A MISFORTUNE.
The queen's birthday proved to be an unfortunate day for Rollo, for he
met with quite a serious misfortune in the evening while he and Mr.
George were out looking at the illuminations. The case was this:--
Rollo had formed a plan for going with Mr. George in the evening to the
hotel where his father and mother were lodging, to get Jennie to go out
with them to see the illuminations. They had learned from their landlady
that the best place to see them was along a certain street called Pall
Mall, where there were a great many club houses and other public
buildings, which were usually illuminated in a very brilliant manner.[F]
[F] These club houses are very large and splendid mansions belonging to
associations of gentlemen called _clubs_. Some of the clubs contain more
than a thousand members. The houses are fitted up in the most luxurious
manner, with reading rooms, libraries, dining rooms, apartments for
conversation, and for all sorts of games, and every thing else requisite
to make them agreeable places of resort for the members. The annual
expenditure in many of them is from thirty to fifty thousand dollars.
It was after eight o'clock when Mr. George and Rollo went out; and as
soon as they came into the street at Trafalgar Square, they saw all
around them the indications of an extraordinary and general excitement.
The streets were full of people; and in every direction, and at
different distances from them, they could see lights gleaming in the
air, over the roofs of the houses, or shining brightly upon the heads of
the crowd in the street below, in some open space, or at some prominent
and conspicuous corner. The current seemed to be setting to the west,
towards the region of the club houses and palaces. The lights were more
brilliant, too, in that direction. So Rollo, taking hold of his uncle's
hand and hurrying him along, said,--
"Come, uncle George! This is the way! They are all lighted up! See!"
For a moment Rollo forgot his cousin Jennie; though the direction in
which he was going led, in fact, towards the hotel where she was.
The sidewalk soon became so full that it was impossible to go on any
faster than the crowd itself was advancing; and at length, when Mr.
George and Rollo got fairly into Pall Mall, and were in the midst of a
great blaze of illuminations, which were shining with intense splendor
all around them, they were for a moment, in passing round a corner,
completely wedged up by the crowd, so that they could scarcely move hand
or foot. In this jam Rollo felt a pressure upon his side near the region
of his pocket, which reminded him of his purse; and it immediately
occurred to him that it was not quite safe to have money about his
person in such a crowd, and that it would be better to give it to his
uncle George to keep for him until he should get home.
So he put his hand into his pantaloons pocket to take out his purse;
but, to his great dismay, he found that it was gone.
"Uncle George!" said he, in a tone of great consternation, "I have lost
my wallet!"
"Are you sure?" said Mr. George, quietly.
Mr. George knew very well that four times out of five, when people think
they have lost a purse, or a ring, or a pin, or any other valuable, it
proves to be a false alarm.
Rollo, without answering his uncle's question, immediately began to feel
in all his other pockets as well as he could in the crowd which
surrounded him and pressed upon him so closely. His wallet was nowhere
to be found.
"How much was there in it?" asked Mr. George.
"Two pounds and two pennies," said Rollo, "and your due bill for four
shillings."
"Are you sure you did not leave it at home?" asked Mr. George.
"Yes," said Rollo. "I have not taken it out since this morning. I looked
it over this morning and saw all the money, and I have not had it out
since."
"Some people think they are sure when they are not," said Mr. George. "I
think you will find it when you go home."
Rollo was then anxious to go home at once and ascertain if his purse was
there. All his interest in seeing the illumination was entirely gone.
Mr. George made no objection to this; and so, turning off into a side
street in order to escape from the crowd, they directed their steps,
somewhat hurriedly, towards their lodgings.
"I _know_ we shall not find it there," said Rollo, "for I am sure I had
it in my pocket."
"It is possible that we may find it," said Mr. George. "Boys deceive
themselves very often about being sure of things. It is one of the most
difficult things in the world to know when we are sure. You may have
left it in your other pocket, or put it in your trunk, or in some
drawer."
"No," said Rollo; "I am sure I put it in this pocket. Besides, I think I
felt the robber's hand when he took it. I felt something there, at any
rate; and that reminded me of my purse; and I thought it would be best
for me to give it to you. But when I went to feel for it, it was gone."
Mr. George had strong hopes, notwithstanding what Rollo said, that the
purse would be found at home; but these hopes were destined to be
disappointed. They searched every where when they got home; but the
purse was nowhere to be found. They looked in the drawers, in the
pockets of other clothes, in the trunk, and all about the rooms. Mr.
George was at length obliged to give it up, and to admit that the money
was really gone.