They descended the slope which led down to the Round Point at a rapid rate. Here, after passing the Round Point, the road became level, and the region of groves and booths, and of games and frolicking, began.
"Now," said Rollo, "I should like to drive slowly, so that, if I come to any thing that I wish to get out and see, I can see it."
"Very well," said his father; "give Alfred your orders."
"Alfred," said Rollo, "draw up as near as you can to the sidewalk on the right hand, and walk the horses, so that I can see what there is."
"And in the mean time," said Mr. Holiday, "I will read my papers."
So Mr. Holiday took his newspapers out of his pocket and began to read them, while Rollo, standing up in the carriage, began to survey the crowd that filled the walks and groves that bordered the avenue, in order to select some object of attraction to be examined more closely.
"Only I wish, father," said Rollo, "that I had somebody here with me to go and see the things-Jennie or Carlos. I wish Carlos was here."
"It is very easy to go and get him," said his father, with his eyes still on his newspaper.
"May I?" said Rollo.
"Any thing you please," said Mr. Holiday. "You are in command this afternoon. You may give Alfred any orders you please."
"Then, Alfred," said Rollo, "drive to the Hotel Louvois as fast as you can."
As he said this, Mr. Holiday folded up his paper and Rollo took his seat, while Alfred, turning the horses away from the sidewalk, set them to trotting briskly along the avenue.
"Only, father," said Rollo, "I shall prevent your reading your papers."
"No matter for that," said Mr. Holiday. "I shall like a good brisk ride along the Boulevards quite as well."
The horses, kept always by Alfred in the very best condition, trotted forward at a rapid rate, leaving scores of omnibuses, cabs, and citadines behind, and keeping pace with the splendid chariots of the French and English aristocracy that thronged the avenue. Presently Rollo observed a peculiar movement among the carriages before them, as if they were making way for something that was coming; and at the same time he saw hundreds of people running forward from the groves and booths, across the side avenues, to the margin of the carriage way.
"The emperor!" said Alfred, drawing in his horses at the same time.
An instant afterward, Rollo, who, on hearing Alfred's words, started from his seat and stood up in the carriage to look, saw two elegantly dressed officers, in splendid uniforms, galloping along toward them in the middle of the avenue. They were followed at a little distance by two others; and then came a very beautiful barouche, drawn by four glossy black horses, magnificently caparisoned. Two gentlemen were seated in this carriage, one of whom bowed repeatedly to the crowd that were gazing at the spectacle from the sides of the avenue as he rode rapidly along. Behind this carriage came another, with a gentleman and a lady in it, and afterward two more troopers. The whole cavalcade moved on so rapidly, that, before Rollo had had scarcely time to look at it, it had passed entirely by.
"The emperor!" said Alfred to Rollo. "He is going out to take a ride."
"Is that the emperor?" exclaimed Rollo. "He looks like any common man. But if I had four such beautiful black horses as he has got, I should be glad. I would drive them myself, instead of having a coachman."
The movement and the sensation produced by the passing of the emperor and his train along the avenue immediately subsided, and the other carriages resumed their ordinary course. Alfred's horses trotted on faster than ever. A thousand picturesque and striking objects glided rapidly by-the trees and the booths of the Elysian Fields; the tall, gilded lampposts, and the spouting fountains of the Place de la Concorde; omnibuses, cabs, wagons, chariots, and foot passengers without number; and, finally, the tall column of the Place Vendome. Winding round in a graceful curve through this magnificent square, the carriage rolled on in the direction of the Boulevards, and, after going rapidly on for nearly half a mile in that spacious avenue, it turned into the street which led to the hotel. It stopped, at length, before the door, and Rollo got out, while Mr. Holiday remained in the carriage. Rollo went up stairs, and after about five minutes he came down again, bringing not only Carlos with him, but also his uncle George. Mr. Holiday invited Mr. George to go with them for the remainder of the ride. This invitation Mr. George accepted; and so the two gentlemen taking the back seat, and Rollo and Carlos the front, Alfred took them all back to the Elysian Fields together.
They remained nearly an hour in the Elysian Fields. During this time Rollo's father and his uncle George staid in the carriage by the roadside, talking together, while Rollo and Carlos went in among the walks and groves to see the various spectacles which were exhibited there. They would come back from time to time to the carriage, in order that Rollo might describe to his father what they found, or ask permission to take part in some amusement. For instance, at one time he came and said, very eagerly,-
"Father, here is a great whirling machine, with ships and horses going round and round. Carlos and I want to ride on it. The horses are in pairs, two together. Carlos can get on one of them, in one of the pairs, and I on the other. We can go round twenty times for two sous."
"Very well," said his father.
So Rollo and Carlos went back to the whirling machine. It was very large, and was very gayly painted, and ornamented with flags and banners. The vessels and the horses were attached to the ends of long arms, which were supported by iron rods that came down from the top of the central post, so that they were very strong. The horses were as large as small ponies, and the vessels were as big as little boats-each one having seats for four children. When Rollo and Carlos went back, the machine had just taken up its complement of passengers for one turn, and was then commencing its rotation. There were a great many persons standing by it, pleased to see how happy the children were in going round so merrily. There was an iron paling all around the machine, to keep the spectators at a safe distance, otherwise they might come too near, and so be struck, and perhaps seriously hurt, by the horses or the boats, when they were put in motion.
As soon as the twenty turns had been taken the machine stopped, and the children who had had their ride were taken off the horses and out of the boats, all except a few who were going to pay again and have a second ride. Rollo and Carlos then went inside the enclosure, and, going up some steps placed there for the purpose, they mounted their horses. Very soon the machine began to revolve, and they were whirled round and round twenty times with the greatest rapidity. The arms of the machine, too, were long, so that the circle which the horses and the vessels described was quite large, and the whole twenty revolutions made quite a considerable ride.
After finishing their circuit and dismounting from their horses, the boys next came to a whirling machine, which revolved vertically instead of horizontally; that is, instead of whirling the rider round and round near the level of the ground, it carried them up, over, and down. There was a great wheel, which revolved on an axis, like a vertical mill wheel. This wheel was double, and between the two circumferences the seats of the passengers were hung in such a manner that in revolving they swung freely, so as to keep the heads of the people always uppermost. These seats had high backs and sides, and a sort of bar in front for the people to take hold of, otherwise there would have been great danger of their falling out. As it was, they were carried so swiftly, and so high, and the seats swung to and fro so violently when the machine was in rapid motion, that the men and girls who were in the seats filled the ear with their screams and shouts of laughter.
Rollo and Carlos, after seeing this machine revolve, went to the carriage to ask if they might go in it the next time.