Chapter XV.
Edinburgh Castle.
The day after the visit which the party made to the palace, they set out from their hotel to go to the castle. As they were walking along together on the sidewalk of Prince's Street, on a sudden Waldron darted off from Rollo's side, and ran into the street, in pursuit of a cab which had just gone by. He soon overtook the cab and climbed up behind it; and then, to Mr. George's utter amazement, he reached forward along the side of the vehicle, so as to look into the window of it, and knocked on the glass. In a moment the cab stopped, the door opened, and the mystery of the case was explained to Mr. George and Rollo by seeing Waldron's father looking out of it.
"It is his father!" said Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. George. "But that is not the proper way for a boy to stop his father, riding by in a cab, in the streets of Edinburgh."
The cab drove up to the sidewalk, and then Mr. Kennedy got out to speak to Mr. George. He said that he had received letters from America, making it necessary for him to set sail immediately for home. He had intended, he added, to have remained two or three weeks longer in Scotland; and in that case he should have liked very much to have continued Waldron under Mr. George's care.
"And now," he added, turning to Waldron, "which would you rather do—go home to America with me, or stay here, and travel with Mr. George?"
Waldron looked quite perplexed at this proposal. He said that he liked very much to travel with Mr. George and Rollo, and yet he wanted very much indeed to go home.
In the course of the day various debates and consultations were held, and it was finally decided that Waldron should go home. So the accounts were settled with Mr. George, and Waldron was transferred to the hotel where his father and mother were lodging. They were to set out the next morning, in the express train for Liverpool. The preparations for the journey and the voyage kept Waldron busy all that day, so that Mr. George and Rollo went to the castle alone. But Waldron made Rollo promise that in the evening he would come to the hotel and see him, and tell him what he saw there.
In the evening, accordingly, Rollo went to the hotel where Mr. Kennedy was staying. Mr. George went with him. They went first into Mr. Kennedy's parlor. A door was open between the parlor and one of the bedrooms, and both rooms were full of trunks and parcels. Every body was busy packing and arranging. The ladies were showing each other their different purchases, as they came in from the shops; and as soon as Mr. George entered, they began to ask him whether he thought they would be obliged to pay duty on this, or on that, when they arrived in America.