Then turning over to another place in his book, he looked at the list of names, and then told Mr. George that there was only one vacant place for Wednesday night.
"Dear me, Rollo!" said Mr. George, "how unfortunate! We ought to have attended to this business before."
"I'll tell you what we can do," said Rollo. "One of us can go on Wednesday morning, and the other wait here and come on in the night."
"That is the only thing that we can do," said Mr. George, "unless we hire a carriage to ourselves, and that would be expensive. Should you dare to go alone?"
"O, yes, indeed," said Rollo.
"But remember," said Mr. George, "that all the people will be speaking Italian. You will have to ride among them like a deaf and dumb boy."
"Never mind that," said Rollo. "Deaf and dumb boys get along in travelling very well. Besides, I am almost sure that there will be somebody in the diligence that can speak French or English."
"And which would you rather do," asked Mr. George, "go in the morning or in the evening? If you go in the morning coach, you will have to set out very early, before it is light, and then stay at Civita Vecchia, in a strange hotel, alone, all night. If you go in the evening, you can remain here, where you are acquainted, all day; but then you will have to ride alone in the night."
"I would rather go in the morning coach," said Rollo.
"Very well," said Mr. George. "That's what we'll do."