pportunity to make
observations. At length he caught a momentary glimpse of a monstrous
column standing in the middle of an open square; and immediately
afterward the carriage drove in under an archway, and came to a stand,
in a small, open court, surrounded with lofty buildings. This was the
hotel. There was a small room, which served as a porter's lodge, in this
court, near where the coach stopped. A girl came to the door of this
lodge to receive the guests. She bowed to Mr. George and Rollo with
great politeness, and seemed glad to see them. Mr. George spoke to her
in French, to say what rooms he wished to engage. What he said,
literally translated, was this:--

"We want two chambers for ourselves, at the third, and an apartment of
three pieces, at the second, for a gentleman, lady, and their young
girl, whom we attend to-morrow."

The girl, who was very neatly and prettily dressed, and was very
agreeable in her manners, immediately said, "Very well," and rang a
bell. A servant man came at the summons, and, taking the trunks, showed
Mr. George and Rollo up to their rooms.

CHAPTER IV.

THE GARDEN OF THE TUILERIES.

The first Sunday that Rollo spent in Paris he met with quite a singular
adventure.

His father and mother had arrived the evening before, and had
established themselves quite comfortably in the "apartment of three
pieces," which Mr. George had engaged for them. An apartment, according
to the French use of the term, is not a single room, but a group of
rooms, suitable to be occupied by one family. The number of _pieces_ is
the number of rooms.

Mr. Holiday's three rooms were a small but beautifully furnished parlor,
where they had breakfast, and two bed rooms. One bed room was for
himself and Mrs. Holiday, and the other was for Jennie. There were a
great many splendid mirrors in these rooms, and other elegant furniture.
The floors were not carpeted, but were formed of dark and polished wood,
curiously inlaid, with rugs here and there at the doors and before the
sofas and chairs. There was a small, square rug before every chair, and
a large one before the sofa. There were a great many other curious
things to be observed in the arrangements of the room. The fireplace,
for example, was closed by plates of sheet iron, which could be shoved
up and down like the sashes of a window; while the windows themselves
opened like doors, each having a great brass fastening, like a latch, in
the middle, a