ink the hour is nearly up, and we must return to the steamer," said
Mr. Fluxion.

The party went on board, and the steamer returned to Rotterdam by a
different route from that by which she had come. The next day was
Sunday. After the second service on board the ship, Mr. Fluxion, having
occasion to go on shore, invited Paul to accompany him.

"It will not seem much like Sunday to you in Rotterdam," said the
vice-principal, as they landed at the _quai_.

"I supposed the Dutch were very strict."

"Some of them are. Look down that street," said Mr. Fluxion, as he
pointed to the broad avenue which bordered the great river. "You observe
that the _quais_ are all lined with ships. In the houses opposite live
the merchants. They occupy the upper stories of the buildings, while the
lower are used as counting-rooms and storehouses. The ship-owner sits at
his parlor window and witnesses the unlading of his vessel."

They walked up to the Hotel des Pays-Bas, which the traveller is
informed by its card is situated in the _Korte Hoogstraat, wijk No.
287_, where Mr. Fluxion desired to see a gentleman who had engaged to
meet him there. In one of the public rooms a party were playing cards,
drinking, and smoking, and talking Dutch in the most vehement manner.
After a stay of an hour at the hotel, they returned to the _quai_,
passing through _Zandstraat_, which was filled with people, shouting,
singing, and skylarking. About every other shop appeared to be a
drinking saloon, in which a fiddle or a hurdy-gurdy was making wild
music, while the floor was crowded with men and women dancing.

In another street they encountered a mock procession of girls and boys,
singing in the most stormy manner as they marched along. It was not at
all like Sunday, and Paul was so shocked at the desecration of the day,
that he was glad to regain the silence of his cabin in the Josephine.

CHAPTER XIX.

A RUN THROUGH HOLLAND.

Like that of all impulsive men, the wrath of Mr. Hamblin was
short-lived, though he still felt that he was greatly abused, greatly
distrusted, and greatly under-estimated; and the last was the greatest
sin of all. After the first blast of his anger at the final decision of
the principal had subsided, he was disposed to be more politic. Mr.
Lowington had snubbed him, which was a great mistake on Mr. Lowington's
part.

Mr. Hamblin knew that he was an older man than the principal, and he
felt that he was a wiser one, an