The Overall Boys in Switzerland Read online

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  THE OVERALL BOYS IN SWITZERLAND

  _The_ OVERALL BOYS IN SWITZERLAND

  _By EULALIE OSGOOD GROVER_

  _Author of "The Sunbonnet Babies' Primer," "The Overall Boys," The "Outdoor Primer," "The Sunbonnet Babies in Holland"_

  ILLUSTRATED BY BERTHA CORBETT MELCHER

  _The "Mother of the Sunbonnet Babies and the Overall Boys"_

  RAND McNALLY & COMPANY NEW YORK CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO Printed in U. S. A.

  _Copyright, 1916, by_ EULALIE OSGOOD GROVER All rights reserved _Entered at Stationers' Hall_

  Made in U. S. A.]

  To

  Graham Grover

  A Real Little Overall Boy]

  THE CONTENTS.]

  PAGE THREE CHEERS FOR EUROPE 9 ON THE RIVER RHINE 14 THE BEAR CITY 22 ABOVE THE CLOUDS 34 ON MOUNT RIGI 40 SHOPPING IN LUCERNE 50 SATURDAY EVENING ON LAKE LUCERNE 58 THE BIRTHDAY PARTY 66 WILLIAM TELL AND HIS LITTLE SON 78 A VISIT TO TELL'S COUNTRY 88 OVER AND THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS 100 REAL TRAMPERS 108 ON THE TRAIL 118 THE HERDSMAN'S CABIN 126 A SUMMER BLIZZARD 136 EXPLORING A GLACIER 144 AUF WIEDERSEHEN 150 _A Letter_ 156 _A List of Difficult Words_ 159

  THREE CHEERS FOR EUROPE.]

  _A map showing the places the Overall Boys visited inSwitzerland_]

  THE OVERALL BOYS IN SWITZERLAND

  THREE CHEERS FOR EUROPE

  It was the first day of summer, and it was the last day of the oceantrip.

  Jack and Joe, two Overall Boys, had crossed the big Atlantic. They werenow sailing into a strange city, in a strange country, with a strangelanguage.

  The city was Antwerp. The country was Belgium, and the languagewas--well, almost anything one cared to speak, French or German orDutch or English.

  Jack said he should try English first. Then, if people did notunderstand him, he should use the Dutch words which the SunbonnetBabies had taught him. But if people did not understand him then, heshould have to keep still, or talk with his hands.

  "Oh! I shall not keep still," said Joe. "I shall speak everything allat once, French and German and Dutch and English. You just watch me!"

  "Ho! ho!" laughed Jack. "We _will_ watch you, and so will all thepeople in Antwerp. But now watch that great houseboat. I believe it islike the boat Molly and May's Uncle Dirk owns. A family is living onit. They have a canary bird and a dog and a cat and flowers, just asthey have on Uncle Dirk's boat."

  "I should rather go to Holland than to Switzerland," said Joe. "Let'sask the people on that houseboat to take us up to their Water Land."

  "No, sir! I want to go to Switzerland," said Jack. "I want to see thegreat mountains all covered with snowbanks and forests and flowers.There is not a mountain in the whole of Holland."

  "Look!" shouted Joe. "I see the first castle! We are sailing right upbeside it. I wonder if a really, truly King and Queen are living in it."

  "Of course," said Jack, "unless they have been killed and their castleturned into a prison or a museum."

  "Do you suppose it has a dark dungeon under it?" asked Joe. "How Ishould like to see a real dungeon!"

  "Come on, father is calling us," said Jack. "Our boat has stopped. Itis time to get off."

  "Oh! Perhaps father will take us into that old castle, Jack. Then wecan see if it really has a dungeon under it," cried Joe.

  So the Overall Boys said good-by to their friends on the ocean steamer.They said good-by to the Captain. They said good-by to the Cook.The Cook and the Captain were their _special_ friends and they were_specially_ sorry to leave them.

  But the boys had something very important in their minds.

  When the heavy plank was pulled over from the dock to the steamer, thetwo Overall Boys were the first to step on it. They ran as fast as theycould run down the steep plank.

  Everybody wondered why those two boys were running so hard. There wasplenty of time. No one needed to run. But in a second everybody knew,for Joe was throwing his cap high into the air and shouting, "Hurrahfor Europe! Three cheers for Antwerp!" And in half a second more Jackwas throwing his cap high into the air and shouting three cheers forEurope, too.

  Yes, the Overall Boys were the first in their party to step foot onEurope, and they were the first to give it three cheers.

  ON THE RIVER RHINE.]

  ON THE RIVER RHINE

  The next few days were exciting ones for the Overall Boys.

  Joe said he knew that he was dreaming, and his dreams were all aboutcastles and kings and queens and strange languages.

  Jack had to tell him very often that he was sailing up the beautifulriver Rhine toward Switzerland, that the castles and the kings and thequeens and the strange languages were really true.

  "I know that the castles are really here," said Joe, "for I am countingthem. Look at that great fort on the hill!"

  "Yes," said Jack, "the Captain says if we were their enemies, thesoldiers in that fort would not let our boat pass up the river."

  "Well, I am glad we are not their enemies," said Joe. "I don't like thelooks of the big guns peeping through those holes in the fort walls. Ilike the old castles better."

  _A high rock above the river_]

  And so the Overall Boys sailed by castles and still more castles, whichwere built high on the banks above the river. Most of them were veryold, so old they were falling to pieces.

  Lower down on the river banks there were large vineyards, where thefinest grapes were growing.

  Their father told the boys strange stories about the people who oncelived in these old castles. He told them about a beautiful sea maidenwho used to sit on a high rock above the river combing her long, goldenhair and singing sweet songs. He told how brave young men sailed theirboats into the dangerous waters to listen to her songs, and weredrowned.

  Fortunately the maiden did not sing while the Overall Boys werepassing her rock, so they went safely on their journey.

  A little later Jack cried, "Come, Joe, the Captain is going to tell usa story."

  "Is he going to tell it in some dreadful, strange language?" asked Joe.

  "No, sir!" said Jack. "This Captain knows how to speak English."

  "Hello!" called the Captain. "Do you boys like mice? Both of you do!Well, that is brave. I am going to tell you about a man who did notlike mice.

  "Do you see that large, round tower just ahead of us? It is built on arock in the middle of the river. It is called the _Mouse Tower_. Thisis the reason why.

  "Once upon a time--I cannot tell you just how long ago, but once upona time--there lived a rich Bishop. He lived in a great castle up thereon the river bank. He had fine farms, and he made much money. He filledmany barns with his grain, and he kept his gold in strong boxes.

  _The Bishop's Mouse Tower built on a rock in the river_]

  "A great many poor people lived near the rich Bishop. He should havetaught them how to work and how to pray, but he did not. He did noteven give them grain when they needed it, or gold that they might buybread.

  "One year when the people were very hungry, they begged the Bishop sohard for bread that he could not sleep. He said they were like a packof hungry mice.

  "At last the Bishop tol
d the beggars to go to an empty barn near by,and he would soon satisfy their wants. So the people hurried into thebarn, and waited for the Bishop to come. He came, but he did not bringthem food or gold.

  "Oh, no! The selfish Bishop told his servants to set fire to the oldbarn, and the poor people who were inside soon stopped crying for food.

  "That night while the Bishop was asleep in his castle, he dreamed astrange dream. He dreamed that some hungry mice were eating a finepicture of himself which hung on his bedroom wall. He watched themuntil they had torn it all to pieces.

  "Just then a servant ran into his room and wakened him.

  "'O Bishop Hatto! Bishop Hatto!' cried the servant. 'The mice arecoming. They are coming out of the hot ashes of the old barn which weburned last night. They have followed me up to your castle. You mustrun for your life.'

  "So the Bishop jumped on his horse and rode down the hill as fast as hecould ride, and the mice ran after him. When he came to the river themice were almost upon him.

  "The Bishop left his horse and jumped into a small boat. He rowed veryhard until he came to that stone tower in the middle of the river.

  "'Now,' said he, 'I am safely away from those miserable mice.'

  "But he was not safely away from them, for the mice could swim.

  "The Bishop shut himself into the tower and closed the doors andwindows. But the mice could gnaw. They ran up the stone walls andgnawed through the wooden doors. Then they ran down the doors on theinside and found the wicked Bishop.

  "How the Bishop wished that he had been kind to the poor, starvingpeople. How he wished that he had given them food and gold when theyneeded it so much. Now it was too late. The hungry people had senttheir spirits back in these hungry mice to punish him as he hadpunished them.

  "And so the old stone tower has been called the _Mouse Tower_, or_Bishop Hatto's Tower_, ever since. Now, what do you think of that fora story?" asked the Captain.

  "I tell you, I hope I never shall be such a mean old Bishop as he was!"said Joe.

  "And I am glad he is not living now!" said Jack.

  Soon the Overall Boys had sailed as far up the beautiful river Rhineas their big boat would take them. They had seen so many old castles,and they had heard so many strange stories about them, the boys felt asif they had just passed through a really, truly Fairyland--and perhapsthey had.

  THE BEAR CITY.]

  THE BEAR CITY

  "Hello, Jack! Hello, Joe!" called the boys' father very early onemorning. "Wake up! Wake up and give the bears their breakfast."

  "Oh, dear! Where are we?" cried Joe. "I'm so sleepy! Where are thebears? I don't see any."

  "I know where we are," said Jack. "We are in the city of Bern, wherethe bear cave is."

  "Good! We are in Switzerland at last," cried Joe, running to thewindow. "But where is the snow? I thought the mountains in Switzerlandwere _all_ covered with snow! These mountains are covered with greentrees."

  "These are not the _real_ mountains, Joe," said Jack. "The greatsnow-covered mountains are farther away. I guess we shall see thembefore long. I heard some one say that, on a clear day, the view ofthe snow-covered Alps from this city is one of the finest in allSwitzerland, and that the sunsets here are wonderful. But let's haveour breakfast now."

  "All right," said Joe. "Then let's be off to hunt for the bears. Butwhy do the people keep bears right in the middle of their city?"

  "Father says it is because a bear was killed on this spot just beforethe city was built," said Jack. "So the people named the city Bern.They have kept a few bears in a large pit here ever since, and that ismore than four hundred years."

  "Do let's hurry and find their cave!" cried Joe.

  So the Overall Boys were soon hurrying through the busy streets of theBear City. In the middle of many of the streets they saw fine, largefountains. Above the center of some of the fountains were the figuresof famous men, while plants and flowers were growing in others.

  In a few of the beautiful fountains women were doing their washing.They placed the soiled clothes on boards by the edge of the clearwater. Then they soaped the clothes well, and pounded them with flatstones, and rinsed them up and down until they were quite clean.

  _An odd way to do the family washing_]

  It was certainly an odd way to do a family washing; at least, so theOverall Boys thought.

  There was one fountain which interested the boys more than any of theothers. Above the center of this fountain stood the stone figure of astrange looking man, who was holding a stone baby in his hands. He wasabout to bite the baby's head right off. Other babies were hanging fromthe ugly man's belt and peeping from his pockets.

  It is called the fountain of the Child-eater, and naughty childrennever like to pass very near it. But the Overall Boys knew that thestone Child-eater could not hurt them, so they laughed at the oldfellow and hurried on.

  _The Child-eater_]

  It was not long before the boys were racing across a great stone bridgeleading to the deep hole in the ground where the bears lived. Joereached the pit first.

  "Hurrah! I see three of them," he cried, leaning over the high railabove the pit. "See that baby bear beg for something to eat! Go to thefruit stand, Jack, and buy some carrots to feed him. Father says bearslike carrots."

  _The boys threw the carrots, one at a time, over thewall into the pit_]

  So Jack ran to the fruit stand near by and bought a big bunch ofcarrots. The boys threw the carrots, one at a time, over the wall intothe pit, and how they shouted and laughed to see the bears catch andeat them, just like big, brown boys.

  Sometimes one bear would catch more than his share of the carrots. Thenthe other bears would chase him about until they made him climb up atall tree in the middle of the pit. He did not dare to come down untilhis bear friends had eaten all they wanted. If he tried to do so, theychased him quickly back again.

  "Look!" cried Joe. "I have found an orange in my pocket. I am going tothrow it down to the bear that is waving his paw at me. Watch him catchit."

  "Watch him!" shouted Jack. "He didn't catch it. The bear near himknocked him over as quick as a wink, and caught the orange himself."

  "See, he is climbing up the tree with it! Isn't he a selfish old bear!"

  "Look at the bear in the little pond of water," cried Jack. "He isplaying ball with the other bear. Now the other bear has jumped intothe pond, too. See them box each other's ears! And see them roll overand over in the water! Oh, I never, never saw anything so funny!"

  "I believe they are real boys dressed up in bear skins," said Joe. "Inever thought bears could act so much like boys."

  "Mother says she never thought boys could act so much like bears," saidJack.

  The boys watched the bears nearly all the forenoon. Joe said he hadn'tlaughed so much since his last football game in America. He wished thathe could live in Bern always, and feed the bears every morning.

  "I'm getting hungry myself," said Jack at last. "Let's buy somegingerbread bears to eat. There is a window full of them over in thatstore."

  Then away the boys ran and bought gingerbread bears of allsizes--father bears and mother bears and little baby bears and dancingbears and stiff soldier bears.

  Jack and Joe were sure they had never eaten anything in all their livesso good as those gingerbread bears.

  "Come on, now!" cried Jack. "Father has some more fun for us. He wantsus to go down the street with him to see a queer old clock tower."

  "I know what it is," said Joe. "He told us about it the other day. Wecan hear the cock crow and see the bears parade, if we are there ontime."

  _"Then let's run!" said Jack. So the boys raced aroundcorners and under arches_]

  "Then let's run!" said Jack. "It is almost twelve o'clock now."

  So the boys raced back over the great stone bridge. They raced aroundcorners and under arches and along covered sidewalks, until they cameto a low tower which arched right over the sidewalk.

  _The boys reached the tower j
ust as the large clock nearthe top said five minutes before twelve_]

  The large round clock near the top of the tower said five minutesbefore twelve. On the wall below the clock sat a queer little bronzeman holding an hourglass in his hand.

  At the left of the man stood a bronze cock and at his right a bronzedragon. Suddenly the Overall Boys saw the cock flap his wings and waghis head and cry, "Cock-a-doodle-doo!"

  A moment later two bronze giants up in the top of the tower struck thegreat bell with their hammers twelve times. The cock wagged his headand flapped his wings and again crowed, "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" Then asmall clown rang a tiny bell and a procession of bears began marchingjust below the old man.

  Some of the bears carried little guns and swords, and one bear rode ona tiny horse.

  When the clock in the top of the tower stopped striking, the processionstopped marching, and the old man turned his hourglass upside down. Thedragon wagged his head, and the cock crowed, "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" Thenall was still. Yes, it was very still. The Overall Boys were thinking.

  At last Joe said, "I wish I could take that clock back to America. Ishould like to show it to the Sunbonnet Babies. I am sure they didn'tsee anything half as strange as that in Holland."

  "Well, they will have to come to Bern if they want to see it," saidJack. "You can't pack that great tower in your trunk."