Rollo in London

by Jacob Abbott

  CHAPTER IV.

  THE POLICEMAN.

  The policeman was a very well-dressed and gentlemanly-looking personage.He was standing, at the time when Mr. George saw him, on the edge of thesidewalk, looking at some beggar boys, who had brooms in their hands, asif they were going to sweep the crossings. The boys, however, when theysaw that the policeman was looking at them, seemed alarmed, and onecalling to the other, said, "Joey!" and then they both ran away round acorner.

  Mr. George advanced to the policeman, and asked him if that building wasthe Horse Guards. The policeman listened to and answered his question ina very polite and gentlemanly manner. Mr. George made several additionalinquiries in respect to the building, and received in reply to them agreat deal of useful information. Rollo stood by all the while,listening to the conversation, and observing with the greatest interestthe details of the uniform which the policeman wore. He was dressed,Rollo saw, in a suit of dark blue, which fitted his form very nicely.The coat had a standing collar, and was buttoned snugly up to the chinwith bright buttons. On the collar was worked the letter and number, A335, in white braid, which denoted the division that this officerbelonged to, and his number in the division. The hat was peculiar, too,being glazed at the top and at the brim, and having an appearance as ifcovered with cloth at the sides. The figure of the policeman was veryerect, and his air and bearing very gentlemanly, and he answered all Mr.George's inquiries in the most affable manner.

  Every part of London is provided with policemen of this character, whosebusiness it is to preserve order in the streets, to arrest criminals, totake care of lost children, to guide strangers, and to answer anyinquiries that any person may wish to make in respect to the streets,squares, public buildings, and other objects of interest in themetropolis. The whole number of these policemen is very great, therebeing near six thousand of them in all. They are all young and activemen; and in order that they may perform their duties in an efficientmanner, they are clothed with a great deal of authority; but theyexercise their power with so much gentleness and discretion that theyare universal favorites with all the people who traverse the streets,except, perhaps, the beggar boys and vagabonds. _They_ stand inperpetual awe of them.

  Each policeman has his own district, which is called his _beat_; and hewalks to and fro in this beat all the time while he is on duty. There isa station near this beat, to which he takes any delinquents or criminalsthat he may have occasion to arrest, in order that they may be examined,and, if found guilty, sent to prison.

  One day Rollo saw a policeman taking a prisoner to the station. It was aboy about thirteen years old. The policeman walked very fast, and theboy ran along by his side. The policeman took hold of the collar of theboy's jacket behind with his hand, and so conducted him along. There wasa crowd of young men and boys following, some walking fast and somerunning, to see what would become of the prisoner.

  Rollo was at first inclined to join this party, in order that he mightsee too; but Mr. George thought it would be better not to do so. Rollothen began to pity the poor prisoner boy very much, in view of theexpression of dreadful terror and distress which his countenance hadworn when he passed by him, and he was very anxious to know what he hadbeen doing. He accordingly stopped to ask an orange woman, who stoodwith a basket of oranges near a post at a corner.

  THE ARREST.]

  "He has been beating and abusing a little boy," said the woman, "andspilling all his milk."

  "Come, Rollo," said Mr. George, "we must go along."

  Rollo would have liked very much to have inquired further into thistransaction; but he relinquished the idea, in compliance with hisuncle's wish. He found, however, that his sympathy for the poorprisoner, as is usual in such cases, was very much diminished by knowingthe offence of which he had been guilty.

  Rollo had an opportunity to experience the advantages of the Londonsystem of police three or four days after this, in an emergency, which,as I am now speaking of the policemen, I will mention here. He had beento see the British Museum with his uncle George, and had undertaken tofind his way back to the lodgings in Northumberland Court alone, hisuncle having had occasion at that time to go in another direction. Thedistance from the museum to Northumberland Court was only about a mile;but the intervening streets were very short, narrow, and intricate, andwere inclined towards each other at all possible angles, so that Rollovery soon lost his way. In fact, he soon became completely turned round;and, instead of going towards Northumberland Court, he went wandering onin exactly a contrary direction. He turned this way and that, and lookedat the names of the streets on all the corners, in hopes to find someone he had heard of before. Finally he became completely bewildered.

  "I shall have to give it up," said he to himself. "If it was a pleasantday, I could go by the sun; for by keeping to the south I should, sooneror later, come to the river."

  Unfortunately for Rollo, as is usually the case in London, the sun wasnot to be seen. The sky was obscured with an impenetrable veil of smokeand vapor.

  "I'll take a cab," said Rollo, "at the first stand, and tell the cabmanto drive me to Northumberland Court. He must find where it is the bestway he can."

  Rollo put his hands in his pockets as he said this, and found, to hisconsternation, that he had no money. He had left his purse in the pocketof another suit of clothes at home. He immediately decided that he mustgive up the plan of taking a cab, since he had no money to pay for it.This difficulty, however, was, in fact, by no means insuperable, as hemight have taken a cab, and paid the fare when he arrived at hislodgings, by asking the man to wait at the door while he went up to gethis purse. He did not, however, think of this plan, but decided at oncethat he must find some other way of getting home than by taking a cab.

  "I will ask a policeman," said he.

  So he began to look about for a policeman; and as there are so manythousands of them on duty in London, one can almost always be veryreadily found; and, when found, he is instantly known by his uniform.

  Rollo met the policeman walking towards him on the sidewalk.

  "I want to find my way to Northumberland Court," said he. "Will you begood enough to tell me which way to go?"

  The policeman looked at Rollo a moment with a kind and friendlyexpression of countenance.

  "Why, it is two miles and a half from here," said he, "at least, and avery difficult way to find. I think you had better take a cab."

  "But I have not any money," said Rollo.

  The policeman looked at Rollo again with as near an approach to anexpression of surprise on his countenance as it is possible for apoliceman to manifest, since it is a part of his professional duty neverto be surprised at anything or thrown off his guard. Rollo was, however,so well dressed, and was so gentlemanly in his air and bearing, thatalmost any one would have wondered a little to hear him say that he hadno money.

  "I accidentally left my money all at home," said Rollo, by way ofexplanation.

  "Very well," said the policeman; "come with me."

  So Rollo and the policeman walked along together. As they walked theyfell into conversation, and Rollo told the policeman who he was, and howhe came to lose his way. The policeman was very much interested when heheard that his young friend was an American; and he asked him a greatmany questions about New York and Boston. He said he had a brother inBoston, and another in Cincinnati.

  After walking the distance of two or three blocks, the policemansaid,----

  "This is the end of my beat. I must now put you in charge of anotherofficer."

  So saying, he made a signal to another policeman, who was on theopposite sidewalk, and then going up to him with Rollo, he said,----

  "This young gentleman wishes to go to Northumberland Court. Pass himalong. He is from America."

  So Rollo walked with the second policeman to the end of _his_ beat,talking with him all the way about America and about what he had seen inLondon. At the end of the second policeman's beat Rollo was placed inthe charge of a third policeman; and thu
s he was conducted all the way,until he came in sight of Charing Cross by a succession of policemen,without ever making it necessary for any one of them to leave his beat.As soon as Charing Cross came into view, with the tall Nelson monument,in Trafalgar Square, to mark it, Rollo at once knew where he was. So hetold the policeman who had him in charge there that he could go the restof the way alone; and so, thanking him for his kindness and bidding himgood by, he ran gayly home.

  Thus the policemen are, in many ways, the stranger's friends. They areto be found every where; and they are always ready to render any servicewhich the passenger may require of them. Each one is furnished with abaton, which is his badge of office; a rattle, with which he calls otherpolicemen to his aid when he requires them; a lantern for the night; andan oilskin cape for rainy weather. In winter, too, they have greatcoats,made in a peculiar fashion.

  * * * * *

  But to return to the Horse Guards. After Mr. George had finished hisconversation with the policeman about the Horse Guards, he said to Rollothat he was going over to the other side of the street, in order to geta better view of the building. So he led the way, and Rollo followedhim. When they reached the opposite sidewalk, Mr. George took hisstation on the margin of it, and began to survey the edifice on theopposite side of the street with great apparent interest.

  "I don't see any thing very remarkable about it," said Rollo.

  "It is the head quarters of the British army," said Mr. George.

  "What elegant black horses those troopers are upon!" said Rollo.

  "It is the centre of a power," said Mr. George, talking, apparently, tohimself, "that is felt in every quarter of the world."

  "I should like to have such a uniform as that," said Rollo, "and to bemounted on such a horse; but then, I should rather ride about the citythan to stand still all the time in one of those sentry boxes."

  "About the _town_, you mean," said Mr. George.

  Rollo here observed that there was an open gateway in front of the HorseGuards, and beyond it an arched passage, leading directly through thecentre of the building to some place in the rear of it. There were agreat many people coming and going through this passage way; so many, infact, as to make it evident that it was a public thoroughfare. Rolloasked his uncle George where that passage way led to.

  "It leads to the rear of the Horse Guards," said Mr. George, "wherethere is a great parade ground, and through the parade ground to HydePark. I have studied it out on the map."

  "Let us go through and see the parade ground," said Rollo.

  "No," said Mr. George, "not now. We had better go some morning when thetroops are parading there. We must go now and look out our lodgings."

  So Mr. George and Rollo walked on, and about half an hour afterwards Mr.George engaged lodgings in a place near the junction of the Strand withCharing Cross, called Northumberland Court.