his ticket and had taken up his change he went to the bench
where his uncle George was sitting and said that he was ready.

"Well," said Mr. George, "then we'll go. I like to travel with a boy
that is capable of taking care of himself and is willing to be treated
like a man."

Saying these words, Mr. George rose from his seat, and, after attending
properly to the baggage, he and Rollo passed through a door guarded by a
man in uniform, who required them to show him their tickets before he
would allow them to pass, and then entered a spacious apartment which
was reserved as the waiting room for the first-class passengers. This
room was beautifully finished and richly adorned, and the splendid sofas
and ottomans which were ranged about the sides of it were occupied by
well-dressed ladies and gentlemen, carrying shawls, greatcoats, and
small travelling bags upon their arms, and exhibiting other similar
indications of their being travellers. Mr. George and Rollo took seats
at a vacant place upon one of the sofas. In a few minutes an officer
came and informed the company, in a very respectful manner, that the
train was ready; whereupon they all rose from their seats and walked out
upon the platform where the train was waiting. Here there were several
railway servants, all dressed in uniform, whose business it was to
conduct the passengers to the several cars, or carriages, as they call
them, and open the doors. These carriages were entirely different in
their construction from the long and open cars used in America, which
form but one compartment, that extends through the whole length of the
car. The French cars were like three elegant carriages, joined together
in such a manner that, though the three formed but one car, they were
still entirely distinct from each other. The seats in these carriages
were very spacious, and they were richly stuffed and lined, so that they
formed soft and luxurious places of repose. The railway porter opened
one of the doors and admitted Mr. George and Rollo, and when they had
entered he closed it again.

"Ah," said Rollo, seating himself upon the soft cushion on one of the
seats, "is not this superb? I am _very glad_ I did not take a
second-class car."

"And yet the second-class cars in France are very comfortable and very
respectable," said Mr. George, "and they are very much cheaper."

"How much should we have saved," asked Rollo, "in going to Strasbourg,
if we had taken a second-class