FROM STRASBURG TO CONSTANCE.
The party on board of the Young America were in the highest spirits on
the morning of their departure. All of them had now been decorated with
the white ribbon of the Order of the Faithful. Even Raymond and
Lindsley were entirely satisfied with the good faith and fairness of
the principal--better satisfied than they were with their own conduct.
What had before been regarded as defeat was now triumph, for a failure
to achieve success in doing wrong is actually victory, especially if
followed, as in this instance, by real regret, genuine penitence.
Grace Arbuckle, perhaps conscious that she had exerted a salutary
influence upon the students through the pleasantry of the Order of the
Faithful, was as happy as the young gentlemen themselves. She appeared
on deck at an early hour, and when the officers and seamen presented
themselves, in their best uniforms, wearing the white ribbon, she was
so delighted she could not help laughing heartily.
"Commodore Kendall, are you going to wear that ribbon to Paris?" she
asked, as Paul touched his cap to her.
"Certainly I am. I should as soon think of going without my coat as
without that," replied he.
"But how absurd!"
"Absurd? _Vous ne pouvez pas faire un sifflet de la queue d'un cochon_,"
added he, very seriously.
"_C'est vrai_; but what has that to do with the ribbon? Do you mean to
call that a pig's tail?"
"No; on the contrary, it is the wing of an angel--it was bestowed by
you. I only mean to say it would be quite impossible to go to Germany
without this ribbon. It is our talisman to keep us faithful to duty;
and I am afraid we should get into mischief if we went without it.
Every member will wear his decoration. But, Miss Arbuckle, I think you
ought to wear the white ribbon also."
"I!"
"Certainly. You are the Grand Protectress of the order. Do wear it,
Miss Arbuckle, with a rosette, to indicate your superior rank. It would
please all the members very much."
"I will, if you desire it," replied Grace, more seriously.
"We all desire it."
"It shall be done, if you wish it."
"Thanks."
Grace tripped lightly down the stairs to the cabin, but presently
returned, wearing the white ribbon, surmounted by a very tasty rosette,
composed of white, blue, and yellow ribbons, to denote the several
degrees of the order. Paul was in raptures, and when the ship's company
saw the decoration she wore, they saluted her with three rousing
cheers, which she gracefully acknowledged.
"We must perpetuate this order, Shuffles," said Paul, as they stood in
the presence of the Grand Protectress.
"I think we must," replied the captain.
"We will organize more systematically when we have time."
"And have a suitable emblem to distinguish the members."
"The white ribbon must not be discarded," protested Paul, glancing at
Grace.
"Certainly not; but we will have a gold anchor, say, from which the
ribbon shall be suspended," added Shuffles. "On the anchor shall be
engraved the single word FAITHFUL."
"And '_Vous ne pouvez pas faire_,' &c.," laughed Paul. "I think we
must ask the Grand Protectress for a suitable emblem."
"You have great confidence in me, and I will give the subject faithful
consideration," said Grace.
"Our motto is an excellent one, I think," continued Paul. "To us it
will always mean that you cannot redress a wrong by resorting to
dishonorable measures."
The conversation was interrupted by the call to breakfast. Before the
meal was finished, the steamer that was to convey the party on shore
came alongside. By the time she had made fast, and run out her planks,
the boatswain piped, "All hands, on deck with bags, to go ashore." The
stewards conveyed the baggage of the Arbuckles on board, and the ship's
company marched in single file to the deck of the steamer. There were
no turbulent spirits among them, and everything was done in order. In
due time the party reached the railroad station, and seated themselves
in the special cars, which had been provided for their use.
The Arbuckles, Dr. Winstock, Paul, and Shuffles occupied one
compartment of a carriage, and, as usual, the pleasant and
well-informed surgeon of the ship, who had been a very extensive
traveller, was a living encyclopædia for the party. The course of the
train was through Brittany, of which Dr. Winstock had much to say. It
is a poor country, not unlike Scotland, though it has no high
mountains. The lower order of the people wear quaint costumes, and have
hardly changed their manners and customs for three hundred years.
"Do you see that building in the churchyard?" said the doctor, as he
pointed out the window.
"What is it--the hearse-house?" asked Paul.
"No; I think they don't use hearses much here. It is a bone-house."
"A what!" exclaimed Shuffles.
"A bone-house, or _reliquaire_. The poor people in this part of France
are very ignorant and superstitious. _Requiescat in pace_, so far as
the mortal remains of their dead are concerned, has no meaning to them,
for they do not let them rest quietly in their graves, as we do. After
the bodies of the deceased have gone to decay, the skulls and bones are
removed from the coffins, and placed in the bone-house. The names, or
the initials, of the departed are painted upon the forehead of the
skull."
"How horrible!" exclaimed Grace.
"Doubtless it is so to you; but to these people it is an act of
affectionate remembrance," added the doctor; "as sacred and pious as
any tribute we render to our loved and lost ones."
Dr. Winstock continued to describe the various places through which the
train passed, answering the many questions proposed by his interested
auditors. At noon they arrived at Rennes, where the excursionists
lunched, and some of them, perhaps at the expense of the inner man,
were enterprising enough to see a little of the city, which contains
forty thousand inhabitants, and was the ancient capital of the dukedom
of Brittany.
"This is Laval," said the doctor, an hour and a half after the train
left Rennes.
"See there!" exclaimed Grace, pointing to a man clothed in goatskins,
the hair outside. "Is that Robinson Crusoe?"
"No; that is the fashion for the peasants in this part of Brittany.
They don't depend upon Paris for the _mode_. I suppose you have all
heard of the Vendéan war."
"Yes, sir. The people of La Vendée were royalists, and fought against
the republicans as long as there was anything left of them," replied
Paul.
"La Vendée lies south of the Loire; but one of their greatest battles
was fought near Laval, in 1793. They conducted themselves with fearful
desperation, and after the republicans had sent word, as the battle
waned, to the Convention at Paris, that La Vendée was no more, the
wounded leader of the insurgents was carried through their ranks, and
they rallied, gaining the day in a decisive victory, by which the
government troops lost twelve thousand men."
Fifty-six miles farther brought the excursionists to Le Mans, where the
Vendéan army was finally destroyed by the forces of General Marceau.
The carnage was terrible, and extended even to the massacre of many of
the wives and children of the royalists. An obelisk to the memory of
the republican general, who was born at Le Mans, informs the reader
that he was a soldier at sixteen, a general at twenty-three, and died
when he was twenty-seven.
At Chartres, forty-seven miles from Paris, the train stopped half an
hour, and the party had an opportunity to see the cathedral, the most
magnificent in France, and one of the most ancient. It is four hundred
and twenty-five feet long. Henry IV. was crowned in it in 1594, for the
reason that Rheims, where coronations formerly took place, was in
possession of the Leaguers.
At seven o'clock, the train arrived in Paris, and the party hastened to
the lodgings which had been engaged for them. In the evening they
attended the grand opera, at the invitation of Mr. Arbuckle, and the
next morning proceeded to Strasburg. After a short delay, the party
continued the journey, crossing the Rhine into Germany, and halting at
Offenburg, a small town, where hotel accommodations had been bespoken.
After supper, the excursionists were collected in a large room, and
Professor Mapps took a position in front of them.
"Young gentlemen, where are we?" he asked.
"In Germany."
"Very true, but rather indefinite," added the professor.
"In Baden," said Paul Kendall, who, as usual, had taken pains to study
up the situation.
"In the Grand Duchy of Baden."
"What is a Grand Duchy?" inquired one of the students, who was
doubtless bothered, as others have been, by the varying titles of the
German states.
"It is a territory having an independent local government. There is no
reason why it should be called a Grand Duchy, unless it is because it
is larger than a simple Duchy, though this rule does not always hold
good, for the Duchy of Brunswick has double the territory and double
the population of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The titles
of the states seem to be entirely arbitrary, and, according to the
fancy of their rulers, they were called kingdoms, principalities,
electorates, palatinates, margraviates, Grand Duchies, or Duchies. The
Grand Duchy of Baden is larger than the Kingdom of Saxony. These
designations have been occasionally changed, as the states increased in
size, or as their rulers desired a grander title. In 1803 Baden was a
margraviate of one fourth its present extent. Napoleon gave the title
of Elector, and afterwards of Grand Duke, to the Margrave Charles
Frederick, as his territory was increased.
"Baden has about six thousand square miles, or is about equal in size
to Rhode Island and Connecticut united. It has a population of one
million three hundred thousand, which has hardly increased during the
last fifty years, for the reason that so many of its people have
emigrated to the United States. The country is mountainous, and
contains the Schwarzwald. What does that mean?"
"The Black Forest," replied several.
"A mountainous region, which has been the paradise of story-tellers.
The highest peak is the Feldberg, forty-six hundred and fifty feet
high. Its principal river is the Rhine, which forms its western and
southern boundary, and has many branches in this country. The Neckar is
the largest, crossing Baden in the north. The river which you observed
in this place is the Kinzig. The Danube, which the Germans call the
Donau, rises in Baden. In the south-east the country borders on Lake
Constance, or, in German, Boden See. The climate is salubrious, but it
is cold in the mountains, where they have snow during the greater part
of the year.
"Baden is divided into four circles, or provinces, which are again
divided into bailiwicks, or counties, and communes, or towns. Two
thirds of the people are Roman Catholics; the rest are Protestant, with
a sprinkling of Jews, who are found in all parts of Germany. There is a
Catholic university at Freiburg, and a Protestant one at Heidelberg,
which is so celebrated that it has not a few American students. There
are two thousand common schools, and several establishments of higher
grade.
"The government is an hereditary constitutional monarchy, the Grand
Duke being the sovereign. It has a legislative body, composed of two
chambers, the upper of which consists of the nobility and members
appointed by the Grand Duke, and the lower of sixty-eight deputies,
chosen indirectly by the people. But I do not think it is necessary to
describe, at any great length, these small German states, and I give
you Baden as a specimen of what most of them are."
The next morning the company took the train for Freiburg, and in a
couple of hours reached their destination, where they immediately
divided themselves into small parties, in order to see the cathedral,
or minster, and other sights, within the allotted time. Those who
travelled in the same compartment of the railway carriage usually came
together on these occasions for the same reason that united them on the
road. Paul Kendall zealously placed himself at the side of Grace,
though she was as impartial as a just judge between him and the captain
of the ship.
The minster is a Gothic church, and almost the only one in Germany
which is actually finished. It was commenced in the twelfth century,
and one of the princes of Zähringen, from whom the present Grand Duke
is descended, contributed largely to the vast expense; but it would
probably have been unfinished, like many similar grand structures, if
the people of Freiburg had not taxed themselves to the utmost, and made
great sacrifices to insure its completion. The spire is of beautiful
fret-work, nearly four hundred feet high. The interior is grand, and
something about it gives the beholder a peculiar feeling of
solemnity--perhaps the thought that men have worshipped there for six
hundred years. It contains some choice paintings, which are carefully
cherished as the productions of the old masters. A glance at the
university, the Kaufhaus, the statue of Schwarz, the inventor of
gunpowder, and a walk around the _Schlossberg_, or Castle Hill, which
commands a splendid view of the Black Forest Mountains, exhausted the
place, and at the time appointed the party reassembled at the railroad
station, where Mr. Arbuckle had gathered together half a dozen
diligences, in which the company were to proceed to Schaffhausen, in
Switzerland. He knew how much interest the story-readers feel in the
Black Forest, and as the party had already visited Basle, he proposed
to take his charge across the country, which would enable them to see
some of the finest mountain scenery in Germany, and more of the manners
and customs of the people than could be observed in the large towns on
the railroad. He had already sent forward his courier to make
preparations for the accommodation of his party.
Two days were to be occupied in reaching the Rhine. The first part of
the journey was over a level plain highly cultivated. The road soon
begins to ascend; and this locality is called _Himmelreich_, or Heaven,
to distinguish it by contrast from the _Höllenthal_, or Valley of Hell,
a deep and romantic gorge which lies beyond. The students enjoyed the
scenery, and those who were disposed, walked for miles up the long
hills, to the great satisfaction of the driver. The students of the
German language had abundant opportunities to practise their gutturals,
and none but sufferers know what a pleasure it is to have a genuine
native understand their sentences.
The pedestrians made brief halts at the water-mills, houses, and fields
on the way, and were invariably treated with the utmost kindness and
consideration. "_Bitte, geben sie mir ein Glas Wasser_," was repeated
so many times that all understood it. The fact that they were Americans
insured them a warm welcome, and many an inquiry was made for "_meinem
Sohn_ in Amerika." The "walkists" enjoyed this intercourse with the
people so much that they walked till they were unnecessarily fatigued.
"_Bitte, geben sie mir Geld_," said a German, stepping up to the
carriage which contained Dr. Winstock, and those who were so careful to
keep near him.
He was a young man, with a big pipe in his mouth, a big stick in his
hand, and a big knapsack on his back. He was pretty well dressed, and
was in company with three others, who asked for money in like manner of
different persons of the party. The doctor asked him a few questions,
and then gave him two or three kreutzers, which he accepted with many
thanks.
"Those are very respectable beggars," said Paul, as the man left the
diligence.
"They are not beggars, but _handwerksburschen_."
"What are they?"
"Travelling journeymen. No apprentice can obtain his freedom, and be
competent to set up in business for himself, till he has spent several
years in travelling, and in working at his trade in foreign countries.
This is to increase his knowledge and his skill, and you will see
hundreds of them on the roads all over Germany. They become, under this
system, very skilful workmen, for they learn the various methods of
work in different countries. They often understood two or three
languages besides their own. They keep a kind of diary of their travels
in a book furnished to them by the trade-society to which they belong,
in which also their employers write testimonials of their good conduct.
It is often the case that they cannot obtain work, and are compelled to
ask charity on the roads. It is a hard life to lead, but it produces
skilful mechanics."
"What was that man's trade?" asked Grace.
"He is a baker."
At a solitary inn in Steig the party found a dinner ready for them,
consisting mainly of trout, which were very nice. From this point the
road went up a steep hill, which required an extra horse to each
diligence, though most of the boys walked up. At Neustadt, a town of
fifteen hundred inhabitants, vast numbers of wooden clocks are
manufactured, and the raising of singing birds is a common occupation.
Just before sunset the excursionists arrived at Donaueschingen, where
they were to spend the night. The place contains about three thousand
inhabitants, and is the residence of Prince Fürstenberg, who was one of
the mediatized sovereigns--his territory having by treaty been assigned
to Baden.
A walk to his palace was immediately taken by the tourists. It is a
plain modern edifice, with an extensive garden, which the travellers
were permitted to visit. In one corner a circular basin was pointed out
to them by their guide. The water, clear as crystal, bubbled up from a
spring in the bottom, and was conveyed from the basin, by an
underground tunnel, into the Briegach, a stream which flows down from
the mountains.
"This spring is said to be the source of the Danube," said Dr.
Winstock. "From this point the stream takes the name of Danube, though
that into which it flows comes from miles away."
"'Large streams from little fountains flow,'" replied Paul.
"Yes; and from a great many of them," added the surgeon. "The country
in this vicinity is like a sponge, it is so full of springs, which feed
the great river. The Neckar rises a few miles north of us. We are,
therefore, on the summit of the water-shed of Europe; for of two drops
of rain which fall side by side near us, one may find its way into the
Danube, and be carried down to the Black Sea, while the other, by the
Neckar and the Rhine, may reach the North Sea."
The students wandered about the town till it was too dark to see
anything, and most of them were tired enough to sleep, even under the
feather beds which the Germans insist upon using as a coverlet. In the
morning the journey was renewed in the diligences. The scenery was
still very fine, and from the top of a high hill called the Rande, the
students obtained a splendid view of the mountains of Switzerland, of
the broad expanse of Lake Constance, and the towers of the city.
Descending the long hill, the tourists entered Switzerland, and at five
o'clock were set down at the Schweitzer Hof in Schaffhausen, near the
falls.
The students had been riding so long that they were glad to be at
liberty again, and hastened into the hotel gardens, which extend down
to the river. It was rather late to visit the falls, and the company
were piped together around a kind of kiosk, in which Professor Mapps
presented himself.
"Do not be alarmed, young gentlemen," said the instructor, good-naturedly.
"I will not detain you long, but I am reminded that I have not given
you the Rhine in detail. Here on its banks, and in sight of its
grandest cataract, I will say a few words to you about it. The river
rises in two small lakes in the mountains near St. Gothard, seventy-five
hundred feet above the sea. It descends four thousand feet in going
twelve miles. Fifty miles from its source, at Reicherau, it is two
hundred and fifty feet wide, and becomes navigable for river boats. Its
volume of waters is continually increased by the flow from its
branches, till it discharges itself into Lake Constance, which may be
regarded as a widening of the river.
[Illustration: THE ADVENTURE ON LAKE CONSTANCE.--Page 227.]
"The lake is forty-four miles long and nine miles wide. Its greatest
depth is nine hundred and sixty-four feet. Its waters are dark-green in
color, and very clear. Twenty-five different kinds of fish are
mentioned as caught in the lake. It is navigated by steamers, eight or
ten of which ply between the various ports, and carry on considerable
commerce. It is thirteen hundred and forty-four feet above the level of
the sea.
"The Rhine issues from the lake at Constance, and flowing a few miles
westward, again expands into the Unter See, which is thirty feet lower
than the upper lake. It gradually contracts till the stream is about
three hundred feet wide at this point. Steamers formerly ran from
Constance to Schaffhausen; but since the completion of the railroad
they have discontinued their trips. The falls which you see, and will
visit on Monday morning, are seventy feet high. Below the cataract the
river is navigable for boats without obstacles as far as Laufenburg,
where its width is reduced to fifty feet, and its waters rush down a
series of rapids. Here boats ascend and descend by the aid of ropes,
after their cargoes have been discharged. At this place the young Lord
Montague, the last male of his line, was drowned while his boat was
descending the rapids in this manner. On the same day his family
mansion in England was destroyed by fire. From this point to Basle the
fall is only fifty feet.
"From Basle to Mayence, a distance of two hundred miles, the Rhine
flows in a northerly direction. The current is very swift as far as
Strasburg, to which place it is navigable for vessels of one hundred
tons, though they are "tracked" by horses on the upward passage. The
bed of the river is wide in this part, and contains numerous islands.
At Mayence the course of the river changes to west, and again at Bingen
to the north-west, where the mountains again force it into a narrow
channel; and for fifty miles the stream flows through a beautiful
region, where the hills extend to its very banks, and many of their
summits are crowned with old castles. Below Cologne, the Rhine runs
through a low and flat country. The lower part of the river I have
already described in Holland."
The professor finished his brief lecture, and the party spent the rest
of the day in wandering about the garden, and in watching the flow of
the mighty river, as it tumbled over the precipice. The next day was
Sunday, and the excursionists attended church at the town three miles
distant. On Monday morning the tourists crossed the bridge, and
hastened to the garden of the Castle of Laufen, where were platforms,
stagings and kiosks, for the convenience of visitors, which afford the
best views of the cataract. One of these balconies projects out over
the fall, and the party gathered on this, and beclouded with mist and
spray, gazed at the wild rush of waters. Two rocks on the precipice
separate the cataract into three divisions. Below is a semi-circular
basin, whose waters are lashed into a heavy sea by the plunging torrent
which falls into it. Boats ply between the foot of the rock on which
the Castle of Laufen stands and a square tower on the opposite shore.
These light craft make heavy weather of it, but with ordinary caution
they are safe enough.
There was nothing else to see at Schaffhausen, and the excursionists
took the train for Constance. The last portion of the trip was on the
banks of the Unter See, separated from the main body of the lake by a
peninsula. The ride was less than two hours, and the party reached the
"Goldener Adler" in time for dinner. Most of the Swiss hotels serve two
or three dinners, _table d'hôte_, every day, the first being at one,
and the last at five o'clock, the prices of which are from three to
five francs.
"Young gentlemen, in what country is Constance?" asked Professor Mapps,
when the party had assembled to visit the objects of interest in the
town.
"In Switzerland."
"No."
"We certainly crossed the Rhine on an iron bridge, when we came into
the place," replied one of the students.
"That is very true, but Constance belongs to the Grand Duchy of Baden.
It was formerly a free city, but was annexed to Austria in 1549, and
ceded to Baden in 1805. It once had forty thousand inhabitants, but now
has only eight thousand. It is a very old city, as you may judge from
the buildings you have already seen, many of which are just as they
were four hundred years ago. The town is of great historical interest."
"What was the Council of Constance, sir?" asked one of the students.
"I will tell you when we visit the Kaufhaus," replied the professor.
Attended by several guides, the excursionists walked to the minster, a
Gothic structure founded in the eleventh century, but rebuilt in the
sixteenth. The guides indicated the spot where Huss stood when
sentenced to be burned to death. From this church the party went to the
Kaufhaus.