TO STOCKHOLM BY GOETA CANAL.
The Wadstena, in which the absentees had taken passage at Gottenburg,
was a small steamer, but very well fitted up for one of her size.
Forward was the saloon, in which meals were taken, and saloon
passengers slept. Aft was the cabin, on each side of which were
state-rooms, called "huette." They were not made with regular berths,
but had a sofa on each side of the door, on which the beds were made
up at night, with a wash-stand between them. Between this cabin and
the forward saloon the main deck was raised about three feet, so as to
cover the engine and boilers. On each side of this higher deck were
more "huette," which were the best rooms on board. The hurricane-deck,
over the after cabin, was the favorite resort of the passengers.
It was two o'clock in the morning, and the independent excursionists
were tired and sleepy. They had taken first-class tickets, and two of
them had been assigned to each "huette." As soon as they went on board,
therefore, they retired, and most of them slept, in spite of the fleas
and other vermin that revelled in their banquet of blood. None but
very tired boys could have slumbered under such unfavorable
circumstances, and it is a great pity that a steamer otherwise so
neat and comfortable should be given up to the dominion of these
sleep-destroying insects.
At seven the party turned out, anxious to see the scenery on the banks
of the canal. The steamer was still in the river, a stream not more
than a hundred and fifty feet wide, with occasional rapids, which are
passed by canals, with locks in them. The scenery was pleasant, with
rocky hills on each side. Schooners and other craft were continually
met, loaded with lumber and other articles from the lakes. The scene
was novel and interesting, and though the boys gaped fearfully, they
enjoyed the view.
Presently one of the women, who do all the work of stewards and
waiters, appeared with coffee on deck, passing the cups to the
passengers first, and then filling them. The coffee was delicious,
served with the whitest of sugar and the richest of cream, with some
little biscuits. It waked the boys up, and seemed to make new beings
of them.
"How's this, Sanford?" said Scott.
"First rate! That's the best coffee I ever drank in my life," replied
the coxswain.
"Is it a free blow?"
"I don't know. How is it, Ole?"
"No; you pay at the end of the trip for all you have had," replied the
waif.
"But who keeps the account?" asked Scott.
"Nobody," laughed Ole. "On the boats from Christiania every passenger
tells what he has had, and pays for it."
"Do they think everybody is honest?"
"Certainly; everybody is honest."
"Not much," added Sanford, shaking his head. "Of course you don't
pretend to be honest, Norway."
"But I do."
"You didn't take a sovereign from me, and another from Burchmore--did
you?"
"I take what you give me."
"It may be honest, but I don't see it in that light, Norway."
"Never mind that now, Sanford," interposed Burchmore. "He sold out the
last time for the public good."
"Do you expect to find the ship in Stockholm when we get there?" asked
Scott.
"Of course I do," replied Sanford. "We shall not get there till
Tuesday."
"Then our cruise is almost ended."
"I suppose so. I have been trying hard to join the ship ever since we
left her at Christiansand," continued the coxswain, solemnly.
"Over the left," chuckled Scott.
"Honor bright! I don't believe in running away."
"Nor I; but Laybold and I have put our foot into it. I suppose we
shall have to spend a week in the brig, and make love to Peaks while
the rest of the fellows are seeing Russia."
"You will find some way to get out of the scrape."
"I don't know. We have lost Copenhagen and Denmark already, and I
suppose we shall not see much of Russia."
"We will help you out."
"I don't think you can do it," added Scott, who had evidently come to
the conclusion that running away "did not pay."
The steamer stopped, and the captain informed the party that
passengers usually walked three miles around the series of locks, by
which they were enabled to see the Falls of Trollhaetten. The carrying
of the canal around these falls was the most difficult problem in
engineering in the construction of the work. It is cut through the
solid rock, and contains sixteen locks. The passage of the steamer
occupies an hour and a half, which affords ample time for the voyagers
to see the falls. The party immediately landed, and were promptly
beset by a dozen ragged boys, who desired to act as guides, where no
such persons are needed. Not one of them spoke a word of English; but
they led the way to the path, each one selecting his own victims, and
trusting to the magnanimity of the passengers for their pay. A walk,
covered with saw-dust, has been made by some public-spirited persons,
and the excursion is a very pleasant one.
The entire fall of the river is one hundred and twelve feet; but it is
made in four principal cataracts, and three smaller ones. The scenery
in the vicinity is rather picturesque, and at one point the path goes
through a grove, on the banks of a rivulet, where the water dashes
over large cobble-stones, with an occasional pretty cascade. The walk
leads to various eligible spots for examining the falls and the
rapids. On the way, the tourist passes _Kungsgrottan_, or King's
Grotto. It is a hole in the solid rock, in the shape of half a
globe, on the sides of which are inscribed the names of the various
sovereigns of Sweden, and other distinguished persons who have visited
the spot. Near the village of Trollhaetten, which contains several
founderies and saw-mills, the finest part of the falls is seen by
crossing an iron foot-bridge, at the gate of which stands a woman, who
collects a toll of fifty oere for the passage to the little island.
"I don't think much of these falls," said Scott, as he returned from
the island.
"I think they are rather fine," replied Laybold.
"You could cut up the rapids of Niagara into about two hundred just
such falls, to say nothing of the big cataract itself," added Scott.
"It is pleasant, this walk along the river, but you can't call the
Falls of Trollhaetten a big thing."
"Of course they don't compare with Niagara."
"Certainly not."
The party walked through the yards of the manufactories, and came to a
small hotel on the bank of the canal. The place looked very much like
many American villages. The canal steamer did not appear for half an
hour, and some of the boys strolled about the place. The regiment of
ragged boys who had followed the tourists, or led the way, pointing
out the various falls and other points of interest in an unknown
tongue, begged lustily for the payment for their services. One of
them, who had taken Scott and Laybold under his protection, was
particularly urgent in his demands.
"Not a red, my hearty," replied Scott. "I didn't engage you, and I
shall not pay you."
The boy still held out his hand, and said something which no one of
the party could understand.
"Exactly so," replied Scott. "You told me the names of all the places,
but I did not understand a word you said. I say, my lad, when did you
escape from the rag-bag?"
The boy uttered a few words in Swedish.
"Is that so?"
The boy spoke again.
"Stick to it, my hearty; but I don't believe a word of it."
"What does he say, Scott?"
"He says the moon is made of green cheese. Didn't you, my lad?"
The boy nodded, and spoke again.
"It is a hard case, Young Sweden; but I can't do anything for you."
"What's a hard case, Scott?" asked Laybold.
"Why, he says he has six fathers and five mothers, and he has to
support them all by guiding tourists round the falls."
"Get out!"
"I am afraid they don't have roast beef for dinner every day."
"Here's the steamer," added Laybold.
The boy became more importunate as the time came to go on board, but
Scott was obstinate.
"Now, out of my way, my lad. Give my regards to your six fathers and
five mothers, and I'll remember you in my will; but I won't give you a
solitary red now, because I don't like the principle of the thing. I
didn't employ you, and I didn't want you. I told you so, and shook my
head at you, and told you to get behind me, Satan, and all that sort
of thing; and now I'm not going to pay you for making a nuisance of
yourself. On the naked question of charity, I could do something for
you, on account of your numerous fathers and mothers. As it is, good
by, Sweden;" and Scott went on board of the steamer.
The boat started again, and soon the bell rang for breakfast. The boys
hastened to the forward saloon, where they found two tables spread. At
a sideboard was the Swedish lunch, or snack, of herring, sliced
salmon, various little fishes, sausage, and similar delicacies, with
the universal decanter of "finkel," flanked with a circle of wine
glasses. The tourists partook of the eatables, but most of them were
wise enough to avoid the drinkable. The Swedish bread, which is a
great brown cracker, about seven inches in diameter, was considered
very palatable. Ordinary white bread is served on steamers and at
hotels, and also a dark-colored bread, which looks like rye, and is
generally too sour for the taste of a foreigner. The breakfast at the
tables consisted of fried veal, and fish, with vegetables, and all the
elements of the snack. When the boys had finished, one of the women
handed Scott a long narrow blank book.
"Thank you, marm; I am much obliged to you," said he. "Will you have
the kindness to inform me what this is for?"
The woman laughed, and answered him in her native tongue.
"Precisely so," added Scott.
"What does she say?" asked Sanford.
"She wants me to write a love letter in this book to her; but as she
is rather ancient, I shall decline in your favor, Sanford."
"Don't do it, old fellow! Face the music."
"Not for Joseph!"
"What did she say, Ole?" inquired Sanford.
"She said you were to keep your account in that book," replied the
interpreter.
"Are we to keep our own reckoning?"
"Yes; every one puts down in this book what he has had."
"That means you, Burchmore. You are the cashier for the party."
"How many fellows had coffee this morning?" asked the cashier, as he
took the book.
"All of them, of course."
Burchmore made the entries for the coffee and the breakfasts of the
whole party.
"Well, that's one way to do the thing," said Scott. "Every man his own
book-keeper. I'll bet everybody doesn't charge what he has had."
Ole was requested to ask the woman about the matter. She said the
Swedes were honest, but the waiters were required to see that
everybody paid for what he had had before leaving the steamer. The
having of this book is certainly a better plan than that of the
Norwegian steamers, by which the passenger, if he means to be honest,
is compelled to recollect all he has had in a passage of thirty hours.
The Wadstena continued on her course through a rather flat country,
just coming into the greenness and beauty of the spring time, till she
came to Wenersberg, a town of five thousand inhabitants, which is
largely engaged in the lumber and iron trade. The boat stopped there
a short time, and the party had an opportunity to examine the lake
craft at the wharves; but, after seeing them, it was difficult to
believe they were not in some New England coast town. The steamers,
however, were very different, all of them being very short, to enable
them to pass through the locks in the canal, and most of them having
the hurricane deck forward and aft, to afford sufficient space for the
cabins. All of them were propellers.
The Wadstena started again, the bridges opening to permit her passage.
The great Wenern Lake lay before them, which is the third in size in
Europe, Onega and Ladoga alone exceeding it in extent. It is about a
hundred miles long by fifty in breadth, very irregular in shape, and
portions of it are densely crowded with islands. Its greatest depth
is three hundred and sixty feet near the Island of Luroe, but a
considerable part of it is very shallow, and difficult of navigation.
It is one hundred and forty-five feet above the level of the Baltic.
Thirty rivers flow into it, and sometimes cause it to rise ten feet
above its ordinary level. But the Goeta River is its only outlet, and
is always supplied with an abundant volume of water. The wind was
fresh when the Wadstena steamed out upon the broad expanse, and the
lake had a decidedly stormy aspect.
"Will you be seasick?" asked the captain, as the little steamer began
to bob up and down with a very uncomfortable jerk.
"Seasick!" laughed Scott. "We are all sailors, sir, and we don't
intend to cave in on a fresh-water pond."
"But the lake is very rough to-day."
"If your little tub can stand it, captain, we can."
"I am very glad, for some people are very sick on this part of the
passage. It is sometimes very bad, the worst we have in the whole
trip."
"How long are we on the lake?" asked Scott.
"About seven hours; but not all of it is so bad as this. We go among
the islands by and by."
Doubtless the Wenern Lake fully maintained its reputation on the
present occasion, though none of the young salts were sick. The boat
stood to the northward, and the short steamer and the short chop sea
would have made the passage very trying to landsmen. Nothing but the
distant shores were to be seen, and the monotony of the passage was
the only disagreeable circumstance to our tourists. For the want of
something better to do, they went below, and, lying down on the sofas
in their state-rooms, went to sleep without much difficulty, for
the red-backs and fleas kept shady in the daytime. The boys were
accustomed to being "rocked in the cradle of the deep;" but at the
expiration of three hours, the heavy motion ceased, and the change
waked them. Going on the hurricane deck again, they found the steamer
was among the islands, which were generally low, rocky, and covered
with firs and pines. A crooked channel was carefully buoyed off, and
the boat was threading its tortuous way with no little difficulty.
Presently the Wadstena made a landing at a rude pier on an island
where only a rough shanty was in sight. Several row-boats at the wharf
indicated that passengers came to this station from other islands.
Again the steamer went out upon the open lake, and soon after entered
another group of islands, among which she made a landing at a small
town. Passing over another open space, the entrance to the canal was
discovered, marked by two low light-houses, in the form of the frustum
of a pyramid. As the Wadstena entered a lock, the captain told the
party they might take a walk if they pleased, as there were several
locks to pass in the next three miles. This was a grateful relief to
the voyagers, and they gladly availed themselves of the opportunity.
The country was a dead level, with an occasional small farm-house, and
with many groves and forests. But the walk was interesting, and the
boys would gladly have continued it longer; but at the last lock of
the series, the gate-man told them, through Ole, that they must wait
here in order to go on board, for the steamer could not make a landing
again for several miles. The party remained on the hurricane deck till
the cold and the darkness drove them below. Turning in at an early
hour, they slept as well as the vermin would allow, until six o'clock
the next morning, when the steamer was approaching the Wettern Lake,
the second in size in Sweden. The boat was on a broad arm of the lake,
called the Viken, for the canal is built only across the narrowest
section of country, between two natural bodies of water.
The Wettern Lake is ninety miles long and fifteen miles wide,
surrounded by hills, from which sudden gusts of wind come, producing
violent squalls on the water. This lake is noted for big trout. After
crossing the Wettern, the steamer approached Wadstena, which contains
an ancient church and convent, and a castle built by Gustavus Vasa,
and often occupied by his family. Ten miles farther brought the
steamer to Motala, which contains several iron founderies and
manufactories. Many iron steamers and steam engines are built at this
place. The scenery on this portion of the canal is very beautiful,
though not grand. Going through another portion of the artificial
canal, the boat enters the Roxen Lake, perhaps the most beautiful in
Sweden, and makes a landing at Linkoeping. There are half a dozen towns
with this termination in the country, as Norrkoeping, Soederkoeping,
Joenkoeping, the last two syllables being pronounced like _chepping_;
as, Lin-chep-ping.
Leaving the Roxen Lake, the steamer passes through more canals into an
arm of the Baltic, and then into the sea itself, voyaging among a
thousand small islands, stopping at Soederkoeping and Nykoeping,
important commercial and manufacturing towns. Night came, and our
tourists did not stay up to see the lights on the way. The steamer
leaves the Baltic, and passing another piece of canal, enters the
waters of the Maeler Lake, seventy-five miles long, and containing
fourteen hundred islands. The boys were up in season to see the
beauties of this lake. Many of the islands rise to a considerable
height above the water, and are so thick that one hardly believes he
is sailing on a large lake. For quiet beauty and "eternal stillness,"
the Maeler can hardly be surpassed. In the middle of the forenoon,
the spires of Stockholm were to be seen, and the tourists were all
attention. From the lake the city presents a fine appearance. Indeed,
Stockholm, seen from either of its water approaches, is hardly
excelled in beauty by any city in Europe.
The Wadstena made her landing at the Island of Riddarholm. As the
party were not burdened with any baggage, they decided to walk to the
hotel. Ole inquired the way to the Hotel Rydberg, where they had
agreed to go; and crossing a bridge to the largest of the three
islands of the city, called Stadeholm, they arrived at the palace,
beyond which is the quay. Between this island and the main land, on
which the greater portion of the town is built, is the passage from
the Baltic to the Maeler Lake, and in the middle of it is the Island of
Helgeandsholm, or Holy Ghost's Island, with two bridges connecting it
with either side. On it are the king's stables, and a semicircular
garden, improved as a _cafe_, with a handsome face wall on the water
side.
"This isn't bad," said Scott, as the party paused to look down into
the garden.
"Not at all," replied Sanford. "I suppose they have music here in the
evening, and it would be a capital place to loaf."
"See the steamers!" exclaimed Laybold, as a couple of the miniature
craft, which abound in the waters of Stockholm, whisked up to the
quay.
"A fellow could put half a dozen of them into his trousers pocket,"
laughed Scott. "We must go on a cruise in some of them, as soon as we
get settled."
"Well, where's the hotel?" asked Sanford.
It was in plain sight from the bridge, which they crossed to the
Square of Gustavus Adolphus, on which the hotel faced.
"Good morning, young gentlemen. I am happy to see you," said Mr.
Blaine, the head steward of the ship, who was the first person to
greet them as they entered the hotel.
"Ah, Mr. Blaine!" exclaimed Sanford, his face glowing with apparent
satisfaction. "I am delighted to see you; for I was afraid we should
never find the ship."
"Were you, indeed? Well, I had the same fear myself. I have been
looking for you ever since the ship sailed."
"We have done our best to find the ship, Mr. Blaine," added Sanford.
"O, of course you have; but of course, as you didn't find her, you
were not so babyish as to sit down and cry about it."
"Certainly not; still we were very anxious to find her."
"Mr. Peaks says you came down from Christiania before he did."
"Yes, sir."
"And you were so anxious to find the ship, that you took a train to
the interior of the country, expecting, no doubt, to come across her
on some hill, or possibly on some of these inland lakes," continued
Mr. Blaine.
"We were looking for the ship's company. We met Scott and Laybold, who
were going into the interior, and we concluded to join them, as they
wanted to find their shipmates," replied Sanford, who was now not
entirely confident that "the independent excursion without running
away" was a success.
"Ah! so you have picked up those two young gentlemen, who ran away,"
added the head steward, glancing at Scott and Laybold.
"Not exactly, sir; they picked us up," answered the coxswain.
"I think it was a mutual picking up, and we picked each other up,"
laughed Scott. "We knew that Sanford and his crew were extremely
anxious to find the ship's company, and if we joined them we should be
sure to come out right."
"Exactly so," laughed Mr. Blaine. "Let me see; after our first day's
run on shore, by some mistake you neglected to come on board at night,
with the others."
"That was the case exactly. The fact is, we were too drunk to go on
board with the others."
"Drunk!" exclaimed Mr. Blaine.
"Such was our melancholy condition, sir," added Scott, shaking his
head. "We were invited, in a restaurant, to drink 'finkel,' and not
knowing what finkel was, we did drink; and it boozed us exceedingly."
"You are very honest about it, Scott."
"We are about everything, sir. We slept at a hotel, and when we went
down to the wharf to go on board, we learned that the ship's company
had gone to Trolldoldiddledy Falls. As we felt pretty well, we thought
we would take a train, see a little of the inside of Sweden, and meet
the ship's company at Squozzlebogchepping."
"Where's that?" asked Mr. Blaine.
"I can't give you the latitude and longitude of the jaw-breaker, but
it was at the junction of the two railways, where the party came down
from the canal. We were sure we should find our fellows there, but
the Swedish figures bothered us, and we made a mistake in the hour the
train was due."
"But the Swedish figures are the same as ours," suggested the head
steward.
"Are they? Well, I don't know what the matter was, except that we were
five minutes too late for the train. That's what's the matter."
"How very unfortunate it was you lost that train!"
"It was, indeed; I couldn't have felt any worse if I had lost my
great-grandmother, who died fifty years before I was born. These
honest fellows felt bad, too."
"Of course they did."
"We took the next train to Gottenburg; but when we arrived, the ship
had sailed for Copenhagen, which I was more anxious to see than any
other place in Northern Europe."
"And for that reason you came on to Stockholm."
"No, sir; you are too fast, Mr. Blaine. Your consequent does not agree
with the antecedent. There was no steamer for Copenhagen for a couple
of days."
"There was a steamer within an hour after you reached Gottenburg in
that train, and an hour before the sailing of the canal steamer; and
Mr. Peaks went down in her," said Mr. Blaine.
"We didn't know it."
"Certainly you did not."
"We knew of no steamer till Monday, and we were afraid, if we went in
her, that we should be too late to join the ship in Copenhagen; and
with heroic self-denial, we abandoned our fondly-cherished hope of
seeing the capital of Denmark, and hastened on to Stockholm, so as
to be sure and not miss the ship again. These honest fellows," said
Scott, pointing to Sanford and his companions, "agreed with us that
this was the only safe course to take."
"I see that you struggled very violently to join your ship, and I only
wonder that such superhuman efforts should have failed."
"They have not failed, sir," protested Scott. "The ship will come
here, and we will join her then, or perish in the attempt."
"Are you not afraid some untoward event will defeat your honest
intentions?"
"If they are defeated it will not be our fault."
"No, I suppose not; but whom have you there?" inquired the head
steward, for the first time observing Ole, who had pressed forward to
hear Scott's remarks. "Ole?"
"Yes, sir; that's the valiant Ole, of Norway," replied the joker.
His presence was satisfactorily explained by the coxswain.
"Why did you desire to leave the ship, Ole? Didn't we use you well?"
asked Mr. Blaine.
"Very well indeed, sir; but I was bashful, and did not wish to see
some people in Christiansand," replied the waif.
"What people?"
Ole evaded all inquiries, as he had a dozen times before, and declined
to explain anything relating to his past history. Mr. Blaine said he
had heard the party had taken the canal steamer, and he immediately
proceeded to Stockholm by railroad. He at once telegraphed to Mr.
Lowington at Copenhagen, that he had found all the absentees, and
asked for instructions.
"Here's a go, and the game is up," said Sanford, in a whisper, when he
met Stockwell alone.
"That's so; what will he do with us?"
"I don't know; I rather like this mode of travelling. But we are
caught now."
"Perhaps not; we may find some way out of it. According to Blaine's
cue we are to be regarded as runaways. If that is the case, I don't
join the ship this summer," said Stockwell, very decidedly.
"Nor I either," added Sanford.
Before dark, Mr. Blaine received a despatch from the principal,
directing him to take the next train to Malmoe, which is the town in
Sweden opposite Copenhagen. The head steward did not communicate its
contents to his charge that night, but he called all of them at four
o'clock the next morning, and by good management on his part, they
were on the train which left Stockholm at six o'clock. At
Katherineholm, where the party ate an excellent breakfast, Mr. Blaine
unhappily missed three of his company.