Rollo in Rome. Abbott Jacob
again, and marked it, "Passed." He then touched his hat, and asked Mr. George if he would make some small present for the benefit of the custom house officers.
That is to say, he evaded the performance of his duty as an officer of the customs, in expectation that the traveller would pay him for his delinquency. Most travellers are very willing to pay in such cases. They have various articles in their trunks which they have bought in other countries, and which, strictly speaking, are subject to duty in entering Rome, and they are willing to pay a fee rather than to have their trunks overhauled. Others, of more sturdy morality, refuse to pay these fees. They consider them as of the nature of bribes. So they say to the officers,—
"Examine the baggage as much as you please, and if you find any duties due, I will pay them. But I will not pay any bribes."
"Now, Rollo," said Mr. George, when he had got possession of his trunk, "we want a carriage to take us and the baggage to the hotel. You may go and see if you can find one, and I will stay here and look after the baggage. Engage the carriage by the hour."
So Rollo went out of the court, and soon found a carriage. Before he got into it, he said to the coachman,—
"Per hora!"
This means, By the hour.
At the same time Rollo held up his watch to the coachman, in order to let him see what o'clock it was.
"Si, signore," said the coachman.
Si, signore, is the Italian for Yes, sir.
Rollo could not say in Italian where he wished the coachman to go, and so he stood up in the carriage and pointed. Following his indications, the coachman drove in through the archway to the court of the post office, where he found Mr. George waiting. The trunk and the bags were put upon the carriage, in front, and Mr. George got in with Rollo.
"Hotel d'Amerique," said Mr. George to the coachman.
"Si, signore," said the coachman, and immediately he began to drive away.
The Hotel d'Amerique was the one where Mr. George had concluded to go. He had found the name and a description of this hotel in his guide book.
"Why did you want me to take the carriage by the hour?" asked Rollo.
"Because it is very probable," said Mr. George, "that we shall not get in at the Hotel d'Amerique, and in that case we shall have to go to other hotels, and unless we take him by the hour, he would charge a course for every hotel that we go to, and the charge even for two
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