Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1898-08-07

room. A dying fire smouldered on
the hearth between two huge, polished
I, andirons. Above, on a long crooked
crane, hung round ugly looking pot,
, from which now and then there es-
capped a curling puff of steam. Two
candlesticks of brass shone on the
! mantle shelf. An enormous cup
board, wondrously carved and filled
with things of household life, left
hardly space at the opposite side of
the room for narrow staircase to the
loft above. Pictures faded and
cracked hung on the walls and tall,
old fashioned clock licked noisily in
one corner. Immense rafters of un-
trimmed logs supported the roof, and
narrow diamond paned windows ad-
mitted but dim light into the room.
A CHEEKY faced old woman bustled
about and set before us plate of ripe
yellow pears and a huge pitcher of
cider, making all the while a dreadful
clatter on the stone floor with her sa-
bots, or wooden shoes. We had a
pleasant chat with the good dame as
we ate, and then we mounted our
wheels and rode away, leaving her
standing in the doorway, calling after
us merry "Bonjour Messieurs."
1t was about two o'clock in the af-
ternoon when we first caught a
glimpse of the English channel.
Smooth and blue it looked from that
hill top far away, but, Oh, that night,
how diffedent. Some time later we
coasted down the long steep hill into
Dieppe. With the aid of several
would-be guides, and one importunate
Frenchman who kindly offered to take
us across himself in sailboat in case
we had plenty of "mon,' we found the
steamship office and a hotel, and hav-
ing satisfactorily arranged for our
passage at one place, and gotten rid of
an enormously large lunch at the
other, we wandered along the beach
for while, watching the breakers as
they came curling, splashing thunder
ing almost at our feet. The channel
here is about seventy miles across, and
the winds and the waves sometimes
have terrible frolics out there in the
middle, when old Father Neptune hap
pens to be in frisky mood.
We were not able to stay out long,
| hnwnvnr n Il
rainy, disagreeable rain sprang up.
So we hurried back to our hotel, where
we remained until about ten o'clock,
and then went aboard the good steam
ship "Rouen" which was to carry us
across to the shores of England.
Our beloved professor was soon
peacefully snoring in his bunk, and 1,
so Billy said, had also gone to the land
of nod, while he, poor fellow, was
doomed to spend the night wakeful
| and seasick. We left the harbor at
about one o'clock. When fairly out
Billy made a pilgrimage to the deck
above and then was unable to get
back. So he stayed there and gazed
wearily into the sea, and bitterly
wished for the morrow He thought
| so he told us afterward, of all the
time worn jokes he had heard at the
expense of those poor wretches who
suffer from that fearful bugbear of
the ocean-seasickness He remem-
bered the story of the man who on his
first day out was so sick that he was
afraid he would die, but on the sec
ond, alas. was afraid he would not
And Billy smiled a sickly smile and
thought it very funny.
We reached New Haven harbor at
five o'clock, and after the custom
house officials had examined our
scanty luggage we repaired to the
Bridge Hotel" for breakfast. While
waiting we signed our names in a big
Cyclists Register, curions book filled
with sketches describing the advent
ures of certain knights of tn wheel
who had passed that way before us.
On the first page we found this in
scripton:
10th May, 1SS5--Thomas Stevens,
League American Wheelmen, Boston,
U. S. A. Enroute around the world
by bicycle. Started from San Fran
cisco, Cal, 22d April, S4."
This was written by Stevens while
on mis- famous trip around the world.
Breakfast eaten, we set out on our
way to London. The roads were mud
dy, the hills were many and the rain
and the wind aginst us, so that Eng
lish dales and meadows did not look
so fair that day as those of France be-
fore. With heads bent low over
handle bars and muscles straining we
rode the whole day through, and the
Shakespeare Hotel" in London town
was haven of refuge that night.
But one day was allotted for our stay
in London, and the recolections of the