So the waiter left the travellers in their room, and went down stairs. In about ten minutes Mr. George and Rollo went down too. At the foot of the grand staircase they turned into the dining room, where they saw several tables set, and at one of them, near a window, were the preparations for their meal.
The window looked out upon the quay, and Rollo could see the men at work getting out hogsheads and bales of goods from a steamer that was moored there. Besides looking across to the quay, Rollo could also look up and down the street without putting his head out of the window. The way in which he was enabled to do this, was by means of looking glasses placed outside. These looking glasses were attached to an iron frame, and they were placed in an inclined position, so as to reflect the whole length of the street in through the window. Thus a person sitting at his ease within the room, could look up and down the street, as well as across it, at his pleasure.
Rollo afterwards observed such looking glasses attached to the windows of almost all the houses in town.
The dinner was soon brought in, and Mr. George and Rollo ate it with excellent appetites. Just as they had finished their meal, a neatly-dressed young man came to the table and asked them if they wished for some one to show them about the town.
"Because," said he, "I am a valet de place, and I can take you at once to all the places of interest, and save you a great deal of time."
"How much do you ask to do it?" asked Mr. George.
"Five francs a day," said the man.
"That's right," said Mr. George. "That's the usual price. But we shall not want you, at least for this afternoon. We may want you to-morrow. We shall stay in town a day or two."
The young man said that he should be very happy to serve them if they should require his services, and then bowed and went away.
After having finished their meal, Mr. George and Rollo set out to take a ramble about the town by themselves.