"I am really sorry you are going," said Sir William; but it is doubtful whether he was as sincere as his friends. "Couldn't you contrive it some way so as to drop in upon us at Blankville? It would really be a very great pleasure—it would, upon my honor."
"I am afraid it will be impossible," replied Shuffles, as he bowed himself out of the apartment.
Perhaps Sir William was the only happy person in that group, for there was no doubt that he was glad to get rid of the troublesome hero.
The ship's company took the train at the appointed time, and by ten o'clock were in their rooms at the Hôtel Erbprinz, in the capital of the Grand Duchy of Baden. As soon as it was light in the morning, the students were scattered through the streets of the town, which, like those of Washington, radiate from a common centre, where the king's palace is located. The meals of the party at the hotels were usually served separate from those of other guests, and at breakfast Professor Mapps had an opportunity to say a word about the city. He told them, what many of them had already ascertained, that it was a very pretty, but very quiet place. It is of modern growth, being unable to boast of much more than a century's duration. Charles, the Margrave of Baden, built a hunting-seat on the spot in 1715, which, on account of the seclusion of the place, he called "Charles's Rest." In the course of time, his retreat was invaded by others, and a city grew up around him, which was called Karlsruhe—the German for the name the Margrave had given his hunting-seat.
The Schloss, or palace, did not essentially differ from a dozen other similar structures the party had seen. In fact, palaces and cathedrals were getting rather stale with them, and they coveted a new sensation, which they were likely to realize at their next stopping-place. Before noon the tourists reached Baden-Baden, and were pleasantly installed at the Hôtel de l'Europe. As the season was somewhat advanced, there was plenty of room, though the glories of the German watering-place were not seen at their height.
The place is called Baden-Baden to distinguish it from Baden in Austria and Baden in Switzerland. It is beautifully located in a lovely valley surrounded by the hills of the Black Forest. Although it has but seven thousand permanent inhabitants, not less than forty thousand visitors have made their abode within its precincts in a single season. It is the most fashionable, and at the same time the most attractive, of the German watering-places. The nobility and gentry, as well as the blacklegs and swindlers of all the nations of Europe, gather there. The country around the town is romantic and pleasing, and with good roads through the forests and up the hills, there is a great variety of delightful walks and drives. Everything which nature and art could do to make the place and its surroundings an attractive abode, has been done.
On the rocky hills above the town are the old and the new castles of the Grand Duke of Baden. The former is of Roman origin, and was occupied by the reigning dukes in the middle ages. The latter is the summer residence of the present sovereign. At the foot of the rocks on which the modern structure is located are the hot springs, thirteen in number, to which the town owes its origin as a health-giving abode. This part of the place is called "Hell" on account of the heat of the springs, which does not permit the snow, even in the coldest weather, to remain upon it. The hottest of these springs has a temperature of 54° Réaumur, equal to 153½° Fahrenheit. Their water is led by pipes to the "Trinkhalle" and baths in the village, the passage having but little effect upon its temperature. A kind of temple is built over the principal spring, which furnishes the hottest and most copious supply of water. There is sufficient evidence that the Romans used these fountains for vapor baths, and other medicinal purposes. The water is perfectly clear, has a saltish taste, and at the spring is not unlike weak broth, though it has a disagreeable odor. It is beneficial for dyspepsia, gout, rheumatism, and scrofulous diseases.
After dinner the tourists commenced their explorations by a visit to das neue Trinkhalle, or the New Pump Room, opposite the hotel. The spring waters are conveyed to it in pipes, and in the season the place is crowded with visitors, who drink them in the morning.
The Conversationshaus is the grand centre of attraction. It is a magnificent building, surrounded by splendid gardens. In front of it is a Chinese pagoda, intended as a music stand for the band, which plays there twice a day. It contains a large assembly-room, where the company dance at times, a restaurant, a theatre, and other apartments. There are also rooms for gambling, which is the staple amusement, not only for the blacklegs and swindlers, who resort to the establishment, but for the nobility and gentry. The Conversationshaus is rented by the government to a company, who pay fifty-five thousand dollars a year for the monopoly of the gaming tables, and pledge themselves to spend one hundred thousand dollars annually upon the walks and buildings. Of course players must lose vast sums of money to enable the keepers of the establishment to pay these large prices. All classes of people gamble, and about one fourth of those who engage in the seductive play are ladies—or rather women, though they include not a few of the nobility.
Balls, concerts, promenades, and the theatre, as well as the exciting amusement of the gaming tables, keep the visitors well employed during the season; and when they weary of the din of gayety, a walk of five minutes will lead them to the solitudes of the forests and the mountains. There is a library and reading-room in operation, in the midst of the scene of the revelry. The students spent the afternoon in wandering through these brilliant halls; and some of them observed, with a feeling akin to terror, the operations of rouge-et-noir and roulette. No one spoke at the tables, and no one but players were allowed to be seated. If any of the boys, after the exciting sport had become familiar to them, were tempted to try their hand, they had not money enough to make it an object, which proved the wisdom of the principal's policy in managing their finances for them.