ROLLO IN SCOTLAND, BY

 JACOB ABBOTT. 

 BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY TAGGARD AND THOMPSON. M DCCC LXIV. 

 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by

 JACOB ABBOTT, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 

 STEREOTYPED AT THE BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY

 RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY H. O. HOUGHTON. 

 [Illustration: THE PICNIC. See page 133. ]

 [Illustration; ROLLO'S TOUR IN EUROPE TAGGARD & THOMPSON. Publishers Boston. ]

 CONTENTS. 

 CHAPTER PAGE

 I. --THE BOY THAT WAS NOT LOADED, 11

 II. --DISTRICTS OF SCOTLAND, 32

 III. --ARRIVAL AT GLASGOW, 44

 IV. --THE EXPEDITION PLANNED, 57

 V. --DOWN THE CLYDE, 65

 VI. --WALKS ABOUT GLASGOW, 73

 VII. --ENTERING THE HIGHLANDS, 79

 VIII. --ROWERDENNAN INN, 91

 IX. --THE TOUR OF THE TROSSACHS, 110

 X. --STIRLING, 122

 XI. --LOCH LEVEN, 135

 XII. --EDINBURGH, 157

 XIII. --THE PALACE OF HOLYROOD, 174

 XIV. --QUEEN MARY'S APARTMENTS, 188

 XV. --EDINBURGH CASTLE, 207

 XVI. --CONCLUSION, 216

 ENGRAVINGS. 

 PAGE

 THE PICNIC FRONTISPIECE. 

 STIRLING CASTLE, 10

 ODD OR EVEN, 21

 THE COFFEE ROOM, 61

 THE SHETLAND PONY, 87

 VIEWING THE SCENERY OF LOCH LOMOND, 97

 THE BOYS ON THE BRIDGE, 112

 LOCH LEVEN, 147

 SCOTT'S MONUMENT, 177

 THE CORNER TOWER OF THE PALACE OF HOLYROOD, 189

 QUEEN MARY'S BEDROOM, 193

 QUEEN ELIZABETH ON PARADE, 204

 ROLLO'S TOUR IN EUROPE. 

 ORDER OF THE VOLUMES

 ROLLO ON THE ATLANTIC. ROLLO IN PARIS. ROLLO IN SWITZERLAND. ROLLO IN LONDON. ROLLO ON THE RHINE. ROLLO IN SCOTLAND. ROLLO IN GENEVA. ROLLO IN HOLLAND. ROLLO IN NAPLES. ROLLO IN ROME. 

 PRINCIPAL PERSONS OF THE STORY. 

 ROLLO; twelve years of age. MR. And MRS. HOLIDAY; Rollo's father and mother, travelling in Europe. THANNY; Rollo's younger brother. JANE; Rollo's cousin, adopted by Mr. And Mrs. Holiday. MR. GEORGE; a young gentleman, Rollo's uncle. 

 [Illustration: STIRLING CASTLE. ]

ROLLO IN SCOTLAND. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE BOY THAT WAS NOT LOADED. 

In the course of his travels in Europe, Rollo went with his uncle Georgeone summer to spend a fortnight in Scotland. 

There are several ways of going into Scotland from England. One way isto take a steamer from Liverpool, and go up the Clyde to Glasgow. Thiswas the route that Mr. George and Rollo took. 

On the way from Liverpool to Glasgow, Rollo became acquainted with a boynamed Waldron Kennedy. Waldron was travelling with his father and motherand two sisters. His sisters were mild and gentle girls, and always keptnear their mother; but Waldron seemed to be always getting intodifficulty, or mischief. He was just about Rollo's age, but was a littletaller. He was a very strong boy, and full of life and spirits. He wasvery venturesome, too, and he was continually frightening his mother bygetting himself into what seemed to her dangerous situations. Onemorning, when she came up on deck, just after the steamer entered themouth of the Clyde, she almost fainted away at seeing Waldron half wayup the shrouds. He was poising himself there on one of the ratlines, resting upon one foot, and holding on with only one hand. 

To prevent his doing such things, Waldron's mother kept him under theclosest possible restraint, and would hardly let him go away from herside. She watched him, too, very closely all the time, and worried himwith perpetual cautions. It was always, "Waldron, don't do this, " or, "Waldron, you must not do that, " or, "Waldron, don't go there. " Thisconfinement made Waldron very restless and uneasy; so that, on thewhole, both he himself and his mother, too, had a very uncomfortabletime of it. 

"He worries my life out of me, " she used to say, "and spoils all thepleasure of my tour. O, if he were only a girl!"

Mr. George had been acquainted with Mr. Kennedy and his family in NewYork, and they were all very glad to meet him on board the steamer. 

On the morning after the steamer entered the mouth of the Clyde, Mrs. Kennedy and her daughters were sitting on a settee upon the deck, withbooks in their hands. From time to time they read in these books, and inthe intervals they looked at the scenery. Waldron stood near them, leaning in a listless manner on the railing. Rollo came up to the place, and accosted Waldron, saying, --

"Come, Waldron, come with me. "

"Hush!" said Waldron, in a whisper. "You go out there by the paddle boxand wait a moment, till my mother begins to look on her book again, andthen I'll steal away and come. "

But Rollo never liked to obtain any thing by tricks and treachery, andso he turned to Mrs. Kennedy, and, in a frank and manly manner, said, --

"Mrs. Kennedy, may Waldron go away with me a little while?"

"Why, I am afraid, Rollo, " said Mrs. Kennedy. "He always gets into somemischief or other the moment he is out of my sight. "

"O, we shall be under my uncle George's care, " said Rollo. "I am goingout there where he is sitting. "

"Well, " said Mrs. Kennedy, hesitating, and looking very timid, --"well, Waldron may go a little while. But, Waldron, you must be sure and stayby Mr. George, or, at least, not go any where without his leave. "

"Yes, " said Waldron, "I will. "

So he and Rollo went away, and walked leisurely towards the place whereMr. George was sitting. 

"I am glad we are coming up this river, to Greenock and Glasgow, " saidWaldron. 

"Why?" asked Rollo. 

"Because of the steamboats, " said Waldron. 

"Do they build a great many steamboats in Greenock and Glasgow?" askedRollo. 

"Yes, " said Waldron; "this is the greatest place for building steamboatsin the world. "

"Except New York, " said Rollo. 

"O, of course, except New York, " replied Waldron. "But they build allthe big English steamers in this river. All the Cunarders were builthere, and they have got some of the best machine shops and founderieshere that there are in the world. I should like to go all about and seethem, if I could only get away from my mother. "

"Why, won't she let you go?" said Rollo. 

"No, " replied Waldron, "not if she knows it. She thinks I am a littleboy, and is so afraid that I shall get _hurt_!"

Waldron pronounced the word _hurt_ in a drawling and contemptuous tone, which was so comical that Rollo could not help laughing outright. 

"I go to all the ship yards and founderies in New York whenever Iplease, " continued Waldron. "I go when she does not know it. Sometimesthe men let me help them carry out the melted iron, and pour it into themoulds. "

By this time the two boys had reached the place where Mr. George was. Hewas sitting on what is called a camp stool, and was engaged in readinghis guide book, and studying the map, with a view of finding out whatroute it would be best to take in the tour they were about making inScotland. Mr. George drew the boys into conversation with him on thesubject. His object was to become acquainted with Waldron, and find outwhat sort of a boy he was. 

"Where do you wish to go, Waldron?" said Mr. George. 

"Why, I want to stay here a good many days, " said Waldron, "to see thesteamers and the dockyards. They are building a monstrous iron ship, somewhere here. She is going to be five hundred tons bigger than theBaltic. "

"I should like to see her, " said Mr. George. 

As he said this he kept his eye upon his map, following his finger, ashe moved it about from place to place, as if he was studying out a goodway to go. 

"There is Edinburgh, " said Mr. George; "we must certainly go toEdinburgh. "

"Yes, " said Waldron, "I suppose that is a pretty great place. Besides, Iwant to see the houses twelve stories high. "

"And there is Linlithgow, " continued Mr. George, still looking upon hismap. "That is the place where Mary, Queen of Scots, was born. Waldron, would you like to go there?"

"Why, no, " said Waldron, doubtfully, "not much. I don't care much aboutthat. "

"It is a famous old ruin, " said Mr. George. 

"But I don't care much about the old ruins, " said Waldron. "If the lordsand noblemen are as rich as people say they are, I should think theywould mend them up. "

"And here, off in the western part of Scotland, " continued Mr. George, "are a great many mountains. Would you like to go and see themountains?"

"No, sir, " said Waldron, "not particularly. " Then in a moment he added, "Can we go up to the top of them, Mr. George?"

"Yes, " said Mr. George, "we can go to the top of some of them. "

"The highest?" asked Waldron. 

"Yes, " said Mr. George. "Ben Nevis, I believe, is the highest. We can goto the top of that. "

"Then I should like to go, " said Waldron, eagerly. 

"Unless, " continued Mr. George, "it should rain _too_ hard. "

"O, I should not care for the rain, " said Waldron. "It's good fun to goin the rain. "

While this conversation had been going on, Waldron had been looking thisway and that, at the various ships and steamers that were gliding abouton the water, examining carefully the building of each one, and watchingher motions. He now proposed that Rollo should go forward to the bridgewith him, where they could have a better lookout. 

"Well, " said Rollo. So the two boys went together to the bridge. 

The bridge was a sort of narrow platform, extending across the steamer, from one paddle wheel to the other, for the captain or pilot to walkupon, in order to see how the steamer was going, and to direct thesteering. When they are in the open sea any of the passengers areallowed to walk here; but in coming into port, or into a river crowdedwith shipping, then a notice is put up requesting passengers not to goupon the bridge, inasmuch as at such times it is required for theexclusive use of the captain and pilot. 

This notice was up when Waldron and Rollo reached the bridge. 

"See, " said Rollo, pointing at the notice. "We cannot go there. "

"O, never mind that, " said Waldron. "They'll let us go. They only meanthat they don't want too many there--that's all. "

But Rollo would not go. Mr. George had accustomed him, in travellingabout the world, always to obey all lawful rules and orders, andparticularly every direction of this kind which he might find in publicplaces. Some people are very much inclined to crowd upon the line ofsuch rules, and even to encroach upon them till they actually encountersome resistance to drive them back. They do this partly to show theirindependence and importance. But Mr. George was not one of this sort. 

So Rollo would not go upon the bridge. 

"Then let us go out on the forecastle, " said Waldron. He pointed, as hespoke, to the forecastle, which is a small raised deck at the bows of asteamer, where there is an excellent place to see. 

"No, " said Rollo, "I will not go on the forecastle either. UncleGeorge's rule for me on board ship is, that I may go where I see othergentlemanly passengers go, and nowhere else. The passengers do not go onthe forecastle. "

"Yes, " said Waldron, "there are some there now. "

"There is only one, " said Rollo, "and he has no business there. "

During the progress of this conversation the boys had sat down upon theupper step of a steep flight of stairs which led down from the promenadedeck to the main deck. They could see pretty well where they were, butnot so well, Waldron thought, as they could have seen from theforecastle. 

"_I_ think we might go on the forecastle as well as not, " said Waldron, "even according to your own rule. For there is a passenger there. "

"I think it is doubtful, " said Rollo. 

"Well, " said Waldron, "we'll call it doubtful. We will draw lots forit. "

So saying, Waldron put his hand in his pocket, and, after fumbling aboutthere a minute or two, took it out, and held it before Rollo with thefingers shut, so that Rollo could not see what was in it. 

"Odd or even?" said Waldron. 

Rollo looked at the closed hand, with a smile of curiosity on his face, but he did not answer. 

"Say odd or even, " continued Waldron. "If you hit, that will prove thatyou are right, and we will not go to the forecastle; but if you miss, then we _will_ go. "

Rollo hesitated a moment, not being quite sure that this was a properway of deciding a question of right and wrong. In a moment, however, heanswered, "Even. "

Waldron opened his hand, and Rollo saw that there was _nothing_ in it. 

"There, " said Waldron, "it is odd, and you said even. "

"No, " said Rollo, "it is not either even _or_ odd. There is nothing atall in your hand. "

"Well, " said Waldron, "nothing is a number, and it is odd. "

"O Waldron!" said Rollo, "it is not any number at all. Besides, if it isa number, it is not odd--it is even. "

"Yes, " said Waldron, "it is a number, for you can add it, and subtractit, and multiply it, and divide it, just as you can any other number. "

"O Waldron!" exclaimed Rollo again. "You can't do any such thing. "

[Illustration: ODD OR EVEN. ]

"Yes, " said Waldron, "I can add nothing to one, and it makes one. So, I can take nothing away from one, and it leaves one. 

"I can multiply nothing, too. I can multiply it by ten. Ten timesnothing are nothing. So I can divide it. Five in nothing no times, andnothing over. "

Rollo was somewhat perplexed by this argument, and he did not know whatto reply. Still he would not admit that nothing was a number--still lessthat it was an odd number. He did not believe, he said, that it was anynumber at all. The boys continued the discussion[A] for some time, andthen they concluded to go and refer it to Mr. George. 

[A] The conversation was a discussion, and not a dispute, for it wascalm, quiet, and good-tempered throughout. A dispute is an _angry_discussion. 

And here I ought to say that Waldron had an artful design in takingnothing in his hand, when he called upon Rollo to say, odd or even. Hedid it in order that whatever answer Rollo might give, he might attemptto prove it wrong. He was a very ingenious boy, and could as easilymaintain that nothing was even as that it was odd. Whichever Rollo hadsaid, his plan was to maintain the contrary, and so persuade him to goto the forecastle. 

Mr. George was very much pleased when the boys brought the question tohim. Indeed, almost all people are pleased when boys come to them in anamicable manner, to have their controversies settled. Then, besides, heinferred from the nature of the question that had arisen in this case, that Waldron was a boy of considerable thinking powers, or else he wouldnot have taken any interest in a purely intellectual question like this. 

"Well, " said Mr. George, "that is quite a curious question. But before Idecide it you must first both of you give me your reasons. What makesyou think nothing is an odd number, Waldron?"

"I don't know, " said Waldron, hesitating. "I think it looks kind ofodd. "

Mr. George smiled at this reason, and then asked Rollo what made himthink it was an even number. 

"I don't think it is an even number, " said Rollo. "I don't think it isany number at all. 

"However, " continued Rollo, "that is not the real question, after all. The real question is, whether we shall go on the forecastle or not, tohave a lookout. "

"No, " said Mr. George, "it is not according to etiquette at sea for thepassengers to go on the forecastle. "

"But they do, " said Waldron. 

"Yes, " said Mr. George, "they sometimes do, I know; and sometimes, underpeculiar circumstances, it is right for them to go; but as a generalrule, it is not. That is the place for the sailors to occupy in workingthe ship. It is something like the kitchen in a hotel. What should youthink of the guests at a hotel, if they went down into the kitchen tosee what was going on there?"

Rollo laughed aloud. 

"But we don't go to the forecastle to see what is going on there, " saidWaldron; "we go for a lookout--to see what is going on away ahead, onthe water. "

"True, " said Mr. George, "and that is a very important difference, Iacknowledge. I don't think my comparison holds good. "

Mr. George was always very candid in all his arguing. It is of verygreat importance that all persons should be so, especially whenreasoning with boys. It teaches _them_ to be candid. 

Just at this time Waldron's attention was attracted by the appearance ofa very large steamer, which now came suddenly into view, with its greatred funnel pouring out immense volumes of black smoke. Waldron ran overto the other side of the deck to see it. Rollo followed, and thus theexplanation which Mr. George might have given, in respect to thearithmetical nature and relations of nothing were necessarily postponedto some future time. 

 * * * * *

About half an hour after this, while Rollo was sitting by the side ofhis uncle, looking at the map, and trying to find out how soon theyshould come in sight of the famous old Castle of Dunbarton, which standson a rocky hill upon the banks of the Clyde, Mr. Kennedy came up to himto inquire if he knew where Waldron was. 

Rollo said that he did not know. He had not seen him for some time. 

"We can't find him any where, " said Mr. Kennedy. "We have looked allover the ship. His mother is half crazy. She thinks he has fallenoverboard. "

So Rollo and Mr. George both rose immediately and went off to see ifthey could find Waldron. They went in various directions, inquiring ofevery body they met if they had seen such a boy. Several people had seenhim half an hour before, when he was with Rollo; but no one knew wherehe had been since. At last, in about ten minutes, Rollo came running toMrs. Kennedy, who was walking about through the cabins in greatdistress, and said, hurriedly, "I've found him; he is safe, " and thenran off to tell Mr. Kennedy. 

Mrs. Kennedy followed him, calling out eagerly, "Where is he? Where ishe?" Rollo met Mr. Kennedy at the head of the cabin stairs, and heseemed very much rejoiced to learn that Waldron was found. Rollo led theway, and Mr. And Mrs. Kennedy followed him, until they came to a placeon the deck, pretty well forward, where there was an opening surroundedby an iron railing, through which you could look down into the holdbelow. It was very far down that you could look, and at differentdistances on the way were to be seen iron ladders going from deck todeck, and ponderous shafts, moving continually, with great clangor anddin, while at the bottom were seen the mouths of several great glowingfurnaces, with men at work shovelling coal into them. 

"There he is, " said Rollo, pointing down. 

Mr. And Mrs. Kennedy leaned over the railing and looked down, and therethey beheld Waldron, hard at work shovelling coal into the mouth of afurnace, with a shovel which he had borrowed of one of the men. In aword, Waldron had turned stoker. 

Mr. Kennedy hurried down the ladders to bring Waldron up, while Mr. George and Rollo went back to the deck. 

 * * * * *

About an hour after this Mr. Kennedy came and took a seat on a setteewhere Mr. George was sitting, and began to talk about Waldron. 

"He is the greatest plague of my life, " said Mr. Kennedy. "I don't knowwhat I shall do with him. He is continually getting into some mischief. I have shut him up a close prisoner in the state room, and I am going tokeep him there till we land. But it will do no good. It will not be anhour after he gets out before he will be in some new scrape. You know agreat deal about boys; I wish you would tell me what to do with him. "

"I think, if he was under my charge, " said Mr. George, very quietly, "Ishould _load_ him. "

"Load him?" repeated Mr. Kennedy, inquiringly. 

"Yes, " said Mr. George, "I mean I should give him a load to carry. "

"I don't understand, exactly, " said Mr. Kennedy. "What is your idea?"

"My idea is, " said Mr. George, "that a growing boy, especially if he isa boy of unusual capacity, is like a steam engine in this respect. Asteam engine must always have a load to carry, --that is, something to_employ_ and _absorb_ the force it is capable of exerting, --or else itwill break itself to pieces with it. The force _will_ expend itself onsomething, and if you don't load it with something good, it will employitself in mischief. 

"Here now is the engine of this ship, " continued Mr. George. "Its forceis conducted to the paddle wheels, where it has full employment foritself in turning the wheels against the immense resistance of thewater, and in carrying the ship along. This work is its _load_. If thisload were to be taken off, --for example, if the steamer were to belifted up out of the water so that the wheels could spin round in theair, --the engine would immediately stave itself to pieces, for want ofhaving any thing else to expend its energies upon. "

"Yes, " said Mr. Kennedy. "I have no doubt of it. "

"Now, I think, " continued Mr. George, "that it is in some sense the samewith a boy whose mental and physical powers are in good condition. Thesepowers must be employed. They hunger and thirst for employment, and ifthey don't get it in doing good they will be sure to find it in somekind of mischief. "

"Well, " said Mr. Kennedy, with a sigh, "there is a great deal in that;but what is to be done? You can't _employ_ such a boy as that. There isnothing he can do. I wish you would take him, and see if you can loadhim, as you call it. Take him with you on this tour you are going tomake in Scotland. I will put money in your hands to cover his expenses, and you may charge any thing you please beyond, for your care of him. "

"Perhaps his mother would not like such an arrangement, " said Mr. George. 

"O, yes, " replied Mr. Kennedy; "nothing would please her more. "

"And would Waldron like it himself?" asked Mr. George. 

"I presume so, " said Mr. Kennedy; "he likes any thing that is a change. "

Mr. Kennedy went down to the state room to see Waldron, and ask him whathe thought of this plan. Waldron said he should like it very much. So hewas at once liberated from his confinement, and transferred to Mr. George's charge. 

"Now, Waldron, " said Mr. George, when Waldron came to him, "I shall wantsome help from you about getting ashore from the boat. Do you think youcould go ashore with Rollo as soon as we land, and take a cab and godirectly up to the hotel, and engage rooms for us, while I am lookingout for the baggage, and getting it ready?"

"Yes, sir; yes, sir, " said Waldron, eagerly. "I can do that. What hotelshall I go to?"

"I don't know, " said Mr. George. "I don't know any thing about thehotels in Glasgow. You must find out. "

"Well, " said Waldron, "only how shall I find out?"

"I am sure _I_ don't know, " said Mr. George. "I leave it all to you andRollo. I am busy forming my plans for a tour. You and Rollo can go andtalk about it, and see if you can discover any way of finding out thename of one of the best hotels. If you can't, after trying fifteenminutes, come to me, and I will help you. "

So saying, Mr. George began to study his map again, and Waldron, apparently much pleased with his commission, said, "Come, Rollo, " andwalked away. 

CHAPTER II. 

DISTRICTS OF SCOTLAND. 

I think that Mr. George was quite right in his idea, that the trueremedy for the spirit of restlessness and mischief that Waldronmanifested was to employ him, or, as he metaphorically termed it, to_load_ him. And as this volume will, perhaps, fall into the hands ofmany parents as well as children, I will here remark that a great manygood-hearted and excellent boys fall into the same difficulty fromprecisely the same cause; namely, that they have not adequate employmentfor their mental and physical powers, which are growing andstrengthening every day, and are hungering and thirsting for the meansand opportunities of expending their energies. 

Parents are seldom aware how fast their children are growing andincreasing in strength, both of body and mind. The evidences of thisgrowth, in respect to the limbs and muscles of the body, are, indeed, obvious to the eye; and as the growth advances, we have continual proofof the pleasure which the exercise of these new powers gives to thepossessor of them. The active and boisterous plays of boys derive theirchief charm from the pleasure they feel in testing and exercising theirmuscular powers in every way. They are always running, and leaping, andwrestling, and pursuing each other, and pushing each other, and climbingup to high places, and standing on their heads, and walking on the topsof fences, and performing all other possible or conceivable feats, whichmay give them the pleasure of working, in new and untried ways, theirmuscular machinery, and feeling its increasing power, and in producingnew effects by means of it. They get themselves into continualdifficulties and dangers by these things, and cause themselves a greatdeal of suffering. Still they go on, for the intoxicating delight ofusing their powers, or, rather, the irresistible instinct which impelsthem to use them, has greater force with them than all otherconsiderations. 

We see all this very plainly in respect to the action of the limbs andorgans of the body; for it is palpably evident to our senses, and wefeel the necessity of providing safe and proper modes of expending theseenergies. Since we find, for example, that boys must kick something, wegive them a football to kick; which, being a mere ball of wind, may bekicked without doing any harm. And so with almost all the otherplaythings and sports which are devised for boys, or which they devisefor themselves. They are the means, simply, of enabling them to employtheir growing powers and expand their energies, without doing any bodyany harm. We know very well that it is not safe to leave these powersand energies unemployed. 

But we are very apt to forget that there are powers and faculties of themind, equally vigorous, and equally eager to be exercised, that oughtalso to be provided for. The strength of the will, the power ofexercising judgment and discretion, the spirit of enterprise, the loveof command, and other such mental impulses, are growing andstrengthening every day, in every healthy boy, and they are allclamorous for employment. The instinct that impels them is so strongthat they will find employment in some way or other for themselves, unless an occupation is otherwise provided for them. A very largeproportion of the acts of mischievousness and wrong which boys commitarise from this cause. Even boys who are bad enough to form a midnightscheme for robbing an orchard, are influenced mainly in perpetrating thedeed, not by the pleasure of eating the apples which they expect toobtain by it, but by the pleasure of forming a scheme, of contrivingways and means of surmounting difficulties, of watching againstsurprises, of braving dangers, of successfully attaining to a desiredend over and through a succession of obstacles interposing. This view ofthe case does not show that such deeds are right; it only shows the truenature of the wrong involved in them, and helps us in discovering andapplying the remedy. 

At least this was Mr. George's view of the case in respect to Waldron, when he heard how often he was getting into difficulty by hisadventurous and restless character. He thought that the remedy was, ashe expressed it, to _load_ him; that is, to give to the active andenterprising spirit of his mind something to expend his energies upon. It required great tact and discretion, and great knowledge of the habitsand characteristics of boyhood, to enable him to do this; but Mr. Georgepossessed these qualities in a high degree. 

But to return to the story. 

Mr. George had decided on coming into Scotland from Liverpool by water, because that was the cheapest way of getting into the heart of thecountry. And here, in order that you may understand the course ofRollo's travels, I must pause to explain the leading geographicalfeatures of the country. If you read this explanation carefully, andfollow it on the map, you will understand the subsequent narrative muchbetter than you otherwise would do. 

You will see, then, by looking at any map, that Scotland is separatedfrom England by two rivers which flow from the interior of the countryinto the sea--one towards the east, and the other towards the west. Theone on the east side is the Tweed. The Tweed forms the frontier betweenEngland and Scotland for a considerable distance, and is, therefore, often spoken of as the boundary between the two countries. Indeed, thephrase "beyond the Tweed" is often used in England to denote Scotland. In former times, when England and Scotland were independent kingdoms, incessant wars were carried on across this border, and incursions weremade by the chieftains from each realm into the territories of theother, and castles were built on many commanding points to defend theground. The ruins of many of these old castles still remain. 

On the western side of the island the boundary between England andScotland is formed by a very wide river, or rather river's mouth, calledSolway Frith. Between this Solway Frith and the Tweed, the boundarywhich separates the two countries runs along the summit of a range ofhills. This range of hills thus forms a sort of neck of high land, whichprevents the Tweed and the Solway Frith from cutting Scotland off fromEngland altogether, and making a separate island of it. 

About seventy or eighty miles to the northward of the boundary the landis almost cut in two again by two other rivers, with broad mouths, whichrise pretty near together in the interior of the country, and flow--oneto the east and the other to the west--into the two seas. 

These rivers are the Forth and the Clyde. The Forth flows to the east, and has a very wide estuary, [B] as you will see by the map. The Clyde, on the other hand, flows to the west. Its estuary is long and crooked. 

[B] An estuary is a sort of bay, produced by the widening of a river atits mouth. Scotland is remarkable for the estuaries which are formed atthe mouths of its rivers. They are called there _friths_. 

The Forth and the Clyde, with their estuaries, almost cut Scotland intwo; and by means of them ships and steamers from all parts of Englandand from foreign ports are enabled to come into the very heart of thecountry. 

The two largest and most celebrated cities in Scotland are situated inthe valleys of these rivers, the Forth and the Clyde. They areEdinburgh and Glasgow. Edinburgh is on the Forth, though situated atsome little distance from its banks. Glasgow is on the Clyde. There is arailway extending across from Edinburgh to Glasgow, and also a canal, connecting the waters of the Forth with the Clyde. The region of thesecities, and of the canal and railroad which connects them, is altogetherthe busiest, the most densely peopled, and the most important portion ofScotland; and this is the reason why Mr. George wished to come directlyinto it by water from Liverpool. 

The cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, though both greatly celebrated, arecelebrated in very different ways. Edinburgh is the city of science, ofliterature, and of the arts. Here are many learned institutions, thefame and influence of which extend to every part of the world. Here aregreat book publishing establishments, which send forth millions ofvolumes every year--from ponderous encyclopædias of science, andelegantly illustrated and costly works of art, down to tracts forSabbath schools, and picture books for children. The situation ofEdinburgh is very romantic and beautiful; the town being built amonghills and ravines of the most picturesque and striking character. WhenScotland was an independent kingdom Edinburgh was the capital of it, and thus the old palace of the kings and the royal castle are there, andthe town has been the scene of some of the most remarkable events in theScottish history. 

Glasgow, on the other hand, which is on the Clyde, towards the westernside of the island, together with all the country for many miles aroundit, forms the scene of the mechanical and manufacturing industry ofScotland. The whole district, in fact, is one vast workshop; being fullof mines, mills, forges, furnaces, machine shops, ship yards and ironworks, with pipes every where puffing out steam, and tall chimneys, higher, some of them, than the Bunker Hill Monument, or the steeple ofTrinity Church, in New York. These tall chimneys are seen rising everywhere, all around the horizon, and sending up volumes of dense blacksmoke, which comes pouring incessantly from their summits, and thencefloating majestically away, mingles itself with the clouds of the sky. 

The reason of this is, that the strata of rocks which lie beneath theground in all this region consist, in a great measure, of beds of coaland of iron ore. The miners dig down in almost any spot, and find ironore; and very near it, and sometimes in the same pit, they find plentyof coal. These pits are like monstrous wells; very wide at the mouth, and extending down four or five times as far as the height of thetallest steeples, into the bowels of the earth. Over the mouth of thepit the workmen build a machine, with ropes and a monstrous wheel, tohoist the coal and iron up by, and all around they set up furnaces tosmelt the ore and turn it into iron. Then, at suitable places in variousparts of the country, they construct great rolling mills and founderies. The rolling mills are to turn the pig iron into wrought iron, and tomanufacture it into bars and sheets, and rails for the railroads; andthe founderies are to cast it into the form of great wheels, andcylinders, and beams for machinery, or for any other purpose that may berequired. 

The mines in the valley of the Clyde were worked first chiefly for thecoal, and the coal was used to drive steam machinery for spinning andweaving, and for other manufacturing purposes. The river was in thosedays a small and insignificant stream. It was only about five feet deep, so that the vessels that came to take away the coal and the manufacturedgoods had to stop near the mouth of it, and the cargoes were broughtdown to them in boats and lighters. But in process of time they widenedand deepened the river. They dug out the mud from the bottom of it, andbuilt walls along the banks; and in the course of the last hundredyears, they have improved it so much that now the largest ships can comequite up to Glasgow. The water is eighteen or twenty feet deep all theway. 

The Clyde is the river on which steamboats were first built in GreatBritain. The man who was the first in England or Scotland that found away of making a steam engine that could be put in a boat and made toturn paddle wheels so as to drive the boat along, was James Watt, whowas born on the Clyde; and he is accordingly considered as the authorand originator of English steam navigation, just as Fulton is regardedas the originator of the art in America. The Clyde, of course, verynaturally became the centre of steamboat and steamship building. Theiron for the engines was found close at hand, as well as abundantsupplies of coal for the fires. The timber they brought from the Baltic. At length, however, they found that they could build ships of ironinstead of wood, using iron beams for the framing, and covering themwith plates of iron riveted together instead of planks. These ships werefound very superior, in almost all respects, to those built of timber;and as iron in great abundance was found all along the banks of theClyde, and as the workmen in the region were extremely skilful inworking it, the business of building ships and steamers of this materialincreased wonderfully, until, at length, the banks of the river formiles below Glasgow became lined with ship yards, where countlesssteamers, of monstrous length and graceful forms, in all the stages ofconstruction, lie; now sloping towards the water and down the stream, ready at the appointed time to glide majestically into the river, andthence to plough their way to every portion of the habitable globe. 

It was into this busy scene of mechanical industry and skill that ourparty of travellers were now coming. But before I resume the narrativeof their adventures, I will say a word about those parts of Scotlandwhich lie to the north and south of these central regions that areoccupied by the valleys of the Forth and the Clyde. The region whichextends to the southward--that is, which lies between the valleys of theForth and the Clyde on the one hand, and the English frontier on theother--is called the southern part of the country. It consists, generally, of fertile and gently undulating land, which is employedalmost entirely for tillage, and is but little visited by tourists ortravellers. 

The northern part of Scotland is, however, of a very differentcharacter; being wild, mountainous and waste, and filled every wherewith the most grand and sublime scenery. The eastern portion of thispart of the island is more level, and there are several large andflourishing towns on or near the shores of it, such as Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth, and others. But the whole of the western sideof it consists of one vast congeries of lakes and mountains, so wild andsombre in their character that they have become celebrated throughoutthe world for the gloomy grandeur of the scenery which they present tothe view. 

These are the famous Scottish Highlands. Mr. George's plan was first tovisit the valley of the Clyde, and its various mines and manufactories, and then to take a circuit round among the Highlands, on his way toEdinburgh. 

CHAPTER III. 

ARRIVAL AT GLASGOW. 

One of the greatest drawbacks to the pleasure of travelling in Scotland, especially among the Highlands, is the rain. It usually rains more inmountainous countries than in those that are level, for the mountains, rising into the higher and colder regions of the atmosphere, chill andcondense the vapors that are floating there, on the same principle bywhich a tumbler or a pitcher, made cold by iced water placed within it, condenses the moisture from the air, upon the outside of it, on asummer's day. It is also probable that the mountain summits producecertain effects in respect to the electrical condition of theatmosphere, on which it is well known that the formation of clouds andthe falling of rain greatly depend--though this subject is yet verylittle understood. At all events, the western part of Scotland is one ofthe most rainy regions in the world, and travellers who visit it mustexpect to have their plans and arrangements very often and veryseriously interfered with by the state of the weather. 

The changes are quite unexpected too; for sometimes you will see darkmasses of watery vapor, coming suddenly into view, and driving swiftlyacross the sky, where a few moments before every thing had appearedsettled and serene. These scuds are soon followed by others, more andmore dense and threatening, until, at last, there come drenching showersof rain, which drive every body to the nearest shelter, if there is anyshelter at hand. 

Such a change as this came on while Mr. George had been makingarrangements with Mr. Kennedy for taking Waldron under his charge; andjust as Waldron and Rollo had gone away to see what plan they coulddevise in respect to the hotel, it began to rain. The clouds and mists, too, concealed the shores almost entirely from view, and the passengersbegan to go below. Mr. George followed their example. On his way hepassed a sheltered place where he saw Waldron and Rollo engaged inconversation, and he told them, as he passed them, that when they wereready to report they would find him below. 

In about fifteen minutes the boys came down to him. 

"Uncle George, " said Rollo, "we have found out that there are a goodmany excellent hotels in Glasgow, but we think we had better go to theQueen's. "

"Yes, sir, " said Waldron. "It fronts on a handsome square, where theyare going to have an exhibition of flowers to-morrow, with tents andmusic. "

"And shall you wish to go and see the flowers?" asked Mr. George. 

"No, sir, " said Waldron. "I don't care much about the flowers, but Ishould like to see the tents, and to hear the music. "

"Then, besides, uncle George, " said Rollo, "we are coming to the mouthof the river pretty soon, and as soon as we get in we shall come toGreenock; and there is a railroad from Greenock up to Glasgow, so thatwe can go ashore there, if you please, and go up to Glasgow quick by therailroad. A great many of the passengers are going to do that. "

"Do you think that would be a good plan?" asked Mr. George. 

"Why, yes, " said Rollo, "I _should_ think it would be a good plan, if wehad not paid our passage through by the steamer. "

"And what do _you_ think about it, Waldron?" asked Mr. George. 

"I should like it, " said Waldron. "The fare is only one and sixpence. Ishould have preferred to go up in the steamer if it had been pleasant, so that we could see the ships and steamers on the stocks; but it is somisty and rainy that we cannot see any thing at all. So, if you would goup by the railroad, and then, to-morrow, when it is pleasant, come downa little way again, on one of the steamboats, to see the river, I shouldlike it very much. "

"But I shall have to stay at home to-morrow, " said Mr. George, "andwrite letters to send to America. It is the last day. "

"Then let Rollo and me go down by ourselves, " said Waldron. 

"Yes, uncle George, " said Rollo, "let us go by ourselves. "

"Ah, " said Mr. George. "I am not sure that that would be safe. I am notmuch acquainted with Waldron yet, and I don't know what his characteris, in respect to judgment and discretion. "

"O, I think he has got good judgment, " said Rollo. "We will both be verycareful. "

"Yes, sir, " said Waldron, "we certainly will. "

"O, boys' promises, " said Mr. George, "in respect to such things asthat, are good for nothing at all. I never place any reliance upon themwhatever. "

"O uncle George!" exclaimed Rollo. 

"Well, now, would you, if you were in my case?" said Mr. George. "I willleave it to you, Waldron. Suppose a strange boy, that you know no moreabout than I do of you, were to come to you with a promise that he wouldbe _very careful_ if you would let him go somewhere, and that he wouldnot go into any dangerous places, or expose himself to any risks, --wouldyou think it safe to trust him?"

"Why, no, sir, " said Waldron, reluctantly. "I don't think I should. Perhaps I might _try_ him. "

"According to my experience, " said Mr. George, "you can't trust to boys'promises in the least. It is not that they make promises with theintention of breaking them, but they don't know what breaking them is. Aboy who is not careful does not know the difference between beingcareful and being careless; and so he breaks his promise, and then, ifhe gets into any trouble by his folly, he says, 'I did not think therewas any harm in that. '

"No, " added Mr. George, in conclusion, shaking his head gravely as hespoke. "I never place any reliance on such promises. "

"Then how can you tell whether to trust a boy or not?" asked Rollo. 

"I never can tell, " said Mr. George, "until he is proved. When he istried and proved, then I know him; but not before. "

"Well, " said Rollo, "then let Waldron and me go down the riverto-morrow, if it is pleasant, and let that be for our trial. "

"It might, possibly, be a good plan to let you go, on that ground, " saidMr. George. He said this in a musing manner, as if considering thequestion. 

"I will think of it, " said he. "I'll see if I can think of anyconditions on which I can allow you to go, and I will tell you about itat the hotel. And now, in regard to going up to Glasgow. I'll leave itto you and Waldron to decide. You must go and ascertain all thefacts--such as how soon the train leaves after we arrive, and how muchsooner we shall get up there, if we go in it. Then you must take chargeof all the baggage, too, and see that it goes across safe from thesteamer to the station, and attend to the whole business. "

"Yes, sir, " said Waldron, "we will. We'll get a cab, and put the baggageright in. "

"Can't you get it across without a cab?" said Mr. George. "I don't seehow I can afford to take a cab, very well; for you see we have to incuran extra expense as it is, to go in the cars at all, since we havealready paid our passage up by the steamer. "

"Well, sir, " said Waldron, eagerly, "we can carry the baggage acrossourselves. Let us go and look at it, Rollo, and see how much there is. "

So the boys went off with great eagerness to look at the baggage. In afew minutes they returned again, wearing very bright and animatedcountenances. 

"Yes, sir, " said Waldron, "we can take it all just as well as not. I cantake your valise, and Rollo can take my things, and I can carry yourknapsack under my arm. "

"O, I am willing to help, " said Mr. George. "I can help in carrying thethings, provided I do not have any _care_. If you will count up all thethings that are to go, and see that they all do go, and then count themagain when we get into the railway carriage, so as to be sure that theyare all there, and thus save me from responsibility, that is all I ask, and I will carry any thing you choose to give me. "

"Well, sir, " said Waldron. 

Indeed, Waldron was very much pleased to find how completely Mr. Georgewas putting the business under his and Rollo's charge. 

"And now, " said Mr. George, "I think you had better tell your father andmother about this plan of our going ashore at Greenock. They may liketo do so, too. "

"O, they know all about it, " said Waldron, "and they are going. Mothersays that she has had enough of the steamer. "

Not long after this the steamer arrived at Greenock, and made fast tothe pier. A large number of the passengers went ashore. The rain hadceased, which was very fortunate for those who were to walk to thestation; though, of course, the streets were still wet. As soon as theboat was made fast, Mr. George went to the plank, and there he foundWaldron and Rollo ready, with the baggage in their hands. Mr. Georgetook his valise, though at first Waldron was quite unwilling to give itup. 

"O, yes, " said Mr. George; "I have no objection to hard work. What Idon't like is care. If you and Rollo will take the care off my mind, that is all I ask. "

"Well, " said Waldron, "we will. And now I wonder which way we must go, to get to the station. "

"I am sure I don't know, " said Mr. George. As he said this hiscountenance assumed a vacant and indifferent expression, as if heconsidered that the finding of the way to the station was no concern ofhis. 

"Ah!" exclaimed Waldron, "this is the way. See!" So saying, Waldronpointed to a sign put up near the end of the pier, with the wordsRAILROAD STATION painted upon it, and a hand indicating the way to go. 

As the sun had now come out, the party had quite a pleasant walk to thestation. Mr. George had all his clothes in a light and small valisewhich he could carry very easily in his hand. Some of Rollo's clotheswere in this valise, too, and the rest were in a small carpet bag. Waldron's were in a carpet bag, too. Besides these things there weresome coats and umbrellas to be carried in the hand, and Mr. George andRollo had each a knapsack, which they had bought in Switzerland. Theseknapsacks were hung at their sides. They were light, for at this timethere was very little in them. 

Rollo and Waldron stopped once in the street to inquire if they were onthe right way to the station; and finding that they were, they went on, and soon arrived at the gateway. They went in at a spacious entrance, and thence ascended a long and very wide flight of stairs, which led tothe second story. There they found an area, covered with a glass roof, and surrounded with offices of various kinds pertaining to the station. In the centre was a train of cars, with a locomotive at the head of it, apparently all ready for a start. Passengers were walking to and fro onthe platform, and getting into the carriages. 

On one side was a book stand, where a boy was selling books. There was acounter before, and shelves against the walls behind. The shelves werefilled with books. These books were in fancy-colored paper bindings, andseemed to consist chiefly of guide books and tales, and other similarworks suited to the wants of travellers. 

Mr. George laid his valise down upon a bench near by, and began to lookat the books. Waldron and Rollo put their baggage down in the same way, and followed his example. 

While they were standing there they saw Mr. And Mrs. Kennedy and the twogirls coming up the stairs. They were accompanied by a porter. 

Mrs. Kennedy stopped a moment to speak to Waldron as she went by. 

"Now, Waldron, " said she, "you must be very careful, and not get intoany difficulty. Keep close to Mr. George all the time, and don't get runover when you get in and out of the cars. You had better button up yourjacket. It is very damp, and you will take cold, I am afraid. "

So saying, she began to button up Waldron's jacket in front, giving ita pull this way and that to make it set better. 

"Don't, mother!" said Waldron. "I'm so hot. "

So he shook his shoulders a little uneasily, and tried to turn away. Buthis mother insisted that his jacket should be buttoned up, at least partway. 

"Come, my dear, " said Mr. Kennedy, speaking to his wife; "we have notime to lose. The train is going. "

So Mr. Kennedy bade Waldron good by, and hurried on, and Waldronimmediately unbuttoned his jacket again, saying at the same time, --

"Come, Mr. George, it is time for us to go aboard. "

"Have you got the tickets?" said Mr. George, quietly, still keeping hiseyes upon a book that he was examining. 

"No, " said Waldron. "Are _we_ to get the tickets?"

"Of course, " said Mr. George. "I have nothing to do with it. You andRollo have undertaken to get me to Glasgow without my having any thoughtor concern about it. "

"Well, come, Rollo, quick; let's go and get them. Where's the bookingoffice?"

At the English stations the place where the tickets are bought is calledthe booking office. It is necessary to procure tickets, or you cannotcommence the journey; for it is not customary, as in America, to allowthe passengers the privilege, when they desire it, of paying in thecars. 

"Do you know where the booking office is, Mr. George?" said Waldron. 

"No, " said Mr. George, "but if you look about you will find it. "

So Waldron and Rollo ran off to find the office. It was down stairs. Before they came back with the tickets the train was gone. 

"It is no matter, " said Mr. George. "Indeed, I think it is my faultrather than yours, for it was not distinctly understood that you were toget the tickets. There will be another train pretty soon, I presume. Inthe mean time I should like to look at these books, and you and Rollocan amuse yourselves about the station. "

So Waldron and Rollo went off to see if they could find a time table, inorder to learn when the next train would go. They found that there wouldbe another train in an hour. In the mean time it began to rain again, which prevented the party from taking a walk about the town; so they hadto amuse themselves at the station as they best could. 

There was a refreshment room at the station, and the boys thought atfirst that it would be a good plan to have something to eat; but, finally, they concluded that they would wait, and have a regular dinnerat the coffee room of the hotel. Mr. George left them to decide thequestion themselves as they thought best. 

The hour, however, soon glided away, and at the end of it the party tooktheir seats in the train, and were trundled rapidly along the banks ofthe river to Glasgow. The road lay through beautiful parks aconsiderable portion of the way, with glimpses of the water here andthere between the trees. The view of the scenery, however, was very muchimpeded by the falling rain. 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE EXPEDITION PLANNED. 

The boys were very successful in their selection of a hotel, for theQueen's Hotel, in Glasgow, is one of the most comfortable and bestmanaged inns in the kingdom. 

The party _rode_ to the inn, in a cab which they took at the station inGlasgow, when the train arrived there, instead of walking, as they haddone in going from the boat to the station at Greenock. The boys askedMr. George's advice on this point, and he said that, though he wasunwilling to take any responsibility, he had no objection whatever togiving his advice, whenever they wished for it. So he told them that hethought it was always best to go to a hotel in a carriage of some sort. 

"Because, " said he, "in England and Scotland, --that is, in all the greattowns, --if we come on foot, they think that we are poor, and of noconsequence, and so give us the worst rooms, and pay us very littleattention. "

When the cab arrived at the hotel Waldron said, --

"There, Mr. George, we have brought you safe to the hotel. Now we havenothing more to do. We give up the command to you now. "

"Very well, " said Mr. George. 

Two or three nicely dressed porters and waiters came out from the doorof the hotel, to receive the travellers and wait upon them in. Theporters took the baggage, even to the coats and umbrellas, and the headwaiter led the way into the house. Waldron paid the cabman as he steppedout of the cab. He knew what the fare was, and he had it all ready. Mr. George said to the waiter that he wanted two bedrooms, one with two bedsin it. The waiter bowed, with an air of great deference and respect, andsaid that the chambermaid would show the rooms. The chambermaid, who wasa very nice-looking and tidily-dressed young woman, stood at the foot ofthe stairs, ready to conduct the newly-arrived party up to the chambers. She accordingly led the way, and Mr. George and the boys followed--twoneat-looking porters coming behind with the various articles of baggage. 

The rooms were very pleasant apartments, situated on the front side ofthe house, and looking out upon a beautiful square. The square wasenclosed in a high iron railing. It was adorned with trees andshrubbery, and intersected here and there with smooth gravel walks. Inthe centre was a tall Doric column, with a statue on the summit. Therewere other statues in other parts of the square. One of them was inhonor of Watt, who is the great celebrity of Glasgow--so large a shareof the prosperity and wealth of the whole region being due so much tohis discoveries. 

"Now, boys, " said Mr. George, "you will find water and every thing inyour room. Make yourselves look as nice as a pin, and then go downstairs and find the coffee room. When you have found it, choose apleasant table, and order dinner. You may order just what you please. "

So Mr. George left the boys to themselves, and went into his own room. 

In about half an hour Rollo came up and told Mr. George that the dinnerwas ready. So Mr. George went down into the coffee room, Rollo showinghim the way. 

Mr. George found that the boys had chosen a very pleasant table indeedfor their dinner. It was in a corner, between a window and thefireplace. There was a pleasant coal fire in the fireplace, with screensbefore it, to keep the glow of it from the faces of the guests. Theroom was quite large, and there was a long table extending up and downthe middle of it, one of which is seen in the engraving. This table wasset for dinner or supper. There were other smaller tables for separateparties in the different corners of the room. 

Mr. George and the boys took their seats at the table. 

"We thought we would have some coffee, " said Rollo. 

"That's right, " said Mr. George. "I like coffee dinners. What else haveyou got?"

"We have got some Loch Fine herring, and some mutton chops, " said Rollo. 

"Yes, sir, " said Waldron. "You see the Loch Fine herrings are veryfamous, and we thought you would like to know how they taste. "

By this time the waiter had removed the covers, and the party commencedtheir dinner. The fire, which was near them, was very pleasant, foralthough it was June the weather was damp and cold. 

In the course of the dinner the boys introduced again the subject ofgoing down the Clyde the next day. 

"The boat goes from the Broomielaw, " said Waldron. 

[Illustration: THE COFFEE ROOM. ]

"The Broomielaw, " repeated Mr. George; "what is the Broomielaw?"

"Why, it is the harbor and pier, " said Waldron. "It is below the lowestbridge. All the boats that go down the river go from the Broomielaw. They go almost every hour. We can go down by a boat and see the river, and then we can come up by the railroad. That will be just as cheap, ifwe take a second class car. "

"Well, now, " said Mr. George, "I have concluded that I should not bewilling to have you make this excursion except on two conditions; andthey are such hard ones that I do not believe you would accept them. Youwould rather not go at all than go on such hard conditions. "

"What are the conditions?" asked Rollo. 

"I don't believe you will accept them, " said Mr. George. 

"But let us hear what they are, " said Waldron. "Perhaps we should acceptthem. "

"The first is, " said Mr. George, "that when you get home you must go toyour room, and write me an account of what you see on the excursion. Each of you must write a separate account. "

"That we will do, " said Rollo. "I should _like_ to do that. Wouldn'tyou, Waldron?"

Waldron seemed to hesitate. Though he was a very active-minded andintelligent boy in respect to what he saw and heard, he was somewhatbackward in respect to knowledge of books and skill in writing. Finally, he said that he should be willing to _tell_ Mr. George what he saw, buthe did not think that he could write it. 

"That is just as I supposed, " said Mr. George. "I did not think youwould accept my conditions. "

"Well, sir, I will, " said Waldron. "I will write it as well as I can. And what is the other condition?"

"That you shall write down, at the end of your account, the mostcareless thing that you see Rollo do, all the time that you are gone, "said Mr. George, "and that Rollo shall write down the most carelessthing he sees you do. "

"But suppose we don't do any careless things at all, " said Rollo. 

"Then, " said Mr. George, "you must write down what comes the nearest tobeing a careless thing. And neither of you must know what the otherwrites until you have shown the papers to me. "

After some hesitation the boys agreed to both these terms, and so it wasdecided that they were to go down the river. The steamer which they wereto take was to sail at nine o'clock, and so they ordered breakfast ateight. Mr. George said that he would go down with them in the morning tothe Broomielaw, and see them sail. 

CHAPTER V. 

DOWN THE CLYDE. 

The boys returned in safety from their excursion about three o'clock inthe afternoon. In fulfilment of their promise they immediately went totheir room, and wrote their several accounts of the expedition. Theyagreed together that, in order to avoid repetitions, Waldron shoulddwell most upon the first part of the trip, and Rollo upon the lastpart. 

The following is the account that Waldron wrote:--

 "ACCOUNT OF OUR TRIP. 

"First, there was a man standing by the plank, that asked us if we hadgot our tickets. We told him no. Then he showed us where to go and getthem. It was at a little office on the pier. The price of the ticketswas a shilling. 

"The steamboat was not very large. There was no saloon on deck, and noawning, but only seats on deck, and many people sitting on them. 

"There was a boy among them who had a kilt on. It was the first kilt Iever saw. [C]

[C] It would have been better if Waldron had described the kilt; but Isuppose he thought he could not describe it very well. It is a garmentpeculiar to the Scotch. It consists of a sort of sack or jacket, with askirt attached to it below, which comes down just below the knees. Theskirt is plaited upon the lower edge of the jacket, and hangs prettyfull. 

"We soon began to go down the river. The sides of the river were walledup, to form piers, all along, and there were a great many ships andsteamers moored to them. I saw several American vessels among them. 

"By and by, when we got below the town, the river grew wider, and thebanks were sloping, but they were paved all the way with large stones. This was to prevent their being washed away by the swell of thesteamers. There were a great many steamers going up and down, which keptthe water all the time a-swashing against the banks. 

"I went up on the bridge where the captain stood. There were good stepsto go up, on the side of the paddle box. Rollo would not go. I had afine lookout from the bridge. The captain was there. He told me a goodmany things about the river. He said that the river used to be only fivefeet deep, and now it was almost twenty, all the way from the sea. Theydug it out with dredging machines. 

"I asked him what they did with the mud. He said they hauled it away, and spread it on the land in the country. They made a railroad, he said, on purpose to take the mud away to where it was wanted. 

"Presently we began to come to the ship yards. There was an immensenumber of iron ships on the stocks, building. The workmen made a greatnoise with their hammers, heading the rivets. There seemed to bethousands of hammers going at a time. 

"The steamers all sloped towards the water, and pointed down the stream. I suppose that this was so that when they were launched they might godown in the middle of the channel, and not strike the bank on theopposite side. 

"We met a great many steamers coming up. One I thought had just beenlaunched. She was full of workmen. There were a great many women runningalong on the bank, where it was green, trying to keep up with her. Theywere almost all barefooted. I suppose they had been down to see herlaunched. I wish we had been a little sooner. 

"When I came down from the bridge I looked into the hold to see theengine. I wanted to go down, but I was afraid that Rollo would call ita careless thing. Besides, I could see pretty well where I was. Therewere three cylinders. Two acted alternately, and the other at the halfstroke. I thought this was a very good plan; for now the engine nevercan get on a poise. All these cylinders were inclined. The boiler wasperpendicular. I never saw one like it before. 

"After a while we got below the ship yards, and then there was nothingmore to see, only some green grounds, and some mountains, and a castleon a rock. Then we landed at Greenock, and came home by the railroad. But Rollo is going to write about this. 

"The most careless thing that Rollo did was that he came very nearleaving his umbrella on board the boat at Greenock. "

 * * * * *

Rollo's account of the excursion was as follows:--

 "EXCURSION ON THE CLYDE. 

"Waldron and I went down the Clyde. We went on board the boat at theBroomielaw, in Glasgow. 

"The first thing I observed was that a Scotchman and two boys came onboard with violins and a flageolet, and began to play to amuse thecompany. At first I could not hear very well, the steampipe made such anoise. Afterwards, when the pipe stopped blowing off the steam, I couldhear better, and I liked the music very well. 

"By and by one of the boys came round to collect some money, and I putin a penny. I told Waldron that I thought he need not put in any thing, as he did not listen. 

"There was a boat came off from the shore, and a man got out of it, andcame on board our steamer just as we used to go on board the steamers onthe Rhine. I wish we could go and travel on the Rhine again. 

"When we got below the ships and ship yards we came to a part of theriver where there were parks and pleasure grounds on the banks, andbeautiful houses back among the trees. 

"When we got half way down we stopped at a pier where there was a trainof cars to take people to Loch Lomond, on the way to the Highlands. Waldron said that we should come there, he supposed, when we go to theHighlands. 

"A little farther down we came to a great rocky hill, close by thewater, with a castle upon it. The name of it is Dunbarton Castle. Weshall go by it again, when we go to the Highlands. 

"Then we came to a great widening of the river, and not long after thatwe arrived at Greenock and landed. We thought that the boat was going tostop here, but it did not. A great many of the passengers staid onboard, and a great many more came on board, to go farther down theriver. 

"We went first to the station, so as to see when the trains went back toGlasgow. Then we took a walk. 

"We found a street near the depot with a high hill behind it, and closeto it. There were walls and terraces all the way up, and trees here andthere. We looked up, and we could see the heads of some children overthe topmost wall. They were looking down to where we were. Presently wecame to an opening, and some flights of steps and steep walks, and so wethought we would go up. 

"When we got to the top we found a broad terrace, with a wall along thefront edge of it, where we could look down upon the river and the town. The town lay very narrow between the river and the foot of the hill. Wewere up very high above the tops of the houses. 

"Behind us, on the terrace, were broad green fields and gravel walks, and beds of flowers, and great trees with seats under them. There werea good many nursery maids around there, with children. The nurserymaids sat on the seats, and the children played before them with thepebbles and gravel. 

"I read in the guide book about some famous waterworks at Greenock, butwe could not find them. We asked one man, who was at work on the gravelwalks, if he could tell us where they were; but he only stared at us andsaid he did not 'knaw ony thing aboot it. '

"After this we went down the hill again, and took a long walk along thebank of the river. There was an omnibus going by, and we wanted to getinto it and see where it would carry us; but we did not know but that itmight carry us to some place that we could not get back from very soon. The name of the place where the omnibus went was painted on the side ofit but it was a place that we had never heard of before, and so we didnot know where it was. 

"After this we went back to the station, and then came home. I thoughtfrom the map that we should go through Paisley; but we did not. We went_over_ it. We went over it, higher than the tops of the chimneys. 

"This is the end of my account; and the most dangerous thing I sawWaldron do was to go up on the bridge, on board the steamer, and talkthere with the captain. "

 * * * * *

"Boys, " said Mr. George, when he had finished reading these papers, "your accounts are excellent. The thing I chiefly like about them is, that you go right straight on and tell a plain story, without spoilingit all by making an attempt at fine writing. That is the way you oughtalways to write. One of these days I mean to get you both to writesomething for me in my journal. "

CHAPTER VI. 

WALKS ABOUT GLASGOW. 

Our party remained two days more in Glasgow, and visited quite a numberof objects of interest and curiosity in and around the city. 

At one end of the town there was a large open space, laid out for apleasure ground; being somewhat similar in character to Boston Common, only it lay on the margin of the river, and commanded delightful views, both of the city itself and of the surrounding country. The grounds wereadorned with trees and shrubbery, and paths were laid out over everyportion of it, that were delightful to walk in. There were seats, too, at every point that commanded a pretty view. This place was called theGreen. 

The Green was at the eastern extremity of the city. At the other end, that is, towards the west, there was a region more elevated than therest of the town, where the wealthy people resided. The streets werearranged in crescents and terraces, and were very magnificent. Thehouses were almost all built of stone, and were of a very massive andsubstantial, as well as elegant character. 

Nearer the centre of the town was a very large and ancient church, called the cathedral. It was a solemn-looking pile of buildings, standing by itself in a green yard, back from the road, and thousands ofswallows were twittering and chirping high up among the pinnacles andcornices of the roof. Although it was in the midst of a crowded city, the whole structure wore an expression of great seclusion and solitude. 

Behind the church, and separated from it by a narrow valley, there was asteep hill, that was covered, in every part, with tombs, and monuments, and sepulchral enclosures. The hill was two or three hundred feet high, and there was a very tall monument on the top of it. There was a bridgeacross the valley behind the cathedral leading to this cemetery. 

"Ah, " said Mr. George, "that is the Necropolis. "

"The Necropolis?" repeated Rollo. 

"Yes, " said Mr. George. "I read about it in the guide book. Necropolismeans 'City of the Dead, ' and it is a city of the dead indeed. "

There were pathways leading up the side of the hill by many zigzags andwindings. Across the bridge leading to it was a great iron gateway, with a small iron gate open in the middle of it. The boys wanted to goimmediately to the cemetery, in order to have the pleasure of climbingup the zigzag paths to the top of the hill. But Mr. George said hewished first to go into the cathedral. 

There was a gate leading into the cathedral yard, and a porter's lodgejust inside of it. There was a sign up at the lodge, saying that theprice of admission to see the interior of the cathedral was sixpence foreach person. Waldron said that he did not think it was worth sixpence togo, and Rollo said that he did not care much about going. He had seencathedrals enough, he said, on the continent. So it was agreed that theboys should go to the cemetery, and wait there till Mr. George came. 

The boys accordingly went down the walk that led to the bridge. Theystopped a moment at the open gate, not knowing whether it was right forthem to go in or not. As, however, the gate was open, and there wasnobody there to forbid the passage, they stepped over the ironthreshold, and entered. There was a porter's lodge just inside, and aman standing at the door of it. 

"Can we go in and see the cemetery?" asked Waldron. 

"Certainly, " said the porter. "Are you strangers in Glasgow?"

"Yes, sir, " said Rollo, "we are Americans. My uncle is in the cathedral, and he is coming pretty soon. "

"Then please to come in, " said the porter, "and enter your names in thevisitors' book. "

So the boys went in. They found a very pleasant room, with a large bookopen on a desk, near a window. They wrote their names in this book, andalso their residences, and they stopped a few minutes to look over thenames that had been written there before, in order to see if any personsfrom America had recently visited the cemetery. They found several namesof persons from New York on the list, and two or three fromPhiladelphia. While the boys were looking over the book the porter askedthem a great many questions about America. 

In a few minutes they went on. They stopped on the middle of the bridge, and looked down over the balustrade into the ravine. The ravine was verydeep, and there was a little brook at the bottom of it, and a sort ofroad or street along the side of it, far below them. 

The boys then went on into the cemetery. They walked about it for sometime, ascending continually higher and higher, and stopping at everyturn to read the inscriptions and monuments. At length they reached thesummit of the hill, where the lofty column stood which had been erectedto the memory of John Knox, the great Scottish reformer. The columnstood upon a pedestal, which contained an inscription on each of thefour sides of it. One of these inscriptions said that John Knox was aman who could never be made to swerve from his duty by any fear or anydanger, and that, although his life was often threatened by "dag anddagger, " he was still carried safely through every difficulty anddanger, and died, at last, in peace and happiness; and that the peopleof Glasgow, mindful of the invaluable services he rendered to hiscountry, had erected that monument in honor of his memory. 

The boys had just finished reading the inscription, when, looking downupon the bridge, they saw Mr. George coming. They went down to meet him, and then showed him the way up to the monument. 

Mr. George first looked up to the summit of it, and then walked allaround it, reading the inscriptions. He read them aloud, and the boyslistened. 

"Yes, " said he, "John Knox was a true hero. He stood up manfully andfearlessly for the right when almost all the world was against him; andto do that requires a great deal of courage, as well as great strengthof character. Many people reviled and hated him while he lived, but nowhis memory is universally honored. 

"I hope you two boys, when you come to be men, " continued Mr. George, "will follow his example. What you know is right, that always defend, nomatter if all the world are against it. And what is wrong, that alwaysoppose, no matter if all the world are in favor of it. "

"Yes, sir, " said Waldron, "I mean to. "

Mr. George and the boys rambled about the Necropolis some time longer, and then went on. 

While they were in Glasgow the party visited several of the greatmanufacturing establishments. They were all very much surprised at theloftiness of some of the chimneys. There was one at a greatestablishment, called the St. Rollox Chemical Works, which was over fourhundred and thirty feet high, and Mr. George estimated that it must havebeen thirty or forty feet diameter at the base. If, now, you ask yourfather, or some friend, how high the steeple is of the nearest church towhere you live, and multiply that height by the necessary number, youwill get some idea of the magnitude of this prodigious column. Thelightning rod, that came down the side of it in a spiral line, lookedlike a spider's web that had been, by chance, blown against the chimneyby the wind. 

CHAPTER VII. 

ENTERING THE HIGHLANDS. 

The Highland district of Scotland occupies almost the whole of thewestern part of the island north of the valley of the Clyde. It consistsof mountains, glens, and lakes, with roads winding in every directionthrough and among them. Of course the number of different Highlandexcursions which a tourist can plan is infinite. Most visitors toScotland are, however, satisfied with a short tour among thesemountains, on account of the great uncertainty of the weather. Indeed, as it rains here more than half the time, the chance is always in favorof bad weather; and the really pleasant days are very few. 

The valley by which tourists from Glasgow most frequently go into theHighlands is the valley of Loch Lomond. The lower end of this lake comesto within about ten miles of the Clyde. The upper end of it extendsabout twenty-five miles into the very heart of the Highlands. There isan inn at the lower end of the lake, that is, the end nearest theClyde, called Balloch Inn. At the upper end of the lake is anotherresting-place for travellers. A small steamboat passes every day throughthe lake, from one of these inns to the other, touching at variousintermediate points on the way, at little villages or landing-places, where roads from the interior of the country come down to the lake. 

From Balloch there is a railroad leading to the Clyde, though it doesnot extend to Glasgow. Travellers from Glasgow come down the Clyde in asteamer about ten miles to the railroad landing. There they take thecars, and proceed down the river, along the bank, amidst scenery of thegrandest and most beautiful character, to Dunbarton Castle, where theroad leaves the river, and turns into the interior of the country, towards the valley of Loch Lomond. 

The road terminates at Balloch. Here the travellers are transferred tothe steamer, and pursue their journey by water. It was this route Mr. George had determined to take on leaving Glasgow. 

He got ready to leave Glasgow on the afternoon of a certain Thursday. 

"Now, boys, " said he, "we are ready to go to the Highlands. Find out forme when the boats and trains go, while I settle the bill. "

So saying, Mr. George rose and rang the bell. 

In Europe we do not go down to the office or bar room, when we are readyto leave a hotel, to call for and settle our bill there, as we do inAmerica, but we ring the bell in our room, and ask the waiter to bringthe bill to us. 

"I have found out already, " said Waldron. "There is a boat at fouro'clock. It starts from the Broomielaw. "

"And is there a train that connects with that boat?" asked Mr. George. 

"Yes, sir, " said Waldron. 

"Then, " said Mr. George, "we will go at four o'clock; we shall just havetime. "

I am not certain that Waldron was entirely honest in giving thisinformation to Mr. George, for he concealed one very importantcircumstance; or rather he omitted to mention it. This circumstance was, that there was no boat from Balloch to connect with the train, so thatif they were to go to Balloch that night, he knew that they could not goany farther till the next morning. He liked this, for he and Rollo hadboth begun to be tired of Glasgow, and he thought that if they shouldget to Balloch two or three hours before dark, there might be somechance for him and Rollo to go out fishing on the lake. 

Very soon, however, he reflected that he should enjoy his fishing less, if he resorted to any thing like artifice or concealment to obtain it;and so, after a little hesitation, he frankly told Mr. George that theycould go no farther than to the foot of the lake that night. There wasonly one boat each day, he said, on the lake, and that left Balloch inthe morning, and returned at night. 

Mr. George said that that made no difference. He was tired of being in agreat city, and would like to see the country and the mountains again;and he should, therefore, prefer going to spend the night at Balloch, rather than to remain in Glasgow. 

So the party set off. They embarked on board the steamer at theBroomielaw. They ran rapidly down the river to the railroad landing. They found the train waiting for them there, and were whirled rapidly upthe valley. There were most charming views of the mountains on eitherhand, with hamlets and villages scattered along the slopes of them. Atlength they arrived at Balloch. There was no village here, but only apretty inn, situated delightfully on the margin of the lake, very nearthe outlet. There was an elegant suspension bridge across the outlet, very near the railroad station. There were several thatch-coveredcottages near, and two or three castles were seen through openingsamong the trees on the hill-sides around. As the party crossed thesuspension bridge, Rollo and Waldron, to their great delight, sawseveral boats floating in the water near the inn, and there was a boy onthe bridge fishing over the railing. They stopped to talk with this boy, while Mr. George went on to engage rooms at the inn, and to order asupper. 

When the boys came in they gave such fine accounts of the fishing on thelake, and of the facility with which they could obtain a boat, and aboatman to go out with them, that Mr. George was half persuaded to allowthem to engage a boat, and to go out with them for an hour or two. 

"And we want you to go with us, too, " said Waldron, "if you can; but ifyou have any thing else to do, we can go by ourselves, with theboatman. "

"Yes, " said Rollo, "and if you think it is not best for us to go at all, we can fish on the bridge. "

Mr. George was much pleased to hear the boys speak in this manner inrespect to the excursion. He was particularly glad to hear Waldron saythat he desired that _he_ should go with them. It is always an excellentsign when a boy wishes his father, or his mother, or his uncle, orwhoever has the charge of him, to go with him, and share his pleasures;and those parents and uncles who take an interest in the plans andenjoyments of their children, and sympathize with them in theirfeelings, in such a manner that the children like their company, placethemselves in a position to exercise the highest possible influence overtheir conduct and character. 

"Shall we have time?" asked Mr. George. 

"Yes, sir, " said Waldron. "It is not dark here till half past ten, andit is only half past six now, so that there are four hours. "

The farther you go north the longer the evenings are, in summer; and atthe time when our party made this visit to the Highlands, the eveningsthere were so long that you could see to read very well till nearly teno'clock. The dawn, and the sunrise, too, come on proportionately earlyin the morning. The boys forgot this one morning, and finding that itwas very light in their room when they woke, they got up, and dressedthemselves, and went down stairs, thinking that it was nearly breakfasttime. But they found, on looking at a clock in the hall of the inn, thatit was not quite three o'clock!

But to return to the story. 

Mr. George told the boys that if they would arrange the boat party, that is, if they would engage the boat and the boatman, and also somefishing lines, he would go with them. They would have supper first, andthen set out immediately afterwards. 

This plan was carried into effect. Mr. George himself cared nothingabout the fishing. His only object was to see the lake, and talk withthe Highland boatmen. Still he took a line and fished a little, forcompany to the boys. The excursion proved a very pleasant one. The lakewas beautiful. The surface of the water was studded with pretty islands, and the shores were formed of picturesque hills, which were every whereadorned with cottages, castles, groves, fields, and all the otherelements of rural beauty. 

The excursion itself was very much like any fishing excursion inAmerica, only the peculiar dialect of the boatman continually remindedthe travellers that they were in Scotland. For "I don't know, " he said"I dinna ken;" for "trouble" the word was "fash, " and for "not, " "na. "The boys had heard this phraseology before. The railway porter, when heput Mr. George's valise in the carriage, crowded it under the seat, where he said it would not "fash the other travellers;" and at the inn, where Mr. George asked the servant girl if she would let them know whentheir supper was ready, she said, "Yes, sir, I will coom and tak yedoon. "

Waldron enjoyed the fishing excursion very much indeed. He said that heshould like to make the whole tour of Scotland in a boat, round amongthe islands on the western and northern shores. These islands are, indeed, very grand and picturesque. They are groups of dark mountains, rising out of the sea. To cruise among them in a yacht would be a verypleasant tour, were it not for the incessant storms of wind and rain towhich the voyagers would be exposed. 

Waldron said he particularly desired to go to the Shetland Islands, onthe north of Scotland, in order to buy himself a pony. 

"My father has promised me, " said he, "that if ever he goes to theShetlands he will buy me a pony. "

"I should like a Shetland pony, " said Rollo. 

"Yes, " said Waldron. "They are very hardy animals, and then they arevery docile and gentle. Some of them are as gentle and sagacious as adog. I read a story in a book once of one that saved the life of achild, by plunging into the water, and seizing the child by the clothes, between his teeth, and bringing it safe to land. The child fell into thewater off of a steep bank, and the horse jumped after it. "

[Illustration: THE SHETLAND PONY. ]

Here is a picture of the horse which Waldron read about, climbing up thebank of the stream, bringing the child. 

The party returned from the fishing excursion about eight o'clock; butas it was still half an hour before sunset, Mr. George proposed to takea walk to one of the castles. The waiter at the hotel had told them thathe could give them a ticket, and then the porter at the castle would letthem in at the gate, and allow them to walk about the grounds andaround the castle, but they could not go into it, for the proprietor andhis family were residing there. 

Accordingly, when the party reached the landing, at the end of theirexcursion, they left the boat, and walking across the bridge, they tooktheir course towards the castle. The road was as smooth and hard as afloor, but it was bordered by close stone walls on either side, withtrees overhanging them. At length, after one or two turnings, they cameto the great gate which led to the castle. The gateway was bordered oneach side with masses of trees and shrubbery, and just within it was asmall but very pretty house, built of stone. This was the porter'slodge. When they came up to the gate, and looked through the bars of it, a little barefooted girl came out from the door of the lodge, and openedthe gate to let them in. 

On entering they found themselves at the commencement of a smoothlygravelled avenue, which led in a winding direction among the treesthrough a beautiful park. They walked on along this avenue, supposingthat it would lead them to the castle. They passed various paths whichbranched off here and there from the avenue, and seemed to lead invarious directions about the grounds. The views which presentedthemselves on every side were varied and beautiful. They saw severalhares leaping about upon the grass--a sight which attracted theattention of the boys very strongly. 

At length they came in sight of the castle. It stood on a swell ofground, at the foot of a high hill. The body of it consisted in part ofa great round tower, with turrets and battlements above. The walls werecovered with ivy. 

After viewing the edifice as much as they wished, the party followedsome of the winding walks, which led in various directions over thegrounds; and, though every thing had a finished and beautifulappearance, still the whole scene wore a very sombre expression. 

"It must be a very solitary sort of grandeur, in my opinion, " said Mr. George, "which a man enjoys by living in such a place as this. "

"Why, I suppose he can have company if he wishes, " said Rollo. 

"Yes, " said Mr. George. "Perhaps he lives in Edinburgh, or in London, inthe winter, and in the summer he has company here. But then when he hascompany at all he must have them all the time, and he must have all thecare and responsibility of entertaining them; and that, I should think, would be a great burden. "

Mr. George and the boys rambled over these grounds about half an hour, and then they returned to the hotel. They were obliged to walk fast thelast part of the way, for dark, driving clouds began to be seen in thesky, and just before they reached the hotel some drops of fine rainbegan to fall. 

"To-morrow is going to be a rainy day, I expect, " said Rollo. 

"Very likely, " said Mr. George. 

"And shall you go on over the lake if it is?" asked Rollo. 

"I think we shall go as far as to the foot of Ben Lomond, " said Mr. George. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

ROWERDENNAN INN. 

Ben Lomond is one of the highest peaks in Scotland. There are one or twothat are higher, but they are more remote, and consequently less known. Ben Lomond is the one most visited, and is, accordingly, the one that ismost renowned. 

It lies on the east side of Loch Lomond, about half way between the headof the lake and the outlet. Our party were now at the outlet of thelake, and were going the next morning towards the head of it. The outletof the lake is towards the south. In this southern part, as I believe Ihave already said, the lake is about ten miles wide, and its banks areformed of hills and valleys of fertile land, every where wellcultivated, and presenting charming scenes of verdure and fruitfulness. The lake, too, in this portion of it, is studded with a great number ofvery picturesque and pretty islands. 

As you go north, however, the lake, or loch, as the Scotch call it, contracts in breadth, and the land rises higher and higher, until atlength you see before you a narrow sheet of water, shut in on eitherhand with dark and gloomy mountains, the sides of which are coveredevery where with ferns and heather, and seem entirely uninhabited. Theydescend, moreover, so steep to the water that there seems to be not evenroom for a path between the foot of the mountains and the shore. 

The highest peak of these sombre-looking hills is Ben Lomond; whichrises, as I have before said, on the eastern side of the loch, aboutmidway between the head of the loch and the outlet. At the foot of themountain there is a point of land projecting into the water, where thereis an inn. Tourists stop at this inn when they wish to ascend themountain. Other persons come to the inn for the purpose of fishing onthe loch, or of making excursions by the footpaths which penetrate, hereand there, among the neighboring highlands. There is a ferry here, too, across the loch. There is no village, nor, indeed, are there anybuildings whatever to be seen; so that the place is as secluded andsolitary as can well be imagined. It is known by the name of RowerdennanInn. It was at this point that Mr. George proposed to stop, in case theday should prove rainy. 

When the boys rose the next morning, the first thing was to look out ofthe window, to see what the promise was in respect to the weather. Itwas not raining, but the sky was overcast and heavy. 

"Good, " said Waldron. "It does not rain yet, but it will before we getto Rowerdennan Inn. "

Waldron was glad to see that there was a prospect of unfavorableweather, for he wished to stop at the inn. He had read in the guide bookthat they had boats and fishing apparatus there, and he thought that ifthey stopped perhaps another plan might be formed for going out on theloch a-fishing. 

The steamer was to leave at nine o'clock. The boys could see her lyingat the pier, about half a mile distant from them. The air was misty, andthere were some small trees in the way, but the boys could see thechimney distinctly. They dressed themselves as soon as they could, andwent to Mr. George's room. They knocked gently at the door. Mr. Georgesaid, "Come in. " They went in and found Mr. George seated at a table, writing in his journal. It was about seven o'clock. 

Mr. George laid aside his writing, and after bidding the boys goodmorning, and talking with them a few minutes about the plans of theday, took a testament which he had upon a table before him, and read afew verses from one of the Gospels, explaining the verses as he readthem. Then they all knelt down together, and Mr. George made a short andsimple prayer, asking God to take care of them all during the day, toguard them from every danger, to make them kind and considerate towardseach other, and towards all around them, and to keep them from everyspecies of sin. 

This was the way in which Mr. George always commenced the duties of theday, when travelling with Rollo, whether there were any other persons incompany or not; and a most excellent way it was, too. Besides theintrinsic propriety of coming in the morning to commit ourselves to theguardian care and protection of Almighty God, especially when we areexposed to the vicissitudes, temptations, and dangers that are alwayshovering about the path of the traveller in foreign lands, the influenceof such a service of devotion, brief and simple as it was, always provedextremely salutary on Rollo's mind, as well as on the minds of those whowere associated with him in it. It made them more gentle, and moredocile and tractable; and it tended very greatly to soften thoseasperities which we often see manifesting themselves in the intercourseof boys with each other. 

When the devotional service was finished, Mr. George sent the boys downstairs, to make arrangements for breakfast. In about half an hour Rollocame up to say that breakfast was ready in the coffee room, and Mr. George went down. 

After breakfast Mr. George took the valise, and the boys took the otherparcels of baggage, and they all went over the bridge to the railwaystation. They waited here a short time, until at length the train came. They would have walked on to the pier, where the boat in which they weregoing to embark was lying, but it was beginning to rain a little, andMr. George thought it would be better to wait and go in the cars. Thedistance was not more than a quarter of a mile, and the boys were quitecurious to know what the price of the tickets would be, for such a shortride. They found that they were threepence apiece. 

The train came very soon, bringing with it several little parties oftourists, that were going into the Highlands. They all seemed greatlychagrined and disappointed at finding that it was beginning to rain. 

When the train stopped opposite the pier, the passengers hurried acrossthe pier, and over the plank, on board the boat. The rain was fallingfast, and every thing was dripping wet. The gentlemen went loaded withportmanteaus, carpet bags, valises, and other parcels of baggage, whilethe women hurried after them, holding their umbrellas in one hand, andendeavoring, as well as they could, to lift up their dresses with theother. The boat was very small, and there was no shelter whatever fromthe rain on the deck. Most of the company, therefore, hurried down intothe cabin. 

"Are you going down into the cabin, too, uncle George?" said Rollo. 

"Not I, " said Mr. George. "Rain or no rain, I am going to see the shoresof Loch Lomond. "

There was a heap of baggage near the centre of the boat, covered with atarpauling. Mr. George put his valise and the knapsacks under thecovering, with the other travellers' effects, and then began to lookabout for seats. There was a range of wooden benches all along the sidesof the deck, but they were very wet, and looked extremely uncomfortable. The water, however, did not stand upon them, for they were made of openwork, on purpose to let the water through. 

"If we only had some camp stools, " said Mr. George, "we could getsheltered seats under the lee of the baggage; but as it is, we mustmake the best of these. "

[Illustration: VIEWING THE SCENERY OF LOCH LOMOND. ]

So he folded his shawl long enough to make a cushion for three persons, and laid it down on one of the benches. He sat down himself upon thecentre of it, and the boys took their places on each side. Mr. Georgethen spread his umbrella, and the boys, by sitting very close to him, could both come under it. By the time they were thus established theboat had left the pier, and was gliding smoothly away over the waters ofthe lake, with green and beautifully wooded islands all around. In thedistance up the lake, wherever the opening of the clouds afforded aview, it was seen that the horizon was bounded, and the waters of thelake were shut in, with dark and gloomy-looking mountains, the summitsof which were entirely concealed from view. 

After a short time the rain increased, and all the scenery, except suchislands and portions of the shore as came very near the track of thesteamer, was soon entirely hidden. The wind blew harder, too, and drovethe rain in under the umbrella, so that our travellers were beginning toget quite wet. 

"Suppose I go below, " said Waldron, "and see what sort of a place theother passengers have found down there. "

"Yes, sir, " said Rollo; "it is so wet here, and besides, I am beginningto be cold. "

"We will all go, " said Mr. George. 

So they all went below. They descended one at a time, by a small spiralstaircase, near the stern, which led them into the cabin of the boat. The cabin presented to view quite an extraordinary spectacle. 

It was a small room, being not much more than fifteen feet wide. Alongthe sides of it were seats made of carved oak, and very comfortablycushioned. Above was a row of small windows, through which you couldlook out by kneeling on the seats. At the end of the cabin were afireplace and a grate. There was a coal fire burning in the fireplace, and several of the passengers were hovering around it to warm and drythemselves. Others were looking out of the windows, vainly endeavoringto obtain some glimpses of the scenery. A great many of them wereuttering exclamations of disappointment and vexation, at finding all thepleasure of their excursion spoiled thus by the cold and the rain. 

Some of the travellers, however, more philosophical than the rest, seemed to take their ill luck quite patiently. There was one group thatopened their knapsacks at one of the side tables, and were takingbreakfast together there in a very merry manner. 

Mr. George and the two boys went to the fire, and stood there to warmthemselves, listening, in the mean time, to the exclamations and remarksof the various groups of passengers, which they found quite amusing. Inthe mean time the steamer went on, bringing continually new points ofland and new islands into view. She stopped, too, now and then, atlandings along the margin of the lake; and on these occasions Rollo andWaldron always went up on deck, to witness the operation of bringing thesteamer to, and to see who went on shore. 

They had a list of these landings on the tickets which they had boughtof the captain of the boat, as soon as they came on board. When theyfound that the next landing was Rowerdennan, all the party went up ondeck. The rain, they now found, had ceased. Indeed, the sky looked quitebright, and several of the passengers were standing on the wet deck, watching for glimpses of the mountains, which appeared here and therethrough the openings in the clouds. They saw repeatedly the dark andgloomy sides of Ben Lomond; but a canopy of dense and heavy cloudsrested upon and concealed the summit. 

The boys obtained a glimpse of a stone house, nearly enveloped in trees, at a little distance from the shore, as they approached the land. Thisthey supposed was the inn, as there was no other house in sight. 

The steamer drew up to the pier. The pier was very small. It was builtof timbers, and extended a little way out over the water, from asolitary place on the shore. Every passenger that left the boat had topay twopence for the privilege of landing upon it. The porter of the innstood there, with a leather bag hung over his neck, to collect thistoll. On this occasion, however, he got only sixpence, as Mr. George andthe two boys were the only passengers that landed. 

The place was very wild and solitary. There was no house, or building ofany kind, in sight. There was a narrow road, however, that led along theshore of the lake, from the pier towards the point of land which thesteamer had passed in coming to the pier, and the porter told Mr. Georgethat that was the road that led to the inn. 

"If you will walk on, " said the porter, "I will bring your luggage. "

There were some boards and small timbers on the deck of the vessel, which were to be landed here, and the porter remained in order toreceive them, while Mr. George and the boys went on. They soon came tothe inn. They entered it from behind, through a very pleasant yard, surrounded with trees and gardens, and out-buildings of various kinds. Mr. George went in, followed by the boys, and was shown into the coffeeroom. From the windows of this room there was a very pretty view of thelake, through an opening among the trees of the garden. 

"And now what are we going to do?" said Waldron, after they had alllooked at the view as much as they wished. 

"I am going to have a fire, " said Mr. George, "and then sit down hereand make myself comfortable until it clears away. You and Rollo can joinme, or you can form any other plan that you like better. "

"We'll go a-fishing, " said Waldron. 

"Or else go up on Ben Lomond, " said Rollo. "How high is Ben Lomond, uncle George?"

"It is between three and four thousand feet, " said Mr. George. "We willall go up to-morrow if it clears away. "

But Waldron did not wish to go up the mountain. He preferred to goa-fishing on the lake. He did not express his preference very stronglyat this time, but in the course of the afternoon he persuaded Rollo thatit would be a great deal better for them to go out a-fishing on thelake, and perhaps go across the lake to the opposite shore, rather thanto go up the mountain; and he induced Rollo to join him in a requestthat Mr. George would let them go out on the lake, while he went up themountain, if he wished to ascend it. 

"We can have a boat and a boatman, " said Waldron. "The boatman will rowus, and take care of us, and that will be perfectly safe. And Rollowould like that plan best, too. "

In forming this scheme Waldron and Rollo made a mistake; and it was amistake that boys are very apt to fall into when they are invited to goon excursions with their parents, or uncles, or older brothers. It isnaturally to be supposed that the tastes and inclinations of boys, insuch cases, should often be different from those of the grown personsthey are with, and should lead them to wish frequently to deviate, moreor less, from the plans formed. But it is a great source ofinconvenience to those whom they are with to have them often proposesuch deviations. In this case, for example, Mr. George had come a longdistance, and incurred very heavy expenses, for the purpose of seeingthe Scottish Highlands. Unless he could now really see them, of courseall his time and money would be lost. The pleasure of going a-fishingis, doubtless, often very great, but this was not the time nor the placefor enjoying it. In acceding to the arrangement to come with Mr. Georgeto the Highlands, the boys ought to have considered themselves joinedwith him in a tour for instruction and improvement, and as committed tothe plans which he might form, from time to time, for accomplishing theobjects of the tour. By proposing, as they did, to deviate on everyoccasion from these plans, and wishing to turn aside from the properduty of tourists, in search of such boyish pleasures as might be enjoyedjust as well at home, they failed signally in fulfilling the obligationswhich they incurred in undertaking the tour under Mr. George's charge. 

Let all the boys and girls, therefore, who read this book, remember thatwhenever, either by invitation or otherwise, they are joined to anyparty of which a grown person has charge, or when they accompany a grownperson on any excursion whatever, they go to share _his_ pleasures, notto substitute their own for his, and thus to interfere with and thwartthe plans which he had formed. Boys often violate this rule from want ofthought, and without intending to do any thing wrong. This was the casein this instance, in respect to Waldron and Rollo. 

"They are good boys, " said Mr. George to himself, in thinking of thesubject. "They do not mean to do any thing wrong; but they do notunderstand the case. I will take an opportunity soon to explain it tothem. "

It is no time, however, to explain to a boy why it is not best that heshould do a particular thing, when he wishes to do it and you forbidhim. His mind is then too much occupied with his disappointment, andperhaps with vexation, to listen to the reasons. Forbid him, if it isnecessary to do so, but reserve the explanation till some future time. 

Mr. George got over the difficulty in this case in a very pleasantmanner to all concerned. The rain ceased entirely about noon, but thepaths on the mountain he knew would be too wet to make it agreeable toascend that day; so he told the boys that if they would find the boatand the man, and make all the arrangements, he would go out with them onthe lake; and that, if they would agree to write a chapter for hisjournal, and write it as well as they had written their accounts oftheir excursion to Greenock, he would stop an hour on the way, to letthem fish. 

"And then, " said he, "we'll all ascend the mountain together to-morrow. "

This proposal was readily agreed to on the part of the boys, and thecompact was accordingly made. They engaged the boat and the man, andafter dinner they all three embarked. The rain had ceased, but the skywas covered with clouds, and heavy masses of mist were driving along thesides and over the summits of the mountains. The weather, however, remained tolerably favorable until the boat had nearly reached theopposite shore of the lake; but then a dense mass of clouds came downfrom the mountains on the eastern side, and the whole shore was soonconcealed from view by the driving scuds and the falling rain. Theboatman pulled hard to reach the shore before the shower should come on. The gust overtook them, however, when they were about a quarter of amile from the landing. Fortunately the wind, though very violent, wasfair, and it drove them on towards the shore. Mr. George and the boyssat down in the bottom of the boat, at the stern, and spreading a largeumbrella behind them, they sheltered themselves as well as they couldfrom the wind and the rain. The poor boatman got very wet. 

They found shelter when they reached the land, and soon the showerpassed away. Then, after rambling about a short time among the huts andcottages of the village where they landed, they set out again on theirreturn. They stopped to fish at a short distance from the shore on theeastern side, and were quite successful. The boys caught several trout, which they resolved to have fried for their breakfast the next morning. While they were fishing Mr. George sat in the stern of the boat, studying his guide books, and learning all he could about theremarkable events in the life of Rob Roy, the great Highland chieftain, who formerly lived on the shores of Loch Lomond, and performed manydaring exploits there, which have given him a great name in Scottishhistory. 

It was a little after nine o'clock when they returned to the inn. 

The next morning the plan of ascending the mountain was carried intoeffect. Mr. George hired two horses, intending to take turns with theboys in riding them. By having two horses for three riders, each onecould, of course, ride two thirds of the way. This is better than foreach one to ride all the way, as that is very tiresome. Both inascending and descending mountains it relieves and rests the travellerto walk a part of the way. 

The top of the mountain was distinctly in sight from the inn, and almostthe whole course of the path which led up to it, for there were no woodsto intercept the view. The distance was five or six miles. The path wasa constant and gradual ascent nearly all the way, and lay through aregion entirely open in every direction. There was a perfect sea ofhills on every side, all covered with moss, ferns, and heather, withscarcely a tree of any kind to be seen, except those that fringed theshores of the lake down in the valley. The view from the summit was veryextended, but the wind blew there so bleak and cold that the whole partywere very glad to leave it and come down, after a very brief survey ofthe prospect. 

In coming down the mountain the party stopped at a spring, to restthemselves and to drink; and here, as they were sitting together on theflat stones that lay about the spring, Mr. George explained to the twoboys what I have already explained in this chapter to the reader, inrespect to the duty of boys, when travelling under the charge of a grownperson, to fall in with their leader's plans, instead of formingindependent plans of their own. 

"When you are at home, " said he, "and playing among yourselves, and withother persons of your own age, then you can form your own plans, andarrange parties and excursions for just such purposes and objects as youthink will amuse you most. But we are now travelling for improvement, not for play. We are making a tour in Scotland for the purpose oflearning all we can about Scotland, with a view to obtain more full andcorrect ideas respecting it than we could obtain by books alone. So wemust attend to our duty, and be content with such enjoyments and suchpleasures as come in our way, and not turn aside from our duty to seekthem. "

The boys both saw that this was reasonable and right, and they promisedthat thenceforth they would act on that principle. 

"We won't ask to go a-fishing again all the time we are in Scotland, "said Waldron. 

"That's right, " said Mr. George. "And now as soon as we get to the hotelit will be time for the boat to come along; and all the rest of ouradventures to-day you and Rollo must write an account of, to put into myjournal. You will not write the account till you get to Stirling; butyou had better take notice of what we do, and what we see, so as to beready to write it when we arrive. "

"May we take notes?" asked Rollo. 

"Certainly, " said Mr. George. "That will be an excellent plan. Have asmall piece of paper and a pencil at hand, and when you see any thingremarkable, make a memorandum of it. That will help you very much whenyou come to write. "

This plan was carried into effect. The boys wrote their account, andafter it was duly corrected it was carefully transcribed into Mr. George's journal. It was as follows. Rollo wrote one half of it, andWaldron the other. 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE TOUR OF THE TROSSACHS. 

"The Trossachs is the name of a narrow gorge among the mountains. Itbegins at the end of a lake, and extends about two or three miles. Thesides are covered with forests, and there are high, sharp rocks seenevery where, peeping out among the trees. 

"The pass of the Trossachs is not in the same valley that Loch Lomondlies in, but in another valley almost parallel to it, about five milesoff. There is high land between. We had to cross this high land on foot, or in a carriage. The plan was to go up the lake a few miles farther, toa landing called Inversnaid, and there leave the boat, and go across themountains. 

"When it was nearly time for the boat to come, we took our valise andother things, and walked along the shore path till we came to the pier. We overtook some other people who were going in the boat, too. A soldiercame along, also. He was one of the sappers and miners, that we saw onthe top of Ben Lomond. He told me that he came down to get some thingsthat were coming in the boat. [D]

[D] The boys had seen a party of sappers and miners, as they are called, that is, military engineers, who were established on the top of BenLomond, in a hut which they had built there. They were employed there, in connection with other sappers and miners on the other mountainsaround, in making a survey of Scotland. 

"We waited on the pier a few minutes, and then we saw the boat comingaround a point of land. As soon as she came up to the pier we all gotin, and a gentleman and two ladies came on shore. 

"The weather was very pleasant, and so we did not go down into thecabin. All the passengers were on the deck, looking at the mountains. Italked with some of them. One party came from New York, and thegentleman asked me what there was to see at Rowerdennan Inn; and so Itold him about our going across the lake, and about our ascending themountain. He said he wished that he had landed, too, so that he might goup the mountain, since it proved to be such a pleasant day. 

"Uncle George gave Waldron and me leave to go up on the bridge to seethe mountains before us, up the lake. They looked very dark and gloomy. The captain was there. He told us the names of the mountains that werein sight. He said that when we landed at Inversnaid we should go acrossthe high land, and then should come to another lake, where there wasanother steamboat, only she had not commenced her trips yet, and so weshould have to go down the other lake in a row boat. Waldron and I wereboth glad of that. 

[Illustration: THE BOYS ON THE BRIDGE. ]

"At last we came to Inversnaid. We thought it would be a town, but itwas not. It was only an inn on the slope of the mountain, near theshore, and by the side of a waterfall. We walked up a steep path to theinn, from the pier. We had to pay twopence apiece for the privilege oflanding on the pier. Uncle George asked us whether we would rather walkor ride across the high land to the other valley. We said we did notcare. He said that he would rather ride. So he engaged one of the_machines_. They call the carriages machines. There were two standing inthe inn yard. There were two seats to these carriages, but no top, andvery little room for any baggage. So it was lucky for us that we had solittle. 

"While the hostler was harnessing the horse we went to see thewaterfall. There was a path leading to it through the bushes. There wasa small foot bridge over the stream, just below the waterfall, where wecould stand and see the water tumbling down over the rocks. 

"While we were there they called us to tell us that the machine wasready. So we went back to the inn. There were two machines ready at thedoor. One was for another party. There was a lady in that machine, andit was just starting. Ours was just starting, too. They told us thatthere was a steep hill at the beginning, and that it was customary forthe gentlemen to walk up. 

"So we walked up. The road lay along the brink of a deep ravine, withthe brook that made the waterfall tumbling along over the rocks at thebottom of it. 

"When we got to the top of the hill the machine stopped, and we all gotin. Waldron rode on the front seat with the driver, and uncle George andI rode behind. 

"The country was very wild and dreary. There was nothing to be seen allaround but hills and mountains, all covered with brakes and ferns, andmoss and heather. There were no woods, no pastures, no fields, and nofarm houses. It was the dreariest-looking country I ever saw. In themiddle of the way we came to some old stone hovels, with thatchedroofs--very dismal-looking dwellings indeed. There was usually one doorand one little window by the side of it. The window was about as big asyou would make for a horse, in the side of a stable. I looked into oneof these hovels. There was no floor, only flat stones laid in theground, and scarcely any furniture. The Irish shanties, where they aremaking railroads in America, are very pretty houses compared to them. 

"The driver told us that the whole country belonged to a duke. He keepsit to shoot grouse in, in the fall of the year. The grouse is a birdlike a partridge. They live on the heather. I saw some of them flyingabout. 

"The road was very good. The duke made it, the driver said. We could seethe road a great way before us, along the valley. By and by we saw somepeople coming. They were a great way off, but we could see that theywere travellers, by the umbrellas, and shawls, and knapsacks they had intheir hands. Presently we could see a man coming up a hill just beforethem with a wheelbarrow load of trunks that he was wheeling along. So weknew that it was a party of travellers, coming across from Loch Katrineto Loch Lomond; but we wondered why they did not take a machine, andride. 

"When we came up to them we stopped a moment to talk to them. There weretwo gentlemen and two ladies. One of the ladies looked pretty tired. They said that there were no machines on the side of the mountain wherethey came from, and that there was a party there, that arrived beforethem, who had engaged the first machines that should come; and so theywere obliged to walk, and to have their trunks wheeled over on awheelbarrow. 

"Afterwards we met another party walking in the same way, with theirtrunks on a wheelbarrow. We thought that five miles was a great way towheel trunks on a wheelbarrow. 

"At last we came to what they called Loch Katrine; but it seemed to menothing but a pond among the mountains. It was only about ten mileslong. There was an inn on the shore, but no village. 

"There was a pier there, too, and some boats drawn up on the beach. At alittle distance they were putting together an iron steamboat on thestocks. The parts were all made in Glasgow, and brought here by the sameway that we had come. The old steamboat of last year was floating in thewater near by. The steampipe was rusty, and she looked as if she hadbeen abandoned. The name of her was the Rob Roy. 

"We were glad that the new one was not ready, for we liked better to goin a row boat. 

"So we engaged one of the boats, and went down to it on the beach, andput our baggage in. And this is the end of my part of the account. Waldron is to write the rest. 

 "ROLLO. "

 * * * * *

"We all got into the boat; that is, we three, and some other ladies andgentlemen that came over the mountain about the same time with us. Thewind was blowing pretty fresh, and the middle of the lake was veryrough, and some of the ladies were afraid to go; but we told them therewas no danger. 

"The boatman said that we would go right across the loch, and then weshould get under the lee of the land on the eastern shore, and there weshould be sheltered from the wind, and the water would be smooth. 

"I told him that I could row, and asked him to let me take one of theoars; and he said I might. But one of the ladies was afraid to have medo it. She said she was afraid that I should upset the boat. 

"This was nonsense; for it is not possible to upset a boat by any kindof rowing, if it is ever so bad. 

"The boatman told her that there was no danger, and that, if I couldreally row, I could help him so much that we should get across the partof the lake where the wind blew and the waves run high so much thesooner. So she consented at last, and I took one of the oars, and werowed across the loch in fine style. We pitched about a good deal in themiddle passage, and the lady was dreadfully frightened; but when we gotacross the water became smooth, and we sailed very pleasantly along theshore. 

"The shores were winding and very pretty, and the farther we went thenarrower the lake became, and the mountains became higher and higher. Atlast we came to a narrow place between two mountains, where the pass ofthe Trossachs began. The mountain on one side was Ben Venue. The one onthe other side was Benan. The shores at the foot of these mountains werecovered with woods, and the place was very wild. There was an island inthe middle of the lake here, called Ellen's Isle. This island was highand rocky, and covered with woods, like the shores adjacent to it. 

"This island is very famous, on account of a poem that Walter Scottwrote about it, called the Lady of the Lake. The lake was this LochKatrine, and the lady was Ellen. She went back and forth to the islandin a boat, in some way or other, but I do not know the story exactly. Mr. George is going to buy the Lady of the Lake when we get toEdinburgh, and read it to us, and then we shall know. 

"The island is small and rocky, but it is so covered with trees andbushes that we hardly see the rocks. They peep out here and there. Thebanks rise very steep, and the water looks very deep close to the shore. We sailed by the island, and then the water grew narrower and narrower, until at last we were closely shut in, and then soon we came to thelanding. 

"There was nothing but a hut at the landing, and a narrow road, whichbegan then and led down the valley. The valley was very narrow, andthere were steep rocks and mountains on both sides. They told us that itwas a mile and a quarter to the inn, and that there was no other way togo but to walk. The boatman said that he would bring the baggage; so weleft it under his care, all except our knapsacks, and walked along. 

"We walked about a mile down the valley, by a very winding road, withrocks, and trees, and very high mountains on both sides. At last we camein sight of a tall spire. I thought it was a church. In a minute anotherspire came into view, and two great towers. Rollo thought it was acastle. I said that a castle would not have a spire on it. Rollo saidthat a church would not have two spires on it. It turned out that bothof us were mistaken; for the building was the inn. 

"It was a very extraordinary looking inn. It was built of stone, withtowers and battlements, like an old castle. The inside was veryextraordinary, too. The public room looked, as Mr. George said, like anold Gothic hall of the middle ages. There were tables set out here forpeople to have breakfasts and dinners, and Mr. George ordered a dinnerfor us. There were other parties of tourists there, some coming, andsome going. 

"While the dinner was getting ready, Rollo and I walked about the inn, and in the yards. It was a very curious place indeed. Close behind itwere lofty mountains, which, Rollo said, looked like the mountains ofSwitzerland; only there were no snow peaks on the top of them. There wasno village, and there were no houses near, except two or three stonehovels in the woods behind the inn. Before the inn, in a little valleyjust below it, was a pond, such as they call here a loch. 

"Mr. George decided to go directly on to Stirling, because it wasSaturday night, and he did not wish, he said, to spend Sunday at such alonesome inn. So we hired a carriage and set off. Immediately we beganto come out from the mountains, and to get into the level country. Thecountry soon grew very beautiful. The sun was behind our backs, and itshone right upon every thing that we wished to see, and made the wholecountry look very green and very brilliant. There were parks, andgardens, and pleasure grounds, and queer villages, and ruins of oldcastles on the hills, and little lochs in the valleys, and every thingbeautiful. 

"At last we came in sight of Stirling Castle. It stood on the top of ahigh, rocky hill. The hill was very high and steep on all sides but one, where it sloped down towards the town. The country all around was verylevel, so that we could see the castle a great many miles away. 

"We rode around the foot of the castle hill, under the rocks, and atlast came into the town, and drove to the hotel. 

 "WALDRON. "

CHAPTER X. 

STIRLING. 

Stirling Castle crowns the summit of a rocky hill, which rises on thebanks of the Forth, in the midst of a vast extent of level andrichly-cultivated country. It is, of course, a very conspicuous objectfrom all the region around. 

The hill is long and narrow. The length of it extends from north tosouth. The northern end is the high end. The land slopes gently towardsthe south, but the other sides are steep, and in many places they formperpendicular precipices of rock, with the castle walls built on thevery brink of them. 

The town lies chiefly at the foot of the hill, towards the south, thoughthere are one or two streets, bordered by quaint and queer oldbuildings, that lead all the way up to the castle. 

In front of the castle, at the place where these streets terminate, is abroad space, smoothly gravelled, called the esplanade. This is used as aparade ground, for drilling and training the new soldiers, and teachingthem the manoeuvres and exercises necessary to be practised in thewar. 

On Sunday morning, after breakfast, Mr. George and the boys went out, togo to church. Bells were ringing in various parts of the town. They weredrawn, by some invisible attraction, up the hill, in the direction ofthe castle. They soon found other people going the same way; andfollowing them, they came, at length, to a very ancient-looking mass ofbuildings, which, Mr. George said, he should have thought was an oldabbey, gone to ruin, if it were not that the people were all going intoit, under a great arched doorway. So he supposed it was a church, and heand the boys went in with the rest. 

There was a man at the door holding a large silver plate, to receive thecontributions of the people that came in. Mr. George stopped to get somemoney out of his pocket. The man then seemed to perceive that he was astranger; so he said to him, speaking with a broad Scotch accent andintonation, --

"Ye wull gae into the magistrates' seat. Or stay--I wull send a mon wi'ye, to show ye the wa'. "

So he called a door keeper, and the door keeper led the way up stairs, into a gallery. The gallery was very wide, and was supported byenormous pillars. The whole interior of the church had a very quaint andantique air. The magistrate's seat was the front seat of the gallery. Itwas a very nice seat, and was well cushioned. Before it, all around, wasa sort of desk, for the Bibles and Hymn Books to rest upon. 

There were three pulpits--or what seemed to the boys to be pulpits--onebehind and above the other. The highest was for the minister; the nextbelow was for what in America would be called the leader of the choir;though in Scotland, Mr. George said he believed he was called theprecentor. There was no choir of singers, as with us, but when theminister gave out a hymn the precentor rose and commenced the singing, and when he had got near the end of the first line all the congregationjoined in, and sang the hymn with him to the end. The third pulpit wasonly a sort of chair, enclosed at the sides and above. What the man didwho sat in it the boys could not find out. 

All the people in the church had Bibles on a sloping board before them, in their pews, and when the minister named the text or read a chapter, they all turned to the place, and looked over. Waldron said he thoughtthat this was an excellent plan. 

Mr. George and the boys all liked the sermon very much indeed, and whenthe service was ended, they walked a little way around the esplanadebefore the castle, and then went home to dinner. 

In the course of their excursion, however, they had observed that agreat many walks had been made at different elevations on the west sideof the hill, and that seats were placed there at different points, forresting-places. These seats, and indeed the walks themselves, commandedcharming views of all the surrounding country. The boys wanted to run upand down these paths, and explore the sides of the hill by means of themin every part; but Mr. George recommended to them to wait till the nextday. 

"We shall come up to-morrow, " said he, "to visit the castle, and then wewill come out here, and have a picnic, on one of these stone seats. After that I will find a place among the rocks to read or write, for anhour, and while I am there you may climb about among the rocks andprecipices as much as you please. "

The next morning the boys set out with Mr. George, soon after breakfast, to go up to the castle. When they reached the esplanade they foundseveral small parties of soldiers there, under instruction. They allwore red coats--that being the ordinary uniform of British soldiers. Officers were marching them about, and teaching them how to handle theirmuskets, and to keep step, and to wheel this way and that, and toperform other such evolutions. A great many of the soldiers looked veryyoung. They were lads that had been recently enlisted, and were nowbeing trained to go to the war in the Crimea. 

After looking at these soldiers a short time the party went on. At theupper end of the esplanade there was a gateway leading into the castleyard. There was a sentinel, in a Highland costume, keeping guard there. Mr. George asked him if the public were allowed to go into the castle. He said, "O, yes, certainly;" and so Mr. George and the boys went in. 

As they went in they looked up, and saw a great many cannons pointeddown at them from the embrasures in the surrounding ramparts andbastions. 

"Those guns must be to keep the enemy from coming in, " said Waldron. 

Presently the party passed through another arched gateway, and came intoa large inner court, which was surrounded with various buildings, allbuilt of stone, and of a very massive and solid character. The palacewas on one side. It was adorned with a great many quaint and curioussculptures and images. The palace itself, and all the other buildings, were used as barracks for soldiers. A great many soldiers were standingabout the doors, and some were playing together about the court. Some ofthem were dressed in the common British uniform, and some were in theHighland costume. 

While the boys were looking at the palace front, a soldier advancedtowards them in a very respectful manner, and said to Mr. George, --

"If you and the young gentlemen are strangers in Stirling, I will walkabout the castle with you, and point out the objects of interest to you, if you desire it. "

Mr. George accepted this offer, and the young soldier accordingly walkedwith them all about. He pointed out all the different buildings, andmentioned the dates of the erection of them, and referred to the mostimportant historical events that had transpired in them. Finally he ledthe party through a gate into a small garden, and thence out upon therampart wall, from which there was a very extended and extraordinarilybeautiful view of the surrounding country. [E] To the north-west wereseen the Highlands, with the peaks of Ben Lomond, Ben Venue, and Benan, rising conspicuously among them. On the east were other hills, risingabruptly out of the smooth and smiling plain, and covered with darkplantations of evergreen. All around the foot of the castle, andextending to the distance, in some directions, of many miles, thecountry was level and fertile, and it presented every where the mostenchanting pictures of rural beauty. Some of the fields were of therichest green, others were brown from fresh tillage, with men ploughingor harrowing in them, or plants just springing up in long green rows, which, partly on account of the distance, and partly through theexquisite neatness and nicety of farmers' work, looked so smooth, andsoft, and fine, that the scene appeared more like enchantment thanreality. 

[E] For engraving of Stirling Castle see page 10. 

On one side of the mountain was seen the River Forth, winding aboutthrough meadows and green fields with the most extraordinary turningsand involutions. The boys had seen winding rivers before, but never anything like this. The whole plain was filled with the windings of theriver, which looked like the links of a silver chain, lying halfembedded in a carpet of the richest green. Indeed, these windings of theriver, and the vast circular fields of fertile land which they enclose, are called the Links of Forth. The view was diversified by villages, hamlets, bridges, railway embankments, and other constructions, whichconcealed the river here and there entirely from view, and made itimpossible to trace its course. The richness and beauty of these Linksof Forth appeared the more surprising to the boys from the contrastwhich the scene presented to the dreary wastes of moss and heather whichthey had seen in the Highlands. There is an old Scotch proverb thatrefers to this contrast. It is this:--

 "The lairdship of the bonnie Links of Forth Is better than an _earldom_ in the north. "

The course of the Forth could be traced for a long distance towardsEdinburgh; and Arthur's Seat, a high hill near Edinburgh, could bedistinctly seen in the south-eastern horizon. 

At one place, in an angle in the wall of the rampart, was a stone step, so placed that a lady, by standing upon it, might get a better view. Thesoldier said that Queen Victoria stood upon that stone, when she visitedStirling Castle, a few years ago, on her way to Balmoral. Balmoral is acountry seat she has among the Highlands, far to the north, in the midstof the wildest solitudes. The queen goes there almost every summer, inorder to escape, for a time, from the thraldom of state ceremony, andthe pomp and parade of royal life, and live in peace among the mountainsolitudes. 

The soldier pointed to the coping of the wall, where the figure of acrown was cut in the stone, and the letters "V. R. " by the side of it. This inscription was a memorial of the queen's having stood at this spotto view and admire the beauty of the scenery. 

After Mr. George and the boys had seen all that they wished of thecastle, Mr. George gave the soldier a shilling, and they went out asthey had gone in, under the great archway. They passed across theesplanade, and then came to a small, level piece of ground, with a highrock beyond it, overlooking it. The level place was an ancient tiltingground; that is, a ground where, in ancient times, they used to havetilts and tournaments, for the amusement of the people of the palace, and of the guests who came to visit them. The ladies used to stand onthe top of the rock to witness the tournaments. There was a large, flatarea there, with room enough upon it for twenty or thirty ladies tostand and see. The rock was called the Lady's Rock. The tournaments andtiltings have long since ceased, but it retains the name of the Lady'sRock to the present day. 

"Let us go up on it, " said Rollo, "and see where the ladies stood. "

There were a number of children playing about these grounds, and severalof them were upon the top of the Lady's Rock. They looked ragged andpoor. Rollo and Waldron climbed up to the place. The path was steep andrugged. When they reached the top they looked down to the level areawhere the tournaments were held. 

"I don't think the place is big enough for a tournament, " said Rollo. 

"What is a tournament?" asked Waldron. 

"A sort of sham fight of horsemen, " said Rollo, "that they used to havein old times, when they wore steel armor, and fought with spears andlances. They used to ride against each other with blunt spears, and seewho could knock the other one off his horse. What are you laughing at, uncle George?"

Rollo perceived that Mr. George was smiling at his very unromantic modeof describing a tournament. "Is not that what they used to do at thetournaments?"

"Yes, " said Mr. George, "that is a pretty fair account of it, on thewhole. And now, boys, " he continued, "I have got a plan of having apicnic to-day, out under the castle walls here, instead of going to thehotel for dinner; and we will go and find a good place for it. "

The boys said that they would like this plan very much. "But then, "said they, "we have not got any thing to eat. "

Mr. George then explained to them that the plan which he had formed, wasfor them to go down into the town, and buy something at the shops for apicnic dinner, while he remained on the rocks, or on some seat on theside of the Castle Hill, writing in his journal. 

"Well, " said Waldron, "we will do that. But what shall we buy?"

"Whatever you please, " said Mr. George. "Walk along through the street, and look in at the shop windows, and whenever you see any thing that youthink we shall like, buy it. "

"Well, " said Rollo, "we will. But how much shall we spend?"

"As much as you think it best, " said Mr. George. "I leave every thing toyou. You see, our dinner at the hotel would not be less than sevenshillings, and that we shall save; so that if you don't spend more thanseven shillings you will be safe. "

The boys were sure that they could procure very abundant supplies forless money than that; and they very readily undertook the commission. They accordingly left Mr. George at a seat near one of the walks on theside of Castle Hill, where, as he said, he could look right down on thefamous field of Bannockburn, and they then began to run down the walk, on the way towards the hotel. 

They first went to the hotel to get a knapsack. They told the waiterthere that they should not be at home to dinner. They then walked alongthe street, looking out for eatables. They soon found various shopwindows where such things were displayed, and in the course of a quarterof an hour they had laid in an abundant supply. They bought some small, flat cakes of bread at one place, and a veal and ham pie at another, andtwo oranges apiece at another, and a bottle of milk at another, andfinally, for dessert, they got a pound of raisins and almonds mixedtogether, which they chanced to see in a fruiterer's window. The cost ofthe whole, the boys found, when they came to foot up the account, wasonly two shillings and fourpence. 

With these supplies the boys went up the hill again; not through thestreet, but by the walk under the trees, outside the town wall. Theyfound Mr. George in the seat where they had left him. He had justfinished his writing. He was very much pleased with the purchases thatthe boys had made, and they all sat down together on the stone seat, andate their dinner with excellent appetites. [F]

[F] See Frontispiece. 

While they were eating the raisins and almonds Mr. George pointed downto a beautiful field, yellow with buttercups, and said, --

"There, boys, do you see that field?"

The boys said they did. 

"It is the field of Bannockburn. Look at it, and remember it well. Whenyou are five years older, and read the history of Scotland, you willtake great pleasure in thinking of the day when you looked down fromStirling Castle on the field of Bannockburn. "

CHAPTER XI. 

LOCH LEVEN. 

"And where are we going next, uncle George?" said Rollo, as they wereall coming home to the hotel, from their last walk up to the castle. 

"I am going to Kinross, " said Mr. George. 

"What is there at Kinross?" asked Rollo. 

"There is a lake, " said Mr. George, "and in the lake is an island, andon the island are the ruins of an old castle, and in the castle Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned. "

"Yes, " said Waldron, "I have heard of Mary, Queen of Scots, but I do notknow much about her. "

Waldron, it must be confessed, was not much of a scholar. He had readvery little, either of history or of any thing else. 

"What was she remarkable for?" he asked. 

"In the first place, " said Mr. George, "she was very beautiful, and shewas also very lovely. "

"That is the same thing; is it not?" said Rollo. 

"No, not by any means, " said Mr. George. "There are many beautifulgirls that are not lovely, and there are many lovely girls that are notparticularly beautiful. "

"You mean lovely in character, I suppose, " said Rollo. 

"No, " said Mr. George, "I mean lovely in looks. There is a greatdifference, I think, between loveliness and beauty, in _looks_. "

"I think so, too, " said Waldron. 

"Now, Mary, Queen of Scots, " continued Mr. George, "was beautiful, andshe was also very lovely; and while she lived she charmed and fascinatedalmost every body who knew her. 

"Then, besides, " continued Mr. George, "her life was an exceedinglyromantic one. She met with an extraordinary number of most remarkableadventures. She was sent to France, when she was a little child, to beeducated. There were four little girls of her own age sent with her, tobe her playmates there, and they were all named Mary. She called themher four Marys. 

"She grew up to be a young lady in France, and married the king's son, and she lived there for a time in great prosperity and splendor. At lasther husband died, and her enemies came into power in France, and shebecame unhappy. Besides, there were some difficulties and troubles inScotland, and she was obliged to return to her native land. She was, however, very unhappy about it. She loved France very much, and thefriends that she had made there, and when she came away she said thatshe had left half her heart behind. 

"When we go to Edinburgh, " continued Mr. George, "we shall go toHolyrood, and see the palace where she lived. While she was there agreat many extraordinary and curious events and incidents befell her. "

"Tell us about them, " said Waldron. 

"No, " said Mr. George. "It would take me too long. You must read herhistory yourself. It is an exceedingly interesting story. She wasaccused of some great crimes, but mankind have never been able to decidewhether she was guilty of them or not. Some are very sure that she wasinnocent, and some are equally positive that she was guilty. "

"What crimes were they?" asked Waldron. 

"Why, one was, " said Mr. George, "that of murdering her husband. It washer second husband, one that she married after she came to Scotland. They did not live happily together. He killed one of Mary's friends, named Rizzio, and afterwards he was killed himself. The house that hewas in was blown up in the night with gunpowder. "

"My!" exclaimed Waldron; "I should like to read about it. "

"It is a very interesting and curious story, " said Mr. George. 

"And could not they find out who did it?" asked Waldron. 

"Yes, " said Mr. George, "they found out who did it; but what they couldnot find out was, whether Mary herself took any part in the crime ornot. There was no direct proof. They could only judge from thecircumstances. "

"What were the circumstances?" asked Waldron. 

"O, I could not tell you very well, " said Mr. George. "It would take mehalf a day to tell the whole story. You must get some life of Mary, Queen of Scots, and read it for yourself. You will have to begin at thebeginning, and read it all carefully through, and remember all thepersons that are mentioned, and consider their characters and motives, and then you will be able to judge for yourself about it. There havebeen a great many histories of her life written. "

"And what about her being imprisoned in the castle that we are going tosee?" asked Waldron. 

"O, you must read and find out for yourself about that, too, " said Mr. George. "The country got into great difficulty, and two parties wereformed, one of which was in favor of Mary, and one was against her. Herenemies proved to be the strongest, and so they shut her up in thiscastle. But she got away. "

"How?" asked Waldron. 

"You will learn all about it, " replied Mr. George, "when you come toread the history of her life. When we go to the castle you will see thewindow where she climbed down into the boat. "

"Did she escape in a boat?" asked Waldron. 

"I am positively not going to tell you any more about it, " said Mr. George. "You must find out for yourself. Your father has paid ever somuch money to send you to school, to have you educated, so that youcould read history for yourself, and not be dependent upon any body; andnow for me to tell it to you would be ridiculous. You must go to abookstore, and buy a history of Mary, Queen of Scots, and begin at thebeginning, and read the whole story. "

Mr. George said this in a somewhat jocose sort of manner, and Waldronunderstood that his refusing to give him more full information aboutMary, Queen of Scots, arose, not from any unwillingness to oblige him, but only to induce him to read the story himself, in full, which heknew very well would be far better for him than to receive a meagrestatement of the principal points of the narrative from another person. 

"I mean to get the book, " said Waldron, "as soon as we arrive atEdinburgh. But there is one thing I can do, " he added; "I can ask theguide. The guide that shows us the castle will tell me how she gotaway. "

"Well, " said Mr. George, "you can ask the guide; but I don't believe youwill get much satisfaction in _that_ way. "

The next morning after this conversation took place, Mr. George and theboys bade Stirling farewell, and set off in the cars, on the way to LochLeven. After riding about an hour they left the train at the stationcalled Dunfermline, where there was a ruin of an abbey, and of anancient royal palace of Scotland. They left their baggage at thestation, and walked through the village till they came to the ruin. Itwas a very beautiful ruin, and the party spent more than an hour inrambling about it, and looking at the old monuments, and the carved andsculptured windows, and arches, and cornices, all wasted and blackenedby time and decay. A part of the ruin was still in good repair, and wasused as a church, though it was full of old sepulchral monuments andrelics. There was a woman in attendance at the door, to show the churchto those who wished to see the interior of it. 

After looking at these ruins as long as they wished, Mr. George and theboys went back to the station, in order to take the next train that cameby, and continue their journey. They went on about an hour longer, andthen they got out again at a station called Cowdenbeath, which was theplace on the road that was nearest to Loch Leven, and where they hadunderstood that there was a coach, which went to Loch Leven twice a day. The place was very quiet and still, and was in the midst of a green andpretty country, with small groups of stone cottages here and there. There were also several pretty tall chimneys scattered about the fields, with a sort of platform, and some wheels and machinery near each ofthem. These were the mouths of coal pits. The wheels and machinery werefor hoisting up the coal. 

In the yard of the station they found the Loch Leven coach. It was inthe form of a very short omnibus. The coachman said that he had justcome in from Loch Leven, and that he was going to set out on his returnat eight. It was now about seven, so that Mr. George and the boys had anhour to walk about, and see what was to be seen. 

It was a pleasant summer evening, and they enjoyed the rambles that theytook very much indeed. They walked through several of the littlehamlets, and saw the women sitting at the doors of their cottages, withtheir young children in their arms, while the older ones were runningabout, here and there, at play. They went to some of the coal pits, andsaw the immense iron levers, driven by steam, that were slowly moving toand fro, hard at work pumping up water from the bottom of the mine. Theytook quite a walk, too, along the turnpike road, and saw a post-chaisedrive swiftly by, with a footman behind, and a postilion in livery onone of the horses. 

At last, when the hour of eight began to draw nigh, they all went backto a little inn near the station, where the coachman had said that hewould call for them. When the coach came Mr. George got in, and the twoboys mounted on the top, and took their places on a high seat behindthat of the driver. They had a very pleasant ride. The country wasbeautiful, and the horses trotted so fast over the smooth, hard road, that a continued succession of most enchanting pictures of rural scenerywas presented to the eyes of the boys, as they rode along. The distancewas not far from ten miles, but both the boys wished that it had beentwenty. 

At length they came in sight of a large village bordered by groves oftrees, lying in the midst of a gentle depression of the ground, and in afew minutes more they began to get glimpses of the water. The villagewas Kinross, and the water was Loch Leven. Presently, in going over agentle elevation of land, a large portion of the surface of the watercame into view. Far out towards the centre of it was a small, lowisland, covered with trees. In the midst of the trees the boys could seethe top of the ruin of a large, square tower. They asked the coachman ifthat was Loch Leven Castle, and he said it was. 

"Uncle George, " said Rollo, leaning over and calling out to his uncleinside, "there's the castle. "

"Yes, " said Mr. George, "I see it. "

"It seems to me, " said Rollo to Waldron, "that that is a very smallisland to build a castle upon. "

"Yes, " said the coachman; "but it was a great deal smaller in the dayswhen the castle was inhabited. It was only just large enough then forthe castle itself, and for the castle garden. It is a great deal largernow. The way it came to be larger was this. Some years ago theproprietor cut down the outlet of the loch four feet deeper than it wasbefore; and that drew off four feet of water from the whole loch, andof course all the places where the water was less than four feet deepwere laid bare. This enlarged the castle island a great deal, for beforethe water was very shallow all around it. When the land became dry theyplanted trees there, and now the ruins are in the midst of quite agrove. "

By this time the coach began to enter the village, and very soon itstopped at the door of a very neat and tidy-looking inn. Mr. Georgeengaged lodgings for the night, and called for supper. The supper wasserved in a pleasant little coffee room, which was fitted up in a verysnug and comfortable manner, like a back parlor in a gentleman's house. 

After supper Mr. George proposed to the boys that they should take awalk about the village, as it was only nine o'clock, and it would not bedark for another hour. So they went out and walked through the street, back and forth. The houses were built of a sort of gray stone, and theystood all close together in rows, one on each side of the street, withnothing green around them or near them. The street thus presented a verygray, sombre, and monotonous appearance; very different from theanimated and cheerful aspect of American villages, with their whitehouses and green blinds, and pretty yards and gardens, enclosed withornamental palings. The boys wished to go down to the shore of the loch;but as they did not see the water any where, Mr. George said he thoughtit would be too far. So they went back to the inn. 

The next morning, after breakfast, they set out to go and visit thecastle. A boy went with them from the inn to show them the way. He ledthem down the street of the village, to a house where he said the manlived who "had the fishing" of the loch. It seems that the loch, including the right to fish in it, is private property, and that theowner of it lets the fishing to a man in the village, and that he keepsa boat to take visitors out to see the castle. So they went to the housewhere this man lived. They explained what they wanted at the door, andpretty soon a boatman came out, and went with them to the shore of thepond. The way was through a wide green field, that had been formed outof the bottom of the loch, by drawing off the water. When they came tothe shore they found a small pier there, with a boat fastened to it. There was a small boat house near the pier. The boatman brought someoars out of the boat house, and put them in the boat, and then they allgot in. 

The morning was calm, and the loch was very smooth, and the boat glidedalong very gently over the water. There was a great curve in the shorenear the pier, so that for some time the boat, though headed directlyfor the island, which was in the middle of the loch, moved parallel tothe shore, and very near it. There was a smooth and beautiful greenfield all the way along the shore, which sloped down gently to themargin of the water. Beyond this field, which was not wide, there was aroad, and beyond the road there was a wall. Over the wall were to beseen the trees of a great park; and presently the boat came opposite tothe gateway, through which the boys could see, as they sailed by, alarge and handsome stone house, or castle. The boatman said it was notinhabited, because the owner of it was not yet of age. 

After passing the house they came, before long, to the end of thesegrounds, which formed a point projecting into the lake. There was asmall and very ancient-looking burying ground on the point. This buryingground will be referred to hereafter; so do not forget it. 

After passing this point of land, the boat, in her course towards thecastle, came out into the open loch--the little island on which theruins of the castle stand being in full view. 

There was, however, yet a pretty broad sheet of open water to passbefore reaching the island. 

[Illustration: LOCH LEVEN. ]

"Now we have passed Cape Race, " said Waldron, "and are striking out intothe open sea. "

Cape Race is the southern cape of Newfoundland, and is the last land tobe seen on the American coast, in crossing the Atlantic. 

After about a quarter of an hour, the boat began to approach the shoresof the little island. And now the great square tower, and the rampartwall connected with it, came plainly in sight. There were a few verylarge and old trees overhanging the ruins, and all the rest of theisland was covered with a dense grove of young trees. The boat came upto the land, and Mr. George and the boys stepped out of it upon a sortof jetty, formed of stones loosely thrown together. There was a pathleading through the grass, and among the trees, towards the ruins of thecastle. 

The castle consisted, when it was entire, of a square area enclosed in ahigh wall, with various buildings along the inner side of it. Theprincipal of these buildings was the square tower. This was in onecorner of the enclosure. At the opposite corner of the enclosure werethe ruins of a smaller tower, hexagonal in its form. The square towercontained the principal apartments occupied by the family that residedin the castle. The hexagonal one contained the rooms where Queen Marywas imprisoned. 

Then, besides these structures, there were several other buildingswithin the area, though they are now gone almost entirely to ruin. Therewas a chapel, for religious services and worship; there were ovens forbaking, and a brewery for brewing beer. The guide showed Mr. George andthe boys the places where these buildings stood; though nothing was leftof them now but the rude ranges of stone which marked the foundations ofthem. Indeed, throughout the whole interior of the area enclosed by thecastle wall there was nothing to be seen but stones and heaps ofrubbish, all overgrown with rank grass, and tall wild-flowers, andovershadowed by the wide-spreading limbs and dense foliage of severalenormous trees, that had by chance sprung up since the castle went toruin. It was a very mournful spectacle. 

The boys walked directly across the area, towards the hexagonal tower, in order to see the place where Queen Mary escaped by climbing out ofthe window. 

Mr. George had thought that Waldron would not succeed in obtaining anysatisfactory information from the guide in respect to the circumstancesof Queen Mary's escape; for, generally, the guides who show these oldplaces in England and Scotland know little more than a certain lesson, which they have learned by rote. But the guides who show the Castle ofLoch Leven seem to me exceptions to this rule. I have visited the placetwo or three times, at intervals of many years, and the guides who haveconducted me to the spot have always been very intelligent andwell-informed young men, and have seemed to possess a very clear andcomprehensive understanding of the events of Queen Mary's life. At anyrate, the guide in this instance gave Waldron and Rollo a very goodaccount of the escape; separating in his narrative, in a verydiscriminating manner, those things which are known, on good historicalevidence, to be true, from those which rest only on the authority oftraditionary legends. He gave his account, too, in a very gentle tone ofvoice, and with a Scotch accent, which seemed so appropriate to theplace and to the occasion that it imparted to his conversation apeculiar charm. 

"The country was divided in those days, " said he, "and some of thenobles were for the poor queen, and some were against her. The owner ofthis castle was Lady Douglass, and she was against her; and so they sentMary here, for Lady Douglass to keep her safely, while they arranged anew government. 

"But she made her escape by this window, which I will show ye. "

So saying, the guide led the way up two or three old, time-worn, anddilapidated steps, into the hexagonal tower. The tower was small--being, apparently, not more than twelve feet diameter within. The floors, except the lower one, and also the roof, were entirely gone, so that assoon as you entered you could look up to the sky. 

The walls were very thick, so that there was room, not only for deepfireplaces, but also for closets and for a staircase, in them. Youcould see the openings for these closets, and also various loopholes andwindows, at different heights. The top of the wall was all broken away, and so were the sills of the windows; and little tufts of grass and ofwall flowers were to be seen, here and there, growing out of clefts andcrevices. There were also rows of small square holes to be seen, atdifferent heights, where the ends of the timbers had been inserted, toform the floors of the several stories. 

"This was the window where she is supposed to have got out, " said theguide. 

So saying, he pointed to a large opening in the wall, on the outer side, where there had once, evidently, been a window. 

The boys went to the place, and looked out. They saw beneath the windowa smooth, green lawn, with the young trees which had been plantedgrowing luxuriantly upon it. 

"I suppose, " said Mr. George, "that before the lake was lowered thewater came up close under the window. "

"Yes, sir, " said the guide; "and if you stand upon the sill, and lookdown, you will see a course of projecting stone at the foot of the wallwhich was laid to meet the wash of the water. "

"Let me see, " said Waldron, eagerly. 

So saying, Waldron advanced by the side of Mr. George, and looked down. By leaning over pretty far he could see the course of stone verydistinctly that the guide had referred to. 

"Who brought the boat here for Mary to go away in?" asked Waldron. 

"Young Douglass, " said the guide, "Lady Douglass's son. He was a younglad, only eighteen years old. His mother was Queen Mary's enemy; but_he_ pitied her, and became her friend, and he devised this way toassist her to escape. There was a plan devised before this, by hisbrother. His name was George Douglass. The one who came in the boat wasWilliam. George's plan was for Mary to go on shore in the disguise of alaundress. The laundress came over to the island from the shore in aboat, to bring the linen; and while she was in Mary's room Maryexchanged clothes with her, and attempted to go on shore in the boatwith the empty basket. But the boatmen happened to notice her hand, which was very delicate and white, and they knew that such a hand asthat could never belong to a real laundress. So they made her lift upher veil, and thus she was discovered. "

"That was very curious, " said Waldron. 

"It is supposed, " said the guide, "that this floor, where we stand, wasMary's drawing room, and the floor above was her bed chamber. Thestaircase where she went up is _there_, in the wall. "

"Let's go up, " said Rollo. 

So Rollo and Waldron went up the stairway. It was very narrow, andrather steep, and the steps were much worn away. When the boys reachedthe top they came to an opening, through which they could look down towhere Mr. George and the guide were standing below; though, of course, they could not go out; for the floor in the second story was entirelygone. 

"There was a room above the bed chamber, " said the guide, "as we see bythe windows and the fireplace, but there was no stairway to it fromQueen Mary's apartments. The only access to it was through that door, which leads in from the top of the rampart wall. And there is anotherroom below, and partly under ground. That is the room where Walter Scottrepresents the false keys to have been forged. "

"What false keys?" asked Waldron. 

"Why, the story is, " said the guide, "that young Douglass had false keysmade, to resemble the true ones as nearly as possible, so as to deceivehis mother. He then contrived to get the true ones away from his mother, and put the false ones in their place. I will show you where he didthis, and explain how he did it, when we go into the square tower. "

"Let us go now, " said Waldron. 

So they all went across the court yard, and approached the square tower. The guide explained to the boys that formerly the entrance was in thesecond story, through an opening in the wall, which he showed them. Theway to get up to this opening was by a step ladder, which could be letdown or drawn up by the people within, by means of chains coming downfrom a window above. The step ladder was, of course, entirely gone; butdeep grooves were to be seen in the sill of the upper window, which hadbeen worn by the chains in letting down and drawing up the ladder. 

To accommodate modern visitors a flight of loose stone steps had beenlaid outside the square tower, leading to a window in the lower story ofit. Mr. George and the boys ascended these steps and went in. The lowerroom was the kitchen, and they were all much interested and amused inlooking at the very strange and curious fixtures and contrivances whichremained there--the memorials of the domestic usages of those ancienttimes. 

In a corner of the room was a flight of steps, built in the thickness ofthe wall, leading to the story above. This was the dining room andparlor of the castle. 

"It was here, " said the guide, "according to the story of Walter Scott, that Douglass contrived to get possession of the castle keys. There wasa window on one side of the room, from which there was a view, acrossthe water of the lake, of the burying ground already mentioned. LadyDouglass, like almost every body else in those times, was somewhatsuperstitious, and William arranged it with a page that he was topretend to see what was called a corpse light, moving about in theburying ground; and while his mother went to see, he shifted the keyswhich she had left upon the table, taking the true ones himself, andleaving the false ones in their place. 

"That is the story which Sir Walter Scott relates, " said the guide; "butI am not sure that there is any historical authority for it. "

"And what became of Queen Mary, after she escaped in the boat?" askedWaldron. 

"O, there were several of her friends, " said the guide, "waiting for heron the shore of the loch where she was to land, and they hurried heraway on horseback to a castle in the south of Scotland, and there theygathered an army for her, to defend her rights. "

After this the boys looked down through a trap door, which led to adark dungeon, where it is supposed that prisoners were sometimesconfined. They rambled about the ruins for some time longer, and thenthey returned to the boat, and came back to the shore. When they arrivedat the pier they paid the boatman his customary fee, which was about adollar and a quarter, and then began to walk up towards the inn. 

"Well, boys, " said Mr. George, "how did you like it?"

"Very much indeed, " said Waldron. "It is the best old castle I eversaw. "

"You will like the Palace of Holyrood better, I think, " said Mr. George. 

"Where is that?" asked Rollo. 

"At Edinburgh, " said Mr. George. "It is the place where Mary lived. Weshall see the little room there where they murdered her poor secretary, David Rizzio. "

"What did they murder him for?" asked Waldron. 

"O, you will see when you come to read the history, " said Mr. George. "It is a very curious story. "

CHAPTER XII. 

EDINBURGH. 

From Loch Leven Castle our party returned in the coach to the railwaystation, and thence proceeded to Edinburgh. They crossed the Frith ofForth by a ferry, at a place where it was about five miles wide. 

Edinburgh is considered one of the most remarkable cities in the world, in respect to the picturesqueness of its situation. It stands upon andamong a very extraordinary group of steep hills and deep valleys. A partof it is very ancient, and another part is quite modern, so that indescribing it, it is often said that it consists of the old town and thenew town. But it seems to me that a more obvious distinction would be, to divide it into the upper town and the lower town; for there arealmost literally two towns, one upon the top of the other. The uppertown is built on the hills. The lower one lies in the valleys. Thestreets of the upper town are connected by bridges; and when you standupon one of these bridges, and look down, you see a street instead of ariver below, with ranges of strange and antique-looking buildings oneach side, for banks, and a current of men, women, and children flowingalong, instead of water. 

The different portions of the lower town, on the other hand, areconnected by tunnels and arched passage ways under the bridges abovedescribed; and then there are flights of steps, and steep winding orzigzag paths, leading up and down between the lower streets and theupper, in the most surprising manner. 

There are twenty places, more or less, in the town, where you have twostreets crossing each other at right angles, one fifty feet below theother, with an immense traffic of horses, carriages, carts, and footpassengers, going to and fro in both of them. You come upon these placessometimes very unexpectedly. You are walking along on the pavement of acrowded street, when you come suddenly upon the break, or interruptionin the line of building on each side. The space is occupied by aparapet, or by a high iron balustrade. You stop to look over, expectingto see a river or a canal; instead of which, you find yourself lookingdown into the chimneys of four-story houses bordering another streetbelow you, which is so far down that the people walking in it, and thechildren playing on the sidewalk, look like pygmies. 

At one place, in looking over the parapet of such a bridge, you see avast market, with carts filled with vegetables standing all around it. At another, you behold a great railway station, with crowds ofpassengers on the platforms, and trains of cars coming and going; atanother, a range of beautiful gardens and pleasure grounds, with ladiesand gentlemen walking in them, or sitting on seats under the trees, andchildren trundling their hoops, or rolling their balls, over the smoothgravel walks. 

Sometimes a street of the upper town, running along on the crest or sideof a hill, lies _parallel_ with one in the lower town, that extendsbelow it in the valley. In this case the block of houses that comesbetween will be very high indeed on the side towards the lower street;so that you see buildings sometimes eight or ten stories high at onefront, and only four or five on the other. These structures consist, infact, of two houses, one on top of the other; the entrances to the lowerhouse being from one of the streets of the lower town, and those leadingto the one on the top being from a street in the upper town. 

The reason why Edinburgh was built in this extraordinary position was, because it had its origin in a castle on a rock. This rock, with thecastle that crowns the summit of it, rears its lofty head now in thevery centre of the town, with deep valleys all around it. This rock, orrather rocky hill, --for it is nearly a mile in circumference, --is verysteep on all sides but one. On that side there is a gradual slope, amile or more in length, leading down to the level country. A great manycenturies ago the military chieftains of those days built the castle onthe hill. About the same time the monks built a monastery on the levelground at the foot of the long slope leading down from the castle. Therocky hill was an excellent place for the castle, for there was ahundred feet of almost perpendicular precipice on all sides but one, andon that side there was a convenient slope for the people who lived inthe castle to go up and down; and thus, by fortifying this side, andmaking slight walls on all the other sides, the whole place would bevery secure. The level ground below, too, was a very good place for themonastery or abbey; for it was easily accessible from all the countryaround, and was, moreover, in the midst of a region of fertile land, easy for the lay brethren to till. There was no necessity that the abbeyshould be in a fortified place, for such establishments were consideredsacred in those days, and even in the most furious wars they were seldommolested. 

In process of time a palace was built by the side of the abbey. Thispalace and a part of the ruins of the abbey still remain. Of course, when the palace was built, a town would gradually grow up near it. Manynoblemen of the realm came and built houses along the street which ledfrom the palace up to the castle--now called High Street. The fronts ofthese houses were on the street, and the gardens behind them extendeddown the slopes of the ridge on both sides, into the deep valleys thatbordered them. Little lanes were left between these houses, leading downthe slopes; but they were closed at the bottom by a wall, which wasbuilt along at the foot of the descent on each side, and formed theenclosure of the town. 

In process of time the town extended down into these valleys, and thento the other hills beyond them. Then bridges were built here and thereacross the valleys, to lead from one hill to another, and tunnels andother subterranean passages were made, to connect one valley withanother, until, finally, the town assumed the very extraordinaryappearance which it now presents to view. Besides the hills within thetown, there are some very large and high ones just beyond the limits ofit. One of these is called Arthur's Seat, and is quite a littlemountain. The path leading to the top of it runs along upon the crest ofa remarkable range of precipices, called Salisbury Crags. Theseprecipices face towards the town, and together with the lofty summit ofArthur's Seat, which rises immediately behind them, form a veryconspicuous object from a great many points of view in and around thetown. 

Unfortunately, however, none of this exceedingly picturesque scenerycould be seen to advantage by our party, on the day that they arrived inEdinburgh, on account of the rain. All that they knew was, that theycame into the town by a tunnel, and when they left the train at thestation they were at the bottom of so deep a valley that they had toascend to the third story before they could get out, and then they hadto go up a hill to get to the street in which the hotel was situated. 

The name of this street was Prince's Street. It lay along the margin ofone of the Edinburgh hills, overlooking a long valley, which extendedbetween it and Castle Hill, on which the town was first built. Therewere no houses in this street on the side towards the valley, but therewere several bridges leading across the valley, as if it had been ariver. Beyond the valley were to be seen the backs of the houses inHigh Street, which looked like a range of cliffs, divided by verticalchasms and seams, and blackened by time. At one end of the hill was thecastle rock, crowned with the towers, and bastions, and battlementedwalls of the ancient fortress. 

The boys went directly to their rooms when they arrived at the hotel, and while Mr. George was unstrapping and opening his valise, Waldron andRollo went to look out at the window, to see what they could see. 

"Well, boys, " said Mr. George, "how does it look?"

"It looks rainy, " said Rollo. "But we can see something. "

"What can you see?" asked Mr. George. 

"We can see the castle on the hill, " said Rollo. "At least, I suppose itis the castle. It is right before us, across the valley, with aprecipice of rocks all around it, on every side but one. There is azigzag wall running round on the top of the precipices, close to thebrink of them. If a man could climb up the rocks he could not get in, after all. "

"And what is there inside the wall?" asked Mr. George. 

"O, there are ever so many buildings, " said Rollo--"great stone forts, and barracks, and bastions, rising up one above another, and watchtowers on the angles of the walls. I can see one, two, three watchtowers. I should like to be in one of them. I could look over the wholecity, and all the country around. 

"I can see some portholes, with guns pointing out, --and--O, and now Isee a monstrous great gun, looking over this way, from one of thehighest platforms. I believe it is a gun. "

"I suppose it must be Mons Meg, " said Mr. George. 

"Mons Meg?" repeated Rollo. "I'll get a glass and see. "

"Yes, " said Mr. George. "There is a very famous old gun in EdinburghCastle, named Mons Meg. I think it may be that. "

"I can't see very plain, " said Rollo, "the air is so thick with therain; but it is a monstrous gun. "

Just at this time the waiter came into the room to ask the party if theywould have any thing to eat. 

"Yes, " said Mr. George, "we will. Go down with the waiter, boys, and seewhat there is, and order a good supper. I will come down in fifteenminutes. "

So the boys went down, and in fifteen minutes Mr. George followed. Hefound the supper table ready in a corner of the coffee room, and Rollositting by it alone. 

"Where is Waldron?" asked Mr. George. 

"He's gone to the circulating library, " said Rollo. 

"The circulating library?" repeated Mr. George. 

"He has gone to get a book about the history of Scotland, " said Rollo. "We have been reading in the guide book about the castle, and Waldronsays he wants to know something more about the kings, and the battlesthey fought. "

"How does he know there is any circulating library?" asked Mr. George. 

"He asked the waiter, " said Rollo, "and the waiter told him where therewas one. He said he would try to be back before the supper was ready, and that we must not wait for him if he did not come. "

"He ought to have asked me if I was willing that he should go, " said Mr. George. 

In a few minutes Waldron came in with two pretty big books under hisarm. They were covered with paper, in the manner usual with the books ofcirculating libraries. Waldron advanced to the supper table, and laidthe books down upon it with an air of great satisfaction. 

"Then you found a circulating library, " said Mr. George. 

"Yes, sir, " said Waldron, "and I have got two volumes of the history ofthe great men of Scotland. "

"What did you get two volumes for?" asked Mr. George. 

"One for Rollo and one for me, " said Waldron. "They are for us to readthis evening, because it rains. "

"Well, " said Mr. George, after a moment's pause. "I am very glad to findthat you take an interest in reading about Scotland; but you ought tohave asked me, before you went away to get books from a circulatinglibrary. "

Waldron paused a moment on hearing this remark, and his countenanceassumed a very serious expression. 

"So I ought, " said he. "I did not think of that. And now, if you think Ihad better, I will go and carry them right back. "

"No, " said Mr. George, "I don't wish you to carry them back. But Ishould not have thought they would have intrusted such books to you--aperfect stranger--and a boy besides. "

"I made a deposit, " said Waldron. 

Just at this time the waiter brought the supper to the table, and theparty, being all hungry, set themselves to the work of eating it. 

"You see, " said Waldron, when they had nearly finished their supper, "Ithought we should want something to do this evening; it rains, and wecan't go out. "

"What time in the evening do you suppose it is?" asked Mr. George. 

"Why, it is not near dark yet, " said Waldron. 

"True, " said Mr. George; "but it is almost ten o'clock. "

"O Mr. George!" exclaimed Waldron. 

"It is half past nine, at any rate, " said Mr. George. 

The boys were greatly surprised at hearing this. They were very slow inlearning to keep in mind how late the sun goes down in the middle ofJune in these extreme northern latitudes. 

However, on this occasion it was dark earlier than usual, on account ofthe clouds and the rain; and the waiter came to light the gas over thetable where our party were at supper, before they finished their meal, although it was only a little more than half past nine. This made itvery bright and cheerful in the corner, and Mr. George proposed thatthey should all stay there one hour. "I will write, " said he, "and youmay read in your books. We will stay here till half past ten, and then, after you have gone to bed, you can talk yourselves to sleep by tellingeach other what you have read about in your books. "

This plan was carried into effect. Mr. George wrote, and the boys read, by the light of the gas for an hour. Then Mr. George put away hispapers, and said it was time to go to bed. When the boys went to theirbedroom they found two narrow beds in it, one in each corner of theroom. Waldron took one of them, and Rollo the other. When both the boyswere in bed they commenced conversation in respect to what they had beenreading. 

"Come, Waldron, " said Rollo, "tell me what you have been reading about. "

"No, " said Waldron, "you must begin. "

"Well, " said Rollo, "I read about King James the First. There have beena good many King Jameses in Scotland. "

"Yes, " said Waldron, "six. "

"This was King James the First. He was a bad king. He oppressed hispeople, and they determined to kill him. So they banded together andmade a plot. They were going to kill him in a monastery where he stoppedon a journey. 

"He was going over a river just before he came to the monastery, and awoman, who pretended to be a prophetess, called out to him as he wentby towards the bank of the river, and told him to beware, for if hecrossed that river he would certainly be killed. The king was verysuperstitious; so he sent one of his men back to ask the woman what shemeant. The man came to him again very soon, and said that it was nothingbut an old drunken woman raving, and that he must not mind her. So theking went on. 

"He crossed the water, and went to the monastery. The conspirators werethere before him. The leader of them was a man named Graham. He hadthree hundred Highlanders with him. They were all concealed in theneighborhood of the monastery. They were going to break into the king'sroom in the monastery, at night, and kill him. They found out the roomwhere he was going to sleep, and they took off the bolts from the doors, so as to keep them from fastening them. 

"The woman that had met the king on the way followed him to themonastery, and wanted to see the king. They told her she could not seehim. She said she _must_ see him. They told her that at any rate shecould not see him then--he was tired with his journey. She must go away, they said, and come the next day. So she went away; but she told themthey would all be sorry for not letting her in. "

"Do you suppose she really knew, " asked Waldron, "that they were goingto kill the king?"

"I don't know, " said Rollo. "At any rate, she seemed very much inearnest about warning him. "

"Well; go on with the story, " said Waldron. 

"Why, the conspirators broke into the room that night just as the kingwas going to bed. He was sitting near the fire, in his gown andslippers, talking with the queen and the other ladies that were there, when, all at once, he heard a terrible noise at the doors of themonastery. It was the conspirators trying to get in. "

"Why did not they come right in, " asked Waldron, "if the doors were notfastened?"

"Why, I suppose there were guards, or something, outside, that tried toprevent them. At any rate, the king heard a frightful noise, likeclattering and jingling of armor, and of men trying to get in. He andthe women who were there ran to the door and tried to fasten it; but thebolts and bars were gone. So the king told them to hold the door withall their strength, till he could find something to fasten it with. Theking went to the window, and tried to tear off an iron stanchion therewas there, but he could not. Then he saw a trap door in the floor, whichled down to a kind of dark dungeon. So he took the tongs and pried upthe door, and jumped down. 

"By the time that he got down, and the door was shut over him, theconspirators came in, and began to look all about for him; but theycould not find him. I suppose they did not see the trap door. Or, perhaps, the women had covered it over with something. "

"Well, and what did they do?" asked Waldron. 

"Why, they were dreadfully angry because they could not find the king, and some of them were going to kill the queen; but the rest would notlet them. But there was one of the women that got her arm broken. "

"How?" asked Waldron. 

"She did it somehow or other holding the door. I suppose she got itwedged in some way. She was a countess. 

"After a while, " continued Rollo, "the men went away to look in some ofthe other rooms of the monastery, and see if they could not find theking there. As soon as they were gone the king wanted to get out of thedungeon. The women opened the trap door, but he could not reach up highenough to get out. So he told them to go and get some sheets and letthem down, for ropes to pull him up by. 

"They brought the sheets, and while they were letting them down, andtrying to get the king out, one of the ladies fell down herself into thehole. So there were two to get up; and while the others were trying toget them up, the conspirators came in again. "

"Hoh!" said Waldron. 

"One of them had a torch, " said Rollo, continuing his narrative. "Hebrought the torch and held it down the trap door, and presently hecaught sight of the king. So he called out to the other conspiratorsthat he had found him, and they all came round the place, with theirswords, and daggers, and knives in their hands. 

"One of them let himself down into the dungeon. He had a great knife inhis hand for a dagger. But the king seized him the instant he came down, got his knife away from him, and pinned him to the ground. The king wasa very strong man. Immediately another man came down, and the kingseized him, and held him down in the same way. Next Graham himself camewith a sword. He stabbed the king with his sword, and so disabled him. The king then began to beg for his life, and Graham did not seem to liketo strike him again. But the other conspirators, who were looking downthrough the trap door, said if he did not do it they would kill _him_. So at last he stabbed the king again, and killed him. "

When Rollo had finished the story he paused, expecting that Waldronwould say something in relation to it. 

"Is that all?" said Waldron, after waiting a moment. He spoke, however, in a very sleepy tone of voice. 

"Yes, " said Rollo, "that is all. Now tell me your story. "

Waldron began; but he seemed very sleepy, and he had advanced only avery little way before his words began to grow incoherent and faltering, and very soon Rollo perceived that he was going to sleep. Indeed, Rollohimself was beginning to feel sleepy, too; so he said, --

"No matter, Waldron. You can tell me your story to-morrow. "

In five minutes from that time both the boys were fast asleep. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

THE PALACE OF HOLYROOD. 

While Mr. George and the boys were in Edinburgh, they went one day tovisit the Palace of Holyrood, and they were extremely interested in whatthey saw there. This palace stands, as has already been stated, on aplain, not far from the foot of a long slope which leads up to thecastle. 

As long as Scotland remained an independent kingdom, the Palace ofHolyrood was the principal residence of the royal family. Queen Mary wasthe last of the Scottish sovereigns--that is, she was the last thatreigned over Scotland alone--for her son, James VI. , succeeded to thethrone of England, as well as to that of Scotland. The reason of thiswas, that the English branch of the royal line failed, and he was thenext heir. So he became James the First of England, while he stillremained James the Sixth of Scotland. And from this time forward thekings of England and Scotland were one. 

Mary, therefore, was the last of the exclusively Scottish line. Shelived at Holyrood as long as she was allowed to live any where in peace;and on account of certain very peculiar circumstances which occurredjust before the time that she left the palace, her rooms were neveroccupied after she left them, but have remained to this day in the samestate, and with almost the same furniture in them as at the hour whenshe went away. These rooms are called Queen Mary's rooms, and almostevery body who visits Scotland goes to see them. 

The reason why the rooms which Mary occupied in the Palace of Holyroodwere left as they were, and never occupied by any other person afterMary went away, was principally that a dreadful murder was committedthere just before Mary quitted them. This, of course, connected verygloomy associations with the palace; and while great numbers of personswere eager to go and see the place where the man was killed, few wouldbe willing to live there. The consequence has been, that the apartmentshave been vacant of occupants ever since, though they are filled all thetime with a perpetually flowing stream of visitors. The circumstances ofthe murder were very extraordinary. Mr. George explained the casebriefly to the boys during their visit to the palace, as we shallpresently see. 

On leaving the hotel they went for a little way along Prince's Street. On one side of the street there was a row of stores, hotels, and othersuch buildings, as in Broadway, in New York. On the other side extendedthe long and deep valley which lies between Prince's Street and CastleHill. The valley was crossed by various bridges, and beyond it were tobe seen the backs of the lofty houses of High Street, rising tier abovetier to a great height, looking, as has already been said, like a rangeof stupendous cliffs, lifting their crests to the sky. 

There were scarcely any buildings on the valley side of the street, except one or two edifices of an ornamental or public character. One ofthese was the celebrated monument to Sir Walter Scott. 

[Illustration: SCOTT'S MONUMENT. ]

The party paused a short time before this monument, and then went on. They passed by one or two bridges that led across the valley, and also, at one place, a broad flight of steps, that went down, with manyturnings, from landing to landing, to the railway station in the valley. At last they came to the bridge where they were to cross the valley. They stopped on the middle of the bridge, to look down. They saw streetsfar below them, and a market, and trains of railway carriages coming andgoing, and beyond, at some distance, an extensive range of pleasuregrounds, with ladies and gentlemen rambling about them, and groups ofchildren playing. These pleasure grounds extended some way up the slopeof the Castle Hill. Indeed, the upper walks lay close along under thefoot of the precipices on which the castle walls were built above. 

After passing the bridge, Mr. George and the boys went on, until, atlength, they came to High Street; which is the great central street ofancient Edinburgh, leading from the palace and abbey on the plain up tothe castle on the hill. There, if they had turned to the right, theywould have gone up to the castle; but they turned to the left, and sodescended towards the palace, on the plain. 

At length they reached the foot of the descent, and then, at a turn inthe street, the palace came suddenly into view. 

There was a broad paved area in front of it. In the centre of thebuilding was a large arched doorway, with a sentry box on each side. Ateach of these sentry boxes stood a soldier on guard. All the royalpalaces of England are guarded thus. There was a cab, that had brought acompany of visitors to see the castle, standing near the centre of thesquare, by a great statue that was there. Another cab drove up just atthe time that Mr. George arrived, and a party of visitors got out of it. All the new comers went in under the archway together. The soldiers paidno attention to them whatever. 

The arched passage way led into a square court, with a piazza extendingall around it. The visitors turned to the left, and walked along underthe piazza till they came to the corner, where there was a littleoffice, and a man at the window of it to give them tickets. They paidsixpence apiece for their tickets. 

After getting their tickets they walked on under the piazza a little wayfarther, till at length they came to a door, and a broad stonestaircase, leading up into the palace, and they all went in and began toascend the stairs. 

At the head of the stairs they passed through a wide door, which ledinto a room where they saw visitors, that had gone in before them, walking about. They were met at the door by a well-dressed man, whoreceived them politely, and asked them to walk in. 

"This, gentlemen, " said he, "was Lord Darnley's audience chamber. That, "he continued, pointing through an open door at the side, "was hisbedroom; and there, " pointing to another small door on the other side, "was the passage way leading up to Queen Mary's apartments. "

Having said this, the attendant turned away to answer some questionsasked him by the other visitors, leaving Mr. George and the boys, forthe moment, to look about the rooms by themselves. 

The rooms were large, but the interior finishing of them was very plain. The walls were hung with antique-looking pictures. The furniture, too, looked very ancient and venerable. 

"Who was Lord Darnley?" asked Waldron. 

"He was Queen Mary's husband, " replied Mr. George. 

"Then he was the king, I suppose, " said Waldron. 

"No, " replied Mr. George, "not at all. A king is one who inherits thethrone in his own right. When the throne descends to a woman, she is thequeen; but if she marries, her husband does not become king. "

"What is he then?" said Waldron. 

"Nothing but the queen's husband, " said Mr. George. 

"Hoh!" exclaimed Waldron, in a tone of contempt. 

"He does not acquire any share of the queen's power, " continued Mr. George, "because he marries her. She is the sovereign alone afterwardsjust as much as before. "

"And so I suppose, " said Rollo, "that when a king marries, the lady thathe marries does not become a queen. "

"Yes, " said Mr. George, "the rule does not seem to work both ways. Alady who marries a king is always called a queen; though, after all, sheacquires no share of the royal power. She is a queen in name only. Butlet us hear what this man is explaining to the visitors about thepaintings and the furniture. "

So they advanced to the part of the room where the attendant wasstanding, with two or three ladies and gentlemen, who were looking atone of the old pictures that were hanging on the wall. It was a pictureof Queen Mary when she was fifteen years old. The dress was very quaintand queer, and the picture seemed a good deal faded; but the face wore avery sweet and charming expression. 

"I think she was a very pretty girl, " whispered Waldron in Rollo's ear. 

"She was in France at that time, " said the attendant, "and the picture, if it is an original, must have been painted there, and she must havebrought it with her to Scotland, on her return from that country. Shebrought a great deal with her on her return. There were several vesselloads of furniture, paintings, &c. The tapestry in the bedroom wasbrought. It was wrought at the Gobelins. "

Mr. George went into the bedroom, to look at the tapestry. Two sides ofthe room were hung with it. 

"It looks like a carpet hung on the walls, " said Waldron. 

"Yes, " said Mr. George; "a richly embroidered carpet. "

The figures on the tapestry consisted of groups of horsemen, elegantlyequipped and caparisoned. The horses were prancing about in a veryspirited manner. The whole work looked very dingy, and the colors werevery much faded; but it was evident that it must have been very splendidin its day. 

After looking at the tapestry, and at the various articles of quaint andqueer old furniture in this room, the company followed the attendantinto another apartment. 

"This, " said he, "is the room where Lord Darnley, Ruthven, and the rest, held their consultation and formed their plans for the murder of Rizzio;and _there_ is the door leading to the private stairway where they wentup. You cannot go up that way now, but you will see where they came outabove when you go up into Queen Mary's apartments. "

"Let us go now, " said Waldron. 

"Well, " said Mr. George, "and then we can come into these rooms againwhen we come down. "

So Mr. George and the boys walked back, through Lord Darnley's rooms, tothe place where they came in. Here they saw that the same broad flightof stone stairs, by which they had come up from the court below, continued to ascend to the upper stories. There was a paintedinscription on a board there, too, saying, "To Queen Mary's apartments, "with a hand pointing up the staircase. So they knew that that was theway they must go. 

As they went up, both Rollo and Waldron asked Mr. George to explain tothem something about the murder, so that they might know a little whatthey were going to see. 

"Well, " said Mr. George, "I will. Let us sit down here, and I will tellyou as much as I can tell in five minutes. Really to understand thewhole affair, you would have to read as much as you could read in aweek. And I assure you it is an exceedingly interesting and entertainingstory. 

"Darnley, you know, was the queen's husband. Her first husband was theyoung Prince of France; but he died before Queen Mary came home. So thatwhen she came home she was a widow; very young, and exceedinglybeautiful. There is a very beautiful painting of her, I am told, in thecastle. "

"Let us go and see it, " said Waldron. 

"To-morrow, " said Mr. George. 

"After Queen Mary had been in Scotland some little time, " continued Mr. George, "she was married again to this Lord Darnley. He was an Englishprince. The whole story of her first becoming acquainted with Darnley, and how the marriage was brought about, is extremely interesting; but Ihave not time now to tell it to you. 

"After they were married they lived together for a time very happily;but at length some causes of difficulty and dissension occurred betweenthem. Darnley was not contented to be merely the queen's husband. Hewanted, also, to be king. "

"I don't blame him, " said Waldron. 

"I should have thought, " said Rollo, "that Mary would have been willingthat he should be king. "

"Very likely she might have been willing herself, " said Mr. George, "buther people were not willing. There were a great many powerful nobles andchieftains in the kingdom, and about her court, and they took sides, one way and the other, and there was a great deal of trouble. It is along story, and I can't tell you half of it, now. What made the matterworse was, that Darnley, finding he could not have every thing his ownway, began to be very harsh and cruel in his treatment of Mary. Thismade Mary very unhappy, and caused her to live a great deal inretirement, with a few near and intimate friends, who treated her withkindness and sympathy. 

"One of these was David Rizzio, the man who was murdered. He was one ofthe officers of the court. His office was private secretary. He was agreat deal older than Mary, and it seems he was an excellent man for hisoffice. He used to write for the queen when it was necessary, andperform other such duties; and as he was very gentle and kind in hisdisposition, and took a great interest in every thing that concerned thequeen, Mary became, at last, quite attached to him, and considered himas one of her best friends. At last Lord Darnley and his party becamevery jealous of him. They thought that he had a great deal too muchinfluence over the queen. It was as if he were the prime minister, theysaid, while they, the old nobles of the realm, were all set aside, as ifthey were of no consequence at all. So they determined to kill him. 

"They formed their plot in the room below, where we have just been. Itwas in the evening. Mary was at supper that night in a little room inthe tower up above, where we are now going. There were two or threefriends with her. The men went up the private stairway, and burst intothe little supper room, and killed Rizzio on the spot. "

"Let us go up and see the place, " said Waldron. 

So Mr. George rose, and followed by the boys, he led the way into QueenMary's apartments. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

QUEEN MARY'S APARTMENTS. 

Before we follow Mr. George and the boys into Queen Mary's apartments, Ihave one or two other explanations to make, in addition to theinformation which Mr. George communicated to the boys on the stairs. These explanations relate to the situation of Mary's apartments in thepalace. They were in a sort of wing, which forms the extreme left of thefront of the palace. The wing is square. It projects to the front. Atthe two corners of it, in front, are two round towers, which aresurmounted above by short spires. As there is a similar wing at theright hand end of the front, with similar towers at the corners, thefaçade of the building is marked with four towers and four spires. Theleft hand portion is represented in the engraving opposite. 

[Illustration: THE CORNER TOWER OF THE PALACE OF HOLYROOD. ]

Queen Mary's rooms are in the third story, as seen in the engraving. Theprincipal room is in the square part of the wing, between the two roundtowers. This was the bedroom. In the right hand tower, as seen in theengraving, is a small room, as large as the tower can contain, which wasused by Mary as an oratory; that is, a little chapel for her privatedevotions. In the left hand tower was another small room, similar to theoratory, which Mary used as a private sitting room or boudoir. It isjust large enough for a window and a fireplace, and for a very fewpersons to sit. It was in this little room that Mary was having supper, with two or three of her friends, when Darnley and his gang came up tomurder Rizzio, who was one among them. 

Besides Mary's bedroom, which was in the front part of the wing, betweenthe two towers, there was another large room behind it, which alsobelonged to her. Darnley's apartments were very similar to the queen's, only they were in the story below. It was the custom in those days, asit is now, indeed, in high life, for the husband and wife to haveseparate ranges of apartments, with a private passage connecting them. In this case the private passage leading from Darnley's apartments toMary's was in the wall. It was a narrow stairway, leading up to Mary'sbedroom, and the door where it came out was very near to the doorleading to the little room in the tower where Mary and her friends weretaking supper on the night of Rizzio's murder. 

When Mr. George and the boys reached the top of the stairs, they entereda large room, which, they were told by an attendant who was there toreceive them, was Mary's audience chamber. This was the room situatedback of the bedroom. The room itself, and every thing which itcontained, wore a very antique and venerable appearance. The furniturewas dilapidated, and the coverings of it were worn and moth-eaten. Veryancient-looking pictures were hanging on the walls. There was a largefireplace, with an immense movable iron grate in it. The grate wasalmost entirely worn out. The attendant who showed these rooms said thatit was the oldest grate in Scotland. Still, it was not so old as thetime of Mary, for it was brought into Scotland, the attendant said, byCharles II. , who was Mary's great grandson. 

There was a window in a very deep recess in this room. It looked outupon a green park, on the side of the palace. A very ancient-lookingtable stood in this recess, which, the attendant said, was brought byMary from France. The ceiling was carved and ornamented in a verycurious manner. 

[Illustration: QUEEN MARY'S BEDROOM. ]

"And which is the door, " said Waldron to the attendant, "whereDarnley and his men came in, to murder Rizzio?"

"That is in the next room, " said the attendant. So saying, he pointed toa door, and Mr. George and the boys, and also two or three othervisitors whom they had found in the room when they came in, went forwardand entered the room. 

"This, gentlemen and ladies, " said the attendant, as they went in, "wasQueen Mary's bed chamber. The door where we are coming in was the mainor principal entrance to it. This is the bed and bedstead, just as theywere left when Queen Mary vacated the apartment. That door, "--pointingto a corner of the room diagonally opposite to where the company hadentered, --"leads to the little boudoir[G] where Rizzio was killed, andthat opening in the wall by the side of it, under the tapestry, is theplace where Darnley and the other assassins came up by the privatestair. "

[G] A boudoir is a small private apartment, fitted up for a lady, whereshe receives her intimate and confidential friends. 

A view of the room, and of the various objects which the attendantshowing them thus pointed out to the company, may be seen in theengraving on the opposite page. 

The bedstead is seen on the right. It is surmounted by a heavy cornice, richly carved and gilded. This cornice, and the embroidered curtainsthat hang from it, must have been very magnificent in their day, thoughnow they are faded and tattered by age. The coverings of the bed arealso greatly decayed. Only a little shred of the blanket now remains, and that is laid upon the bolster. The rest of it has been graduallycarried away by visitors, who for a long time were accustomed to pulloff little shreds of it to take with them, as souvenirs of their visit. These depredations are, however, now no longer allowed. That part of theroom is now enclosed by a cord, fastened to iron rods fixed in thefloor, so that visitors cannot approach the bed. They are watched, too, very closely, wherever they go, to prevent their taking any thing away. They are not allowed to sit down in any of the chairs. 

The door in the corner of the room to the left leads into the littleboudoir, or cabinet, where Rizzio was murdered. You can see a little wayinto this room, in the picture. Mr. George and the boys went into it. There was a table on the back side of it, with the armor, and also thegloves, and one of the boots which Darnley wore, lying upon it. Theattendant took up a breast-plate, which formed a part of the armor, andlet the boys lift it. It was very heavy. There was an indentation in thefront of it, where it had been struck by a bullet. The boot, too, wasprodigiously thick and heavy. The heel was not less than three incheshigh. 

There was a fireplace in this room, and over it was an altar-piece; asort of picture in stone, which Mary used in her oratory, according tothe custom of the Catholics. It had been broken to pieces and puttogether again. It was said that John Knox broke it, to show hisabhorrence of Popery, but that the pieces were saved, and it wasafterwards mended. 

There was also in this room a square stone, shaped like a block, abouttwo feet long, sawed off from the end of a beam of timber. This was thestone that Mary knelt upon when she was crowned Queen of Scotland. 

To the right of the door which leads to the boudoir, under the tapestry, we see in the engraving the opening in the wall which leads to thestaircase where the conspirators came up. The boys went in here andlooked down. The stairs were very narrow, and very dark. The passage wasclosed below, so that they could not go down. In Mary's time thesestairs not only led down to Darnley's rooms, but there was acontinuation of them down the lower story, and thence along by a privateway to Mary's place in the chapel of the monastery, where she used to goto attend divine service. She always went by this private way, so thatnobody ever saw her go or come. They only knew that she was there byseeing the curtains drawn before the little compartment in the walls ofthe chapel where she was accustomed to sit. 

In the deep recess of the window, seen at the left in the engraving, youwill see a tall stand, with a sort of basket on the top of it. Thisbasket contained baby linen, and was sent to Mary as a present by QueenElizabeth of England, at the time when Mary's child was born. This wasthe child that afterwards became King James. He was not born here, however. He was born in the castle. His birth took place only aboutthree months after the murder of Rizzio. The basket was a very prettyone, and it was lined with the most costly lace, only a few remnants ofwhich are, however, remaining. 

The attendant showed all these things to the visitors, and many more, which I have not time now to describe. Among the rest was a piece ofembroidery set in the top of a workbox, which Mary herself worked. Thetop of the box was formed of a plate of glass; the embroidery was placedunderneath it, so that it could be seen through the glass. It was oldand faded, and the boys did not think that it was very pretty. It was, however, curious to see it, since Mary had worked it with her own hands;especially as she did it when she was a child; for the guide said sheembroidered it when she was only about twelve years old. 

"She was very skilful with her needle, " said the attendant. "She learnedthe art in France, at the convent where she was educated. This tapestrywhich hangs upon the wall was worked by the nuns at that convent, and itis said that Mary assisted them. "

The tapestry to which the guide referred is the same that you see in theengraving on the wall of the room, opposite to the observer. It hungdown over the door leading to the private staircase. 

Besides the bedroom and the boudoir, there was the oratory, too; thatis, the small room corresponding to the boudoir, in the other roundtower. This room is not shown in the engraving, as the opening leadinginto it is on the side of the bed chamber where the spectator issupposed to stand. It was a very small room, like a round closet, with awindow in it. It contained very little furniture. There were two tall, carved stands, to hold the candlesticks, on each side of the altar, andseveral very ancient-looking chairs. There was also a small and verypeculiar-shaped old mirror hanging upon the wall. It had no frame, butthe glass itself was cut into an ornamental form. This mirror was agreat curiosity, it must be confessed; but it was past performing anyuseful function, for the silver was worn off to such an extent that itwas very difficult to see one's face in it. 

After looking some time longer at Queen Mary's rooms, Mr. George and theboys went back again to Lord Darnley's apartments below. There they sawa picture of Queen Mary which they had not observed before. Itrepresented her, the man said, in the dress she wore the day that shewas beheaded. The dress was of dark silk or velvet, plain, but veryrich. It fitted close to the form, and came up high in the neck. Thecountenance evinced the changes produced by time and grief, but it worethe same sweet expression that was seen in the portrait painted in herearlier years. 

"What was she beheaded for?" asked Rollo, while they were looking atthis portrait. 

"She was beheaded by the government of Queen Elizabeth of England, "replied Mr. George. "They charged her with forming plots to dethroneElizabeth, and make herself Queen of England in her place. "

"And did she really form the plots?" asked Waldron. 

"Why--yes, " said Mr. George, speaking, however, in a somewhat doubtfultone, "yes--I suppose she did; or, at least, her friends and party did;she herself consenting. You see she was herself descended from anEnglish king, just as Elizabeth was, and it was extremely doubtful whichwas the rightful heir. Mary, and all her friends and party, claimed thatshe was; and Elizabeth, on the other hand, insisted that _her_ claim wasclear and unquestionable. "

"Which was right?" asked Waldron. 

"It is impossible to say, " replied Mr. George. "It was such acomplicated case that you could not decide it either way. The questionwas like a piece of changeable silk. You could make it look green orbrown, just according to the way you looked at it. When you come to readthe history you will see just how it was. "

"Yes, " said Waldron, "I mean to read all about it. "

"After the difficulties in Scotland, " continued Mr. George, "Mary'sarmies were driven across the line into England, and there Mary wasseized and made prisoner. Elizabeth would have given her her liberty ifshe would have renounced her claims to the English crown--but this Marywould not do. She was kept in prison a number of years. At last some ofher friends began to form plots to get her out, and make her Queen ofEngland. She was accused of joining in these plots, and so she wastried, convicted, and beheaded. "

"And did she really join in the plots?" asked Waldron. 

"I presume so, " said Mr. George. "I would have joined in them if I hadbeen in her place. "

"So would I, " said Waldron. 

"Did Queen Elizabeth order her to be beheaded?" asked Rollo. 

"No, " said Mr. George, "not directly--or, at least, she pretended thatshe did not. She appointed some judges to go and try her, on the chargeof treason, and the judges condemned her to death. Elizabeth might havesaved her if she chose, but she did not; though afterwards, when sheheard that Mary had been executed, she pretended to be in a great ragewith those who had carried the sentence into effect, and to be deeplygrieved at her cousin's death. "

"The old hag!" said Waldron. 

[Illustration: QUEEN ELIZABETH ON PARADE. ]

"Why, no, " said Mr. George, "I don't know that we ought to consider heran old hag for this. It was human nature, that is all. She may havebeen sincere in her grief at Mary's death, while yet she consented toit, and even desired it, beforehand. We often wish to have a thing done, and yet are very sorry for it after it is done. 

"You see, " continued Mr. George, "Queen Elizabeth was a very proud andambitious woman. She was very fond of the power, and also of the pompand parade of royalty; and she could not endure that any one should everquestion her claim to the crown. "

"Well, " said Waldron, "at any rate I am sorry for poor Mary. "

After this, Mr. George and the boys went down the staircase where theyhad come up, to the court, and then proceeding along the piazza to theback corner of it, they passed through an open door that led them to theruins of the old abbey, which stood on this spot some centuries beforethe palace was built. There was nothing left of this ancient edifice butthe walls, and some of the pillars of the chapel. The roof was gone, andevery thing was in a state of dilapidation and ruin. 

There was a guide there who pointed out the place where Mary stood atthe time of her marriage with Lord Darnley. The grass was growing onthe spot, and above, all was open to the sky. Multitudes of birds wereflying about, and chirping mournfully around the naked and crumblingwalls. 

CHAPTER XV. 

EDINBURGH CASTLE. 

The day after the visit which the party made to the palace, they set outfrom their hotel to go to the castle. As they were walking alongtogether on the sidewalk of Prince's Street, on a sudden Waldron dartedoff from Rollo's side, and ran into the street, in pursuit of a cabwhich had just gone by. He soon overtook the cab and climbed up behindit; and then, to Mr. George's utter amazement, he reached forward alongthe side of the vehicle, so as to look into the window of it, andknocked on the glass. In a moment the cab stopped, the door opened, andthe mystery of the case was explained to Mr. George and Rollo by seeingWaldron's father looking out of it. 

"It is his father!" said Rollo. 

"Yes, " said Mr. George. "But that is not the proper way for a boy tostop his father, riding by in a cab, in the streets of Edinburgh. "

The cab drove up to the sidewalk, and then Mr. Kennedy got out to speakto Mr. George. He said that he had received letters from America, makingit necessary for him to set sail immediately for home. He had intended, he added, to have remained two or three weeks longer in Scotland; and inthat case he should have liked very much to have continued Waldron underMr. George's care. 

"And now, " he added, turning to Waldron, "which would you rather do--gohome to America with me, or stay here, and travel with Mr. George?"

Waldron looked quite perplexed at this proposal. He said that he likedvery much to travel with Mr. George and Rollo, and yet he wanted verymuch indeed to go home. 

In the course of the day various debates and consultations were held, and it was finally decided that Waldron should go home. So the accountswere settled with Mr. George, and Waldron was transferred to the hotelwhere his father and mother were lodging. They were to set out the nextmorning, in the express train for Liverpool. The preparations for thejourney and the voyage kept Waldron busy all that day, so that Mr. George and Rollo went to the castle alone. But Waldron made Rollopromise that in the evening he would come to the hotel and see him, andtell him what he saw there. 

In the evening, accordingly, Rollo went to the hotel where Mr. Kennedywas staying. Mr. George went with him. They went first into Mr. Kennedy's parlor. A door was open between the parlor and one of thebedrooms, and both rooms were full of trunks and parcels. Every body wasbusy packing and arranging. The ladies were showing each other theirdifferent purchases, as they came in from the shops; and as soon as Mr. George entered, they began to ask him whether he thought they would beobliged to pay duty on this, or on that, when they arrived in America. 

Rollo asked where Waldron was, and they said he was in his room, packinghis trunk. So Rollo went to find him. 

"Ah, Rollo, " said Waldron, "I am glad you have come. I want you to siton the top of my trunk with me, and make it shut down. "

Rollo gave Waldron the assistance he required, and by the conjoinedgravity of both the boys the trunk was made to shut. Waldron turned thekey in an instant, and then said, --

"There! Get open again if you can. And now, Rollo, " he continued, "tellme about the castle. "

"Well, we had a very good time visiting it, " said Rollo. "We went overthe bridge where you and I stopped to look down to the market, and cameto High Street. But instead of turning down, as we did when we weregoing to Holyrood, we turned _up_; because, you know, the castle is onthe top of the hill. "

"Yes, " said Waldron, "I knew that was the way. "

"Well, we went up High Street, " continued Rollo. "The upper part of itis quite a handsome street. There were a great many large publicbuildings. We passed by a great cathedral, where, they said, a womanthrew a stool at the minister, while he was preaching. "

"What did she do that for?" asked Waldron. 

"I don't know, " said Rollo. "I suppose she did not like his preaching. It was in the reformation times. I believe he was preaching Popery, andshe was a Protestant. Her name was Jenny Geddes. They have got the stoolnow. "

"They have?" exclaimed Waldron. 

"Yes, " said Rollo, "so uncle George said. They keep it in theAntiquarian Museum, for a curiosity. "

"When we got to the upper end of the High Street, " continued Rollo, "there was the castle all before us. Only first there was a paradeground for the troops; it was all gravelled over. "

"Were there any soldiers there?" asked Waldron. 

"Yes, " said Rollo, "there were two or three companies drilling andparading. "

"I should like to have seen them, " said Waldron. 

"Yes, " said Rollo, "and besides, the parade ground was a splendid place. The lower end of it was towards the street; the upper end was towardsthe gates and walls of the castle, and the two sides of it were shut inby a low wall, built on the very brink of the precipice. You could lookdown over this wall into the streets of the lower part of the town; andthen we could see off a great way, over all the country. 

"We stopped a little while to look at the view, and then we turned roundand looked at the soldiers a little while longer, and then we went on. Presently we came to the castle gates. There was a sentinel on guard, and some soldiers walking to and fro on the ramparts above; but they didnot say any thing to us, and so we went in. There were other parties ofladies and gentlemen going in too. "

"Well, " said Waldron, "what did you see when you got in?"

"Why, we were yet only inside the walls, " said Rollo, "and so we keptgoing on up a steep road paved with stones. There were walls, andtowers, and battlements, and bastions, and soldiers walking sentry, andcannons pointed at us, all around. Presently we came to a sort ofbridge. Here we heard some music. It seemed down below; so we went tothe side of the bridge and looked over. There was a little square fieldbelow, and three men, with Scotch bagpipes, playing together. The menwere dressed in uniform, and the bagpipes were splendid-lookinginstruments. "

"Yes, " said Waldron. "They were the musicians of some Highland regiment, practising. "

"Well; we went on, higher and higher, " said Rollo, "and continued goinground and round, till, at last, we came to the upper part of the castle, where there were platforms, and cannons upon them, pointing out over allthe country round about. "

"Did you see Mons Meg?" asked Waldron. 

"Yes, " said Rollo, "and we went up close to it. But we did not touch it, for there was a notice put up that visitors must not touch the guns. 

"By and by we came into a large square court, with buildings, thatlooked like barracks, all about it. There was a sign up, with a hand onit pointing, and the words, 'To the crown room. ' So we knew that thatwas the place where we were to go. Besides, all the other ladies andgentlemen were going there, too. 

"We gave up our tickets at the door, and went up a short flight ofsteps, into a little sort of cellar. "

"A little sort of cellar!" exclaimed Waldron. He was surprised at theidea of going up stairs into a cellar. 

"Yes, " said Rollo. "It was just like a cellar. It had stone walls allaround it, and was arched overhead. "

"Was it dark?" asked Waldron. 

"O, no, " said Rollo; "it was lighted up splendidly with gas. The gasshone very bright in between the bars of the cage, and brightened up thecrown and the jewels wonderfully. "

"In the cage?" repeated Waldron; "was there a cage?"

"Yes, " replied Rollo. "In the middle of the room there was a great ironcage, as high as my head, and big in proportion. The crown and thejewels were in the cage, on cushions. They were so far in that peoplecould not reach them by putting their hands through the bars. There werea great many persons standing all around the cage, and looking in tosee the crown and the jewels. "

"Were they pretty?" asked Waldron. 

"Not very, " said Rollo. "I suppose the things were made of gold; but Icould not tell, from the looks of them, whether they were made of goldor brass. "

"Was there any thing else?" asked Waldron. 

"Yes, " said Rollo, "there was a monstrous oak chest, --iron bound, orbrass bound, --where the crown and jewels were hid away for a great manyyears. At the time when Scotland was united to England, they put thesethings in this chest; and they were left there so long that at lastthere was nobody that knew where they were. Finally the government beganto look for them, and they looked in this old chest, and there theyfound them. 

"While we were looking at the chest, " continued Rollo, "I heard somemusic out in the court, and I asked uncle George to let me go out; andhe did. I was very glad I did, for the Highland regiment was paraded inthe court. I stood there some time to see them exercised. "

"Did they look well?" asked Waldron. 

"Beautifully, " said Rollo. 

After this, Rollo gave Waldron some further accounts of what he saw atthe castle; but before he got quite through with his descriptions Mr. George came, and said it was time for them to go home. So they both badeWaldron good by. Rollo said, however, that it was not his final good by. 

"I shall come down to the station to-morrow morning, " said he, "and seeyou go. "

Waldron was very much pleased to hear this, and then Mr. George andRollo went away. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

CONCLUSION. 

Mr. George and Rollo made some excursions together after this, but Ihave not time to give a full account of them. Among others, they went tosee Linlithgow, where stands the ruin of an ancient palace, which wasthe one in which Queen Mary was born. Linlithgow itself is a town. Nearit is a pretty little loch. The ruins stand on a smooth and beautifullawn, between the town and the shore of the loch. The people who livedin the palace had delightful views from their windows, both of the waterof the loch itself and of the opposite shores. 

At this ruin people can go up by the old staircases to various rooms inthe upper stories, and even to the top of the walls. The floors, wherever the floors remain, are covered with grass and weeds. 

There was a very curious story about the castle. It was taken at onetime by means of a load of hay. The enemy engaged a farmer who livednear, and who was accustomed to supply the people of the castle withhay, to join them in their plot. So they put some armed men on his cart, and covered them all over with hay. They also concealed some more armedmen near the gateway. The gateway had what is called a portcullis; thatis, a heavy iron gate suspended by chains, so as to rise and fall. Ofcourse, when the portcullis was down, nobody could get in or out. 

The people of the castle hoisted the portcullis, to let the load of haycome in, and the farmer, as soon as he had got the wagon in the middleof the gateway, stopped it there, and cut the traces, so that it couldnot be drawn any farther. At the same instant the men who were hid underthe hay jumped out, killed the guard at the gates, called out to theother men who were in ambush, and they all poured into the castletogether, crowding by at the sides of the wagon. The wagon, beingdirectly in the way, prevented the portcullis from being shut down. Thusthe castle was taken. 

Mr. George and Rollo also went to visit Melrose Abbey, which is a verybeautiful ruin in the south part of Scotland. While they were there theyvisited Abbotsford, too, which is the house that Walter Scott lived in. Walter Scott amused himself, during his lifetime, in collecting a greatmany objects of interest connected with Scottish history, and puttingthem up in his house; and now the place is a perfect museum of Scottishantiquities and curiosities. 

Melrose and Abbotsford are in the southern part of Scotland, not veryfar from the English frontier. After visiting them, Mr. George and Rolloproceeded by the railway to Berwick, which stands on the boundary line;and there they bade Scotland farewell. 

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 The instructions in declamation are so complete and accompanied by such ample illustrations relative to position and gestures of the student, that the "Universal Speaker" needs only to be seen to become what its name indicates--universal. --Rochester Repository. 

 The pieces are judiciously selected, and the book is very attractive in its appearance. --Connecticut School Journal. 

 We find, upon close inspection, that the work contains much fresh matter, which will be acceptable to schools and students, particularly in the department of dialogues of which there is a great dearth of really good and FIT matter in most speakers. --United States Journal. 

 They are all school-like, the dialogues being illustrative of scenes in common life, including some first-rate conversations pertinent to school-room duties and trials. The speeches are brief and energetic. It will meet with favor. --R. I. Schoolmaster. 

 The selection has been made with a great deal of foresight and taste, by men who are highly esteemed as elocutionists, writers, or teachers. The notation, the directions and cuts appended to the pieces, will be found useful to those who use them. --Mass. Teacher. 

 Looking it over hastily, we notice many admirable selections from the best authors, and as the book is entirely fresh, the matter never having appeared in previous readers or speakers, it cannot fail be a welcome addition to the books of its class. --Springfield Republican. 

 In this they have succeeded, and have also been fortunate in the selection. The book contains a larger number of dialogues than any we have seen, and they are mostly relative to school children and school affairs. --Penn. School Journal. 

INSTRUCTION AND AMUSEMENT. 

 PICTURES FROM THE HISTORY OF THE SWISS

In 1 vol. 16mo. 262 pages. Price 75 cents. 

WITH CHARACTERISTIC ILLUSTRATIONS, DESIGNED BY HAMMETT BILLINGS. 

It is not generally known that the early history of the Swiss abounds inthe most thrilling and interesting stories, of which that of Wm. Tellshooting the apple from the head of his son, by order of the tyrantGessler, so familiar to every child, is but a specimen. The presentvolume, while it introduces the youthful reader to many of the scenesthrough which the brave Swiss passed in recovering their liberty, alsonarrates many stories of peculiar interest and romance, every way equalto that of Tell. Among these we may name, The Thievish Raven, and the Mischief he caused. How the Wives and Daughters of Zurich saved the City. How the City of Lucerne was saved by a Boy. The Baker's Apprentice. How a Wooden Figure raised Troops in the Valois. Little Roza's Offering. A Little Theft, and what happened in consequence. The Angel of the Camp. 

With twenty-one other similar stories. 

A NEW SERIES OF JUVENILES. 

THE SUMMER-HOUSE SERIES. 

BY THE AUTHOR OF "VIOLET, " "DAISY, " ETC. 

The first volume of what the publishers sincerely believe will be themost popular series of Juvenile Books yet issued, is now ready, entitled

OUR SUMMER-HOUSE, AND WHAT WAS SAID AND DONE IN IT. 

In 1 vol. 16mo. Price 62 cents. 

Handsomely Illustrated by HAMMETT BILLINGS. 

From the author's Preface:--

"The Summer-House Series of children's books, of which the presentvolume is the first, is an attempt to sketch attractively and simply thewonders of reptile and insect existence, the changes of trees, rocks, rivers, clouds and winds. 

"To this end a family of intelligent children, of various ages, collected in a garden summer-house, are supposed to write letters andstories, sometimes playful, sometimes serious, addressing them to allchildren whom the books may reach. 

"The author has hoped, by thus awakening the quick imagination and readysympathies of the young, to lead them to use their own eyes, and hearts, and hands, in that plentiful harvest-field of life, where 'the reapersindeed are few. '"

Among the stories in the present volume are the following:--

Bessie's Garden. 

One of the most touching and affecting stories we have read for many aday. 

The Lancers. 

A most humorous story, with a never-to-be-forgotten moral, inculcatingcontentment. 

The Working Fairies. 

In this story Industry is held up for attainment, and Idleness receivesa severe rebuke. The style and language, though perfectly intelligibleto children, are worthy of a Beecher. 

The Princess. 

A story of wrong and suffering. 

Little Red-Head. 

A true story of a bird. 

The Little Preacher. 

A sweet story, introducing bird and insect life, and conveying moretruth and instruction to children, than can be found in a dozen ordinarysermons. 

TAGGARD & THOMPSON, Publishers, 29 CORNHILL, BOSTON. 

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

1. Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters errors andomissions, and to ensure consistent use of punctuation and spelling;otherwise, every effort has been made to remain true to the originalbook. 

2. The book from which this etext has been produced had decorativeendcaps following several chapters; as these do no affect the storyline, reference to them has been omitted in this text version of the book.