for a boatman. In a few minutes the boatman was seen
coming. He was followed by two rather pretty-looking peasant girls, each
bringing an oar on her shoulder. These two girls were the boatman's
daughters. They were going with their father in the boat, to help him
row.

The boatman took up the trunk, and the girls the other parcels of
baggage, and so carried the whole, together with the oars, down to the
boat. Rollo followed them, and the whole party immediately embarked. It
was a bright and sunny day, though there were some dark and heavy clouds
in the western sky. The water of the lake was very smooth, and it
reflected the mountains and the skies in a very beautiful manner. Mr.
George and Rollo took their seats in the boat, under an awning that was
spread over a frame in the central portion of it. This awning sheltered
them from the sun, while it did not intercept their view. The man and
the girls took each of them an oar, standing up, however, to row, and
_pushing_ the oar before them, instead of _pulling_ it, according to
our fashion.[16] Thus they commenced the voyage.

Every thing went on very pleasantly for an hour, only, as the boatman
and his daughters could speak no language but German, Mr. George and
Rollo could have no conversation with them. But they could talk with
each other, and they had a very pleasant time. At length, however, the
clouds which had appeared in the western sky rose higher and higher, and
grew blacker and blacker, and, finally, low, rumbling peals of thunder
began to be heard. The boatman talked with his daughters, pointing to
the clouds, and then said something to Mr. George in German; but neither
Mr. George nor Rollo could understand it. They soon found, however, that
the boat was turned towards the shore. They were very glad of this, for
Rollo said that he had read in the guide book that the Swiss lakes were
subject to very violent tempests, such as it would be quite dangerous to
encounter far from the shore. Rollo said, moreover, that the boatmen
were very vigilant in watching for the approach of these storms, and
that they would always at once make the best of their way to the land
whenever they saw one coming on.

In this instance the wind began to blow, and the rain to fall, before
the boat reached the shore. Rollo and Mr. George were sheltered by the
awning, but the boatman and the two girls got very wet. They, however,
continued to work hard at the oars, and at length they reac