They made sure to leave nothing behind that they cared to keep.
“Good-bye, little old trap,” said Giraffe, making a mock bow toward the abandoned car; “you played your part all right in the circus, and we’ll often think of you, with tears in our eyes. All the same we’re glad to be able to say our necks haven’t been broken while we navigated the roads of Germany, Belgium and Holland in your care.”
Inside of half an hour they actually arrived at the town on the railway. Here they managed to get something to eat while waiting for a train to come along. It was by the greatest luck in the world that they found themselves on the road shortly after noon, because the service between Belgium and Holland was already sadly disorganized on account of what was going on across the border.
When they arrived at the town of Hertogenbosch they found that they would have to wait an hour before they could make a fresh start for Rotterdam. Here Kaiser the tattooed man said good-bye to his young friends, since he was headed for Amsterdam, and their routes ran in different directions.
“I’ve got your home address, boys,” he said after squeezing their hands for the third and last time, “and I’m going to drop in and see you some time or other, if I get out of this country alive. You’ve been good friends to me, and I’ll never forget it. I’m a firm admirer of Boy Scouts from this time on, and will preach the gospel of humanity wherever I go, just as you’ve paid it out to me. Good-bye, all!”
They were really sorry to part with Bob Kaiser, for if ever there lived an entertaining and good-hearted eccentric fellow he “filled the bill,” as Giraffe said.
During that long afternoon they continued to pass through a most interesting country, with many glimpses of watery sections, where the dikes kept the sea from flooding the rich land which the industrious Dutch had wrested from the grip of Mother Ocean.
It seemed as though every rod of it must be under cultivation, and the boys understood after that journey what was really meant by “intensive farming.” Flowers without number were included in the various crops, for Holland is the home of the greatest nursery of bulbs in the whole world, her rich soil being just suited to their growth.
Evening was drawing on apace when they neared the great city of Rotterdam and sniffed the salty scent of the sea that lay beyond. It acted like a tonic upon the four lads. Even Bumpus was noticed to take numerous whiffs of the invigorating atmosphere, although he had been very seasick on the voyage across the Atlantic.
They managed to get located at a small but neatly kept hotel, where they could stay while looking about, and making inquiries concerning the possibilities of getting to Antwerp by water.