urney had been
commenced. The passengers got out, the horses were unharnessed, and the
baggage was taken down. The trunks were all taken into an office
pertaining to the custom house, to be examined by the officers there, in
order to see whether there were any contraband goods in them.

Mr. George unlocked his trunk and lifted up the lid. An officer came up
to the place, and patting with his hand upon the top of the clothes, as
if to prevent Mr. George from lifting them up to show what was below, he
said,--

"Very well; very well; it is sufficient."

So saying, he shut down the top of the trunk again, and marked it,
"Passed." He then touched his hat, and asked Mr. George if he would make
some small present for the benefit of the custom house officers.

That is to say, he evaded the performance of his duty as an officer of
the customs, in expectation that the traveller would pay him for his
delinquency. Most travellers are very willing to pay in such cases. They
have various articles in their trunks which they have bought in other
countries, and which, strictly speaking, are subject to duty in entering
Rome, and they are willing to pay a fee rather than to have their trunks
overhauled. Others, of more sturdy morality, refuse to pay these fees.
They consider them as of the nature of bribes. So they say to the
officers,--

"Examine the baggage as much as you please, and if you find any duties
due, I will pay them. But I will not pay any bribes."

"Now, Rollo," said Mr. George, when he had got possession of his trunk,
"we want a carriage to take us and the baggage to the hotel. You may go
and see if you can find one, and I will stay here and look after the
baggage. Engage the carriage by the hour."

So Rollo went out of the court, and soon found a carriage. Before he got
into it, he said to the coachman,--

"_Per hora!_"

This means, By the hour.

At the same time Rollo held up his watch to the coachman, in order to
let him see what o'clock it was.

"_Si, signore_," said the coachman.

_Si, signore_, is the Italian for Yes, sir.

Rollo could not say in Italian where he wished the coachman to go, and
so he stood up in the carriage and pointed. Following his indications,
the coachman drove in through the archway to the court of the post
office, where he found Mr. George waiting. The trunk and the bags were
put upon the carriage, in front, and Mr. George got in with Rollo.

"Hotel d'Amerique," said Mr. George