man on the platform; I will buy a
couple of oranges of her, one for you and one for me, and then she will
be glad to tell us which is the boat."

"She will tell us without," said Rollo.

"As a matter of favor?" asked Mr. George.

"Yes," said Rollo.

"I suppose she would," said Mr. George; "but I would rather that the
obligation should be the other way."

So Mr. George bought two oranges of the woman, and paid her a halfpenny
over and above the price of them. She seemed very grateful for this
kindness, and took great interest in showing him which of the boats he
and Rollo must take to go to Westminster.

"There's one thing that I particularly wish to go and see," said Rollo,
"while we are in London."

"What is that?" asked Mr. George.

"One of the ragged schools," said Rollo.

"What are they?" asked Mr. George.

[Illustration: THE FIRST RAGGED SCHOOL.]

"Why, they are schools for poor boys," replied Rollo. "I believe the
boys that go to the schools are pretty much all ragged. These schools
were begun by a cobbler. I read about it in a book. The cobbler used to
call the ragged boys in that lived about his shop, and teach them.
Afterwards other people established such schools; and now there are a
great many of them, and some of them are very large."

"We'll go and see some of them," said Mr. George. "I should like to go
and see them very much."

So saying Mr. George led the way to the boat that the orange woman had
pointed out as the one for Westminster; and they stepped on board,
together with a little crowd of other passengers who were going up the
river like themselves.

CHAPTER III.

THE RIVER.

Mr. George and Rollo fell into the line of people that were pressing
forward over the plank which led to the boat that the orange woman had
directed them to embark in; and they soon found themselves on board. The
boat was small and quite narrow. There was no saloon or enclosed
apartment of any kind for the passengers, nor even an awning to shelter
them from the sun or rain. There were, however, substantial settees
placed around the deck, some forward and others aft. Some of these
settees were on the sides of the steamer, by the railing, and there were
others placed back to back in the middle. There were not seats enough
for all the passengers; and thus many were obliged to stand.

As the boat glided along swiftly over the water, Rollo gazed with wonder
and interest at the various objects and scene