Northern Lands; Or, Young America in Russia and PrussiaOptic, Oliver
General
Northern Lands; Or, Young America in Russia and Prussia
Optic, Oliver
Prussia (Germany) -- Description and travel -- Juvenile fiction; Russia -- Description and travel -- Juvenile fiction
This was only a specimen of the electioneering which was going on in
a dozen different places in Åbo at the same time. Only a few of the
students entered the cathedral, and not many of them could tell, when
they returned to the squadron, whether the streets of the town were
broad or narrow, or whether the houses were one or two stories high.
While the seamen were at work for Cantwell, the officers were speaking
a good word for Captain Lincoln, whom they desired to reëlect to his
present position.
At six o'clock most of the students were in the vicinity of the bridge,
ready to repair to the boats when the boatswains gave the signal. Dr.
Winstock and Lincoln were at the hotel on the quay called the Society's
House, which is said to be the most northern one in the world. Students
were arriving in the droskies, which many of them had employed for the
sake of a ride; and when they came to pay their fare there were many
amusing scenes, for neither party understood a word of the language of
the other. Most of the students, too, had changed their Swedish money
into Russian in Stockholm, and were unprovided with Finnish currency,
for they supposed that Russian money was current in Finland. The
drivers would not take the rubles and copecks, and some very cheerful
rows ensued. But the principal, with Professor Badois--who spoke
Swedish--at his elbow, interfered, and paid the fares. The students
embarked, the line of boats was formed, and the squadron moved down the
river, with half of Åbo on the quay, gazing in solemn silence at the
departure of the strange visitors, for as such they certainly regarded
them. In less than an hour the boats were alongside the vessels to
which they belonged, and were soon hoisted up to the davits.
The signal for sailing was shown on board of the Young America, and a
lively scene followed. Anchors were hove short, sails shaken out, and
the Finnish pilots were at their stations. As the breeze was fresh
and fair, the principal desired to take advantage of it; and, after
a stay of only five hours at Åbo, the squadron was under way again,
threading its course through the channels among the numerous islands.
In the watch on deck, and that below, the business of electioneering
was continued with the utmost vigor. Scott and his friends were busy
everywhere, and even the stale expedient of a secret society among the
"anti-De Forresters" was proposed, and enthusiastically adopted. Scott
and Jones were intrusted with the task of furnishing a constitution,
and inventing the necessary dark-lantern machinery for the organization.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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