"I should like to see all these things very much," said Rollo, "some other day; but now we will go on, Jennie, to the church, where the rest of the people are going."
Jennie very cordially approved of this plan, and so they walked on together. It happened that, at the time when they came to this determination, there was walking just before them a party, consisting apparently of a father and mother and their two children. The father and mother walked together first, and the two children, hand in hand, followed. The oldest child was a girl, of about Jennie's age. The other was a very small boy, just beginning to learn to talk. Rollo and Jennie came immediately behind these children, and were very much interested in hearing them talk together, especially to hear the little one prattling in French. He called his sister Adrienne, and she called him Antoine. Thus Rollo and Jennie knew the names of the children, but they had no way of finding out what were the names of the father and mother.
"Now, Jennie," said Rollo, in a low tone, "I think we had better follow this party, and keep close to them all the time, and then, when we get to the church, perhaps they will give us a seat."
Jennie liked this proposal very much, and so she and Rollo walked along after Adrienne and Antoine, not too near them, but so near as to keep them always in sight. Sometimes the party turned aside from the avenue to walk under the trees, and sometimes they stopped a few minutes to look at some curious exhibition or spectacle which was to be seen. At one place a man had a square marked off, and enclosed with a line to keep the crowd back; and in the middle he had an electrical machine, with which he gave shocks to any of the bystanders who were willing to take them. A boy kept turning the machine all the time. At another place was a little theatre, mounted on a high box, so that all could see, with little images about as large as dolls dancing on the stage, or holding dialogues with each other. The words were really spoken by a man who was concealed in the box below; but as the little images moved about continually, and made all sorts of gesticulations, corresponding with what was said, it seemed to the bystanders precisely as if they were speaking themselves. Besides this, the images would walk about, scold each other, quarrel and fight each other, run out at little doors, and then come in again, and do a great many other things which it was very wonderful to see such little figures do.
There were places, too, where there were great whirling machines, under splendid tents and canopies, with horses, and boats, and ships, and cradles at the circumference of them, all of which were made to sail round and round through the air, carrying the children that were mounted on the horses or sitting in the ships and boats. There were also several places for shooting at a mark with little spring guns, which were loaded with peas instead of bullets. There were figures of bears, lions, tigers, ducks, deer, and other animals at a little distance, which were kept moving along all the time by machinery, for the children to shoot at with the peas. If they hit any of them they drew a prize, consisting of cake or gingerbread, or of some sort of plaything or toy, of which great numbers were hanging up about the shooting place. All these, and a great many other similar contrivances for amusing people, Rollo and Jane saw, as they passed along; but they did not stop to look at them, excepting when the gentleman and lady stopped whom they were following. This was seldom, however; and so they went, on the whole, very steadily forward, up the long and gentle ascent, until, at length, they reached the great Triumphal Arch at the Neuilly Barrier.
CHAPTER VI. A GREAT MISTAKE.
As they approached the arch, the children gazed upon it with astonishment, being greatly impressed with its magnitude and height. There were a great many men on the top of it. Their heads and shoulders were visible from below, as they stood leaning over the parapet. They, however, looked exceedingly small.
Rollo and Jennie would have liked to stop and look longer at the arch; but they did not wish to separate from Adrienne and Antoine, who kept walking steadily on all the time with their father and mother. Rollo supposed, as has been said before, that this party were going to some church; but they were not. They were going to a place called the Hippodrome.
The Hippodrome, far from being a church, is a place of amusement. It is used for equestrian performances, and feats of strength and agility, and balloon ascension, and all similar entertainments.
The Hippodrome is a long, oval enclosure, with eight or ten ranges of seats extending all around it, and rising one above another, like the seats of the Coliseum at Rome. There is a roof extending all around over the seats; but the area within is so large that it could not well be covered with a roof. Besides, if there were a roof over it, how could the balloons go up?
Then, moreover, the spectacles which are exhibited in the Hippodrome appear to much better advantage when seen in the open light of day than if they were under the cover of a roof, so long as the spectators themselves are protected from the sun and from any sudden showers.
The area in the middle of the Hippodrome is about one hundred yards long and fifty yards wide. It is so large that there is room for a good wide road all around it, and also for another road up and down the middle, with little gardens of grass and flowers between. At the very centre is a round area, where there is a concealed canal of water to represent a stream. This water is ordinarily covered with planks, and the planks are covered with a very thick canvas carpet, and this with sand; so that the water is entirely concealed, and the horsemen ride over it just as they do over any other part of the area. When they wish to use it, to show how the horses could leap over streams, they take off the sand, roll up the carpet, and carry away the planks; and there they have a very good representation of a stream.
The performances at the Hippodrome are very various. Sometimes whole troops of horse come in from between two great curtains at one end, all elegantly caparisoned and mounted, some by men and some by girls, but all, whether men or girls, dressed in splendid uniforms. These troops ride round and round the area, and up and down in the middle of it, performing a great variety of evolutions in the most rapid and surprising manner.
Then there are races of various kinds. Some are run by beautiful girls, who come out mounted on elegant gray horses that are mottled like leopards, each of the riders having a scarf over her shoulders of a different color from the rest, so that they may be all readily distinguished from each other in the race. Then there are races of chariots, three running at a time, round and round the area; and of small ponies, with monkeys on them for riders. There are various contrivances, too, for athletic and gymnastic feats, such as masts and poles for climbers to ascend, and other similar apparatus. All these things give the interior of the Hippodrome quite a gay and lively appearance, and the area necessary for them is so large that the ranges of seats surrounding it are sufficient to accommodate ten thousand spectators.
It was to this place that Adrienne and Antoine, with their father and mother, were going, while Rollo and Jennie supposed that they were going to a church. There was nothing to lead Rollo to suspect his mistake in the aspect of the building as he approached the entrance to it; for the sides of it were hidden by trees and other buildings, and the portal, though very large and very gayly decorated, seemed still, so far as Rollo could get a glimpse of it through the crowds of people, only to denote that it was the entrance to some very splendid public edifice, without at all indicating the nature of the purposes to which it was devoted.