town, Mr. George and Rollo one
evening took a walk in the environs, on a road which led along on the
top of a dike. The dike was very broad, and the descent from it to the
low land on each side was very gradual. On the slopes on each side, and
along the margin on the top, were rows of immense trees, that looked as
if they had been growing for centuries. The branches of these trees met
overhead, so as to exclude the sun entirely. They made the road a
deeply-shaded avenue, and gave to the whole scene a very sombre and
solemn expression. On each side of the road, down upon the low land
which formed the general level of the country, were a succession of
country houses, the summer residences of the rich merchants of
Rotterdam. These houses were beautifully built; and they were surrounded
with grounds ornamented in the highest degree. There were winding
walks, and serpentine canals, and beds of flowers, and pretty bridges,
and summer houses, and groves of trees, and every thing else that can
add to the beauty of a summer retreat.

All these scenes Mr. George and Rollo looked down upon as they sauntered
slowly along the smooth sidewalk of the dike, under the majestic trees
which shaded it. The place where they were walking on the dike was on a
level with the second story windows of the houses.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER VI.

DOING THE HAGUE.

"And now what is the next place that we shall come to?" said Rollo to
Mr. George one morning after they had been some days in Rotterdam.

"The Hague," replied Mr. George.

"Ah, yes," said Rollo, "that is the capital. We shall stop there a good
while I suppose, because it is the capital."

"No," said Mr. George, "I shall go through it just as quick as I can for
that very reason. I have a great mind not to stop there at all."

"Why, uncle George!" exclaimed Rollo, surprised, "what do you mean by
that?"

"Why, the Hague," rejoined Mr. George, "is the place where the king
lives, and the princes, and the foreign ambassadors, and all the
fashionable people; and there will be nothing to see there, I expect,
but palaces, and picture galleries, and handsome streets, and such
things, all of which we can see more of and better in Paris or London."

"Still we want to see what sort of a place the Hague is," said Rollo.

"Yes," said Mr. George, "and I expect to do that in a very short time,
and then I shall go on to Haarlem, where they have had such a time with
their pumping."