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22 chapters
THE GIRLHOOD SERIES.
THE GIRLHOOD SERIES.
One of the most bright, chatty, wide-awake books of travel ever written. It abounds in information, is as pleasant reading as a story book, and full of the wit and sparkle of "An American Girl" let loose from school and ready for a frolic. "It is a thrilling story, written in a fascinating style, and the plot is adroitly handled." It might be placed in any Sabbath School library, so pure is it in tone, and yet it is so free from the mawkishness and silliness that mar the class of books usually f
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ABOARD THE STEAMER.
ABOARD THE STEAMER.
The time of departure arrived. We said the two little words that bring so many tears and heartaches, and ran up on the deck with the rain in our faces, and something that was not all rain in our eyes, for one last look at our friends; but they were hidden from sight. There comes to me a dim recollection of attempting to mount to an inaccessible place: of clinging to wet ropes with the intention of seeing the last of the land; of thinking it, after a time, a senseless proceeding, and of resigning
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FIRST DAYS IN ENGLAND.
FIRST DAYS IN ENGLAND.
The Mersey tender (a tender mercy to some) puffed out to meet us, and we descended the plank as those who turn away from home, leaving much of our thoughts, and something of our hearts, within the ship. It had been such a place of rest, of blessed idleness! Only when our feet touched the wharf did we take up the burden of life again. There were the meeting of friends, in which we had no part; the maelstrom of horses, and carts, and struggling humanity, in which we found a most unwilling place; a
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EXCURSIONS FROM LONDON.
EXCURSIONS FROM LONDON.
For two busy weeks we rattled over the flat pavings of the city in the low, one-horse cabs. We climbed towers, we descended into crypts, we examined tombstones, we gazed upon mummies. Everything was new, strange, and wonderful, even to the little boys in the street, who, as well as the omnibus drivers, were decked out in tall silk hats—a piece of absurdity in one case, and extravagance in the other, to our minds. The one-horse carriages rolled about upon two wheels; the occupants, like cross chi
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SIGHT-SEEING IN LONDON.
SIGHT-SEEING IN LONDON.
To appreciate all this, you should see it—as we did one chilly May morning. We huddled about the stove in the waiting-room upon the site of the old royal menagerie, our companions a round man, with a limp gingham cravat and shabby coat, a little old woman in a poke bonnet, and half a dozen or more schoolboys from the country. A tall Yankee of inquiring mind joined us as we sallied from the door, led by a guide gorgeous in ruff and buckles, cotton velvet and gilt lace, and with all these glories
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AWAY TO PARIS.
AWAY TO PARIS.
"Weddin' party, zur," explained the guard, touching his cap to our friend. "Jus' come down in fly." They looked to us a good deal more as if they were just going up in a "fly." The train shrieked into the station, and we were soon rushing over the road to New Haven, from which, in an evil moment, we had planned to cross the Channel. There was little new or strange in the picture seen from our window. The cottages were now of a dull, clay color, instead of the dingy red we had observed before, as
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THE PARIS OF 1869.
THE PARIS OF 1869.
Our first expedition was to the banker's and to the shops, and having replenished our purse and wardrobe, we were prepared to besiege the city. There was a day or two of rest in the gilded chairs, cushioned with blue satin, of our pretty salon , whence we peeped down upon the street below between the yellow satin curtains that draped its wide French window; or rolled our eyes meditatively to the delicately tinted ceiling, with its rose-colored clouds skimmed by tiny, impossible birds; or made ab
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SIGHTS IN THE BEAUTIFUL CITY.
SIGHTS IN THE BEAUTIFUL CITY.
As for the tapestry, pray don't confound it with the worsted dogs and Rebekahs-at-the-Well with which we sometimes adorn (?) our homes, since one would never in any way suggest the other. In these every delicate line is faithfully reproduced, and the effect exactly that of an oil painting. After long years the colors fade; and we were startled sometimes, in the old palaces, to come upon one of these gray shadows of pictures, out from which, perhaps, a pair of wonderful eyes alone would seem to s
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SHOW PLACES IN THE SUBURBS OF PARIS.
SHOW PLACES IN THE SUBURBS OF PARIS.
At noon we strolled over to St. Cloud, a pleasant walk of a mile, beginning with a shaded avenue, rough as a country road; then on, down a street leading to the gates of the park of St. Cloud—a street so vain of its destination that it was actually lifted up above the gardens on either side. From the wide gates we passed into a labyrinth of shaded, clean-swept ways, and followed one to the avenue of the fountains, where we sat upon the edge of a stone basin to await the opening of the palace. Fo
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A VISIT TO BRUSSELS.
A VISIT TO BRUSSELS.
Almost as soon as the line between France and Belgium is passed, the low hills drop away, the thatch-roofed cottages give place to those of whitewashed brick, with bright, red-tiled roofs. All along the way were the straight poplars overrun with ivy, and the land was cared for, coaxed, and fairly driven to the highest point of cultivation. Women were at work in the fields, and more than one Maud Müller leaned upon her rake to gaze after us. Soon, when there were only level fields beneath a level
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WATERLOO AND THROUGH BELGIUM.
WATERLOO AND THROUGH BELGIUM.
We left the house after breakfast, and passed through the wide, delightful avenues of the Forêt de Soignes,—the Bois de Boulogne of Brussels,—then across the peaceful country which seemed never to have known anything so disturbing as war. Beyond the park lies the village which gave its name to the battle-field though the thickest of the fight was not there. In an old brick church, surmounted by a dome, lie intombed many minor heroes of the conflict. But heroes soon pall upon the taste, and nothi
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A TRIP THROUGH HOLLAND.
A TRIP THROUGH HOLLAND.
When we reached Rotterdam, how strange it was to find, instead of a row of houses across from our hotel, a wharf and a row of ships! Such a great, comfortable room as awaited us! with deep, wide arm-chairs, a heavy round table suggesting endless teas, and toast unlimited, and everything else after the same hearty, substantial manner. There was no paper upon the walls, but, in its place, paintings upon canvas. Delilah sat over the mantel, with the head of the sleeping Samson in her lap, and Rebek
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THE RHINE AND RHENISH PRUSSIA.
THE RHINE AND RHENISH PRUSSIA.
We reached Cologne at noon the next day. The road makes a détour through the plain, so that, for some time before gaining it, we could see the city nestling under the wings of the great cathedral. How can I tell you anything about it? If I say that it is five times the length of any church you know, and that the towers, when completed, are to be the same height as the length, will my words bring to you any conception of its size? If I say that it was partially built a couple of centuries before
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DAYS IN SWITZERLAND.
DAYS IN SWITZERLAND.
Beautiful was the lake in the hazy morning light, when the hills cast purple and green shadows over its bosom, when the breeze rippled its surface, and the path in the wake of the little steamer widened into an endless way; beautiful in the glare of the noonday sun, when a veil of mist half hid the far-off mountains, and the water gleamed like molten gold; but most beautiful of all when the mountains wrapped themselves in the shadows of night, and stole away into the darkness, while upon their w
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AMONG THE EVERLASTING HILLS.
AMONG THE EVERLASTING HILLS.
To gain the long, low refectory where we dined, or to pass from one room to another, necessitated crossing the brick-paved cloisters, upon which all the doors of the second story opened. Here a row of columns encircled a narrow, inner court-yard—so narrow as to be nothing more than a slit in the walls, yet wide enough to allow the shimmering sunlight to drop down upon the vines twined around the columns, and light the whole dingy interior into a weird, strange beauty. We rode out to the Falls of
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LAST DAYS IN SWITZERLAND.
LAST DAYS IN SWITZERLAND.
The most charming sight in the city, to us, was our own names upon the waiting letters here. In truth, there are no sights in Geneva. Tourists visit the city because they have been or are going elsewhere, beyond. If they pause, it is to rest or buy the jewelry so far-famed. To be sure the view from almost any window opening upon the blue Rhone is pleasing, crossed by various bridges as it is, one of which touches Rousseau's Island. But our heads by this time were as full of views as that of a Bo
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BACK TO PARIS ALONE.
BACK TO PARIS ALONE.
Our pleasant party was to break up. The friends in whose care we had been so long, were off for Germany, and Mrs. K. and I must turn our faces towards home. We were to renew our early and brief experience in travelling alone. It had been as limited as our French, which consisted principally of " Est-ce que vous avez? " followed by a pantomimic display that would have done credit to a professional, and " Quel est le prix? " succeeded by the blankest amazement, since we could seldom, if ever, unde
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LEE AND SHEPARD'S HANDBOOKS.
LEE AND SHEPARD'S HANDBOOKS.
This little book is being rapidly introduced into schools as a text-book. The cyclones of our great West, the whirlwinds of the desert, every thing in the shape of storms, scientifically and popularly treated. "It cannot but be valuable to the student of science as well as to the professors of religion, and tends to bring them closer together, and reconcile them."— Potter's Monthly. "It condenses into fifty pages what one would have to wander through a small chemical library to find. We commend
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TROPHIES OF TRAVEL.
TROPHIES OF TRAVEL.
"Out of the beaten track" in its course of travel, record of adventures, and descriptions of life in Greenland, Labrador, Ireland, Scotland, England, France, Holland, Russia, Asia, Siberia, and Alaska. Its hero is young, bold, and adventurous; and the book is in every way interesting and attractive. This story, though essentially a work of fiction, is filled with interesting and truthful descriptions of the curious ways of living of the good people of the land of the rising sun. "A book full of
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HARRY W. FRENCH'S BOOKS.
HARRY W. FRENCH'S BOOKS.
"The Only One" is a powerful story, dealing with the lights and shadows of life in America, Naples, and Persia. Written in a dashing style, sometimes deeply tragic, at others humorous in the extreme, it presents pictures of human life that attract and interest by their naturalness and vividness. "A novel of remarkable power, and strangely unlike any yet written by an American. There is something in the beauty and intensity of expression that reminds one of Bulwer in his best days."— Cincinnati C
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Miss Virginia F. Townsend's Books.
Miss Virginia F. Townsend's Books.
"Another novel by the author of 'A Woman's Word' and 'Lenox Dare,' will be warmly welcomed by hosts of readers of Miss Townsend's stories. There is nothing of the 'sensational,' or so-called realistic, school in her writings. On the contrary, they are noted for their healthy moral tone and pure sentiment, and yet are not wanting in striking situations and dramatic incidents ."— Chicago Journal. "Her stories, always sunny and healthful, touch the springs of social life, and make the reader better
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LEE AND SHEPARD'S DOLLAR NOVELS.
LEE AND SHEPARD'S DOLLAR NOVELS.
This work was published as a serial in "The Boston Globe," and made a sensation. It will have a large sale in its new dress. "This novel is one that has come into American literature to stay."— Boston Post. "Spirited, fresh, clean-cut, and deeply thoughtful."— Boston Gazette. The latest work of fiction from the pen of Alphonse Daudet, and derives its main interest from the generally accepted belief that the hero of the novel is really Gambetta, the French statesman. Mrs. Denison is well known as
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