THE TOWER OF LONDON
"LET'S go to the Tower on top of a 'bus," clamoured the little girls,
and it did not take long for them to scramble up on to the first one
that came along. "It is so nice and wobbly," they declared, "and the
people in the streets seem so far below." If one gets a seat just back
of the driver, who is generally a jovial good fellow, he will tell you a
lot about London, as he drives along, for these drivers are a sociable
class of men. It is wonderful to see them guiding the big clumsy 'buses
through the mass of people and vehicles of all kinds--costers' carts,
automobiles, big lumbering wagons, and hansom cabs flitting about like
busy flies. As often as not you will see a wagon, with a big load of
hay, nearly blocking up the street, and next to it a stylish carriage
with footmen in livery. Oh, you can see almost anything in the London
streets. But the picturesque old omnibuses are soon to disappear, and
automobile 'buses are to take their places.
I must tell you what a coster is. Costers are people who go to the great
London market, called Covent Garden, and buy cheap vegetables and fruits
and flowers, and sell them in the poorer parts of the city. The coster
men dress in velveteen suits trimmed with rows and rows of pearl
buttons, which they call "pearlies." They are very proud of these
costumes. The women wear bright, gaudily coloured dresses, and very big
hats, covered with feathers. They hawk their wares about in barrows or
little carts, drawn by such a tiny donkey (a "moke" as the costers call
it), that you wonder how he is able to pull a whole family of costers
as well as a big load of vegetables, as they often do.
"Edith, that is St. Paul's Cathedral just ahead of us; you can see its
big dome for miles around, and now we are in the old part of London,"
explained Miss Winton. "Just beyond is Bunhill Fields, where Daniel
Defoe who wrote that immortal children's story--'Robinson Crusoe'--is
buried. A plain shaft or obelisk rises above his grave, and not so very
long ago the children of England were asked to give a penny each toward
building this monument to the memory of the author of their favourite
story-book. Many children responded and enough money was raised for the
purpose. You will see that the inscription on it tells the story."
The little girls were much impressed, and Edith said she would tell
Clarence and Eleanor about it, as they had just been reading about
Robinson Crusoe and his desert island.
"Are not the 'Beefeaters' splendid?" said Adelaide, as they passed
through the old gateway into the Tower of London. "There is the one,
Miss Winton, who talked with mamma and me the last time we were here. I
believe he remembers me and is coming this way. He had a tame raven
which he showed us. See, Edith, there are a number of ravens flying
about; they make their home among the old buildings, and the keepers
feed them."
"Good morning, miss," said the old man, as he came up. "I am very
pleased to see you again," and he bowed politely to the little girls.
He was indeed as fine as a picture. The "Yeomen of the Guard" hold a
very exclusive and enviable position. They attend the king on all grand
occasions. Their dress is in the same style as that worn in the time of
King Henry VIII.: all of bright red, trimmed heavily with gold braid, a
big white ruff around their necks, and a lovely black velvet hat. They
carry a halberd, or sort of lance with a sharp blade at the end. This is
the dress for grand occasions. Their everyday costume is in the same
style, but is not quite so fine.
[Illustration: "AFTER WATCHING OTHER ANTICS OUR LITTLE FRIENDS BADE THE
'BEEFEATER' AND HIS PET GOOD-BYE"]
"How is the raven?" asked Adelaide. "My cousin would so much like to see
him."
"There he is now. Come here, 'Blackie,'" and he whistled to the solemn
bird that came hopping over the grass.
"Does he not look wise, Edith? and he can do all sorts of tricks."
The bird flew on to his master's cap, and peered down over the rim of it
at him, as much as to say "bo-peep," and then leaned over and took a bit
of sugar out of the old man's mouth. After watching other antics our
little friends bade the "Beefeater" and his pet good-bye and continued
their walk around the Tower, which is really much more than a single
tower. It is a big group of buildings, with a square tower in the
middle, a high wall around it all, and a deep moat which was once filled
with water. The "Tower" is very, very old; it was used for a prison, and
whenever anybody did something the king did not like, he was put on a
boat and rowed down to the Tower and locked up in one of the dungeons,
and often many prisoners had their heads chopped off, and some of these
were high-born ladies, too!
"I am glad I did not live in those days, when they could cut off
people's heads," said Edith, who shuddered as she looked at the block of
wood on which a poor queen's head was once cut off.
"Yes, the Tower is full of dark memories," said Miss Winton. "You know
the sad story of the two little boy princes who lived in this gloomy
Tower, and how they were supposed to have been put to death by their
cruel uncle, who was King Richard III., and wanted them out of his way.
"Long afterward, in repairing one of the walls, the workmen found buried
in a hole in the wall the bones of two small children, which were
supposed to be those of the poor little princes, which had been hidden
there after their untimely death. Many dreadful things were done in
those old days which could never happen now."
"Now let us see something bright," said Miss Winton, "and leave these
gloomy things behind."
"I know what you mean; now is the time for the 'Crown Jewels,'" cried
Adelaide.
Our two little friends quickly ran up the winding stone stairs of a
small round tower where the Crown Jewels are always kept when the king
and queen are not wearing them.
Edith was dazzled by the glittering things which filled a large glass
case in the centre of the room.
There were crowns covered with all kinds of precious stones, and
sceptres, and other old and valuable relics, all gold and jewels. But no
one is allowed to linger long in here, and before the children had half
time enough to see all, they found themselves again in the yard.
"I wonder what Carrie and Henry White thought of the jewels when they
came to the tower," said Edith.
"I have no doubt but that they greatly enjoyed seeing it all. The
American children are as fond of a visit to the Tower as the English
children," and Miss Winton smiled as they drove through the dark, narrow
streets of old London, to their home in the newer and brighter part of
the town.