h him,
and goes out from the door of the hotel, he is pretty sure to be met
near the door by one or more of these men, who accost him earnestly,
saying,--

"Do you want a commissioner, sir?" Or, "Shall I show you the way, sir?"
Or, "Would you like to see the museum, sir?"

When a traveller intends to remain some days in a place, he has
generally no occasion for a commissioner; since, in his rambles about
the town, he usually finds all the places of interest himself, and in
such a case the importunities of the commissioners seeking employment
are sometimes annoying to him. But if his time is very short, or if he
wishes to make excursions into the neighborhood of a town where he does
not understand the language of the people, then such a servant is of
very great advantage.

Mr. George thought that his proposed excursion to Broek and Saandam was
an occasion on which a commissioner could be very advantageously
employed. Accordingly, after he and Rollo had finished their dinner,
which they took at a round table near a window in the coffee room, he
asked Rollo to ring the bell.

Rollo did so, and a waiter came in.

"Send me in a commissioner, if you please," said Mr. George.

"Very well, sir," said the waiter, with a bow.

The waiter went out, and in a few minutes a well-dressed and very
respectable looking young man came in, and advancing towards Mr. George,
said,--

"Did you wish to see a commissioner, sir?"

"Yes," said Mr. George. "I want to make some inquiries about going to
Broek and to Saandam, to-morrow. I want to know what the best way is to
go, and what the expenses will be."

So saying, Mr. George took out a pencil and a piece of paper from his
pocket, in order to make a memorandum of what the commissioner should
say.

"In the first place," asked Mr. George, "what is your name? I shall want
to know what to call you."

"My name is James," said the commissioner.

"Well, now, James," said Mr. George, "I want you to tell me what the
best way is to go, and what all the expenses will be. I want to know
every thing beforehand."

"Well, sir," said James, "we shall go first by the ferry boat across to
the Y,[7] and there we shall take the _trekschuyt_ for a short distance
on the canal."

[Footnote 7: The Y is the name of the sheet of water which lies before
Amsterdam. It is a sort of harbor.]

"And how much will that cost?" asked Mr. George.

"For the three, forty-five cents," said James.

He meant