Highroads of Geography Part 1

Highroads of Geography.

by Anonymous.

INTRODUCTORY BOOK.

I. GOOD-BYE TO FATHER.

1. Father kissed us and said, "Good-bye, dears. Be good children, and help mother as much as you can. The year will soon pa.s.s away. What a merry time we will have when I come back again!"

2. Father kissed mother, and then stepped into the train. The guard blew his whistle, and the train began to move. We waved good-bye until it was out of sight.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {Children waving good-bye to their father as the train pulls away}]

3. Then we all began to cry--even Tom, who thinks himself such a man. It was _so_ lonely without father.

4. Tom was the first to dry his eyes. He turned to me and said, "Stop that crying. You are the eldest, and you ought to know better."

5. He made mother take his arm, just as father used to do. Then he began to whistle, to show that he did not care a bit. All the way home he tried to make jokes.

6. As soon as we had taken off our coats and hats, Tom called us into the sitting-room. "Look here," he said: "we're going to have no glum faces in this house. We must be bright and cheerful, or mother will fret. You know father wouldn't like that."

[Ill.u.s.tration: {Children in the sitting-room}]

7. We said that we would do our best. So off we went to help mother to make the beds and to dust the rooms. While we were doing this we quite forgot to be sad.

8. After tea we went into father's room and looked at the globe. "I'm going to follow father right round the world," said Tom. "Please show me which way he is going." Mother did so.

9. "By this time next week," she said, "we shall have the first of many long letters from father. I am sure we shall enjoy reading them. He will tell us about the far-off lands which he is going to see."

10. "That will be grand," I said. "I hope he will tell us _lots_ about the children. I want to know what they look like, what they wear, and what games they play."

11. Tom said he would rather not hear about children. He wanted to hear about savages and tigers and shipwrecks, and things like that.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {Postman delivering a letter}]

12. A week later the postman brought us father's first letter. How eager we were to hear it! Mother had to read it for us two or three times.

13. Every week for many weeks the postman brought us letters from father. When he handed us a letter he used to say, "I'm glad to see that your daddy is all right so far."

14. This book is made up of father's letters from abroad. I hope you will enjoy them as much as we did.

2. A LETTER FROM FRANCE.

1. MY DEAR CHILDREN,--I am writing this letter in a large seaport of the south of France. To-morrow I shall go on board the big ship which is to take me to Egypt.

2. Let me tell you about my travels so far. The train in which I left our town took me to London. Next day another train took me to a small town on the seash.o.r.e.

3. About twenty miles of sea lie between this town and France. At once I went on board the small steamer which was to take me across. The sea was smooth and the sun was shining.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The White Cliffs of Dover.

(From the picture by J. M. W. Turner, R.A.)]

4. I stood on the deck looking at the white cliffs of dear old England.

When I could see them no longer I found that we were not far from France.

5. In about an hour we reached a French town which in olden days belonged to us. The steamer sailed right up to the railway station.

6. I had something to eat, and then took my place in the train. Soon we were speeding towards Paris, the chief town of France.

7. I looked out of the window most of the time. We ran through many meadows and cornfields. Here and there I saw rows of poplar trees between the fields.

8. Now and then we crossed rivers with barges on them. On and on we went, past farmhouses and little villages, each with its church. The French villages look brighter than ours. I think this is because the houses are painted in gay colours.

9. I saw many men, women, and children working in the fields. All of them wore wooden shoes. Most of the men and boys were dressed in blue blouses.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {People working in a field}]

10. There was a little French boy in my carriage. He wore a black blouse with a belt. His stockings were short, and did not come up to his knickerbockers. He was rather pale, and his legs were very thin.

11. The boy was about Tom's age. He sat still, and held his father's hand all the way. I don't think Tom would have done this; he thinks himself too much of a man.

12. After a time we crossed a broad river, and came to the dull, dark station of a large city. As we left it, I saw the tall spire of one of the grandest churches in all the world.

13. On we went, past farms and villages and small towns, until at last we reached Paris.

3. IN PARIS.

[Ill.u.s.tration: In the Gardens.

(From the picture by Cyrus Cuneo, R.I.)]

1. Paris is a very grand and beautiful city. The French people say that France is a great garden. They also say that the finest flowers in this garden make up the nosegay which we call Paris.

2. A great river runs through Paris. All day long you can see little steamboats darting to and fro on the river, like swallows. Near to the river are some beautiful gardens.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {View of Paris}]

3. I sat in these gardens, at a little table under the trees. As I sat there a man walked up the path. At once I heard a great chirping and a flutter of wings.