These boys could all speak a little English, and as Jack and Joe had learned some German, they had no trouble in talking with each other, though sometimes it was hard for the St. Bernard dog to understand their language.
The drummer boy and the schoolmaster and the dog led the way, while the other boys followed, two by two
The Overall Boys put on their knapsacks and quickly joined the procession. The drummer boy and the schoolmaster and the dog led the way, while the other boys followed, two by two.
Swiss boys nearly always carry knapsacks or botany cans on their backs when they are tramping. They like to gather and study the wild flowers and plants that grow by the way. Of course they always carry fresh rolls and sweet chocolate in their knapsacks, too.
These boys think nothing is so good for lunch as rolls and sweet chocolate, and the Overall Boys are sure that they are right. They are also sure that no other sweet chocolate is as good as that made in Switzerland.
The Swiss schoolboys often wear soft green felt hats with bunches of mountain flowers or long feathers standing straight up behind. So the Overall Boys bought feathers for their hats, too.
In passing through the town the schoolmaster took the boys to see their famous national monument, the Lion of Lucerne.
High on a natural wall of rock they saw the figure of a great dying lion, with a broken spear in his side. At the foot of the wall there is a small, dark pond with green trees around it, making a quiet and beautiful spot.
The schoolmaster told the boys how, many years before, some brave Swiss guards had given their lives to protect the palace of the French King, Louis XVI, in his beautiful city of Paris.