, were afraid to go near it;
and the idea of leaning upon it, to look over, seemed perfectly
frightful.

There were some young men in the gallery when our party came up. They
were just preparing to continue their ascent, under the charge of a
guide, up to the cupola. The guide seemed desirous of taking all who
were going in one party. So he turned to Mr. George and said,--

"Do your party wish to go up into the ball?"

Mr. George looked towards Mrs. Holiday.

Mrs. Holiday was very unwilling to prevent Mr. George from ascending as
high as he desired, but she was afraid to go up any farther herself, and
she was unwilling to stay where she was with the children while he
should be gone. It seemed as if the whole of the lofty mass on which she
was standing was toppling, ready to fall, and that the first breath of
wind that should come would blow it down, cupola, dome, and galleries,
all together.

"How much farther is it to the top?" said she, timidly.

"A hundred feet," said the guide.

Mrs. Holiday looked more alarmed than ever.

"A hundred feet!" exclaimed Mr. George. "Why, I thought we were nearly
at the top; and yet there are a hundred feet more! A hundred feet is
equal to a house ten or twelve stories high!

"I don't know that it is worth while for us to go up any higher,"
continued Mr. George, speaking to Mrs. Holiday, "unless you wish it."

"No," said Mrs. Holiday; "I am sure _I_ don't wish to go any higher."

"Very well," said Mr. George to the guide; "we will not go."

So the guide set out with the young men alone.

"There cannot be any pleasure in it, I am sure," said Mr. George.

"No," said Mrs. Holiday; "there is more pain than pleasure in coming up
_here_!"

"Nor any advantage, that I can see," added Mr. George.

"Except to be able to say," continued Mrs. Holiday, "when we get back to
America, that we have been up into the ball."

"Yes," said Mr. George; "and that, I think, is rather a doubtful
advantage for a lady. The class of ladies that like to boast of having
gone where other ladies seldom go are generally of rather a masculine
character; and I don't think they gain a very desirable kind of
reputation by performing such exploits."

Whether Mr. George was correct or not in this reasoning, it had the
effect of relieving Mrs. Holiday very considerably of any feeling of
disappointment she might have experienced in not having ascended to the
highest accessible point in the building; and so