CROSSING THE CHANNEL.
Mr. Holiday had two reasons for making the arrangements described in the
last chapter, in respect to Rollo's expenses. In the first place, it
would gratify Rollo himself, who would feel more independent, and more
like a man, he thought, in being allowed thus, in some measure, to have
the charge and control of his own expenditures. But his second and
principal reason was, that he might accustom his son, in early life, to
bear pecuniary responsibilities, and to exercise judgment and discretion
in the use of money. Many young men never have any training of this sort
till they become of age. Before that time, whenever they wish for money,
they go to their father and ask for it. They take all they can get; and
when that is gone, they go and ask for more. They have no direct
personal motive for exercising prudence and economy, and they have no
experience of the evils that result from thriftlessness and
prodigality. It is much better for all children that they should have
pecuniary responsibilities, such as are suited to their years, thrown
upon them in their youth, when the mistakes they make in acquiring their
experience are of little moment. The same mistakes made after they
become of age might be their ruin.
In carrying the system into effect in Rollo's case, there seemed to be
something very abrupt, at least, if not positively harsh, in Mr.
George's mode of dealing with him. And yet Rollo did not dislike it. He
felt that his uncle was treating him more like a man, on this account,
or rather more like a large boy, and not like a child. In fact, a part
of the rough handling which Rollo got from his uncle was due to this
very circumstance--Mr. George having observed that he did not mind being
knocked about a little.
After dinner, Rollo proposed to his uncle that they should go out and
take a walk.
"I will go with you a few minutes," said Mr. George, "and then I must
return to my room, and write up my journal."
"Say half an hour," rejoined Rollo.
"Well," replied Mr. George, "we will say half an hour."
So they sallied forth upon the pier behind the hotel. Mr. George took a
general survey of the harbor, and of the vessels that were lying in it,
and also of the peaks and headlands which were seen at the mouth of it,
toward the sea.
"I should like to be on that hill," said Mr. George, "to look off over
the channel, and see if I could discern the coast of France from it."
"Let's go there," said Rollo.
"That would take more than half an hour," replied Mr. George.
"Well, at any rate, let's go on board the steamer," said Rollo.
So, taking Mr. George by the hand, he led him along to the brink of the
pier. Mr. George looked over, and saw the steamer lying at rest in its
muddy bed below.
"Is it possible?" said Mr. George, in a tone of great astonishment.
"Can it be possible?" repeated Mr. George.
"What?" inquired Rollo. "What is it that surprises you so much?"
"Why, to find such a steamer as this for the travel on one of the great
thoroughfares between England and France. Let's go down on board."
So Mr. George led the way, and Rollo followed down the plank. The plank
landed them on the top of the paddle box. From that place, a few steps
led to the deck. They walked along the deck a short distance toward the
stern, and there they found a door, and a small winding staircase
leading down into the cabin. They descended these stairs, one before the
other, for the space was not wide enough to allow of their going
together; and when they reached the foot of them they found themselves
in a small cabin, with one tier of berths around the sides. The cabin
was not high enough for two. There were berths for about twenty or
thirty passengers. The cabin was very neatly finished; and there was a
row of cushioned seats around it, in front of the berths. In one corner,
by the side of the door where Mr. George and Rollo had come in, was a
small desk, with writing materials upon it. This Rollo supposed must be
the "captain's office."
While Mr. George sat surveying the scene, and mentally comparing this
insignificant boat to the magnificent steamers on the Hudson River, in
America, with their splendid and capacious cabins on three different
decks, their promenade saloons, sometimes one hundred and fifty feet
long, with ranges of elegant state rooms on either hand, and sofas, and
couches, and _tete-a-tetes_ without number, in the middle, his
perplexity increased.
"I do not understand it at all," said he to Rollo. "I thought that there
would at least be as much travelling between London and Paris, the two
greatest cities in the world, as between New York and Albany. And yet
there are half a dozen steamers every day on the North River, carrying
from five hundred to one thousand passengers; while here, on the most
direct and cheapest route between London and Paris, is one single
steamer, that could not possibly carry one hundred passengers, and she
only goes once in two days."
Just then a young man, who seemed to be the clerk of the boat, came down
the cabin stairs, and, seeing Mr. George and Rollo there, he asked them
if they had taken their berths. They said that they had not; but they
immediately proceeded to choose their berths, or rather their _places_,
for there were no divisions separating the sleeping-places from each
other except what was formed by the cushions. There was a long cushion
for each sleeper, covered with crimson velvet or plush; and a round
cushion, shaped like a bolster, and covered in the same way, for his
head. On these cushions the passengers were expected to lie down without
undressing, placing themselves in a row, head to head, and feet to feet.
Mr. George chose two of these sleeping-places, one for himself, and the
other for Rollo, and the clerk marked them with a ticket.
Our two travellers then went up on deck again, and from the deck they
ascended the plank to the pier. It was now nearly sunset, and it was a
very pleasant evening. They sauntered slowly along the pier, until they
came to a place where some steps led down to the water. There were
several small boats at the foot of the steps, and in one of them was a
man doing something to the rudder. Rollo saw that on the other side of
the water was another long staircase leading down from the bank there,
so as to form a landing-place for small boats at all times of tide. He
also looked up and down the harbor, but he could see no bridge, and so
he supposed that this must be a sort of ferry for the people who wished
to cross from one side to the other.
As soon as the man who was in the boat saw Mr. George and Rollo standing
upon the pier, he rose up in his boat, and touching his hat at the same
time, or rather making a sort of jerk with his hand, which was meant to
represent a touch of the hat, he asked him if he would like to be rowed
across to the other side.
"Why, I don't know," said Mr. George. "What's the ferriage?"
"That's just as the gentleman pleases," said the man, with another jerk
at his hat.
"And how much do they generally please?" said Mr. George. "What's the
common custom?"
"O, gentlemen gives us what they likes," said the man. "We always leaves
it to them entirely."
Mr. George was silent. After a moment's pause, the boatman said again,--
"Would you like to go, sir? Very nice boat."
"Not on those terms," said Mr. George. "If you will tell me what the
usual ferriage is, I can then tell you whether we wish to go or not."
"Well, sir," replied the man, "gentlemen usually gives us about twopence
apiece."
"Twopence apiece. Very well, we will go."
Mr. George did not wait to ask Rollo whether he would like to go before
he decided the question. He would have considered this a mere waste of
time, for Rollo was always ready to go, no matter where.
So they got into the boat, and were rowed across the water. They
ascended the stairs on the other side, and walked a little way in a
smooth road which led along the bank. Rollo wished to go farther; but
Mr. George said that his time had expired, and that he must go back.
"But you may stay," said he to Rollo, "as long as you please, provided
that you come back before dark."
Rollo was much pleased with this permission, as he wished to go to the
top of the hill, at the outlet of the harbor, and look at the prospect.
He promised to return before dark.
"Have you any change," said Mr. George, "to pay your ferriage back?"
"No," said Rollo, "I have nothing but my five-franc pieces."
"Then I will lend you twopence," said Mr. George. "You can pay me the
first change you get in France."
"But I cannot get any pennies in France," said Rollo.
"True," said Mr. George; "you will get sous there. You must pay me four
sous. A penny is equal to two sous.
"I will pay your bill at the hotel, too," continued Mr. George, "as I
suppose they will make out yours and mine together, and you can pay me
your share to-morrow, when we land. Here is your ticket, however. You
must take charge of that."
"But suppose I lose it?" asked Rollo.
"Then you will have to pay over again," said Mr. George; "that is all.
You will lose about twenty francs; unless, indeed," he continued, "your
father should call it a casualty."
So Mr. George went back to the boat, and Rollo continued his walk,
thinking on the way of the question which his uncle had suggested,
whether his father would consider the loss of his ticket a casualty or
not. He determined, however, very resolutely, that he would not lose it;
and so he put it away safely in his wallet, and then went on. The road
was very smooth and pleasant to walk in, being bordered by green fields
on the one hand, and the water of the harbor on the other. Rollo came at
length to the hill. There were successive terraces, with houses built
upon them, on the sides of the hill, and paths leading to the summit.
Rollo had a fine view of the sea, and of the vessels and steamers which
were passing slowly in the offing, on their way up and down the channel;
but though he looked long and eagerly for the coast of France, it was
not to be seen.
Rollo rambled about the hill for a considerable time; for at that season
of the year the twilight continued very long, and it did not become dark
till quite late. When, at length, the shadows of the evening began to
shut in upon the landscape, he returned to the ferry, and the ferryman
rowed him back again to the hotel.
It was now nearly nine o'clock, and, of course, three hours remained
before the time of embarkation would arrive. Rollo was not sorry for
this, as he thought that there would be enough to amuse and occupy him
all this time on and around the pier. His first duty, however, was to go
and report himself to Mr. George as having returned from his walk. This
he did. He found his uncle very busy in his room, writing his journal.
"Now, Rollo," said Mr. George, "it is three hours before we are to
leave. What are you going to do all that time?"
"O, I shall find plenty to amuse myself with," said Rollo.
"Very well," said Mr. George. "You may play about wherever you are sure
it is safe. Don't go near the edge of the pier, unless there is somebody
at hand to pull you out of the water with a boathook, if you fall in.
Amuse yourself as long as you can; and when you are tired of taking care
of yourself, come to me, and I will tell you what to do."
Rollo, having received these instructions, left his uncle to his work,
and went away. He descended the stairs, and went out upon the pier
again, and after amusing himself, by examining every thing there, he
concluded to go on board the steamer. A train of cars had arrived from
London while he and his uncle had been on the other side of the water,
and there were now several new passengers in the cabin, who were
choosing and marking their berths, or talking together about the voyage.
Rollo thought that, in order to make sure that his ticket was all right,
he would climb up into his berth and see; and then, when he was there,
it seemed to him a very funny place to sleep in; so he laid down his
head upon the round cushion to try it. While he was in this position,
his attention was attracted by the sound of children's voices on the
stairs, talking French. Presently these children came into the cabin.
Their mother was with them. There were two of them, and they were not
more than five or six years old. Rollo was exceedingly astonished to
hear such little children talk French so well. Rollo listened to see if
he could understand what they said. He had studied French himself for a
year or two, and could say a great many things. In fact, he had been
accustomed to consider himself quite a good French scholar. But he now
found that all his acquisitions dwindled into utter insignificance, when
compared with the power over the language possessed by those little
girls.
The French party did not remain very long in the cabin where Rollo was,
but passed at once through a door which led to a small ladies' cabin
near. There were other persons, however, continually coming and going,
and Rollo was interested in watching their movements, and in listening
to the fragments of conversation which he heard. He found his position
very comfortable, too, and the sounds around him produced so lulling an
effect, that, before long, he insensibly closed his eyes. In a word, in
less than fifteen minutes after he climbed up into his berth to see what
sort of a place it was, he had put it fully to the test of experiment,
by going fast asleep in it.
In about half an hour after this, Mr. George, coming to the end of a
paragraph in his journal, laid down his pen, drew a long breath, looked
out the window, and then rang the bell. In a few minutes the chambermaid
came.
"Mary," said he, "I wish to ask the porter to go out and look about on
the pier, and in the packet, and see if he can see any thing of that boy
that came with me."
"Very well, sir," said Mary, with a quick courtesy; and she immediately
disappeared.
In about five minutes she came back, and said that the young master was
in his berth in the packet, sound asleep.
"Very well," said Mr. George, in his turn. "Much obliged to you." He
then went on with his writing.
The first thing that Rollo himself was conscious of, after falling
asleep in his berth, was a feeling of some one pulling him gently by the
shoulder. He opened his eyes, and saw before him a face that he did not
exactly know, and yet it was not entirely strange. The man had his hand
upon Rollo's shoulder, and was endeavoring to wake him.
"Your ticket, if you please, sir."
Rollo stared wildly a minute, first at the man, and then about the
cabin. It was night. Lamps were burning, and the cabin was full of
people. Some were in their berths, some in groups on the seats, and one
or two were just preparing to lie down. The engine was in motion, and
the ship was evidently going fast through the water. In fact, the
steamer was rocking and rolling as she went on, indicating that she was
already far out at sea.
"Your ticket, if you please, sir," repeated the clerk.
Rollo glanced around to his uncle's berth, and there he saw his uncle
lying quietly in his place, his head being on a cushion close to the one
on which Rollo's head had been lying.
"Uncle George," said Rollo, "he wants my ticket."
"Well," said Mr. George, without moving, "give him your ticket."
Rollo then recollected that he had his ticket in his wallet. So, after
fumbling for a time in his pocket, he brought out his wallet, and
produced the ticket, and handed it to the clerk.
"Thank you, sir," said the clerk, taking the ticket. At the same time he
put two other tickets in Rollo's wallet, in the place of the one which
he had taken out. As he did this, he pointed to one of the small ones,
saying,--
"That's for the landing."
Rollo shut up his wallet, and put it in his pocket.
"A shilling, if you please," said the clerk.
Rollo had no shilling, and was still not much more than half awake. So
he turned to his uncle again.
"Uncle George," said he, "he wants a shilling."
"Well, pay him a shilling, then," said Mr. George.
Rollo now felt for his purse, and taking out one of his five-franc
pieces, he gave it to the clerk, who, in return, gave him back a
quantity of change. Rollo attempted to count the change, but he soon
perceived that his ideas of francs and shillings were all in confusion.
So he turned the change all together into his purse, put the purse back
into his pocket, lay his head down upon his cushion again, shut his
eyes, and in one minute was once more fast asleep.
Some hours afterward he woke again, of his own accord. He opened his
eyes and looked about him, and perceiving that it was morning, he
climbed down from his berth, and then went up upon the deck. The coast
of France was all before him, in full view, and the steamer was rapidly
drawing near to it. He went to the bow of the vessel to get a nearer
view. He saw directly before him a place where there were piers, and
batteries, and other constructions indicating a town, while on either
hand there extended long ranges of cliffs, with smooth, green slopes of
land above, and broad, sandy shores below. In half an hour more the
steamer arrived at the entrance of the harbor, which was formed of two
long piers, built at a little distance from each other, and projecting
quite into the sea. The steamer glided rapidly along between these high
walls of stone, until, at length, it entered a broad basin, which was
bordered by a continuation of these walls, and hemmed in on every side
beyond the walls of the pier with ranges of the most quaint, and queer,
and picturesque-looking buildings that Rollo ever saw.
[Illustration: ENTERING DIEPPE.]
These buildings were not close to the pier, but were back far enough to
leave room for a street between them and the water. Such a street is
called a _quay_.[B] Quays are built in almost all the cities of Europe
where there are rivers or basins of water for shipping; and they are
very pleasant streets to walk in, having usually large and elegant
buildings on one side, and vessels and steamers on the other.
[B] Pronounced _kee_.
By the time that the steamer had entered the port, almost all the
passengers had come up from below, and Mr. George among the rest. Mr.
George came, expecting to find that, as they were now about to land, the
baggage would be brought out, and that the several passengers would be
called upon to select their own. But there was no movement of this kind.
The baggage had all been put down into the hold the night before, and
now the hatches were still closed, and there seemed to be no signs of
any preparation to open them.
In the mean time, the steamer gradually drew near to the pier. The
engine was stopped. Ropes were thrown out. People in queer dresses, some
of them soldiers, who were standing on the pier, caught the ropes and
fastened them. The steamer was thus brought to her place and secured
there.
There was now, however, no rush to get on shore,--such as Rollo had
always been accustomed to witness on board an American steamer on her
arrival,--but every thing was quiet and still. By and by a plank was
laid. Then the passengers were called upon to get out their tickets.
Then they began to walk over the plank, each one giving up his landing
ticket as he passed.
When Mr. George and Rollo reached the pier, they found, on looking
around them, that they were not yet at liberty. On the opposite side of
the quay was a building, with a sign over it, in French, meaning
custom-house office for packet boats; and there were two long ropes
stretched, one from the stem and the other from the stern of the
steamer, to the opposite sides of the door of this building, so as to
enclose a space on the quay, in front of the building, in such a manner
as to hem the passengers in, and make it necessary for them to pass
through the custom house. The ropes were guarded by soldiers, dressed in
what seemed to Rollo the queerest possible uniforms. They all talked
French--even those who had talked English when they came on board the
packet boat on the other side.
"I can't understand a word they say," said Rollo.
"Nor I," said Mr. George; "but we can watch and see what they will do."
It did not require long watching, for no sooner had Mr. George said
these words than he observed that the passengers were all going toward
the door of the custom-house, and that, as they went, they were taking
their passports out. Nobody can enter France without a passport. A
passport is a paper given to the traveller by his own government. This
paper tells the traveller's name, describes his person, and requests
that the French government will allow him to pass through their country.
Frenchmen themselves must have a passport too, though this is of a
little different kind. All must have a passport of some kind or other,
and all this machinery of ropes and soldiers was to make it sure that
every one of the passengers had the proper document.
The passengers accordingly took out their passports as they went into
the custom-house door, and there passed, in single file, before an
officer seated at a desk, who took them in turn, opened them, copied the
names in his book, and then gave them back to the owners. Mr. George and
Rollo followed on in the line. When their passports had been given back
to them, they went on with the rest until they came out from the
custom-house at another door, which brought them upon the quay outside
of the ropes.
"What's to be done next?" said Rollo.
"I am sure I don't know," said Mr. George, "I suppose we shall see."
There was an omnibus standing near, marked, "For the Iron Road,"--that
being the French name for railroad,--but nobody seemed to be getting
into it. In fact, the passengers, as fast as they came out from the
custom-house, seemed all very quiet, as if waiting for something. A
great many of them seemed to be French people, and they fell into little
groups, and began to talk very volubly together, some finding friends
who had come down to the quay to meet them, and others making friends,
apparently, for the occasion, of the soldiers and idlers that were
standing around.
"Could not you ask some of them," said Rollo, "what we are to do next?"
"I don't believe they would understand my French," said Mr. George. "I
am sure I don't understand theirs." In a moment, however, he turned to a
young man who was standing near, who seemed to be a waiter or servant
man belonging to the place.
"Do you speak English?"
"Yes, sir," said the man, in a very foreign accent, but yet in a very
pleasant tone.
"What are we waiting for?" asked Mr. George.
"You will wait, sir, for the baggages, and then for the visit of the
baggages."
"How long?" said Mr. George.
"Twenty minutes," said the man. He also gave Mr. George to understand
that he and Rollo might go and have some breakfast, if they chose. But
Mr. George thought it was not safe for them to go away from the spot. So
they waited where they were.
In a few minutes the hatches were opened on board the vessel, and the
sailors began to hoist out the trunks. As fast as they were brought up
to the decks men took them on shore, and carried them into the
custom-house by the same door where the passengers had entered. When all
the baggage was carried in, the ropes were taken down, and the
passengers went to the custom-house door again, to attend to the
examination of the baggage. A soldier stood at the door to prevent too
many going in at a time. Mr. George and Rollo followed the rest, and at
length it came their turn to have their trunks examined. This was done
very quick--the officers appearing to think, from the appearance of the
travellers, that they would not be likely to have any smuggled goods in
their possession. The officer, accordingly, just looked into the trunks,
and then shut down the lids, and marked them passed. A porter then took
them out at the side door. There, on Mr. George's telling them in French
that they were going to Paris by the railroad, the trunks were put upon
a cart, while Mr. George and Rollo got into the omnibus, and then they
were very soon driving along the quay, in the direction, as they
supposed, of the Paris railway station.