CROSSING THE FRONTIER.
On the morning when Mr. George and Rollo were about setting out for
Switzerland, Rollo, having got every thing ready himself half an hour
before the time, took out his map of Europe and asked his uncle George
what route they were going to take. Mr. George was busy at that time
putting the last things into his trunk and making ready to lock it up
and strap it; so he could not come to Rollo to show him the route, but
was obliged to describe it.
"Have you found Paris?" said he.
"Yes," said Rollo; "I have got my finger on it."
"In the first place, then," said Mr. George, "there is a railway that
goes east from Paris a hundred miles across France to Strasbourg on the
Rhine. See if you can find Strasbourg on the Rhine."
"Yes," said Rollo; "here it is."
"Then," said Mr. George, "we take another railway and go south, up the
Rhine, towards Switzerland."
"_Down_ the Rhine," said Rollo, correcting his uncle; "it is _down_."
"No," rejoined Mr. George. "It is down on the map; that is, it is down
the page; but it is really _up_ the river. The Rhine flows to the north.
It collects the waters of a hundred glaciers in Switzerland and carries
them north into the North Sea."
"Well," said Rollo.
"This railway," continued Mr. George, "will take us up from Strasbourg,
along the bank of the Rhine, to Basle, which is in Switzerland, just
across the frontier. It is there, I suppose, that we shall have to show
our passports; and then we shall know if you got them stamped right."
"I did get them stamped right, I am very sure," said Rollo.
"Boys are generally very sure that what they do is done right," rejoined
Mr. George.
Soon after this Mr. George and Rollo took their seats in the carriage,
which had been for some time standing ready for them in the court yard
of the inn, and drove to the Strasbourg station.
Rollo was greatly interested and excited, when he arrived at the
Strasbourg station, to see how extensive and magnificent it was. The
carriage entered, with a train of other carriages, through a great iron
gate and drew up at the front of a very spacious and grand-looking
building. Porters, dressed in a sort of uniform, which gave them in some
degree the appearance of soldiers, were ready to take the two trunks and
carry them in. The young gentlemen followed the porters, and they soon
found themselves ushered into an immense hall, very neatly and prettily
arranged, with great maps of the various railways painted on the walls
between the windows on the front side, and openings on the back side
leading to ticket offices or waiting rooms. There were seats along the
sides of this hall, with groups of neatly-dressed travellers sitting
upon them. Other travellers were walking about, attending to their
baggage or making inquiries of the porter or policemen. Others still
were standing at the openings of the ticket offices buying their
tickets. What chiefly struck Rollo's attention, however, and impressed
his mind, was the air of silence, order, and decorum which prevailed and
which gave to the station an aspect so different from that of an
American station. It is true, the hall was very large, and there were a
great many people in it going and coming; but they all walked decorously
and quietly,--they spoke in an undertone,--and the presence of so many
railway officials in their several uniforms, and of police officers with
their badges, and here and there a soldier on guard, gave to the whole
scene quite a solemn and imposing appearance.
Rollo gazed about the apartment as he came in, surveying the various
objects and groups that presented themselves to his view, until his eye
rested upon a little party of travellers, consisting of a lady and two
boys, who were standing together near a low railing, waiting for the
gentleman who was with them to come back from the ticket office with
their tickets. What chiefly attracted Rollo's attention, however, was a
pretty little dog, with very long ears, and black, glossy hair, which
one of the children held by a cord. The cord was attached to the dog's
neck by a silver collar.
Rollo looked at this group for a few minutes--his attention being
particularly occupied by the dog,--and then turned again towards his
uncle, or rather towards the place where his uncle had been standing;
but he found, to his surprise, that he was gone.
In a moment, however, he saw his uncle coming towards him. He was
clasping his wallet and putting it in his pocket.
"Uncle George," said he, "see that beautiful little dog!"
"Yes," said Mr. George.
"I wish I had such a dog as that to travel with me," said Rollo. "But,
uncle George where are we to get our tickets?"
"I've got mine," said Mr. George. "When I come to a railway station I
always get my ticket the first thing, and look at the pretty little dogs
afterwards."
So saying, Mr. George took a newspaper out of his pocket and began to
walk away, adding, as he went,--
"I'll sit down here and read my newspaper till you have got your ticket,
and then we will go into the waiting room."
"But, uncle George," said Rollo, "why did not you get me a ticket when
you got yours?"
"Because," said Mr. George, "among other reasons, I did not know which
class carriage you wished to go in."
"Why, uncle George!" exclaimed Rollo, surprised. "I must go in the same
carriage that you do of course."
"Not of course," said Mr. George. "I have got a ticket in the first
class; and I should like to have your company in my car very much if you
choose to pay the price for a first-class ticket. But if you choose to
take a second or a third-class ticket you will save, perhaps, half your
money."
So saying, Mr. George went away and left Rollo to himself.
This was the way that Mr. George always treated Rollo when he was
travelling with him. He left him to act for himself and to take care of
himself in almost all the emergencies that occurred. He did this, not
because he wished to save himself the trouble of taking care of a boy,
but because he thought it was much better for boys early to learn to
take care of themselves.
The manner in which Mr. George thus threw the responsibility upon Rollo
seemed sometimes to be a little blunt. One would suppose, in some of
these cases, from the way in which he spoke and acted, that he did not
care at all what became of Rollo, so coolly and with such an air of
unconcern did he leave him to his own resources. In fact, Rollo was
frequently at such times a little frightened, or at least perplexed, and
often, at first, felt greatly at a loss to know what to do. But, on
reflecting a little upon the subject, he usually soon succeeded in
extricating himself from the difficulty; and then he was always quite
proud of having done so, and was pleased with his uncle George for
having given him the opportunity. So Mr. George, having learned by
experience that Rollo liked, on the whole, to be treated in this way,
always adopted it; and in carrying it out he sometimes spoke and acted
in such a way as might, under other circumstances have appeared somewhat
stern.
The idea of taking a second-class car for himself in order to save a
portion of his money, while his uncle went in one of the first-class,
took Rollo's imagination strongly, and he was half inclined to adopt it.
"On the whole," said he to himself, "I will not do it to-day; but I will
some other day. And now I wonder which is the ticket office for
Strasbourg."
So saying, Rollo looked about the room and soon found the proper place
to apply for his ticket. He procured a ticket without any difficulty,
asking for it in French, with a pronunciation which, if it was not
perfectly correct, was at least perfectly intelligible. As soon as he
had received his ticket and had taken up his change he went to the bench
where his uncle George was sitting and said that he was ready.
"Well," said Mr. George, "then we'll go. I like to travel with a boy
that is capable of taking care of himself and is willing to be treated
like a man."
Saying these words, Mr. George rose from his seat, and, after attending
properly to the baggage, he and Rollo passed through a door guarded by a
man in uniform, who required them to show him their tickets before he
would allow them to pass, and then entered a spacious apartment which
was reserved as the waiting room for the first-class passengers. This
room was beautifully finished and richly adorned, and the splendid sofas
and ottomans which were ranged about the sides of it were occupied by
well-dressed ladies and gentlemen, carrying shawls, greatcoats, and
small travelling bags upon their arms, and exhibiting other similar
indications of their being travellers. Mr. George and Rollo took seats
at a vacant place upon one of the sofas. In a few minutes an officer
came and informed the company, in a very respectful manner, that the
train was ready; whereupon they all rose from their seats and walked out
upon the platform where the train was waiting. Here there were several
railway servants, all dressed in uniform, whose business it was to
conduct the passengers to the several cars, or carriages, as they call
them, and open the doors. These carriages were entirely different in
their construction from the long and open cars used in America, which
form but one compartment, that extends through the whole length of the
car. The French cars were like three elegant carriages, joined together
in such a manner that, though the three formed but one car, they were
still entirely distinct from each other. The seats in these carriages
were very spacious, and they were richly stuffed and lined, so that they
formed soft and luxurious places of repose. The railway porter opened
one of the doors and admitted Mr. George and Rollo, and when they had
entered he closed it again.
"Ah," said Rollo, seating himself upon the soft cushion on one of the
seats, "is not this superb? I am _very glad_ I did not take a
second-class car."
"And yet the second-class cars in France are very comfortable and very
respectable," said Mr. George, "and they are very much cheaper."
"How much should we have saved," asked Rollo, "in going to Strasbourg,
if we had taken a second-class car?"
"I don't know, precisely," said Mr. George. "We should have saved a
great deal."
The train now began to move; and, soon after it left the station, Mr.
George took out his newspaper again and began to read. It was a copy of
a very celebrated newspaper, called the London Times. Mr. George had
another London paper which was full of humorous engravings. The name of
it was Punch. Mr. George gave the Punch to Rollo, thinking that the
pictures and caricatures in it might perhaps amuse him; but Rollo, after
turning it over a moment, concluded that he should prefer to amuse
himself by looking out the window.
[Illustration: IN THE CAR.]
Rollo saw a great many beautiful views and witnessed a great many
strange and striking scenes as he was whirled onward by the train across
the country from Paris towards Strasbourg. We cannot, however, stop to
describe what he saw, but must hasten on to the Swiss frontier. The
travellers arrived at Strasbourg in the evening. They spent the night at
a hotel; and the next morning they took another railway which led along
the bank of the Rhine, up the river, towards Switzerland. The country
was magnificent. There was the river on one side, and a range of
mountains rising sublimely in the interior on the other. The mountains
were at a distance of several miles from the river; and the country
between was an extremely fertile and luxuriant plain, covered with
villages, castles, parks, pleasure grounds, gardens, and cultivated
fields, which presented every where most enchanting pictures of rural
beauty. This province is called Alsatia.
The terminus of the railway was at the city of Basle, which lies just
within the confines of Switzerland. A short distance before reaching the
gates of Basle, the train stopped at what seemed at first to be a
station. It was, however, only the custom house, where the trunks and
passports were to be examined.
"What are we to do here," asked Rollo.
"_I_ am going to do what I see other people do," replied Mr. George.
"You can do whatever you please."
At this moment a guard, dressed, like all the other railway servants,
in a sort of uniform, opened the door of the car in which Mr. George and
Rollo were sitting, and said in a very respectful manner, in French,--
"The custom house, gentlemen."
Mr. George observed that the passengers were getting out from all the
other cars; so he stepped out too, and Rollo followed him.
When they reached the platform they observed that a company of porters
were employed in carrying all the trunks and baggage from the cars to
the custom house, and that the passengers were going into the custom
house too, though by another door. Mr. George and Rollo went in with
them. They found an office within, and a desk, where one or two
secretaries sat and examined the passports of the travellers as they
successively presented them. As fast as they were examined they were
impressed with a new stamp, which denoted permission for the travellers
to pass the Swiss frontier. The several travellers, as fast as their
passports were examined, found right, and stamped, were allowed to pass
between two soldiers through a door into another hall, where they found
all the trunks and baggage arranged on a sort of counter, which extended
around the centre of the room, so as to enclose a square place within.
The custom-house officers who were to examine the baggage were within
this enclosure, while the travellers who owned the baggage stood
without. These last walked around the counter, looking at the trunks,
boxes, bundles, and carpet bags that covered it, each selecting his own
and opening the several parcels, in order that the officers within might
examine them.
The object of examining the trunks of passengers in this way is, to
ascertain that they have not any _goods_ concealed in them. As a general
thing, persons are not allowed to take _goods_ from one country to
another without paying a tax for them. Such a tax is called technically
a _duty_, and the avails of it go to support the government of the
country which the goods are carried into. Travellers are allowed to take
with them all that is necessary _for their own personal use, as
travellers_, without paying any duty; but articles that are intended for
sale as merchandise, or those which, though intended for the traveller's
own use, are not strictly _personal_, are liable to pay duty. The
principle is, that whatever the traveller requires for his own personal
use, _in travelling_, is not liable to duty. What he does not so require
must pay duty, no matter whether he intends to use it himself or to sell
it.
Many travellers do not understand this properly, and often get into
difficulty by not understanding it, as we shall see in the sequel.
Mr. George and Rollo went into the baggage room together, showing their
passports as they passed through between the soldiers. They then walked
slowly along the room, looking at the baggage, as it was arranged upon
the counter, in search of their own.
"I see _my_ trunk," said Mr. George, looking along at a little distance
before him. "There it is."
"And where do you suppose mine is?" asked Rollo.
"I have not the least idea," said Mr. George. "I advise you to walk all
around the room and see if you can find it; and when you find it, get it
examined."
Rollo, taking this advice, walked on, leaving Mr. George in the act of
taking out his key in order to open his trunk for the purpose of
allowing an officer to inspect it as soon as one should be ready.
Rollo soon found his trunk. It was in a part of the room remote from his
uncle's. Near his trunk was a very large one, which the officers were
searching very thoroughly. They had found something in it which was not
personal baggage and which the lady had not declared. Rollo could not
see what the article was which the officers had found. It was something
contained in a pretty box. The lady had put it into the bottom of her
trunk. The officers had taken it out, and were now examining it. The
lady stood by, seemingly in great distress.
Rollo's attention, which had begun to be attracted by this scene, was,
however, almost immediately called off from it by the voice of another
officer, who pointed to his trunk and asked him if it was his.
"Is that yours?" said the officer, in French.
"Yes," replied Rollo, in the same language, "it is mine;" and so saying,
he proceeded to take out his key and unlock the trunk.
"Have you any thing to declare?" asked the man.
Rollo looked perplexed. He did not know what the officer meant by asking
him if he had any thing to declare. After a moment's hesitation he
said,--
"I don't know; but I will go ask my uncle."
So Rollo went to the place where he had left his uncle George, and
accosted him by saying,--
"They want to know if I have any thing to _declare_. What do they mean?"
"They mean whether you have any goods in your trunk that are liable to
pay duty. Tell them no."
So Rollo went back and told the officer that he had not any thing to
declare. He then opened his trunk; but the officer, instead of examining
it, shut down the lid, saying, "Very well;" and by means of a piece of
chalk he marked it upon the top with some sort of character. A porter
then took the trunk and carried it back to the train.
Rollo perceived that the difficulty about the lady's baggage had been
settled in some way or other, but he feared it was settled in a manner
not very satisfactory to the lady herself; for, as the porters took up
her trunk to carry it back, she looked quite displeased and out of
humor.
Rollo went back to the place where he had left his uncle George, and
then they went together out to the platform. Here Rollo found the lady
who had had difficulty about her baggage explaining the case to some
friends that she found there. She seemed to be very indignant and angry,
and was telling her story with great volubility. Rollo listened for a
moment; but she spoke so rapidly that he could not understand what she
said, as she spoke in French.
"What does she say?" he asked, speaking to Mr. George.
"She says," replied Mr. George, "that they were going to seize something
that she had in her trunk because she did not declare it."
"What does that mean?" said Rollo.
"Why, the law is," said Mr. George, "that when people have any thing in
their trunks that is dutiable, if they _declare_ it, that is,
acknowledge that they have it and show it to the officers, then they
have only to pay the duty, and they may carry the article in. But if
they do not declare it, but hide it away somewhere in their trunks, and
the officers find it there, then the thing is forfeited altogether. The
officers seize it and sell it for the benefit of the government."
"O, uncle George!" exclaimed Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. George, "that is what they do; and it is right. If
people wish to bring any thing that is subject to duty into any country
they ought to be willing to pay the duty, and not, by refusing to pay,
make other people pay more than their share."
"If one man does not pay his duty," rejoined Rollo, "do the others have
to pay more?"
"Yes," said Mr. George, "in the end they do. At least I suppose so.
Whatever the amount of money may be that is required for the expenses of
government, if one man does not pay his share, the rest must make it up,
I suppose."
"They did not look into my trunk at all," said Rollo. "Why didn't they?
I might have had ever so many things hid away there."
"I suppose they knew from the circumstances of the case," said Mr.
George, "that you would not be likely to have any smuggled goods in your
trunk. They saw at once that you were a foreign boy, and knew that you
must be coming to Switzerland only to make a tour, and that you could
have no reason for wishing to smuggle any thing into the country. They
scarcely looked into _my_ trunk at all."
While Mr. George and Rollo had been holding this conversation they had
returned to their places in the car, and very soon the train was in
motion to take them into the town.
Thus our travellers passed the Swiss frontier. In half an hour
afterwards they were comfortably established at a large and splendid
hotel called the Three Kings. The hotel has this name in three
languages, English, French, and German, as people speaking those several
languages come, in almost equal numbers, to Switzerland. Thus when you
leave the station you may, in your directions to the coachman, say you
wish to go to the Three Kings, or to the Trois Rois, or to the Drei
Koenige, whichever you please. They all mean the same hotel--the best
hotel in Basle.