BY GASTON V. DRAKE.
VII.—FROM BOB TO JACK.
London.
DEAR JACK,—When I left off my letter to you last night it was nearly ten o'clock, but almost broad daylight. What do you think of that? It's the queerest thing you ever saw. The clock and the sun don't seem to gee over here at all. You can read after nine o'clock without any gas-light at all. Pop says it's a special British arrangement, because London is such an interesting place and so many people can only stay a few days that they like to keep it lit up as long as they can. I'd heard before that the sun never sat on the British Empire but I never knew it was so long about setting in England. The hall-porter on our floor says it makes up for it in winter though by rising about midday and setting ten minutes later. If that's so how it must whiz across the sky. I'd rather like to see it then. He says too that last winter they had a fog so thick that people had to dig their way through it with spades, and he told another boy that it was a regular business in winter for boys and men who couldn't get other work to do to go about the city and shovel the fog off the front door steps and walks just as snow-shovellers do in New York. It must be fun living here then.
We didn't get into London until about seven o'clock Wednesday night, but it was fine travelling coming up from Southampton. You'd have thought the cars had rubber bicycle tyres on their wheels—see that word tyres?—that's English for tires—I saw it on a sign. They rode along just as smoothly as a bicycle would on a tar pavement, and go—Jerusalem how they did go! That little toy engine I told you about once she got started just leaped over the ground. You'd almost think you were travelling on a streak of lightning and in a packing box. That's all the cars are, just little packing boxes petitioned off into stalls running from side to side. You get into one of these stalls and the guard—they call brakemen guards over here—the guard locks you in and off you go. It isn't a bit like travelling in America, and I don't know as I like it quite as much as the American cars with Isles down the middle of 'em because the broken mixed candy and banana boys can't walk through and sell you things! haven't seen a broken mixed candy and banana boy over here and it's all because their cars haven't any Isles. There aren't any comic paper boys either but I guess that's a good thing. Pop bought a copy of one of the English comic papers and he nearly ruined his eyes trying to see the jokes, their points were so awful fine.