ry where met his eye. When
they at last arrived at New Haven, they found that the harbor consisted
merely of a straight, artificial canal, cut in from the sea, where
probably some small stream had originally issued. The sides of this
harbor were lined with piers, and on one of the piers was a great hotel,
forming a part, as it were, of the railway station. There were a few
houses and other buildings near, but there was no town to be seen. The
railway was on one side of the hotel, and the water was on the other.
When the train stopped, one of the railway servants opened the door for
Mr. George and Rollo to get out, and Mr. George went directly into the
hotel to make arrangements for rooms and for dinner, while Rollo, eager
to see the ships and the water, went through the house to the pier on
the other side. He found that there was a pretty broad space on the
pier, between the hotel and the water, with a shed upon it for
merchandise, and extra tracks for freight trains. The water was quite
low in the harbor, and the few vessels that were lying at the pier walls
were mostly grounded in the mud. There was one steamboat lying opposite
the hotel, but it was down so low that, at first, Rollo could only see
the top of the smoke-pipe. Rollo went to the brink of the pier and
looked down. The steamer appeared very small. It was painted black.
There were very few people on board. Rollo had a great mind to go on
board himself, as there was a plank leading down from the pier to the
top of the paddle box. But it looked rather steep, and so Rollo
concluded to postpone going on board till Mr. George should come out
with him after dinner.

Rollo looked about upon the pier a few minutes, and then went into the
hotel. He passed through a spacious hall, and then through a passage
way, from which he could look into a large room, the sides of which were
formed of glass, so that the people who were in the room could see out
all around them. The front of the room looked out upon the pier, the
back side upon the passage way. A third side was toward the vestibule,
and the fourth toward the coffee room. There were shelves around this
room, within, and tables, and desks, and people going to and fro there.
In fact, it seemed to be the office of the hotel.

Rollo advanced to one of the openings that was toward the passage way,
and asked which was the way to the coffee room. The girl pointed to the
door which led to it, and Rollo went in.

He found