
 
 Rollo reminds bis father of his promise to take a sail 
 
 Chapter IX. 
 A Law Question. 
 
 " Now, father," said Rollo, one evening, as lie 
 ^as sittinp: at the window with h\> father nnd 
 mother, looking out upon the blue waters of the 
 Rhone, tliat were shooting fo swiftly under the 
 bridges beneath the windows of the hotel, " you 
 pronn?;ed me tliat you would take as long a sail 
 on the lake with me as 1 wished.'' 
 
 " Well," said his fatlior, " I acknowledge the 
 promise, and am ready to ])erform it." 
 
 " When ? " asked Rollo. 
 
 "At any time," said his father. 
 
 " Then, father, let us go to-morix)w," 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 hid father ; " I said I would 
 take af^ long a sail as you wished." 
 
 "And I will go this evening and engage a sail 
 boat," said Rollo, "so as to have it uil ready." 
 
 There was always quite a little Iluot of sail 
 
A Law Question. 123 
 
 Ed gaging a boat. is travolliug in a steamboat sailing ? 
 
 boats and row boats of all kinds lying near tlig 
 principal landing at tlie quay, ready for excur- 
 Bions. Rollo's plan was to engage one of these. 
 
 " No/' said his father ; " we will not take a sai! 
 l)Oat ; 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. Tliere 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 tlie lake and return tlie 
 same day ; while tliose that left at noon came 
 back the nest morning. Thus, to see tlie lake, you 
 could go in the forenoon of one day, and come 
 back in the afternoon of the same, or you could 
 ro in the afternoon of one day, and come back in 
 the ifiorning of the next. 
 
 " Whicii W'juM vou 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 m a 
 Etcamboat 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 
 
124 R L L I X G E N E T A 
 
 RcftMring a qnestioTi to iin unijiii-c 
 
 reflecting, apparently, npon what Rollo liad bi.'en 
 Baying. 
 
 ''Then, besides," said Rollo, "don't you think, 
 fatlier, it would be pleasanter to go in a sail 
 boat?" 
 
 " The first question is." said Mr. Ilolidny, 
 *' whether I am bound by niy promise to go with 
 you in a sail boat, if you pn*(er it. 1 said 1 would 
 take you to a sail. Would taking you in a steam- 
 boat be a fulfilment of that promi^^ ? Suppose 
 we refer the question to an umpire, and see how 
 he will decide it." 
 
 "Yes; but, father," said Rollo, " if you tliiuk 
 it is best to go in the steamer. I should not insist 
 uj)on the sail boat, by any means ; so it is not 
 necessary to leave it to any umpire. I w ill givo 
 it up." 
 
 *' I know you would bo willing to giM' it ii[»," 
 said Mr. Holiday; "but then we may as well 
 first ascertain how the case actually stands. Let 
 us (iist determine what the promise I ii. ds me to. 
 if it <loes not bind me to go in a sail boat, then it is 
 all light ; tlieie will be no need of any gi\iiig u|>. 
 If. (Ml the other luuid. my promise iUtrti bind mc 
 to LTo 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 
 resruljvb. dcrid'MJ : and it will also bo a irnoi) 
 
A Law Q t: hbirt o^. 125 
 
 RoWo ;iuJ liis Ifitlief settling ;'. hi.v (]n5sticu. 
 
 le{5son for you, in teaching you to think and speak 
 with |)rcci;)ion wh<3n you make jiromiscs, and to 
 draw exact lines in respect to the performanco 
 of them." 
 
 "Well, sir,'* said Rollo ; "who shall be the 
 liiupirc? '^ 
 
 "Mr. Hall/* said his father. " ITo is down in 
 the diniDg room now, taking ten." 
 
 Mr. Hall was a lawyer, an acquaintance of 
 Mr. Holiday's, whom he had accidentally met at 
 Geneva. 
 
 " He is a lawyer/*' gaid Mr. Holiday, " and he 
 will be a very good um])ire." 
 
 " Is it a law question ? " asked Rollo. 
 
 " Not exnctly a law qucf^tion," said Mr. Holi- 
 day, " but all such questionri require for an umpire 
 a man who is accustomed to think precisely. 
 That is their very business. It is true that there 
 arc a great many oth.er men besides lavryers who 
 tiiink precisely ; and there are some lawyers who 
 *Jiink and reason very loosely, and come to hasty 
 nu<l incorrect conclusions. Still, you ai-e more 
 likr;ly to get a good opinion on sucli a i-ubject 
 fi'om a lawyer than from other men taken at I'an- 
 3om. So, if you please, you may go down and 
 jlate the question to Mr. Hall, and 1 ''•'■' • ' '-^ 
 Oy ids decision." 
 
 " Well, sir," said Rollo, " I wilL" 
 
126 ^ t. L I :v G E ^^ fi r A 
 
 lii'J ii; frtir w;\yn of yint\nz n ']fir.'!t;cti. 
 
 *' Only,'' ?aid 3Ir. Holiday, " you must suite tlifi 
 quo.^tiuii fairly. V>riys generally, ^vl!('M tiioy jro 
 to state a question of this kind in whicji liii'y i»io 
 interested, state it very unfairly." 
 
 " ITow, for iiistnnce?" asked Rollo. 
 
 *' Why, s]i})pose." said Mr. Ilolidsiy. "thnl yoi 
 were to .iro to Mr. Hall, and say, ' Mr. 11 all. fatlici 
 promised ma that he would take me out on a sail 
 upon the lake, a? lar as 1 wanted to go, and don't 
 you think he ought to do it?'" 
 
 Rollo lauglied heartily at thi? mode of putting 
 the (picstion. *' Yet^," said he, " that sounds ex 
 actly lik(* a hoy. And what wouhl he a fair way 
 of stating it ? '' 
 
 "A fair way would he," said Mr. Holiday, ''to 
 preyent the simple (juestion it.vcjf, witluuit anr 
 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; ns, for 
 example, thus: 'Mr. Hall, 1 have a question to 
 ask you. ISupjiose one person promis(\s another 
 that he will take him out to sail on the lake on a 
 certain day ; then, when the day comes, (he prom- 
 h'Cr ))roposes to go in the steamboat. Would 
 that he a good fulfdment of the pronnse, or not ?'•' 
 
 •* Well, sir," said UnWo, " I will state it so." 
 
 8o Kolh) went (h)wn <[aiis into the dining 
 room. Tlieie were vuiinus parties there, seat •({ 
 
A Law Question. 127 
 
 What the lawyer said. Kollo speaks unadviRedly. 
 
 at tlie different tables. Some wei-c takiiig tea 
 some were looking at maps and guide books, and 
 fe'ome discussing the plan of their tours. One of 
 tlie sofas had half a dozen kna])sackL5 upon it, 
 vvliich belonged to a party of pedestrians that 
 had just come in. 
 
 RoUo 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, 0, yes, 
 or 0, 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 pxomise." 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Rollo ; " that is tlie point ex- 
 actly. I think it is not ; father thinks it is." 
 
 The instant that these words were out of Rollo'a 
 mouth he was sorry that ^e 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, whei/ 
 the other party is not present to express his views 
 ard advocate his interests. The words once 
 spoken, however, could not be recalled. 
 
128 R L L I X Geneva. 
 
 Argiiini; tlie rase. The i i^lit rules lor inlciTretirsr contractu. 
 
 " Stcamljoats are certainly not propelled by 
 Bails," said the lawyer, " bnt yet "we often a])piy 
 tiie word sailing to tliem. We say, for iiistan« e, 
 fiat a certain steamer will sail on such or sii h 
 Q day. So we say, There was do news from sue' 
 0/ such a place when tlie steamer sailed." 
 
 "But it seems to me," said Rollo, *' tliat th«; 
 question is not what people call it, but wliat it 
 really is. The going of a steamboat is certainly 
 not sailing, in any sense." 
 
 It was quite ingenious ar<ruing on Rollo'spau. 
 it must be acknowledged ; but then it was wholly 
 out of order for him to argue the question at all. 
 Ho should have confined himself strictly to a 
 siii'ple statement of the point, since, as his father 
 was not j)resent to diTcnd /lis side of the question, 
 it was obviously not fair that Hollo should urire 
 and advocate his. 
 
 "It midit, at first view," said Mr. Hall, •' >t'e?n 
 to be as you say, and that the question would be 
 solely what the steamer actually does. Ibit, on 
 reflection, yo\i will see that it is not exactly so. 
 ('ontract,-^ and promises arc made in language ; 
 iiid ill making them, people use language as other 
 ■jcoplc use it, and it is to be interpreted in thai 
 wi\y. For instance: suppose a lodging-houso 
 keeper in the country should agree to furninh a 
 lady a room in the summer where the sun did not 
 
A T. A w Question. 129 
 
 Mr. Hall decides in favor of tlie sail boat. 
 
 come in at all, and then should give her one on the 
 Boulh side of the house, which was intolerably hot, 
 and should claim that he had fulfilled his agree- 
 ment because the sun did not itself come into the 
 room at all, but only shone in ; that would not be 
 a good defence. We nmst interpret contracts and 
 promises according to the ordinary use and cus- 
 tom of people in the employment of language. 
 
 "Still," said ^Mr, Hall, "although we certainly 
 do ap{)ly the sim{)le term sailing to a steamer, I 
 Iiardly think that a trip in a steamer on a regu- 
 lar and established route would be called, accord- 
 ing to the ordinary and established use of lan- 
 guage, taking a sail. Was that the promise — 
 that one party would go with the other to fake 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 thii.k.on the 
 whole, that, in such a place as this, where tiiere 
 are so many regular sail boats, and wiiere excur- 
 Bions on the lake in them are so common and so 
 veil recognized as a distinct amuseriient, the 
 jihrase 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 fuHilling tlie promise " 
 
 Rollo was extremely delighted in having thiia 
 
 d 
 
130 Roi. LO IN Geneva. 
 
 Rollo and his father compare the ailvaiitages of the stejunhoat ai d sail bosi 
 
 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 di ] 
 not wish to go in a sail boat if his father ihouglit 
 it best to .iro 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 tlie water in a sail boat, but 
 for a long excursion the steamer is generally con- 
 sidered much pleasantcr. 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 s])ace, and there arc a great 
 many groups of people, and little incidents arc 
 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 
 loo?" 
 
 "No," said Mrs. Holiday; 'I am afraid of 
 sail boats." 
 
 "0 mother!" said Rollo; "there is not anj 
 danger at all." 
 
A Law Question. 131 
 
 » • 
 
 The dangers of sailing. >lt>llo engages a boat. 
 
 " Yes, Eollo," said bis father, " there is some 
 danger, for sail boats do sometimes upset." 
 
 " And steamboats sometimes blow up,'' said 
 Bollo. 
 
 " True,'' said his father ; " but that only show3 
 tliat 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 de- 
 stroy for them the pleasure of the excursion. 
 
 'Til 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 motlier 
 may stay and watch us from the Y/indow, as she 
 reads and sews. Then to-morrow we will go 
 togetlier 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 
 (lie boat. "I will come down," said Mr. Holiday, 
 " ))y the time you get ready." 
 
 So Rollo went down and engaged a boat. It 
 was rigged, as all the boats on the Lake of Ge- 
 neva are^ with what are called lateen sails. Hij 
 
132 RoLLO IN Geneva. 
 
 RoUo and his father tn the lake. The si^ata. 
 
 father soon came dowu, and they immediately 
 embarked on board the boat, and sailed awuT 
 from the landing. *As the boat moved away 
 Rolb waved his handkerchief to his mothir 
 
 whom he saw sitting on the balcony of the hotol 
 saving hers to him. 
 
 Rollo and his lather sailed about the hike foi 
 
A L A w Vi U W S T I N 
 
 !33 
 
 sir. Il.sjwkiy'sa-.couiit of the tri{ 
 
 nearly an hour. Mr. Holiday said it was one of 
 tiie pleasautest sails be ever iiad in his life, and 
 that he was very glad indeed that Mr. Hall de- 
 cided against him. 
 
 He gave RoUo's mother a full account of the 
 excursion when he got home. 
 
 " Tiie water was very smooth," said he, " and 
 the air was cool and balmy. There was a gentle 
 breatfi 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-cov- 
 erc'i mountains beyond.'' 
 
134 R 1. L IN Geneva 
 
 How to plan excursions among the Alps. 
 
 Chapter X. 
 An Excursion on the li^KE. 
 
 The Lake of Geneva is shaped, as has already 
 oecn said, like the new moon. One of the horna 
 is towards the west ; tlie other is towards the 
 south. Geneva is at the tip of tlie 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 ratlier 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 ])art 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 illuminat- 
 ing brilliantly the slopes of the mountains that 
 you are going to see. In other words, in tlio 
 morning the mountains are in shadow and the 
 h'un 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 
 
An ElCtJRStON ON THE LaKK. 135 
 
 w.- ■ ■ — * 
 
 A 8.:ene on the quay ol Geneva. 
 
 of the manner in which the sun shines in ditrcrcnt 
 parts of the day, in planning excursions among 
 tlie Alps. 
 
 The middle of the day is a rery exciting nnd 
 :vnimating time on the quay at Geneva. It is 
 then that the boats which left the other end of 
 the Like in the morning are expected to arrive ; 
 und a great concourse of porters, guides, postil- 
 ions, 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 tliey come 
 over the plank to land. There are family groups 
 consisting of fathers, mothers, and children, fol* 
 lowed by porters bearing immense trunks, white 
 they themselves are loaded with shawls, cloaks, 
 umbi-ellas, and carpet bags ; and parties of stU' 
 dents, with all their travelling eifects in knap- 
 sacks on their backs ; and schoolboys who have 
 been making a tour of the Alps with their teacher j 
 and young brides, almost equally proud of their 
 husbands, of the new dignity of tlicir own posi- 
 tion, and of the grandeur of an Alpine bridal 
 tour. All the^e people, and tlie hundreds of speo 
 tators that assemble to see them, fdl the quay, 
 and form a very animated and exciting spectacle. 
 
 When the time approaches for a boat to sail. 
 
13G ROLLO IK Ge^^eta 
 
 fr«tp1icrt, porters, snil soldiers. Eftilrafildng:, 
 
 wliich is in half an hour after she arrives, we 
 have a counterpart of this scene, the direction of 
 the current only being reversed. Tiie tourists 
 DOW go to the boat, the porters, with tl;eir bag- 
 gage, preceding them. A soldier stands at tho 
 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 a.** you get 
 on board, you hnd a great variety of }-ictiiresque 
 looking groups, all, however, iiaving llic air of 
 being travellers for pleasure, ^ome arc arranging 
 themselves in good j'cats for seeing the scenery. 
 Others take oat their maps and guide books, and 
 fjrepare to rcafl the descriptions of t)ic i)]acear 
 that lliey arc going to see. Here and tliere chil 
 ben are to l)e seen — the boys with little knap 
 sat'ks, and llie girls wearing very broad-brimmed 
 Swiss l)nts — neither paying any attention to the 
 scenery, but amusing themselves with whatever 
 tliey lijid at band to play with — one with a little 
 /og. another with a doll which has been bought 
 \':n her at (ieneva, and a third, perhaps, >viih a 
 ■^vhip. or a liltle >vagon. 
 
 K(dh) took his seat by the side of his father 
 nritl motlier, in the mid.-t of smh a scene as this, 
 (»n tlio day of their cmbaikation, and occupied 
 liiin.-clf soniclimes by looking at the shores of 
 tlic lake and the mountains beyond,, and some 
 
An Excursion on the Lake. 131 
 
 IjandiDg ]>iisMenger!< by bo.ita. 
 
 times by watcliing tlio movements and actions of 
 the var',ou8 gronp^r of tourists before liini. In 
 Uic mean time, t!ie boat left the landing, and be- 
 gan to glide along rapidly on her way over the 
 surface of the water. 
 
 The shores of the lake are very fertile and 
 c<;pulous, and at every eight or ten miles, espe- 
 cially 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 tlie passengers 
 come and go in large boats, and meet the stcam.cr 
 at a little way from the shore. Rollo used to 
 take great pleasure in going forward to the bows 
 of the steamer, and watcli these boats as they 
 can)e out from the shore. If there were t-v\o of 
 t'lCm, they would come out so far that the track 
 of the steamer should lie l^etween them, and then, 
 when the steamer sto])pe(l her paddles, they would 
 come up, one on one side and the other on the 
 other, arid tlie passengers would come up on boai-d 
 by means of a iliglit of steps let down from the 
 steamer, just abaft the paddle boxes. When the 
 passcn,::rrs had thn?^ come u]), the baggage would 
 be passed up too ; a '«d then those passengers who 
 wished to go ashore at that place would go down 
 the steps in the boats, and when all were em- 
 barke«l the boats woul(^ cast oS fi<>m the steamer. 
 
1»B8 RoLLO IN Geneva. 
 
 How tln»y collect the fares on the Swiss Btwmior. 
 
 and the steamer would go on her way as before. 
 The boats then would roTr slowly to the land, 
 with the passengers in them tliat were to stop at 
 that place. 
 
 The way oi paying :o\ one s passage on bjard 
 these boats was very different from that adopted 
 in America. Tliere was no colored waiter to go 
 about the decks and saloons ringing a bell, and 
 calling out, in a loud and authoritative voice, 
 Pas.-engers who haven't settled their fare will 
 please call at the captain's office and settle. In- 
 stead of this, the clerk of the boat came himself, 
 after each hinding, to the new passengers that 
 had come on board at that landing, and, toucliing 
 his hat to them, in the most polite manner, asked 
 them to what place tlnw 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 
 U})on it. As the several passengers to whom he 
 applied gave him tlie name of '.he place Oi thi^r 
 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 comeis, he went to 
 the office and provided himself with the proi»cr 
 number of tickets for each place, and then went 
 rouni again to distribute them. In going around 
 thus a second time, to distribute the tickets, he 
 took a cash iiox with him to make change. Thia 
 
An E X c u r s I o x o n the Lake. 1 39 
 
 Why we c/iuW Qot do so in America. 
 
 cash box was slung befo)-e him bv means of a 
 Btrap about the neck. 
 
 " How much more polite and agreeable a mode 
 tlii? is of collecting the fares," said ^Irs. Holiday 
 t(» her husband, " than ours in America ! There a 
 boy comes around, dinging a bell in every bodj'a 
 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 i>olitc and agreeable customs introduced 
 into our couritry." 
 
 *' They are very agreeable," said Mr. Holiday, 
 " and are very suitable for pleasure travel like 
 thip. whei-e 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 thoiisand 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 hun- 
 dred or a tliousand. In such a case as that 1 
 think that this plan would be well nigh impr£X> 
 ticable." 
 
 " I did not riiink of that," said Mrs. Holiday. 
 
 "The diflercnce between tlie circumstances of 
 
140 Hollo in Geneva 
 
 Tho differe.ice I^tween the travelling farilities here Bnd in Switzt-rland. 
 
 the case in Europe and in America is very often 
 not tliought of by travellers wlio 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 trav- 
 ellers is comparatively small, and a very large 
 proportion of those who make journeys go for 
 pleasure. The arrangements can all, conse- 
 quently, be made to save them trouble, and to 
 make the journey agreeable to them ; and the 
 price is increased accordingly. In America, peo- 
 ple 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 arrange- 
 ments of the conveyances and of the hotels are 
 all made accordingly. The consequence is, a vast 
 difference in the expense of travelling, and a cor- 
 responding ditTorence, of course, to some extent, 
 in case anil comfort. The price of passage, for 
 instance, in tlie 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 
 doHar. This dilTerence is owing to the number 
 of travellers that go in the American boats, and 
 the wholesale character, so to speak, of the arrange 
 ment5 nuule for them. 
 
An Excursion on the Lake. 141 
 
 How tar shall Wb go? Lausa::ne. Oucby. 
 
 " 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 
 tlic way, and they have to pay both for tlie con-' 
 voyance and the attendance. In America they 
 are only conveyed, and are left to wait upon them- 
 Belvcs ; 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 laj-ge, 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 
 tovvn, two miles up the side of the mountain. 
 
142 RoLLO IS Geneva. 
 
 Vevay. Tin- I'luty (k-ciile tv land at Oachj. 
 
 "Then, secondly," continued Mr. Holiday, "tliere 
 IS Vevay, which is famous for a new and fa?li ion- 
 able hotel facing the lake, with a beautiful ter- 
 race 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 moun- 
 tains 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 pas- 
 6cn,i2:ors 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 stand- 
 ing at the head of the pier. 
 
 "Now, wc can get into the omnibus," said Mr. 
 Holiday, "and go directly u|) to Lausanne, or we 
 can go to the hotel hero, and take lodgings, and 
 then go up to Lausanne to .<ec ihc town after 
 diiiucr." 
 
An Excursion' on thp: Lake. 143 
 
 The women porters. The old iun at Ouchy. 
 
 It was at tliis time al)Oiit four o'clock. Tho 
 asual time of dinner for travellers in Switzerland 
 is five. 
 
 Mrs, Holiday, observing that the hotel at 
 Ouchy was very prettily situated, close to l!ie 
 water, and recollecting that her husband had 
 said that it resembled in its character a castle ot 
 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 
 Faw 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 whicli she had road 
 about when she was a ^\v\ in the old romances- 
 
144 RoLLO IN Geneva 
 
 Riding into ibe country. Loni Byron's room. 
 
 After dinner, Mr. IJoliday 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 beauti- 
 ful 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 tlio descent more gradual. At 
 length, about half past ciglit, they returned to 
 the inn. 
 
 The landKidy of tlie inn, who was very kind 
 and obliging to thorn, took them to see a room in 
 her hotel wliere Lord Byron wrote his celebrated 
 poem entitled the Puisonku of Chiixon'. Chil- 
 Ion is an ancient castle which stands on the shore, 
 twenty or tliiity mih.^s beyond, and very near, in 
 fact, to the exti*cmity of the hike. Byron has 
 made tliis 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 
 tlie lake, in writing a poem in which he describes 
 
An Excursion on the Ijake. 145 
 
 The Castle o'' Chilioo. Dcsci iptiwa of the head of the lake. 
 
 tlie emotions and sufferings of some imaginary 
 prisoners v liom 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 sum- 
 mer. These mountains, especially if overshad- 
 owed 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 disap- 
 pears 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 tlie 
 mountains seem to shut the water in. But on 
 drawing near the shore, you see that there is a 
 ])retty broad belt of land along the shore, whicli, 
 though it ascends rapidly, is not too steep to be 
 cultivated. This belt of land is covered with 
 villages, hamlets, vineyards, orchards, and gar 
 
 10 
 
146 li o L L o IN Geneva. 
 
 The Itx-Htiou and appeMrnnce of the Cast If of (liilUm 
 
 dens, and it forms a most enchanting penes of 
 landscapes, from whatever point it is seen, while 
 the more precipitous slo])es of tlie mountains, tf.w- 
 Cling above in grandeur and sublimity complcto 
 (he enchantment of the view. 
 
 The Castle of Chillon stands on the rcry mar- 
 g-in 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 cut- 
 ting of a ditch between it and the main land. 
 
 The steamer passed along the shore, very nea** 
 to this castle, in going to the head of the lake, a.-j 
 you see represented in the engraving.* 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 Villencuve, a little 
 beyond. lumbers of tourists come in every 
 Fteamer to visit the castle, and stop for this pur- 
 pose at one of these landings or the other. Tlie 
 distance is only twenty minutes' brisk walkini.' 
 fiom either of them. 
 
 Villencuve, ti»e hist landing mentioned abcNe 
 
 • Sff }• rotit.Npii.'fe. 
 
An Exctrsion on the Lake, in 
 
 Olijccts of interest to tiniridts at tin; hciul of the lake. 
 
 is at the very extremity of tlic lake. We see it 
 in the distance in the eiigraving. Here travellers 
 \?ho are going to continue their journey up the 
 valley of the Rlione, either for the purpose of 
 penetrating into the heart of Switzerland, or of 
 going by the pass of the Siniplon into Italy, leave 
 the boat and take the diligence to continue their 
 journey by land, or else engage a private car- 
 riage, 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 siop a day or 
 two at Yilleneuve, to visit Chillon, and perhaps 
 make some other excursions, and also to enjoy the 
 views presented there, on all sides, of the slopes 
 ard summits of the surrounding mountains. 
 
148 RoLLO IN Genev 
 
 Tho pier of ViUeneuve. The inn. The 
 
 Chapter XI. 
 
 ViLLENEUVE. 
 
 At Villcneuve, a pretty long, tliough 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 inun- 
 dations, all buildings, whether liouses. bridges, or 
 piers, may be built very near the water, without 
 any danger of being overflowed. 
 
 Before the inn is an open space, extending be- 
 tween it and the shore; so that from the front 
 windows of the inn you can look down first upon 
 this 0})en 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 
 foinied of the ends of two buildings which stood 
 on the shore, and along tliis space were wooieu 
 
y I L L E N E U V E . 14t* 
 
 The tourists landing at Villeneuro. 
 
 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 convey- 
 ances. One of these omnibuses belonged to a 
 large hotel and boarding house which stands on 
 the shore of the lake, not far from Yilleneuve, 
 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 command- 
 ing 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 
 
150 K L L IN Geneva. 
 
 What Rollo saw in the hi a. The Gcrmau boy. 
 
 the valley. Mr. Holiday and liis party, not io* 
 tending to proceed any fartlier tliat niglit, went 
 directly to the inn. 
 
 They v\'cnt 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 iu 
 all its arrangements. There was no carpet on 
 the floor, and the woodwork was unpaintcd. 
 There were two windows in front, which looked 
 out upon the lake. Directly beneath the win- 
 dows was the road, and the open space, already 
 described, between the hotel and the ])ior. 
 
 There was a boy with a knapsack on his back 
 standing by tlie window, looking out. Rollo 
 went to the window, and began to look out too. 
 
 "Do you speak p]nglish ? " said Rollo to the 
 boy. 
 
 " JN^'n/i," said the boy, shaking liis head. 
 
 JVcin is the (ierman word for no. This Rollo 
 knew very well, and so he inferred tliat the boy 
 was a German. ll<\ liowevcr. thought it possi- 
 ble that he might speak Frcnclj, and so he a^ked 
 again,— 
 
 " Do you speak 'French ? " 
 
 " Very little," sai>l tl»e boy, answering now in 
 iLe French language. '" 1 am studying it at school 
 
V I L L E N E U V E . 151 
 
 The excursion of the class of fitudeots. 
 
 I iim at scliooi 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 steam* 
 bfiat, and then we go in the steamboat." 
 
 " And I suppose you are going to take the steam- 
 boat 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 ot 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 
 harned at school, and which neither of thera 
 could speak well, but which was, nevertheless, the 
 only language tliey 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 
 Vie number he meant. The words sis and six- 
 teen are very similar in tlie French language, and 
 for a moment the boy confounded them. 
 
 " And the tcaclier too, I suppose," said Rollo. 
 
 " Yes," said the boy, " and the teacher." 
 
 Here there was a short pause. 
 
 " Arc you goin.c to Chillon ?" caid the noy tc 
 Bollo. 
 
1 52 R L L IN Geneva. 
 
 KoIIo asks permission to go to Chillon with the scholars. 
 
 " Yes," ?aid Rollo. " I am going with my 
 fatlier and mother." 
 
 " I wisli you were going with us," said tlie lK)y. 
 
 *' I wish so too," said Rollo ; " I mean to ask 
 my father to let me." 
 
 During this time Mr. Holiday liad 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 eflects were put in the rooms, he 
 informed his father that he had made acquaint- 
 ance with a young German schoolboy who was 
 going with his class and the teacher to visit Chil- 
 lon ; and he asked his father's consent that he 
 might go with them. 
 
 " I can walk there with them," said Rollo, "and 
 wait tliere till you and mother come." 
 
 " Docs the boy speak English ? " asked M;. 
 Uoliday. 
 
 "No. sir," said Rollo ; "but he can speak French 
 Q little. He speaks it just about as well as 1 can, 
 tiiid we can get along together very well." 
 
 '• Is the teacher willing that you should nn?" 
 asked Mr. Holiday. 
 
 " I don't know,'' said Rollo : " we havr not 
 abked him yet." 
 
T I L L E N E U V B . 153 
 
 Asking the teacher. Permission. 
 
 " Tlieu tlie first thing is to ask bim," 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 per 
 haps 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 op- 
 portunity to speak French. Besides, there are 
 some boys in the school who are learning Eng- 
 lish, 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 
 mot 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 RoUq 
 was to go. 
 
154 Pt o 1, 1. T X Geneva. 
 
 Reudezvousiu r. Politeness among the boj*. 
 
 Tlie boys all went (.lown stairs, and rcndez- 
 roused at the door of the inn. Most of the oin 
 nibiises 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 joii 
 their party. The teacher spoke to him in French. 
 'J'here 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 caieful 
 not to laugh at their mistakes, and they did not 
 laugh at those which he made in talking FriMu-h ; 
 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 Coiille of 
 Chi'bn. 
 
 
The Castle of Chillon. 155 
 
 Roll<> and the schoolboys on the pedestrhu excuisli 
 
 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 inas- 
 much 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 partic- 
 ulars in respect to the adventures they had met 
 with in coming over the mountains. 
 
 Rollo learned, for example, that every boy had 
 
156 R L L IX Geneva. 
 
 The equipments of t^e l)oys. Ilutfl Byron. 
 
 a fisliing line in liis 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 tiling they did was to watch for but- 
 terflies, in order to catch any new species that 
 they might find, to add to the teacher's cabinet 
 of natural history. For tliis })urpo?e 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 tho 
 boys set ofi" with the rest to catch him. If the 
 fipecimen 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, 'i'ho l)oy o]iened this box, and j^howcd 
 Rollo the butterflies which they had taken. They 
 had quite a })retty collection. There were sev- 
 eral that Kollo 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 emi' 
 nence above tlie road, and back from the lako. 
 Broad gravelled avenues led up to it. There 
 were al>o winding walks, and seats under the 
 tiees, aud terraces, and gardens, and parties of 
 
The Castle of Chtl]. on. 151 
 
 The road to the Castk- of Chillon. The s.-ntiiiel .it the d... r. 
 
 ladies and gentlemen walkinof about, and cliildiPij 
 playing here and there, iindei- the chaj-ge of tl-cir 
 nurses. 
 
 The boys gave only a passing glance at these 
 t.iimgs as they went by. They were much more 
 interested in gazing up from time to time at the 
 stupendous cliffs and precip'ices whicli they saw 
 crowning the mountain ranges which seemed to 
 border the road ; and on the otlier side, in look- 
 ing out far over tlie water of the lake at the sail 
 boats, or the steamer, or the little row boats 
 which they beheld in tlie 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 thcre> 
 dressed in the unifoim of a soldier. He was a 
 sort of sentinel, to keep the door of the castle. He 
 bad a table ou one side, with various engT^viug? 
 
158 R L L IN Geneva. 
 
 Mementoes for sale to tourist?. Subterranean passaiits ut the oasrle. 
 
 gpread out upon it, representing different views 
 of the castle, l;otli of the interior and of the 
 exterior. There were also little books of de- 
 scription, giving an account of the castle and of 
 its history, and copies of Byron's poem, the Pris- 
 oner of Chi'ilon. All these things were for sale 
 to tiie visitors who should come to see the castle. 
 
 The engravings were kept from being blown 
 (iway by the wind by means of little stone paper 
 weights made of rounded pebble stones, about as 
 large as the palm of the hand, witli views of the 
 castle and of the surrounding scenery painted ou 
 them. The paper weights were for sale too. 
 
 The boys looked at those things a moment, but 
 did not seem to |)ay 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. Tiiese 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 
 bIiow them into the dungeons. 
 
 He led the way through a door, and thoncp 
 down a flight of stone steps to a .-^ries of sabtir- 
 ranean chambers, which were very diudy lighted 
 by little windows opening towards the lake. The 
 back sides of the rooms consisted of the living 
 
The Castle of Chtllon. 150 
 
 The dungeon. Tlie prisoners' bed. The plarc of execution. 
 
 rock ; tlie front sides were formeo of the castle 
 wall tliat ])ordcrcd the lake. 
 
 '* Here is the room," said the guide, " where 
 the prisoners who were condemned to death in 
 tlie ca:3tle in former times spent the last night 
 before their execution. That stone was the bed 
 where they had to lie." 
 
 So sayiiig, 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. Tlio 
 stone was part of the solid ledge, and was sur- 
 rounded with ragged crags, just as they had been 
 left by tlie excavators in making the dungeon ; 
 but whether the smooth and sloping surface of 
 this particular portion of the rock was natural or 
 artiticial, 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 gov- 
 fct noi- of the castle to that use, the boys could not 
 (icterniine. 
 
 The guide led the boys a little farther on, to a 
 place where there was a dark recess, and poinl^ 
 ing up towards the ceiling, he said, — 
 
 '* 'I'hcre is where the criminals were hung. Up 
 wli^re I point there is a beam built into the rock; 
 and from that the rope was suspended." 
 
ICn R L t, T X G E K E t A . 
 
 Wliy tho Iniy? coulil ii'-.t se.- thf ^Mul>*-t. Cfiistnicti^n of tlio <!nnire''na 
 
 The ijoys all ci-nwdoil round tlio spot, niid 
 looked eagerly up, but they could not sec any 
 beam. 
 
 "You cannot see it," said the guide, "now, le- 
 cause you have just come out from the light of 
 day. We shall come V>ack 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 wore 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 
 tlierc to support the arches on which rested the 
 flour of the principal story of tlie castle above. 
 The roof of this dungeon of course was vaulted, 
 the arches and groins being carried over from 
 tliis range of central pillars towards the wall in 
 .Oont, and towards the solid rock behind. All 
 tliis you will plainly see represcnteii in the 
 'jngraving. 
 
 Tills gi-eat dungeon was lighted by means of 
 very i-mall loopholes cut in the wall, hich u|' from 
 
TIIK IH'Nr.KnN IN THK ( A-ii.t. <n t iin.iv 
 11 
 
The Castle of C h i l l o n . 163 
 
 Curious effeit of reflected liglit in the duugeon. 
 
 the floor. The light from these windows, instead 
 of coming down, and shining upon the floor, 
 Beemed 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 sud 
 which shone directly from it in the sky were ex- 
 cluded, and only those that were reflected upward 
 from the wateis 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 w^orn 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 pil- 
 lars in a row ; and he said that if they would 
 count them they would find that there were ex- 
 
164 RoLLo IN Geneva. 
 
 » — — . __ — ■ 
 
 The scTon pillars. The sr.nlcani in tho ihingeonB. 
 
 actly-seven. The boys did so, and tliov found 
 that tlicre were seven ; but they did not under- 
 etnnd why the number was of any importance. 
 J5ut tlie teacher explained it to them. He said 
 tliat 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, 
 Tliorc arc seven -columns, massy and pray, 
 Dim with a d\»ll, 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 foreiirn accent. All the boys listened 
 attentively while he spoke, though of course only 
 RoUo and those of the boys who had studied 
 Englisli could understand him. 
 
 After this the boys came bavk through tho 
 whole range of dungeons, by the same way that 
 they had come in. They could now see the Ijeam 
 from which the condemned criuiinals were nung. 
 It passed across from rock to rock, high al>ovr 
 
The Castle of C it i l l o n . I(]5 
 
 AuotJicr t;iiide. l)iike of gavoj. History of tlie Castle of Cbillon. 
 
 their heads, in a dark and gloomy place, an.^ 
 Becmed perfectly black wiih age. 
 
 When the party came out of the dungeons, a 
 young woman took them in charge, to show thera 
 the apartments above. She conducted them up a 
 broad fliglit 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 inhab- 
 ited, 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 founrl 
 confined there go free, and since then they ha\e 
 used the castle as a place of storage for arms and 
 ammunition. 
 
166 K !. I. IX G E N E V A 
 
 The senate ht,u:<f. AnimunitioQ. The toituiinjr looia. 
 
 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 wero 
 to be hung. 
 
 The boys, however, did not pay a great deal 
 of attention to what the guide said about the tbr- 
 mer uses of these rooms. Tlicy seemed to l)e 
 much more interested in the {)urposes that tlicy 
 were now serving, and so went about examining 
 very eagerly the great biass cannons and tiie 
 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 
 toituring room. There was a large wooden jio.-i 
 in the centre of the ro(un, extending from the 
 floor to the vault above. 'JMie j)ost was worn and 
 blackened by time and decay, and there wrio 
 various hooks, and staples, and pulleys atta«l,» l 
 to it at ditVeient heights, which the guide .«aid 
 were used for securing the prisoners to the post, 
 when they were to be tortured. The post itself 
 was l)urned in many places, as if by hot irons. 
 
 The boys saw another place in a i-oom bcyon<l, 
 which was in some resjtects still more dreadfiJ 
 
The C a s t I. e of C ii i l l o n . 167 
 
 A dt-cndful placf>. The ouMiette. Certe>. deatb. 
 
 tban this. It was a place where there was an 
 (Spelling in the floor, near the wall of the room, 
 tl-at looked like a trap door. Tliere was the 
 Irjginning of a stone stair leading down. A 
 small railing was built i*ound the opening, as if 
 to keep pL^ople from falling in. The boys ail 
 crowded round the railing, and looked down. 
 
 They saw that the stair only went down thj-ee 
 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 tLIo t\a9 
 one of the aubliettes, 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 con- 
 tinued, 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 tho 
 Btair ; but after the third there would be no more, 
 and they would fall down to a great depth oa 
 ragged rocks, and be killed. To make it certain 
 that they would be killed by the fall, there \i ere 
 
168 RoLLO IN Geneva 
 
 A strange combination of supei-ctition and tyranny. 
 
 sharp blades, like the ends of scythes, fixed in the 
 rock, far below, to cut them in pieces as thej fell. 
 
 It seems these tvrants, 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 Vir 
 gin Mary, who is worshipped in Catholic coun« 
 tries 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 ia 
 tins of superstition and tyranny 1 
 
 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 Ivollo bade the teacher and all the boys 
 good by, after accompanying them a few minutes, 
 aa they walked along the road towards the place 
 where they were to go. Hy this t'uu^ Lis father 
 
The Castle of Chillon. ICt) 
 
 The littls island in the lak«. Byron's dcsciipiion. 
 
 and mother had descended from their cari*ingo, 
 and were ready to go in. So Rollo joined thovn, 
 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 de- 
 scribes the island ijj 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 gvpcn isle, it seep.icd no more, 
 Scarce broader than my dungeon floor; 
 But in it there were three tall trees, 
 And o'er it blew the mountiun breeze, 
 And by it there were waters flowing, 
 And on it there were young flowers growiBS, 
 
no Ror. Lo IN Geneva. 
 
 The return to \ illeneuve. 
 
 *' That's pretty poetry," said RoUo. 
 
 " Very pretty indeed," said liis father. 
 
 The horse now bc«ran to trot along the road. 
 The little island continued in view for a while, 
 and then disappearci, and afterwards came into 
 view again, as the road went turning and wind- 
 ing around, following the indentations of the 
 shore. 
 
 At lengtli, nftei- a sliojt i)iit very ploasant ride, 
 the party arrived Mifuly al the inn a^ain at Vil- 
 leneuve. 
 
 ih 
 
P L A N F R M E D . 171 
 
 The coufignration of the Lsike of Gen«>ra. 
 
 CHAPrER XIII. 
 
 Plan Formed. 
 
 The reason why tlie Lake of Geneva is of a 
 crescent form is, that that is the shape of the 
 Bpace 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 tjiem, for a certain dis- 
 tance, is filled with water, owing to the spreading 
 out of the waters of the Rhone in flowinor 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 moun- 
 tain ranges continuing to border it all that dis- 
 tance, 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 
 Cicneva ; while in the other direction, the same 
 valley — though now the floor of it is a greeo 
 
172 RoLLo IN Geneva. 
 
 Curious features of the valKy. Why the land is level. 
 
 and fertile plain — continues, with the same stu- 
 pendous 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 hind, is 
 so perfectly level, is becau^e ilic 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 higiicst inun- 
 dations. 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 abo\e the 
 head of the lake is flat and level, that it is on 
 that account monotonous and uninteresting. In- 
 di'od, it is quite the reverse. It forms one of the 
 Highest and most enchanting landscapes that can 
 be conceived, U is abundantly shaded with trees, 
 
P L A N F R M E D . 178 
 
 Pleasant walks. Swiss peasants. 
 
 Bome planted in avenues along the roadside, some 
 bearing fruit in orchards and gardens, and some 
 Btaiiding in picturesque groups about the houses, 
 or in pretty groves by the margin of the fields. 
 'J"!ie 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, 
 trie pleasure of walking through it is greatly in- 
 ci'eased by the number and variety of groups and 
 figures of peasant girls and boys, and women and 
 nion, tliat you meet coming along the road, or see 
 working in the fields, all dressed in the pretty 
 Swiss costume, and each performing some curious 
 opera ♦ioii. which is eitlier in itself, or in the man- 
 ner ol performing it, entirely different from what 
 Is seen in any other land. 
 
 Rollo followed the main road leading up the 
 valley a little wa}' one evening, while his father 
 and motlier were at Yillencuve, in order, aa he 
 said, to see where the diligences went to. He 
 was so much pleased with wliat 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 
 
1T4 R o [. L o Tx Geneva. 
 
 n'>]!>. )ir<j»..-^t-s a Jm-J .■it! iaii exriiisii>n tpMii Villf^itenve to.Aiiil«>. 
 
 next town, jnid wluu oUject? of interest tlie?-G 
 wore to lie seen on the way. lie was so well siit- 
 istit'tl with ilic resnlt of liis investi.uations that he 
 '"'-)lvcd to propose to his father and niotlier to 
 iLike a pedestrian e.xeursion u]) the valley. 
 
 *' Now. mother/' said he, " I have a jilan to 
 propose, and that is, that we all set out to-mor- 
 row morning, and make a ])edestiian exeursion 
 up tlie valley, to the next town, or the next town 
 but one." 
 
 " How far is it?" osked Mrs. Holiday. 
 
 " AVhy, the best place to ^o to," said Rollo, " is 
 Aigle, whi» h is the second town, and that is only 
 six miles from here." 
 
 "O Rollo!'' said Mr-. Holiday ; "I could not 
 possibly walk six miles." 
 
 *' (), yes, mother," said Rollo. " The road is as 
 pmooth. and level, and hard as a floor. Resides, 
 you said that you meant to make a ped .-trian 
 exruision somewhere while you were in hwit/.er- 
 h\u\. wvA there eouUl not be a betlei- j)lace thai 
 this.' 
 
 •• 1 ktinw 1 said so." n^plied Mrs. Huli<lay, " but 
 ] was ni»t really in earnest. Resides, 1 don't 
 t'link I C(Mdd ])<>ssibly walk six miles. Rut wq 
 will take a carriage and ride there, if your fatlu-f 
 is willing.'' 
 
 *' liuU umlher, it is not so pKasant to ride 
 
Plan Formed. 175 
 
 rhe comjiarative advantages ol rliug and walking, in viewing the country. 
 
 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, 
 naif 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 landscape? 
 much more thoroughly by walking through it, or 
 riding on iiorscback, than by going in a carriage. 
 I do not think, however, that, after all, this advan- 
 tage constituted the real inducement in Rollo's 
 mind whicli 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 pedes- 
 trian boys had quite filled his imagination with 
 the pleasures and the independent dignity of this 
 mode of travelling, and he was very amb'tioua 
 of making an experiment of it hiniBclf. 
 
 "And, mother," continued Rollo, " aftci all, it 
 is only about two houi-s and a half or three hours, 
 at two or three miles an hour. Now, you are 
 often gone as nmch as that, making calls ; and 
 wnen you are makii g calls you generally gn^ 
 
176 Ro L LO IX Genet a 
 
 Hollo's :u;:;iiiiiciit in fwvor of ilie pedestrian trip. 
 
 I am fiii'O. as imich as two or three miles aa 
 hour." 
 
 '' But I generally ride, making calls," said Mri. 
 Holiday. 
 
 " Yes, mother, but sometimes you walk ; and I 
 think when you walk you are often gone moro 
 than three hours." 
 
 "Tliat is true," said Mrs. Holiday, "I admit ; 
 but then, you know, when I am making calls 1 
 am resting a great deal of the time at the houses 
 where 1 cull." 
 
 "I know tiiat," said Ixollo ; "and so we will 
 rest, sitting down by the road side." 
 
 Mrs. Holiday admitted that Kollo Imd rather 
 the best of the argument ; but she was still quite 
 unwilling to believe that she could really walk 
 Bix miles. 
 
 "And back again, too," she added. "You 
 must consider th.at we shall have to come bacK 
 again." 
 
 "Ah, but I don't wish to riave you walk back 
 again," said Rollo. " We will come back by the 
 diligence. There are several diligences and (om- 
 nibuses that come by Aigle, on the way here, iu 
 the course of the day." 
 
 Mrs. Holiday was still undecided. She waa 
 Tcry desirous of gratifying Rollo, but yet she 
 had not courage to undertake (juitc so gn'at a 
 
Plan Formed. 177 
 
 The experttnent. Rni!o> luivtr-mlv. Its contents. 
 
 feat ns to walk six mile?. At Icngtli Mr. Holiday 
 pjoposed t' at 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 tui-n back, just as we feel incli*ned. 
 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 imme- 
 diately afterwards. 
 
 Rollo had a sort of haversack which he used 
 to carr}* 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 foi- the excur- 
 sion. He put in it h.is drinking cup, — the 
 one which he had bought in Scotland, — a little 
 spy glass, which he used for viewing the sce- 
 nery, a book that his mother was reading, a 
 little portfolio containing some di-awing paper 
 and a pencil, a guide book and map. and, lastly, 
 a paper of small cakes and sugar plums, to give 
 12 
 
178 
 
 Rot. LO IN Geneva 
 
 RoUo's preparations for the pedestriau trip. 
 
 to any cliildrcn tlmt lie might cliance to meei 
 on llio way. 
 
 Rullo made all thc5C ])reparations the evening 
 before, so that every thing might be ready in thfl 
 morning, when the hour for setting out should 
 arrive. 
 
 'h - - r^..- ■- yC. 
 
W A r. K TO A I <; L E. \l\f 
 
 'ITio responsibility of the Hxcuioioii put upon l{ollo. 
 
 Chapter XIV. 
 Walk to a i g l e . 
 
 *'^ow, Rollo," said Mr. Holiday, as the party 
 sallied forth from the inu to commence their walk 
 up the valley, " we depend entirely on you. Tliia 
 is your excursion, and we expect you will take 
 cai«> and see that every thing goes right.'' 
 
 " Well, sir," said Hollo. '• 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 ton-cut 
 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 iti? 
 bed, that pond lilies grew and bloomed in ita 
 waters. 
 
 Just above the bridge there was a square en* 
 closure in the margin of the water, with a solid 
 stone wall all around it. A man st(jod on the 
 
180 RoLLO IN Geneva. 
 
 The man fishing with the net. 
 
 Wall with a net in his hand. The net was at- 
 laclied to a pole. The man was just dipping the 
 net into the water when Rollo, witli his father 
 and mother, came upon the bridge. 
 
 " Let us stop a minute, and see wliat that man 
 is going to do," said Rollo. " 1 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 bot- 
 tom, he took it out again. There was nothing in 
 it. He then repealed the operation, and thig 
 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 satis- 
 faction, 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 bas- 
 ket with one hand, and the net on his shoulder 
 with the other. 
 
 " That's a very curious plan," said Rollo. *' 1 
 puppose 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 lilieg 
 growing in the stream, the course of which wai» 
 bore, for a short distance, near the road. 
 
Walk TO AiGi.E. 181 
 
 tlul]o fishitig for pond lilies. Sights and 8(»fit«. 
 
 " I wish very nuicli, mother/' said he, " that 1 
 could get one of those pond lilies for you, but I 
 cannot. I tried yesterday, but they are too far 
 f)0]u 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, Hollo 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 
 ill 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 atten- 
 tion 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 
 eheaves of grain. Next an old and decrepit- 
 looking woman, with a great bundle of sticks on 
 her head. It seemed impossible that she could 
 QMTj so great a load in such a manner. As our 
 
182 R L L IX Geneva. 
 
 la SwIrzprl.Hnti flm idrls w..ik in the fit-! Is. 
 
 party went by. she turned lier liead slowly round 
 a little way, to look at tiiem ; and it was cuiioua 
 to see the great bundle of sticks — whii'li was 
 two lect iu diameter, and four or live feet long — 
 blowly 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 snnlingly upon the strangers, and 
 bade them good morning. 
 
 "Ask tiiem/' said Mrs. Holiday to Kollo, " if 
 their woik is not very hard." 
 
 So Rollo asked them the question. Mrs. Holi- 
 day 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 tlie work was not hmd at 
 all. They laughed, and weut on working faster 
 than ever. 
 
 Next they came to a poor wayfariiig woman, 
 who was sitting by the roadside w iti: an infant in 
 her arms. Rollo immcdiaiely took out one of the 
 little cakes fiom liie parcel in his knapsack, and 
 handed it to the child. Tlie motlu r seemed very 
 much pleased. She bowed to kollo, and said, — 
 
 "She thanks you infinitely, sir." 
 
 Thus they went on for about three (piartc/'s of 
 an hour. During all this lime Mrs. iloliday'l 
 
W A L K TO A I G L IC . 183 
 
 OraUl scenery. Lookii.g for a l"psting-placo. 
 
 attention was so much taken up with wliat she 
 paw,— somctiiiics with the gi'oups of peasants 
 and the pretty little views of gardens, cottages, 
 and liekls which attracted her notice by the road 
 yide, ever and anon by the glimpses which she 
 obtained of the stupendous mountain ranges that 
 bordered the valley on either hand, and that were 
 rontinually presenting their towering crags and 
 dizzy precipices to view through the opening of 
 I lie trees on the plain, — that she had not time to 
 think of beiiig fatigued. At length Rollo asked 
 her how she liked the walk. 
 
 " V^eiT 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, " 1 see a grove of trees by 
 the roadside, on ahead a little way. When we 
 get thei 3 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 unfor- 
 tunately there was no place to sit down in it. 
 Rollo looked about for some time in vain, and 
 Beemed quite disappointed. 
 
 "Never mind," said his mother; "sometimes, 
 when 1 make a call, I find that the lady 1 hav^ 
 
184 ROLLO IN Gexeta. 
 
 ~ . '^ 
 
 Rflllo and his parents, sitting by tlie rcadsidn, watch the pacsers ty. 
 
 Called to see is not at lionic ; and then, even if 1 
 am tired and want to rest, I have to go on to the 
 text house. We will siippoee tliat at this placQ 
 the lady is not at home." 
 
 llollo laughed and walked on. It was not 
 long befoi-e they reached a place where there waa 
 a kind of granary, or some other farm building 
 of that sort, near the road, with a little yard 
 where sonic logs were lying. Rollo foimd excel- 
 lent 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 ])lace was very cool. 
 
 "This is a very nice pincc to rest," said Mrs. 
 Uoliday ; "and while we are sitting, we can 
 amuse ourselves in looking at the people that 
 go by."' 
 
 The first pei-son that came was a pretty-look- 
 ing peasant girl of about seventeen, who had a 
 tul) upon her head. What was in the tu Rollo 
 could not see. With such a burden on her head, 
 however, it is plain that the giil could not wear 
 her hat in the ordinary manner. n?id so she car- 
 ric] it tied to the back of her \n\k, with its broad 
 brim covering her shoulders. This, Mr. Holiday 
 said, secuicd to him to be carrying t!ic motleru 
 fashion of wearing the bonnet quite to an extreme 
 
Walk to Aigle 
 
 185 
 
 Tlie way in wliicli tlu' SmIss women carry burdens. 
 
 The Swiss women have other \\ays of bearing 
 burdens, besides loading them upon their heads. 
 They carry tliem upon their backs, sometimes, in 
 baskets fitted to their shoulders. A woman canso 
 
 ^i.-<^j 
 
 THE BASKET RIDE. 
 
 by, while Rollo and his father and motlicr were 
 Bitting upon tlie logs, with her child taking a ride 
 in such a basket on her back. As soon as thid 
 
180 RoLLo IN Geneva. 
 
 Mrs. H>Iiday*s i.ioture. The village. A cretin. 
 
 ^oman was past, Rollo was so much struck with 
 the comical appearance that the cliild made, sit- 
 ting upright in tlie basket, and looking ai'ound, 
 that he took out some paper and a pencil inimo- 
 diatcly from his portfolio, and asked his mother 
 to make a drawing of the woman, with the child 
 in the basket on her back. Tliis Mrs. Holiday 
 could easily do, even from the brief glimpse which 
 she had of tlie woman as she went by ; for the 
 outlines of the figure and dress of the woman 
 and f>f the basket and chiUl were very simple. 
 ^Irs. Holiday afterwards ])ut in some of the sce- 
 nery for a background. 
 
 When the drawing was finished, Rollo told his 
 mother tliat he calculated that they had come one 
 third of the way, and asked her if she felt tired : 
 and she saiil she did not feel tired at all, and so 
 they rose and went on. 
 
 In a short time they came to a vilhige. It 
 consisted of a narrow street, witii stone houses 
 on each side of it. The houses were close to- 
 gether and close to the street. In one place sev- 
 eral people were sitting out before the door, and 
 among them was a poor, sickly child, such as arc 
 found very often in the low valleys of Switzei*- 
 Innd, of the kind called cretins. These children 
 uro entijely helpless, and they have no reason, or 
 at least verv iiiiie. The oiic wiiii li I^)ll() saw 
 
WalktoAigle. 18' 
 
 lldllo giving a cake to tlie cretin. 
 
 was a girl, and appeared to be about ten years 
 old ; but it did not seem to have t>trcngtli enough 
 to .^it up in its chair. It was continually lolling 
 and falling about on this side and that, and try- 
 ing to look up. The mother of the child eat by 
 her, and kept her from falling out of the chair. 
 She was talking, the mean while, with the neigh- 
 bors, who were sitting there on a l;f?iich, knitting 
 or sewing. 
 
 The face of the child was deformed, and had 
 scarcely a human expression. Both itollo and 
 his mother were much shocked at the spectucle. 
 
 " 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. Ho 
 went back with it to the place whci-e 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, 
 tu ihe mother, in French, — 
 
188 RoLLO IN Geneva. 
 
 conversation with the Swis3 mother 
 
 "" For this poor little child." 
 
 The mother smiled, and looked very mucb 
 pleased. The cretin, whose eyes caught a glimpse 
 cf the cake, laughed, and lx?gan to try to reach 
 out her hand to take it. It seemed hard Ibr licr 
 to guide her hand to the place, and she fell over 
 from side to side all the time while (Attempting lo 
 do so. Slic^w^ould have fallen entirely if her 
 mother had not held her up. At length she suc- 
 ceeded 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 sch3. 
 
 " Does she understand ? " asked Rollo. 
 
 " Yes," said the mother ; " she understands, but 
 she can't si)eak, ixx)r thing. But she is very 
 much obliged to you indeed." 
 
 So Rollo bowed to the mother of the child, and 
 to tlie otlicr women, and then went on and re- 
 joined his father and mother. 
 
 They passed through the village, and iiicn 
 came into the open country again. Sometimes 
 the mountains that bordered tJie valley receded 
 to some distance ; at other times they came very 
 near ; and theix3 was ore place where they formed 
 a range of lofty precipices a thousand feet higli, 
 that seemed almost to overhang the road. Here 
 liollo stoppeJ to look uj). He saw, near a round 
 
Walk TO AiGLE. 189 
 
 Eagles leaning to 6y. Vineyard tena :cs. 
 
 ed mass of rock, half way up the mountain, two 
 youn^eagl^is that had apparently just left theii* 
 nest, and were trying to learn to fly. The f)ld 
 eaglt3S were soaring around them, screaming, 
 Timy seemed to be afraid that their young ones 
 would fall down the recks and get kiliod. Rollo 
 vrishod that they would fall down, or at least fly 
 down, to where he was, in order that ho might 
 eatch one of them. But they did not. They 
 took only short flights from reck to rock and 
 from thicket to thicket, but they did not come 
 down. So, aftor 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 
 iiand. He seemed suspended in mid air, and 
 looked down on the road and on the people walk- 
 ing along it as a man would look down upon a 
 street in London from the gallery under the 
 dome of St. Paul's. 
 
190 R L L n I x Ci K X e v a . 
 
 The watch tower iu the vineyard. Anival ?.t Aigle. 
 
 "Tliat's a pleasant place to work," ?aid Rollo, 
 " away up there, betweoQ tlie lieavcns and the 
 earth." 
 
 "Yes/' said his mother; "and I should tliiui 
 that taking care of vines and gatliering Iho 
 grapes would be very pretty work to do." 
 
 There was a little building on the cornrr 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 
 vinoynrds around, in oider to prevent people 
 from stealing the grai)es." 
 
 '• I should thiidv 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. y\\-:i. Hol- 
 iday was surprised that she could have couic so 
 far with so little fatigue. Rollo told her that it 
 was because she had walked along so slowly. 
 
 " Ves," said Mr. Holiday; "and Uvanse there 
 have been so many things to take up our atlcn- 
 lion by the way." 
 
 When they arrived at the village they wcni 
 directly to the inn. The inns in these country 
 towns in Swit/erland are the largest and most 
 c<»nspieu(ni- looking luiilding- to be <vrii. Hollo 
 
Walk TO Air. Lt:. 191 
 
 1;Ije dirtihg room in tlip Swiss luua. DimuT rhli'red. 
 
 ^•ent first, and led the ^vay. He went directly 
 to tlie dining room. 
 
 Tlie dining rooms in these inn??, as 1 hnvo 
 already said, are the public rooms, where tho 
 coni))any always go, whether they wish for any 
 thing to eat or not. There is usually one large 
 table, for dinner, in the centre of tlie room, and 
 several smaller tables at the sides or at the win- 
 dows, for breakfasts and luncheons^ and also for 
 small dinner pai'tics 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 
 com])any to repose upoii while the waiter is set- 
 ting the table for them. 
 
 Rollo accordingly led llie way at once to the 
 dining room of the inuj und conducted his mother 
 to a sofa. 
 
 " Now, Rollo/' said Mr. Holiday, " order us a 
 dinner." 
 
 So Hollo went to tlie waiter, and after talking 
 Mith liim a little while, came back and said that 
 he had ordcied some fried trout, some veal cut- 
 lets, fried potatoes, an omelet, and some coffee. 
 
 '• Au.d besides that," said Rollo, " he is going to 
 give us some plums and some pears. This is a 
 I'amous phice for plums and pears." 
 
 '•And for grapes, too in the season of iluMn/' 
 r-M Mr. TfobM-^v. 
 
192 RoLLO t J? Gfi.sfet A, 
 
 Rcllo reads the advrjrtisement of the grrape cine. 
 
 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^ 
 Kollo found among tlie otlier things an advertigc- 
 meni of what was called tlie grape cure* It seems 
 that eating ripe grapes was considered a cure for 
 sickness in that country, and that ]icople were 
 accustomed to come to that very town of Aigle 
 to procure them. There was no place in Switzer- 
 land, the advertisement said, where the grapes 
 weic richer and sweeter than there. 
 
 The advertisement went on to say tliat the sea- 
 son i\)v tlie gia{)e cure was in September, Octo 
 ber, and November ; that tlierc were a number 
 of fine vineyards in the vicinity of the town 
 which produced the most delicious grapes ; and 
 tliat 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 tliat for tliat sum they 
 could have every day as many as tiiey could eat , 
 mid this was to Ije their medicine, to make thero 
 ivcll. 
 
 Itollo road this advertisement aloud to his 
 falher and mother, with a tone of voice which 
 indicated a very eager interest in it. 
 
 "Father." said he, " 1 wish you would como 
 iiere an 1 try it. Terhaps il would make yo'J 
 well." 
 
WalktoAigle. 193 
 
 Rollo's plan for hi.« faflur. A new arrival. 
 
 The advertisement was in Frencli, and Rollo 
 
 translated it as be read it. He succeeded very 
 
 well in rendering into English all that was said 
 
 about the grapes, and the manner of taking them, 
 
 ttud the terms for boarders at the hotel ; but 
 
 when he came to the names of the diseases that 
 
 the grapes would cure, ho 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 con- 
 clude 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. Hollo 
 looked out the window, and saw the carriao-e 
 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 
 13 
 
194 R L L IN Geneva. 
 
 After dinner the party go out to walk. The castle jail. 
 
 took a scat with licr upon another eofa which was 
 in tlic 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 omnil)ua 
 went to Yillencnve, and he learned that it did 
 not go for some hours. So Mr. Holiday told hia 
 wife tliat she might either have a chamber, and 
 lie down and rest herself during that time, or 
 they miglit go out and take a walk. 
 
 Mrs. Holiday said that i^he 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 wa«^ 
 desirous of going to see it. 
 
 So Lliey 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 Julu ! 
 Presently a young girl answered to the call, and 
 tlie woman told her that here were some people 
 
W A L K TO A k; L E. 195 
 
 WliKt Kollo and his parents saw at tlic jail. 
 
 come to see the castle. So Julie came do\v!i anJ 
 took them under her charge. 
 
 The party s])eiit half an hour in rambling over 
 tlic castle. They went through all sorts of intri- 
 cate passages, and up and down fliglits of stoao 
 Btairs, steep, and narrow, and winding. They 
 Haw a num])<3r of dismal dungeons. Some were 
 dai-k, so that the girl had to take a candle to 
 light tiie way. The doors were old, and black- 
 ened 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 dnngcons and 
 cells, for some of them had prisoners in them 
 then, and those doors Jniie 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. 
 'J'hese boys were sitting at a long ta])le, eating a 
 luncheon. They were the boys of a school. The 
 teacher was at the head of the (able. Rollo 
 talked with some of the boys, for he Ibund two 
 or three that could talk French and Knglislt, 
 though their English was not very good. 
 
196 
 
 Roi. Lo IN Geneva 
 
 The return to Yilleneuve, and thence to Geneva. 
 
 In due time the omnibus came to tlie door, an<J 
 then Rollo conducted his father and motlier to it, 
 and assisted tliem to get in. The sun was now 
 rcarly down, and the party had a delightful ride, 
 in the cool air of the evening, back to Villeucuve. 
 
 The next day they embarked on board tho 
 oteumer, and returned to Geneva. 
 
 *^^ 
 
The Jewelry. W^ 
 
 The manufactures of Geneva. Is it right to wear ornamente? 
 
 Chapter XV. 
 The Jewelry, 
 
 1 HATE already said that GeQC-va is a very 
 famous place for the maiiufacture of watches and 
 jewelry, and that almost every person who goes 
 there likes to buy some specimen of these manu- 
 factures as a souvenir of their visit. 
 
 There is a great difference in ladies, in respec) 
 to the interest which they take in dress and orna- 
 ments. Some greatly midervalue them, some 
 greatly overvalue tliem. 
 
 Some ladies, especially such as are of a very 
 conscientious and religious turn of mind, are apt 
 to imagine that tlicre is somethmg 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 thej 
 all are made by ornawents with which God has 
 embellished them. 
 
198 R L L IX G K \ E V A . 
 
 Yes: liut nioet peixnis err u[)oii ihf otlier extreme 
 
 God has uot ornamented man, nor has he 
 clotlied him ; but he has given him tlic powers 
 and faeultics neccssarv to clothe and ornament 
 himself. He has pi-ovided him with the means, 
 too, and with the means as much for the one aa 
 for the other. There arc cotton and flax whicb 
 he can procure from plants, ar.d wool and fur from 
 •animals, for his clothinu ; mid then there are gold 
 and silver in the earth, and rnhies. emeralds, and 
 diamonds, for his ornaments ; and ii' we aie not 
 to use them, what were they made for? 
 
 'rin\v, therefore, seem to be in error who dis- 
 card all ornaments, and think that to wc-av them 
 oi- to take i)leasurc in them is wronjr. 
 
 Ihit this, after alL is not the common failing. 
 The dniiLicr is usually altogether the other way. 
 A gicat many ladies overvalue ornaments. They 
 seem to think of scarcely any thing else. They 
 canni)t have too many rings, pins, bracelets, and 
 jewels. 'J'hey spend all their surjilus money for 
 these things, and even sometimes pinch themselves 
 in comforts and Uiccssaries, to add to their 
 already aliundant supplio. This excessive fond- 
 ness for dress and articles for personal adorn- 
 ment is a mark of a weak mind. It is seen most 
 strongly in savages, and in people of the lowest 
 ftages of refinement and cultivation. The 0})po- 
 bite erior, though far less common, is equally ac 
 
T \] K J E W E L 11 Y . K'? 
 
 A <juc>ei' i>eaS(iii fur buyiiij; jcwcii y. 
 
 error ; and though it is not the mark of any 
 weakness of the mind, it certainly denote? a 
 degree of pei- version in some of the woi-ki ugs 
 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. 
 
 '* \ud nott-," said Mr. Holiday to his wif;?, 
 '* Geneva is a famous place for ornaments and 
 jewelry : and before we go, I think you had bet- 
 ter go with me to some of the shops, and buy 
 FOHjetliing of (hat kind, as a souvenir of your 
 visit." 
 
 " Well," said ^frs. Holiday, " if you think it is 
 best, we will. Only I don't think much of orna- 
 ments 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 
 -athcr a queer reason for wishing her to buy a 
 ":hing — that she did not care much about it. 
 
 Rollo was present during this conversation 
 oetwetn his father and mother, and listened to 
 it ; and when, finally, it was decided that his 
 nioth.er should go to one or two of ';hc sho])f» 
 in Ueneva, to look at, and perhaps purchai-e. 
 
2(.)0 R L L IN Geneva. 
 
 Rollo's finances. Arrangement of tht- jewelry sbopa. 
 
 6ome of tlie ornaments and jewelry, lie wislied 
 to go too. 
 
 " Why ? " said liis motlier ; " do you wish to 
 buy any of those tilings ? ■' 
 
 Rollo said he did. He wished to buy some fur 
 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 fioni his allowance, so as 
 to be provided in case of any sudden emergency 
 like this. 
 
 So tlie party set out together, after l)reakfast, 
 to look at the shops. They knew the shops 
 where jewelry was ke]»t for sale by the display 
 of rings, ]iins, 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 ])ecu- 
 liar 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 liiled with little drawers, extending 
 from the floor to the ceiling. These drawi'i-s 
 were filled with jewelry of the richest and most 
 costly description ; and thus, though there was 
 aothing to be seen at lirst view, the value of the 
 
Tfit: Jewelry. 2i.i 
 
 Conver.ienres for the customers. A faslii.>!iiil»!c part> 
 
 merclinudisc ready to be displayed at a inomenc'a 
 110 1 ice was very great. 
 
 In the centre of tlie room, in front of tliQ 
 drawers, were counters — usually two, one od 
 each side ; and sometimes there was a tabic be 
 sides. The table and the counters were elegantly 
 made, of fine cabinetwork, and before them were 
 placed handsome chairs and sofas, nicely cush* 
 ioned, so that the customers might sit at their 
 case, and examine tlie ornaments whicli the shop- 
 keeper showed them. The counters were of the 
 same hciglit as tlie table, and there wevQ drawers 
 in them below, and also in the table, like those 
 along tlie pidcs 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 
 ])cfore tliem. The articles were contained in 
 little rosewood and mahogany tray?^. lined with 
 velvet ; and they looked very brilliant and beau- 
 tiful as they lay, each in its own little velvet nest.. 
 
 The ladies looked up from the table, ami ga/.cd 
 with a peculiar sort of stare, well known anionf^ 
 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 
 wore distinctly. Mr. and Mrs. Holiday, followed 
 
202 R L L I Jf G K 5r c r A . 
 
 Hie dialogue of the tw&ladh's nlmitt f>ii- I'fnceVft. 
 
 by Kollo, advanced and took flidi- place? on a 
 sofa before one of the coynter.-^. Tl.e ladies then 
 continued their conrcysation, apimicntly taking 
 no notice of the ncrv comers. 
 
 One of the ladics -J^-a? holding a bracelet in 
 her )>and. She bad already two bracelets on 
 each inist. and erer so ninny rin^;* on her lingers, 
 besides a large brooch in her i ollar. arrd a double 
 gold chain to her watch, nhh a ;:reat nnmber of 
 brelofjues and charms attached m ii. r^iiv seemed 
 to be considering whether j*he .^'loiild iiiy the 
 bracelet that she ira? holding in )icr hand fn not. 
 
 ''It certainly is a heanly/" s>»?d .<l:e. 
 
 "Yes/' said the other: "a«id \i ] i\vrr you, 
 Almira, I wo?ild take it witho«»i lic^itating a hh> 
 iiicnt. You can afford it jnst as well as nf>t." 
 
 *' It is so high!" ?aid .Almirft. d'MiltfiH^vly, anrJ 
 holding np the bracelet, so a» to .-ce the iiglil 
 reflccled tVom the surfaces of tlie ))rcrinMs ?tnnc.-^ 
 
 " i don^t think it is high at all/' said hvr IVitiid } 
 "that is, for such stone? and s?k1i setting. A 
 Ihonsand franc.'', he says, and that is rnly two 
 hundred dollars. That is nothing at all lor .sa 
 rich a husband as yours." 
 
 " 1 know,' said Ahnira ; "but then he always* 
 makes such wry faces if 1 buy any thing that 
 costs more than lifty or seventy-live dollars." 
 
 *' 1 would not mind his wrv faces at all.' said 
 
The Jewelry. 205 
 
 le 8)i()|>kfce]>er said in rejily to Ahnini. 
 
 ncr friend. "He docs not mean any lliing )jy 
 tlieni. Depend upon it, he is as proud to t^eoyou 
 wear liand^onie tilings as any man, after lie has 
 vince paid for them. Then, besides, perliajis 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 tnko eight 
 hundred francs for the bracelet. 
 
 She accosted him in French, for that is the lan- 
 guage of Geneva; and the two ladies had talked 
 very freely to each other in Englir^h, snp])0sijig 
 that neither the shopkeeper nor the new jiarty 
 of customers would undci-stand what they were 
 saying. But it happened that the sliopkee})cr 
 himself, as well as Mr. and Mrs. llolidr.y. under- 
 stood 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 dis- 
 posed to abate the jirice. 
 
 " No, madam,'' said he, sjieaking in French, and 
 in a very polite and obliging manner ; '' I cannot 
 vary from the price 1 named at all. We are 
 obliged to adopt the system of having only one 
 
106 ROLLO IN PrEXEVA. 
 
 Apparent generosity. The secret motive of Albiira's fritud. 
 
 price here. Besides, thai bracelet could not po^ 
 Bibly be afforded for less than a thousand francs. 
 Earlier in the season we asked twelve hundred 
 francs for it ; and I assure you, madanij that it ia 
 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 
 f nally concluded to take it. 
 
 It may seem, at first view, that Almira's fliend 
 evinced a great deal of generosity in urging her 
 thus to buy an ornament more rich and costly 
 tlian 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 
 II 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 
 tliat cost a tliousand." 
 
 In this way she hoped to exhiliit to her husband 
 that which he might otherwise have regarded ili 
 foolish extravagance in the light of self-denial 
 and prudent ecunomy. 
 
 In the mean time, while Almira and hor friend 
 bad heen making their jmrchases at the table, 
 
The Jewelry. 207 
 
 What sort of ornaments Mrs. Holiday asked for. 
 
 another shopman had been displaying a great 
 many trays to Mrs. Holiday on one of the coun- 
 ters. 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 tlieir 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 
 t'orm of the comparative value of the different 
 
208 R o L L IN Geneva. 
 
 Mrs. Holiilay*8 p»irch,ise8. Hullu's. Con.^in Lucy. 
 
 sources of happiness witliin the reach of women 
 who sacrifice the confidence and lore of tbcir 
 husbands to tlie possession of a pearl neckloci; or 
 a diamond pin. 
 
 Mrs. Holiday finally bought two ornaments, 
 and RoUo bought two also. RoUo's were small 
 pins. They were very pretty indeed. One of 
 them cost twelve francs, and the other fifteen. 
 His mother asked liim whether he was going to 
 wear thorn himself. 
 
 " O, no, mother," said he ; " I have bought 
 them to give away." 
 
 His mother then asked liim whom he was going 
 to give them to. He lauirhed, and said that that 
 was a secret. He would tell her, however, he 
 said, whom one of them was for. It was for hi? 
 cousin Lucy. 
 
 "And which of them is for her?" asked his 
 mother. 
 
 "This one," said Rollo. So saying he sliowed 
 hia mother the one that coet twelve francs. 
 
A Fortunate Accident. 209 
 
 Mj' Holiday's idea of a fc.rtuiiHte riccidcnt. UerV'ii- 
 
 Chapter X Y I. 
 A Fortunate Accident, 
 
 TiiE 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, pro- 
 vided it does not hurt him much." 
 
 The accident that happened to Rollo was this : 
 Tliere was a boy at the hotel, who had recently 
 come with his father and mother from India. Ho 
 was the son of an English army officer. Hig 
 aaine was Gerald. He was a tall and handsome 
 Doy, 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, aad 
 14 
 
210 RoLLO IX Gexeya. 
 
 RoUo forms a plan of going out in a boat. 
 
 asked permission to go out on the lake, a littlo 
 way, in a boat, with Gerald. 
 
 " Does Gerald understand how to manage a 
 boat ? '^ asked Mr. Holiday. 
 
 *' 0, 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 my- 
 self well enough to go out on this lake. It is as 
 emooth 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 docs 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 tiie time drawing the 
 water of the lake off under the bridge, and thuj< 
 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 tlie boat. He had with 
 him, also, a Swiss boy, whom he had engaged to 
 go too, ai'- a sort of attendant, and to help row, 
 if necessary. An English boy, in such caf.es, 
 never considers the party complete unless he has 
 some one to occupy the place of a servant, aud 
 to be under his command. 
 
 So the three boys got into the boat, and pushed 
 
A Fortunate Accident. 211 
 
 They have a jrood time on tlic wator. The current. 
 
 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 laud 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 manosu- 
 vrings, they happened to take the boat rather toe 
 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 pcrceiv-e how near 
 the bridge they were until Rollo happened to ob- 
 serve 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 stonea 
 are going I '^ 
 
 " The stones I " 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! " 
 
 r>olh Rollo and the Swfes 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 
 piowiv drifting:: towards the bri(i":e. 
 
t. L n t s^ Ci fi stVk 
 
 The boat g«ts cariieJ uuiJer th« liri«l}f«. She? strikes. 
 
 "It is of no uf?c," said Gerald, at last. " We 
 shall have to go through : hut that will do no 
 harm if we can only manage to keep her from 
 striking the piers. Take in your oars, boys, and 
 let rae pull her round so as to head down stream, 
 and you stand ready to fend off when we are 
 eoing 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 ap- 
 peared, he felt somewhat reassured, and at onco 
 obeyed Gerald's orders, lie took in his oar, and 
 •lolding it in his hands, as if it liad 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 jmiut the bows down 
 stream, just as she reached the bridge ; and in 
 this position she shot under it like an arrow 
 Seveial boys who were standing on the bridge aV 
 this time, after watching at the upper side till the 
 boat went under, ran across to the lower side, to 
 SCO her come out. 
 
 Thfe boat passed through the bridge safely, 
 though the stern struck* against the pier on one 
 «^ide, just as it was emerging. The reason of this 
 was, that Gerald, in bringing it round so as to 
 \ica(l down the slieam, had given il a rotatinjr 
 
A FoiiTCJNATE Accident. 21^ 
 
 Rollo afraid of snags. Exertions mad^ by tho boya. 
 
 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 bj 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 float- 
 ing 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 reso- 
 lutely 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 
 
214 RoLLO IN Geneva, 
 
 Appearance of the shores. RoUo loses an oar. 
 
 rippling foam, that were quite frightful to see. 
 Tlie buildings of the town here bordered the 
 banks of the river on each side, and there were 
 little jutting piers and platforms here and thcr(% 
 with boys upon them in some places, fishing, and 
 women washing clothes in others. The boys in 
 the boat did not call for help, a?jd 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 liopcs 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 phice where 
 Gerald thought it would be dangcious to attempt 
 to hind, and lie called out aloud to RoUo to "fend 
 otf." Kollo 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 tlie boat on with such 
 irresistible impetuosity that the oar was wrested 
 from his hand in an instant. 11" he had not let 
 go of it he would have been puUetl over himself. 
 Gerald, however, had the presence of mind to 
 reach out his own oar at once, and di-aw the lost 
 one back towards the boat, so that the Swiss boy 
 seized it, and, to Uollo's great joy. took it io 
 again. 
 
A Fortunate Accident. 215 
 
 Narrow escapia. The l^rat at leiigtli fraina the shore. 
 
 The boat at ono time came very near drifting 
 agalDst on' of the great water wheels which were 
 revolving in the stream. Gerald perceived the 
 danger just in time, and he contrived to tnrn 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 ^hich 
 was bordered by smooth, grassy banks on each 
 side, and with a row of willows growing near 
 the margin of tl e water. This was the place, in 
 fact, where Rolio had walked along the shore 
 with his motlier, in going down to visit the junc- 
 tion of t-he Rhone and the Arve. 
 
 " Now," said Gerald, " here is a chance for ua 
 to make a landing. Ill 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 paiut- 
 cr. and, watching his opportunity, leaped ashore, 
 and, running to the nearest willow, wound the 
 
216 R L L IN Geneva. 
 
 Gerald succeeds in mtiking fast. The boys go hom*?. 
 
 painter round it. This at once checked the mo 
 tion 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 mak- 
 inof it fast, and stopping the motion of the boat 
 al together. 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 lind 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 R<>llo 
 proceeded to the hotel, to report the affair to his 
 father and mother. Mrs. Holiday was very mmii 
 alarmed, but Mr. Holiday seemed to take the 
 matter (pjite coolly. He said he thought tlmi 
 Rollo was now, for all the rest of his life in 
 much less danger of being drowned by getting 
 carried down riipids in a river than he v-ns 
 before. 
 
 " He understands the subject now somewhiil 
 practically." said Mr. Holiday. 
 
A Fortunate Accident. 217 
 
 RolK) '.\ ishcs to visit the vailvy of Chaniomii. 
 
 The term of Mr. Holiday's visit liad now ex- 
 pired, and the arrangements were to be made for 
 liaving town, with a view of returning again to 
 Paris. Rollo, however, was very desirous that 
 1)8 fore going back to Paris they should make at 
 least a short excursion among the mountains. 
 
 " Wliere 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 
 j^et out. 
 
 " There is no wav to get out," said he, * except 
 
218 RoLLO IN Geneva. 
 
 Description of the vjilk-y of Chanioui:!. Up aud down. 
 
 to go over tlic 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 moun- 
 tain pass, and wc should have to ride over on 
 mules. But you could ride on a mule — could 
 not you, lather? " 
 
 "Why, yes" said Mr. Holiday, "perhaps 1 
 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 diflicult." 
 
 "Yes, sir," said Rollo ; "it is steep some part 
 of tlie way. You have to go up for half an hour 
 by zigzags — right up tlie side of the mountain. 
 I jead about it in the guide book. Then, after 
 we get up to the top of tlie pass, we have a mon- 
 strous long way to go down. We have to go 
 down for two hours, as steep as we can go." 
 
 " 1 should think we should have to go up as 
 nmch as doum" said Mr. Holiday; "for it ia 
 
A Fortunate Accident. 219 
 
 Various ways of getting out of the Tallej'. 
 
 necessary to ascend as much to get to tUe 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 
 Tcry near the top already. It is a valley, it ia 
 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. Be- 
 sides, 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 
 enow." 
 
 " 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 sti'ong. 
 The lady sits in the chair, and then two men take 
 hold of the poles, one before and the other beliiud, 
 and so they carry her over the mountains." 
 
 '' I should think that would be very easy and 
 
220 "RoLLO IN Geneva. 
 
 Mrs. Holiday's conclusion. \Miat RoUo did wixh the pin. 
 
 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 3ecn 
 there, and then tell her of the diflcrent 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 i)lan of going to 
 Chamouni very niiicli. She .^^aid she thought that 
 she could go over the mouutuin })ass on a mule ; 
 and that at any rate >\\c could go on the carrying 
 chair. So the excuision was decided upon, and 
 the party set otV the next day. 
 
 And here I must end the story of Rollo at 
 Geneva, only adding that it proved in the end 
 that the lil'tccn franc pin which Rollo bought, 
 and the destination of wliich 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 \v;as there alone. Hia 
 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 lx)X 
 that had cost in money lilty times as much. 
 
University of 
 Connecticut 
 
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