It was a great boat, like a steamer, but without screw or paddles, swiftly passing up the river by means of a chain which rose out of the water at the bows, ran along the deck, turned around wheels which seemed to be worked by an engine, and then slipped overboard at the stern.
“How far can that boat go on in that way?” asked Tommy.
“The chain by which the boat is carried forward,” said Master Lewis, “is one hundred miles long.”
Master Lewis and Tommy passed some hours among the queer crafts on the river, taking passages here and there on the flies or water-omnibuses.
“Were you afraid to trust me alone this morning?” asked Tommy, on their return.
“Well, yes.”
“Did you think I could not speak French well enough to go out alone?”
“Your French might not be very well understood here.”
“I think I can talk simple French, such as servants could understand very well.”
In the afternoon, being somewhat alone, Tommy thought he would explore the hotel, which was something of a town in itself. He descended from his apartment on the third floor, with the intention of going to the courtyard. But he could not find the place which had so attracted him from his window. He tried to go back, but lost the way even to his apartment. He descended again, but failed to find any place he remembered to have seen before. It was all as grand as a palace, but as puzzling as a labyrinth he had seen in the grounds of Hampton Court Palace.