The record-union., 1897-11-11

taking refuge in foreign language; she
is at home in the entire polyglot jargon
Of the table.
ONE FRANK TRAVELLER.
The hotel register lies on a small table
at the end of the dining room, and is
kept not for the use Of the proprietor,
but for the use of the Government. 1t
is an official document, inspected at
short intervals by the police, and you
may not stay long in a Belgian hotel
without explaining in it who you are,
your age, where you were born, where
you live, your occupation and where you
are going. These particulars must be
of deep interest to the Government. One
guest who evidently has not the fear
of King Leopold before his eyes has reg
istered
Henri Koenig; occupation, anarch-
iste"
Before setting out to see the remainder
of Hastiere we must have one look at
the outside of this curious old hotel
building. I have said nothing about the
water wheel in front, which is one of the
features. This is a big, old-fashioned
wheel, far UP to the right of the front
door, half hidden with foliage. 1t does
not move, but stands silent and messy.
The gate that would let the water in to
turn it is closed tight, and the water
| branches off and jumps noisily over the
rocks. Report says that that end of
the building was once a marble-cutting
factory, and that the wheel turned the
machinery Perhaps w. H., in 1857,
was a marble cutter. AT any rate, those
lower rooms at that end have no present
use. Their few small windows are COW
cred with white paint, and the doors
are nailed up. There the remains of
solitary travellers may be thrown, for all
/ know, after they have been murdered
and robbed This would be a capital
place for such work; but the frank face
of "tenu par E. Brouet" does not look
like it. The twelve big dormer windows
across the front of the roof show how
large the house is.
Stand in the gateway and look out
upon the little square The stone build
ing straight across is modern Catholic
Church. and the wing on the right is a
school. To the right of that is a hand
some modern brick house--one of the
two modern houses in Hastiere To the
left of the church is a narrow lane lead
from 9 to ), less the two hours when the
Postmaster goes to dinner. AT the cor
ner of the lane is the Hotel Bellevue.
Beyond that is a row of old stone
buildings, mostly shops. There is lit
tie drug store, dark and dusty where
You can buy more chemicals than you
would think to look at it. There are
little dry goods shops. and little grocery
shops, and another bakery, and shop
for selling fishing rods and lines. Then,
turning to the right again, on the same
side as the hotel tenu par f. Brouet, is
a shop where they sell ''chapeaux ct cas-
quettes," as we'll as cigars, collars, soap,
perfumery and pins
THE RAILROAD AND THE MEUSE.
Now turn toward the river. There
is rise in the land that shuts out the
view from the hotel gate. At the top
of the rise is the little stone house OF
the woman who keeps" the railway
crossing. She has a long view UP and
down The valley, and when she sees the
smoke of the engine a mile away she
comes out and blows a horn and closes
the gates. / think they are afraid that
some dCgcart might come along and
run over one of their little trains. The
River Meuse is down in the valley,
smooth and picturesque, not as large
as the East River but much larger
than the Harlem. Being an important
commercial highway, it is well cared