John and Betty's History Visit Part 20

"Well, did you ever see anything like that!" cried John, amazed at the funny sight. "It's great, I say! I'd like to try it!"

All the way up town, the talk was of fires. John had been tremendously interested in the English methods, and was planning to introduce the use of the canvas tube to his own city through a good Irish friend of his at a Boston fire-station.

"Honor bright, don't you have many fires over here?" he demanded of Mrs. Pitt. "We have 'em all the time at home. It must be stupid here without 'em!"

"No, we really have very few," Mrs. Pitt responded. "In winter, there are a number of small outbreaks, but those are very slight. You see, we burn soft coal, and if the chimney is not swept out quite regularly, the soot which gathers there is apt to get afire. When a chimney does have a blaze, the owner has to pay a fine of one pound, or five dollars, to make him remember his chimney. In olden times, perhaps two hundred and fifty years ago, there used to be a tax levied on every chimney in a house. There's a curious old epitaph in a church-yard at Folkestone, which bears upon this subject. It reads something like this:

'A house she hath, 'tis made in such good fas.h.i.+on, That tenant n'ere shall pay for reparation, Nor will her landlord ever raise her rent, Nor turn her out-of-doors for non-payment, From chimney-money too, this house is free, Of such a house who would not tenant be.'"

They all joined in a good laugh over this, but Betty remarked that she thought it was "more of an advertis.e.m.e.nt for a house than an epitaph."

Their particular bus had been slowly making its way down Ludgate Hill, along Fleet Street, into the Strand, through Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus, into Piccadilly itself, and had now reached Hyde Park Corner, where our friends climbed down the stairs and swung themselves off.

Betty was grumbling just a little. "I never can get down those tiny stairs," she exclaimed, "without almost b.u.mping my head and catching my umbrella in the stair-rail!"

Mrs. Pitt smiled. "That shows you are not a true Londoner, my dear. We are never troubled. But, never mind; they don't have buses in Switzerland."

At this, Betty was instantly herself again. "London wouldn't be London without the funny, inconvenient buses, I know. And it's dear, every inch of it,--buses and all!"

Mrs. Pitt pointed out Apsley House, where lived the great Duke of Wellington. A curious fact about this stately old mansion is that on fine afternoons, the shadow of a nearby statue of this hero is thrown full upon the front of his former home.

[Ill.u.s.tration: OLD GENTLEMEN, STOUT LADIES, YOUNG PEOPLE, AND SMALL CHILDREN, ALL RIDE IN ENGLAND. _Page 287._]

As they were about to enter Hyde Park through the imposing gate, Mrs.

Pitt said:--

"When we stand here and gaze at this scene before us,--the crowd, beautiful park, fine hotels, houses, and shops,--it is hard to realize that this was a dangerous, remote district as recently as 1815. That was the time of many daring robberies, you know, when it was not safe walking, riding, or even traveling in a big coach, because of the highwaymen. Even so late as the year I just mentioned, this vicinity from Hyde Park to Kensington was patrolled, and people went about in companies so as to be comparatively secure."

The remainder of that lovely afternoon was spent in Hyde Park, watching the riding and driving. Having paid the fee of threepence each for the use of their chairs, it was pleasant to sit and look on at the gay sight. Old gentlemen, stout ladies, young people, and small children, all ride, in England, and at certain times of the day, during "the season" (May and June), Hyde Park is always filled with a merry company. In midsummer it is rather more deserted, and yet the walks stretching between the flower-beds, and the Serpentine stream, are always flocking with people on summer Sundays or "bank holidays."

And so pa.s.sed the last days which John and Betty spent in London. All the favorite spots--Westminster Abbey, the Tower, Kensington Palace, and many others--had to be revisited, just as though the young people never thought to see them again; and then, at last came the day when the father and mother were expected. They all trooped to Euston Station to meet the train, and in triumph escorted the American friends back to Cavendish Square. There they remained for two short days and then carried the almost reluctant John and Betty away with them. Mrs. Pitt, Philip, and Barbara remained behind on the platform, waving a last good-by, and still hearing the many thanks and expressions of grat.i.tude which John and Betty had repeatedly poured into their ears, in return for their delightful visit to England.

THE END.