t manner, with silver plate, elegant porcelain, and
glasses that reflected the light in the most resplendent manner. A great
many gay groups of ladies and gentlemen were seated at these tables,
taking dinner; while the waiters, with snow-white napkins on their arms,
were walking about in a rapid, but in a very gentle and noiseless
manner, to wait upon them. At the back side of the room there sat two
beautiful young women, behind a sort of counter, which was raised a
little above the rest of the floor, so that they could survey the whole
scene. It was the duty of these young women to keep the accounts of what
was ordered at the several tables, and to receive the money which was
paid by the guests, the waiters carrying it to them from the different
parties at the tables when they paid. These ladies were the presiding
officers, as it were, in the saloon; and the guests all bowed to them
very respectfully, both when they came in and when they went away.

Mr. George selected a table for himself and the two boys, and they had
an excellent dinner there. There was a printed book, large though thin,
on every table, giving a list of the different articles--more than five
hundred in all. From these Mr. George and the boys selected what they
liked, and the waiters brought it to them.

The party remained at this restaurant, eating their dinner and taking
their coffee after it, for more than an hour; and then they went away.

That evening Rollo went into his father's room to bid his father good
by, for he expected to set off for Switzerland the next morning very
early. He found his father sitting in an arm chair by a window, reading
a book. Mr. Holiday laid his book down and talked for some time with
Rollo about his proposed tour in Switzerland, and gave him a great deal
of preparatory information about the mountains, the glaciers, the
torrents, the avalanches, and other wonderful things that Rollo expected
to see. Rollo was very much interested in these accounts.

"I am very glad that uncle George invited me to go with him," said he.

"So am I," said his father.

"Because," added Rollo, "I expect to have a very pleasant time."

"True," replied his father; "but that is not the reason precisely why
_I_ am glad that he invited you."

"What is your reason, then?" asked Rollo.

"I am glad," replied Mr. Holiday, "because his asking you to go with him
into Switzerland is a sign that you have been a good boy while under
his care he