CONCLUSION.
Rollo's adventures in Paris were brought, at length, for the time being,
to a somewhat abrupt termination, by an invitation which he received
suddenly at breakfast one morning, from his uncle George, to set off
with him the next day for Switzerland. Rollo was very eager to accept
this invitation from the moment that it was offered him. It is true that
he was not at all tired of Paris; and there were a great many places,
both in the city and in the environs, that he was still desirous to see.
Rollo had only one day's notice of the proposed journey to Switzerland,
and that day was spent almost entirely in getting the passports ready.
This business devolved on Rollo himself, as his uncle was engaged in
some other way that day; and he proposed, therefore, that Rollo should
undertake the work of getting the passports stamped. Rollo accordingly
did so. He took a carriage and went round to the various offices, and
attended to the business very well, though he encountered some
difficulties in doing it. His uncle George was very much pleased when he
came home that night and found that Rollo had got the passports all
ready. Carlos went with Rollo to the passport offices, for company,
though he could not, of course, render him any assistance.[F]
[F] A full account of Rollo's adventures in getting the passports
stamped will be given in the first chapter of Rollo in Switzerland.
Rollo dined that evening with his uncle George and Carlos at a
restaurant. There are hundreds of these restaurants scattered all over
the city of Paris, and many of them are furnished and decorated in a
style of splendor that is magnificent beyond description. Mr. George
took Rollo and Carlos to one of the finest of them. It was in the
Boulevards.
The aspect of the room, when Rollo entered it, was very imposing. It was
lined on all sides with mirrors, with carved and gilded pilasters
between them, and a richly ornamented cornice above. The ceiling,
overhead, was panelled, and was painted in fresco with the most graceful
and elegant devices. The floor was laid in a beautiful mosaic of wood,
brilliantly polished. The room was filled with tables, all set out for
dinner in the nicest manner, with silver plate, elegant porcelain, and
glasses that reflected the light in the most resplendent manner. A great
many gay groups of ladies and gentlemen were seated at these tables,
taking dinner; while the waiters, with snow-white napkins on their arms,
were walking about in a rapid, but in a very gentle and noiseless
manner, to wait upon them. At the back side of the room there sat two
beautiful young women, behind a sort of counter, which was raised a
little above the rest of the floor, so that they could survey the whole
scene. It was the duty of these young women to keep the accounts of what
was ordered at the several tables, and to receive the money which was
paid by the guests, the waiters carrying it to them from the different
parties at the tables when they paid. These ladies were the presiding
officers, as it were, in the saloon; and the guests all bowed to them
very respectfully, both when they came in and when they went away.
Mr. George selected a table for himself and the two boys, and they had
an excellent dinner there. There was a printed book, large though thin,
on every table, giving a list of the different articles--more than five
hundred in all. From these Mr. George and the boys selected what they
liked, and the waiters brought it to them.
The party remained at this restaurant, eating their dinner and taking
their coffee after it, for more than an hour; and then they went away.
That evening Rollo went into his father's room to bid his father good
by, for he expected to set off for Switzerland the next morning very
early. He found his father sitting in an arm chair by a window, reading
a book. Mr. Holiday laid his book down and talked for some time with
Rollo about his proposed tour in Switzerland, and gave him a great deal
of preparatory information about the mountains, the glaciers, the
torrents, the avalanches, and other wonderful things that Rollo expected
to see. Rollo was very much interested in these accounts.
"I am very glad that uncle George invited me to go with him," said he.
"So am I," said his father.
"Because," added Rollo, "I expect to have a very pleasant time."
"True," replied his father; "but that is not the reason precisely why
_I_ am glad that he invited you."
"What is your reason, then?" asked Rollo.
"I am glad," replied Mr. Holiday, "because his asking you to go with him
into Switzerland is a sign that you have been a good boy while under
his care here in France. Boys that are selfish, troublesome, and
disobedient, in one ride or journey, find usually that their company is
not desired a second time. It is now two or three weeks since your uncle
George invited you to come with him from London to Paris, and during all
this time you have been mainly under his care; and now he invites you to
go with him on a still more extended tour. I think you must have
conducted yourself in a very considerate or gentlemanly manner, and
proved yourself a pleasant travelling companion, or you would not have
received this new invitation."
Rollo was very much gratified at hearing his father speak in this
manner. So he shook hands with him, and bade him good by.