DINNER.
About half past three o'clock Rollo went up to his uncle's room.
"Uncle George," said he, "have not you got almost through with your
writing?"
"Why," said Mr. George, "are you tired of staying here?"
"Yes," said Rollo, "I am tired of being down in the bottom of such a
deep valley. I wish you would put away your writing and go on up the
river till we get out where we can see, and then you may write as much
as you please."
"Do you wish to go up the river to-night?" asked Mr. George.
"Yes," said Rollo, "very much."
Mr. George took out his watch.
"Go down and ask the waiter when the next steamer comes along."
Rollo went down, and presently returned with the report that the next
steamer came by at five o'clock.
"There is a place up the river about two hours' sail, called Bingen,"
said Mr. George, "where the mountains end. Above that the country is
open and level, and the river wide. We might go up there, I suppose; but
what should we do for dinner?"
"We might have dinner on board the steamer," said Rollo.
"Very well," said Mr. George; "that's what we will do. You may go and
tell the waiter to bring me the bill, and then be ready at half past
four. That will give me an hour more to write."
At half past four Rollo came to tell Mr. George that the steamer was
coming. The trunk had been previously carried down and put on board a
small boat, for this was one of the places where the steamers were not
accustomed to come up to a pier, but received and landed passengers by
means of small boats that went out to meet them in the middle of the
river. Such a boat was now ready at the foot of the landing stairs, and
Mr. George and Rollo got into it.
The boatman waited until the steamer came pretty near, and then he rowed
out to meet it. He stopped rowing when the boat was opposite to the
paddle wheel of the steamer, and the steamer stopped her engine at the
same time. A man who stood on the paddle box threw a rope to the boat,
and the boatman made this rope fast to a belaying pin that was set for
the purpose near the bow of the boat. By means of this rope the boat was
then drawn rapidly up alongside the steamer, at a place directly aft the
paddle wheel, where there was a little stairway above, and a small
platform below, both of which, when not in use, were drawn up out of the
way, but which were always let down when passengers were to come on
board. As soon as the boat came alongside this apparatus, Rollo and Mr.
George stepped out upon the platform, and went up the little stairway,
the hands on board the steamer standing there to help them. In a moment
more the trunk was passed up, the boat was pushed off, and the paddle
wheels of the steamer were put in motion; and thus, almost before Rollo
had time to think what was going on, he found himself comfortably seated
on a camp stool under the awning, by the side of Mr. George, on the
quarter deck of the steamer, and sailing swiftly along on his voyage up
the river.
"What sudden transitions we pass through," said, Mr. George, "in
travelling on the Rhine!"
"Yes," said Rollo, "it seems scarcely five minutes ago that I was
sitting, all by myself, on the bank of a lonesome river, fishing; and
now I am on board a steamer, with all this company, and dashing away
through the water at a great rate."
"True," said Mr. George; "and how quickly we came on board! One minute
we are creeping along slowly over the water in a little boat, and the
next, as if by some sort of magic, we find ourselves on the deck of the
steamer, with the boat drifting away astern."
"How high the mountains are," said Rollo, "along the shores here! Do the
mountains end at Bingen?"
"Yes," said Mr. George, "at Bingen, or soon after that. There the
country opens, and the banks of the river become level and flat. The
river widens, and there are a great many islands in it. There we come to
railroads again too, for where the land is level they can make railroads
very easily. It would be very difficult to make a railroad here, though
I believe they are going to do it."
"I should think it would be difficult," said Rollo. "But now, uncle
George, about our dinner."
"Very well," said Mr. George, "about the dinner." So the two travellers
held a consultation on this subject, and concluded what to have. A few
minutes afterwards a waiter came by, carrying a large salver, with some
coffee and bread and butter upon it, for a gentleman on the deck. Mr.
George beckoned to this waiter, and when he came to him, he ordered the
dinner that he and Rollo had agreed upon. It consisted of sausages for
Rollo, a beefsteak for Mr. George, and fried potatoes for both. After
that they were to have an omelet and some coffee. The coffee on board
the Rhine steamers, being made with very rich and pure milk, is
delicious.
The waiter brought up a small square table to the part of the deck where
Mr. George and Rollo were sitting, which was under the shady side of the
awning, and set it for their dinner. In about twenty minutes the dinner
was ready. The table itself was as neat and nice as possible, and the
dishes which had been ordered were prepared in the most perfect manner.
I need not add, I suppose, that Mr. George and Rollo--it being now so
late--were provided with excellent appetites. So they had a very good
time eating their dinner. While they were eating it they could watch the
changes in the scenery of the banks, as they glided swiftly along, and
observe the steamers, tow boats, and other river craft, that passed them
from time to time.
While they were at dinner, Rollo asked Mr. George about the rafts, and
where the timber that they were made of came from.
[Illustration: DINNER ON THE RHINE.]
"Why, you see," said Mr. George, "the River Rhine, in the upper portions
of it, has a great many branches which come down from among the
mountains, where nothing will grow well but timber. So they reserve
these places for forests, and as fast as the timber gets grown, they cut
it down, and slide it down the slopes to the nearest stream, and then
float it along till they come to great streams; and there they form it
into rafts, and send it down the river to Holland and Belgium, where
timber does not grow."
"Would not timber grow in Belgium and Holland?" asked Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. George, "it would grow very well, but the land is too
valuable to appropriate it to such a purpose. The whole country below
Cologne, where we came to the river, is smooth and level, and free from
stones, so that it is easily ploughed and tilled; and thus grain, and
flax, and other very valuable crops can be raised upon it. They raise a
few trees in that part of the country, but not many."
"I never heard of raising trees before," said Rollo, "except apple
trees, or something like that."
"True," said Mr. George, "because in America, as that is a new country,
there is an abundance of native forests, where the trees grow wild. But
you must remember that every foot of land in Europe has been in the
possession of man, and occupied by him, for two thousand years. There
is not a field or a hill, or even a rocky steep on the mountain side,
which has not had sixty or seventy generations of owners, who have all
been watching it, and taking care of it, and improving it more or less
all that time; each one carefully considering what his land can produce
most profitably, and taking care of it and managing it especially with
reference to that production. If his land is smooth and level, he
ploughs it, and cultivates it for grass, or grain, or other plants
requiring special tillage. If it is in steep slopes, with a warm
exposure, he terraces it up, and makes vineyards of it. If it is in
steep slopes, with a cold exposure, then it will do for timber, provided
there are streams near it, so that he can float the timber away. If
there are no streams near it, he can use it as pasture ground for sheep
or cattle; for the wool, or the butter and cheese, which he obtains from
this kind of farming, can be transported without streams; or, at least,
such commodities will bear transporting farther before coming to a
stream than wood or timber. Thus, you see, whatever the land is fit for,
it has been appropriated to for a great many centuries; and it has all
been cropped over and over again, even where the crop is a forest of
trees. If we allow the trees even a hundred years to grow, before they
are large enough to cut, that would give, in two thousand years, time
to cut them off and let them grow up again twenty times."
"Here comes a steamer," said Rollo.
Just then the bow of a steamer came shooting into view, down the river.
On the forward part of the deck were several soldiers and laborers, with
women and children that looked like emigrants, and also a huge pile of
trunks and merchandise covered with a tarpauling. Then came the paddle
wheels, and then the quarter deck, with a large company of tourists,
most of whom were looking about very eagerly at the scenery, with guide
books and glasses in their hands. These were tourists that had been
travelling in Switzerland, and were coming home by way of the Rhine; and
as they were now just entering the part of the river where the grand and
imposing scenery was to be seen,--though Mr. George and Rollo were just
leaving it,--they were full of wonder and admiration at the various
objects which appeared around them on every side. Rollo had but a very
brief opportunity to look at these strangers, for the steamer which
conveyed them passed by very swiftly, and in a moment they were gone.
"How swift!" said Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. George, "they go down the stream much faster than they
go up; for in going down they have the current to help them, but we have
it to hinder us in going up."
"And does it help just as much as it hinders?" asked Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. George, "for any given time. If the current flows two
miles an hour, it will carry forward a boat that is going _with_ it just
two miles faster than it would go in still water. And if the boat is
going _against_ it, it will go just two miles an hour slower.
"Thus, you see," continued Mr. George, "if a steamer had an engine
capable of driving her twelve miles an hour through the water, in
navigating a stream that flows _two_ miles an hour, she would go
_fourteen_ miles an hour in going down, and _ten_ miles an hour in going
up."
"Then," said Rollo, "it seems that the _help_ of a current is just as
much as the _hinderance_ of it, and that a river running fast is just as
good for navigation as if the water were still. Because, you see," he
added, "that though they lose some headway in going up, they gain it
just the same in coming down."
"That reasoning seems plausible," replied Mr. George, "but it is not
sound."
"What do you mean by _plausible_?" asked Rollo.
"Why, it _appears_ to be good, when it really is not so. Reasoning very
often appears to be good, while there is all the time some latent flaw
in it which makes the conclusion wrong. Very often something is left out
of the account which ought to be taken in and calculated for, and that
is the case here. The truth is, that the current helps the steamer in
going down just as much as it retards her in coming up _for any given
time_; as for instance, for an hour, or for six hours. But we are to
consider that in accomplishing any given _distance_, the steamer is
longer in coming up than she is in going down, and so is exposed to the
retarding effect of the current longer than she has the benefit of its
cooperation.
"For example," continued Mr. George, "suppose the distance from one
place to another, on a river flowing two miles an hour, is such that it
takes a steamer three hours to go down and four hours to come up. In
going down she would be aided how much?"
"Two miles an hour," said Rollo.
"And that makes how much for the whole time going down?" asked Mr.
George.
"Six miles," said Rollo.
"Now, it takes her _four_ hours to go up," said Mr. George. "How much
would she be kept back then by the current?"
"Why, two miles an hour for _four_ hours," said Rollo, "which would make
eight miles."
"Thus in the double voyage," said Mr. George, "the boat would be helped
_six_ miles and hindered _eight_, so that the current would on the whole
be a serious disadvantage. For a steamer, therefore, which is to be
navigated equally both ways, the current is an evil.
"But for that sort of navigation which goes only one way, it is a great
advantage. For instance, the rafts have to come down, but they never
have to go back again; and so they have the whole advantage of the
current in bringing them down, without any disadvantage to balance it.
"On the whole," said Mr. George, "I do not see but that the currents of
great rivers are an advantage, for there is always a much greater
quantity to come down than to go up. The heavy products that grow on the
borders of the rivers are to come down, while comparatively little in
quantity goes up. So the benefit, on the whole, which is produced by the
flow of the water, may be greater than the injury."
"What do they do with the rafts," said Rollo, "when they get them down
the river?"
"They break them up," said Mr. George, "and sell the timber in the
countries near the mouth of the river, where but little timber grows."
By this time, Mr. George and Rollo had finished eating the meats which
they had ordered for their dinner, and so the waiter came and took away
the plates, and brought the omelet and the coffee. With the coffee the
waiter brought two small plates and knives, and some very nice rolls and
butter. He also brought a plate containing several slices of a kind of
cake, _toasted_. This cake was very nice.
While Rollo was eating it he asked his uncle George whether, in case he
had gone down the river to Boppard, and had not got back until dark, he
should not have been anxious about him.
"No," said Mr. George, "not much. I took precautions against that."
"What precautions?" asked Rollo.
"Why, I sent a man with you to take care of you," said Mr. George.
"You sent a man with me?" repeated Rollo, very much surprised.
"Yes," said Mr. George, quietly. "As soon as you had gone out of my
room, to go on board the raft, I called the waiter, and asked him to
send a commissioner with you, to see that you did not get into any
difficulty, and to take care of you in case there should be any
occasion."
"Now, uncle George," said Rollo, in a mournful and complaining tone,
"that was not fair."
"Why not?" asked Mr. George.
"Because," said Rollo, "I wanted to take care of myself."
"Well," said Mr. George, "you _did_ take care of yourself--didn't you?
My plan did not interfere with yours at all--did it?"
Rollo did not answer, but he looked as if he were not convinced.
"I gave the man special charge," said Mr. George, "not to interfere with
you in any way, and not even to let you know that I had said any thing
about you to him, so that you should be left entirely to your own
resources. And you _were_ so left. You acted in the whole affair just as
you thought proper, and took care of yourself admirably well. I think
especially that you were very wise in leaving the raft when you did,
instead of remaining on board three or four hours longer. But however
this may be, you acted for yourself throughout. I did not interfere with
you at all."
"Well," said Rollo, after a moment's pause, "what you say is very true.
But it seems to me it was a little artful in you to do that; and you
always tell me that I must not be artful, but must be perfectly honest
and open in all that I do. Don't you think you deceived me a little?"
"I do not see that I did," said Mr. George. "When we deceive a person,
we do it by saying or doing something to give him a false impression, or
to make him suppose that something is true which is not true. Now, what
did I do or say to give you any false impression?"
"Why, nothing, I suppose," said Rollo, "except sending that man to take
care of me without letting me know it."
"That was _concealing_ something from you," said Mr. George, "not
deceiving you. There are a thousand occasions when it is right to
conceal things from the people around us. That is very different from
deceiving them. This was a case in which I thought it best to conceal
what I did, for a time, though I intended to tell you in the end. You
see, I should not have done my duty, as a guardian intrusted with the
care of a boy by his father, if I had allowed you to go away from me on
such a doubtful expedition without some precautions. So I thought it
best to send the commissioner; but I knew you wished to take care of
yourself, and so I charged the commissioner to allow you to do so, and
on no account to interpose, unless some accident, or unforeseen
emergency, should occur. I told him not even to let you know that he
was there, so that you might not be embarrassed or restricted at all by
his presence, or even relieved of any portion of your solicitude. But I
determined to tell you all about it as soon as it was over, and I was
fondly imagining that you would praise me for my sagacity in managing
the business as I did, and also especially for my openness and honesty
in explaining all to you at last. But instead of that, it seems you
think I did wrong; so that where I expected compliments and praise, I
get only censure and condemnation; and I do not know what I shall do."
Mr. George said this with a perfectly grave face, and with such a tone
of mock meekness and despondency, that Rollo burst into a loud laugh.
"If you could think of any suitable punishment for me," continued Mr.
George, in the same penitent tone, "I would submit to it very
contentedly; though I do not see myself any suitable way by which I can
be punished, except perhaps by a fine."
"Yes," said Rollo, "a fine; you shall be fined, uncle George. There is a
woman out here that has got some raspberries, in little paper baskets.
You shall be fined a paper of raspberries."
Mr. George acceded to this proposal. The raspberries were two groschen a
basket. Mr. George gave Rollo the money, and Rollo, going forward with
it, bought the raspberries, and he and Mr. George ate them up together.
They served the double purpose of a punishment for the offence, and of a
dessert for the dinner.
[Illustration]