"George and I will each take an oar," said Henry, "and our friend will attend the ladies."
"With pleasure," replied the student, as he took his seat.
"Tell us about your foreign travels, and give us a description of the places you have visited," said Mary.
"Yes, please do," added Grace, eagerly; "that will make the time pass pleasantly indeed."
"What will you hear about—France and Paris, or Italy and Rome? Shall I describe to you my journey over the mountains, or my voyage up the Rhine?"
"Tell us anything and everything you can remember,"
"That will be said more easily than done; but I will try to tell you a few of my experiences."
Soon the pleasant sound of merry laughter floated over the sunny water, for the student was a good talker, and he gave most lively descriptions of people and places. He talked about gay Paris, until the girls wanted to go there; and of beautiful Italy and Switzerland, until their faces glowed, and their pulses beat more quickly. He told of the fortresses on the Rhine, of the pleasant holiday resorts, whose names are even more familiar to us than they were to his listeners, and for a time they almost fancied themselves sailing on other than British seas, and about to visit places which, in reality, their feet might never tread.
They were not sorry, however, to come back to Northumbria, and the resorts to which they were really going.
"Our destination is Warkworth, is it not?" asked Mary, after a time, during which the student's narrative had not been interrupted.