The San Francisco call., 1906-04-01

through churches. galleries and museums
for eight hours day. he said that he
had seen enough Dutch art to last him
million years. at a very conservative es-
innate. so he started for Brussels. He
asked the proprietor at the hotel at Rot
terdam for the name of a good hotel in
. Brussels and the proprietor told him to
go to the Hotel Victoria. He said il was
first-class establishment and was run
by his brother-in-law. Every hotel keeper
in Europe has a brother-in-law running
hotel in some other town.
Mr. Peasley was loaded into the train
by watchful attendants, and as there
were no Englishmen In the compartment
he succeeded in getting a good seat right
by the window and did not have,.to ride
backward Very soon he becdIne i'm
mersed in an American book. He read
on and on, chapter after chapter. not
needing the flight of time. until the train
rolled into a cavernOus train shed and
was attacked by the. usual energetic MOB
OF porters and hotel runners. Mr. Peasley
locked out and saw that they had ar
rived at another large city. On the other
side Of the platform was a large and
Deautiful bus marked "Hotel Victoria"
Mr. Peasley shrieked for porter and
began dumping Gladstone bags. steamer
rugs, cameras and other impedimenta out
through the window. The man from the
Victoria put these on top OF the bus
and in few minutes Mr.. Peasley was
riding through the tidy thorOughfares and
throwing mental bouquets at the street
cleaning department.
When he arrived at the Victoria he was
met by the proprietor, who wOre.th frock
coat and whiskers which are the unIver-
sal insignia Of hospitality
Your brOther-in-law IN Rotterdam told
me to come here and put up with you.
explained Mr.. Peasley He said YOU were
nfrcr vIo
s'pose, frst-class for this country. II you
fellows over here would put In steam heat
and bathrooms and electric lights and
then give US something to eat In the bar
gain, your hotels wouldn't be so bad
/ admire the stationery IN your writing
rooms, and the regalia worn by your
walters is certainly all right. but that's
about all l can say for you"
The proprietor smiled and bowed and
said he hoped his brother 7in-law in Rot
terdam was In good health and enjoying
prosperity, and Mr.. Peasley said that he,
person ally. had left with the brother-in-
law enough money TO run the hotel for
another six months.
After Mr.. Peasley had been conducted
to his room he dug up his Baedeker and
very carefully read the Introduction to
Brussels. Then he studied the map for a
little while He believed in getting a
good general idea or the lay OF things
before he tackled new town. He mark
ed on the map a few OF the show places
which seemed worth while, and then he
sailed out, waving aside the smirking
gu'de who attempted to fawn upon him
a. he paused ut the main entrance. Mr..
Peasley would have nothing to do with
guides He always said that the man
who had to be led around by the halter
would do better TO stay right at home
1t was a very busy. afternoon for Mr..
el fraf hn nd AZ fr,
finding the places that were marked In
red spots on the map. This was because
he had been holding the map upside
down. BY turning the map the other
way and making due allowance for the
Inaccuracies to be expected IN q book
written by ignorant foreigners. the whole
ground plan of the city Strengthened it.
visited an old cathedral and two art gal
leries, reading long and scholarly COM
ments on the more celebrated master
pieces. Some of the paintings were not
properly labeled but he knew that slip
shod methods prevailed IN Europe--that
a civilization which is on the downhin
and about to play out cannot be expected
to breed businesslke accuracy. He
wrote marginal corrections In his guide
book and doctored up the map a little.
several streets having been omitted. and
returned to the hotel at dusk feeling very
well repaid. From the beginning OF his
tour he had maintained that when a man
goes out and gets information or i'm
pressions Of his own unaided efforts he
gets something that will abide with him
and become a part Of his intellectual and
artistic fiber. That which is ladled into
him by verbose guide soon evaporates
or oozes away.
At the table d'hote Mr.. Peasley had the
good fortune to be seated next to an
EVnO fahT fn Whn a sd
self The Englishman was not very COM
municative. but Mr.. Peasley persevered.
1t was his theory that when one Is trav-
cling and meets fellow Caucasian who IL
shy or reticent or suspicious the thing
TO do is to keep on talking to him until
he feels quite at ease and the entente
cordiaIe Is fully established. So Mr. Peas
ley told the Englishman all about Iowa
and said that 1t was Gods country"
The Englishman fully agreed with him
that is, If silence gives consent. There
was a Iull in the conversation and Mr..
Peasley. seeking to give 1t new turn.
said to his neighbor, 'T like this town
best Of any I've seen. Is this your hrst
visit TO Brussels?"
II have never been to Brussels" re-
piled the Englishman.
THAT is. never until this time sug-
gested Mr. Peasley. I'm in the same
boat Just landed here today. I've heard
OF IL DclOFS, Ol dCCOuA1I VI I4O Ca~ ~ ScAAA-
ing from here and Of course everybody
knows about Brussels sprouts, but had
no idea 1t was such a big place. It's big
ger than Rock Island and Davenport put
together"
The EngIishman began to move away.
at the same time regarding the cheerful
Peasley with solemn wonderment. Then
he said:
My dear sir. I am quite unable to fol-
low you Where do you think you ars7''
''Brussels-it's In Belgium-capital. same
as Des Moines IN Iowa"
MY good man, you are not IN Brussels.
You are In Antwerp"
Antwerp
Certainly"
''why. I've been all over town today.
with a guide book. and He paused
and horrible suspicion settled upon him.
Arising from the table. he rushed to the
outer Office and confronted the manager
What is the name Of this town I'm
mr. he demanded.
"Antwerp," replied the astonished man
ager.
Mr.. Peasley leaned against the wall and