"I"ll go out by the door that opens into the town, and walk along till I come to the end of the station building, and then perhaps I can make my way around to the inside, and so see if the train really has gone off for good. Very likely it was only switched off, and will soon back down again."
Putting this plan into execution, Will was soon out in the streets of the queer Belgian city, wandering along in the darkness, striving to find the end of the depot, and then of a high board fence, which latter seemed to be interminable. At length, however, he reached an open s.p.a.ce, and was about to leap across a telegraphic arrangement that ran beside the tracks, when one of the inevitable gens-d"armes sprang up from somewhere behind, and gave Will to understand that he was not allowed to put himself in the way of being killed by an engine.
Poor boy, he was now completely bewildered, and wished with all his might that he had studied French instead of Latin. As it was, he screamed out, "Cologne! Cologne!" with an energy born of desperation, and the officer, faintly comprehending his meaning, at last muttered a quick reply in his unknown tongue, and hurried Will off back to the depot with an alacrity that caused our young American to have some fears he might be taking him to quite another sort of station-house. But, notwithstanding their haste, when they entered the waiting-room it was empty, and the flashing of a red lamp on the rear car of a departing train told whither its former occupants had gone.
And now Will understood it all. The pa.s.sengers had been locked up while some switching was done, simply to prevent them from becoming confused.
"What a blockhead I was!" he thought, quite angry with himself. "If I"d just staid quietly where I was put, and not gone racing off, with the idea that I knew more about their railroads than the Belgians themselves, I"d never have gotten myself into such a sc.r.a.pe. And now what am I to do? I suppose Charlie"s still fast asleep in the cars, being carried further and further away from me; and here am I, left at nine o"clock at night in an entirely foreign country, without a ticket, and, for the matter of that, without a tongue in my head. Why didn"t some of the other pa.s.sengers explain matters to me, and-- But, pshaw!
what good would it have done if they had? I couldn"t have understood a word."
All this time the gendarme had been talking with the ticket agent, and pointing to Will as though the latter had been a stray dog not capable of saying anything in his own behalf. What should he do? where should he go? and how could he manage to pa.s.s away the time that might elapse till his brother should miss him and return in search of him? And now the officer came up, and began to question him, speaking very slowly, and in an extremely loud tone. Notwithstanding, poor Will could only understand a word here and there, and at length, in despair, he determined to try a new plan.
Taking out his purse, he showed the money therein to the gendarme, at the same time exclaiming, "Hotel! hotel!" and pointing to himself. The officer evidently comprehended this pantomime, for, with a nod to the ticket agent, who had all the while been grinning through his little wicket, he motioned for Will to follow him out into the street.
The Hotel du Chemin de Fer (Railroad Hotel) was close at hand, and having in a few rapid sentences explained the situation to the landlord, the gendarme left Will to his own resources.
The latter thought for a moment that he had stepped into pandemonium itself, for opening on the right into the main hall of the hotel was a large apartment decorated with a sort of stage scenery to represent trees and lakes, the room itself being filled with little tables, around which were seated men smoking and drinking beer, while a thin-toned bra.s.s band discoursed popular music from a gallery overhead.
Will stared at this strange sight with all his eyes, and then suddenly became conscious at one and the same moment that he was hungry and being talked at by the proprietor. Encouraged by his former success with one-word speeches, Will simply said "Coffee," and then sat down at one of the little tables, where he was speedily served with a generous cup of the invigorating beverage, together with a plentiful supply of bread and b.u.t.ter.
"What a queer adventure!" thought the youth, his spirits much improved by the warm draughts of coffee, to say nothing of the lights and music.
"But now how shall I ever be able to make the man understand that I want to stay here all night? Charlie"s sure to come back for me in the morning. Oh, I have it! I"ll register my name on a piece of paper, hand it to the landlord, and exhibit my purse again;" which plan succeeded admirably, and "William C. Brooks, New York, America," was immediately shown to a good-sized room on the second floor, where he lost no time in retiring to rest after his eventful evening.
His sleep, however, was not undisturbed, for all night long he imagined himself to be an American locomotive towing an English steamer across the Atlantic, and crashing into several icebergs on the way.
The next morning Will opened his eyes in a flood of sunshine, and at first could not recollect where he was, but the whistling of an engine near by soon recalled to him his situation, causing him at the same time to hurry with his dressing, that he might hasten over to the station for news of his brother. He did not have to go as far as that, however, for as he was going down stairs he ran against Charlie coming up, and Will had never been so glad to see anybody or anything since the time when he used to open his eyes on Christmas mornings to behold the well-filled stocking hanging from the mantel-piece.
Over the breakfast, which the brothers ate together in the theatrical dining-room, the elder explained how he had not missed Will till the train had left Verviers a good distance behind. "And then when I awoke from my nap," continued Charlie, "you can imagine the fright I was in when I found the cars going, and you gone. We had just pa.s.sed Aix-la-Chapelle when I made the dreadful discovery, or I might have driven back here from there with a carriage, for it is only twenty miles off; but as it was, I could do nothing but fret till we arrived at Cologne, from which city I at once telegraphed to the station-master here, and ascertained that you were safe and sound, and fast asleep in bed."
"But why didn"t they wake me up, and let me know that you knew that--"
broke in Will, but choked the remainder of his speech with a swallow of coffee and a slice of bread, from a sudden remembrance of the crashing of icebergs, which might have been knocks on the door he had heard in his sleep.
"The whole thing was my fault, though," summed up Charlie, as, having settled with the smiling landlord, they walked over to the station. "I should not have let you go off alone in a new country; but then," he could not help adding, "you should not have left the rest of the flock, when you were shut up in the pen."
"I never will again," said Will, as they took their places in the train for Cologne; "I"ll be in future the meekest lamb they ever drove. But anyway," he continued, as the cars rolled slowly away from the depot, "I can say I have been in Belgium, even though it was only by mistake, and so have experienced not an Arabian but a Belgian Night."
HETTY.
BY MRS. W. J. HAYS.
They were all in the sitting-room. Matilda Ann was tr.i.m.m.i.n.g a bonnet to wear to the concert which was to take place that very evening in the Town-hall, and the roses did look so pretty that Hetty wished she was grown up enough to have some one come for her in a brand-new buggy, and take her to a concert; but where was the use of wishing? Every one told her she must not be too childish, and then every one said she mustn"t think herself a young woman, and want long gowns and trains, and big braids and puffs--that there was "time enough yet." She wondered what "time enough" meant. It seemed to her as if it must be the time of freedom, and certainly that was a long way off.
Jane was sewing strips of woollen cloth together for the big b.a.l.l.s that were to make carpet, and their mother was darning stockings, and they were all talking about the school-teacher who had lately come to the little brown house next to the district school. Jane said she was "hity-t.i.ty," mother said she didn"t like to see so many furbelows, and Matilda Ann criticised her manner of wearing her hair; so Hetty ventured to say, "I don"t think it matters much what she wears, or how she looks, if she can teach the children."
"Yes," said the mother, "it does matter; for children, need a good example."
"Of course she ought to be neat," said Hetty.
"Yes, and simple, and not be sticking on jewelry every day."
"For that matter, Aunt Maria says people in the city wear diamonds when they go to market."
"That does not make it any more sensible; fools are to be found everywhere."
"But, mother, Miss Martin isn"t a fool; she is very nice. I think you would like her."
"Perhaps so," said the mother, somewhat doubtfully; adding: "She had on a flounced skirt the last time I saw her. It takes a great deal of time to do them up nicely. Only rich folk ought to wear them."
"Suppose some one gave her her fine clothes?" said Hetty.
"Not very likely; but that would make it a little better."
Hetty went out to take a swing under the elm-tree, wondering why big people couldn"t find something better to talk about than what other people wore. Then Jane spoke up:
"Hetty always hates to hear others spoken of when they can"t take their own part."
"She"s a good little thing, anyhow," said Matilda Ann, who was standing before the looking-gla.s.s, in high good humor, with the new bonnet on, and turning her head from side to side, so that she could the better survey the tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs.
"Well," said Mrs. Hall, "you"ve stood there long enough, Matilda Ann. I never did see such an amazin" amount of vanity as there is nowadays."
"Oh, mother, I dare say you were just as silly when you were young,"
said Jane.
"No," said the mother, severely, "I never was given to fineries; my heart was set on higher things."
"I don"t see, then, how father ever got the chance to do any courting."
"Jane," said Mrs. Hall, "Jedediah Hall would never have married me if I had been like the girls of the present day, who scorn to churn, and to wash, and to do housework of any sort. He respected a woman who could make her family comfortable."
"But the courting--did he ever talk nonsense, mother?"
"The courting was over in short meter, I can tell you. Nonsense?--no, there was no nonsense about him. Well, well, it"s a long time ago." And she arose, and went out into the kitchen. The table was set for tea, and the biscuits were ready for the oven. She went to the cellar to skim the cream, and found a large bowl of custard had been left over from the dinner. There was more than would be eaten on their own table. What would she do with it? Pretty soon Hetty heard her mother calling her: "Hetty! Hetty!"
She ran in quickly from the garden.
"How would you like to take some of this custard to Miss Martin?"
"Splendid!" said Hetty. "But, mother," she said, hesitating, "I thought you didn"t like her?"
"Pshaw, child, I didn"t say so. I said I didn"t approve of too much dress. Get your hat and a tin pail. Here;" and she poured out the custard. "Now go, and mind you come home in time for tea."
[Ill.u.s.tration: HETTY AND JIM--DRAWN BY T. ROBINSON.]
It was a level road, and the afternoon a pleasant one late in the fall.
Hetty could not chase the squirrels, for fear of upsetting her pail; neither could she pick berries, for they were all gone. And so she trudged on silently, wishing she were as old as Matilda Ann, so that she might go to the concert. As she pa.s.sed a lot which was covered with stubble, a boy appeared, leaning over the fence. He was a big fellow, and the son of an old neighbor, and Hetty liked him, but there were people who said he was mischievous, and told tales of him, which perhaps made him somewhat shy. He nodded pleasantly enough to her, however, and asked her where she was going.