"Our charge was set, and ready to go off; I sent word to our distant neighbors that we were about to blast, and they had better come up until it was over. My courtesy was repaid by a very profane answer, accompanied with a request to 'blast away.' "So the charge was set off; and the unfortunate divers in the distance were hauled out of the water more dead than alive. I afterwards learned from them that the shock was tremendous." "When you blow up the rocks, do you place the charges under them?" inquired Eric. "O, no; that would have no effect: holes are drilled in the rock, and the charges placed within them." "And when the rocks are blown, what do you do with the pieces that come off?" asked Eric. "We grapple them with hooks and chains, and draw them to the surface." "It is very interesting, and I am very much obliged to you for telling me so much," said Eric. "I wish I could learn _all_ about it." "Well, my boy, you shall go with me to-morrow; and, if you're not afraid to venture, I'll take you down beneath the sea with me. It is quite safe near Amsterdam." "O, thank you, sir," said Eric, eagerly, grasping the kind Frenchman's hand. "I must go now to the palace," said Mr. Lacelle. "I have an engagement there. Will you do me the honor to amuse yourself here until I return?" "Thank you," said Eric again, with a joyous smile; for Mr. Lacelle's room was stored with 'curios' from the bottom of the sea, and Eric knew he could spend a long time very comfortably there. He was careful to secure Froll in her cage, that she might do no mischief; and then he had a thoroughly good time, examining the sea things; and as they were all labelled with name and date, and the place from which they were taken, he gained much useful information. Before night a letter came from his uncle, saying that Johnny was quite ill, and had been unable to travel to the Hague; but he was now so much better, that they would probably join Eric in a day or two. "I shan't mind waiting," said Eric to himself; "and there's nothing now to prevent my going to Amsterdam to-morrow; but I wish uncle Charlie could be with me too." Then he remembered that he had been left under the landlord's care, and must obtain his permission. So he sought him out, and made known his request. The landlord of the Vyverberg was a kind-hearted German. He was quite fond of his little American guest, and readily consented to his plan for the morrow, telling Eric that Monsieur Lacelle was a remarkable man, and he could not be in better hands. "I think this is just the jolliest country, and full of the jolliest people in the world," was Eric's mental comment before he fell asleep that night. Indeed, there are few people more kind-hearted, thoughtful, or hospitable than the Dutch and Germans. Eric's parents were anxiously wondering how their boy fared alone in Gravenhaag.