"Uncle George," said Rollo, calling louder, "I can see the city; and in the midst of it is a church with a great square tower, and something very singular on the top of it."
Mr. George still continued his reading.
"There is a spire on the top of the church," continued Rollo, "but it is bent down on one side entirely, as if it had half blown over."
"O, no," said Mr. George, still continuing to read.
"It really is," said Rollo. "I wish you would look, uncle George. It is something very singular indeed."
COLOGNE IN SIGHT.
Mr. George yielded at length to these importunities, and looked out. The country around in every direction was one vast plain, covered with fields of grain, luxuriant and beautiful beyond description. It was without any fences or other divisions except such as were produced by different kinds of cultivation, so that the view extended interminably in almost every direction. There were rows and copses of trees here and there, giving variety and life to the view, and from among them were sometimes to be seen the spires of distant villages. In the distance, too, in the direction in which Rollo pointed, lay the town of Cologne. The roofs of the houses extended over a very wide area, and among them there was seen a dark square tower, very high, and crowned, as Rollo had said, with what seemed to be a spire, only it was bent over half way; and there it lay at an angle at which no spire could possibly stand.
"What can it mean?" asked Rollo.
"I am sure I do not know," said Mr. George.