“After breakfast I opened my map of Brussels, and, sending for the landlord, bid him point with his finger to the place I was in. He soon understood my meaning; but, taking me by the arm, he led me to the wall, on which was a large map of Belgium, and then, my jewell what do you think I discovered? It was not in Brussels I was at all, but in Louvain! seventeen miles on the other side of it! Well, there was nothing for it now but to go back; so I paid my bill and set off down to the station. In half an hour the train came up, and when they asked me where I was going, I repeated the word ‘Brussels’ several times over. This did not seem to satisfy them; and they said something about my being an Englishman.
“‘Yes, yes,’ said I, ‘Angleterre, Angleterre.’
“‘Ah, Angleterre!’ said one, who looked shrewder than the rest; and as if at once comprehending my intentions, he assisted me into a carriage, and, politely taking off his hat, made me a salute at parting, adding something about a ‘voyage.’ ‘Well, he ‘ll be a cunning fellow that sees me leave this train till it comes to its destination,’ said I; ‘I’ll not be shoved out by any confounded guard, as I was yesterday.’ My resolution was not taken in vain, for just at the very place I got out, on the day before, a fellow came, and began making signs for me to change to another train.
“‘I’ll tell you what,’ says I, laying hold of my cotton umbrella at the same moment, ‘I ‘ll make a Belgian of you, if you will not let me alone. Out of this place I ‘ll not budge for King Leopold himself.’
“And though he looked very savage for a few minutes, the way I handled my weapon satisfied him that I was not joking, and he gave it up for a bad job, and left me at peace. The other passengers said something, I suppose, in explanation.
“‘Yes,’ said I, ‘I ‘m an Englishman, or an Irishman,—It’s all one,—Angleterre.’
“‘Ah, Angleterre!’ said three or four in a breath; and the words seemed to act like a charm upon them, for whatever I did seemed all fair and reasonable now. I kept a sharp look-out for Brussels; but hour after hour slipped past, and though we passed several large towns, there was no sign of it. After six hours’ travelling, an old gentleman pulled out his watch, and made signs to me that we should be in in less than ten minutes more; and so we were, and a droll-looking place it was,—a town built in a hole, with clay ditches all round it, to keep out the sea.
“‘My wife never said a word about this,’ said I; ‘she used to say Castle Blake was damp, but this place beats it hollow. Where’s the Boulevards?’ said I.
“And a fellow pointed to a sod bank, where a sentry was on guard.
“‘If it’s a joke you ‘re making me,’ said I, ‘you mistake your man; ‘and I aimed a blow at him with my umbrella, that sent him running down the street as fast as his wooden slippers would let him.