"Now," said he, "this is good. We have got an excellent seat, and we will have a first rate time looking at Holland as we go along."
Just then a young man, dressed in a suit of gray, and with a spy glass hanging at his side, suspended by a strap from his shoulder, and with a young and pretty, but rather disdainful looking lady on his arm, came by.
"Now, Emily," said he, "which would you prefer, to sit here upon the deck or go below?"
"O George," said she, "let us go below. There's nothing to be seen on the deck. The country is every where flat and uninteresting."
"We might see the shores as we go along," suggested her husband.
"O, there's nothing to be seen along the shores," said she; "nothing but bulrushes and willows. We had better go below."
So Emily led George below.
"Rollo," said Mr. George, "if you would like to take a bet, I will bet you the prettiest Dutch toy that you can find in Amsterdam, that that is another Mrs. Parkman."
"I think it very likely she is," said Rollo. "But, uncle George, what do you think they have got down below? I've a great mind to go down and see."
"Very well," said Mr. George.
"And will you keep my place while I am gone?" asked Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. George, "or you can put your cap in it to keep it."
So Rollo put his cap in his seat, and went down below. In a few minutes he returned, saying that there was a pretty little cabin down there, with small tables set out along the sides of it, and different parties of people getting ready for breakfast.
"It is rather late for breakfast," said Mr. George. "It is after twelve o'clock."
"Then perhaps they call it luncheon," said Rollo. "But I'd rather stay on deck. We might have something to eat here. Don't you think we could have it on this table?"
"Yes," replied Mr. George, "that is what the table is put here for."
"Well!" said Rollo, his eye brightening up at the idea.
"We can have it here, or we can wait and have it at the hotel in Rotterdam," said Mr. George. "You may decide. I'll do just as you say."
Rollo finally concluded to wait till they arrived at Rotterdam, and then to have a good dinner all by themselves at some table by a window in the hotel, and in the mean time to devote himself, while on board the steamer, to observing the shores of the river, or arm of the sea, whichever it might be, on which they were sailing.
The steamer had before this time set sail from the pier, and after backing out of a little sort of creek or branch where it had been moored, it entered a broad channel of deep water, and began rapidly to move along. The day was pleasant, and though the air was cool, Rollo and Mr. George were so well sheltered by the little porch by the side of which they were sitting, that they were very comfortable in all respects.
Before long the channel of water in which the steamer was sailing became more narrow, and the steamer passed nearer a bank, which Rollo soon perceived was formed by a dike.
"See, see! uncle George," said he. "There are the roofs of the houses over on the other side of the dike. We can just see the tops of them. The ground that the houses stand upon must be a great deal below the water."
"Yes," said Mr. George, "and see, there are the tops of the tall trees."
The dike was very regular in its form, and it was ornamented with two rows of trees along the top of it. There were seats here and there under the trees, and some of these seats had people sitting upon them, looking at the passing boats and steamers. The water was full of vessels of all kinds, coming and going, or lying at anchor. These vessels were all of very peculiar forms, being built in the Dutch style, and not painted, but only varnished, so as to show beautifully the natural color of the wood of which they were made. They had what Rollo called fins on each side, which were made to be taken up or let down into the water, first on one side and then on the other, as the vessel was on different tacks in beating against the wind.
Opposite to every place where there was a house over beyond the dike, there was a line of steps coming down the face of the dike on the hither side, towards the water, with a little pier, and a boat fastened to it, below. These little flights of steps, with the piers and the boats, and the seats under the trees on the top of the dike, and the roofs of the houses, and the tops of the trees beyond, all looked extremely pretty, and presented a succession of very peculiar and very charming scenes to Mr. George and Rollo as the steamer glided rapidly along the shore.
In some places the dike seemed to widen, so as to make room for houses upon the top of it. There were snug little taverns, where the captains and crews of the vessels that were sailing by could stop and refresh themselves, when wind or tide bound in their vessels, and now and then a shop or store of some kind, or a row of pretty, though very queer-looking, cottages. At one place there was a ferry landing. The ferry house, together with the various buildings appertaining to it, was on the top of the dike, and a large pier, with a snug and pretty basin by the side of it, below. There was a flight of stairs leading up from the pier to the ferry house, and also a winding road for carriages. At the time that the steamer went by this place, the ferry boat was just coming in with a carriage on board of it.
There were a great many wind mills here and there along the dike. Some were for pumping up water, some for sawing logs, and some for grinding grain. These wind mills were very large and exceedingly picturesque in their forms, and in the manner in which they were grouped with the other buildings connected with them. Rollo wished very much that he could stop and go on shore and visit some of these wind mills, so as to see how they looked inside.
At length the vessels and ships seemed to increase in numbers, and Mr. George said that he thought that they must be approaching a town. Rollo looked upon the map and found that there was a large town named Dort, laid down on the shores of the river or branch on which they were sailing.
"It is on the other side," said he. "Let us go and see."
So they both rose from their seats and went round to the other side of the boat, and there, there suddenly burst upon their view such a maze of masts, spires, roofs, and wind mills, all mingled together in promiscuous confusion, as was wonderful to behold. In the centre of the whole rose one enormous square tower, which seemed to belong to a cathedral.
This was Dort, or Dordrecht, as it is often called.
As the steamer glided rapidly along the shores, and Mr. George and Rollo attempted to look into the town, they saw not streets, but canals. Indeed, the whole place seemed just level with the surface of the water, and far in the interior of it the masts of ships and the roofs of the houses were mingled together in nearly equal proportion.
The steamer threaded its way among the fleets of boats and shipping that lay off the town, and at length came to a stop at a pier. The passengers destined for this place began to disembark. Mr. George and Rollo stood together on the deck, looking at the buildings which lined the quay, and wondering at the quaint and queer forms which every thing that they saw assumed.
"I should really like to go ashore here," said Mr. George, "and see what sort of a place it is."
"Let us do it, uncle George!" said Rollo, eagerly. "Let us do it!"
"Only we have paid to Rotterdam," said Mr. George.
"Never mind," said Rollo. "It will not make much difference."
But before Mr. George could make up his mind to go on shore, the exchange of passengers was effected, and the plank was pulled in, the ropes were cast off, and the steamer once more began to move swiftly along over the water.
"It is too late," said Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. George, "and on the whole it is better for us to go on."