Page:The Boy Travellers in the Russian Empire.djvu/24

18 exact height of this famous spire, which does not appear to have received a careful measurement for a good many years.

From the church the youths went to the Graben, the famous street where idlers love to congregate on pleasant afternoons, and then they returned to the hotel. Fred devoted himself to the promised letter to his sister. With his permission we will look over his shoulder as he writes, and from the closing paragraph learn the present destination of our old friends with whom we have travelled in other lands.

"We have been here a week, and like Vienna very much, but are quite willing to leave the city for the interesting tour we have planned. We start this evening by the Northern Railway for a journey to and through Russia; our first stopping-place will be at the nearest point on the railway for reaching the famous salt-mines of Wieliczka. You must pronounce it We-litch-ka, with the accent on the second syllable. I'll write you from there; or, if I don't have time to do so at the mines, will send you a letter from the first city where we stop for more than a single day. We have just had our passports indorsed by the Russian minister for Austria—a very necessary proceeding, as it is impossible to get into Russia without these documents. Until I next write you, good-by."

The travellers arrived at the great Northern Railway station of Vienna in ample season to take their tickets and attend to the registration of their baggage. The train carried them swiftly to Cracow—a city which has had a prominent place in Polish annals. It was the scene of several battles, and was for a long time the capital of the ancient kingdom of Poland. Frank made the following memoranda in his notebook:

"Cracow is a city of about fifty thousand inhabitants, of whom nearly