"We go direct to Moscow first," wrote Dolores, "stopping there long
enough to drop a tear on the tombs of the Czars; then on to St.
Petersburg; then by steamer down the Gulf of Finland and across the
Baltic to Stockholm; thence by rail to Christiania, where we may linger
some time, as Madame Volkenburg has dear friends there. From Christiania
we go direct to the North Cape. It is our intention to return via
Copenhagen and the Channels, as late in the season as we can safely make
the trip. We do not leave Paris under three weeks; I hope you will call
upon us before your return to America, as you have promised."
When Percy read this he laughed aloud.
"It is fate," he said. "We are destined to be thrown together. I shall
proceed at once to Copenhagen, and when my charming friends arrive in
Christiania, I shall join them there and make the journey with them to
the North Cape."
It needed this bright prospect to keep Percy's heart cheerful after he
arrived in Copenhagen. Not a person in the city had hung out a sign of
furnished rooms to let; so finally he decided to advertise. After
waiting two days for the advertisement to appear, he rushed off to the
printing office to demand an explanation. The clerk remarked calmly,
that it had been lost, and as the next day was Sunday, he would be
obliged to wait until Monday. On Monday the notice appeared, badly
printed, in a column headed "Servant Girls Wanted."
During that day Percy found a room to his liking, on the
Tordenskjoldsgade, but as he feared an attack of lockjaw if he attempted
to direct any one to his lodgings, he chose apartments on the
Hovedvagtsgade instead. His breakfast, when served, consisted of a cup
of coffee and a cold roll. His dinner, for which he had a ravenous
appetite, was better enjoyed in anticipation than participation. The
soup was devoid of any extract of flesh, fish, or fowl, but contained
quantities of ginger, citron, lemon, and sugar. This was followed by
boiled fish, tasteless and watery, and cauliflower swimming in sauce
composed of milk and black pepper. There were no side-dishes, and the
eagerly-expected dessert brought only disappointment and bread and
cheese.
The next day, Percy was so curious concerning a mysterious plate of soup
which was served, that he made inquiries and learned the actual
ingredients. They consisted of carrots, potatoes, cabbage, sugar, eels,
cinnamon, cherries, plums, and small pieces of pork. Another soup was
made from the first milk of a cow; and what was known as "beer soup,"
flavored with various ingredients, was frequently served.
On inquiry, Percy found that other boarding-houses and hotels furnished
the same _mênu_, and he could only better his condition by boarding at
the largest hotel at an exorbitant price. Finally he became reconciled
to the fare: esteemed Limburger cheese as a delicacy, and hailed the
advent of every new kind of soup, as he wrote home to his cousin, "with
all the enthusiasm of a scientific explorer."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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