Switzerland -- Description and travel -- Juvenile literature
Rollo accordingly bought two Swiss cottages, very small ones, and a nut
cracker. The nut cracker was shaped like a man's fist, with a hole in
the middle of it to put the nut in. Then there was a handle, the end of
which, when the handle was turned, was forced into the hollow of the
fist by means of a screw cut in the wood, and this would crack the nut.
While Rollo was paying for his toys he felt a small hand taking hold of
his own, and heard a voice say, in English,--
"How do you do?"
The English "How do you do?" is a strange sound to be heard in these
remote Swiss valleys.
Rollo turned round and saw a boy look up to him with a smile, saying
again at the same time,--
"How do you do?"
In a moment Rollo recognized the boy whom he had seen at Basle in the
court yard of the diligence office while he had been waiting there for
the horses to be harnessed. His sister Lottie was standing near; and
she, as well as her brother, appeared to be much pleased at seeing Rollo
again. Rollo had a few minutes' conversation with his young friends, and
then they separated, as Rollo went on with his uncle to see the
waterfall; while they, having already been with their father and mother
to see it, went back to the inn.
Mr. George had recommended to Rollo not to buy too many specimens of the
carving, not only on account of the difficulty of transporting them, but
also because he thought that they would probably find a great many other
opportunities to purchase such things before they had finished their
rambles in Switzerland. He was quite right in this supposition. In fact,
Rollo passed three more stands for selling such things on the way to the
Staubach.
Mr. George and Rollo continued their walk along the road, looking up
constantly at the colossal column of water before them, which seemed to
grow larger and higher the nearer they drew to it. At length they
reached the part of the road which was directly opposite to it. Here
there was a path which turned off from the road and led up through the
pasture towards the foot of the fall. The entrance to this path was
beset by children who had little boxes full of crystals and other
shining minerals which they wished to sell to visitors for souvenirs of
the place.
Mr. George and Rollo turned into this path and attempted to advance
towards the foot of the fall; but they soon found themselves stopped by
the spray. In fact, the whole region all around the foot of the fall,
for a great distance, was so full of mist and driving spray that going
into it was like going into a rain storm. Mr. George and Rollo soon
found that they were getting thoroughly wet and that it would not do to
go any farther.
"And so," said Rollo, in a disappointed tone, "though we have taken the
pains to come all this way to see the waterfall, we can't get near
enough to see it after all."
Mr. George laughed.
"I wish we had brought an umbrella," said Rollo.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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