Down the Rhine; Or, Young America in Germany by Oliver Optic (romantic books to read .txt) 📗

attended the emperor's ball in Paris recognized her, and paid their respects. Ben Duncan declared she was as "stunning" as when she wore her white ball-dress. Shuffles gave her a seat, and had the courage to take one by her side, before Sir William could secure the enviable position.

"Würtemberg is a kingdom belonging to the Germanic Confederation," the professor began. "It has an area of about seventy-eight hundred square miles, varying but a few miles from that of the State of Massachusetts. It has a population of one million seven hundred thousand, which during the last ten years has diminished on account of the large emigration to the United States. The government is an hereditary monarchy, and, like so many English stock companies, 'limited.' Freedom of person and property, liberty of speech, and liberty of conscience, are guaranteed by the constitution; but liberty of the press, like the monarchy and the stock companies, is also 'limited.' The legislature is composed of two houses, the higher one being made up of princes and nobles. The present king is Charles I., whose wife is the daughter of Czar Nicholas I. of Russia. The royal family is quite numerous in its various branches, and is connected by marriage with many of the royal houses of Europe. The former Duchy of Würtemberg was made a kingdom in 1806, by Napoleon, after having been enlarged by the annexation of several smaller states. Stuttgart, the capital, is also the largest town, containing a population of fifty thousand. I close this lecture, which I think has not been a very tedious one, with this remarkable fact: In 1840 there was not to be found an individual in the kingdom, above the age of ten years, who could not read and write."

"Is that all?" asked Lady Feodora.

"That's all this time; but sometimes we have to take it for a couple of hours," laughed Shuffles.

"I'm sure I wish he had said more. What do you do now?"

"We go to Ulm at two this afternoon. After that we go to Stuttgart, Carlsruhe, Baden, and then down the Rhine."

"We must go with them, pa," added she, turning to the earl.

"We shall be ready to go to Ulm this afternoon in the same train," replied her father.

"I am delighted!" exclaimed Feodora. "I hope we shall go with you down the Rhine."

Sir William, for some reason or other, did not hope so. In fact, he was rather dumpy and morose.

"Possibly you will," suggested Shuffles.

"What a happy life you must lead, captain!"

"Perhaps you would not think so, if you were at sea with us, when we have to stand watch in the night and the storm, whether it blows high or blows low."

"But you are the captain."

"I was a seaman. It is nearly an hour till dinner time; and I think I shall take a run down to the Château of the king. Of course you have been there," said the captain, suggestively.

"I have, but I should be delighted to go again."

A carriage was called by the earl. It had seats for only four, and Feodora's father and mother had decided to go. So had Sir William; but his lordship hinted that, as the baronet had already visited the Château, he might stay at the hotel and play with her ladyship's poodle dog. It would require too much space to narrate all that was said and done on this little excursion; but the two young people were very much pleased with the Château, after and very pleased with each other, probably more pleased with each other than with the Château, though the latter was a very beautiful place, as it ought to be for the summer residence of a king. Captain Shuffles handed the noble young lady out and in the carriage, handed her up various steps, into various grottos; indeed, he handed her up and down everything that would afford him any excuse for offering his assistance. Lady Feodora certainly appreciated his kindness, and rewarded him with many a smile.

They returned to the hotel; and though the noble party were in the habit of dining at the aristocratic hour of six, they took places at the table d'hôte with the republicans. The party hastened to the railroad station after dinner, and at the appointed hour, were on their way to Ulm. The compartment in which Dr. Winstock, Paul, and the Arbuckles rode, contained one less than usual, for Captain Shuffles—not entirely to the satisfaction of Sir William—occupied a place with the party of the earl. The railway carriages in Germany are generally built with a first-class compartment at one end, while the rest of the space is devoted to the second-class passengers. The former is very luxuriously furnished, the seats having stuffed arms and backs, with a table between the two rows of seats, while the latter has about the same arrangement as is found in the ordinary cars in the United States.

"We have lost our good friend Captain Shuffles," said Grace, with a pleasant smile.

"Perhaps our loss is his gain," added Paul.

"Lady Feodora is very pretty."

"Very; and interesting, too."

"I really pity her every time I look at Sir William."

"Why?" asked Paul, curiously.

"Because she is doomed by her parents to be his wife; and he is a selfish, supercilious fellow, if he is a baronet."

"Her parents seem to be very fond of her, and I am sure they will not sacrifice her, if she don't like him."

"There are a great many considerations of policy which influence these great families," replied Grace. "She seems to like the captain much better than she likes Sir William."

"And I know that he likes her."

"Let us hope for the best," said Grace, gayly, as she glanced out the window at the fine mountain scenery.

"How far is it to Ulm, Dr. Winstock?" asked Paul.

"Fourteen miles," replied the surgeon, with a twinkle of the eye which seemed to mean something.

"Fourteen miles!" exclaimed Paul, glancing at his watch. "Why, we ought to be nearly there by this time, then."

"The German trains rarely go more than four miles an hour."

"Why, that's no faster than a smart boy can walk."

"Rather, I think."

"You are joking, doctor."

"I never was more serious in my life. This train is not going more than four miles an hour."

"I should say it was going at the rate of twenty."

"I am afraid you have not read your guide-book since you came into Germany," laughed the doctor. "Perhaps it has not occurred to you that a German mile is equal to about four and two thirds English miles."

"I didn't think of that."

"It is sixty-four and a half English miles from the point where we started to Ulm; and the time is over three hours. We shall arrive there at half past five," continued Dr. Winstock.

"I thank you for setting me right," replied Paul. "I have been bothered with the German money."

"I have a copy of the last issue of Harper's Hand Book for Travellers, which I obtained in Paris. It is a capital work for the tourist, for it does not compel him to carry a whole library of guide-books, and is complete enough for ordinary purposes," said Dr. Winstock, taking the neat little volume from his bag. "In connection with each country, you will find the value of its money in United States currency, and the names and value of the several coins in use. In the Prussian states, values are reckoned in thalers and silver groschen. A thaler is about seventy-three cents. A silver groschen, of which thirty make a thaler, is worth two and two fifths cents."

"What's a florin?"

"A florin of Baden, Würtemberg, &c, is forty cents; but a florin in Austria is forty-nine cents. The former has sixty kreutzers, of two thirds of a cent each, the latter one hundred, of about half a cent each. In Prussian Germany, twelve pfennings make a silver groschen. Five pfennings, therefore, are about equal to a cent. Of course these values vary with the rates of exchange, and even in the different countries where the currency is used."

It was dark when the train arrived at Ulm, though the tourists obtained an obscure view of the Danube, on which the city is located. After supper, Professor Mapps gave a brief account of the place to the students. It is a fortress and frontier city of Würtemberg, on the right bank of the Danube, and has twenty-five thousand inhabitants. It is largely engaged in linen manufactures, and snails are fattened in the surrounding region, and sent into Austria and other countries, where they are highly esteemed as an article of food. For three centuries the town was an imperial free city, and one of the most thriving in Germany. It is noted in modern times for the disgraceful capitulation of General Mack, in 1805, who surrendered thirty thousand men and sixty guns to the French.

The party slept at the Kronprinz Hôtel, and the next day, after a glance at the minster,—which is ranked among the six finest Gothic cathedrals in Germany, and is now a Protestant church,—the excursionists resumed their journey, arriving at Stuttgart in two hours and a half. This city is on the Neckar, and is situated in the midst of a beautiful country, the slopes of whose hills are studded with vineyards. The party, having no time to spare, immediately devoted themselves to the business of sight-seeing, hastening first to the palace of the king, said to contain as many rooms as there are days in the year, though our arithmeticians did not count them. It is a grand edifice, with a tremendous gilt crown over the chief entrance, so that strangers in the city cannot possibly mistake the royal character of the building.

Only a few of the numerous apartments were visited, which contained some fine pictures by German artists, and sculpture by Thorwaldsen. The palace may be said to be in both town and country; for while the front opens upon the grand square of the city, the rear faces an extensive park, which reaches far out into the rural region. The king's stables, containing the finest Arabian horses in Germany, were visited by a portion of the party. The public library next claimed attention. Its catalogue of three hundred thousand volumes includes over three thousand manuscripts, half of which are very rare and valuable. The collection of Bibles, amounting to eighty-five hundred in number, and in sixty different languages, is doubtless the most extensive in the world. The museums of the fine arts and of natural history used up the rest of the day.

The next place to be visited was Carlsruhe, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Baden. It was only a three hours' ride from Stuttgart, and, as the trains connected, the principal decided to proceed at six o'clock in the evening, for he could not otherwise reach his destination till noon the next day. The earl's party had taken apartments at the Hôtel Marquardt for the night, and Shuffles sent word to them that he was about to leave. He was invited to the elegant parlor occupied by his lordship, where he proceeded at once to take leave of Lady Feodora.

"Probably we shall never meet again," said he. "If we—"

"Pray, don't say that, Captain Shuffles," interrupted she, with an expression even more sad than that which the young captain wore. "I hope we may meet many times yet."

"We may, but it is not probable that we shall," added Shuffles. "After remaining a week or ten days longer in Germany, we shall go to Brest, and from there sail for the United States."

"But your ship crosses the ocean again next spring, I think I heard the principal say," interposed the earl.

"Very true; but I may not come in her—I don't know."

"I will not believe we are not to meet again. You must come to England and visit us at Blankville. We shall all be delighted to see you."

All except Sir William.

"I hope I shall have the pleasure of meeting you again. If I do not, I shall remember the hours I have spent with you as the pleasantest of my life," continued Shuffles.

"But