been a little difficult for them to do so, as not one of them
understood a word of any language spoken among men except their
own. So they said nothing; but constituting themselves into a
beleaguered garrison, they intrenched themselves within their
citadel, and bade defiance to the foe.

The foe, on the other hand, pressed round them, bombarding the
garrison with broken English, broken French, and broken German,
and sometimes made an assault upon the trunks.

Time passed on, and the garrison sat there, holding their own. At
length they all became aware of the fact that they were excessively
hungry. It was very evident that this kind of thing could not last
much longer.

Meanwhile Uncle Moses had recovered his presence of mind. He was
naturally cool and self-possessed, and after mounting the trunks,
and gathering the boys about him, he quickly rallied from his
confusion, and looked eagerly around to find some way by which he
might be extricated from his difficulty.

At last a way appeared.

Around him, in his immediate neighborhood, stood the lazzaroni, as
urgent, as patient, and as aggressive as ever, with their offers
of assistance. Beyond these were people passing up and down the
wharf, all of whom were foreigners, and therefore inaccessible.
Beyond these again was a wide space, and in the distance a busy
street, with carriages driving to and fro.

Uncle Moses looked for a long time, hoping to see something like
a cab. In vain. They all seemed to him to be "one-hoss shays," and
what was worse, all seemed to be filled.

"Boys," said he at last, "I'm goin' to make a move. You jest sit
here, and hold on to the trunks. I'll go an hunt up one of them
one-hoss shays. There ain't nothin' else that I can do. Hold on
now, hard and fast, till I come back."

With these words off went Uncle Moses, and the boys remained behind,
waiting.

A very fine-looking set of boys they were too.

There was Frank Wilmot, about fifteen years of age, tall, stout,
with fine, frank face, and crisp, curly hair.

There was Clive Wilmot, about fourteen, tall and slight, with large
eyes and dark hair.

There was David Clark, about Frank's age, rather pale, with serious
face, and quiet, thoughtful manner.

And there was Robert, or, as he was always called, Bob Clark--an
odd-looking boy, with a bullet head, pug nose, comical face, brown
eyes, and short shingled hair.

Uncle Moses was not gone long. By some wonderful means or other