orm companies
for the purpose of excavating docks for them. The place that they chose
for the docks was at a little distance from the river, below the city.
Their plan was to build sheds and warehouses around the docks, so as to
have conveniences for loading and unloading their ships close at hand.

"And I want to go and see some of these docks," added he, in conclusion.

"So do I," said Rollo. "Let us go this very day."

Although Rollo was thus ready, and even eager, to go with his uncle to
see the docks, the interest which he felt in them was entirely different
from that which his uncle experienced. Mr. George knew something about
the construction of the works and the history of them, and he had a far
more distinct idea of the immense commerce which centred in them, and of
the influence of this commerce on the general welfare of mankind and on
the wealth and prosperity of London, than Rollo could be expected to
have. He accordingly wished to see them, in order to enjoy the emotions
of grandeur and sublimity which would be awakened in his mind by the
thought of their prodigious magnitude as works of artificial
construction, and of the widely-extended relation they sustained to the
human race, by continually sending out ships to the remote regions of
the globe, and receiving cargoes in return from every nation and every
clime.

Rollo, on the other hand, thought little of these grand ideas. All that
he was interested in was the expectation of seeing the ships and the
sailors, and of amusing himself with the scenes and incidents which he
hoped to witness in walking along the platforms, and watching the
processes of loading and unloading the ships, or of moving them from one
place to another in the crowded basins.

Rollo was not disappointed, when he came to visit the docks, in respect
to the interesting and amusing incidents that he expected to see there.
He saw a great many such incidents, and one which occurred was quite an
uncommon one. A little girl fell from the pier head into the water. The
people all ran to the spot, expecting that she would be drowned; but,
fortunately, the place where she fell in was near a flight of stone
steps, which led down to the water. The people crowded down in great
numbers to the steps, to help the child out. The occurrence took place
just as the men from the docks were going home to dinner; and so it
happened that there was an unusually large number of people near at the
time of th