head butler. Also, she
hesitated about examining the mounted Guardsman on duty at Whitehall,
preferring to walk past with a casual glance, as if she were accustomed
to see things quite as wonderful every day at home, whereas nothing to
approach it has ever existed in America, except in the imagination of
Mr. Barnum, and he is dead. And shopwalkers patronised her. I
congratulated myself sometimes that I was there to assert her dignity.

I must be permitted to generalise in this way about our London
experiences because they only lasted a day and a half, and it is
impossible to get many particulars into that space. It was really a pity
we had so little time. Nothing would have been more interesting than to
bring momma into contact with the Poets' Corner, or introduce poppa to
the House of Lords, and watch the effect. I am sure, from what I know of
my parents, that the effect would have been crisp. But we decided that
six weeks was not too much to give to the Continent, also that an
opportunity, six weeks long, of absorbing Europe is not likely to occur
twice in the average American lifetime. We stayed over two or three
trains in London, however, just long enough to get in a background, as
it were, for our Continental experiences. The weather was typical, and
the background, from an artistic point of view, was perfect. While not
precisely opaque, you couldn't see through it anywhere.

When it became a question of how we were to put in the time, it seemed
to momma as if she would rather lie down than anything.

"You and your father, dear," she said, "might drive to St. Paul's, when
it stops raining. Have a good look at the dome and try to bring me back
the sound of the echo. It is said to be very weird. See that poppa
doesn't forget to take off his hat in the body of the church, but he
might put it on in the Whispering Gallery, where it is sure to be
draughty. And remember that the funeral coach of the Duke of Wellington
is down in the crypt, darling. You might bring me an impression of that.
I think I'll have a cup of chocolate and try to get a little sleep."

"Is it," asked poppa, "the coach which the Duke sent to represent him at
the other people's funerals, or the one in which he attended his own?"

"You can look that up," momma replied; "but my belief is that it was
presented to the Duke by a grateful nation after his demise. In which
case he couldn't possibly have used it more than once."

I looked at momma reprov