nd even
though I were to make a profit of only a styver per cheese, would come
to a good sum annually--I will see to it." His cogitations were
interrupted by the appearance of the Count and their friend, who now
invited him to accompany them round the town. Their friend was an
enthusiastic patriot, and having shown them Alkmaar, and described its
heroic defence against the Spaniards, advised them as to the course they
should afterwards pursue. They accordingly set off and visited Haarlem
and Leyden, the Hague--the royal capital--and Rotterdam, the great
commercial city rivalling Amsterdam, Gouda, and Utrecht, which possesses
a cathedral and a fine old tower rising to the height of three hundred
and twenty feet above the ground.

"And now I propose that, as we have seen all these towns, we go forth
and enjoy something of the country, before we leave Holland," said the
Count.

"Agreed," answered the Baron, and so it was settled.

CHAPTER TEN.

Once more the Count and the Baron were in the country. As yet they had
made but little progress in their journey round the world, but they were
not disheartened.

"We shall do it in time," remarked the Count. "And it strikes me that
if we were to put on my seven-league boots we should go much faster."

"But, my dear Count, have you seen them lately?" asked the Baron. "A
dreadful idea has occurred to me. I am afraid that I left one of them
on board of the _Golden Hog_, and if she has gone to the bottom your
seven-league boot has gone also, and with only one it is very clear that
we shall not go ahead with the desirable rapidity."

"Then I suspect we must do without them," said the Count, who always
took matters easily. "We must depend upon our own legs and such means
of conveyance as present themselves. With the help of the railways,
steamboats, trackboats, and horse carriages, we may still manage to get
along. By-the-by, could we not manage to engage a balloon? We might
get over the country at greater speed than even with my seven-league
boots."

"We should not see much of it in that way, I suspect," observed the
Baron.

"Oh, yes! A fine bird's-eye view, such as an eagle enjoys," exclaimed
the Count.

"I decidedly object to aerial travelling," said the Baron. "It does not
suit my figure, and I always feel giddy if I look down from a height.
Sailing on the treacherous ocean is bad enough, and even railways are
not altogether satisfactory. Give me the f