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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/27086-8.txt b/27086-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..94d54bc --- /dev/null +++ b/27086-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13962 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dodge Club, by James De Mille + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Dodge Club + or, Italy in 1859 + +Author: James De Mille + +Release Date: October 29, 2008 [EBook #27086] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DODGE CLUB *** + + + + +Produced by Marlo Dianne + + + + +THE DODGE CLUB, OR, ITALY IN MDCCCLIX. + +by + +James De Mille + +Author of "Cord and Creese; or, the Brandon Mystery," etc., etc + +With One Hundred Illustrations + + +New York: +Harper & Brothers Publishers, +Franklin Square +1872. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +PARIS.--THE DODGE CLUB.--HOW TO SPEAK FRENCH.--HOW TO RAISE A CROWD. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Dick!--Here I Invite My Friends.--The Club.--The Place +Vendôme.--Keep It Buttons! + + +CHAPTER II. + +ORLEANS.--HOW TO QUELL A LANDLORD.--HOW TO FIGHT OFF HUMBUGS; AND HOW +TO TRAVEL WITHOUT BAGGAGE. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. That's A Hotel Bill.--Cicero Against Verres. +--Sac-r-r-r-ré. + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE RHONE IN A RAIN.--THE MAD FRENCHMAN.--SUICIDE A CAPITAL +CRIME IN FRANCE. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Number 729.--Horror! Despair! + + +CHAPTER IV. + +MARSEILLES. + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE RETIRED ORGAN-GRINDER.--THE SENATOR PHILOSOPHIZES.--EVILS OF NOT +HAVING A PASSPORT. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Those Italians.--Genoa, The Superb. + + +CHAPTER VI. + +LAZARONI AND MACARONI. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Their Noble Excellencies.--Lazaroni And Macaroni. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +DOLORES.--AN ITALIAN MAID LEARNS ENGLISH.--A ROMANTIC ADVENTURE.--A +MASQUERADE, AND WHAT BEFELL THE SENATOR.--A CHARMING DOMINO.--A +MOONLIGHT WALK, AND AN ASTOUNDING DISCOVERY. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Yankee Doodle.--I Kiss Hands.--The Young Hussar.--A +Perplexed Senator.--Exit Senator. + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +ADVENTURES AND MISADVENTURES.--A WET GROTTO AND A BOILING LAKE.--THE +TWO FAIR SPANIARDS, AND THE DONKEY RIDE. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Darn it!--Don't.--Thump!--A Trying Moment.--Senator +And Donkey. + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A DRIVE INTO THE COUNTRY.--A FIGHT WITH A VETTURINO.--THE EFFECT OF +EATING "HARD BOILED EGGS."--WHAT THEY SAW AT PAESTUM.--FIVE TEMPLES +AND ONE "MILL." + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Do You See That?--The Mill At Paestum. + + +CHAPTER X. + +ON THE WATER, WHERE BUTTONS SEES A LOST IDEA AND GIVES CHASE TO IT, +TOGETHER WITH THE HEART-SICKENING RESULTS THEREOF. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. The Spaniards.--A Thousand Pardons! + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE SENATOR HAS SUCH A FANCY FOR SEEKING USEFUL INFORMATION!--CURIOUS +POSITION OF A WISE, AND WELL-KNOWN, AND DESERVEDLY-POPULAR LEGISLATOR, +AND UNDIGNIFIED MODE OF HIS ESCAPE. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. The Senator. + + +CHAPTER XII. + +HERCULANEUM AND POMPEII, AND ALL THAT THE SIGHT OF THOSE FAMOUS PLACES +PRODUCED ON THE MINDS OF THE DODGE CLUB. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Villa Of Diomedes.--Phew!--A Street In Pompeii. + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +VESUVIUS.--WONDERFUL ASCENT OF THE CONE.--WONDERFUL DESCENT INTO THE +CRATER.--AND MOST WONDERFUL DISAPPEARANCE OF MR. FIGGS, AFTER WHOM +ALL HIS FRIENDS GO, WITH THEIR LIVES IN THEIR HANDS.--GREAT SENSATION +AMONG SPECTATORS. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. The Ascent Of Vesuvius.--The Descent Of Vesuvius. +-Where's Figgs?--Mr Figgs.--The Ladies. + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +MAGNIFICENT ATTITUDE OF THE SENATOR; BRILLIANCY OF BUTTONS; AND PLUCK +OF THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE CLUB: BY ALL OF WHICH THE GREATEST EFFECTS +ARE PRODUCED. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. The Bandits Captured.--Sold. + + +CHAPTER XV. + +DOLORES ONCE MORE.--A PLEASANT CONVERSATION.--BUTTONS LEARNS MORE OF +HIS YOUNG FRIEND.--AFFECTING FAREWELL. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Two Piastres!--The Brave Soldier. + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +DICK RELATES A FAMILY LEGEND. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Buying A Whale.--The Long-Lost Son. + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +NIGHT ON THE ROAD.--THE CLUB ASLEEP.--THEY ENTER ROME.--THOUGHTS ON +APPROACHING AND ENTERING "THE ETERNAL CITY." + +ILLUSTRATIONS. To Rome. + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +A LETTER BY DICK, AND CRITICISMS OF HIS FRIENDS. + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +ST. PETER'S!--THE TRAGIC STORY OF THE FAT MAN IN THE BALL.--HOW +ANOTHER TRAGEDY NEARLY HAPPENED.--THE WOES OF MEINHERR SCHATT. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Gracious Me! + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE GLORY, GRANDEUR, BEAUTY, AND INFINITE VARIETY OF THE PINCIAN +HILL; NARRATED AND DETAILED NOT COLUMNARILY BUT EXHAUSTIVELY, +AND AFTER THE MANNER OF RABELAIS. + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +HARMONY ON THE PINCIAN HILL.--MUSIC HATH CHARMS.--AMERICAN MELODIES. +--THE GLORY, THE POWER, AND THE BEAUTY OF YANKEE DOODLE, AND THE +MERCENARY SOUL OF AN ITALIAN ORGAN-GRINDER. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Old Virginny. + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +HOW A BARGAIN IS MADE.--THE WILES OF THE ITALIAN TRADESMAN.--THE NAKED +SULKY BEGGAR, AND THE JOVIAL WELL-CLAD BEGGAR.--WHO IS THE KING OF +BEGGARS? + +ILLUSTRATIONS. The Shrug. + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +THE MANIFOLD LIFE OF THE CAFÉ NUOVO, AND HOW THEY RECEIVED THE NEWS +ABOUT MAGENTA.--EXCITEMENT.--ENTHUSIASM.--TEARS.--EMBRACES. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. News Of Magenta! + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +CHECKMATE! + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Before And After. + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +BUTTONS A MAN OF ONE IDEA.--DICK AND HIS MEASURING TAPE.--DARK EYES. +--SUSCEPTIBLE HEART.--YOUNG MAIDEN WHO LIVES OUT OF TOWN.--GRAND +COLLISION OF TWO ABSTRACTED LOVERS IN THE PUBLIC STREETS. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Away!--Pepita. + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +CONSEQUENCES OF BEING GALLANT IN ITALY, WHERE THERE ARE LOVERS, +HUSBANDS, BROTHERS, FATHERS, COUSINS, AND INNUMERABLE OTHER RELATIVES +AND CONNECTIONS, ALL READY WITH THE STILETTO. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. An Interruption. + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +DICK ON THE SICK LIST.--RAPTURE OF BUTTONS AT MAKING AN IMPORTANT +DISCOVERY. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Poor Dick! + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +WHAT KIND OF A LETTER THE SENATOR WROTE FOR THE "NEW ENGLAND PATRIOT," +WHICH SHOWS A TRITE, LIBERAL, UNBIASED, PLAIN, UNVARNISHED VIEW OF +ROME. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Sketches By A Friend. + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +THE LONELY ONE AND HIS COMFORTER.--THE TRUE MEDICINE FOR A SICK MAN. + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +OCCUPATIONS AND PEREGRINATIONS OF BUTTONS. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Buttons and Murray. + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +BUTTONS ACTS THE GOOD SAMARITAN, AND LITERALLY UNEARTHS A MOST +UNEXPECTED VICTIM OF AN ATROCIOUS ROBBERY.--GR-R-R-A-CIOUS ME! + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +ANOTHER DISCOVERY MADE BY BUTTONS. + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +[Transcriber's Note: Transliteration of Greek.] Brekekek koax koax +koax. [TN: /end Greek.] + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Brekekekek koax koax! + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + + +THE SENATOR PURSUES HIS INVESTIGATIONS.--AN INTELLIGENT ROMAN +TOUCHES A CHORD IN THE SENATOR'S HEART THAT VIBRATES.--RESULTS OF +THE VIBRATION.--A VISIT FROM THE ROMAN POLICE; AND THE GREAT RACE +DOWN THE CORSO BETWEEN THE SENATOR AND A ROMAN SPY.--GLEE OF THE +POPULACE!--HI! HI! + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Got You There!--Walking Spanish. + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + + +DICK MAKES ANOTHER EFFORT, AND BEGINS TO FEEL ENCOURAGED. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Dick Thinks It Over. The Senator In A Bad Fix.--The +Senator In A Worse Fix. + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + + +_ROME_.--_ANCIENT HISTORY_.--THE PREHISTORIC ERA.--CRITICAL +EXAMINATION OF NIEBUHR AND HIS SCHOOL.--THE EARLY HISTORY OF ROME +PLACED ON A RIGHT BASIS.--EXPLANATION OF HISTORY OF REPUBLIC. +--NAPOLEON'S "CAESAR."--THE IMPERIAL REGIME.--THE NORTHERN +BARBARIANS.--RISE OF THE PAPACY.--MEDIAEVAL ROME. + +_TOPOGRAPHY_.--TRUE ADJUSTMENT OF BOUNDS OF ANCIENT CITY.--ITS +PROBABLE POPULATION.--_GEOLOGY_.--EXAMINATION OF FORMATION.--TUFA +TRAVERTINE.--ROMAN CEMENT.--TERRA-COTTA. _SPECIAL CONSIDERATION OF +ROMAN CATACOMBS_.--BOSIO.--ARRINGHI.--CARDINAL WISEMAN.--RECENT +EXPLORATIONS, INVESTIGATIONS, EXAMINATIONS, EXHUMATIONS, AND +RESUSCITATIONS.--EARLY CHRISTIAN HISTORY SET ON A TRUE BASIS. +--RELICS.--MARTYRS.--REAL ORIGIN OF CATACOMBS.--TRUE AND RELIABLE +EXTENT (WITH MAPS). + +_REMARKS ON ART_.--THE RENAISSANCE.--THE EARLY PAINTERS: CIMABUE, +GIOTTO, PERUGINO, RAFAELLE SANZIO, MICHELANGELO BUONAROTTI.--THE +TRANSFIGURATION.--THE MOSES OF MICHELANGELO.--BELLINI.--SAINT +PETER'S, AND MORE PARTICULARLY THE COLONNADE.--THE LAST JUDGMENT. +--DANTE.--THE MEDIAEVAL SPIRIT.--EFFECT OF GOTHIC ART ON ITALY AND +ITALIAN TASTE.--COMPARISON, OF LOMBARD WITH SICILIAN CHURCHES.--TO +WHAT EXTENT ROME INFLUENCED THIS DEVELOPMENT.--THE FOSTERING SPIRIT +OF THE CHURCH.--ALL MODERN ART CHRISTIAN.--WHY THIS WAS A NECESSITY. +--FOLLIES OF MODERN CRITICS.--REYNOLDS AND RUSKIN.--HOW FAR POPULAR +TASTE IS WORTH ANY THING.--CONCLUDING REMARKS OF A MISCELLANEOUS +DESCRIPTION. + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +ITALIAN TRAVEL, ROADS, INNS.--A GRAND BREAKDOWN.--AN ARMY OF +BEGGARS.--SIX MEN HUNTING UP A CARRIAGE WHEEL; AND PLANS OF THE +SENATOR FOR THE GOOD OF ITALY. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Travelling In Italy.--The Senator's Escort. + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +TRIUMPHANT PROGRESS OF DICK.--GENDARMES FOILED.--THE DODGE CLUB +IS ATTACKED BY BRIGANDS, AND EVERY MAN OF IT COVERS HIMSELF WITH +GLORY.--SCREAM OF THE AMERICAN EAGLE! + + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Dick In His Glory.--Pietro.--The Barricade. + + +CHAPTER XL. + +PLEASANT MEDIATIONS ABOUT THE WONDERS OF TOBACCO; AND THREE PLEASANT +ANECDOTES BY AN ITALIAN BRIGAND. + + +CHAPTER XLI. + +FINAL ATTACK OF REINFORCEMENTS OF BRIGANDS.--THE DODGE CLUB DEFIES +THEM AND REPELS THEM.--HOW TO MAKE A BARRICADE.--FRATERNIZATION OF +AMERICAN EAGLE AND GALLIC COCK.--THERE'S NOTHING LIKE LEATHER. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. An International Affair. + + +CHAPTER XLII. + +FLORENCE.--DESPERATION OF BUTTONS, OF MR. FIGGS, AND OF THE DOCTOR. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Florence From San Miniato.--Pitti Palace.--Fountain Of +Neptune, Palazzo Vecchio.--The Duomo.--The Campanile.--Trozzi Palace. +--Buttons Melancholy. + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +THE SENATOR ENTRAPPED.--THE WILES AND WITCHERY OF A QUEEN OF SOCIETY. +--HIS FATE DESTINED TO BE, AS HE THINKS, ITALIAN COUNTESSES. +--SENTIMENTAL CONVERSATION.--POETRY.--BEAUTY.--MOONLIGHT.--RAPTURE. +--DISTRACTION.--BLISS! + +ILLUSTRATIONS. La Cica. + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + +"MORERE DIAGORA, NON ENIM IN COELUM ADSCENSURUS ES."--THE APOTHEOSIS +OF THE SENATOR (NOTHING LESS--IT WAS A MOMENT IN WHICH A MAN MIGHT +WISH TO DIE--THOUGH, OF COURSE, THE SENATOR DIDN'T DIE). + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Solferino!--The Senator Speaks. + + +CHAPTER XLV. + +THE PRIVATE OPINION OF THE DOCTOR ABOUT FOREIGN TRAVEL.--BUTTONS +STILL MEETS WITH AFFLICTIONS. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. A Grease Spot.--Farewell, Figgs! + + +CHAPTER XLVI. + +A MEMORABLE DRIVE.--NIGHT.--THE BRIGANDS ONCE MORE.--GARIBALDI'S +NAME.--THE FIRE.--THE IRON BAR.--THE MAN FROM THE GRANITE STATE +AND HIS TWO BOYS. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. In The Coach.--A Free Fight.--Don't Speak. + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + +BAD BRUISES, BUT GOOD MUSES.--THE HONORABLE SCABS OF DICK.--A +KNOWLEDGE OF BONES. + + +CHAPTER XLVIII. + +SUFFERING AND SENTIMENT AT BOLOGNA.--MOONSHINE.--BEST BALM FOR WOUNDS. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Used Up. + + +CHAPTER XLIX. + +CROSSING INTO THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY.--CONSTERNATION OF THE CUSTOM-HOUSE +OFFICERS. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Buttons In Bliss. + + +CHAPTER L. + +VENICE AND ITS PECULIAR GLORY.--THE DODGE CLUB COME TO GRIEF AT LAST. +--UP A TREE.--IN A NET, ETC. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Dick's Luggage.--Arrested.--Silence! + + +CHAPTER LI. + +THE AMERICAN EAGLE AND THE AUSTRIAN DOUBLE-HEADED DITTO. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Don't Try It On With Me. + + +CHAPTER LII. + +THE SENATOR STILL ENGAGED IN FACING DOWN THE AUSTRIAN.--THE AMERICAN +CONSUL.--UNEXPECTED RE-APPEARANCE OF FORGOTTEN THINGS.--COLLAPSE OF +THE COURT. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Watts Mis-spelled. + + +CHAPTER LIII. + +A MYSTERIOUS FLIGHT.--DESPAIR OF BUTTONS.--PURSUIT.--HISTORIC GROUND, +AND HISTORIC CITIES. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Formalities. + + +CHAPTER LIV. + +DICK MEETS AN OLD FRIEND.--THE EMOTIONAL NATURE OF THE ITALIAN. +--THE SENATOR OVERCOME AND DUMBFOUNDED. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. The Count Ugo. + + +CHAPTER LV. + +IN WHICH BUTTONS WRITES A LETTER; AND IN WHICH THE CLUB LOSES AN +IMPORTANT MEMBER.--SMALL BY DEGREES AND BEAUTIFULLY LESS. + + +CHAPTER LVI. + +THE FAITHFUL ONE!--DARTS, DISTRACTION, LOVE'S VOWS, OVERPOWERING +SCENE AT THE MEETING OF TWO FOND ONES.--COMPLETE BREAK-DOWN OF THE +HISTORIAN. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. The Door. + + +CHAPTER LVII. + +THE DODGE CLUB IN PARIS ONCE MORE.--BUTTONS'S "JOLLY GOOD HEALTH." + +ILLUSTRATIONS. He's A Jolly Good Fellow. + + + + +[Illustration: Dick!] + + +CHAPTER I. + + +PARIS.--THE DODGE CLUB.--HOW TO SPEAK FRENCH.--HOW TO RAISE A CROWD. + + +It is a glorious day in Paris. The whole city is out in the public +places, watching the departure of the army of Italy. Every imaginable +uniform, on foot and on horseback, enlivens the scene. Zouaves are +everywhere. Cent Gardes hurry to and fro, looking ferocious. Imperial +Gardes look magnificent. Innumerable little red-legged soldiers of the +line dance about, gesticulating vehemently. Grisettes hang about the +necks of departing braves. A great many tears are shed, and a great +deal of bombast uttered. For the invincible soldiers of France are off +to fight for an idea; and doesn't every one of them carry a marshal's +baton in his knapsack? + +A troop of Cent Gardes comes thundering down in a cloud of dust, +dashing the people right and left. Loud cheers arise: "Vive +l'Empereur!" The hoarse voices of myriads prolong the yell. It is Louis +Napoleon. He touches his hat gracefully to the crowd. + +A chasseur leaps into a cab. + +"Where shall I take you?" + +"To Glory!" shouts the soldier. + +The crowd applaud. The cabman drives off and don't want any further +direction. Here a big-bearded Zouave kisses his big-bearded brother in +a blouse. + +"Adieu, mon frère; write me." + +"Where shall I write?" + +"Direct to Vienna--_poste restante_." + +Every body laughs at every thing, and the crowd are quite wild at +this. + +A young man is perched upon a pillar near the garden wall of the +Tuileries. He enjoys the scene immensely. After a while he takes a +clay pipe from his pocket and slowly fills it. Having completed this +business he draws a match along the stone and is just about lighting +his pipe. + +"Halloo!" + +Down drops the lighted match on the neck of an _ouvrier_. It burns. +The man scowls up; but seeing the cause, smiles and waves his hand +forgivingly. + +"Dick!" + +At this a young man in the midst of the crowd stops and looks around. +He is a short young man, in whose face there is a strange mixture of +innocence and shrewdness. He is pulling a baby-carriage, containing a +small specimen of French nationality, and behind him walks a majestic +female. + +The young man Dick takes a quick survey and recognizes the person who +has called him. Down drops the pole of the carriage, and, to the +horror of the majestic female, he darts off, and, springing up the +pillar, grasps first the foot and then the hand of his friend. + +"Buttons!" he cried; "what, you! you here in Paris!" + +"I believe I am." + +"Why, when did you come?" + +"About a month ago." + +"I had no idea of it. I didn't know you were here." + +"And I didn't know that you were. I thought by this time that you were +in Italy. What has kept you here so long?" + +Dick looked confused. + +"Why the fact is, I am studying German." + +"German! in Paris! French, you mean." + +"No, German." + +"You're crazy; who with?" + +Dick nodded his head toward his late companion. + +"What, that woman? How she is scowling at us!" + +"Is she?" said Dick, with some trepidation. + +"Yes. But don't look. Have you been with her all the time?" + +"Yes, seven months." + +"Studying German!" cried Buttons, with a laugh. "Who is she?" + +"Madame Bang." + + +[Illustration: Here I Invite My Friends.] + + +"Bang? Well, Madame Bang must look out for another lodger. You must +come with me, young man. You need a guardian. It's well that I came in +time to rescue you. Let's be off!" + +And the two youths descended and were soon lost in the crowd. + + +*** + + +"Three flights of steps are bad enough; but great Heavens! what do you +mean by taking a fellow up to the eighth story?" + +Such was the exclamation of Dick as he fell exhausted into a seat in a +little room at the top of one of the tallest houses in Paris. + +"Economy, my dear boy." + +"Ehem!" + +"Paris is overflowing, and I could get no other place without paying +an enormous price. Now I am trying to husband my means." + +"I should think so." + +"I sleep here--" + +"And have plenty of bedfellows." + +"I eat here--" + +"The powers of the human stomach are astounding." + +"And here I invite my friends." + +"Friends only. I should think. Nothing but the truest friendship could +make a man hold out in such an ascent." + +"But come. What are your plans?" + +"I have none." + +"Then you must league yourself with me." + +"I shall be delighted." + +"And I'm going to Italy." + +"Then I'm afraid our league is already at an end." + +"Why?" + +"I haven't money enough." + +"How much have you?" + +"Only five hundred dollars; I've spent all the rest of my allowance." + +"Five hundred? Why, man, I have only four hundred." + +"What! and you're going to Italy?" + +"Certainly." + +"Then I'll go too and run the risk. But is this the style?" and Dick +looked dolefully around. + +"By no means--not always. But you must practice economy." + +"Have you any acquaintances?" + +"Yes, two. We three have formed ourselves into a society for the +purpose of going to Italy. We call ourselves the Dodge Club." + +"The Dodge Club?" + +"Yes. Because our principle is to dodge all humbugs and swindles, +which make travelling so expensive generally. We have gained much +experience already, and hope to gain more. One of my friends is a +doctor from Philadelphia, Doctor Snakeroot, and the other is +Senator Jones from Massachusetts. Neither the Doctor nor the Senator +understands a word of any language but the American. That is the +reason why I became acquainted with them. + +"First as to the Doctor, I picked him up at Dunkirk. It was in a café. +I was getting my modest breakfast when I saw him come in. He sat down +and boldly asked for coffee. After the usual delay the garçon brought +him a small cup filled with what looked like ink. On the waiter was a +cup of _eau de vie_, and a little plate containing several enormous +lumps of loaf-sugar. Never shall I forget the Doctor's face of +amazement. He looked at each article in succession. What was the ink +for? what the brandy? what the sugar? He did not know that the two +first when mixed makes the best drink in the world, and that the last +is intended for the pocket of the guest by force of a custom dear to +every Frenchman. To make a long story short, I explained to him the +mysteries of French coffee, and we became sworn friends. + +"My meeting with the Senator was under slightly different +circumstances. It was early in the morning. It was chilly. I was +walking briskly out of town. Suddenly I turned a corner and came upon +a crowd. They surrounded a tall man. He was an American, and appeared +to be insane. First he made gestures like a man hewing or chopping. +Then he drew his hand across his throat. Then he staggered forward and +pretended to fall. Then he groaned heavily. After which he raised +himself up and looked at the crowd with an air of mild inquiry. They +did not laugh. They did not even smile. They listened respectfully, +for they knew that the strange gentleman wished to express something. +On the whole, I think if I hadn't come up that the Senator would have +been arrested by a stiff gendarme who was just then coming along the +street. As it was, I arrived just in time to learn that he was anxious +to see the French mode of killing cattle, and was trying to find his way +to the abattoirs. The Senator is a fine man, but eminently practical. He +used to think the French language an accomplishment only. He has +changed his mind since his arrival here. He has one little +peculiarity, and that is, to bawl broken English at the top of his +voice when he wants to communicate with foreigners." + + +[Illustration: The Club.] + + +Not long afterward the Dodge Club received a new member in the person +of Mr. Dick Whiffletree. The introduction took place in a modest café, +where a dinner of six courses was supplied for the ridiculous sum of +one franc--soup, a roast, a fry, a bake, a fish, a pie, bread at +discretion, and a glass of vinegar generously thrown in. + +At one end of the table sat the Senator, a very large and muscular +man, with iron-gray hair, and features that were very strongly marked +and very strongly American. He appeared to be about fifty years of +age. At the other sat the Doctor, a slender young man in black. On +one side sat Buttons, and opposite to him was Dick. + +"Buttons," said the Senator, "were you out yesterday?" + +"I was." + +"It was a powerful crowd." + +"Rather large." + +"It was immense. I never before had any idea of the population of +Paris. New York isn't to be compared to it." + +"As to crowds, that is nothing uncommon in Paris. Set a rat loose in +the Champs Elysées, and I bet ten thousand people will be after it in +five minutes." + +"Sho!" + +"Any thing will raise a crowd in Paris." + +"It will be a small one, then." + +"My dear Senator, in an hour from this I'll engage myself to raise as +large a crowd as the one you saw yesterday." + +"My dear Buttons, you look like it." + +"Will you bet?" + +"Bet? Are you in earnest?" + +"Never more so." + +"But there is an immense crowd outside already." + +"Then let the scene of my trial be in a less crowded place--the Place +Vendôme, for instance." + +"Name the conditions." + +"In an hour from this I engage to fill the Place Vendôme with people. +Whoever fails forfeits a dinner to the Club." + +The eyes of Dick and the Doctor sparkled. + +"Done!" said the Senator. + +"All that you have to do," said Buttons, "is to go to the top of the +Colonne Vendôme and wave your hat three times when you want me to +begin." + +"I'll do that. But it's wrong," said the Senator. "It's taking money +from you. You must lose." + +"Oh, don't be alarmed," said Buttons, cheerfully. + +The Dodge Club left for the Place Vendôme, and the Senator, separating +himself from his companions, began the ascent. Buttons left his +friends at a corner to see the result, and walked quickly down a +neighboring street. + + +[Illustration: The Place Vendôme.] + + +Dick noticed that every one whom he met stopped, stared, and then +walked quickly forward, looking up at the column. These people +accosted others, who did the same. In a few minutes many hundreds of +people were looking up and exchanging glances with one another. + +In a short time Buttons had completed the circuit of the block, and +re-entered the Place by another street. He was running at a quick +pace, and, at a moderate calculation, about two thousand _gamins de +Paris_ ran before, beside, and behind him. Gens d'armes caught the +excitement, and rushed frantically about. Soldiers called to one +another, and tore across the square gesticulating and shouting. +Carriages stopped; the occupants stared up at the column; horsemen +drew up their rearing horses; dogs barked; children screamed; up +flew a thousand windows, out of which five thousand heads were thrust. + +At the end of twenty minutes, after a very laborious journey, the +Senator reached the top of the column. He looked down. A cry of +amazement burst from him. The immense Place Vendôme was crammed with +human beings. Innumerable upturned faces were staring at the startled +Senator. All around, the lofty houses sent all their inmates to the +open window, through which they looked up. The very house-tops were +crowded. Away down all the streets which led to the Place crowds of +human beings poured along. + +"Well," muttered the Senator, "it's evident that Buttons understands +these Frenchmen. However, I must perform my part, so here goes." + +And the Senator, majestically removing his hat, waved it slowly around +his head seven times. At the seventh whirl his fingers slipped, and a +great gust of wind caught the hat and blew it far out into the air. + +It fell. + +A deep groan of horror burst forth from the multitude, so deep, so +long, so terrible that the Senator turned pale. + +A hundred thousand heads upturned; two hundred thousand arms waved +furiously in the air. The tide of new-comers flowing up the other +streets filled the Place to overflowing; and the vast host of people +swayed to and fro, agitated by a thousand passions. All this was the +work of but a short time. + +"Come," said the Senator, "this is getting beyond a joke." + +There was a sudden movement among the people at the foot of the +column. The Senator leaned over to see what it was. + +At once a great cry came up, like the thunder of a cataract, +warningly, imperiously, terribly. The Senator drew back confounded. + +Suddenly he advanced again. He shook his head deprecatingly, and waved +his arms as if to disclaim any evil motives which they might impute to +him. But they did not comprehend him. Scores of stiff gens d'armes, +hundreds of little soldiers, stopped in their rush to the foot of the +column to shake their fists and scream at him. + +"Now if I only understood their doosid lingo," thought the Senator. +"But"--after a pause--"it wouldn't be of no account up here. And what +an awkward fix," he added, "for the father of a family to stand +hatless on the top of a pillory like this! Sho!" + +There came a deep rumble from the hollow stairway beneath him, which +grew nearer and louder every moment. + +"Somebody's coming," said the Senator. "Wa'al, I'm glad. Misery loves +company. Perhaps I can purchase a hat." + +In five minutes more the heads of twenty gens d'armes shot up through +the opening in the top of the pillar, one after another, and reminded +the Senator of the "Jump-up-Johnnies" in children's toys. Six of them +seized him and made him prisoner. + +The indignant Senator remonstrated, and informed them that he was an +American citizen. + +His remark made no impression. They did not understand English. + +The Senator's wrath made his hair fairly bristle. He contented +himself, however, with drawing up the programme of an immediate war +between France and the Great Republic. + +It took an hour for the column to get emptied. It was choked with +people rushing up. Seven gentlemen fainted, and three escaped with +badly sprained limbs. During this time the Senator remained in the +custody of his captors. + +At last the column was cleared. + +The prisoner was taken down and placed in a cab. He saw the dense crowd +and heard the mighty murmurs of the people. + +He was driven away for an immense distance. It seemed miles. + +At last the black walls of a huge edifice rose before him. The cab +drove under a dark archway. The Senator thought of the dungeons of the +Inquisition, and other Old World horrors of which he had heard in his +boyhood. + + +*** + + +So the Senator had to give the dinner. The Club enjoyed it amazingly. + +Almost at the moment of his entrance Buttons had arrived, arm in arm +with the American minister, whose representations and explanations +procured the Senator's release. + +"I wouldn't have minded it so much," said the Senator, from whose +manly bosom the last trace of vexation had fled, "if it hadn't been +for that darned policeman that collared me first. What a Providence +it was that I didn't knock him down! Who do you think he was?" + +"Who?" + +"The very man that was going to arrest me the other day when I was +trying to find my way to the slaughter-house. That man is my evil +genius. I will leave Paris before another day." + +"The loss of your hat completed my plans," said Buttons. "Was that +done on purpose? Did you throw it down for the sake of saying 'Take +my hat?'" + +"No. It was the wind," said the Senator, innocently. "But how did you +manage to raise the crowd? You haven't told us that yet." + +"How? In the simplest way possible. I told every soul I met that a +crazy man was going up the Colonne Vendôme to throw himself down." + +A light burst in upon the Senator's soul. He raised his new hat from a +chair, and placing it before Buttons, said fervently and with unction: + +"Keep it, Buttons!" + + +[Illustration: Keep It Buttons!] + + + + +[Illustration: That's A Hotel Bill.] + + +CHAPTER II. + + +ORLEANS.--HOW TO QUELL A LANDLORD.--HOW TO FIGHT OFF HUMBUGS; AND HOW +TO TRAVEL WITHOUT BAGGAGE. + +A tremendous uproar in the hall of a hotel at Orleans awaked every +member of the Dodge Club from the sound and refreshing slumber into +which they had fallen after a fatiguing journey from Paris. + +Filing out into the hall one after another they beheld a singular +spectacle. + +It was a fat man, bald-headed, middle-aged, with a well-to-do look, +that burst upon their sight. + +He was standing in the hall with flushed face and stocking feet, +swearing most frightfully. A crowd of waiters stood around shrugging +their shoulders, and trying to soothe him. As the fat man spoke +English, and the waiters French, there was a little misapprehension. + +"There, gentlemen," cried the fat man, as he caught sight of our four +friends, "look at that! What do you call that?" + +"That?" said Buttons, taking a paper which the fat man thrust in his +face, "why, that's a hotel bill." + +"A hotel bill? Why it's an imposition!" cried the other excitedly. + +"Perhaps it is," said Buttons, coolly. + +"Of course it is! Read it out loud, and let these gentlemen see what +they think of it." + +"I'll read it in English," said Buttons, "for the benefit of the +Club:" + + +Mister Blank, + +To the Hotel du Roi: + + +One dinner..........3 francs. +Six porters.........6 francs. +One cab.............2 francs. +One do..............2 francs. +One information.....5 francs. +Wine................5 francs. +Tobacco............ 2 francs. +One bed.............5 francs. +One boots...........1 francs. +One candle..........1 francs. +One candle..........1 francs. +One candle..........1 francs. +One candle..........1 francs. +============================= + 35 francs. + + +"By Jove! Thirty-five francs! My dear Sir. I quite agree with you. +It's an imposition." + +A deep sigh expressed the relief of the fat man at this mark of +sympathy. + +"There's no redress," said Buttons. "You'll have to grin and bear it. +For you must know that in these inland towns hotel-keepers are in +league, offensive and defensive, with all the cab-drivers, +omnibus-drivers, postillions, truckmen, hostlers, porters, +errand-boys, café-keepers, cicerones, tradesmen, lawyers, +chambermaids, doctors, priests, soldiers, gens d'armes, magistrates, +etc., etc., etc. In short, the whole community is a joint-stock +company organized to plunder the unsuspecting traveller." + +"And must I stand here and be swindled without a word?" cried the +other. + +"By no means. Row like fury. Call up the whole household one by one, +and swear at them in broad Saxon. That's the way to strike terror into +the soul of a Frenchman." + +The fat man stared for a moment at Buttons, and then plunging his +hands deep into his trowsers pockets he walked up and down the hall. + +At last he turned to the others: "Gentlemen, is this endurable?" + +"Horrible!" cried Dick. + +"Abominable!" the Doctor. + +"Infamous!" the Senator. + +"By jingo! I've a great mind to go home. If I've pot to be plundered, +I'd a durned sight rather have my money go to support our own great +and glorious institutions." + +There is no doubt that the unfortunate man would have had to pay up if +it bad not been for the energetic action of Buttons. + +He summoned the hotel-keeper before him, and closing the door, asked +his friends to sit down. + +Then Buttons, standing up, began to repeat to the hotel-keeper, +smilingly, but with extraordinary volubility, Daniel Webster's oration +against Hayne. The polite Frenchman would not interrupt him, but +listened with a bland though somewhat dubious smile. + +The Dodge Club did infinite credit to themselves by listening without +a smile to the words of their leader. + +Buttons then went through the proposition about the hypothenuse of a +right-angled triangle, and appended the words of a few negro songs. + +Here the worthy landlord interrupted him, begging his pardon, and +telling him that he did not understand English very well, and could +his Excellency speak French? + +His Excellency, with equal politeness, regretted his want of complete +familiarity with French. He was forced when he felt deeply on any +subject to express himself in English. + +Then followed Cicero's oration against Verres, and he was just +beginning a speech of Chatham's when the landlord surrendered at +discretion. + +When, after the lapse of three hours and twenty-five minutes, the fat +man held his bill toward him, and Buttons offered five francs, he did +not even remonstrate, but took the money, and hastily receipting the +bill with his pencil, darted from the room. + +"Well," exclaimed the Senator, when he had recovered from the effects +of the scene--"I never before realized the truth of a story I once +heard." + +"What was the story?" + +"Oh, it was about a bet between a Yankee and a Frenchman, who could +talk the longest. The two were shut up in a room. They remained there +three days. At the end of that time their friends broke open the door +and entered, and what do you think they found there?" + +"Nobody?" suggested the fat man. + +"No," said the Senator, with a glow of patriotic pride on his fine +face. "But they found the Frenchman lying dead upon the floor, and the +Yankee whispering in his ear the beginning of the second part of the +Higgins story." + +"And what is the Higgins story?" + +"For Heaven's sake," gasped the Doctor, starting up, "don't ask him +now--wait till next week!" + +As they passed over the Mountains of Auvergne a new member was added +to the Dodge Club. + +It was the fat man. + +He was President of a Western bank. + +His name was Figgs. + + +*** + + +It was a damp, dull, dreary, drenching night, when the lumbering +diligence bore the Dodge Club through the streets of Lyons and up to +the door of their hotel. Seventeen men and five small boys stood +bowing ready to receive them. + +The Senator, Buttons, and Dick took the small valises which contained +their travelling apparel, and dashed through the line of servitors +into the house. The Doctor walked after, serenely and majestically. +He had no baggage. Mr. Figgs descended from the roof with considerable +difficulty. Slipping from the wheel, he fell into the outstretched +arms of three waiters. They put him on his feet. + +His luggage was soon ready. + +Mr. Figgs had two trunks and various other articles. Of these trunks +seven waiters took one, and four the other. Then + + +Waiter No. 12 took hat-box; +Waiter No. 13 took travelling desk; +Waiter No. 14 took Scotch plaid; +Waiter No. 15 took over-coat; +Waiter No. 16 took umbrella; +Waiter No. 17 took rubber coat; +Boy No. 1 took cane; +Boy No. 2 took muffler; +Boy No. 3 took one of his mittens; +Boy No. 4 took the other; +Boy No. 5 took cigar-case. + + +After a long and laborious dinner they rose and smoked. + + +[Illustration: Cicero Against Verres.] + + +[Illustration: Sac-r-r-r-ré.] + + +The head waiter informed Mr. Figgs that with his permission a +deputation would wait on him. Mr. Figgs was surprised but +graciously invited the deputation to walk in. They accordingly +walked in. Seventeen men and five boys. + +"What did they want?" + +"Oh, only a _pourboire_ with which to drink his Excellency's +noble health." + +"Really they did his Excellency too much honor. Were they not +mistaken in their man?" + +"Oh no. They had carried his luggage into the hotel." + +Upon this Mr. Figgs gave strong proof of poor moral training, by +breaking out into a volley of Western oaths, which shocked one +half of the deputation, and made the other half grin. + +Still they continued respectful but firm, and reiterated their +demand. + +Mr. Figgs called for the landlord. That gentleman was in bed. +For his wife. She did not attend to the business. For the head +waiter. The spokesman of the deputation, with a polite bow, +informed him that the head waiter stood before him and was quite +at his service. + +The scene was ended by the sudden entrance of Buttons, who, +motioning to Mr. Figgs, proceeded to give each waiter a douceur. +One after another took the proffered coin, and without looking +at it, thanked the generous donor with a profusion of bows. + +Five minutes after the retreating form of Buttons had vanished +through the door, twenty-persons, consisting of men and boys, +stood staring at one another in blank amazement. + +Anger followed; then +sac-r-r-r-_r-r-r_-R-R-R-_R-Ré_! + +He had given each one a _centime_. + +But the customs of the hotel were not to be changed by the shabby +conduct of one mean-minded person. When the Club prepared to retire +for the night they were taken to some rooms opening in to each other. +Five waiters led the way; one waiter to each man, and each carried a +pair of tall wax-candles. Mr. Figgs's waiter took him to his room, +laid down the lights, and departed. + +The doors which connected the rooms were all opened, and Mr. +Figgs walked through to see about something. He saw the Doctor, +the Senator, Buttons, and Dick, each draw the short, well-used +stump of a wax-candle from his coat pocket and gravely light it. +Then letting the melted wax fall on the mantle-pieces they stuck +their candles there, and in a short time the rooms were +brilliantly illuminated. + +The waiters were thunderstruck. Such a procedure had never come +within the compass of their experience of the ways of travellers. + +"Bonsoir," said Buttons. "Don't let us detain you." + +They went out stupefied. + +"What's the idea now?" inquired Mr. Figgs. + +"Oh. They charge a franc apiece for each candle, and that is a +swindle which we will not submit to." + +"And will I have to be humbugged again?" + +"Certainly." + +"Botheration." + +"My dear Sir, the swindle of bougies is the curse of the +Continental traveller. None of us are particularly prudent, but +we are all on the watch against small swindles, and of them all +this is the most frequent and most insidious, the most constantly +and ever recurrent. Beware, my dear President, of bougies--that's +what we call candles." + +Mr. Figgs said nothing, but leaned against the wall for a moment +in a meditative mood, as if debating what he should do next. + +He happened to be in the Doctor's room. He had already noticed +that this gentleman had no perceptible baggage, and didn't +understand it. + +But now he saw it all. + +The Doctor began gravely to make preparations for the night. + +Before taking off his over-coat he drew various articles from +the pockets, among which were: + + +A hair-brush, +A tooth-brush, +A shoe-brush, +A pot of blacking, +A night-shirt, +A clothes-broth, +A pipe, +A pouch of tobacco, +A razor, +A shaving-brush, +A piece of soap, +A night-cap, +A bottle of hair-oil, +A pistol, +A guide-book, +A cigar-case, +A bowie-knife, +A piece of cord, +A handkerchief, +A case of surgical instruments, +Some bits of candles. + + +Mr. Figgs rushed from the room. + + + + +[Illustration: Number 729.] + + +CHAPTER III. + + +THE RHONE IN A RAIN.--THE MAD FRENCHMAN.--SUICIDE A CAPITAL +CRIME IN FRANCE. + + +The steamboats that run on the Rhone are very remarkable +contrivances. Their builders have only aimed at combining a +maximum of length with a minimum of other qualities, so that +each boat displays an incredible extent of deck with no +particular breadth at all. Five gentlemen took refuge in the +cabin of the _Etoile_, from the drenching rain which fell during +half of their voyage. This was an absurd vessel, that made trips +between Lyons and Avignon. Her accommodations resembled those of +a canal boat, and she was propelled by a couple of paddle-wheels +driven by a Lilliputian engine. It was easy enough for her to go +down the river, as the current took the responsibility of moving +her along; but how she could ever get back it was difficult to +tell. + +They were borne onward through some of the fairest scenes on +earth. Ruined towers, ivy-covered castles, thunder-blasted +heights, fertile valleys, luxuriant orchards, terraced slopes, +trellised vineyards, broad plains, bounded by distant mountains, +whose summits were lost in the clouds; such were the successive +charms of the region through which they were passing. Yet though +they were most eloquently described in the letters which Buttons +wrote home to his friends, it must be confessed that they made +but little impression at the time, and indeed were scarcely seen +at all through the vapor-covered cabin windows. + +Avignon did not excite their enthusiasm. In vain the guide-book +told them about Petrarch and Laura. The usual raptures were not +forthcoming. In vain the cicerone led them through the old papal +palace. Its sombre walls awakened no emotion. The only effect +produced was on the Senator, who whiled away the hours of early +bed-time by pointing out the superiority of American institutions +to those which reared the prisons which they had visited. + +Arles was much more satisfactory. There are more pretty women in +Arles than in any other town of the same size on the Continent. +The Club created an unusual excitement in this peaceful town by +walking slowly through it in Indian file, narrowly scrutinizing +every thing. They wondered much at the numbers of people that +filled the cathedral, all gayly dressed. It was not until after +a long calculation that they found out that it was Sunday. +Buttons kept his memorandum-book in his hand all day, and took +account of all the pretty women whom he saw. The number rose as +high as 729. He would have raised it higher, but unfortunately +an indignant citizen put a stop to it by charging him with +impertinence to his wife. + +On the railroad to Marseilles is a famous tunnel. At the last +station before entering the tunnel a gentleman got in. As they +passed through the long and gloomy place there suddenly arose a +most outrageous noise in the car. + +It was the new passenger. + +Occasionally the light shining in would disclose him, dancing, +stamping, tearing his hair, rolling his eyes, gnashing his +teeth, and cursing. + +"Is he crazy?" said Dick. + +"Or drunk?" said Buttons. + +Lo and behold! just as the train emerged from the tunnel the +passenger made a frantic dash at the window, flung it open, and +before any body could speak or move he was half out. + +To spring over half a dozen seats, to land behind him, to seize +his outstretched leg, to jerk him in again, was but the work of +a moment. It was Buttons who did this, and who banged down the +window again. + +"Sac-r-r-R-R-Ré!" cried the Frenchman. + +"Is it that you are mad?" said Buttons. + +"Sacré Bleu!" cried the other. "Who are you that lays hands on me?" + +"I saved you from destruction." + +"Then, Sir, you have no thanks. Behold me, I'm a desperate man!" + +In truth he looked like one. His clothes were all disordered. +His lips were bleeding, and most of his hair was torn out. By +this time the guard had come to the spot. All those in the car +had gathered round. It was a long car, second-class, like the +American. + +"M'sieu, how is this? What is it that I see? You endeavor to +kill yourself?" + +"Leave me. I am desperate." + +"But no. M'sieu, what is it?" + +"Listen. I enter the train thinking to go to Avignon. I have +important business there, most important. Suddenly I am struck by a +thought. I find I have mistaken. I am carried to Marseilles. It is +the express train, and I must go all the way. Horror! Despair! Life is +of no use! It is time to resign, it! I die! Accordingly I attempt to +leap from the window, when this gentleman seizes me by the leg and +pulls me in. Behold all." + +"M'sieu," said the guard, slowly, and with emphasis, "you have +committed a grave offense. Suicide is a capital crime." + +"A capital crime!" exclaimed the Frenchman, turning pale. "Great +Heaven!" + +"Yes, Sir. If you leap from the car I shall put you in irons, and hand +you over to the police when we stop." + +The Frenchman's pale face grew paler. He became humble. He entreated +the guard's compassion. He begged Buttons to intercede. He had a +family. Moreover he had fought in the wars of his country. He had +warred in Africa. He appealed to the Senator, the Doctor, to Figgs, +to Dick. Finally he became calm, and the train shortly after arrived +at Marseilles. + +The last that was seen of him he was rushing frantically about looking +for the return train. + + +[Illustration: Horror! Despair!] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +MARSEILLES. + + +Old Massilia wears her years well. To look at her now as she appears, +full of life and joy and gayety, no one would imagine that thirty +centuries or more had passed over her head. + +Here is the first glimpse of the glorious South, with all its sunshine +and luxury and voluptuous beauty. Here the Mediterranean rolls its +waters of deepest blue, through the clear air the landscape appears +with astonishing distinctness, and the sharply-defined lines of +distinct objects surprise the Northern eye. Marseilles is always a +picturesque city. No commercial town in the world can compare with it +in this respect. On the water float the Mediterranean craft, rakish +boats, with enormous latteen sails; long, low, sharp, black vessels, +with a suspicious air redolent of smuggling and piracy. No tides +rise and fall--advance and retreat. The waters are always the same. + +All the Mediterranean nations are represented in Marseilles. +Three-quarters of the world send their people here. Europe, Asia, +Africa. In the streets the Syrian jostles the Spaniard; the Italian +the Arab; the Moor jokes with the Jew; the Greek chaffers with the +Algerine; the Turk scowls at the Corsican; the Russian from Odessa +pokes the Maltese in the ribs. There is no want of variety here. +Human nature is seen under a thousand aspects. Marseilles is the most +cosmopolitan of cities, and represents not only many races but many +ages. + +Moreover it is a fast city. New York is not more ambitions; Chicago +not more aspiring; San Francisco not more confident in its future. +Amazing sight! Here is a city which, at the end of three thousand +years, looks forward to a longer and grander life in the future. + +And why? + +Why, because she expects yet to be the arbiter of Eastern commerce. +Through her the gold, the spices, and the gems of India will yet be +conveyed over the European world. For the Suez Canal, which will once +more turn the tide of this mighty traffic through its ancient +Mediterranean channel, will raise Marseilles to the foremost rank +among cities. + +So, at least, the Marseillaise believe. When our travellers arrived +there the city was crammed with soldiers. The harbor was packed with +steamships. Guns were thundering, bands playing, fifes screaming, +muskets rattling, regiments tramping, cavalry galloping. Confusion +reigned supreme. Every thing was out of order. No one spoke or thought +of any thing but the coming war in Lombardy. + +Excitable little red-legged French soldiers danced about everywhere. +Every one was beside himself. None could use the plain language of +every-day life. All were intoxicated with hope and enthusiasm. + +The travellers admired immensely the exciting scene, but their +admiration was changed to disgust when they found that on account +of the rush of soldiers to Italy their own prospects of getting there +were extremely slight. + +At length they found that a steamer was going. It was a propeller. +Its name was the _Prince_. The enterprising company that owned her +had patriotically chartered every boat on their line to the +Government at an enormous profit, and had placed the _Prince_ on the +line for the use of travellers. + + + + +[Illustration: Those Italians.] + + +CHAPTER V. + + +THE RETIRED ORGAN-GRINDER.--THE SENATOR PHILOSOPHIZES.--EVILS OF NOT +HAVING A PASSPORT. + + +The Mediterranean is the most glorious of seas. The dark-blue waves; +the skies of darker blue; the distant hills of purple, with their +crowns of everlasting snow; and the beetling precipice, where the +vexed waters forever throw up their foaming spray; the frequent +hamlets that nestle among them, the castles and towers that crown the +lofty heights; and the road that winds tortuously along the shore--all +these form a scene in which beauty more romantic than that of the +Rhine is contrasted with all the grandeur of the ocean. + +Buttons, with his usual flexible and easy disposition, made the +acquaintance of a couple of Italians who had been away from Italy +and were now returning. They were travelling second-class. + +Buttons supposed they were glad to get back. + +"Glad? Did he doubt it? Why, they were Italians." + +"Are Italians fonder of their country than others?" + +"Without doubt. Had they not the best reason to be?" + +"Why?" + +"They had the garden and pride of the world for their country. +Mention any other in the same breath with Italy." + +"If they love it so much why can they not keep it for themselves?" + +"How can you ask that? If you know the history of the country you will +see that it has been impossible. No other was ever so beset. It is +split up into different States. It is surrounded by powerful enemies +who take advantage of this. It would not be so bad if there were only +one foreign foe; but there are many, and if one were driven out another +would step in." + +"There will be a chance for them now to show what they can do." + +"True; and you will see what they will do. They only want the French +to open the way. We Italians can do the rest ourselves. It is a good +time to go to Italy. You will see devotion and patriotism such as you +never saw before. There is no country so beloved as Italy." + +"I think other nations are as patriotic." + +"Other nations! What nations? Do you know that the Italians can not +leave Italy? It is this love that keeps them home. French, Germans, +Spaniards, Portuguese, English--all others leave their homes, and +go all over the world to live. Italians can not and do not." + +"I have seen Italians in America." + +"You have seen Italian exiles, not emigrants. Or you have seen them +staying there for a few years so as to earn a little money to go back +with. They are only travellers on business. They are always unhappy, +and are always cheered by the prospect of getting home at last." + +These Italians were brothers, and from experience in the world had +grown very intelligent. One had been in the hand-organ business, +the other in the image-making line. Italians can do nothing else +in the bustling communities of foreign nations. Buttons looked with +respect upon those men who thus had carried their lore for their +dear Art for years through strange lands and uncongenial climes. + +"If I were an Italian I too would be an organ-grinder!" he at length +exclaimed. + +The Italians did not reply, but evidently thought that Buttons could +not be in a better business. + +"These _I_talians," said the Senator, to whom Buttons had told +the conversation--"these _I_talians," said he, after they had gone, +"air a singular people. They're deficient. They're wanting in the +leading element of the age. They haven't got any idee of the principle +of pro-gress. They don't understand trade. There's where they miss it. +What's the use of hand-organs? What's the use of dancers? What's the +use of statoos, whether plaster images or marble sculptoor? Can they +clear forests or build up States? No, Sir; and therefore I say that +this _I_talian nation will never be wuth a cuss until they are +inoculated with the spirit of Seventy-six, the principles of the +Pilgrim Fathers, and the doctrines of the Revolution. Boney knows it" +--he added, sententiously--"bless you, Boney knows it." + +After a sound sleep, which lasted until late in the following day, +they went out on deck. + +There lay Genoa. + +Glorious sight! As they stood looking at the superb city the sun +poured down upon the scene his brightest rays. The city rose in +successive terraces on the side of a semicircular slope crowned with +massive edifices; moles projected into the harbor terminated by lofty +towers; the inner basin was crowded with shipping, prominent among +which were countless French ships of war and transports. The yells of +fifes, the throbbing of drums, the bang of muskets, the thunder of +cannon, and the strains of martial music filled die air. Boats crowded +with soldiers constantly passed from the ship to the stone quays, +where thousands more waited to receive them--soldiers being mixed up +with guns, cannons, wheels, muskets, drums, baggage, sails, beams, +timbers, camps, mattresses, casks, boxes, irons, in infinite +confusion. + +"We must go ashore here," said Buttons. "Does any body know how long +the steamer will remain here?" + +"A day." + +"A day! That will be magnificent! We will be able to see the whole +city in that time. Let's go and order a boat off." + +The Captain received them politely. + +"What did Messieurs want? To go ashore? With the utmost pleasure. Had +they their passports? Of course they had them _viséd_ in Marseilles +for Genoa." + +Buttons looked blank, and feebly inquired: + +"Why?" + +"It's the law, Monsieur. We are prohibited from permitting passengers +to go ashore unless their passports are all right. It's a mere form." + +"A mere form!" cried Buttons. "Why, ours are _viséd_ for Naples." + +"Naples!" cried the Captain, with a shrug; "you are unfortunate, +Messieurs. That will not pass you to Genoa." + +"My dear Sir, you don't mean to tell me that, on account of this +little informality, you will keep us prisoners on board of this +vessel? Consider--" + +"Monsieur," said the Captain, courteously, "I did not make these +laws. It is the law; I can not change it. I should be most happy +to oblige you, but I ask you, how is it possible?" + +The Captain was right. He could do nothing. The travellers would +have to swallow their rage. + + +[Illustration: Genoa, The Superb.] + + +Imagine them looking all day at the loveliest of Italian scenes-- +the glorious city of Genoa, with all its historic associations!-- +the city of the Dorias, the home of Columbus, even now the scene +of events upon which the eyes of all the world were fastened. + +Imagine them looking upon all this, and only looking, unable to go +near; seeing all the preparations for war, but unable to mingle with +the warriors. To pace up and down all day; to shake their fists at the +scene; to fret, and fume, and chafe with irrepressible impatience; to +scold, to rave, to swear--this was the lot of the unhappy tourists. + +High in the startled heavens rose the thunder of preparations for the +war in Lombardy. They heard the sounds, but could not watch the scene +near at hand. + +The day was as long as an ordinary week, but at length it came to an +end. On the following morning steam was got up, and they went to +Leghorn. + +"I suppose they will play the same game on us at Leghorn," said Dick, +mournfully. + +"Without doubt," said Buttons. "But I don't mind; the bitterness of +Death is past. I can stand any thing now." + +Again the same tantalizing view of a great city from afar. Leghorn lay +inviting them, but the unlucky passport kept them on board of the +vessel. The Senator grew impatient, Mr. Figgs and the Doctor were +testy; Dick and Buttons alone were calm. It was the calmness of +despair. + +After watching Leghorn for hours they were taken to Civita Vecchia. +Here they rushed down below, and during the short period of their stay +remained invisible. + +At last their voyage ended, and they entered the harbor of Naples. +Glorious Naples! Naples the captivating! + +"_Vede Napoli_, _e poi mori_!" + +There was the Bay of Naples--the matchless, the peerless, the +indescribable! There the rock of Ischia, the Isle of Capri, there the +slopes of Sorrento, where never-ending spring abides; there the long +sweep of Naples and her sister cities; there Vesuvius, with its thin +volume of smoke floating like a pennon in the air! + + + + +[Illustration. Their Noble Excellencies.] + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +LAZARONI AND MACARONI. + + +About forty or fifty lazaroni surrounded the Dodge Club when they +landed, but to their intense disgust the latter ignored them +altogether, and carried their own umbrellas and carpet-bags. But the +lazaroni revenged themselves. As the Doctor stooped to pick up his +cane, which had fallen, a number of articles dropped from his +breast-pocket, and among them was a revolver, a thing which was +tabooed in Naples. A ragged rascal eagerly snatched it and handed it +to a gendarme, and it was only after paying a piastre that the Doctor +was permitted to retain it. + +Even after the travellers had started on foot in search of lodgings +the lazaroni did not desert them. Ten of them followed everywhere. +At intervals they respectfully offered to carry their baggage, or show +them to a hotel, whichever was most agreeable to their Noble +Excellencies. + +Their Noble Excellencies were in despair. At length, stumbling upon +The Café dell' Europa, they rushed in and passed three hours over +their breakfast. This done, they congratulated themselves on. Having +got rid of their followers. + +In vain! + +Scarcely had they emerged from the café than Dick uttered a cry of +horror. From behind a corner advanced their ten friends, with the +same calm demeanor, the game unruffled and even cheerful patience, +and the same respectful offer of their humble services. + +In despair they separated. Buttons and Dick obtained lodgings in the +Strada di San Bartollomeo. The Senator and the other two engaged +pleasant rooms on the Strada Nuova, which overlooked the Bay. + +Certainly Naples is a very curious place. There are magnificent +edifices--palaces, monuments, castles, fortresses, churches, and +cathedrals. There are majestic rows of buildings; gay shops, +splendidly decorated; stately colonnades, and gardens like Paradise. +There are streets unrivalled for gayety, forever filled to overflowing +with the busy, the laughing, the jolly; dashing officers, noisy +soldiers, ragged lazaroni, proud nobles, sickly beggars, lovely +ladies; troops of cavalry galloping up and down; ten thousand caleches +dashing to and fro. There is variety enough everywhere. + +All the trades are divided, and arranged in different parts of the +city. Here are the locksmiths, there the cabinet-makers; here the +builders, there the armorers; in this place the basket-weavers, in +that the cork-makers. + +And most amusing of all is the street most favored of the lazaroni. +Here they live, and move, and have their being; here they are born, +they grow, they wed, they rear families, they eat, and drink, and die. +A long array of furnaces extends up the street; over each is a +stew-pan, and behind each a cook armed with an enormous ladle. At all +hours of the day the cook serves up macaroni to customers. This is the +diet of the people. + +In the cellars behind those lines of stew-pans are the eating-houses +of the vulgar--low, grimy places, floors incrusted with mud, tables of +thick deal worn by a thousand horny hands, slippery with ten thousand +upset dishes of macaroni. Here the pewter plates, and the iron knives, +forks, and spoons are chained to the massive tables. How utter must +the destitution be when it is thought necessary to chain up such +worthless trash! + +Into one of these places went Buttons and Dick in their study of human +nature. They sat at the table. A huge dish of macaroni was served up. +Fifty guests stopped to look at the new-comers. The waiters winked at +the customers of the house, and thrust their tongues in their cheeks. + + +[Illustration: Lazaroni And Macaroni.] + + +Dick could not eat, but the more philosophical Buttons made an +extremely hearty meal, and pronounced the macaroni delicious. + +On landing in a city which swarmed with beggars the first thought of +our tourists was, How the mischief do they all live? There are sixty +thousand lazaroni in this gay city. The average amount of clothing to +each man is about one-third of a pair of trowsers and a woolen cap. +But after spending a day or two the question changed its form, and +became, How the mischief can they all help living? Food may be picked +up in the streets. Handfuls of oranges and other fruits sell for next +to nothing; strings of figs cost about a cent. + +The consequence is that these sixty thousand people, fellow-creatures +of ours, who are known as the lazaroni of Naples, whom we half pity +and altogether despise, and look upon as lowest members of the +Caucasian race, are not altogether very miserable. On the contrary, +taken as a whole, they form the oiliest, fattest, drollest, noisiest, +sleekest, dirtiest, ignorantest, prejudicedest, narrow-mindedest, +shirtlessest, clotheslessest, idlest, carelessest, jolliest, +absurdest, rascaliest--but still, all that, perhaps--taken all in +all--the happiest community on the face of the earth. + + + + +[Illustration: Yankee Doodle.] + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +DOLORES.--AN ITALIAN MAID LEARNS ENGLISH.--A ROMANTIC ADVENTURE.--A +MASQUERADE, AND WHAT BEFELL THE SENATOR.--A CHARMING DOMINO.--A +MOONLIGHT WALK, AND AN ASTOUNDING DISCOVERY. + + +The lodgings of Buttons and Dick were in a remarkably central part of +Naples. The landlord was a true Neapolitan; a handsome, gay, witty, +noisy, lively, rascally, covetous, ungrateful, deceitful, cunning, +good-hearted old scoundrel, who took advantage of his guests in a +thousand ways, and never spoke to them without trying to humbug them. +He was the father of a pretty daughter who had all her parent's nature +somewhat toned down, and expanded in a feminine mould. + +Buttons had a chivalrous soul, and so had Dick; the vivacity of this +very friendly young lady was like an oasis in the wilderness of +travel. In the evening they loved to sit in the sunshine of her smile. +She was singularly unconventional, this landlord's daughter, and made +many informal calls on her two lodgers in their apartment. + +An innocent, sprightly little maid--name Dolores--age seventeen-- +complexion olive--hair jet black--eyes like stars, large, luminous, +and at the same time twinkling--was anxious to learn English, +especially to sing English songs; and so used to bring her guitar and +sing for the Americans. Would they teach her their national song? "Oh +yes happy beyond expression to do so." + +The result, after ten lessons, was something like this: + + + "Anty Dooda tumma towna + By his sef a po-ne + Stacca fadda inna sat + Kalla Maccaroni." + + +She used to sing this in the most charming manner, especially the last +word in the last line. Not the least charm in her manner was her +evident conviction that she had mastered the English language. + +"Was it not an astonishing thing for so young a Signorina to know +English?" + +"Oh, it was indeed!" said Buttons, who knew Italian very well, and had +the lion's share of the conversation always. + +"And they said her accent was fine?" + +"Oh, most beautiful!" + +"Bellissima! Bellissima!" repeated little Dolores, and she would laugh +until her eyes overflowed with delighted vanity. + +"Could any Signorina Americana learn Italian in so short a time?" + +"No, not one. They had not the spirit. They could never equal her most +beautiful accent." + +"Ah! you say all the time that my accent is most beautiful." + +One day she picked up a likeness of a young lady which was lying on +the table. + +"Who is this?" she asked, abruptly, of Buttons. + +"A Signorina." + +"Oh yes! I know; but is she a relative?" + +"No." + +"Are you married?" + +"No." + +"Is this your affianced?" + +"Yes." + +"Ah, how strange! What will you bet?--a soldier or an advocate?" + +"Neither. I will be a priest." + +"A priest! Signor, what is it that you tell me? How can this be your +affianced lady?" + +"Oh! in our country the priests all marry, and live in beautiful +little cottages, with a garden in front." + +This Dolores treated with the most contemptuous incredulity. Who ever +heard of such a thing? Impossible! Moreover, it was so absurd. Buttons +told her that he was affianced five years ago. + +"An eternity!" exclaimed Dolores. "How can you wait? But you must have +been very young." + +"Young? Yes, only sixteen." + +"Blessed and most venerable Virgin! Only sixteen! And is she the most +beautiful girl you know?" + +"No." + +"Where have you seen one more so?" + +"In Naples." + +"Who is she?" + +"An Italian." + +"What is her name?" + +"Dolores." + +"That's me." + +"I mean you." + +This was pretty direct; but Dolores was frank, and required +frankness from others. Some young ladies would have considered this +too coarse and open to be acceptable. But Dolores had so high an +opinion of herself that she took it for sincere homage. So she half +closed her eyes, leaned back in her chair, looked languishingly at +Buttons, and then burst into a merry peal of musical laughter. + +"I think I am the most beautiful girl you ever saw." + +It was Buttons's turn to laugh. He told Dolores that she was quite +right, and repeated her favorite word, "Belissima!" + +One evening when Dick was alone in the room a knock came to the door. + +"Was he disengaged?" + +"Oh, quite." + +"The Signora in the room next--" + +"Yes." + +"Would be happy to see him." + +"Now?" + +"Yes, as soon as he liked." + + +[Illustration: I Kiss Hands.] + + +The Signora did not have to wait long. In less time than it takes to +tell this Dick stood with his best bow before her. How he +congratulated himself on having studied Italian! The lady reclined on +a sofa. She was about thirty, and undeniably pretty. A guitar lay at +her feet. Books were scattered around--French novels, and manuals of +devotion. Intelligence beamed from her large, expressive eyes. How +delightful! Here was an adventure, perhaps a fair conquest. + +"Good-evening, Signor!" + +"I kiss the hands to your ladyship," said Dick, mustering a sentence +from Ollendorff. + +"Pardon me for this liberty." + +"I assure you it gives me the greatest happiness, and I am wholly at +your service." + +"I have understood that you are an American." + +"I am, Signora." + +"And this is your first visit to Naples?" + +"My first, Signora." + +"How does Naples please you?" + +"Exceedingly. The beautiful city, the crowded streets, the delightful +views--above all, the most charming ladies." + +A bow--a slight flush passed over the lady's face, and Dick whispered +to himself-- + +"Well put, Dick, my boy--deuced well put for a beginner." + +"To come to the point," said the lady, with sigh.--("Ah, here we have +it!" thought Dick--the point--blessed moment!)--"I would not have +ventured to trouble you for any slight cause, Signor, but this nearly +concerns myself."--(Keep down--our heart, murmured Dick--cool, you +dog--cool!)--"My happiness and my tenderest feelings--"(Dick's +suffused eyes expressed deep sympathy.)--"I thought of you--" + +"Ah, Signora!" + +"And not being acquainted with you--"(What a shame!--_aside_)--I +concluded to waive all formality"--(Social forms are generally a +nuisance to ardent souls--_aside_)--"and to communicate at once with +you." + +"Signora, let me assure you that this is the happiest moment in my +life." + +The Signora looked surprised, but went on in a sort of preoccupied +way: + +"I want to know if you can tell me any thing about my brother." + +"Brother!" + +"Who is now in America." + +Dick opened his eyes. + +"I thought that perhaps you could tell me how he is. I have not heard +from him for two years, and feel very anxious." + +Dick sat for a moment surprised at this unexpected turn. The lady's +anxiety about her brother he could see was not feigned. So he +concealed his disappointment, and in his most engaging manner informed +her that he had not seen her brother; but if she could tell him his +name, and the place where he was living, he might be able to tell +something about him. + + +[Illustration: The Young Hussar.] + + +"His name," sighed the lady, "is Giulio Fanti." + +"And the place?" + +"Rio Janeiro." + +"Rio Janeiro?" + +"Yes," said the lady, slowly. + +Dick was in despair. Not to know any thing of her brother would make +her think him stupid. So he attempted to explain: + +"America," he began, "is a very large country--larger, in fact, than +the whole Kingdom of Naples. It is principally inhabited by savages, +who are very hostile to the whites. The whites have a few cities, +however. In the North the whites all speak English. In the South they +all speak Spanish. The South Americans are good Catholics, and +respect the Holy Father; but the English in the North are all +heretics. Consequently there is scarcely any communication between +the two districts." + +The lady had heard somewhere that in the American wars they employed +the savages to assist them. Dick acknowledged the truth of this with +candor, but with pain. She would see by this why he was unable to tell +her any thing about her brother. His not knowing that brother was now +the chief sorrow of his life. The lady earnestly hoped that Rio +Janeiro was well protected from the savages. + +"Oh, perfectly so. The fortifications of that city are impregnable." + +Dick thus endeavored to give the lady an idea of America. The +conversation gradually tapered down until the entrance of a gentleman +brought it to a close. Dick bowed himself out. + +"At any rate," he murmured, "if the lady wanted to inspect me she had +a chance, and if she wanted to pump me she ought to be satisfied." + + +*** + + +One evening Buttons and Dick came in and found a stranger chatting +familiarly with the landlord and a young hussar. The stranger was +dressed like a cavalry officer, and was the most astounding fop that +the two Americans had ever seen. He paced up and down, head erect, +chest thrown out, sabre clanking, spurs jingling, eyes sparkling, +ineffable smile. He strode up to the two youths, spun round on one +heel, bowed to the ground, waved his hand patronizingly, and welcomed +them in. + +"A charming night, gallant gentlemen. A bewitching night. All Naples +is alive. All the world is going. Are you?" + +The young men stared, and coldly asked where? + +"Ha, ha, ha!" A merry peal of laughter rang out. "Absolutely--if the +young Americans are not stupid. They don't know me!" + +"Dolores!" exclaimed Buttons. + +"Yes," exclaimed the other. "How do you like me? Am I natural?--eh? +military? Do I look terrible?" + +And Dolores skipped up and down with a strut beyond description, +breathing hard and frowning. + +"If you look so fierce you will frighten us away," said Buttons. + +"How do I look, now?" she said, standing full before him with folded +arms, _à la_ Napoleon at St. Helena. + +"Bellissima! Bellissima!" said Buttons, in unfeigned admiration. + +"Ah!" ejaculated Dolores, smacking her lips, and puffing out her +little dimpled cheeks. "Oh!" and her eyes sparkled more brightly with +perfect joy and self-contentment. + +"And what is all this for?" + +"Is it possible that you do not know?" + +"I have no idea." + +"Then listen. It is at the Royal Opera-house. It will be the greatest +masquerade ball ever given." + +"Oh--a masquerade ball!--and you?" + +"I? I go as a handsome young officer to break the hearts of the +ladies, and have such rare sport. My brave cousin, yonder gallant +soldier, goes with me." + +The brave cousin, who was a big, heavy-headed fellow, grinned in +acknowledgment, but said nothing. + +The Royal Opera-house at Naples is the largest, the grandest, and the +most capacious in the world. An immense stage, an enormous pit all +thrown into one vast room, surrounded by innumerable boxes, all +rising, tier above tier--myriads of dancers, myriads of masks, +myriads of spectators--so the scene appeared. Moreover, the Neapolitan +is a born buffoon. Nowhere is he so natural as at a masquerade. The +music, the crowd, the brilliant lights, the incessant motion are all +intoxication to this impressible being. + +The Senator lent the countenance of his presence--not from curiosity, +but from benevolent desire to keep his young friends out of trouble. +He narrowly escaped being prohibited from entering by making an +outrageous fuss at the door about some paltry change. He actually +imagined that it was possible to get the right change for a large coin +in Naples. + +The multitudes of moving forms made the new-comers dizzy. There were +all kinds of fantastic figures. Lions polked with sylphs, crocodiles +chased serpents, giants walked arm in arm with dwarfs, elephants on +two legs ran nimbly about, beating every body with hope probosces of +inflated India rubber. Pretty girls in dominos abounded; every body +whose face was visible was on the broad grin. All classes were +represented. The wealthier nobles entered into the spirit of the scene +with as great gusto as the humblest artisan who treated his obscure +sweet-heart with an entrance ticket. + + +[Illustration: A Perplexed Senator.] + + +Our friends all wore black dominos, "just for the fun of the thing." +Every body knew that they were English or American, which is just +the same; for Englishmen and Americans are universally recognizable by +the rigidity of their muscles. + +A bevy of masked beauties were attracted by the colossal form of the +Senator. To say that he was bewildered would express his sensations +but faintly. He was distracted. He looked for Buttons. Buttons was +chatting with a little domino. He turned to Dick. Dick was walking off +with a rhinoceros. To Figgs and the Doctor. Figgs and the Doctor were +exchanging glances with a couple of lady codfishes and trying to look +amiable. The Senator gave a sickly smile. + +"What'n thunder'll I do?" he muttered. + +Two dominos took either arm. A third stood smilingly before him. A +fourth tried to appropriate his left hand. + +"Will your Excellency dance with one of us at a time," said No. 4, +with a Tuscan accent, "or will you dance with all of us at once?" + +The Senator looked helplessly at her. + +"He does not know how," said No 1. "He has passed his life among the +stars." + +"Begone, irreverent ones!" said No. 3. "This is an American prince. +He said I should be his partner." + +"Boh! malidetta!" cried No. 2. "He told me the same; but he said he +was a Milor Inglese." + +No. 4 thereupon gave a smart pull at the Senator's hand to draw him +off. Whereupon No. 2 did the same. No. 3 began singing "Come e bello!" +and No. 1 stood coaxing him to "Fly with her." A crowd of idlers +gathered grinningly around. + +"My goodness!" groaned the Senator. "Me! The--the representative of a +respectable constituency; the elder of a Presbyterian church; the +president of a temperance society; the deliverer of that famous Fourth +of July oration; the father of a family--me! to be treated thus! Who +air these females? Air they countesses? Is this the way the foreign +nobility treat an American citizen?" + +But the ladies pulled and the crowd grinned. The Senator endeavored to +remonstrate. Then he tried to pull his arms away; but finding that +impossible he looked in a piteous manner, first at one, and then at +the other. + + +[Illustration: Exit Senator.] + + +"He wants, I tell you, to be my partner," said No. 1. + +"Bah!" cried No. 2, derisively; "he intends to be mine. I understand +the national dance of his country--the famous jeeg Irelandese." + +"MRS.!!!" + +The Senator shouted this one word in a stentorian voice. The ladies +dropped his arms and started. + +"I say, Mrs.!" cried the Senator. "Look here. Me no speeky +_I_talian--me American. Me come just see zee fun, you know--zee +spaort--you und-stand? Ha? Hum!" + +The ladies clapped their hands, and cried "Bravo!" + +Quite a crowd gathered around them. The Senator, impressed with the +idea that, to make foreigners understand, it was only necessary to +yell loud enough, bawled so loudly that ever so many dancers stopped. +Among these Buttons came near with the little Domino. Little Domino +stopped, laughed, clapped her hands, and pointed to the Senator. + +The Senator was yelling vehemently in broken English to a large crowd +of masks. He told them that he had a large family; that he owned a +factory; that he was a man of weight, character, influence, +popularity, wealth; that he came here merely to study their manners +and customs. He disclaimed any intention to participate in their +amusements just then, or to make acquaintances.--He would be proud to +visit them all at their houses, or see them at his apartments, or--or +--in short, would be happy to do any thing if they would only let him +go in peace. + +The crowd laughed, chattered, and shouted "Bravo!" at every pause. The +Senator was covered with shame and perspiration. What would have +become of him finally it is impossible to guess; but, fortunately, at +this extremity he caught sight of Buttons. To dash away from the +charming ladies, to burst through the crowd, and to seize the arm of +Buttons was but the work of a moment. + +"Buttons! Buttons! Buttons! Help me! These confounded _I_talian +wimmin! Take them away. Tell them to leave me be. Tell them I don't +know them--don't want to have them hanging round me. Tell them _I'm +your father_!" cried the Senator, his voice rising to a shout in his +distraction and alarm. + +About 970 people were around him by this time. + +"Goodness!" said Buttons; "you are in a fix. Why did you make yourself +so agreeable? and to so many? Why, it's too bad. One at a time!" + +"Buttons," said the Senator, solemnly, "is this the time for joking? +For Heaven's sake get me away." + +"Come then; you must run for it." + +He seized the Senator's right arm. The little Domino clung to the +other. Away they started. It was a full run. A shout arose. So arises +the shout in Rome along the bellowing Corso when the horses are +starting for the Carnival races. It was a long, loud shout, gathering +and growing and deepening as it rose, till it burst on high in one +grand thunder-clap of sound. + +Away the Senator went like the wind. The dense crowd parted on either +side with a rush. The Opera-house is several hundred feet in length. +Down this entire distance the Senator ran, accompanied by Buttons and +the little Domino. Crowds cheered him as he passed. Behind him the +passage-way closed up, and a long trail of screaming maskers pressed +after him. The louder they shouted the faster the Senator ran. At +length they reached the other end. + +"Do you see that box?" asked Buttons, pointing to one on the topmost +tier. + +"Yes, yes." + +"Fly! Run for your life! It's your only hope. Get in there and hide +till we go." + +The Senator vanished. Scarcely had his coat-tails disappeared through +the door when the pursuing crowd arrived there. Six thousand two +hundred and twenty-seven human beings, dressed in every variety of +costume, on finding that the runner had vanished, gave vent to their +excited feelings by a loud cheer for the interesting American who had +contributed so greatly to the evening's enjoyment. + +Unlucky Senator! Will it be believed that even in the topmost box his +pursuers followed him? It was even so. About an hour afterward +Buttons, on coming near the entrance, encountered him. His face was +pale but resolute, his dress disordered. He muttered a few words about +"durned _I_talian countesses," and hurried out. + +Buttons kept company with the little Domino. Never in his life had he +passed so agreeable an evening. He took good care to let his companion +know this. At length the crowd began to separate. The Domino would go. +Buttons would go with her. Had she a carriage? No, she walked. Then he +would walk with her. + +Buttons tried hard to get a carriage, but all were engaged. But a walk +would not be unpleasant in such company. The Domino did not complain. +She was vivacious, brilliant, delightful, bewitching. Buttons had been +trying all evening to find out who she was. In vain. + +"Who in the world is she? I must find out, so that I may see her +again." This was his one thought. + +They approached the Strada Nuova. + +"She is not one of the nobility at any rate, or she would not live +here." + +They turned up a familiar street. + +"How exceedingly jolly! She can't live far away from my lodgings." + +They entered the Strada di San Bartolomeo. + +"Hanged if she don't live on the same street!" + +A strange thought occurred. It was soon confirmed. They stopped in +front of Buttons's own lodgings. A light gleamed over the door. +Another flashed into the soul of Buttons. That face, dimpled, smiling, +bewitching; flashing, sparking eyes; little mouth with its rosy lips! + +"_Delores_!" + +"Blessed Saints and Holy Virgin! Is it possible that you never +suspected?" + +"Never. How could I when I thought you were dressed like a dragoon?" + +"And you never passed so happy an evening; and never had so +fascinating and charming a partner; and you never heard such a voice +of music as mine; and you can never forget me through all life; and +you never can hope to find any one equal to me!" said Dolores, in her +usual laughing volubility. + +"Never!" cried Buttons. + +"Oh dear! I think you must love me very much." + +And a merry peal of laughter rang up the stairs as Dolores, evading +Buttons's arm, which that young man had tried to pass about her +waist, dashed away into the darkness and out of sight. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +ADVENTURES AND MISADVENTURES.--A WET GROTTO AND A BOILING LAKE.--THE +TWO FAIR SPANIARDS, AND THE DONKEY RIDE. + + +The Grotto of Posilippo is a most remarkable place, and, in the +opinion of every intelligent traveller, is more astonishing than even +the Hoosac Tunnel, which nobody will deny except the benighted +Bostonian. + +The city of Pozzuoli is celebrated for two things; first, because St. +Paul once landed there, and no doubt hurried away as fast as he could; +and, secondly, on account of the immense number of beggars that throng +around the unhappy one who enters its streets. + +The Dodge Club contributed liberally. The Doctor gave a cork-screw; +the Senator, a bladeless knife; Dick, an old lottery ticket; Buttons, +a candle-stump; Mr. Figgs, a wild-cat banknote. After which +they all hurried away on donkeys as fast as possible. + +The donkey is in his glory here. Nowhere else does he develop such a +variety of forms--nowhere attain such an infinity of sizes--nowhere +emit so impressive a bray. It is the Bray of Naples. "It is like the +thunder of the night when the cloud bursts o'er Cona, and a thousand +ghosts shriek at once in the hollow wind." + +There is a locality in this region which the ancient named after a +certain warm region which no reined person ever permits himself to +mention in our day. Whatever it may have been when some Roman Tityrus +walked pipe in mouth along its shore, its present condition renders +its name singularly appropriate and felicitous. Here the party amused +themselves with a lunch of figs and oranges, which they gathered +indiscriminately from orchards and gardens on the road-side. + +There was the Lake Lucrine. Averno and the Elysian Fields were there. +The ruins of Caligula's Bridge dotted the surface of the sea. Yet the +charms of all these classic scenes were eclipsed in the tourists' eyes +by those of a number of pretty peasants girls who stood washing +clothes in the limpid waters of the lake. + +It was in this neighborhood that they found the Grotto of the Cumaean +Sibyl. They followed the intelligent cicerone, armed with torches, +into a gloomy tunnel. The intelligent cicerone walked before them with +the air of one who had something to show. Seven stoat peasants +followed after. The cavern was as dark as possible, and extended +apparently for an endless distance. + +After walking a distance of about two miles, according to the +Senator's calculation, they came to the centre of interest. It was a +hole in the wall of the tunnel. The Americans were given to understand +that they must enter here. + +"But how?" + +"How? Why on the broad backs of the stout peasants, who all stood +politely offering their humble services." The guide went first. +Buttons, without more ado, got on the back of the nearest Italian and +followed. Dick came next; then the Doctor. Mr. Figgs and the Senator +followed in the same dignified manner. + +They descended for some distance, and finally came to water about +three feet deep. As the roof was low, and only rose three feet above +the water, the party had some difficulty, not only in keeping their +feet out of the water, but also in breathing. At length they came to +a chamber about twelve feet square. From this they passed on to +another of the same size. Thence to another. And so on. + +Arriving at the last, Bearer No. 1 quietly deposited Buttons on a +raised stone platform, which fortunately arose about half an inch +above the water. Three other bearers did the same. Mr. Figgs looked +forlornly about him, and, being a fat man, seemed to grow somewhat +apoplectic. Dick beguiled the time by lighting his pipe. + +"So this is the Grotto of the Cumaean Sibyl, is it?" said Buttons. +"Then all I can say is that--" + +What he was going to say was lost by a loud cry which interrupted +him and startled all. It came from the other chamber. + +"The Senator!" said Dick. + +It was indeed his well-known voice. There was a splash and a groan. +Immediately afterward a man staggered into the room. He was deathly +pale, and tottered feebly under the tremendous weight of the Senator. +The latter looked as anxious as his trembling bearer. + +"Darn it! I say," he cried. "Darn it! Don't! Don't!" + +"Diavo-lo!" muttered the Italian. + +And in the next instant plump went the Senator into the water. A +scene then followed that baffles description. The Senator, rising +from his unexpected bath, foaming and sputtering, the Italian praying +for forgiveness, the loud voices of all the others shouting, calling, +and laughing. + +The end of it was that they all left as soon as possible, and the +Senator indignantly waded back through the water himself. A furious +row with the unfortunate bearer, whom the Senator refused to pay, +formed a beautifully appropriate termination to their visit to this +classic spot. The Senator was so disturbed by this misadventure that +his wrath did not subside until his trowsers were thoroughly dried. +This, however, was accomplished at last, under the warm sun, and then +he looked around him with his usual complacency. + +The next spot of interest which attracted them was the Hall of the +Subterranean Lake. In this place there is a cavern in the centre of +a hill, which is approached by a passage of some considerable length, +and in the subterranean cavern a pool of water boils and bubbles. The +usual crowd of obliging peasantry surrounded them as they entered the +vestibule of this interesting place. It was a dingy-looking chamber, +out of which two narrow subterranean passages ran. A grimy, sooty, +blackened figure stood before them with torches. + + +[Illustration: Darn it!--Don't.] + + +"Follow!" + +This was all that he condescended to say, after lighting his torches +and distributing them to his visitors. He stalked off, and stooping +down, darted into the low passage-way. The cicerone followed, then +Buttons, then Dick, then the Senator, then the Doctor, then Mr. Figgs. +The air was intensely hot, and the passage-way grew lower. Moreover, +the smoke from the torches filled the air, blinding and choking them. + +Mr. Figgs faltered. Fat, and not by any means nimble, he came to a +pause about twenty feet from the entrance, and, making a sudden turn, +darted out. The Doctor was tall and unaccustomed to bend his +perpendicular form. Half choked and panting heavily he too gave up, +and turning about rushed out after Mr. Figgs. + +The other three went on bravely. Buttons and Dick, because they had +long since made up their minds to see every thing that presented +itself, and the Senator, because when he started on an enterprise he +was incapable of turning back. + +After a time the passage went sloping steeply down. At the bottom of +the declivity was a pond of water bubbling and steaming. Down this +they ran. Now the stone was extremely slippery, and the subterranean +chamber was but faintly illuminated by the torches. And so it came to +pass that, as the Senator ran down after the others, they had barely +reached the bottom when + +_Thump_! + +At once all turned round with a start. + +Not too quickly; for there lay the Senator, on his back, sliding, in +an oblique direction, straight toward the pool. His booted feet were +already in the seething waves; his nails were dug into the slippery +soil; he was shouting for help. + +To grasp his hand, his collar, his leg--to jerk him away and place +him upright, was the work of a shorter time than is taken to tell it. + +The guide now wanted them to wait till he boiled an egg. The Senator +remonstrated, stating that he had already nearly boiled a leg. The +Senator's opposition overpowered the wishes of the others, and the +party proceeded to return. Pale, grimy with soot, panting, covered +with huge drops of perspiration, they burst into the chamber where the +others were waiting--first Buttons, then Dick, then the Senator +covered with mud and slime. + +The latter gentleman did not answer much to the eager inquiries of +his friends, but maintained a solemn silence. The two former loudly +and volubly descanted on the accumulated horrors of the subterranean +way, the narrow passage, the sulphurous air, the lake of boiling +floods. + +In this outer chamber their attention was directed to a number of +ancient relics. These are offered for sale in such abundance that +they may be considered stable articles of commerce in this country. + + +[Illustration: Thump!] + + +So skillful are the manufacturers that they can produce unlimited +supplies of the following articles, and many others too numerous +to mention: + + +Cumaean and Oscan coins; +Ditto and ditto statuettes; +Ditto and ditto rings; +Ditto and ditto bracelets; +Ditto and ditto images; +Ditto and ditto toilet articles; +Ditto and ditto vases; +Ditto and ditto flasks; +Relics of Parthenope; +Ditto of Baiae; +Ditto of Misenum; +Ditto of Paestum; +Ditto of Herculaneum; +Ditto of Pompeii; +Ditto of Capraea; +Ditto of Capua; +Ditto of Cumae-- + + +And other places too numerous to mention; all supplied to order; all +of which are eaten by rust, and warranted to be covered by the canker +and the mould of antiquity. + +The good guide earnestly pressed some interesting relics upon their +attention, but without marked success. And now, as the hour of dinner +approached, they made the best of their way to a neighboring inn, +which commanded a fine view of the bay. Emerging from the chamber the +guide followed them, offering his wares. + +"Tell me," he cried, in a sonorous voice, "oh most noble Americans! +how much will you give for this most ancient vase?" + +"Un' mezzo carlino," said Dick, + +"Un' mezzo carlino!!!" + +The man's hand, which had been uplifted to display the vase, fell +downward as he said this. His tall figure grew less and less distinct +as they went further away; but long after he was out of sight the +phantom of his reproachful face haunted their minds. + +After dinner they went out on the piazza in front of the hotel. Two +Spanish ladies were there, whose dark eyes produced an instantaneous +effect upon the impressible heart of Buttons. + +They sat side by side, leaning against the stone balustrade. They +were smoking cigarettes, and the effect produced by waving their +pretty hands as they took the cigarettes from their mouths was, to +say the least, bewildering. + +Buttons awaited his opportunity, and did not have to wait long. +Whether it was that they were willing to give the young American a +chance, or whether it was really unavoidable, can not be said, but +certainly one of the fair Spaniards found that her cigarette had +gone out. A pretty look of despair, and an equally pretty gesture of +vexation, showed at once the state of things. Upon which Buttons +stepped up, and with a bow that would have done honor to Chesterfield, +produced a box of scented allumettes, and lighting one, gravely held +it forward. The fair Spaniard smiled bewitchingly, and bending +forward without hesitation to light her cigarette, brought her rosy +lips into bewildering proximity to Buttons's hand. + +It was a trying moment. + +The amiable expression of the ladies' faces, combined with the +softly-spoken thanks of the lady whom Buttons first addressed, +encouraged him. The consequence was, that in about five minutes more +he was occupying a seat opposite them, chatting as familiarly as +though he were an old playmate. Dick looked on with admiration; the +others with envy. + +"How in the world does it happen," asked the Senator, "that Buttons +knows the lingo of every body he meets?" + + +[Illustration: A Trying Moment.] + + +"He can't help it," said Dick. "These Continental languages are all +alike; know one, and you've got the key to the others--that is with +French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese." + +"And look at him now!" cried the Senator, his eye beaming with +cordial admiration. + +"You may well look at him!" sighed Dick. "Two such pretty girls as +these won't turn up again in a hurry. Spaniards too; I always admired +them." And he walked down to the shore humming to himself something +about "the girls of Cadiz." + +The ladies informed Buttons that they were travelling with their +brother, and had been through Russia, Germany, England, France, and +were now traversing Italy; did not like the three first-mentioned +countries, but were charmed with Italy. + +Their _naïveté_ was delightful. Buttons found out that the name of +one was Lucia, and the other Ida. For the life of him he did not know +which he admired most; but, on the whole, rather inclined to the one +to whom he had offered the light--Ida. + +He was equally frank, and let them know his name, his country, his +Creed. They were shocked at his creed, pleased with his country and +amused at his name, which they pronounced, "Señor Bo-to-nes." + +After about an hour their brother came. He was a small man, very +active, and full of vivacity. Instead of looking fiercely at the +stranger, he shook hands with him very cordially. Before doing this, +however, he took one short, quick survey of his entire person, from +felt hat down to his Congress boots. The consequence was that Buttons +deserted his companions, and went off with the ladies. + +Dick took the lead of the party on the return home. They viewed the +conduct of Buttons with displeasure. The Senator did not show his +usual serenity. The party were all riding on donkeys. To do this on +the minute animals which the Neapolitans furnish it is necessary to +seat one's self on the stern of the animal, and draw the legs well +up, so that they may not trail on the ground. The appearance of the +rider from behind is that of a Satyr dressed in the fashion of the +nineteenth century. Nothing can be more ridiculous than the sight +of a figure dressed in a frock-coat and beaver hat, and terminated +by the legs and tail of a donkey. + +As it was getting late the party harried. The donkeys were put on the +full gallop. First rode the guide, then the others, last of whom was +the Senator, whose great weight was a sore trial to the little donkey. + +They neared Pozzuoli, when suddenly the Senator gave his little beast +a smart whack to hasten his steps. The donkey lost all patience. With +a jump he leaped forward. Away he went, far ahead of the others. The +saddle whose girth was rather old, slipped off. The Senator held on +tightly. In vain! Just as he rounded a corner formed by a projecting +sandbank the donkey slipped. Down went the rider; down went the donkey +also--rider and beast floundering in the dusty road. + +A merry peal of ill-suppressed laughter came from the road-side as he +rolled into view. It came from a carriage. In the carriage were the +Spaniards--there, too, was Buttons. + + +[Illustration: Senator And Donkey.] + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +A DRIVE INTO THE COUNTRY.--A FIGHT WITH A VETTURINO.--THE EFFECT OF +EATING "HARD BOILED EGGS."--WHAT THEY SAW AT PAESTUM.--FIVE TEMPLES +AND ONE "MILL." + + +To hire a carriage in Naples for any length of time is by no means +an easy thing. It is necessary to hold long commune with the +proprietor, to exert all the wiles of masterly diplomacy to circumvent +cunning by cunning, to exert patience, skill, and eloquence. After a +decision has been reached, there is but one way in which you can hold +your vetturino to his bargain, and that is to bind him to it by +securing his name to a contract. Every vetturino has a printed form +all ready. If he can't write his name, he does something equally +binding and far simpler. He dips his thumb in the ink-bottle and +stamps it on the paper. If that is not his signature, what else +is it? + +"Thus," said one, "Signor Adam signed the marriage-contract with +Signora Eva." + +After incredible difficulties a contract had been drawn up and +signed by the horny thumb of a certain big vetturino, who went by the +name of "II Piccolo." It was to the effect that, for a certain +specified sum, Il Piccolo should take the party to Paestum and back +with a detour to Sorrento. + +It was a most delightful morning. All were in the best of spirits. +So they started. On for miles through interminable streets of houses +that bordered the circular shore, through crowds of sheep, droves of +cattle, dense masses of human beings, through which innumerable +caleches darted like meteors amid the stars of heaven. Here came the +oxen of Southern Italy, stately, solemn, long-horned, cream-colored; +there marched great droves of Sorrento hogs--the hog of hogs--a +strange but not ill-favored animal, thick in hide, leaden in color, +hairless as a hippopotamus. The flesh of the Sorrento hog bears the +same relation to common pork that "Lubin's Extrait" bears to the +coarse scent of a country grocery. A pork-chop from the Sorrento +animal comes to the palate with the force of a new revelation; it is +the highest possibility of pork--the apotheosis of the pig! Long lines +of macaroni-cooks doing an enormous business; armies of dealers in +anisette; crowds of water-carriers; throngs of fishermen, carrying +nets and singing merry songs--"Ecco mi!" "Ecco la!"--possible +Massaniellos every man of them, I assure you, Sir. And--enveloping +all, mingling with all, jostling all, busy with the busiest, idle +with the idlest, noisy with the noisest, jolly with the jolliest, +the fat, oily, swarthy, rosy--(etc., for further epithets see +preceding pages)--_Lazaroni_! + +Every moment produces new effects in the ever-shifting scenes of +Naples. Here is the reverse of monotony; if any thing becomes +wearisome, it is the variety. Here is the monotony of incessant +change. The whole city, with all its vast suburbs, lives on the +streets. + +The Senator wiped his fevered brow. He thought that for crowds, +noise, tumult, dash, hurry-skurry, gayety, life, laughter, joyance, +and all that incites to mirth, and all that stirs the soul, even New +York couldn't hold a candle to Naples. + +Rabelais ought to have been a Neapolitan. + +Then, as the city gradually faded into the country, the winding road +opened up before them with avenues of majestic trees--overhanging, +arching midway--forming long aisles of shade. Myrtles, that grew up +into trees, scented the air. Interminable groves of figs and oranges +spread away up the hill, intermingled with the darker foliage of the +olive or cypress. + +The mountains come lovingly down to bathe their feet in the sea. The +road winds among them. There is a deep valley around which rise lofty +hills topped with white villages or ancient towers, or dotted with +villas which peep forth from amid dense groves. As far as the eye can +reach the vineyards spread away. Not as in France or Germany, +miserable sandy fields with naked poles or stunted bushes; but +vast extents of trees, among which the vines leap in wild luxuriance, +hanging in long festoons from branch to branch, or intertwining with +the foliage. + +"I don't know how it is," said the Senator, "but I'm cussed if I feel +as if this here country was ground into the dust. If it is, it is no +bad thing to go through the mill. I don't much wonder that these +_I_talians don't emigrate. If I owned a farm in this neighborhood I'd +stand a good deal of squeezin' before I'd sell out and go anywheres +else." + +At evening they reached Salerno, a watering-place the sea-coast, and +Naples in miniature. + +There is no town in Italy without its opera-house or theatre, and +among the most vivid and most precious of scenic delights the +pantomime commends itself to the Italian bosom. Of course there was a +pantomime at Salerno. It was a mite of a house; on a rough calculation +thirty feet by twenty; a double tier of boxes; a parquette about +twelve feet square; and a stage of about two-thirds that size. + +Yet behold what the ingenuity of man can accomplish! On that stage +there were performed all the usual exhibitions of human passion, and +they even went into the production of great scenic displays, among +which a great storm in the forest was most prominent. + +Polichinello was in his glory! On this occasion the joke of the +evening was an English traveller. The ideal Englishman on the +Continent is a never-failing source of merriment. The presence of +five Americans gave additional piquancy to the show. The corpulent, +double-chinned, red-nosed Englishman, with knee-breeches, +shoe-buckles, and absurd coat, stamped, swore, frowned, doubled up +his fists, knocked down waiters, scattered gold right and left, was +arrested, was tried, was fined; but came forth unterrified from every +persecution, to rave, to storm, to fight, to lavish money as before. + +How vivid were the flashes of lightning produced by touching off some +cotton-wool soaked in alcohol! How terrific the peals of thunder +produced by the vibrations of a piece of sheet-iron! Whatever was +deficient in mechanical apparatus was readily supplied by the powerful +imagination of the Italians, who, though they had often seen all this +before, were not at all weary of looking at it, but enjoyed the +thousandth repetition as much as the first. + +Those merry Italians! + +There is an old, old game played by every vetturino. + +When our travellers had returned to the hotel, and were enjoying +themselves in general conversation, the vetturino bowed himself in. +He was a good deal exercised in his mind. With a great preamble he +came to his point. As they intended to start early in the morning, +he supposed they would not object to settle their little bill now. + +"_What_!" shouted Buttons, jumping up. "What bill? Settle a bill? +_We_ settle a bill? Are you mad?" + +"Your excellencies intend to settle the bill, of course," said the +vetturino, with much phlegm. + +"Our excellencies never dreamed of any such thing." + +"Not pay? Ha! ha! You jest, Signor." + +"Do you see this?" said Buttons, solemnly producing the contract. + +"Well?" responded Il Piccolo. + +"What is this?" + +"Our contract." + +"Do you know what it is that you have engaged to do?" + +"To take you to Paestum." + +"Yes; to Paestum and back, with a detour to Sorrento. Moreover, you +engage to supply us with three meals a day and lodgings, to all of +which we engage to pay a certain sum. What, then," cried Buttons, +elevating his voice, "in the name of all the blessed saints and +apostles, do you mean by coming to us about hotel bills?" + +"Signor," said the vetturino, meekly, "when I made that contract I +fear I was too sanguine." + +"Too sanguine!" + +"And I have changed my mind since." + +"Indeed?" + +"I find that I am a poor man." + +"Did you just find that out?" + +"And that if I carry out this it will ruin me." + +"Well?" + +"So you'll have to pay for the hotel expenses yourselves," said +Il Piccolo, with desperation. + +"I will forgive this insufferable insolence," said Buttons, +Majestically, "on condition that it never occurs again. Do you +see that?" he cried, in louder tones. + +And he unfolded the contract, which he had been holding in his hand, +and sternly pointed to the big blotch of ink that was supposed to be +II Piccolo's signature. + +"_Do you see that_!" he cried, in a voice of thunder. + +The Italian did not speak. + +"And _that_?" he cried, pointing to the signature of the witness. + +The Italian opened his month to speak, but was evidently nonplused. + +"You are in my power!" said Buttons, in a fine melodramatic tone, and +with a vivacity of gesture that was not without its effect on the +Italian. He folded the contract, replaced it in his breast-pocket, and +slapped it with fearful emphasis. Every slap seemed to go to the heart +of Il Piccolo. + + +[Illustration: Do You See That?] + + +"If you dare to try to back out of this agreement I'll have you up +before the police. I'll enforce the awful penalty that punishes the +non-performance of a solemn engagement. I'll have you arrested by +the Royal Guards in the name of His Majesty the King, and cause you +to be incarcerated in the lowest dungeons of St. Elmo. Besides, I +won't pay you for the ride thus far." + +With this last remark Buttons walked to the door, and without another +word opened it, and motioned to Il Piccolo to leave. The vetturino +departed in silence. + +On the following morning he made his appearance as pleasant as though +nothing had happened. + +The carriage rolled away from Salerno. Broad fields stretched away on +every side. Troops of villagers marched forth to their labor. As they +went on they saw women working in the fields, and men lolling on the +fences. + +"Do you call that the stuff for a free country?" cried the Senator, +whose whole soul rose up in arms against such a sight. "Air these +things men? or can such slaves as these women seem to be give birth +to any thing but slaves?" + +"Bravo!" cried Buttons. + +The Senator was too indignant to say more, and so fell into a fit of +musing. + +"Dick," said Buttons, after a long pause, "you are as pale as a ghost. +I believe you must be beginning to feel the miasma from these plains." + +"Oh no," said Dick, dolefully; "something worse." + +"What's the matter?" + +"Do you remember the eggs we had for dinner last evening?" + +"Yes." + +"That's what's the matter," said Dick, with a groan. "I can't explain; +but this, perhaps, will tell thee all I feel." + +He took from his pocket a paper and handed it to Buttons. Around the +margin were drawn etchings of countless fantastic figures, +illustrating the following lines: + + +A NIGHTMARE. + + +"_Gorgons, and hydras, and chimeras dire_." + + +BY A VICTIM. + + + Eggs! Eggs!! Eggs!!! + Hard boiled eggs for tea! + And oh! the horrible nightmare dream + They brought to luckless me! + + The hippopotamus came; + He sat upon my chest: + The hippopotamus roared "I'll spot him!" as + He trampled upon my breast. + + The big iguanodon hunched + And rooted in under me: + The big iguanodon raised by that pan o' done + Overdone eggs for tea. + + The ichthyosaurus tried + To roll me up in a ball; + While all the three were grinning at me, + And pounding me, bed and all. + + Hip! hip! hurrah! + It was a little black pig, + And a big bull-frog, and a bobtailed dog-- + All of them dancing a jig. + + And oh, the snakes! the snakes! + And the boa constrictor too! + And the cobra capello--a terrible fellow-- + Came to my horrified view. + + Snakes and horrible beasts, + Frog, pig, and dog + Hustled me, pushed me, tickled me, crushed me, + Rolled me about like a log. + + The little blue devils came on; + They rode on a needle's point; + And the big giraffe, with asthmatic laugh, + And legs all out of joint. + + Bats crawled into my ears, + Hopping about in my brain; + And grizzly bears rode up on mares, + And then rode down again. + + An antediluvian roared, + In the form of a Brahmin bull; + And a Patagonian squeezed an onion, + Filling my aching eyes full. + + The three blue bottles that sat + Upon the historical stones + Sang, "Hey diddle diddle"--two on a fiddle, + The other one on the bones. + + "Whoo! whoo! whoo! + Get up, get up, you beauty! + Here come the shaved monkeys, a-ridlng on donkeys, + Fresh from Bobberty Shooty." + + They raised me up in the air, + Bed, body, and all, + And carried me soon to the man in the moon, + At the siege of Sebastopol. + + Down, down, down, + Round, round, round, + A whirlpool hurled me out of the world, + And on, no bottom I found. + + Down, down, down, + Whirl, whirl, whirl, + And the Florentine boar was pacing the shore, + His tail all out of curl. + + He smoked my favorite pipe, + He blew a cloud of smoke, + He pulled me out with his porcine snout, + And hugging him, I awoke. + + +"Why, Dick," cried the Senator, "what precious nonsense!" + +"It was intended to be so," said Dick. + +"Well, but you might as well put on an _idee_. It must have some +meaning." + +"Not a bit of it. It has no meaning; that is, no more than a dream +or a nightmare." + +The Senator now began to discuss the nature of poetry, but was +suddenly interrupted by a shout-- + +"The Temples!" + +The country about Paestum is one of the most beautiful in the world. +Between the mountains and the sea lies a luxuriant plain, and in the +middle of it is the ruined city. The outlines of walls and remnants of +gates are there. Above all rise five ancient edifices. They strolled +carelessly around. The marble floors of a good many private houses +are yet visible, but the stupendous temples are the chief attractions +here; above all, the majestic shrine of Neptune. + +It was while standing with head thrown back, eyes and mouth opened +wide, and thoughts all taken up with a deep calculation, that the +Senator was startled by a sudden noise. + +Turning hastily he saw something that made him run with the speed of +the wind toward the place where the noise arose. Buttons and Dick were +surrounded by a crowd of fierce-looking men, who were making very +threatening demonstrations. There were at least fifteen. As the +Senator ran up from one direction, so came up Mr. Figgs and the Doctor +from another. + +"What is this?" cried the Senator, bursting in upon the crowd. + +A huge Italian was shaking his fist in Buttons's face, and stamping +and gesticulating violently. + +"These men say we must pay five piastres each to them for strolling +about their ground, and Buttons has told this big fellow that he will +give them five kicks each. There'll be some kind of a fight. They +belong to the Camorra." Dick said all this in a hurried under-tone. + +"Camorry, what's that--brigands?" + +"All the same." + +"They're not armed, anyhow." + +Just at this moment Buttons said something which seemed to sting the +Italians to the soul, for with a wild shout they rushed forward. The +Doctor drew out his revolver. Instantly Dick snatched it from him, +and rushing forward, drove back the foremost. None of them were armed. + +"Stand off!" he cried, in Italian. "The fight is between this big +fellow and my friend. If any one of you interferes I'll put a bullet +through him." + +The Italians fell back cursing. Buttons instantly divested himself of +his coat, vest, and collar. The Italian waited with a grim smile. + +At one end were the Senator, the Doctor, Mr. Figgs; at the other the +Italian ruffians. In the middle Buttons and his big antagonist. Near +them Dick with his pistol. + +The scene that followed had better be described in Dick's own words, +as he pencilled them in his memorandum-book, from time to time, +keeping a sharp lookout with his pistol also. Afterward the +description was retouched: + + +_Great mill at Paestum, between E. BUTTONS, Esq., Gentleman, and +Italian party called BEPPO_. + +_1st Round_.--Beppo defiant, no attitude at all. Buttons assumed an +elegant pose. Beppo made a succession of wild strokes without any +aim, which were parried without effort. After which Buttons landed +four blows, one on each peeper, one on the smeller, and one on the +mug. + +_First blood for Buttons_. Beppo considerably surprised. Rushed +furiously at Buttons, arms flying everywhere, struck over Buttons's +head. Buttons lightly made obeisance, and then fired a hundred-pounder +on Beppo's left auricular, which had the effect of bringing him to the +grass. _First knock down for Buttons_. + +_2nd Round_.--Foreign population quite dumbfounded. Americans amused +but not excited. One hundred to one on Buttons eagerly offered, but no +takers. Beppo jumped to his feet like a wild cat. Eyes encircled with +ebon aurioles, olfactory quite demolished. Made a rush at Buttons, +who, being a member of the Dodge Club, dodged him, and landed a +rattler on the jugular, which again sent foreign party to grass. + +_3d Round_.--Nimble to the scratch. Beppo badly mashed and raving. +Buttons unscathed and laughing; Beppo more cautious made a faint +attempt to get into Buttons. No go. Tried a little sparing, which +was summarily ended by a cannonade from Buttons directly in +his countenance. + +_4th Round_.--Foreigners wild. Yelling to their man to go in. Don't +understand a single one of the rules of the P.R. Very benighted. +Need missionaries. Evinced strong determination to go in themselves, +but where checked by attitude of referee, who threatened to blow out +brains of first man that interfered. Beppo's face magnified +considerably. Appearance not at all prepossessing. Much distressed but +furious. Made a bound at Buttons, who calmly, and without any apparent +effort, met him with a terrific upper cut, which made the Italian's +gigantic frame tremble like a ship under the stroke of a big wave. He +tottered, and swung his arms, trying to regain his balance, when +another annihilator most cleanly administered by Buttons laid him low. +A great tumult rose among the foreigners. Beppo lay panting with no +determination to come to the scratch. At the expiration of usual time, +opponent not appearing. Buttons was proclaimed victor. Beppo very much +mashed. Foreigners very greatly cowed. After waiting a short time +Buttons resumed his garments and walked off with his friends. + + +[Illustration: The Mill At Paestum.] + + +After the victory the travellers left Paestum on their return. + +The road that turns off to Sorrento is the most beautiful in the +world. It winds along the shore with innumerable turnings, climbing +hills, descending into valleys, twining around precipices. There are +scores of the prettiest villages under the sun, ivy-covered ruins, +frowning fortresses, lofty towers, and elegant villas. + +At last Sorrento smiles out from a valley which is proverbial for +beauty, where, within its shelter of hills, neither the hot blast +of midsummer nor the cold winds of winter can ever disturb its +repose. This is the valley of perpetual spring, where fruits +forever grow, and the seasons all blend together, so that the same +orchard shows trees in blossom and bearing fruit. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +ON THE WATER, WHERE BUTTONS SEES A LOST IDEA AND GIVES CHASE TO IT, +TOGETHER WITH THE HEART-SICKENING RESULTS THEREOF. + + +On the following morning Buttons and Dick went a little way out of +town, and down the steep cliff toward the shore. + +It was a classic spot. Here was no less a place than the cave of +Polyphemus, where Homer, at least, may have stood, if Ulysses didn't. +And here is the identical stone with which the giant was wont to +block up the entrance to his cavern. + +The sea rolled before. Away down to the right was Vesuvius, starting +from which the eye took in the whole wide sweep of the shore, lined +with white cities, with a background of mountains, till the land +terminated in bold promontories. + +Opposite was the Isle of Capri. + +Myriads of white sails flashed across the sea. One of these arrested +the attention of Buttons, and so absorbed him that he stared fixedly +at it for half an hour without moving. + +At length an exclamation burst from him: + +"By Jove! It is! It is!" + +"What is? What is?" + +"The Spaniards!" + +"Where?" + +"In that boat." + +"Ah!" said Dick, coolly, looking at the object pointed out by +Buttons. + +It was an English sail-boat, with a small cabin and an immense +sail. In the stern were a gentleman and two ladies. Buttons was +confident that they were the Spaniards. + + +[Illustration: The Spaniards.] + + +"Well," said Dick, "what's the use of getting so excited about +it?" + +"Why, I'm going back to Naples by water!" + +"Are you? Then I'll go too. Shall we leave the others?" + +"Certainly not, if they want to come with us." + +Upon inquiry they found that the others had a strong objection to +going by sea. Mr. Figgs preferred the ease of the carriage. The +Doctor thought the sea air injurious. The Senator had the honesty +to confess that he was afraid of seasickness. They would not listen +to persuasion, but were all resolutely bent on keeping to the +carriage. + +Buttons exhibited a feverish haste in searching after a boat. There +was but little to choose from among a crowd of odd-looking +fishing-boats that crowded the shore. However, they selected the +cleanest from among them, and soon the boat, with her broad sail +spread, was darting over the sea. + +The boat of which they went in pursuit was far away over near the +other shore, taking long tacks across the bay. Buttons headed his +boat so as to meet the other on its return tack. + +It was a magnificent scene. After exhausting every shore view of +Naples, there is nothing like taking to the water. Every thing +then appears in a new light. The far, winding cities that surround +the shore, the white villages, the purple Apennines, the rocky +isles, the frowning volcano. + +This is what makes Naples supreme in beauty. The peculiar combinations +of scenery that are found there make rivalry impossible. For if you +find elsewhere an equally beautiful bay, you will not have so liquid +an atmosphere; if you have a shore with equal beauty of outline, and +equal grace in its long sweep of towering headland and retreating +slope, you will not have so deep a purple on the distant hills. Above +all, nowhere else on earth has Nature placed in the very centre of so +divine a scene the contrasted terrors of the black volcano. + +Watching a chase is exciting; but taking part in it is much more so. +Buttons had made the most scientific arrangements. He had calculated +that at a certain point on the opposite shore the other boat would +turn on a new tack, and that if he steered to his boat to a point +about half-way over, he would meet them, without appearing to be in +pursuit. He accordingly felt so elated at the idea that he burst +forth into song. + +The other boat at length had passed well over under the shadow of +the land. It did not turn. Further and further over, and still it +did not change its course. Buttons still kept the course which he +had first chosen; but finding that he was getting far out of the way +of the other boat, he was forced to turn the head of his boat +closer to the wind, and sail slowly, watching the others. + +There was an island immediately ahead of the other boat. What was his +dismay at seeing it gracefully pass beyond the outer edge of the +island, turn behind it, and vanish. He struck the taffrail furiously +with his clenched hand. However, there was no help for it; so, +changing his course, he steered in a straight line after the other, +to where it had disappeared. + +Now that the boat was out of sight Dick did not feel himself called +on to watch. So he went forward into the bow, and made himself a snug +berth, where he laid down; and lighting his pipe, looked dreamily out +through a cloud of smoke upon the charming scene. The tossing of the +boat and the lazy flapping of the sails had a soothing influence. His +nerves owned the lulling power. His eyelids grew heavy and gently +descended. + +The wind and waves and islands and sea and sky, all mingled together +in a confused mass, came before his mind. He was sailing on clouds, +and chasing Spanish ladies through the sky. The drifting currents of +the air bore them resistlessly along in wide and never-ending curves +upward in spiral movements towards the zenith; and then off in +ever-increasing speed, with ever-widening gyrations, toward the +sunset, where the clouds grew red, and lazaroni grinned from behind-- + +A sudden bang of the huge sail struck by the wind, a wild creaking +of the boom, and a smart dash of spray over the bows and into his +face waked him from his slumber. He started up, half blinded, to +look around. Buttons sat gazing over the waters with an expression +of bitter vexation. They had passed the outer point of the island, +and had caught a swift current, a chopping sea, and a brisk breeze. +The other boat was nowhere to be seen. Buttons had already headed back +again. + +"I don't see the other boat," said Dick. Buttons without a word +pointed to the left. There she was. She had gone quietly around the +island, and had taken the channel between it and the shore. All the +time that she had been hidden she was steadily increasing the distance +between them. + +"There's no help for it," said Dick, "but to keep straight after +them." + +Buttons did not reply, but leaned back with a sweet expression of +patience. The two boats kept on in this way for a long time; but +the one in which our friends had embarked was no match at all for +the one they were pursuing. At every new tack this fact became more +painfully evident. The only hope for Buttons was to regain by his +superior nautical skill what he might lose. Those in the other boat +had but little skill in sailing. These as length became aware that +they were followed, and regarded their pursuers with earnest +attention. It did not seem to have any effect. + +"They know we are after them at last!" said Dick. + +"I wonder if they can recognize us?" + +"If they do they have sharp eyes. I'll be hanged if I can recognize +them. I don't see how you can." + +"Instinct, Dick--instinct!" said Buttons, with animation. + +"What's that flashing in their boat?" + +"That?" said Buttons. "It's a spy-glass. I didn't notice it before." + +"I've seen it for the last half-hour." + +"Then they most recognize us. How strange that they don't slacken a +little! Perhaps we are not in full view. I will sit a little more +out the shade of the sail, so that they can recognize me." + +Accordingly Buttons moved out to a more conspicuous place, and Dick +allowed himself to be more visible. Again the flashing brass was seen +in the boat, and they could plainly perceive that it was passed from +one to the other, while each took a long survey. + +"They must be able to see us if they have any kind of a glass at all." + +"I should think so," said Buttons, dolefully. + +"Are you sure they are the Spaniards?" + +"Oh! quite." + +"Then I must say they might be a little more civil, and not keep +us racing after them forever!" + +"Oh, I don't know; I suppose they wouldn't like to sail close up +to us." + +"They needn't sail up to us, but they might give us a chance to hail +them." + +"I don't think the man they have with them looks like Señor Francia." + +"Francia? Is that his name? He certainly looks larger. He is larger." + +"Look!" + +As Buttons spoke the boat ahead fell rapidly to leeward. The wind had +fallen, and a current which they had struck upon bore them away. In +the effort to escape from the current the boat headed toward Buttons, +and when the wind again arose she continued to sail toward them. As +they came nearer Buttons's face exhibited a strange variety of +expressions. + + +[Illustration: A Thousand Pardons!] + + +They met. + +In the other boat sat two English ladies and a tall gentleman, who +eyed the two young men fixedly, with a "stony British stare." + +"A thousand pardons!" said Buttons, rising and bowing. "I mistook you +for some acquaintances." + +Whereupon the others smiled in a friendly way, bowed, and said +something. A few commonplaces were interchanged, and the boats drifted +away out of hearing. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +THE SENATOR HAS SUCH A FANCY FOR SEEKING USEFUL INFORMATION!--CURIOUS +POSITION OF A WISE, AND WELL-KNOWN, AND DESERVEDLY-POPULAR LEGISLATOR, +AND UNDIGNIFIED MODE OF HIS ESCAPE. + + +It was not much after ten in the morning when Buttons and Dick +returned. On reaching the hotel they found Mr. Figgs and the Doctor, +who asked them if they had seen the Senator. To which they replied by +putting the same question to their questioners. + +He had not been seen since they had all been together last. Where was +he? + +Of course there was no anxiety felt about him, but still they all +wished to have him near at hand, as it was about time for them to +leave the town. The vetturino was already grumbling, and it required +a pretty strong remonstrance from Buttons to silence him. + +They had nothing to do but to wait patiently. Mr. Figgs and the Doctor +lounged about the sofas. Buttons and Dick strolled about the town. +Hearing strains of music as they passed the cathedral, they turned in +there to listen to the service. Why there should be service, and full +service too, they could not imagine. + +"Can it be Sunday, Dick?" said Buttons, gravely. + +"Who can tell?" exclaimed Dick, lost in wonder. + +The cathedral was a small one, with nave and transept as usual, and in +the Italian Gothic style. At the end of the nave stood the high altar, +which was now illuminated with wax-candles, while priests officiated +before it. At the right extremity of the transact was the organ-loft, +a somewhat unusual position; while at the opposite end of the transept +was a smaller door. The church was moderately filled. Probably there +were as many people there as it ever had. They knelt on the floor with +their faces toward the altar, Finding the nave somewhat crowded, +Buttons and Dick went around to the door at the end of the transept, +and entered there. A large space was empty as far as the junction with +the nave. Into this the two young men entered, very reverently, and on +coming near to the place where the other worshipers were they knelt +down in the midst of them. + +While looking before him, with his mind full of thoughts called up by +the occasion, and while the grand music of one of Mozart's masses was +filling his soul, Buttons suddenly felt his arm twitched. He turned. +It was Dick. + +Buttons was horrified. In the midst of this solemn scene the young +man was convulsed with laughter. His features were working, his lips +moving, as he tried to whisper something which his laughter prevented +him from saying, and tears were in his eyes. At last he stuck his +handkerchief in his mouth and bowed down very low, while his whole +frame shook. Some of the worshipers near by looked scandalized, +others shocked, others angry. Buttons felt vexed. At last Dick raised +his face and rolled his eyes toward the organ-loft, and instantly +bowed his head again. Buttons looked up mechanically, following the +direction of Dick's glance. The next instant he too fell forward, +tore his handkerchief out of his pocket, while his whole frame shook +with the most painful convulsion of laughter. + +And how dreadful is such a convulsion in a solemn place! In a church, +amid worshipers; perhaps especially amid worshipers of another creed, +for then one is suspected of offering deliberate insult. So it was +here. People near saw the two young men, and darted angry looks at +them. + +Now what was it that had so excited two young men, who were by no +means inclined to offer insult to any one, especially in religious +matters? + +It was this: As they looked up to the organ-loft they saw a figure +there. + +The organ projected from the wall about six feet; on the left side +was the handle worked by the man who blew it, and a space for the +choir. On the right was a small narrow space not more than about +three feet wide, and it was in this space that they saw the figure +which produced such an effect on them. + +It was the Senator. He stood there erect, bare-headed of course, +with confusion in his face and vexation and bewilderment. The sight +of him was enough--the astonishing position of the man, in such a +place at such a time. But the Senator was looking eagerly for help. +And he had seen them enter, and all his soul was in his eyes, and all +his eyes were fixed on those two. + +As Dick looked up startled and confounded at the sight, the Senator +projected his head as far forward as he dared, frowned, nodded, and +then began working his lips violently as certain deaf and dumb people +do, who converse by such movements, and can understand what words are +said by the shape of the mouth in uttering them. But the effect was +to make the Senator buck like a man who was making grimaces, to +wager, like those in Victor Hugo's "Notre Dame." As such the +apparition was so over-powering that neither Buttons nor Dick dared +to look up for some time. What made it worse, each was conscious that +the other was laughing, so that self-control was all the more +difficult. Worse still, each knew that this figure in the organ-loft +was watching them with his hungry glance, ready the moment that they +looked up to begin his grimaces once more. + +"That poor Senator!" thought Buttons; "how did he get there? Oh, how +did he get there?" + +Yet how could he be rescued? Could he be? No. He must wait till the +service should be over. + +Meanwhile the young men mustered sufficient courage to look up again, +and after a mighty struggle to gaze upon the Senator for a few +seconds at a time at least. There he stood, projecting forward his +anxious face, making faces as each one looked up. + + +[Illustration: The Senator.] + + +Now the people in the immediate vicinity of the two young men had +noticed their agitation as has already been stated, and, moreover, +they had looked up to see the cause of it. They too saw the Senator. +Others again, seeing their neighbors looking up, did the same, until +at last all in the transept were staring up at the odd-looking +stranger. + +As Buttons and Dick looked up, which they could not help doing often, +the Senator would repeat his mouthings, and nods, and becks, and +looks of entreaty. The consequence was, that the people thought the +stranger was making faces at them. Three hundred and forty-seven +honest people of Sorrento thus found themselves shamefully insulted +in their own church by a barbarous foreigner, probably an Englishman, +no doubt a heretic. The other four hundred and thirty-six who knelt +in the nave knew nothing about it. They could not see the organ-loft +at all. The priests at the high altar could not see it, so that they +were uninterrupted in their duties. The singers in the organ-loft saw +nothing, for the Senator was concealed from their view. Those +therefore who saw him were the people in the transept, who now kept +staring fixedly, and with angry eyes, at the man in the loft. + +There was no chance of getting him out of that before the service +was over, and Buttons saw that there might be a serious tumult when +the Senator came down among that wrathful crowd. Every moment made it +worse. Those in the nave saw the agitation of those in the transept, +and got some idea of the cause. + +At last the service was ended; the singers departed, the priests +retired, but the congregation remained. Seven hundred and eighty-three +human beings waiting to take vengeance on the miscreant who had +thrown ridicule on the Holy Father by making faces at the faithful +as they knelt in prayer. Already a murmur arose on every side. + +"A heretic! A heretic! A blasphemer! He has insulted us!" + +Buttons saw that a bold stroke alone could save them. He burst into +the midst of the throng followed by Dick. + +"Fly!" he cried. "Fly for your lives! _It is a madman_! Fly! Fly!" + +A loud cry of terror arose. Instantaneous conviction flashed on the +minds of all. A madman! Yes. He could be nothing else. + +A panic arose. The people recoiled from before that terrible madman. +Buttons sprang up to the loft. He seized the Senator's arm and dragged +him down. The people fled in horror. As the Senator emerged he saw +seven hundred and eighty-three good people of Sorrento scampering away +like the wind across the square in front of the cathedral. + +On reaching the hotel he told his story. He had been peering about +in search of useful information, and had entered the cathedral. +After going through every part he went up into the organ-loft. Just +then the singers came. Instead of going out like a man, he dodged +them from some absurd cause or other, with a half idea that he would +get into trouble for intruding. The longer he stayed the worse it +was for him. At last he saw Buttons and Dick enter, and tried to +make signals. + +"Well," said Buttons, "we had better leave. The Sorrentonians will be +around here soon to see the maniac. They will find out all about him, +and make us acquainted with Lynch law." + +In a quarter of an hour more they were on their way back to Naples. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +HERCULANEUM AND POMPEII, AND ALL THAT THE SIGHT OF THOSE FAMOUS PLACES +PRODUCED ON THE MINDS OF THE DODGE CLUB. + + +They had already visited Herculaneum, but the only feeling which had +been awakened by the sight of that ill-fated city was one of +unmitigated disgust. As honesty was the chief characteristic of the +whole party, they did not hesitate to express themselves with the +utmost freedom on this subject. They hoped for better things from +Pompeii. At any rate Pompeii was above ground; what might be there +would be visible. No fuss with torches. No humbugging with lanterns. +No wandering through long black passages. No mountains bringing forth +mice. + +Their expectations were encouraged as they walked up the street of +Tombs leading to the Herculaneum Gate. Tombs were all around, any +quantity, all sizes, little black vaults full of pigeon-holes. These +they narrowly examined, and when the guide wasn't looking they filled +their pockets with the ashes of the dead. + +"Strange," quoth the Senator, musingly, "that these ancient Pompey +fellers should pick out this kind of a way of getting buried. This +must be the reason why people speak of urns and ashes when they speak +of dead people." + + +[Illustration: Villa Of Diomedes.] + + +They walked through the Villa of Diomedes. They were somewhat +disappointed. From guide-books, and especially from the remarkably +well-got-up Pompeian court at Sydenham Palace, Buttons had been led to +expect something far grander. But in this, the largest house in the +city, what did he find? Mites of rooms, in fact closets, in which even +a humble modern would find himself rather crowded. There was scarcely +a decent-sized apartment in the whole establishment, as they all +indignantly declared. The cellars were more striking. A number of +earthern vessels of enormous size were in one corner. + +"What are these?" asked the Senator. + +"Wine jars." + +"What?" + +"Wine jars. They didn't use wooden casks." + +"The more fools they. Now do you mean to say that wooden casks are +not infinitely more convenient than these things that can't stand up +without they are leaned against the wall? Pho!" + +At one corner the guide stopped, and pointing down, said something. + +"What does he say?" asked the Senator. + +"He says if you want to know how the Pompeians got choked, stoop down +and smell that. Every body who comes here is expected to smell this +particular spot, or he can't say that he has seen Pompeii." + + +[Illustration: Phew!] + + +So down went the five on their knees, and up again faster than they +went down. With one universal shout of: "Phew-w-w-w-w-h-h-h!" + +It was a torrent of sulphurous vapor that they inhaled. + +"Now, I suppose," said the Senator, as soon as he could speak, +"that that there comes direct in a bee-line through a subterranean +tunnel right straight from old Vesuvius." + +"Yes, and it was this that suggested the famous scheme for +extinguishing the volcano." + +"How? What famous scheme?" + +"Why, an English stock-broker came here last year, and smelled this +place, as every one must do. An idea struck him. He started up. He ran +off without a word. He went straight to London. There he organized a +company. They propose to dig a tunnel from the sea to the interior of +the mountain. When all is ready they will let in the water. There will +be a tremendous hiss. The volcano will belch out steam for about six +weeks; but the result will be that the fires will be put out forever." + +From the Villa of Diomedes they went to the gate where the guard-house +is seen. Buttons told the story of the sentinel who died there on +duty, embellishing it with a few new features of an original +character. + +"Now that may be all very well," said the Senator, "but don't ask me +to admire that chap, or the Roman army, or the system. It was all +hollow. Why, don't you see the man was a blockhead? He hadn't sense +enough to see that when the whole place was going to the dogs, it was +no good stopping to guard it. He'd much better have cleared out and +saved his precious life for the good of his country. Do you suppose a +Yankee would act that way?" + +"I should suppose not." + +"That man, Sir, was a machine, and nothing more. A soldier must know +something else than merely obeying orders." + +By this time they had passed through the gate and stood inside. The +street opened before them for a considerable distance with houses on +each side. Including the sidewalks it might have been almost twelve +feet wide. As only the lower part of the walls of the houses was +standing, the show that they made was not imposing. There was no +splendor in the architecture or the material, for the style of the +buildings was extremely simple, and they were made with brick covered +with stucco. + +After wandering silently through the streets the Senator at length +burst forth: + +"I say it's an enormous imposition!" + +"What?" inquired Buttons, faintly. + +"Why, the whole system of Cyclopedias, Panoramas, Books of Travel, +Woodbridge's Geography, Sunday-school Books--" + +"What do you mean?" + +"I mean the descriptions they give of this place. The fellows who +write about it get into the heroics, and what with their descriptions, +and pictures, and moralizing, you believe it is a second Babylon. It +don't seem possible for any of them to tell the truth. Why, there +isn't a single decent-sized house in the place. Oh, it's small! it's +small!" + +"It certainly might be larger." + +"I know," continued the Senator, with a majestic wave of his hand--"I +know that I'm expected to find this here scene very impressive; but +I'll be hanged if I'm satisfied. Why, in the name of Heaven, when they +give us pictures of the place, can't they make things of the right +size? Why, I've seen a hundred pictures of that gate. They make it +look like a triumphant arch; and now that I'm here, durn me if I can't +touch the top of it when I stand on tiptoe." + +In all his walk the Senator found only one thing that pleased him. +This was the celebrated Pompeian institution of a shop under the +dwelling-house. + +"Whenever I see any signs of any thing like trade among these +ancients," said he, "I respect them. And what is more satisfactory +than to see a bake-shop or an eating-saloon in the lower story of +a palace?" + +Their walk was terminated by the theatre and amphitheatre. The sight +of these were more satisfactory to the Senator. + +"Didn't these fellows come it uncommon strong though in the matter +of shows?" he asked, with considerable enthusiasm. "Hey? Why, +we haven't got a single travelling circus, menagerie and all, that +could come any way near to this. After all, this town might have +looked well enough when it was all bran-new and painted up. It might +have looked so then; but, by thunder! it looks any thing but that +now. What makes me mad is to see every traveller pretend to get into +raptures about it now. Raptures be hanged! I ask you, as a sensible +man, is there any thing here equal to any town of the same population +in Massachusetts?" + + +[Illustration: A Street In Pompeii.] + + +Although the expectations which he had formed were not quite realized, +yet Buttons found much to excite interest after the first +disappointment had passed away. Dick excited the Senator's disgust +by exhibiting those, raptures which the latter had condemned. + +The Doctor went by the Guide-book altogether, and regulated his +emotions accordingly. Having seen the various places enumerated there, +he wished no more. As Buttons and Dick wished to stroll further +among the houses, the other three waited for them in the amphitheatre, +where the Senator beguiled the time by giving his "idee" of an ancient +show. + +It was the close of day before the party left. At the outer barrier an +official politely examined them. The result of the examination was +that the party was compelled to disgorge a number of highly +interesting souvenirs, consisting of lava, mosaic stones, ashes, +plaster, marble chips, pebbles, bricks, a bronze hinge, a piece of +bone, a small rag, a stick, etc. + +The official apologized with touching politeness: "It was only a +form," he said. "Yet we must do it. For look you, Signori," and +here he shrugged up his shoulders, rolled his eyes, and puffed out +his lips in a way that was possible to none but an Italian, "were it +not thus the entire city would be carried away piecemeal!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +VESUVIUS.--WONDERFUL ASCENT OF THE CONE.--WONDERFUL DESCENT INTO THE +CRATER.--AND MOST WONDERFUL DISAPPEARANCE OF MR. FIGGS, AFTER WHOM +ALL HIS FRIENDS GO, WITH THEIR LIVES IN THEIR HANDS.--GREAT SENSATION +AMONG SPECTATORS. + + +To every visitor to Naples the most prominent object is Vesuvius. The +huge form of the volcano forever stands before him. The long pennon of +smoke from its crater forever floats out triumphantly in the air. Not +in the landscape only, but in all the picture-shops. In these +establishments they really seem to deal in nothing but prints and +paintings of Vesuvius. + +It was a lovely morning when a carriage, filled with Americans, drew +up on an inn near the foot of the mountain. There were guides +without number waiting, like beasts of prey, to fall on them; and +all the horses of the country--a wonderful lot--an amazing lot--a +lean, cranky, raw-boned, ill-fed, wall-eyed, ill-natured, sneaking, +ungainly, half-foundered, half-starved lot; afflicted with all the +diseases that horse-flesh is heir to. There were no others, so but +little time was wasted. All were on an equal footing. To have a +preference was out of the question, so they amused themselves with +picking out the ugliest. + +When the horses were first brought out Mr. Figgs looked uneasy, +and made some mysterious remarks about walking. He thought such nags +were an imposition. He vowed they could go faster on foot. On foot! +The others scouted the idea. Absurd! Perhaps he wasn't used to such +beasts. Never mind. He mustn't be proud. Mr. Figgs, however, seemed +to have reasons which were strictly private, and announced his +intention of walking. But the others would not hear of such a thing. +They insisted. They forced him to mount. This Mr. Figgs at length +accomplished, though he got up on the wrong side, and nearly pulled +his horse over backward by pulling at the curb-rein, shouting all +the time, in tones of agony, "Who-a!" + +At length they all set out, and, with few interruptions, arrived at +a place half-way up the mountain called The Hermitage. Here they +rested, and leaving their horses behind, walked on over a barren +region to the foot of the cone. All around was the abomination of +desolation. Craggy rocks, huge, disjointed masses of shattered +lava-blocks, cooled off into the most grotesque shapes, mixed with +ashes, scoriae, and pumice-stones. The cone towered frowningly above +their heads. Looking up, the aspect was not enticing. A steep slope +ran up for an immense distance till it touched the smoky canopy. + +On one side it was covered with loose sand, but in other places it +was all overlaid with masses of lava fragments. The undertaking +seemed prodigious. + +The Senator looked up with a weary smile, but did not falter; the +Doctor thought they would not be able to get up to the top, and +proposed returning; the others declined; whereupon the Doctor +slowly sauntered back to the Hermitage. Mr. Figgs, whom the ride had +considerably shaken, expressed a desire to ascend but felt doubtful +about his wind. Dick assured him that he would find plenty when he +got to the top. The guides also came to his relief. Did he want to +go? Behold them. They had chairs to carry him up or straps to pull +him. Their straps were so made that they could envelop the traveller +and allow him to be pulled comfortably up. So Mr. Figgs gracefully +resigned himself to the guides, who in a short time had adjusted +their straps, and led him to the foot of the cone. + +Now for the ascent. + + +[Illustration: The Ascent Of Vesuvius.] + + +Buttons went first. Like a young chamois this youth bounded up, +leaping from rock to rock, and steering in a straight line for the +summit. Next the Senator, who mounted slowly and perseveringly, as +though he had a solemn duty to perform, and was determined to do it +thoroughly. Then came Dick. More fitful. A few steps upward: then a +rest; then a fresh start; followed by another rest. At length he sat +down about one-third of the way up and took a smoke. Behind him Mr. +Figgs toiled up, pulled by the panting guides. Three stout men in +front--two others boosting from behind. + +A long description might be given of this remarkable ascent. How Mr. +Figgs aggravated the guides almost beyond endurance by mere force of +inertia. Having committed himself to them he did it thoroughly, and +not by one single act of exertion did he lessen their labor. They +pulled, pushed, and shouted; then they rested; then they rose again +to pull, to push, to shout, and to rest as before; then they implored +him in the most moving terms to do something to help them, to put +one foot before the other, to brace himself firmly--in short, to do +any thing. + +In vain. Mr. Figgs didn't understand a word. He was unmovable. Then +they threatened to drop him and leave him half-way. The threat was +disregarded. Mr. Figgs sat on a stone while they rested and smiled +benignantly at them. At last, maddened by his impassibility, they +screamed at him and at one another with furious gesticulations, and +then tearing off the straps, they hurried up the slope, leaving him +on the middle of the mount to take care of himself. + +It might be told how the Senator toiled up slowly but surely, never +stopping till he had gained the summit; or how Buttons, who arrived +there first, spent the time in exploring the mysteries of this +elevated region; or how Dick stopped every twenty paces to rest and +smoke; how he consumed much time and much tobacco; and how he did not +gain the summit until twenty minutes after the serene face of the +Senator had confronted the terrors of the crater. + +Before these three there was a wonderful scene. Below them lay the +steep sides of the cone, a waste of hideous ruin-- + + + "Rocks, crags, and mounds confusedly hurled, + The fragments of a ruined world." + + +Before them was the crater, a vast abyss, the bottom of which was +hidden from sight by dense clouds of sulphurous smoke which forever +ascended. Far away on the other side rose the opposite wall of +abyss--black, rocky cliffs that rose precipitously upward. The side +on which they stood sloped down at a steep angle for a few hundred +feet, and then went abruptly downward. A mighty wind was blowing +and carried all the smoke away to the opposite side of the crater, +so that by getting down into the shelter of a rock they were quite +comfortable. + +The view of the country that lay beneath was superb. There lay +Naples with its suburbs, extending for miles along the shore, with +Portici, Castellamare, and the vale of Sorrento. There rose the hills +of Baiae, the rock of Ischia, and the Isle of Capri. There lay +countless vineyards, fields forever green, groves of orange and +fig-trees, clusters of palms and cypresses. Mountains ascended all +around, with many heights crowned with castles or villages. There lay +the glorious Bay of Naples, the type of perfect beauty. Hundreds of +white sails dotted the intense blue of its surface. Ships were +there at anchor, and in full sail. Over all was a sky such as is +seen only in Italy, with a depth of blue, which, when seen in +paintings, seems to the inexperienced eye like an exaggeration. + +The guides drew their attention from all this beauty to a solid fact. +This was the cooking of an egg by merely burying it in the hot sand +for a few minutes. + +Buttons now proposed to go down into the crater. The guides looked +aghast. + +"Why not?" + +"Impossible, Signor. It's death." + +"Death? Nonsense! come along and show us the way." + +"The way? There is no way. No one ever dares to go down. Where can +we go to? Do you not see that beyond that point where the rock +projects it is all a precipice?" + +"That point? Well, that is the very spot I wish to go to. Come +along." + +"Never, Signor." + +"Then I'll go." + +"Don't. For the sake of Heaven, and in the name of the most Holy +Mother, of St. Peter in chains, of all the blessed Apostles and +Martyrs, the glorious Saints and--" + +"Blessed Botheration," cried Buttons, abruptly turning his back +and preparing to descend. + +"Are you in earnest, Buttons?" asked Dick. "Are you really going +down?" + +"Certainly." + +"Oh, then I'll go too." + +Upon this the others warned, rebuked, threatened, remonstrated, +and begged. In vain. The Senator interposed the authority of years +and wisdom. But to no purpose. With much anxiety he sat on the edge +of the crater, looking for the result and expecting a tragedy. + +The slope down which they ventured was covered with loose sand. At +each step the treacherous soil slid beneath them. It was a mad and +highly reprehensible undertaking. Nevertheless down they went--further +and further. The kind heart of the Senator felt a pang at every step. +His voice sounded mournfully through the rolling smoke that burst +through a million crevices, and at times hid the adventurers from +view. But down they went. Sometimes they slid fearfully. Then they +would wait and cautiously look around. Sometimes the vapors covered +them with such dense folds that they had to cover their faces. + +"If they ain't dashed to pieces they'll be suffocated--sure!" cried +the Senator, starting up, and unable to control his feelings. "I can't +stand this," he muttered, and he too stepped down. + +The guides looked on in horror. "Your blood will be on your own +heads!" they cried. + +As the Senator descended the smoke entered his eyes, month, and +nostrils, making him cough and sneeze fearfully. The sand slid; the +heat under the surface pained his feet; every step made it worse. +However, he kept on bravely. At length he reached the spot where the +others were standing. + + +[Illustration: The Descent Of Vesuvius.] + + +At the foot of the declivity was an angular rock which jutted out +for about twelve feet. It was about six feet wide. Its sides went +down precipitously. The Senator walked painfully to where they were +standing. It was a fearful scene. All around arose the sides of +the crater, black and rocky, perpendicular on all sides, except +the small slope down which they had just descended--a vast and +gloomy circumference. But the most terrific sight lay beneath. + +The sides of the crater went sheer down to a great depth enclosing +a black abyss which in the first excitement of the scene the +startled fancy might well imagine extending to the bowels of the +earth from which there came rolling up vast clouds dense black +sulphurous which at times completely encircled them shutting out +every thing from view filling eyes nose mouth with fumes of +brimstone forcing them to hold the tails of their coats or +the skirts it's all the same over their faces so as not to be +altogether suffocated while again after a while a fierce blast +of wind driving downward would hurl the smoke away and dashing it +against the other side of the crater gather it up in dense volumes +of blackest smoke in thick clouds which rolled up the flinty cliffs +and reaching the summit bounded fiercely out into the sky to pass +on and be seen from afar as that dread pennant of Vesuvius which is +the sign and symbol of its mastery over the earth around it and the +inhabitants thereof ever changing and in all its changes watched with +awe by fearful men who read in those changes their own fate now +taking heart as they see it more tenuous in its consistency anon +shuddering as they see it gathering in denser folds and finally +awe-stricken and all overcome as they see the thick black cloud rise +proudly up to heaven in a long straight column at whose upper +termination the colossal pillar spreads itself out and shows to the +startled gaze the dread symbol of the cypress tree the herald of +earthquakes eruptions and-- + +--There--I flatter myself that in the way of description it would not +be easy to beat the above. I just throw it off as my friend Tit-marsh, +poor fellow, once said, to show what I could do if I tried. I have +decided not to put punctuation marks there, but rather to let each +reader supply them for himself. They are often in the way, +particularly to the writer, when he has to stop in the full flow +of a description and insert them-- + +But-- + +We left our friends down in the crater of Vesuvius. Of course they +hurried out as soon as they could, and mounting the treacherous steep +they soon regained the summit, where the guides had stood bawling +piteously all the time. + +Then came the descent. It was not over the lava blocks, but in +another place, which was covered with loose sliding sand. Away they +started. + +Buttons ahead, went with immense strides down the slope. At every +step the sliding sand carried him about ten feet further, so that +each step was equal to about twenty feet. It was like flying. But it +was attended by so many falls that the descent of Buttons and Dick +was accomplished as much by sliding and rolling as by walking. + +The Senator was more cautious. Having fallen once or twice, he tried +to correct this tendency by walking backward. Whenever he found +himself falling he would let himself go, and thus, on his hands and +knees, would let himself slide for a considerable distance. This plan +gave him immense satisfaction. + +"It's quite like coasting," said he, after he had reached the bottom; +"only it does come a little hard on the trowsers." + +On their arrival at the Hermitage to their surprise they saw nothing +of Mr. Figgs. The Doctor had been sleeping all the time, but the +landlord said he had not been that way. As they knew that the +neighborhood of Vesuvius was not always the safest in the world, they +all went back at once to search after him. + + +[Illustration: Where's Figgs?] + + +Arriving at the foot of the cone they went everywhere shouting his +name. There was no response. They skirted the base of the cone. They +walked up to where he had been. They saw nothing. The guides who had +thus far been with them now said they had to go. So they received +their pay and departed. + +"Of all the mean, useless, chicken-hearted dolts that ever I see," +said the Senator, "they are the wust!" + +But meanwhile there was no Figgs. They began to feel anxious. At last +Buttons, who had been up to where Mr. Figgs was left, thought he saw +traces of footsteps in the sand that was nearest. He followed these +for some time, and at last shouted to the others. The others went to +where he was. They saw an Italian with him--an ill-looking, low-browed +rascal, with villain stamped on every feature. + +"This fellow says he saw a man who answers the description of Figgs go +over in that direction," said Buttons, pointing toward the part of the +mountain which is furthest from the sea. + +"There? What for?" + +"I don't know." + +"Is there any danger?" + +"I think so--Figgs may have had to go--who knows?" + +"Well," said the Senator, "we must go after him." + +"What arms have you?" said the Doctor. "Don't show it before this +rascal." + +"I have a bowie-knife," said Buttons. + +"So have I," said Dick. + +"And I," said the Senator, "am sorry to say that I have nothing at +all." + +"Well, I suppose we must go," said the Doctor. "My revolver is +something. It is a double revolver, of peculiar shape." + +Without any other thought they at once prepared to venture into a +district that for all they knew might swarm with robbers. They had +only one thought, and that was to save Figgs. + +"Can this man lead us?" asked Dick. + +"He says he can take us along where he saw Figgs go, and perhaps we +may see some people who can tell us about him." + +"Perhaps we can," said the Senator, grimly. + +They then started off with the Italian at their head. The sun was by +this time within an hour's distance from the horizon, and they had no +time to lose. So they walked rapidly. Soon they entered among hills +and rocks of lava, where the desolation of the surrounding country +began to be modified by vegetation. It was quite difficult to keep +their reckoning, so as to know in what direction they were going, but +they kept on nevertheless. + +All of them knew that the errand was a dangerous one. All of them knew +that it would be better if they were armed. But no one said any thing +of the kind. In fact, they felt such confidence in their own pluck and +resolution that they had no doubt of success. + +At length they came to a place where trees were on each side of the +rough path. At an opening here three men stood. Buttons at once +accosted them and told his errand. They looked at the Americans +with a sinister smile. + +"Don't be afraid of us," said Buttons, quietly. "We're armed with +revolvers, but we won't hurt you. Just show us where our friend is, +for we're afraid he has lost his way." + +At this strange salutation the Italians looked puzzled. They looked +at their guns, and then at the Americans. Two or three other men +came out from the woods at the same time, and stood in their rear. +At length as many as ten men stood around them. + +"What are you staring at?" said Buttons again. "You needn't look so +frightened. Americans only use their revolvers against thieves." + +The Doctor at this, apparently by accident, took out his revolver. +Standing a little on one side, he fired at a large crow on the top +of a tree. The bird fell dead. He then fired five other shots just +by way of amusement, laughing all the time with the Senator. + +"You see," said he--"ha, ha--we're in a fix--ha, ha--and I want to +show them what a revolver is?" + +"But you're wasting all your shot." + +"Not a bit of it. See?" And saying this he drew a second chamber +from his pocket, and taking the first out of the pistol inserted +the other. He then fired another shot. All this was the work of a +few moments. He then took some cartridges and filled the spare +chamber once more. + +The Italians looked on this display in great astonishment, +exchanging significant glances, particularly when the Doctor +changed the chambers. The Americans, on the contrary, took good care +to manifest complete indifference. The Italians evidently thought +they were all armed like the Doctor. Naturally enough, too, for if +not, why should they venture here and talk so loftily to them? So +they were puzzled, and in doubt. After a time one who appeared to +be their leader stepped aside with two or three of the men, and +talked in a low voice, after which he came to Buttons and said: + +"Come, then, and we will show you." + +"Go on." + +The Captain beckoned to his men. Six of them went to the rear. +Buttons saw the manoeuvre, and burst into roars of laughter. The +Italians looked more puzzled than ever. + +"Is that to keep us from getting away?" he cried--"ha, ha, ha, +ha, ha! Well, well!" + +"He's putting a guard behind us. Laugh like fury, boys," said Buttons, +in English. + +Whereupon they all roared, the tremendous laughter of the Senator +coming in with fearful effect. + +"There's nothing to laugh at," said the man who appeared to be +Captain, very sulkily. + +"It's evident that you Italians don't understand late improvements," +said Buttons. "But come, hurry on." + +The Captain turned and walked ahead sullenly. + +"It's all very well to laugh," said the Doctor, in a cheerful tone; +"but suppose those devils behind us shoot us." + +"I think if they intended to do that the Captain would not walk in +front. No, they want to take us alive, and make us pay a heavy +ransom." + +After this the Club kept up an incessant chatter. They talked over +their situation, but could as yet decide upon nothing. It grew dark +at length. The sun went down. The usual rapid twilight came on. + +"Dick," said the Doctor, "when it gets dark enough I'll give you my +pistol, so that you may show off with it as if it were yours." + +"All right, my son," said Dick. Shortly after, when it was quite +dark, the Doctor slipped the pistol into the side-pocket of Dick's +coat. At length a light appeared before them. It was an old ruin +which stood upon an eminence. Where they were not a soul of them +could tell. Dick declared that he smelt salt water. + +The light which they saw came from the broken windows of a +dilapidated hall belonging to the building. They went up some +crumbling steps, and the Captain gave a peculiar knock at the door. +A woman opened it. A bright light streamed out. Dick paused for a +moment, and took the Doctor's pistol, from his pocket. He held it up +and pretended to arrange the chamber. Then he carelessly put it in +his pocket again. + +"You haven't bound them?" said the woman who opened the door to +the Captain. + +"Meaning us, my joy?" said Buttons, in Italian. "Not just yet, I +believe, and not for some time. But how do you all do?" + +The woman stared hard at Buttons, and then at the Captain. There +were eight or ten women here. It was a large hall, the roof still +entire, but with the plaster all gone. A bright fire burned at one +end. Torches burned around. On a stool near the fire was a familiar +form--a portly, well-fed form--with a merry face--a twinkle in his +eye--a pipe in his mouth--calmly smoking--apparently quite at home +though his feet were tied--in short, Mr. Figgs. + +"Figgs, my boy!" + +One universal shout and the Club surrounded their companion. In an +instant Buttons cut his bonds. + +"Bless you--bless you, my children!" cried Figgs. "But how the +(Principal of Evil) did you get here? These are brigands. I've just +been calculating how heavy a bill I would have to foot." + +The brigands saw the release of Figgs, and stood looking gloomily at +the singular prisoners, not quite knowing whether they were prisoners +or not, not knowing what to do. Each member of the Club took the most +comfortable seat he could find near the fire, and began talking +vehemently. Suddenly Buttons jumped up. + +"A thousand pardons--I really forgot that there were ladies present. +Will you not sit here and give us the honor of your company?" + +He made a profound bow and looked at several of them. They looked +puzzled, then pleased; then they all began to titter. + +"Signor makes himself very much at home," said one, at length. + +"And where could there be a pleasanter place? This old hall, this +jolly old fire, and this delightful company!" + +Another bow. The Captain looked very sullen still. He was evidently +in deep perplexity. + +"Come, cheer up there!" said Buttons. "We won't do you any harm; +we won't even complain to the authorities that we found our friend +here. Cheer up! Have you any thing to eat, most noble Captain?" + +The Captain turned away. + +Meanwhile Figgs had told the story of his capture. After resting +for a while on the slope he prepared to descend, but seeing sand +further away he went over toward it and descended there. Finding it +very dangerous or difficult to go down straight he made the +descent obliquely, so that when he reached the foot of the cone +he was far away from the point at which he had started to make +the ascent. Arriving there, he sat down to rest after his exertions. +Some men came toward him, but he did not think much about it. +Suddenly, before he knew what was up, he found himself a prisoner. +He had a weary march, and was just getting comfortable as they +came in. + + +[Illustration: Mr Figgs.] + + +As they sat round the fire they found it very comfortable. Like +many evenings in Italy, it was damp and quite chilly. They laughed +and talked, and appeared to be any thing but captives in a +robber's hold. The Captain had been out for some time, and at +length returned. He was now very cheerful. He came laughingly up +to the fire. + +"Well, Signori Americani, what do you think of your +accommodation?" + +"Delightful! Charming!" cried Buttons and Dick. + +"If the ladies would only deign to smile on us--" + +"Aha! You are a great man for the ladies," said the Captain. + +"Who is not?" said Buttons, sententiously. + +After a few pleasant words the Captain left again. + +"He has some scheme in his villainous head," said Buttons. + +"To drug us," said the Doctor. + +"To send for others," said Dick. + +"To wait till we sleep, and then fall on us," said Mr. Figgs. + +"Well, gentlemen," said the Senator, drawing himself up, "we're +more than a match for them. Why, what are these brigands? Is there +a man of them who isn't a poor, miserable, cowardly cuss? Not one. +If we are captured by such as these we deserve to be captives all +our lives." + + +[Illustration: The Ladies.] + + +"If we don't get off soon we'll have a good round sum to pay," said +Mr. Figgs. + +"And that I object to," said Buttons; "for I promised my Governor +solemnly that I wouldn't spend more than a certain sum in Europe, +and I won't." + +"For my part," said the Doctor, "I can't afford it." + +"And I would rather use the amount which they would ask in some +other way," said Dick. + +"That's it, boys! You're plucky. Go in! We'll fix their flints. The +American eagle is soaring, gentlemen--let him ascend to the zenith. +Go it! But mind now--don't be too hasty. Let's wait for a time to +see further developments." + +"Richard, my boy, will you occupy the time by singing a hymn?" +continued the Senator. "I see a guitar there." + +Dick quietly got up, took the guitar, and, tuning it, began to sing. +The brigands were still in a state of wonder. The women looked shy. +Most of the spectators, however, were grinning at the eccentric +Americans. Dick played and sang a great quantity of songs, all of a +comic character. + +The Italians were fond of music, of course. Dick had a good voice. +Most of his songs had choruses, and the whole Club joined in. The +Italians admired most the nigger songs. "Oh, Susannah!" was greeted +with great applause. So was "Doo-dah;" and the Italians themselves +joined energetically in the chorus. But the song that they loved best +was "Ole Virginny Shore." This they called for over and over, and as +they had quick ears they readily caught the tune; so that, finally, +when Dick, at their earnest request, sang it for the seventh time, +they whistled the air all through, and joined in with a thundering +chorus. The Captain came in at the midst of it, and listened with +great delight. After Dick had laid down his instrument he approached +the Americans. + +"Well, ole hoss," said the Senator, "won't you take an arm-chair?" + +"What is it?" said the Captain to Buttons. + +"He wants to know if your Excellency will honor him by sitting near +him." + +The Captain's eye sparkled. Evidently it met his wishes. The Americans +saw his delight. + +"I should feel honored by sitting beside the illustrious stranger," +said he. "It was what I came to ask. And will you allow the rest of +these noble gentlemen to sit here and participate in your amusement?" + +"The very thing," said Buttons, "which we have been trying to get them +to do, but they won't. Now we are as anxious as ever, but still more +anxious for the ladies." + +"Oh, the ladies!" said the Captain; "they are timid." + +Saying this he made a gesture, and five of his men came up. The whole +six then sat with the five Americans. The Senator insisted that the +Captain should sit by his side. Yet it was singular. Each one of the +men still kept his gun. No notice was taken of this, however. The +policy of the Americans was to go in for utter jollity. They sat thus: + + +The Captain. + The Senator. +Bandit Number 1. + Mr. Figgs. +Bandit Number 2. + The Doctor. +Bandit Number 3. + Dick. +Bandit Number 4. + Buttons. +Bandit Number 5. + + +Five members of the Club. Six bandits. In addition to these, four +others stood armed at the door. The women were at a distance. + +But the sequel must be left to another chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +MAGNIFICENT ATTITUDE OF THE SENATOR; BRILLIANCY OF BUTTONS; AND PLUCK +OF THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE CLUB: BY ALL OF WHICH THE GREATEST EFFECTS +ARE PRODUCED. + + +"Boys," said the Senator, assuming a gay tone, "it's evident these +rascals have planned this arrangement to attack us; but I've got a +plan by which we can turn the tables. Now laugh, all of you." A roar +of laughter arose. "I'll tell it in a minute. Whenever I stop, you +all laugh, so that they may not think that we are plotting." Another +roar of laughter. "Buttons, talk Italian as hard as you can; pretend +to translate what I am saying; make up something funny, so as to get +them laughing; but take good care to listen to what I say." + +"All right," said Buttons. + +"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!" said the others. + +Now the Senator began to divulge his plan, and Buttons began to +talk Italian, pretending to translate what the Senator said. To do +this required much quickness, and a vivid imagination, with a sense +of the ridiculous, and many other qualities too numerous to mention. +Fortunately Buttons had all these, or else the Club would not have +acted precisely as it did act; and perhaps it might not have been +able to move along in the capacity of a Club any longer, in which +case it would, of course, have had no further adventures; and then +this history would not have been written; and whether the world +would have been better off or worse is more than I can say, +I'm sure. + + +[What the Senator said.] + +"Boys, look at these devils, one on each side of us. They have +arranged some signal, and when it is given they will spring at us. +Look sharp for your lives, and be ready to do what I say. Buttons, +listen, and when you don't hear look at me, and I'll repeat it." + +[_Club_.--"Ha! hal ha! ha! ha!"] + + +[What Buttons said he said.] + +"He says, most noble Captain, and gentlemen, that he is desperately +hungry; that he can't get what he wants to eat. He generally eats +dried snakes, and the supply he brought from the Great American +desert is exhausted; he wants more, and will have it." + +[Sensation among bandits.] + + +[What the Senator said.] + +"My idea is to turn the tables on these varmints. They put themselves +in our power. What they have arranged for themselves will do for us +just as well as if we planned it all. In fact, if we had tried we +could not have adjusted the present company better." + +[_Club_.--"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!"] + + +[What Buttons said he said.] + +"He says he wouldn't have come out here to-day, but had a little +difficulty just before he joined our party. He was landing from +the American ship of war, and on stepping on shore a man trod on +his foot, whereupon he put him into the water, and held him there +till he was drowned." + +[Bandits looking more respectfully.] + + +[What the Senator said.] + +"Listen now, Buttons. We will arrange a signal, and at a certain word +we will fall on our neighbors and do with them as they propose doing +with us. But first let us arrange carefully about the signal; for +every thing depends on that." + +[_Club_--"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!"] + + +[What Buttons said he said.] + +"It makes him feel amused, he says, when he thinks how odd that +guide looked at him when he made him go down into the crater of +Vesuvius; gave him five minutes to say his prayers, and then lifted +him up in the air and pitched him down to the bottom. He thinks +he is falling still." + +[Bandits exchange glances.] + + +[What the Senator said.] + +"First, we must keep up our uproar and merriment to as great an +extent as we can, but not very long. Let it be wild, mad, boisterous, +but short. It will distract these vagabonds, and throw them off their +guard. The first thing on the programme, then, is merriment. Laugh as +loud and long as you can." + +[_Club_.--"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!"] + + +[What Buttons said he said.] + +"He doesn't know but what he'll have a little trouble about a +priest he killed last night. He was in a church, and was walking +about whistling, when a priest came up and ordered him out; +whereupon he drew his revolver, and put all six of the bullets in +the priest's head." + +[Bandits cross themselves, and look serious.] + + +[Illustration: The Bandits Captured.] + + +[What the Senator said.] + +"The next thing is, to have some singing. They seem to like our +glorious national songs. Give them some of them. Let the first one +be 'Old Virginny.'" + +[_Club_.--"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!"] + + +[What Buttons said he said.] + +"He heard that the priest was not dead. As he always makes sure +work, he intends to look in the morning, and if he's alive, he'll +cut his throat, and make all his attendants dance to the tune of +'Old Virginny.'" + + +Buttons had to work on that word "Old Virginny," for the quick ears +of the Italians had caught it. Bandits cross themselves again. + +_Captain_.--"I don't believe a word of it. It's impossible." + +Bandit No. 6.--"He looks like it, any way." + +In fact, the Senator did look like it. His hair tinged to an +unnatural hue by the sulphur of Vesuvius, his square, determined +jaw, his heavy, overhanging brow, marked him as one who was capable +of any desperate enterprise. + + +[What the Senator said.] + +"Next and last, Dick, you are to sing 'Yankee Doodle.' You know +the words about 'coming to town riding on a pony.' You know that +verse ends with an Italian word. I am particular about this, for +you might sing the wrong verse. Do you understand, all of you? If +so, wink your eyes twice." + +[The Club all winked twice. Then, as usual: +"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!"] + + +[What Buttons said he said.] + +"He says there is no danger for him, however, for foreigners are +in terror of the tune of 'Yankee Doodle.' If he were arrested by +the Government, the American Admiral would at once send ashore a +file of marines with an 'ultimatum,' a 'Columbiad,' a 'spanker +boom,' a 'Webster's Unabridged,' and a 'brachycatalectic,' to demand +his surrender at the cannon's mouth." + +[Great sensation among the bandits at the formidable arms of +American marines.] + + +[What the Senator said.] + +"Look at me. There are six. I will take two; each of you take +one--the man on your right, remember. As Dick, in singing, comes +to that word, each of you go at your man. Buttons, you hear, of +course." + +[_Club_.--"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!"] + + +[What Buttons said he said.] + +"They think in town that he is the Devil, because he has killed +seven men in duels since he came, and has never been wounded. People +don't know the great American invention, worn next the skin, which +makes the body impervious to bullets." + +[_Captain_, sneering.--"I don't believe it." + +Bandit No. 3.--"I don't know. They invented the revolver. If only I +had one."] + + +[What the Senator said.] + +"Boys, arrange to your minds what to do. Grab the gun, and put +your man down backward. I'm almost ashamed of the game, it's so +easy. Look at these boobies by me. They are like children. No +muscle. The fellows at the end won't dare to shoot for fear of +wounding their own man." + +[_Club_.--"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!"] + + +[What Buttons said he said.] + +"He's made up his mind to go and take part in the war in Lombardy. +He will raise a band of Americans, all clothed in the great shot-proof +shirt, and armed with revolvers like ours, that shoot twelve times, +and have bullets like bomb-shells, that burst inside of a man and +blow him to pieces." + +_Captain_, coldly,--"That crow didn't blow up." + +_Buttons_.--"Oh yes it did. It was dark, and you didn't notice. +Go get it to-morrow, examine it, and you will find traces of the +exploded shell." + +_Bandit No. 4_.--"Santa Maria! What lies this giant tells his friends! +and they all laugh. They don't believe him." + +_Bandit No. 3_. "Well, that revolver is enough for me; and they all +have them." + +The above conversation was all carried on very rapidly, and did not +take up much time. + +At once the Club proceeded to carry out the Senator's plan. First +they talked nonsense, and roared and laughed, and perfected their +plan, and thus passed about ten minutes. Then Buttons asked the +Italians if they wished more music. + +"Answer, gallant Captain of these Kings of the Road. Will you hear +our foreign songs?" + +"Most gladly," said the gallant Captain. "There will yet be time +before we get our supper." + +A sinister gleam in his eye as he said this about the supper did not +escape the notice of Buttons. Thereupon he handed the guitar to Dick, +and the latter began to sing once more the strains of "Ole Virginny." +The Italians showed the same delight, and joined in a roaring chorus. +Even the men by the door stood yelling or whistling as Dick sang. + +Lastly, Dick struck up the final song. The hour had come! + + +"Yankee Doodle came to town + To buy himself a pony, +Stuck a feather in his hat + And called it--_Maccaroni_!" + + +As the song began each man had quietly braced himself for one grand +effort. At the sound of the last word the effect was tremendous. + +The Senator threw his mighty arms round the Captain and the other +bandit. They were both small men, as indeed Italians are generally, +and beside his colossal frame they were like boys to a grown man. He +held them as if a vice, and grasping their hands, twisted them back +till their guns fell from their grasp. As he hurled the affrighted +ruffians to the floor, the guns crashed on the stone pavement, one +of them exploding in its fall. He then by sheer strength jerked the +Captain over on his face, and threw the other man on him face +downward. This done he sat on them, and turned to see what the others +were doing. + +Buttons had darted at No. 5 who was on his right, seized his gun and +thrown him backward. He was holding him down now while the fellow was +roaring for help. + +Dick had done about the same thing, but had not yet obtained +possession of the gun. He was holding the Doctor's pistol to the +bandit's head, and telling him in choice Italian to drop his gun, or +he would send him out of the world with twelve bullets. + +The Doctor was all right. He was calmly seated on Bandit No. 3, with +one hand holding the bandit's gun pointed toward the door, and the +other grasping the ruffian's throat in a death like clutch. The man's +face was black, and he did not move. + +Mr. Figgs had not been so successful. Being fat, he had not been +quick enough. He was holding the bandit's gun, and aiming blows at +his face. + +"Doctor," said the Senator, "your man's all right. Give it to Figgs's +man." + +The Doctor sprang up, seized Figgs's man by throat, just as he +staggered back, and brought him down. + +The whole thing had been done in an incredibly short time. The +robbers had been taken by complete surprise. In strength they were +far inferior to their assailants. Attacked as they were so +unexpectedly the success of the Americans was not very wonderful. +The uproar was tremendous. The women were most noisy. At first all +were paralyzed. Then wild shrieks rang through the hall. They yelled, +they shouted, they wrung their hands. + +The four bandits at the end of the hall stood for a moment +horror-struck. Then they raised their guns. But they dared not fire. +They might shoot their own men. Suddenly Dick, who had got the gun +which he wished, looked at the door, and seeing the guns levelled +he fired the revolver. A loud scream followed. One of the men fell. +The women rushed to take care of him. The other three ran off. + +"Doctor," said the Senator, "have you a rope? Tie that man's hands +behind him." + +The Doctor took his handkerchief, twisted it, and tied the man's +hands as neatly and as firmly as though they were in handcuffs. He +then went to Buttons, got a handkerchief from him, and tied up his +man in the same way. Then Dick's man was bound. At that moment a +bullet fired through one of the windows grazed the head of Mr. Figgs. + +"Dick," said the Senator, "go out and keep guard." + +Dick at once obeyed. The women screamed and ran as he came along. + +Then the two men whom the Senator had captured were bound. After a +while some pieces of rope and leather straps were found by Buttons. +With these all the bandits were secured more firmly. The men whom the +Senator had captured were almost lifeless from the tremendous weight +of his manly form. They made their captives squat down in one corner, +while the others possessed themselves of their guns and watched them. +The wretches looked frightened out of their wits. They were +Neapolitans and peasants, weak, feeble, nerveless. + +"It's nothing to boast of," said the Senator, contemptuously, as he +looked at the slight figures. "They're a poor lot--small, no muscle, +no spirit, no nothing." + +The poor wretches now began to whine and cry. + +"Oh, Signore," they cried, appealing to Buttons. "Spare our lives!" + +At that the whole crowd of women came moaning and screaming. + +"Back!" said Buttons. + +"Oh, Signori, for the sake of Heaven spare them, spare our husbands!" + +"Back, all of you! We won't hurt any one if you all keep quiet." + +The women went sobbing back again. The Doctor then went to look at +the wounded man by the door. The fellow was trembling and weeping. +All Italians weep easily. + +The Doctor examined him and found it was only a flesh wound. The +women were full of gratitude as the Doctor bound up his arm after +probing the wound, and lifted the man on a rude couch. From time to +time Dick would look in at the door to see how things were going on. +The field was won. + +"Well," said the Senator, "the other three have probably run for it. +They may bring others back. At any rate we had better hurry off. We +are armed now, and can be safe. But what ought we to do with these +fellows?" + +"Nothing," said Buttons. + +"Nothing?" + +"No. They probably belong to the 'Camorra,' a sort of legalized +brigandage, and if had them all put in prison they would be let +out the next day." + +"Well, I must say I'd rather not. They're a mean lot, but I don't +wish them any harm. Suppose we make them take us out to the road +within sight of the city, and then let them go?" + +"Well." + +The others all agreed to this. + +"We had better start at once then." + +"For my part," said Mr. Figgs, "I think we had much better get +some thing to eat before we go--" + +"Pooh! We can get a good dinner in Naples. We may have the whole +country around us if we wait, and though I don't care for myself, +yet I wouldn't like to see one of you fall, boys." + +So it was decided to go at once. One man still was senseless. He was +left to the care of the women after being resuscitated by the Doctor. +The Captain and four bandits were taken away. + +"Attend," said Buttons, sternly. "You must show us the nearest way +to Naples. If you deceive us you die. If you show us our way we may +perhaps let you go." + +The women all crowded around their husbands, screaming and yelling. In +Vain. Buttons told them there was no danger. At last he said-- + +"You come along too, and make them show us the way. You will then +return here with them. The sooner the better. Haste!" + +The women gladly assented to this. + +Accordingly they all started, each one of the Americans carrying a +gun in one hand, and holding the arm of a bandit with the other. +The women went ahead of their own accord, eager to put an end to +their fears by getting rid of such dangerous guests. After a walk of +about half an hour they came to the public road which ran near to +the sea. + +"I thought I smelt the sea-air," said Dick. + +They had gone by the other side of Vesuvius. + +"This is the road to Naples, Signori," said the women. + +"Ah! And you won't feel safe till you get the men away. Very well, you +may go. We can probably take care of ourselves now." + +The women poured forth a torrent of thanks and blessings. The men were +then allowed to go, and instantly vanished into the darkness. At first +it was quite dark, but after a while the moon arose and they walked +merrily along, though very hungry. + +Before they reached their hotel it was about one o'clock. Buttons and +Dick stared there. As they were all sitting over the repast which they +forced the landlord to get for them, Dick suddenly struck his hand on +the table. + +"Sold!" he cried. + +"What?" + +"They've got our handkerchiefs." + +"Handkerchiefs!" cried Mr. Figgs, ruefully, "why, I forgot to get back +my purse." + + +[Illustration: Sold.] + + +"Your purse! Well, let's go out to-morrow--" + +"Pooh! It's no matter. There were only three piastres in it. I keep my +circular bill and larger money elsewhere." + +"Well they made something of us after all. Three piastres and five +handkerchiefs." + +The Senator frowned. "I've a precious good mind to go out there +to-morrow and make them disgorge," said he. "I'll think it over." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +DOLORES ONCE MORE.--A PLEASANT CONVERSATION.--BUTTONS LEARNS MORE OF +HIS YOUNG FRIEND.--AFFECTING FAREWELL. + + +As the Club intended to leave for Rome almost immediately, the two +young men in the Strado di San Bartollo were prepared to settle with +their landlord. + +When Buttons and Dick packed up their modest valises there was a +general excitement in the house; and when they called for their little +bill it appeared, and the whole family along with it. The landlord +presented it with a neat bow. Behind him stood his wife, his left the +big dragoon. And on his right Dolores. + +Such was the position which the enemy took up. + +Buttons took up the paper and glanced at it. + +"What is this?" + +"Your bill." + +"My bill?" + +"Yes, Signore." + +"Yes," repeated Dolores, waving her little hand at Buttons. + +Something menacing appeared in the attitude and tone of Dolores. Had +she changed? Had she joined the enemy? What did all this mean? + +"What did you say you would ask for this room when I came here?" +Buttons at length asked. + +"I don't recollect naming any price," said the landlord, evasively. + +"I recollect," said Dolores, decidedly. "He didn't name any price at +all." + +"Good Heavens!" cried Buttons, aghast, and totally unprepared for this +on the part of Dolores, though nothing on the part of the landlord +could have astonished him. In the brief space of three weeks that +worthy had been in the habit of telling him on an average about four +hundred and seventy-seven downright lies per day. + +"You told me," said Buttons, with admirable calmness, "that it would +be two piastres a week." + +"Two piastres! Two for both of you! Impossible! You might as well say +I was insane." + +"Two piastres!" echoed Dolores, in indignant tones--"only think! And +for this magnificent apartment! the best in the house--elegantly +furnished, and two gentlemen! Why, what is this that he means?" + +"Et tu Brute!" sighed Buttons. + +"Signore!" said Dolores. + +"Didn't he, Dick?'" + +"He did," said Dick; "of course he did." + +"Oh, that _uomicciuolo_ will say any thing," said Dolores, +contemptuously snapping her fingers in Dick's face. + +"Why, Signore. Look you. How is it possible? Think what +accommodations! Gaze upon that bed! Gaze upon that furniture! +Contemplate that prospect of the busy street!" + +"Why, it's the most wretched room in town," cried Buttons. "I've been +ashamed to ask my friends here." + +"Ah, wretch!" cried Dolores, with flashing eyes. "You well know that +you were never so well lodged at home. This miserable! This a room to +be ashamed of! Away, American savage! And your friends, who are they? +Do you lodge with the lazaroni?" + +"You said that you would charge two piastres. I will pay no more; no, +not half a carline. How dare you send me a bill for eighteen piastres? +I will pay you six piastres for the three weeks. Your bill for +eighteen is a cheat. I throw it away. Behold!" + +And Buttons, tearing the paper into twenty fragments, scattered them +over the floor. + +"Ah!" cried Dolores, standing before him, with her arms folded, and +her face all aglow with beautiful anger; "you call it a cheat, do you? +You would like, would you not, to run off and pay nothing? That is the +custom, I suppose, in America. But you can not do that in this honest +country." + +"Signore, you may tear up fifty bills, but you must pay," said the +landlord, politely. + +"If you come to travel you should bring money enough to take you +along," said Dolores. + +"Then I would not have to take lodgings fit only for a Sorrento +beggar," said Buttons, somewhat rudely. + +"They are too good for an American beggar," rejoined Dolores, taking +a step nearer to him, and slapping her little hands together by way +of emphasis. + +"Is this the maid," thought Buttons, "that hung so tenderly on my arm +at the masquerade? the sweet girl who has charmed so many evenings +with her innocent mirth. Is this the fair young creature who--" + +"Are you going to pay, or do you think you can keep us waiting +forever?" cried the fair young creature, impatiently and sharply. + +"No more than six piastres," replied Buttons. + +"Be reasonable, Signore. Be reasonable," said the landlord, with a +conciliatory smile; "and above all, be calm--be calm. Let us have no +contention. I feel that these honorable American gentlemen have no +wish but to act justly," and he looked benignantly at his family. + +"I wish I could feel the same about these Italians," said Buttons. + +"You will soon feel that these Italians are determined to have their +due," said Dolores. + +"They shall have their due and no more." + +"Come, Buttons," said Dick, in Italian, "let us leave this old +rascal." + +"Old rascal?" hissed Dolores, rushing up toward Dick as though she +would tear his eyes out, and stamping her little foot. "Old rascal! +Ah, piccolo Di-a-vo-lo!" + +"Come," said the landlord; "I have affection for you. I wish to +satisfy you. I have always tried to satisfy and please you." + +"The ungrateful ones!" said Dolores. "Have we not all been as +friendly to them as we never were before? And now they try like +vipers to sting us." + +"Peace, Dolores," said the landlord, majestically. "Let us all be +very friendly. Come, good American gentlemen, let us have peace. What +now _will_ you pay?" + +"Stop!" cried Dolores. "Do you bargain? Why, they will try and make +you take a half a carline for the whole three weeks. I am ashamed +of you. I will not consent." + + +[Illustration: Two Piastres!] + + +"How much will you give?" said the landlord, once more, without +heeding his daughter. + +"Six piastres," said Buttons. + +"Impossible!" + +"When I came here I took good care to have it understood. You +distinctly said two piastres per week. You may find it very +convenient to forget. I find it equally convenient to remember." + +"Try--try hard, and perhaps you will remember that we offered to +take nothing. Oh yes, nothing--absolutely nothing. Couldn't think +of it," said Dolores, with a multitude of ridiculous but +extremely pretty gestures, that made the little witch charming +even in her rascality.--"Oh yes, nothing"--a shrug of the shoulders +--"we felt so honored"--spreading out her hands and bowing.--"A great +American!--a noble foreigner!"--folding her arms, and strutting up +and down.--"Too much happiness!"--here her voice assumed a tone of +most absurd sarcasm.--"We wanted to entertain them all the rest of +our lives for nothing"--a ridiculous grimace--"or perhaps your sweet +conversation has been sufficient pay--ha?" and she pointed her little +rosy taper finger at Buttons as though she would transfix him. + +Buttons sighed. "Dolores!" said he, "I always thought _you_ were my +friend. I didn't think that you would turn against me." + +"Ah, infamous one! and foolish too! Did you think that I could ever +help you to cheat my poor parents? Was this the reason why you sought +me? Dishonest one! I am only an innocent girl, but I can understand +your villainy." + +"I think you understand a great many things," said Buttons, +mournfully. + +"And to think that one would seek my friendship to save his money!" + +Buttons turned away. "Suppose I stayed here three weeks longer, how +much would you charge?" he asked the landlord. + +That worthy opened his eyes. His face brightened. + +"Three weeks longer? Ah--I--Well--Perhaps--" + +"Stop!" cried Dolores, placing her hand over her father's mouth--"not +a word. Don't you understand? He don't want to stay three minutes +longer. He wants to get you into a new bargain, and cheat you." + +"Ah!" said the landlord, with a knowing wink. "But, my child, you are +really too harsh. You must not mind her, gentlemen. She's only a +willful young girl--a spoiled child--a spoiled child." + +"Her language is a little strong," said Buttons, "but I don't mind +what she says." + +"You may deceive my poor, kind, simple, honest, unsuspecting father," +said she, "but you can't deceive me." + +"Probably not." + +"Buttons, hadn't we better go?" said Dick; "squabbling here won't +benefit us." + +"Well," said Buttons, slowly, and with a lingering look at Dolores. + +But as Dolores saw them stoop to take their valises she sprang to the +door-way. + +"They're going! They're going!" she cried. "And they will rob us. Stop +them." + +"Signore," said Buttons, "here are six piastres. I leave them on the +table. You will get no more. If you give me any trouble I will summon +you before the police for conspiracy against a traveller. You can't +cheat me. You need not try." + +So saying, he quietly placed the six piastres on the table, and +advanced toward the door. + +"Signore! Signore!" cried the landlord, and he put himself in his way. +At a sign from Dolores the big dragoon came also, and put himself +behind her. + +"You shall not go," she cried. "You shall never pass through this door +till you pay." + +"Who is going to stop us?" said Buttons. + +"My father, and this brave soldier who is armed," said Dolores, in a +voice to which she tried to give a terrific emphasis. + +"Then I beg leave to say this much," said Buttons; and he looked with +blazing eyes full in the face of the "brave soldier." "I am not a +'brave soldier,' and I am not armed; but my friend and I have paid +our bills, and we are going through that door. If you dare to lay so +much as the weight of your finger on me I'll show you how a man can +use his fists." + +Now the Continentals have a great and a wholesome dread of the English +fist, and consider the American the same flesh and blood. They believe +that "le bogues" is a necessary, part of the education of the whole +Anglo-Saxon race, careful parents among that people being intent upon +three things for their children, to wit: + +(1.) To eat _Rosbif_ and _Bifiek_, but especially the former. + +(2.) To use certain profane expressions, by which the Continental can +always tell the Anglo-Saxon. + +(3.) TO STRIKE FROM THE SHOULDER!!! + +Consequently, when Buttons, followed by Dick, advanced to the door, +the landlord and the "brave soldier" slipped aside, and actually +allowed them to pass. + +Not so Dolores. + +She tried to hound her relatives on; she stormed; she taunted them; +she called them cowards; she even went so far as to run after Buttons +and seize his valise. Whereupon that young gentleman patiently waited +without a word till she let go her hold. He then went on his way. + +Arriving at the foot of the stairway he looked back. There was the +slender form of the young girl quivering with rage. + +"Addio, Dolores!" in the most mournful of voices. + +"Scelerato!" was the response, hissed out from the prettiest of lips. + +The next morning the Dodge Club left Naples. + + +[Illustration: The Brave Soldier.] + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +DICK RELATES A FAMILY LEGEND. + + +"Dick," said the Senator, as they rolled over the road, "spin a yarn +to beguile the time." + +Dick looked modest. + +The rest added their entreaties. + +"Oh, well," said Dick, "since you're so very urgent it would be +unbecoming to refuse. A story? Well, what? I will tell you about my +maternal grandfather. + +"My maternal grandfather, then, was once out in Hong Kong, and had +saved up a little money. As the climate did not agree with him he +thought he would come home; and at length an American ship touched +there, on board of which he went, and he saw a man in the galley; so +my grandfather stepped up to him and asked him: + +"'Are you the mate?' + +"'No. I'm the man that boils the _mate_,' said the other, who was also +an Irishman. + +"So he had to go to the cabin, where he found the Captain and mate +writing out clearance papers for the custom-house. + +"'Say, captain, will you cross the sea to plow the raging main?' asked +my grandfather. + +"'Oh, the ship it is ready and the wind is fair to plow the raging +main!' said the captain. Of course my grandfather at once paid his +fare without asking credit, and the amount was three hundred and +twenty-seven dollars thirty-nine cents. + +"Well, they set sail, and after going ever so many thousand miles, +or hundred--I forget which, but it don't matter--a great storm arose, +a typhoon or simoon, perhaps both; and after slowly gathering up its +energies for the space of twenty-nine days, seven hours, and +twenty-three minutes, without counting the seconds, it burst upon +them at exactly forty-two minutes past five, on the sixth day of the +week. Need I say that day was Friday? Now my grandfather saw all the +time how it was going to end; and while the rest were praying and +shrieking he had cut the lashings of the ship's long-boat and stayed +there all the time, having put on board the nautical instruments, two +or three fish-hooks, a gross of lucifer matches, and a sauce-pan. At +last the storm struck the ship, as I have stated, and at the first +crack away went the vessel to the bottom, leaving my grandfather +floating alone on the surface of the ocean. + +"My grandfather navigated the long-boat fifty-two days, three hours, +and twenty minutes by the ship's chronometer; caught plenty of fish +with his fish-hooks; boiled sea-water in his sauce-pan, and boiled +all the salt away, making his fire in the bottom of the boat, which +is a very good place, for the fire can't burn through without touching +the water, which it can't burn; and finding plenty of fuel in the +boat, which he gradually dismantled, taking first the thole-pins, then +the seats, then the taffrail, and so on. This sort of thing, though, +could not last forever, and at last, just in the nick of time, he came +across a dead whale. + +"It was floating bottom upward, covered with barnacles of very large +size indeed; and where his fins projected there were two little coves, +one on each side. Into the one on the lee-side he ran his boat, of +which there was nothing left but the stem and stern and two side +planks. + +"My grandfather looked upon the whale as an island. It was a very +nice country to one who had been so long in a boat, though a little +monotonous. The first thing that he did was to erect the banner of his +country, of which he happened to have a copy on his +pocket-handkerchief; which he did by putting it at the end of an oar +and sticking it in the ground, or the flesh, whichever you please to +call it. He then took an observation, and proceeded to make himself a +house, which he did by whittling up the remains of the long-boat, and +had enough left to make a table, a chair, and a boot-jack. So here +he stayed, quite comfortable, for forty-three days and a half, taking +observations all the time with great accuracy; and at the end of that +time all his house was gone, for he had to cut it up for fuel to cook +his meals, and nothing was left but half of the boot-jack and the oar +which served to uphold the banner of his country. At the end of this +time a ship came up. + +"The men of the ship did not know what on earth to make of this +appearance on the water, where the American flag was flying. So they +bore straight down toward it. + +"'I see a sight across the sea, hi ho cheerly men!' remarked the +captain to the mate, in a confidential manner. + +"'Methinks it is my own countrie, hi ho cheerly men!' rejoined the +other, quietly. + +"'It rises grandly o'er the brine, hi ho cheerly men!' said the +captain. + +"'And bears aloft our own ensign, hi ho cheerly men!' said the mate. + +"As the ship came up my grandfather placed both hands to his mouth in +the shape of a speaking-trumpet, and cried out: 'Ship ahoy across the +wave, with a way-ay-ay-ay-ay! Storm along!' + +"To which the captain of the ship responded through his trumpet: 'Tis +I, my messmate bold and brave, with a way-ay-ay-ay-ay! Storm along." + +"At this my grandfather inquired; 'What vessel are you gliding on? +Pray tell to me its name.' + +"And the captain replied: 'Our bark it is a whaler bold, and Jones +the captain's name.' + +"Thereupon the captain came on board the whale, or on shore, +whichever you like--I don't know which, nor does it matter--he came, +at any rate. My grandfather shook hands with him and asked him to +sit down. But the captain declined, saying he preferred standing. + +"'Well,' said my grandfather, 'I called on you to see if you would +like to buy a whale.' + + +[Illustration: Buying A Whale.] + + +"'Wa'al, yes, I don't mind. I'm in that line myself.' + +"'What'll you give for it?' + +"'What'll you take for it?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"Twenty-five minutes were taken up in the repetition of this question, +for neither wished to commit himself. + +"'Have you had any offers for it yet?' asked Captain Jones at last. + +"'Wa'al, no; can't say that I have.' + +"'I'll give as much as any body.' + +"'How much?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"Then my grandfather, after a long deliberation, took the captain by +the arm and led him all around, showing him the country, as one may +say, enlarging upon the fine points, and doing as all good traders are +bound to do when they find themselves face to face with a customer. + +"To which the end was: + +"'Wa'al, what'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'Well,' said my grandfather, 'I don't know as I care about trading +after all. I think I'll wait till the whaling fleet comes along. I've +been waiting for them for some time, and they ought to be here soon.' + +"'You're not in the right track,' said Captain Jones. + +"'Yes, I am.' + +"'Excuse me.' + +"'Ex-cuse _me_,' said my grandfather. 'I took an observation just +before you came in sight, and I am in lat. 47° 22' 20", long. 150° +15' 55".' + +"Captain Jones's face fell. My grandfather poked him in the ribs and +smiled. + +"'I'll tell you what I'll do, as I don't care, after all, about +waiting here. It's a little damp, and I'm subject to rheumatics. I'll +let you have the whole thing if you give me twenty-five per cent, of +the oil after it's barreled, barrels and all.' + +"The captain thought for a moment. + +"'You drive a close bargain.' + +"'Of course.' + +"'Well, it'll save a voyage, and that's something.' + +"'Something! Bless your heart! ain't that every thing?' + +"'Well, I'll agree. Come on board, and we'll make out the papers.' + +"So my grandfather went on board, and they made out the papers; and +the ship hauled up alongside of the whale, and they went to work +cutting, and slashing, and hoisting, and burning, and boiling, and +at last, after ever so long a time--I don't remember exactly how +long--the oil was all secured, and my grandfather, in a few months +afterward, when he landed at Nantucket and made inquiries, sold his +share of the oil for three thousand nine hundred and fifty-six dollars +fifty-six cents, which he at once invested in business in New Bedford, +and started off to Pennsylvania to visit his mother. The old lady +didn't know him at all, he was so changed by sun, wind, storm, +hardship, sickness, fatigue, want, exposure, and other things of that +kind. She looked coldly on him. + +"'Who are you?' + +"'Don't you know?' + +"'No.' + +"'Think.' + +"'_Have you a strawberry on your arm_?' + +"'No.' + +"'Then--you are--_you are_--YOU ARE--my own--my long--lost son!' + + +[Illustration: The Long-Lost Son.] + + +"And she caught him in her arms. + +"Here endeth the first part of my grandfather's adventures, but he +had many more, good and bad; for he was a remarkable man, though I +say it; and if any of you ever want to hear more about him, which I +doubt, all you've got to do is to say so. But perhaps it's just as +well to let the old gentleman drop, for his adventures were rather +strange; but the narration of them is not very profitable, not that +I go in for the utilitarian theory of conversation; but I think, on +the whole, that, in story-telling, fiction should be preferred to +dull facts like these, and so the next time I tell a story I will +make one up." + +The Club had listened to the story with the gravity which should be +manifested toward one who is relating family matters. At its close +the Senator prepared to speak. He cleared his throat: + +"Ahem! Gentlemen of the Club! our adventures, thus far, have not +been altogether contemptible. We have a President and a Secretary; +ought we not also to have a Recording Secretary--a Historian?" + +"Ay!" said all, very earnestly. + +"Who, then, shall it be?" + +All looked at Dick. + +"I see there is but one feeling among us all," said the Senator. +"Yes, Richard, you are the man. Your gift of language, your fancy, +your modesty, your fluency--But I spare you. From this time forth +you know your duty." + +Overcome by this honor, Dick was compelled to bow his thanks in +silence and hide his blushing face. + +"And now," said Mr. Figgs, eagerly, "I want to hear _the Higgins +Story_." + +The Doctor turned frightfully pale. Dick began to fill his pipe. +The Senator looked earnestly out of the window. Buttons looked at +the ceiling. + +"What's the matter?" said Mr. Figgs. + +"What?" asked Buttons. + +"The Higgins Story?" + +The Doctor started to his feet. His excitement was wonderful. He +clenched his fist. + +"I'll quit! I'm going back. I'll join you at Rome by another route. +I'll--" + +"No, you won't!" said Buttons; "for on a journey like this it would +be absurd to begin the Higgins Story." + +"Pooh!" said Dick, "it would require nineteen days at least to get +through the introductory part." + +"When, then, can I hear it?" asked Mr. Figgs, in perplexity. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +NIGHT ON THE ROAD.--THE CLUB ASLEEP.--THEY ENTER ROME.--THOUGHTS ON +APPROACHING AND ENTERING "THE ETERNAL CITY." + + +[Illustration: To Rome.] + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +A LETTER BY DICK, AND CRITICISMS OF HIS FRIENDS. + +They took lodgings near the Piazza di Spagna. This is the best part +of Rome to live in, which every traveller will acknowledge. Among +other advantages, it is perhaps the only clean spot in the Capital +of Christendom. + +Their lodgings were peculiar. Description is quite unnecessary. They +were not discovered without toil, and not secured without warfare. +Once in possession they had no reason to complain. True, the +conveniences of civilized life do not exist there--but who dreams of +convenience in Rome? + +On the evening of their arrival they were sitting in the Senator's +room, which was used as the general rendezvous. Dick was diligently +writing. + +"Dick," said the Senator, "what are you about?" + +"Well," said Dick, "the fact is, I just happened to remember that when +I left home the editor of the village paper wished me to write +occasionally. I promised, and he at once published the fact in +enormous capitals. I never thought of it till this evening, when I +happened to find a scrap of the last issue of his paper in my valise. +I recollected my promise, and I thought I might as well drop a line." + +"Read what you have written." + +Dick blushed and hesitated. + +"Nonsense! Go ahead, my boy!" said Buttons. + +Whereupon Dick cleared his throat and began: + + +"ROME, May 30, 1859. + +MR. EDITOR,--Rome is a subject which is neither uninteresting nor +alien to the present age." + + +"That's a fact, or you wouldn't be here writing it," remarked +Buttons. + + +"In looking over the past, our view is too often hounded by the Middle +Ages. We consider that period as the chaos of the modern world, when +it lay covered with darkness, until the Reform came and said. 'Let +there be light!" + + +"Hang it, Dick! be original or be nothing." + + +"Yet, if the life of the world began anywhere, it was in Rome. Assyria +is nothing to me. Egypt is but a spectacle!" + + +"If you only had enough funds to carry you there you'd change your +tune. But go on." + + +"But Rome arises before me as the parent of the latter time. By her +the old battles between Freedom and Despotism were fought long ago, +and the forms and principles of Liberty came forth, to pass, amid +many vicissitudes, down to a new-born day." + + +"There! I'm coming to the point now!" + +"About time, I imagine. The editor will get into despair." + + +"There is but one fitting approach to Rome. By any other road the +majesty of the Old Capital is lost in the lesser grandeur of the +Medieval City. Whoever goes there let him come up from Naples and +enter by the Jerusalem Gate." + + +"Jerusalem fiddlesticks! Why, there's no such gate!" + + +"There the very spirit of Antiquity sits enthroned to welcome the +traveller, and all the solemn Past sheds her influences over his +soul--" + + +"Excuse me; there is a Jerusalem Gate." + +"Perhaps so--in Joppa." + + +"There the Imperial City lies in the sublimity of ruin. It is the Rome +of our dreams--the ghost of a dead and buried Empire hovering over its +own neglected grave!" + + +"Dick, it's not fair to work off an old college essay as European +correspondence." + + +"Nothing may be seen but desolation. The waste Campagna stretches its +arid surface away to the Alban mountains, uninhabited, and forsaken of +man and beast. For the dust and the works and the monuments of +millions lie here, mingled in the common corruption of the tomb, and +the life of the present age shrinks away in terror. Long lines of +lofty aqueducts come slowly down from the Alban hills, but these +crumbled stones and broken arches tell a story more eloquent than +human voice. + +"The walls arise before us, but there is no city beyond. The +desolation that reigns in the Campagna has entered here. The palace +of the noble, the haunts of pleasure, the resorts of the multitude, +the garrison of the soldier, have crumbled to dust, and mingled +together in one common ruin. The soil on which we tread, which gives +birth to trees, shrubs, and wild flowers without number, is but an +assemblage of the disintegrated atoms of stones and mortar that once +arose on high in the form of palace, pyramid, or temple." + + +"Dick, I advise you to write all your letters before you see the +places you speak of. You've no idea how eloquent you can be!" + + +"Now if we pass on in this direction, we soon come to a spot which is +the centre of the world--the place where most of all we must look when +we search for the source of much that is valuable in our age. + +"It in a rude and a neglected spot. At one end rises a rock crowned +with houses; on one side are a few mean edifices, mingled with masses +of tottering ruins; on the other a hill formed altogether of crumbled +atoms of bricks, mortar, and precious marbles. In the midst are a few +rough columns blackened by time and exposure. The soil is deep, and +in places there are pits where excavations have been made. Rubbish +lies around; bits of straw, and grass, and hay, and decayed leather, +and broken bottles, and old bones. A few dirty shepherds pass along, +driving lean and miserable sheep. Further up is a cluster of +wine-carts, with still more curious horses and drivers. + +"What is this place?--what those ruins, these fallen monuments, these +hoary arches, these ivy-covered walls? What? This is-- + + + "'The field of freedom, faction, fame, and blood; + Here a proud people's passions were exhaled, + From the first hour of Empire in the bud + To that when further worlds to conquer failed; + The Forum where the immortal accents glow, + And still the eloquent air breathes, burns with Cicero!' + + +"Yet if you go up to one of those people and ask this Question, he +will answer you and tell you the only name, he knows--The Cow Market!'" + + +"Is that all?" inquired Buttons, as Dick laid down his paper. + +"That's all I've written as yet." + +Whereupon Buttons clapped his bands to express applause, and all the +others laughingly followed his example. + +"Dick," said the Senator, after a pause, "what you have written sounds +pretty. But look at the facts. Here you are writing a description of +Rome before you've seen any thing of the place at all. All that you +have put in that letter is what you have read in books of travel. I +mention this not from blame, but merely to show what a wrong principle +travellers go on. They don't notice real live facts. Now I've promised +the editor of our paper a letter. As soon as I write it I'll read it +for you. The style won't be equal to yours. But, if I write, I'll be +bound to tell something new. Sentiment," pursued the Senator, +thoughtfully, "is playing the dickens with the present age. What we +ought to look at is not old ruins or pictures, but men--men--live men. +I'd rather visit the cottage of an Italian peasant than any church in +the country. I'd rather see the working of the political constitution +of this 'ere benighted land than any painting you can show. +Horse-shoes before ancient stones, and macaroni before statues, say I! +For these little things show me all the life of the people. If I only +understood their cursed lingo," said the Senator, with a tinge of +regret, "I'd rather stand and hear them talk by the hour, particularly +the women, than listen to the pootiest music they can scare up!" + +"I tried that game," said Mr. Figgs, ruefully, "in Naples. I went into +a broker's shop to change a Napoleon. I thought I'd like to see their +financial system. I saw enough of it; for the scoundrel gave me a lot +of little bits of coin that only passed for a few cents apiece in +Naples, with difficulty at that, and won't pass here at all!" + +The Senator laughed. "Well, you shouldn't complain. You lost your +Napoleon, but gained experience. You have a new wrinkle. I gained a +new wrinkle too when I gave a half-Napoleon, by mistake, to a wretched +looking beggar, blind of one eye. I intended to give him a centime." + +"Your principle," said Buttons, "does well enough for you as a +traveller. But you don't look at all the points of the subject. The +point is to write a letter for a newspaper. Now what is the most +successful kind of letter? The readers of a family paper are +notoriously women and young men, or lads. Older men only look at the +advertisements or the news. What do women and lads care for +horse-shoes and macaroni? Of course, if one were to write about +these things in a humorous style they would take; but, as a general +thing, they prefer to read about old ruins, and statues, and cities, +and processions. But the best kind of a correspondence is that which +deals altogether in adventures. That's what takes the mind! Incidents +of travel, fights with ruffians, quarrels with landlords, shipwrecks, +robbery, odd scrapes, laughable scenes; and Dick, my boy! when you +write again be sure to fill your letter with events of this sort." + +"But suppose," suggested Dick, meekly, "that we meet with no +ruffians, and there are no adventures to relate?" + +"Then use a traveller's privilege and invent them. What was +imagination given for if not to use?" + +"It will not do--it will not do," said the Senator, decidedly. "You +must hold on to facts. Information, not amusement, should be your +aim." + +"But information is dull by itself. Amusement perhaps is useless. Now +how much better to combine the utility of solid information with the +lighter graces of amusement, fun, and fancy. Your pill, Doctor, is +hard to take, though its effects are good. Coat it with sugar and +it's easy." + +"What!" exclaimed the Doctor, suddenly starting up. "I'm not asleep! +Did you speak to me?" + +The Doctor blinked and rubbed his eyes, and wondered what the company +were laughing at. In a few minutes, however, he concluded to resume +his broken slumber in his bed. He accordingly retired; and the +company followed his example. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +ST. PETER'S!--THE TRAGIC STORY OF THE FAT MAN IN THE BALL.--HOW +ANOTHER TRAGEDY NEARLY HAPPENED.--THE WOES OF MEINHERR SCHATT. + + +Two stately fountains, a colonnade which in spite of faults possesses +unequalled majesty, a vast piazza, enclosing many acres, in whose +immense area puny man dwindles to a dwarf, and in the distance the +unapproachable glories of the greatest of earthly temples--such is the +first view of St. Peter's. + +Our party of friends entered the lordly vestibule, and lifting the +heavy mat that hung over the door-way they passed through. There came +a soft air laden with the odor of incense; and strains of music from +one of the side chapels came echoing dreamily down one of the side +aisles. A glare of sunlight flashed in on polished marbles of a +thousand colors that covered pillars, walls, and pavement. The vaulted +ceiling blazed with gold. People strolled to and fro without any +apparent object. They seemed to be promenading. In different places +some peasant women were kneeling. + +They walked up the nave. The size of the immense edifice increased +with every step. Arriving under the dome they stood looking up with +boundless astonishment. + +They walked round and round. They saw statues which were masterpieces +of genius; sculptures that glowed with immortal beauty; pictures which +had consumed a life-time as they grew up beneath the patient toil of +the mosaic worker. There were altars containing gems equal to a +king's ransom; curious pillars that came down from immemorial ages; +lamps that burn forever. + +"This," said the Senator, "is about the first place that has really +come up to my idee of foreign parts. In fact it goes clean beyond it. +I acknowledge its superiority to any thing that America can produce. +But what's the good of it all? If this Government really cared for +the good of the people it would sell out the hull concern, and devote +the proceeds to railways and factories. Then Italy would go ahead as +Providence intended." + +"My dear Sir, the people of this country would rise and annihilate +any Government that dared to touch it." + +"Shows how debased they have grown. There's no utility in all this. +There couldn't be any really good Gospel preaching here. + +"Different people require different modes of worship," said Buttons, +sententiously. + +"But it's immense," said the Senator, as they stood at the furthest +end and looked toward the entrance. "I've been calc'latin' that you +could range along this middle aisle about eighteen good-sized +Protestant churches, and eighteen more along the side aisles. You +could pile them up three tiers high. You could stow away twenty-four +more in the cross aisle. After that you could pile up twenty more in +the dome. That would make room here for one hundred and fifty-two, +good-sized Protestant churches, and room enough would be left to +stow away all their spires." + +And to show the truth of his calculation he exhibited a piece of paper +on which he had pencilled it all. + +If the interior is imposing the ascent to the roof is equally so. +There is a winding path so arranged that mules can go up carrying +loads. Up this they went and reached the roof. Six or seven acres of +territory snatched from the air spread around; statutes rose from the +edge; all around cupolas and pillars rose. In the center the huge dome +itself towered on high. There was a long low building filled with +people who lived up here. They were workmen whose duty it was to +attend to the repairs of the vast structure. Two fountains poured +forth a never-ceasing supply of water. It was difficult to conceive +that this was a roof of a building. + +Entering the base of the central cupola a stairway leads up. There is +a door which leads to the interior, where one can walk around a +gallery on the inside of the dome and look down. Further up where +the arch springs there is another. Finally at the apex of the dome +there is a third opening. Looking down through this the sensation +is terrific. + +Upon the summit of the vast dome stands an edifice of large size, +which is called the lantern, and appears insignificant in comparison +with the mighty structure beneath. Up this the stairway goes until +at length the opening into the ball is reached. + +The whole five climbed up into the ball. They found to their surprise +that it would hold twice as many more. The Senator reached up his +hand. He could not touch the top. They looked through the slits in +the side. The view was boundless; the wide Campagna, the purple +Apennines, the blue Mediterranean, appeared from different sides. + +"I feel," said the Senator, "that the conceit is taken out of me. +What is Boston State House to this; or Bunker Hill monument! I +used to see pictures of this place in Woodbridge's Geography; but +I never had a realizing sense of architecture until now." + +"This ball," said Buttons, "has its history, its associations. It +has been the scene of suffering. Once a stoutish man came up here. +The guides warned him, but to no purpose. He was a willful +Englishman. You may see, gentlemen, that the opening is narrow. How +the Englishman managed to get up does not appear; but it is certain +that when he tried to get down he found it impossible. He tried for +hours to squeeze through. No use. Hundreds of people came up to help +him. They couldn't. The whole city got into a state of wild +excitement. Some of the churches had prayers offered up for him +though he was a heretic. At the end of three days he tried again. +Fasting and anxiety had come to his relief, and he slipped through +without difficulty." + +"He must have been a London swell," said Dick. + +"I don't believe a word of it," said Mr. Figgs, looking with an +expression of horror, first at the opening, and then at his own +rotundity. Then springing forward he hurriedly began to descend. + +Happy Mr. Figgs! There was no danger for him. But in his eagerness to +get down he did not think of looking below to see if the way was +clear. And so it happened, that as he descended quickly and with +excited haste, he stepped with all his weight upon the hand of a man +who was coming up. The stranger shouted. Mr. Figgs jumped. His foot +slipped. His hand loosened, and down he fell plump to the bottom. Had +he fallen on the floor there is no doubt that he would have sustained +severe injury. Fortunately for himself he fell upon the stranger and +nearly crushed his life out. + +The stranger writhed and rolled till he had got rid of his heavy +burden. The two men simultaneously started to their feet. The +stranger was a short stout man with an unmistakable German face. He +had bright blue eyes, red hair, and a forked red beard. He stared +with all his might, stroked his forked red beard piteously, and then +ejaculated most gutturally, in tones that seemed to come from his +boots-- + +"Gh-h-h-r-r-r-r-r-acious me!" + +Mr. Figgs overwhelmed him with apologies, assured him that it was +quite unintentional, hoped that he wasn't hurt, begged his pardon; +but the stranger only panted, and still he stroked his forked red +beard, and still ejaculated-- + +"Gh-h-h-r-r-r-r-r-acious me!" + +Four heads peered through the opening above; but seeing no accident +their owners, one by one, descended, and all with much sympathy asked +the stranger if he was much hurt. But the stranger, who seemed quite +bewildered, still panted and stroked his beard, and ejaculated-- + +"Gh-h-h-r-r-r-r-r-acious me!" + +At length he seemed to recover his faculties, and discovered that he +was not hurt. Upon this he assured Mr. Figgs, in heavy guttural +English, that it was nothing. He had often been knocked down before. +If Mr. Figgs was a Frenchman, he would feel angry. But as he was an +American he was glad to make his acquaintance. He himself had once +lived in America, in Cincinnati, where he had edited a German paper. +His name was Meinherr Schatt. + +Meinherr Schatt showed no further disposition to go up; but +descended with the others down as far as the roof, when they went to +the front and stood looking down on the piazza. In the course of +conversation Meinherr Schatt informed them that he belonged to the +Duchy of Saxe Meiningen, that he had been living in Rome about two +years, and liked it about as well as any place that he had seen. + +He went every autumn to Paris to speculate on the Bourse, and +generally made enough to keep him for a year. He was acquainted with +all the artists in Rome. Would they like to be introduced to some +of them? + + +[Illustration: Gracious Me!] + + +Buttons would be most charmed. He would rather become acquainted +with artists than with any class of people. + +Meinherr Schatt lamented deeply the present state of things arising +from the war in Lombardy. A peaceful German traveller was scarcely +safe now. Little boys made faces at him in the street, and shouted +after him, "Mudedetto Tedescho!" + +Just at this moment the eye of Buttons was attracted by a carriage +that rolled away from under the front of the cathedral down the +piazza. In it were two ladies and a gentleman. Buttons stared eagerly +for a few moments, and then gave a jump. + +"What's the matter?" cried Dick. + +"It is! By Jove! It is!" + +"What? Who?" + +"I see her face! I'm off!" + +"Confound it! Whose face?" + +But Buttons gave no answer. He was off like the wind, and before the +others could recover from their surprise had vanished down the +descent. + +"What upon airth has possessed Buttons now?" asked the Senator. + +"It must be the Spanish girl," said Dick. + +"Again? Hasn't his mad chase at sea given him a lesson? Spanish +girl! What is he after? If he wants a girl, why can't he wait and +pick out a regular thorough-bred out and outer of Yankee stock? +These Spaniards are not the right sort." + +In an incredible short space of time the figure of Buttons was +seen dashing down the piazza, in the direction which the carriage +had taken. But the carriage was far ahead, and even as he left the +church it had already crossed the Ponte di S. Angelo. The others +then descended. Buttons was not seen till the end of the day. + +He then made his appearance with a dejected air. + +"What luck?" asked Dick, as he came in. + +"None at all," said Buttons, gloomily. + +"Wrong ones again?" + +"No, indeed. I'm not mistaken this time. But I couldn't catch them. +They got out of sight, and kept out too. I've been to every hotel +in the place, but couldn't find them. It's too bad." + +"Buttons," said the Senator, gravely, "I'm sorry to see a young man +like you so infatuated. Beware--Buttons--beware of wimmin! Take the +advice of an older and more experienced man. Beware of wimmin. +Whenever you see one coming--dodge! It's your only hope. If it +hadn't been for wimmin"--and the Senator seemed to speak half to +himself, while his face assumed a pensive air--"if it hadn't been +for wimmin, I'd been haranguing the Legislatoor now, instead of +wearying my bones in this benighted and enslaved country." + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +THE GLORY, GRANDEUR, BEAUTY, AND INFINITE VARIETY OF THE PINCIAN +HILL; NARRATED AND DETAILED NOT COLUMNARILY BUT EXHAUSTIVELY, +AND AFTER THE MANNER OF RABELAIS. + + +Oh, the Pincian Hill!--Does the memory of that place affect all +alike? Whether it does or not matters little to the chronicler of +this veracious history. To him it is the crown and glory of modern +Rome; the centre around which all Rome clusters. Delightful walks! +Views without a parallel! Place on earth to which no place else can +hold a candle! + +Pooh--what's the use of talking? Contemplate, O Reader, from the +Pincian Hill the following: + + +The Tiber, The Campagna, The Aqueducts, Trajan's Column, +Antonine's Pillar, The Piazza del Popolo, The Torre del Capitoglio, +The Hoar Capitoline, The Palatine, The Quirinal, The Viminal, +The Esquiline, The Caelian, The Aventine, The Vatican, The Janiculum, +St. Peter's, The Lateran, The Stands for Roast Chestnuts, The New +York _Times_, the Hurdy-gurdys, The London _Times_, The Raree-shows, +The Obelisk of Mosaic Pharaoh, The Wine-carts, Harper's Weekly, +Roman Beggars, Cardinals, Monks, Artists, Nuns, The New York +_Tribune_, French soldiers, Swiss Guards, Dutchmen, Mosaic-workers, +Plane-trees, Cypress-trees, Irishmen, Propaganda Students, Goats, +Fleas, Men from Bosting, Patent Medicines, Swells Lager, +Meerschaum-pipes, The New York _Herald_, Crosses, Rustic Seats, +Dark-eyed Maids, Babel, Terrapins, Marble Pavements, Spiders, +Dreamy Haze, Jews, Cossacks, Hens, All the Past, Rags, The +original Barrel-organ, The original Organ-grinder, Bourbon Whisky, +Civita Vecchia Olives, Hadrian's Mausoleum, _Harper's Magazine_, +The Laurel Shade, Murray's Hand-book, Cicerones, Englishmen, +Dogcarts, Youth, Hope, Beauty, Conversation Kenge, Bluebottle Flies, +Gnats, _Galignani_, Statues, Peasants, Cockneys, Gas-lamps, +Dundreary, Michiganders, Paper-collars, Pavilions, Mosaic Brooches, +Little Dogs, Small Boys, Lizards, Snakes, Golden Sunsets, Turks, +Purple Hills, Placards, Shin-plasters, Monkeys, Old Boots, +Coffee-roasters, Pale Ale, The Dust of Ages, The Ghost of Rome, +Ice Cream, Memories, Soda-Water, Harper's Guide-Book. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +HARMONY ON THE PINCIAN HILL.--MUSIC HATH CHARMS.--AMERICAN MELODIES. +--THE GLORY, THE POWER, AND THE BEAUTY OF YANKEE DOODLE, AND THE +MERCENARY SOUL OF AN ITALIAN ORGAN-GRINDER. + + +The Senator loved the Pincian Hill, for there he saw what he loved +best; more than ruins, more than churches, more than pictures and +statues, more than music. He saw man and human nature. + +He had a smile for all; of superiority for the bloated aristocrat; of +friendliness for the humble, yet perchance worthy mendicant. He longed +every day more and more to be able to talk the language of the people. + +On one occasion the Club was walking on the Pincian Hill, when +suddenly they were arrested by familiar sounds which came from some +place not very far away. It was a barrel-organ; a soft and musical +organ; but it was playing "Sweet Home." + +"A Yankee tune," said the Senator. "Let us go and patronize domestic +manufacture. That is my idee of political economy." + +Reaching the spot they saw a pale, intellectual-looking Italian +working away at his instrument. + +"It's not bad, though that there may not be the highest kind of +musical instrument." + +"No," said Buttons; "but I wonder that you, an elder of a church, +can stand here and listen to it." + +"Why, what has the church to do with a barrel-organ?" + +"Don't you believe the Bible?" + +"Of course," said the Senator, looking mystified. + +"Don't you know what it says on the subject?" + +"What the Bible says? Why no, of course not. It says nothing." + +"I beg your pardon. It says, 'The sound of the grinding is low.' See +Ecclesiastes, twelfth, fourth." + +The Senator looked mystified, but said nothing. But suddenly the +organ-grinder struck up another tune. + +"Well, I do declare," cried the Senator, delighted, "if it isn't +another domestic melody!" + +It was "Independence Day." + +"Why, it warms my heart," he said, as a flush spread over his fine +countenance. + +The organ-grinder received any quantity of _baiocchi_, which so +encouraged him that he tried another--"Old Virginny." + +"That's better yet," said the Senator. "But how on airth did this +man manage to get hold of these tunes?" + +Then came others. They were all American: "Old Folks at Home," +"Nelly Ely," "Suwannee Ribber," "Jordan," "Dan Tucker," "Jim Crow." + +The Senator was certainly most demonstrative, but all the others +were equally affected. + +Those native airs; the dashing, the reckless, the roaringly-humorous, +the obstreperously jolly--they show one part of the many-sided +American character. + +Not yet has justice been done to the nigger song. It is not a +nigger song. It is an American melody. Leaving out those which have +been stolen from Italian Operas, how many there are which are truly +American in their extravagance, their broad humor, their glorious +and uproarious jollity! The words are trash. The melodies are every +thing. + +These melodies touched the hearts of the listeners. American life +rose before them as they listened.--American life--free, boundless, +exuberant, broadly-developing, self-asserting, gaining its +characteristics from the boundless extent of its home--a continental +life of limitless variety. As mournful as the Scotch; as reckless as +the Irish; as solemnly patriotic as the English. + +"Listen!" cried the Senator, in wild excitement. + +It was "Hail Columbia." + +"The Pincian Hill," said the Senator, with deep solemnity, "is +glorified from this time forth and for evermore. It has gained a +new charm. The Voice of Freedom hath made itself heard!" + +The others, though less demonstrative, were no less delighted. Then +came another, better yet. "The Star-Spangled Banner." + +"There!" cried the Senator, "is our true national anthem--the +commemoration of national triumph; the grand upsoaring of the +victorious American Eagle as it wings its everlasting flight +through the blue empyrean away up to the eternal stars!" + +He burst into tears; the others respected his emotion. + +Then he wiped his eyes and looked ashamed of himself--quite +uselessly--for it is a mistake to suppose that tears are unmanly. +Unmanly! The manliest of men may sometimes shed tears out of his +very manhood. + +At last there arose a magic strain that produced an effect to +which the former was nothing. It was "Yankee Doodle!" + +The Senator did not speak. He could not find words. He turned +his eyes first upon one, and then another of his companions; eyes +beaming with joy and triumph--eyes that showed emotion arising +straight from a patriot's heart--eyes which seemed to say: Is there +any sound on earth or above the earth that can equal this? + + +[Illustration: Old Virginny.] + + +Yankee Doodle has never, received justice. It is a tune without +words. What are the recognized words? Nonsense unutterable--the +sneer of a British officer. But the tune!--ah that is quite +another thing! + +The tune was from the very first taken to the national heart, and +has never ceased to be cherished there. The Republic has grown to +be a very different thing from that weak beginning, but its +national air is as popular as ever. The people do not merely +love it. They glory in it. And yet apologies are sometimes made +for it. By whom? By the soulless dilettante. The people know +better:--the farmers, the mechanics, the fishermen, the +dry-goods clerks, the newsboys, the railway stokers, the butchers, +the bakers, the candlestick-makers, the tinkers, the tailors, the +soldiers, the sailors. Why? Because this music has a voice of its +own, more expressive than words; the language of the soul, which +speaks forth in certain melodies which form an utterance of +unutterable passion. + +The name was perhaps given in ridicule. It was accepted with pride. +The air is rash, reckless, gay, triumphant, noisy, boisterous, +careless, heedless, rampant, raging, roaring, rattle, brainish, +devil-may-care-ish, plague-take-the-hindmost-ish; but! solemn, +stern, hopeful, resolute, fierce, menacing, strong, cantankerous +(cantankerous is entirely an American idea), bold, daring-- + +Words fail. + +Yankee Doodle has not yet received its Doo! + +The Senator had smiled, laughed, sighed, wept, gone through many +variations of feeling. + +He had thrown _baiocchi_ till his pockets were exhausted, and then +handed forth silver. He had shaken hands with all his companions ten +times over. They themselves went not quite as far in feeling as he, +but yet to a certain extent they went in. + +And yet Americans are thought to be practical, and not ideal. Yet here +was a true American who was intoxicated--drunk! By what? By sound, +notes, harmony. By music! + +"Buttons," said he, as the music ceased and the Italian prepared to +make his bow and quit the scene, "I must make that gentleman's +acquaintance." + +Buttons walked up to the organ-grinder. + +"Be my interpreter," said the Senator. "Introduce me." + +"What's your name?" asked Buttons. + +"Maffeo Cloto." + +"From where?" + +"Urbino." + +"Were you ever in America?" + +"No, Signore." + +"What does he say?" asked the Senator, impatiently. + +"He says his name is Mr. Cloto, and he was never in America." + +"How did you get these tunes?" + +"Out of my organ," said the Italian, grinning. + +"Of course; but how did you happen to get an organ with such tunes?" + +"I bought it." + +"Oh yes; but how did you happen to buy one with these tunes?" + +"For you illustrious American Signore. You all like to hear them." + +"Do you know any thing about the tunes?" + +"Signore?" + +"Do you know what the words are?" + +"Oh no. I am an Italian." + +"I suppose you make money out of them." + +"I make more in a day with these than I could in a week with other +tunes." + +"You lay up money, I suppose." + +"Oh yes. In two years I will retire and let my younger brother play +here." + +"These tunes?" + +"Yes, Signore." + +"To Americans?" + +"Yes, Signore." + +"What is it all?" asked the Senator. + +"He says that he finds he makes money by playing American tunes to +Americans." + +"Hm," said the Senator, with some displeasure; "and he has no soul +then to see the--the beauty, the sentiment, the grandeur of his +vocation!" + +"Not a bit--he only goes in for money." + +The Senator turned away in disgust. "Yankee Doodle," he murmured, +"ought of itself to have a refining and converting influence on the +European mind; but it is too debased--yes--yes--too debased." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +HOW A BARGAIN IS MADE.--THE WILES OF THE ITALIAN TRADESMAN.--THE NAKED +SULKY BEGGAR, AND THE JOVIAL WELL-CLAD BEGGAR.--WHO IS THE KING OF +BEGGARS? + + +"What are you thinking about, Buttons?" + +"Well, Dick, to tell the truth, I have been thinking that if I do +find the Spaniards they won't have reason to be particularly proud of +me as a companion. Look at me." + +"I look, and to be frank, my dear boy, I must say that you look more +shabby-genteel than otherwise." + +"That's the result of travelling on one suit of clothes--without +considering fighting. I give up my theory." + +"Give it up, then, and come out as a butterfly." + +"Friend of my soul, the die is cast. Come forth with me and seek a +clothing-store." + +It was not difficult to find one. They entered the first one that they +saw. The polite Roman overwhelmed them with attention. + +"Show me a coat, Signore." + +Signore sprang nimbly at the shelves and brought down every coat in +his store. Buttons picked out one that suited his fancy, and tried it +on. + +"What is the price?" + +With a profusion of explanation and description the Roman informed +him: "Forty piastres." + +"I'll give you twelve," said Buttons, quietly. + +The Italian smiled, put his head on one side, drew down the corners +of his mouth, and threw up his shoulders. This is the _shrug_. The +shrug requires special attention. The shrug is a gesture used by the +Latin race for expressing a multitude of things, both objectively and +subjectively. It is a language of itself. It is, as circumstances +require, a noun, adverb, pronoun, verb, adjective, preposition, +interjection, conjunction. Yet it does not supersede the spoken +language. It comes in rather when spoken words are useless, to convey +intensity of meaning or delicacy. It is not taught, but it is learned. + +The coarser, or at least blunter, Teutonic race have not cordially +adopted this mode of human intercommunication. The advantage of the +shrug is that in one slight gesture it contains an amount of meaning +which otherwise would require many words. A good shrugger in Italy is +admired, just as a good conversationist is in England, or a good stump +orator in America. When the merchant shrugged, Buttons understood him +and said: + +"You refuse? Then I go. Behold me!" + +"Ah, Signore, how can you thus endeavor to take advantage of the +necessities of the poor?" + +"Signore, I must buy according to my ability." + +The Italian laughed long and quietly. The idea of an Englishman or +American not having much money was an exquisite piece of humor. + +"Go not, Signore. Wait a little. Let me unfold more garments. Behold +this, and this. You shall have many of my goods for twelve piastres." + + +[Illustration: The Shrug.] + + +"No, Signore; I must have this, or I will have none." + +"You are very hard, Signore. Think of my necessities. Think of the +pressure of this present war, which we poor miserable tradesmen feel +most of all." + +"Then addio, Signore; I must depart." + +They went out and walked six paces. + +"P-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-t!" (Another little idea of the Latin race. It is +a much more penetrating sound than a loud Hallo! Ladies can use it. +Children too. This would be worth importing to America.) + +"P-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-t!" + +Buttons and Dick turned. The Italian stood smiling and bowing and +beckoning. + +"Take it for twenty-four piastres." + +"No, Signore; I can only pay twelve." + +With a gesture of ruffled dignity the shopkeeper withdrew. Again they +turned away. They had scarcely gone ten paces before the shop-keeper +was after them: + +"A thousand pardons. But I have concluded to take twenty." + +"No; twelve, and no more." + +"But think, Signore; only think." + +"I do think, my friend; I do think." + +"Say eighteen." + +"No, Signore." + +"Seventeen." + +"Twelve." + +"Here. Come back with me." + +They obeyed. The Italian folded the coat neatly, tied it carefully, +stroked the parcel tenderly, and with a meek yet sad smile handed it +to Buttons. + +"There--only sixteen piastres." + +Buttons had taken out his purse. At this he hurriedly replaced it, +with an air of vexation. + +"I can only give twelve." + +"Oh, Signore, be generous. Think of my struggles, my expenses, my +family. You will not force me to lose." + +"I would scorn to force you to any thing, and therefore I will +depart." + +"Stop, Signore," cried the Italian, detaining them at the door. "I +consent. You may take it for fourteen." + +"For Heaven's sake, Buttons, take it," said Dick, whose patience was +now completely exhausted. "Take it." + +"Twelve," said Buttons. + +"Let me pay the extra two dollars, for my own peace of mind," said +Dick. + +"Nonsense, Dick. It's the principle of the thing. As a member of the +Dodge Club, too, I could not give more." + +"Thirteen, good Signore mine," said the Italian piteously. + +"My friend, I have given my word that I would pay only twelve." + +"Your word? Your pardon, but to whom?" + +"To you." + +"Oh, then, how gladly I release you from your word!" + +"Twelve, Signore, or I go." + +"I can not." + +Buttons turned away. They walked along the street, and at length +arrived at another clothier's. Just as they stepped in a hand was +laid on Buttons's shoulder, and a voice cried out-- + +"Take it! Take it, Signore!" + +"Ah! I thought so. Twelve?" + +"Twelve." + +Buttons paid the money and directed where it should be sent. He found +out afterward that the price which an Italian gentleman would pay was +about ten piastres. + +There is no greater wonder than the patient waiting of an Italian +tradesman, in pursuit of a bargain. The flexibility of the Italian +conscience and imagination under such circumstances is truly +astonishing. + +Dress makes a difference. The very expression of the face changes when +one has passed from shabbiness into elegance. After Buttons had +dressed himself in his gay attire his next thought was what to do with +his old clothes. + +"Come and let us dispose of them." + +"Dispose of them!" + +"Oh, I mean get rid of them. I saw a man crouching in a corner nearly +naked as I came up. Let us go and see if we can find him. I'd like to +try the effect." + +They went to the place where the man had been seen. He was there +still. A young man, in excellent health, brown, muscular, lithe. +He had an old coverlet around his loins--that was all. He looked up +sulkily. + +"Are you not cold?" + +"No," he blurted out, and turned away. + +"A boor," said Dick. "Don't throw away your charity on him." + +"Look here." + +The man looked up lazily. + +"Do you want some clothes?" + +No reply. + +"I've got some here, and perhaps will give them to you." + +The man scrambled to his feet. + +"Confound the fellow!" said Dick. "If he don't want them let's find +some one who does." + +"Look here," said Buttons. + +He unfolded his parcel. The fellow looked indifferently at the things. + +"Here, take this," and he offered the pantaloons. + +The Italian took them and slowly put them on. This done, he stretched +himself and yawned. + +"Take this." + +It was his vest. + +The man took the vest and put it on with equal _sang froid_. Again +he yawned and stretched himself. + +"Here's a coat." + +Buttons held it out to the Italian. The fellow took it, surveyed it +closely, felt in the pockets, and examined very critically the +stiffening of the collar. Finally he put it on. He buttoned it +closely around him, and passed his fingers through his matted hair. +Then he felt the pockets once more. After which he yawned long and +solemnly. This done, he looked earnestly at Buttons and Dick. He saw +that they had nothing more. Upon which he turned on his heel, and +without saying a word, good or bad, walked off with immense strides, +turned a corner, and was out of sight. The two philanthropists were +left staring at one another. At last they laughed. + +"That man is an original," said Dick. + +"Yes, and there is another," said Buttons. + +As he spoke he pointed to the flight of stone steps that goes up from +the Piazza di Spagna. Dick looked up. There sat The Beggar! + +ANTONIO! + +Legless, hatless, but not by any means penniless, king of Roman +beggars, with a European reputation, unequalled, in his own +profession--there sat the most scientific beggar that the world has +ever seen. + +He had watched the recent proceedings, and caught the glance of the +young men. + +As they looked up his voice came clear and sonorous through the air: + +"O most generous--0 most noble--O most illustrious youths--Draw near +--Look in pity upon the abject--Behold legless, armless, helpless, the +beggar Antonio forsaken of Heaven--For the love of the Virgin--For the +sake of the saints--In the name of humanity--Date me uno mezzo +baioccho--Sono poooocooooovero--Miseraaaaaaaaaabile-- +Desperrrraaaaaaaado!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +THE MANIFOLD LIFE OF THE CAFÉ NUOVO, AND HOW THEY RECEIVED THE NEWS +ABOUT MAGENTA.--EXCITEMENT.--ENTHUSIASM.--TEARS.--EMBRACES. + + +All modern Rome lives in the Café Nuovo. It was once a palace. Lofty +ceilings, glittering walls, marble pavements, countless tables, +luxurious couches, immense mirrors, all dazzle the eye. The hubbub is +immense, the confusion overpowering. + +The European mode of life is not bad. Lodgings in roomy apartments, +where one sleeps and attends to one's private affairs; meals +altogether at the café. There one invites one's friends. No delay with +dinner; no badly-cooked dishes; no stale or sour bread; no timid, +overworn wife trembling for the result of new experiments in +housekeeping. On the contrary, one has: prompt meals; exquisite food; +delicious bread; polite waiters; and happy wife, with plenty of +leisure at home to improve mind and adorn body. + +The first visit which the Club paid to the Café Nuovo was an eventful +one. News had just been received of the great strife at Magenta. Every +one was wild. The two _Galignani's_ had been appropriated by two +Italians, who were surrounded by forty-seven frenzied Englishmen, all +eager to get hold of the papers. The Italians obligingly tried to read +the news. The wretched mangle which they made of the language, the +impatience, the excitement, and the perplexity of the audience, +combined with the splendid self-complacency of the readers, formed a +striking scene. + +The Italians gathered in a vast crowd in one of the billiard-rooms, +where one of their number, mounted on a table, was reading with +terrific volubility, and still more terrific gesticulations, a +private letter from a friend at Milan. + +"Bravo!" cried all present. + +In pronouncing which word the Italians rolled the "r" so tumultuously +that the only audible sound was-- + +B-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-f-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-ah! Like the letter B +in a railway train. + +The best of all was to see the French. They were packed in a dense +mass at the furthest extremity of the Grand Saloon. Every one was +talking. Every one was describing to his neighbor the minute +particulars of the tremendous contest. Old soldiers, hoarse with +excitement, emulated the volubility of younger ones. A thousand arms +waved energetically in the air. Every one was too much interested in +his own description to heed his neighbor. They were all talkers, no +listeners. + +A few Germans were there, but they sat forsaken and neglected. Even +the waiters forsook them. So they smoked the cigars of sweet and +bitter fancy, occasionally conversing in thick gutturals. It was +evident that they considered the present occasion as a combined crow +of the whole Latin race over the German. So they looked on with +impassive faces. + + +[Illustration: News Of Magenta!] + + +Perhaps the most stolid of all was Meinheer Schatt, who smoked and +sipped coffee alternately, stopping after each sip to look around +with mild surprise, to stroke his forked beard, and to ejaculate-- + +"Gr-r-r-r-r-r-acious me!" + +Him the Senator saw and accosted, who, making room for the Senator, +conversed with much animation. After a time the others took seats near +them, and formed a neutral party. At this moment a small-sized +gentleman with black twinkling eyes came rushing past, and burst into +the thick of the crowd of Frenchmen. At the sight of him Buttons +leaped up, and cried: + +"There's Francia! I'll catch him now!" + +Francia shouted a few words which set the Frenchmen wild. + +"The Allies have entered Milan! A dispatch has just arrived!" + +There burst a shrill yell of triumph from the insane Frenchmen. There +was a wild rushing to and fro, and the crowd swayed backward and +forward. The Italians came pouring in from the other room. One word +was sufficient to tell them all. It was a great sight to see. On each +individual the news produced a different effect. Some stood still as +though petrified; others flung up their arms and yelled; others +cheered; others upset tables, not knowing what they were doing; +others threw themselves into one another's arms, and embraced and +kissed; others wept for joy:--these last were Milanese. + +Buttons was trying to find Francia. The rush of the excited crowd +bore him away, and his efforts were fruitless. In fact, when he +arrived at the place where that gentleman had been, he was gone. The +Germans began to look more uncomfortable than ever. At length Meinheer +Schatt proposed that they should all go in a body to the Café Scacchi. +So they all left. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +CHECKMATE! + + +The Café Scacchi, as its name implies, is devoted to chess. Germans +patronize it to a great extent. Politics do not enter into the +precincts sacred to Caissa. + +After they had been seated about an hour Buttons entered. He had not +been able to find Francia. To divert his melancholy he proposed that +Meinheer Schatt should play a game of chess with the Senator. Now, +chess was the Senator's hobby. He claimed to be the best player in +his State. With a patronizing smile he consented to play with a tyro +like Meinheer Schatt. At the end of one game Meinheer Schatt stroked +his beard and meekly said-- + +"Gr-r-r-acious me!" + +The Senator frowned and bit his lips. He was checkmated. + +Another game. Meinheer Schatt played in a calm, and some might say a +stupid, manner. + +"Gr-r-r-acious me!" + +It was a drawn game. + +Another: this was a very long game. The Senator played laboriously. +It was no use. Slowly and steadily Meinheer Schatt won the game. + +When he uttered his usual exclamation the Senator felt strongly +inclined to throw the board at his head. However, he restrained +himself, and they commenced another game. Much to delight the +Senator beat. He now began to explain to Buttons exactly why it was +that he had not beaten before. + +Another game followed. The Senator lost woefully. His defeat was in +fact disgraceful. When Meinheer Schatt said the ominous word the +Senator rose, and was so overcome with vexation he had not the +courtesy to say Good-night. + +As they passed out Meinheer Schatt was seen staring after them with +his large blue eyes, stroking his beard, and whispering to himself-- + +"Gr-r-r-acious me!" + + +[Illustration: Before And After.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +BUTTONS A MAN OF ONE IDEA.--DICK AND HIS MEASURING TAPE.--DARK EYES. +--SUSCEPTIBLE HEART.--YOUNG MAIDEN WHO LIVES OUT OF TOWN.--GRAND +COLLISION OF TWO ABSTRACTED LOVERS IN THE PUBLIC STREETS. + + +Too much blame can not be given to Buttons for his behavior at this +period. He acted as though the whole motive of his existence was to +find the Francias. To this he devoted his days, and of this he dreamed +at night. He deserted his friends. Left to themselves, without his +moral influence to keep them together and give aim to their efforts, +each one followed his own inclination. + +Mr. Figgs spent the whole of his time in the Café Nuovo, drawing out +plans of dinners for each successive day. The Doctor, after sleeping +till noon, lounged on the Pincian Hill till evening, when he joined +Mr. Figgs at dinner. The Senator explored every nook and corner of +Rome. At first Dick accompanied him, but gradually they diverged +from one another in different paths. The Senator visited every place +in the city, peered into dirty houses, examined pavements, +investigated fountains, stared hard at the beggars, and looked +curiously at the Swiss Guard in the Pope's Palace. He soon became +known to the lower classes, who recognized with a grin the tall +foreigner that shouted queer foreign words and made funny gestures. + +Dick lived among churches, palaces, and ruins. Tired at length of +wandering, he attached himself to some artists, in whose studios he +passed the greater part of his afternoons. He became personally +acquainted with nearly every member of the fraternity, to whom he +endeared himself by the excellence of his tobacco, and his great +capacity for listening. Your talkative people bore artists more +than any others. + +"What a lovely girl! What a look she gave!" + +Such was the thought that burst upon the soul of Dick, after a +little visit to a little church that goes by the name of Saint +Somebody _ai quattri fontani_. He had visited it simply because he +had heard that its dimensions exactly correspond with those of each +of the chief piers that support the dome of Saint Peter's. As he +wished to be accurate, he had taken a tape-line, and began stretching +it from the altar to the door. The astonished priests at first stood +paralyzed by his sacrilegious impudence, but finally, after a +consultation, they came to him and ordered him to be gone. Dick looked +up with mild wonder. They indignantly repeated the order. + +Dick was extremely sorry that he had given offense. Wouldn't they +overlook it? He was a stranger, and did not know that they would be +unwilling. However, since he had begun, he supposed they would kindly +permit him to finish. + +--"They would kindly do no such thing," remarked one of the priests, +brusquely. "Was their church a common stable or a wine-shop that he +should presume to molest them at their services? If he had no +religion, could he not have courtesy; or, if he had no faith himself, +could he not respect the faith of others?" + +Dick felt abashed. The eyes of all the worshipers were on him, and it +was while rolling up his tape that his eyes met the glance of a +beautiful Italian girl, who was kneeling opposite. The noise had +disturbed her devotions, and she had turned to see what it was. It was +a thrilling glance from deep black lustrous orbs, in which there was +a soft and melting languor which he could not resist. He went out +dazzled, and so completely bewildered that he did not think of +waiting. After he had gone a few blocks he hurried back. She had gone. +However, the impression of her face remained. + +He went so often to the little church that the priests noticed him; +but finding that he was quiet and orderly they were not offended. One +of them seemed to think that his rebuke had awakened the young +foreigner to a sense of higher things; so he one day accosted him +with much politeness. The priest delicately brought forward the claims +of religion. Dick listened meekly. At length he asked the priest if +he recollected a certain young girl with beautiful face, wonderful +eyes, and marvellous appearance that was worshiping there on the day +that he came to measure the church. + +"Yes," said the priest, coldly. + +Could he tell her name and where she lived? + +"Sir," said the priest, "I had hoped that you came here from a higher +motive. It will do you no good to know, and I therefore decline +telling you." + +Dick begged most humbly, but the priest was inexorable. At last Dick +remembered having heard that an Italian was constitutionally unable +to resist a bribe. He thought he might try. True, the priest was a +gentleman; but perhaps an Italian gentleman was different from an +English or American; so he put his hand in his pocket and blushing +violently, brought forth a gold piece of about twenty dollars value. +He held it out. The priest stared at him with a look that was +appalling. + +"If you know--" faltered Dick--"any one--of course I don't mean +yourself--far from it--but--that is--" + +"Sir," cried the priest, "who are you? Are there no bounds to your +impudence? Have you come to insult me because I am a priest, and +therefore can not revenge myself? Away!" + +The priest choked with rage. Dick walked out. Bitterly he cursed +his wretched stupidity that had led him to this. His very ears +tingled with shame as he saw the full extent of the insult that he +had offered to a priest and a gentleman. He concluded to leave Rome +at once. + +But at the very moment when he had made this desperate resolve he +saw some one coming. A sharp thrill went through his heart. + +It was SHE! She looked at him and glanced modestly away. Dick at +once walked up to her. + +"Signorina," said he, not thinking what a serious thing it was to +address an Italian maiden in the streets. But this one did not +resent it. She looked up and smiled. "What a smile!" thought Dick. + +"Signorina," he said again, and then stopped, not knowing what to +say. His voice was very tremulous, and the expression of his face +tender and beseeching. His eyes told all. + +"Signore," said the girl, with a sweet smile. The smile encouraged +Dick. + +"Ehem--I have lost my way. I--I--could you tell me how I could get +to Piazza del Popolo? I think I might find my way home from there." + +The girl's eyes beamed with a mischievous light. + +"Oh yes, most easily. You go down that street; when you pass four +side-streets you turn; to the left--the left--remember, and then you +keep on till you come to a large church with a fountain before it, +then you turn round that, and you see the obelisk of the Piazza del +Popolo." + +Her voice was the sweetest that Dick had ever heard. He listened as +he would listen to music, and did not hear a single word that he +comprehended. + +"Pardon me," said he, "but would you please to tell me again. I can +not remember all. Three streets?" + +The girl laughed and repeated it + +Dick sighed. + +"I'm a stranger here, and am afraid that I can not find my way. I left +my map at home. If I could find some one who would go with me and +show me." + +He looked earnestly at her, but she modestly made a movement to go. + +"Are you in a great hurry?" said he. + +"No, Signore," replied the girl, softly. + +"Could you--a--a--would you be willing--to--to--walk a little part +of the way with me, and--show me a very little part of the way--only +a very little?" + + +[Illustration: Away!] + + +The girl seemed half to consent, but modestly hesitated, and a faint +flush stole over her face. + +"Ah do!" said Dick. He was desperate. + +"It's my only chance," thought he. + +The girl softly assented and walked on with him. + +"I am very much obliged to you for your kindness," said Dick. "It's +very hard for a stranger to find his way in Rome." + +"But, Signore, by this time you ought to know the whole of our city." + +"What? How?" + +"Why, you have been here three weeks at least." + +"How do you know?" and the young man blushed to his eyes. He had been +telling lies, and she knew it all the time. + +"Oh, I saw you once in the church, and I have seen you with that tall +man. Is he your father?" + +"No, only a friend." + +"I saw you," and she shook her little head triumphantly, and her +eyes beamed with fun and laughter. + +"Any way," thought Dick, "she ought to understand." + +"And did you see me when I was in that little church with a measuring +line?" + +The young girl looked up at him, her large eyes reading his very soul. + +"Did I look at you? Why, I was praying." + +"You looked at me, and I have never forgotten it." + +Another glance as though to assure herself of Dick's meaning. The +next moment her eyes sank and her face flushed crimson. Dick's heart +beat so fast that he could not speak for some time. + +"Signore," said the young girl at last, "when you turn that corner +you will see the Piazza del Popolo." + +"Will you not walk as far as that corner?" said Dick. + +"Ah, Signore, I am afraid I will not have time." + +"Will I never see you again?" asked he, mournfully. + +"I do not know, Signore. You ought to know." + +A pause. Both had stopped, and Dick was looking earnestly at her, but +she was looking at the ground. + +"How can I know when I do not know even your name? Let me know that, +so that I may think about it." + +"Ah, how you try to flatter! My name is Pepita Gianti." + +"And do you live far from here?" + +"Yes. I live close by the Basilica di San Paolo fuori le mure." + +"A long distance. I was out there once." + +"I saw you." + +Dick exulted. + +"How many times have you seen me? I have only seen you once before." + +"Oh, seven or eight times." + +"And will this be the last?" said Dick, beseechingly. + +"Signore, if I wait any longer the gates will be shut." + +"Oh, then, before you go, tell me where I can find you to-morrow. If +I walk out on that road will I see you? Will you come in to-morrow? +or will you stay out there and shall I go there? Which of the houses +do you live in? or where can I find you? If you lived over on the +Alban Hills I would walk every day to find you." + +Dick spoke with ardor and impetuosity. The deep feeling which he +showed, and the mingled eagerness and delicacy which he exhibited, +seemed not offensive to his companion. She looked up timidly. + +"When to-morrow comes you will be thinking of something else--or +perhaps away on those Alban mountains. You will forget all about +me. What is the use of telling you? I ought to go now." + +"I'll never forget!" burst forth Dick. "Never--never. Believe me. +On my soul; and oh, Signorina, it is not much to ask!" + + +[Illustration: Pepita.] + + +His ardor carried him away. In the broad street he actually made a +gesture as though he would take her hand. The young girl drew back +blushing deeply. She looked at him with a reproachful glance. + +"You forget--" + +Whereupon Dick interrupted her with innumerable apologies. + +"You do not deserve forgiveness. But I will forgive you if you leave +me now. Did I not tell you that I was in a hurry?" + +"Will you not tell me where I can see you again?" + +"I suppose I will be walking out about this time to-morrow." + +"Oh, Signorina! and I will be at the gate." + +"If you don't forget." + +"Would you be angry if you saw me at the gate this evening?" + +"Yes; for friends are going out with me. Addio, Signore." + +The young girl departed, leaving Dick rooted to the spot. After a +while he went on to the Piazza del Popolo. A thousand feelings +agitated him. Joy, triumph, perfect bliss, were mingled with countless +tender recollections of the glance, the smile, the tone, and the +blushes of Pepita. He walked on with new life. So abstracted was his +mind in all kinds of delicious anticipations that he ran full against +a man who was hurrying at full speed and in equal abstraction in the +opposite direction. There was a recoil. Both fell. Both began to make +apologies. But suddenly: + +"Why, Buttons!" + +"Why, Dick!" + +"Where in the world did you come from?" + +"Where in the world did you come from?" + +"What are you after, Buttons?" + +"Did you see a carriage passing beyond that corner?" + +"No, none." + +"You must have seen it." + +"Well, I didn't." + +"Why, it must have just passed you." + +"I saw none." + +"Confound it!" + +Buttons hurriedly left, and ran all the way to the corner, round which +he passed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + +CONSEQUENCES OF BEING GALLANT IN ITALY, WHERE THERE ARE LOVERS, +HUSBANDS, BROTHERS, FATHERS, COUSINS, AND INNUMERABLE OTHER RELATIVES +AND CONNECTIONS, ALL READY WITH THE STILETTO. + + +After his meeting with Pepita, Dick found it extremely difficult to +restrain his impatience until the following evening. He was at the +gate long before the time, waiting with trembling eagerness. + +It was nearly sundown before she came; but she did come at last. Dick +watched her with strange emotions, murmuring to himself all those +peculiar epithets which are commonly used by people in his situation. +The young girl was unmistakably lovely, and her grace and beauty might +have affected a sterner heart than Dick's. + +"Now I wonder if she knows how perfectly and radiantly lovely she +is," thought he, as she looked at him and smiled. + +He joined her a little way from the gate. + +"So you do not forget." + +"_I_ forget! Before I spoke to you I thought of you without ceasing, +and now I can never forget you." + +"Do your friends know where you are?" she asked, timidly. + +"Do you think I would tell them?" + +"Are you going to stay long in Rome?" + +"I will not go away for a long time." + +"You are an American." + +"Yes." + +"America is very far away." + +"But it is easy to get there." + +"How long will you be in Rome?" + +"I don't know. A very long time." + +"Not in the summer?" + +"Yes, in the summer." + +"But the malaria. Are you not afraid of that? Will your friends stay?" + +"I do not care whether my friends do or not." + +"But you will be left alone." + +"I suppose so." + +"But what will you do for company? It will be very lonely." + +"I will think of you all day, and at evening come to the gate." + +"Oh, Signore! You jest now!" + +"How can I jest with you?" + +"You don't mean what you say." + +"Pepita!" + +Pepita blushed and looked embarrassed. Dick had called her by her +Christian name; but she did not appear to resent it. + +"You don't know who I am," she said at last. "Why do you pretend to +be so friendly?" + +"I know that you are Pepita, and I don't want to know any thing +more, except one thing, which I am afraid to ask." + +Pepita quickened her pace. + +"Do not walk so fast, Pepita," said Dick, beseechingly. "Let the walk +be as long as you can." + +"But if I walked so slowly you would never let me get home." + +"I wish I could make the walk so slow that we could spend a +life-time on the road." + +Pepita laughed. "That would be a long time." + +It was getting late. The sun was half-way below the horizon. The sky +was flaming with golden light, which glanced dreamily through the hazy +atmosphere. Every thing was toned down to soft beauty. Of course it +was the season for lovers and lovers' vows. Pepita walked a little +more slowly to oblige Dick. She uttered an occasional murmur at their +slow progress, but still did not seem eager to quicken her pace. Every +step was taken unwillingly by Dick, who wanted to prolong the happy +time. + +Pepita's voice was the sweetest in the world, and her soft Italian +sounded more musically that that language had ever sounded before. +She seemed happy, and by many little signs showed that her companion +was not indifferent to her. At length Dick ventured to offer his arm. +She rested her hand on it very gently, and Dick tremulously took it in +his. The little hand fluttered for a few minutes, and then sank to +rest. + +The sun had now set. Evening in Italy is far different from what it +is in northern latitudes. There it comes on gently and slowly, +sometimes prolonging its presence for hours, and the light will be +visible until very late. In Italy, however, it is short and abrupt. +Almost as soon as the sun disappears the thick shadows come swiftly +on and cover every thing. It was so at this time. It seemed but a +moment after sunset, and yet every thing was growing indistinct. The +clumps of trees grew black; the houses and walls of the city behind +all faded into a mass of gloom. The stars shone faintly. There was +no moon. + +"I will be very late to-night," said Pepita, timidly. + +"But are you much later than usual?" + +"Oh, very much!" + +"There is no danger, is there? But if there is you are safe. I can +protect you. Can you trust me?" + +"Yes," said Pepita, in a low voice. + +It was too dark to see the swiftly-changing color of Pepita's face as +Dick murmured some words in her ear. But her hand trembled violently +as Dick held it. She did not say a word in response. Dick stood still +for a moment and begged her to answer him. She made an effort and +whispered some indistinct syllables. Whereupon Dick called her by +every endearing name that he could think of, and--Hasty footsteps! +Exclamations! Shouts! They were surrounded! Twelve men or more-- +stout, strong fellows, magnified by the gloom. Pepita shrieked. + +"Who are you?" cried Dick. "Away, or I'll shoot you all. I'm armed." + +"Boh!" said one of the men, contemptuously. "Off!" cried Dick, as +the fellow drew near. He put himself before Pepita to protect her, +and thrust his right hand in the breast-pocket of his coat. + +"Who is that with you?" said a voice. At the sound of the voice +Pepita uttered a cry. Darting from behind Dick she rushed up to him. + +"It is Pepita, Luigi!" + +"Pepita! Sister! What do you mean by this?" said the man hoarsely. +"Why are you so late? Who is this man?" + +"An American gentleman who walked out as far as this to protect me," +said Pepita, bursting into tears. + +"An American gentleman!" said Luigi, with a bitter sneer. "He came +to protect you, did he? Well; we will show him in a few minutes +how grateful we are." + +Dick stood with folded arms awaiting the result of all this. + +"Luigi! dearest brother!" cried Pepita, with a shudder, "on my soul +--in the name of the Holy Mother--he is an honorable American +gentleman, and he came to protect me." + +"Oh! we know, and we will reward him." + +"Luigi! Luigi!" moaned Pepita, "if you hurt him I will die!" + +"Ah! Has it come to that?" said Luigi, bitterly. "A half-hour's +acquaintance, and you talk of dying. Here, Pepita; go home with +Ricardo." + +"I will not. I will not go a step unless you let him go." + +"Oh, we will let him go!" + +"Promise me you will not hurt him." + +"Pepita, go home!" cried her brother, sternly. + +"I will not unless you promise." + +"Foolish girl! Do you suppose we are going to break the laws and +get into trouble? No, no. Come, go home with Ricardo. I'm going to +the city." + +Ricardo came forward, and Pepita allowed herself to be led away. + +When she was out of sight and hearing Luigi approached Dick. Amid +the gloom Dick did not see the wrath and hate that might have been on +his face, but the tone of his voice was passionate and menacing. He +prepared for the worst. "That is my sister.--Wretch! what did you +mean?" + +"I swear--" + +"Peace! We will give you cause to remember her." + +Dick saw that words and excuses were useless. He thought his hour had +come. He resolved to die game. He hadn't a pistol. His manoeuvre of +putting his hand in his pocket was merely intended to deceive. The +Italians thought that if he had one he would have done more than +mention it. He would at least have shown it. He had stationed +himself under a tree. The men were before him. Luigi rushed at him +like a wild beast. Dick gave him a tremendous blow between his eyes +that knocked him headlong. + +"You can kill me," he shouted, "but you'll find it hard work!" + +Up jumped Luigi, full of fury; half a dozen others rushed +simultaneously at Dick. He struck out two vigorous blows, which +crashed against the faces of two of them. The next moment he was on +the ground. On the ground, but striking well-aimed blows and kicking +vigorously. He kicked one fellow completely over. The brutal Italians +struck and kicked him in return. At last a tremendous blow descended +on his head. He sank senseless. + +When he revived it was intensely dark. He was covered with painful +bruises. His head ached violently. He could see nothing. He arose +and tried to walk, but soon fell exhausted. So he crawled closer to +the trunk of the tree, and groaned there in his pain. At last he +fell into a light sleep, that was much interrupted by his suffering. + +He awoke at early twilight. He was stiff and sore, but very much +refreshed. His head did not pain so excessively. He heard the +trickling of water near, and saw a brook. There he went and washed +himself. The water revived him greatly. Fortunately his clothes were +only slightly torn. After washing the blood from his face, and +buttoning his coat over his bloodstained shirt, and brushing the +dirt from his clothes, he ventured to return to the city. + +He crawled rather than walked, often stopping to rest, and once +almost fainting from utter weakness. But at last he reached the +city, and managed to find a wine-cart, the only vehicle that he +could see, which took him to his lodgings. He reached his room +before any of the others were up, and went to bed. + + +[Illustration: An Interruption.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +DICK ON THE SICK LIST.--RAPTURE OF BUTTONS AT MAKING AN IMPORTANT +DISCOVERY. + + +Great was the surprise of all on the following morning at finding that +Dick was confined to his bed. All were very anxious, and even Buttons +showed considerable feeling. For as much as a quarter of an hour he +ceased thinking about the Spaniards. Poor Dick! What on earth was the +matter? Had he fever? No. Perhaps it was the damp night-air. He should +not have been out so late. Where was he? A confounded pity! The Doctor +felt his pulse. There was no fever. The patient was very pale, and +evidently in great pain. His complaint was a mystery. However, the +Doctor recommended perfect quiet, and hoped that a few days would +restore him. Dick said not a word about the events of the evening. He +thought it would do no good to tell them. He was in great pain. His +body was black with frightful bruises, and the depression of his mind +was as deep as the pain of his body. + +The others went out at their usual hour. + +The kind-hearted Senator remained at home all day, and sat by Dick's +bedside, sometimes talking, sometimes reading. Dick begged him not to +put himself to so much inconvenience on his account; but such language +was distasteful to the Senator. + +"My boy," he said, "I know that you would do as much for me. Besides, +it is a far greater pleasure to do any thing for you than to walk +about merely to gratify myself. Don't apologize, or tell me that I am +troubling myself. Leave me to do as I please." + +Dick's grateful look expressed more than words. + +In a few days his pain had diminished, and it was evident that he +would be out in a fortnight or so. The kind attentions of his friends +affected him greatly. They all spent more time than ever in his room, +and never came there without bringing some little trifle, such as +grapes, oranges, or other fruit. The Senator hunted all over Rome for +a book, and found Victor Hugo's works, which he bought on a venture, +and had the gratification of seeing that it was acceptable. + +All suspected something. The Doctor had contended from the first that +Dick had met with an accident. They had too much delicacy to question +him, but made many conjectures amongst themselves. The Doctor thought +that he had been among some ruins, and met with a fall. Mr. Figgs +suggested that he might have been run over. The Senator thought it was +some Italian epidemic. Buttons was incapable of thinking rationally +about any thing just then. He was the victim of a monomania: the +Spaniards! + +About a week after Dick's adventure Buttons was strolling about on +his usual quest, when he was attracted by a large crowd around the +Chiesa di Gesu. The splendid equipages of the cardinals were crowded +about the principal entrance, and from the interior sounds of music +came floating magnificently down. Buttons went in to see what was +going on. A vast crowd filled the church. Priests in gorgeous +vestments officiated at the high altar, which was all ablaze with +the light of enormous wax-candles. The gloom of the interior was +heightened by the clouds of incense that rolled on high far within +the vaulted ceiling. + + +[Illustration: Poor Dick!] + + +The Pope was there. In one of the adjoining chambers he was performing +a ceremony which sometimes takes place in this church. Guided by +instinct, Buttons pressed his way into the chamber. A number of people +filled it. Suddenly he uttered an exclamation. + +Just as His Holiness was rising to leave, Buttons saw the group that +had filled his thoughts for weeks. + +The Spaniards! No mistake this time. And he had been right all along. +All his efforts had, after all, been based on something tangible. Not +in vain had he had so many walks, runnings, chasings, searchings, +strolls, so many hopes, fears, desires, discouragements. He was +right! Joy, rapture, bliss, ecstasy, delight! There they were: _the +little Don_--THE DONNA--IDA! + +Buttons, lost for a while in the crowd, and pressed away, never lost +sight of the Spaniards. They did not see him, however, until, as +they slowly moved out, they were stopped and greeted with astonishing +eagerness. The Don shook hands cordially. The Donna--that is, the +elder sister--smiled sweetly. Ida blushed and cast down her eyes. + +Nothing could be more gratifying than this reception. Where had he +been? How long in Rome? Why had they not met before? Strange that +they had not seen him about the city. And had he really been here +three weeks? Buttons informed them that he had seen them several +times, but at a distance. He had been at all the hotels, but had +not seen their names. + +Hotels! Oh, they lived in lodgings in the Palazzo Concini, not far +from the Piazza del Popolo. And how much longer did he intend to +stay?--Oh, no particular time. His friends enjoyed themselves here +very much. He did not know exactly when they would leave. How long +would they remain?--They intended to leave for Florence on the +following week.--Ah! He was thinking of leaving for the same place +at about the same time. Whereupon the Don expressed a polite hope +that they might see one another on the journey. + +By this time the crowd had diminished. They looked on while the Pope +entered his state-coach, and with strains of music, and prancing of +horses, and array of dragoons, drove magnificently away. + +The Don turned to Buttons: Would he not accompany them to their +lodgings? They were just about returning to dinner. If he were +disengaged they should be most happy to have the honor of his +company. + +Buttons tried very hard to look as though he were not mad with +eagerness to accept the invitation, but not very successfully. The +carriage drove off rapidly. The Don and Buttons on one seat, the +ladies on the other. + +Then the face of Ida as she sat opposite! Such a face! Such a smile! +Such witchery in her expression! Such music in her laugh! + +At any rate so it seemed to Buttons, and that is all that is needed. + +On through the streets of Rome; past the post-office, round the column +of Antoninus, up the Corso, until at last they stopped in front of +an immense edifice which had once been a palace. The descendants of +the family lived in a remote corner, and their poverty compelled them +to let out all the remainder as lodgings. This is no uncommon thing +in Italy. Indeed, there are so many ruined nobles in the country that +those are fortunate who have a shelter over their heads. Buttons +remarked this to the Don, who told some stories of these fallen +nobles. He informed him that in Naples their laundress was said to be +the last scion of one of the most ancient families in the kingdom. +She was a countess in her own right, but had to work at menial labor. +Moreover, many had sunk down to the grade of peasantry, and lived in +squalor on lands which were once the estates of their ancestors. + +Buttons spent the evening there. The rooms were elegant. Books lay +around which showed a cultivated taste. The young man felt himself in +a realm of enchantment. The joy of meeting was heightened by their +unusual complaisance. During the evening he found out all about them. +They lived in Cadiz, where the Don was a merchant. This was their +first visit to Italy. + +They all had fine perceptions for the beautiful in art or nature, +and, besides, a keen sense of the ludicrous. So, when Buttons, growing +communicative, told them about Mr. Figgs's adventure in the ball of +St. Peter's, they were greatly amused. He told about the adventures +of all his friends. He told of himself: all about the chase in Naples +Bay, and his pursuit of their carriage from St. Peter's. He did not +tell them that he had done this more than once. Ida was amused; but +Buttons felt gratified at seeing a little confusion on her face, as +though she was conscious of the real cause of such a persevering +pursuit. She modestly evaded his glance, and sat at a little +distance from the others. Indeed, she said but little during the +whole evening. + +When Buttons left he felt like a spiritual being. He was not conscious +of treading on any material earth, but seemed to float along through +enchanted air over the streets into his lodgings, and so on into the +realm of dreams. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + +WHAT KIND OF A LETTER THE SENATOR WROTE FOR THE "NEW ENGLAND PATRIOT," +WHICH SHOWS A TRITE, LIBERAL, UNBIASED, PLAIN, UNVARNISHED VIEW OF +ROME. + + +"Dick," said the Senator, as he sat with him in his room, "I've been +thinking over your tone of mind, more particularly as it appears in +those letters which you write home, such as you read the other day. +It is a surprising thing to me how a young man with your usual good +sense, keenness of perception, and fine education, can allow yourself +to be so completely carried away by a mawkish sentiment. What is the +use of all these memories and fancies and hysterical emotions that +you talk about? In one place you call yourself by the absurd name of +'A Pensive Traveller.' Why not be honest? Be a sensible American, +exhibiting in your thoughts and in all your actions the effect of +democratic principles and stiff republican institutions. Now I'll +read you what I have written. I think the matter is a little nearer +the mark than your flights of fancy. But perhaps you don't care just +now about hearing it?" + +"Indeed I do; so read on," said Dick. + + +"As I have travelled considerable in Italy," said the Senator, +reading from a paper which he drew from his pocket, "with my eyes +wide open, I have some idea of the country and of the general +condition of the farming class." + + +The Senator stopped. "I forgot to say that this is for the _New +England Patriot_, published in our village, you know." + +Dick nodded. The Senator resumed: + + +"The soil is remarkably rich. Even where there are mountains they +are well wooded. So if the fields look well it is not surprising. +What is surprising is the cultivation. I saw ploughs such as Adam +might have used when forced for the first time to turn up the +ground outside the locality of Eden; harrows which were probably +invented by Numa Pompey, an old Roman that people talk about. + +"They haven't any idea of draining clear. For here is a place called +the Pontine Marsh, beautiful soil, surrounded by a settled country, +and yet they let it go to waste almost entirely. + +"The Italians are lazy. The secret of their bad farming lies in +this. For the men loll and smoke on the fences, leaving the poor +women to toil in the fields. A woman ploughing! And yet these people +want to be free. + +"They wear leather leggins, short breeches, and jackets. Many of +them wear wooden shifts. The women of the south use a queer kind of +outlandish head-dress, which if they spent less time in fixing it +would be better for their own worldly prosperity. + +"The cattle are fine: very broad in the chest, with splendid action. +I don't believe any other country can show such cattle. The pigs are +certainly the best I ever saw by a long chalk. Their chops beat all +creation. A friend of mine has made some sketches, which I will give +to the Lyceum on my return. They exhibit the Sorrento pig in +various attitudes. + + +[Illustration: Sketches By A Friend.] + + +"The horses, on the contrary, are poor affairs. I have yet to see +the first decent horse. The animals employed by travellers generally +are the lowest of their species. The shoes which the horses wear are +of a singular shape. I can't describe them in writing, but they look +more like a flat-iron than any thing else. + +"I paid a visit to Pompeii, and on coming back I saw some of the carts +of the country. They gave one a deplorable idea of the state of the +useful arts in this place. Scientific farming is out of the question. +If fine plantations are seen it's Nature does it. + +"Vineyards abound everywhere. Wine is a great staple of the country. +Yet they don't export much after all. In fact the foreign commerce +is comparatively trifling. Chestnuts and olives are raised in +immense quantities. The chestnut is as essential to the Italian as +the potato is to the Irishman. A failure in the crop is attended +with the same disastrous consequences. They dry the nuts, grind them +into a kind of flour, and make them into cakes. I tasted one and +found it abominable. Yet these people eat it with garlic, and grow +fat on it. Chestnut bread, oil instead of butter, wine instead of +tea, and you have an Italian meal. + +"It's a fine country for fruit. I found Gaeta surrounded by orange +groves. The fig is an important article in the economy of an Italian +household. + +"I have been in Rome three weeks. Many people take much interest in +this place, though quite unnecessarily. I do not think it is at all +equal to Boston. Yet I have taken great pains to examine the place. +The streets are narrow and crooked, like those of Boston. They are +extremely dirty. There are no sidewalks. The gutter is in the middle +of the street. The people empty their slops from their windows. The +pavements are bad and very slippery. The accumulation of filth about +the streets is immense. The drainage is not good. They actually use +one old drain which, they tell me, was made three thousand years ago. + +"Gas has only been recently introduced. I understand that a year or +two ago the streets were lighted by miserable contrivances, consisting +of a mean oil lamp swung from the middle of a rope stretched across +the street. + +"The shops are not worth mentioning. There are no magnificent +_Dry-goods Stores_, such as I have seen by the hundred in Boston; +no _Hardware Stores_; no palatial _Patent Medicine Edifices_; no +signs of enterprise, in fact, at all. + +"The houses are very uncomfortable. They are large, and built in the +form of a square. People live on separate flats. If it is cold they +have to grin and bear it. There are no stoves. I have suffered more +from the cold on some evenings since I have been here than ever I +did in-doors at home. I have asked for a fire, but all they could +give me was a poisonous fire of charcoal in an earthen thing like +a basket. + +"Some of their public buildings are good, but that can't make the +population comfortable. In fact, the people generally are ill-cared +for. Here are the wretched Jews, who live in a filthy quarter of +the city crowded together like pigs. + +"The people pass the most of their time in coffee-houses. They are +an idle set--have nothing in the world to do. It is still a mystery +to me how they live. + +"The fact is, there are too many soldiers and priests. Now it is +evident that these gentry, being non-producers, must be supported +directly or indirectly by the producers. This is the cause, I suppose, +of the poverty of a great part of the population. + +"Begging is reduced to a science. In this I confess the Italian beats +the American all to pieces. The American eye has not seen, nor ear +heard, the devices of an Italian beggar to get along. + +"I have seen them in great crowds waiting outside of a monastery for +their dinner, which consists of huge bowls of porridge given by the +monks. Can any thing be more ruinous to a people? + +"The only trade that I could discover after a long and patient search +was the trade in brooches and toys which are bought as curiosities by +travellers. + +"There are nothing but churches and palaces wherever you go. Some +of these palaces are queer-looking concerns. There isn't one in the +whole lot equal to some of the Fifth Avenue houses in New York in +point of real genuine style. + +"There has been too much money spent in churches, and too little +on houses. If it amounted to any thing it would not be so bad, but +the only effect has been to promote an idle fondness for music +and pictures and such like. If they tore down nine-tenths of their +churches and turned them into school-houses on the New England +system, it would not be bad for the rising generation. + +"The newspapers which they have are miserable things-wretched +little sheets, full of lies--no advertisements, no news, no nothing. +I got a friend to translate what pretended to be the latest American +news. It was a collection of murders, duels, railway accidents, and +steamboat explosions. + +"I don't see what hope there is for this unfortunate country; I don't +really. The people have gone on so long in their present course that +they are now about incorrigible. If the entire population were to +emigrate to the Western States, and mix up with the people there, +it might be possible for their descendants in the course of time to +amount to something. + +"I don't see any hope except perhaps in one plan, which would be no +doubt impossible for these lazy and dreamy Italians to carry out. +It is this: Let this poor, brokendown, bankrupt Government make an +inventory of its whole stock of jewels, gold, gems, pictures, and +statues. I understand that the nobility throughout Europe would +be willing to pay immense sums of money for these ornaments. If they +are fools enough to do so, then in Heaven's name let them have the +chance. Clear out the whole stock of rubbish, and let the hard cash +come in to replace it. That would be a good beginning, with something +tangible to start from. I am told that the ornaments of St. Peter's +Cathedral cost ever so many millions of dollars. In the name of +goodness why not sell out the stock and realize instead of issuing +those ragged notes for twenty-five cents, which circulate among +the people here at a discount of about seventy-five per cent? + +"Then let them run a railroad north to Florence and south to Naples. +It would open up a fine tract of county which is capable of growing +grain; it would tap the great olive-growing districts, and originate +a vast trade of oil, wine, and dried fruits. + +"The country around Rome is uninhabited, but not barren. It is sickly +in summer-time, but if there was a population on it who would +cultivate it property I calculate the malaria would vanish, just as +the fever and ague do from many Western districts in our country by +the same agencies. I calculate that region could be made one of the +most fertile on this round earth if occupied by an industrious class +of emigrants. + +"But there is a large space inside the walls of the city which could +be turned to the best of purposes. + +"The place which used to be the Roman Forum is exactly calculated +to be the terminus of the railroad which I have suggested. A +commodious depot could be made, and the door-way might be worked up +out of the arch of Titus, which now stands blocking up the way, and +is of no earthly use. + +"The amount of crumbling stones and old mined walls that they +leave about this quarter of the city is astonishing. It ought not +to be so. + +"What the Government ought to do after being put in funds by the +process mentioned above is this: + +"The Government ought to tear down all those unsightly heaps of +stone and erect factories and industrial schools. There is plenty +of material to do it with. For instance, take the old ruin called +the Coliseum. It is a fact, arrived at by elaborate calculation, +that the entire contents of that concern are amply sufficient +to construct no less than one hundred and fifty handsome +factories, each two hundred feet by seventy-five. + +"The factories being built, they could be devoted to the +production of the finer tissues. Silks and velvets could be produced +here. Glass-ware of all kinds could be made. There is a fine Italian +clay that makes nice cups and crocks. + +"I could also suggest the famous Roman cement as an additional +article of export. The Catacombs under the city could be put to +some direct practical use. + +"I have hastily put out these few ideas to show what a liberal +and enlightened policy might effect even in such an unpromising +place as Rome. It is not probable, however, that my scheme would +meet with favor here. The leading classes in this city are such +an incurable get of old fogies that, I verily believe, rather +than do what I have suggested, they would choose to have the +earth open beneath them and swallow them up forever--city, churches, +statues, pictures, museums, palaces, ruins and all. + +"I've got a few other ideas, some of which will work some day. +Suppose Russia should sell us her part of America. Spain sell us +Cuba, Italy give us Rome, Turkey an island or two--then what? But +I'll keep this for another letter." + + +"That's all," said the Senator. + +Dick's face was drawn up into the strangest expression. He did not +say any thing, however. The Senator calmly folded up his paper, and +with a thoughtful air took up his hat. + +"I'm going to that Coliseum again to measure a place I forgot," +said he. + +Upon which he retired, leaving Dick alone. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + +THE LONELY ONE AND HIS COMFORTER.--THE TRUE MEDICINE FOR A SICK MAN. + + +Dick was alone in his chamber. Confinement to his room was bad +enough, but what was that in comparison with the desolation of soul +that afflicted him? Pepita was always in his thoughts. The bright +moment was alone remembered, and the black sequel could not efface +her image. Yet his misadventure showed him that his chances of +seeing her again were extremely faint. But how could he give her +up? They would soon be leaving for Florence. How could he leave +never to see her again--the lovely, the sweet, the tender, the-- + +A faint knock at the door. + +"Come in," said Dick, without rising from his chair. + +A female entered. She was dressed in black. A thick veil hid her +features, but her bent figure denoted age and weariness. She slowly +closed the door. + +"Is it here where a young American lives with this name?" + +She held out a card. It was his name, his card. He had only given it +to one person in Rome, and that one was Pepita. + +"Oh!" cried Dick, rising, his whole expression changing from sadness +to eager and beseeching hope, "oh, if you know where she is--where I +may find her--" + +The female raised her form, then with a hand that trembled +excessively she slowly lifted her veil. It was a face not old and +wrinkled but young and lovely, with tearful eyes downcast, and +cheeks suffused with blushes. + +With an eager cry Dick bounded from his chair and caught her in +his arms. Not a word was spoken. He held her in a strong embrace as +though he would not let her go. At last he drew her to a seat beside +him, still holding her in his arms. + +"I could not stay away. I led you into misfortune. Oh, how you +have suffered. You are thin and wan. What a wretch am I! When you see +me no more will you forgive me?" + +"Forgive!" and Dick replied in a more emphatic way than words afford. + +"They would not let me leave the house for ten days. They told me +if I ever dared to see you again they would kill you. So I knew you +were not dead. But I did not know how they had beaten you till one +day Ricardo told me all. To think of you unarmed fighting so +gallantly. Four of them were so bruised that they have not yet +recovered. To-day Luigi went to Civita Vecchia. He told me that +if I dared to go to Rome he would send me to a convent. But I +disobeyed him. I could not rest. I had to come and see how you +were, and to--bid--adieu--" + +"Adieu! bid adieu?--never. I will not let you." + +"Ah, now you talk wildly," said Pepita, mournfully, "for you know +we must part." + +"We shall not part." + +"I will have to go home, and you can not follow me." + +"Oh, Pepita, I can not give you up. You shall be mine--now--my wife +--and come with me home--to America. And we shall never again have +to part." + +"Impossible," said Pepita, as big tear-drops fell from her eyes. +"Impossible!" + +"Why impossible?" + +"Luigi would track us to the end of the world." + +"Track us! I would like to see him try it!" cried Dick in a fury. "I +have an account to settle with him which will not be pleasant for +him to pay. Who is he to dare to stand between me and you? As to +following me--Well, I have already given him a specimen of what I +am. I would give a year of my life to have him alone for about half +an hour." + +"You wrong him," cried Pepita, earnestly. "You wrong him. You must +not talk so. He is not a bravo. He is my brother. He has been like +a father to me. He loves me dearly, and my good name is dearer to +him than life. He is so good and so noble, dear Luigi! It was his +love for me that blinded him and made him furious. He thought you +were deceiving us all, and would not listen to you." + +"But if he were so noble would he have attacked one unarmed man, +and he at the head of a dozen?" + +"I tell you," cried Pepita, "you do not know him. He was so blinded +by passion that he had no mercy. Oh, I owe every thing to him! And +I know how good and noble he is!" + +"Pepita, for your sake I will forgive him every thing." + +"I can not stay longer," said Pepita, making an effort to rise. + +"Oh, Pepita! you can not leave me forever." + +Pepita fell weeping into his arms, her slender form convulsed with +emotion. + +"You shall not." + +"I must--there is no help." + +"Why must you? Can you not fly with me? What prevents you from being +mine? Let us go and be united in the little church where I saw you +first." + +"Impossible!" moaned Pepita. + +"Why?" + +"Because I could not do you such injustice. You have your father far +away in America. You might offend him." + +"Bother my father!" cried Dick. + +Pepita looked shocked. + +"I mean--he would allow me to do any thing I liked, and glory in it, +because I did it. He would chuckle over it for a month." + +"Luigi--" + +"Pepita, do you love him better than me?" + +"No, but if I leave him so it would break his heart. He will think I +am ruined. He will declare a vendetta against you, and follow you to +the end of the world." + +"Is there no hope?" + +"No--not now." + +"Not now? And when will there be? Can it be possible that you would +give me up? Then I would not give you up! If you do not love me I +must love you." + +"Cruel!" murmured Pepita. + +"Forgive," said Dick, penitently. "Perhaps I am too sudden. If I +come back again in two or three months will you be as hardhearted +as you are now?" + +"Hard-hearted!" sighed Pepita, tearfully. "You should not reproach +me. My troubles are more than I can bear. It is no slight thing that +you ask." + +"Will waiting soften you? Will it make any difference? If I came for +you--" + +"You must not leave me so," said Pepita, reproachfully. "I will tell +you all. You will understand me better. Listen. My family is noble." + +"Noble!" cried Dick, thunderstruck. He had certainly always thought +her astonishingly lady--like for a peasant girl, but attributed this +to the superior refinement of the Italian race. + +"Yes, noble," said Pepita, proudly. "We seem now only poor peasants. +Yet once we were rich and powerful. My grandfather lost all in the +wars in the time of Napoleon, and only left his descendants an +honorable name. Alas! honor and titles are worth but little when one +is poor. My brother Luigi is the Count di Gianti." + +"And you are the Countess di Gianti." + +"Yes," said Pepita, smiling at last, and happy at the change that +showed itself in Dick. "I am the Countess Pepita di Gianti. Can you +understand now my dear Luigi's high sense of honor and the fury +that he felt when he thought that you intended an insult? Our +poverty, which we can not escape, chafes him sorely. If I were to +desert him thus suddenly it would kill him." + +"Oh, Pepita! if waiting will win you I will wait for years. Is there +any hope?" + +"When will you leave Rome?" + +"In a few days my friends leave." + +"Then do not stay behind. If you do you can not see me." + +"But if I come again in two or three months? What then? Can I see +you?" + +"Perhaps," said Pepita, timidly. + +"And you will apt refuse? No, no! You can not! How can I find you?" + +"Alas! you will by that time forget all about me." + +"Cruel Pepita! How can you say I will forget? Would I not die for +you? How can I find you?" + +"The Padre Lignori." + +"Who?" + +"Padre Lignori, at the little church. The tall priest--the one who +spoke to you." + +"But he will refuse. He hates me." + +"He is a good man. If he thinks you are honorable he will be your +friend. He is a true friend to me." + +"I will see him before I leave and tell him all." + +There were voices below. + +Pepita started. + +"They come. I must go," said she, dropping her veil. + +"Confound them!" cried Dick. + +"_Addio_!" sighed Pepita. + +Dick caught her in his arms. She tore herself away with sobs. + +She was gone. + +Dick sank back in his chair, with his eyes fixed hungrily on the door. + +"Hallo!" burst the Doctor's voice on his ears. "Who's that old girl? +Hey? Why, Dick, how pale you are! You're worse. Hang it! you'll have +a relapse if you don't look out. You must make a total change in your +diet--more stimulating drink and generous food. However, the drive to +Florence will set you all right again." + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + +OCCUPATIONS AND PEREGRINATIONS OF BUTTONS. + + +If Buttons had spent little time in his room before he now spent less. +He was exploring the ruins of Rome, the churches, the picture +galleries, and the palaces under new auspices. He knew the name of +every palace and church in the place. He acquired this knowledge by +means of superhuman application to "Murray's Hand-book" on the +evenings after leaving his companions. They were enthusiastic, +particularly the ladies. They were perfectly familiar with all the +Spanish painters and many of the Italian. Buttons felt himself far +inferior to them in real familiarity with Art, but he made amends by +brilliant criticisms of a transcendental nature. + + +[Illustration: Buttons and Murray.] + + +It was certainly a pleasant occupation for youth, sprightliness, and +beauty. To wander all day long through that central world from which +forever emanate all that is fairest and most enticing in Art, +Antiquity, and Religion; to have a soul open to the reception of all +these influences, and to have all things glorified by Almighty love; +in short, to be in love in Rome. + +Rome is an inexhaustible store-house of attractions. For the lovers +of gayety there are the drives of the Pincian Hill, or the Villa +Borghese. For the student, ruins whose very dust is eloquent. For the +artist, treasures beyond price. For the devotee, religion. How +fortunate, thought Buttons, that in addition to all this there is, +for the lovers of the beautiful, beauty! + +Day after day they visited new scenes. Upon the whole, perhaps, the +best way to see the city, when one can not spend one's life there, +is to take Murray's Hand-book, and, armed with that red necessity, +dash energetically at the work; see every thing that is mentioned; +hurry it up in the orthodox manner; then throw the book away, and go +over the ground anew, wandering easily wherever fancy leads. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + + +BUTTONS ACTS THE GOOD SAMARITAN, AND LITERALLY UNEARTHS A MOST +UNEXPECTED VICTIM OF AN ATROCIOUS ROBBERY.--GR-R-R-A-CIOUS ME! + +To these, once wandering idly down the Appian Way, the ancient tower +of Metella rose invitingly. The carriage stopped, and ascending, +they walked up to the entrance. They marvelled at the enormous blocks +of travertine of which the edifice was built, the noble simplicity of +the style, the venerable garment of ivy which hid the ravages of +time. + +The door was open, and they walked in. Buttons first; the ladies +timidly following; and the Don bringing up the rear. Suddenly a low +groan startled them. It seemed to come from the very depths of the +earth. The ladies gave a shriek, and dashing past their brother, ran +out. The Don paused. Buttons of course advanced. He never felt so +extensive in his life before. What a splendid opportunity to give +an exhibition of manly courage! So he walked on, and shouted: + +"Who's there?" + +A groan! + +Further in yet, till he came to the inner chamber. It was dark there, +the only light coming in through the passages. Through the gloom he +saw the figure of a man lying on the floor so tied that he could not +move. + +"Who are you? What's the matter?" + +"Let me loose, for God's sake!" said a voice, in thick Italian, with +a heavy German accent. "I'm a traveller. I've been robbed by brigands." + +To snatch his knife from his pocket, to cut the cords that bound the +man, to lift him to his feet, and then to start back with a cry of +astonishment, were all the work of an instant. By this time the others +had entered. + +The man was a German, unmistakably. He stood blinking and staring. +Then he stretched his several limbs and rubbed himself. Then he took +a long survey of the new-comers. Then he stroked a long, red, forked +beard, and, in tones expressive of the most profound bewilderment, +slowly ejaculated-- + +"Gr-r-r-r-acious me!" + +"Meinheer Schatt!" cried Buttons, grasping his hand. "How in the name +of wonder did you get here? What has happened to you? Who tied you up? +Were you robbed? Were you beaten? Are you hurt? But come out of this +dark hole to the sunshine." + +Meinheer Schatt walked slowly out, saying nothing to these rapid +inquiries of Buttons. The German intellect is profound, but slow; and +so Meinheer Schatt took a long time to collect his scattered ideas. +Buttons found that he was quite faint; so producing a flask from +his pocket he made him drink a little precious cordial, which revived +him greatly. After a long pull he heaved a heavy sigh, and looked +with a piteous expression at the new-comers. The kind-hearted +Spaniards insisted on taking him to their carriage. He was too weak +to walk. They would drive him. They would listen to no refusal. So +Meinheer Schatt was safely deposited in the carriage, and told his +story. + +He had come out very early in the morning to visit the Catacombs. He +chose the early part of the day so as to be back before it got hot. +Arriving at the Church of St. Sebastian he found to his disappointment +that it was not open yet. So he thought he would beguile the time by +walking about. So he strolled off to the tomb of Caecelia Metella, +which was the most striking object in view. He walked around it, and +broke off a few pieces of stone. He took also a few pieces of ivy. +These he intended to carry away as relics. At last he ventured to +enter and examine the interior. Scarce had he got inside than he +heard footsteps without. The door was blocked up by a number of +ill-looking men, who came in and caught him. + +Meinheer Schatt confessed that he was completely overcome by terror. + +However, he at last mustered sufficient strength to ask what they +wanted. + +"You are our prisoner." + +"Why? Who are you?" + +"We are the secret body-guard of His Holiness, appointed by the +Sacred Council of the Refectory," said one of the men, in a mocking +tone. + +Then Meinheer Schatt knew that they were robbers. Still he indignantly +protested he was an unoffending traveller. + +"It's false! You have been mutilating the sacred sepulchre of the +dead, and violating the sanctity of their repose!" + +And the fellow, thrusting his hands in the prisoner's pockets, +brought forth the stones and ivy. The others looked into his other +pockets, examined his hat, made him strip, shook his clothes, pried +into his boots--in short, gave him a thorough overhaul. + +They found nothing, except, as Meinheer acknowledged, with a faint +smile, a piece of the value of three half-cents American, which he +had brought as a fee to the guide through the Catacombs. It was that +bit of money that caused his bonds. It maddened them. They danced +around him in perfect fury, and asked what he meant by daring to +come out and give them so much trouble with only that bit of impure +silver about him. + +"Dog of a Tedescho! Your nation has trampled upon our liberties; but +Italy shall be avenged! Dog! scoundrel! villain! Tedescho! +Tedes-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-cho!" + +The end of it was that Meinheer Schatt was tied in a singularly +uncomfortable position and left there. He thought he had been there +about five hours. He was faint and hungry. + +They took him home. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + + +ANOTHER DISCOVERY MADE BY BUTTONS. + + +On the evening after this adventure the Don turned the conversation +into a new channel. They all grew communicative. Buttons told them +that his father was an extensive merchant and ship-owner in Boston. +His business extended over many parts of the world. He thought he +might have done something in Cadiz. + +"Your father a ship-owner in Boston! I thought you belonged to New +York," said the Don, in surprise. + +"Oh," said Buttons, "I said I came from there. The fact is, I lived +there four years at college, and will live there when I return." + +"And your father lives in Boston," said the Don, with an interest +that surprised Buttons. + +"Yes." + +"Is his name Hiram Buttons?" + +"Yes," cried Buttons, eagerly. "How do you know?" + +"My dear Sir," cried the Don, "Hiram Buttons and I are not only +old business correspondents, but I hope I can add personal friends." + +The Don rose and grasped Buttons cordially by the hand. The young man +was overcome by surprise, delight, and triumph. + +"I liked you from the first," said the Don. "You bear your character +in your face. I was happy to receive you into our society. But now I +feel a still higher pleasure, for I find you are the son of a man +for whom I assure you I entertain an infinite respect." + +The sisters were evidently delighted at the scene. As to Buttons, he +was overcome. + +Thus far he often felt delicacy about his position among them, and +fears of intruding occasionally interfered with his enjoyment. His +footing now was totally different; and the most punctilious Spaniard +could find no fault with his continued intimacy. + +"Hurrah for that abominable old office, and that horrible business to +which the old gentleman tried to bring me! It has turned out the best +thing for me. What a capital idea it was for the governor to trade +with Cadiz!" + +Such were the thoughts of Buttons as he went home. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + + +[Transcriber's Note: Transliteration of Greek.] Brekekek koax koax +koax. [TN: /end Greek.] + + +In his explorations of the nooks and corners of Rome the Senator was +compelled for some time to make his journeys alone. He sometimes felt +regret that he had not some interpreter with him on these occasions; +but on the whole he thought he was well paid for his trouble, and he +stored up in his memory an incredible number of those items which are +usually known as "useful facts." + +On one of these occasions he entered a very common café near one of +the gates, and as he felt hungry he determined to get his dinner. He +had long felt a desire to taste those "frogs" of which he had heard +so much, and which to his great surprise he had never yet seen. On +coming to France he of course felt confident that he would find frogs +as common as potatoes on every dinner-table. To his amazement he had +not yet seen one. + +He determined to have some now. But how could he get them? How ask +for them? + +"Pooh! easy enough!" said the Senator to himself, with a smile of +superiority. "I wish I could ask for every thing else as easily." + +So he took his seat at one of the tables, and gave a thundering rap +to summon the waiter. All the café had been startled by the advent of +the large foreigner. And evidently a rich man, for he was an +Englishman, as they thought. So up came the waiter with a very low +bow, and a very dirty jacket; and all the rest of the people in the +café looked at the Senator out of the corner of their eyes, and +stopped talking. The Senator gazed with a calm, serene face and +steady eye upon the waiter. + +"Signore?" said the waiter, interrogatively. + +"_Gunk_! _gung_!" said the Senator, solemnly, without moving a muscle. + +The waiter stared. + +"_Che vuol ella_?" he repeated, in a faint voice. + +"_Gunk_! _gung_!" said the Senator, as solemnly as before. + +"Non capisco." + +"_Gunk gung_! _gunkety gunk gung_!" + +The waiter shrugged his shoulders till they reached the upper part +of his ears. The Senator looked for a moment at him, and saw that he +did not understand him. He looked at the floor involved in deep +thought. At last he raised his eyes once more to meet those of the +waiter, which still were fixed upon him, and placing the palms of his +hands on his hips, threw back his head, and with his eyes still fixed +steadfastly upon the waiter he gave utterance to a long shrill gurgle +such as he thought the frogs might give: + +[Transcriber's Note: Transliteration of Greek.] Brekekekek koax koax, +Brekekekek koax koax. [TN: /end Greek.] + + +[Illustration: Brekekekek koax koax!] + + +(Recurrence must be made to Aristophanes, who alone of articulate +speaking men has written down the utterance of the common frog.) + +The waiter started back. All the men in the café jumped to their feet. + +"[Transcriber's Note: Transliteration of Greek.] Brekekekek koax koax +[TN: /end Greek.]," continued the Senator, quite patiently. The +waiter looked frightened. + +"Will you give me some or not?" cried the Senator, indignantly. + +"Signore," faltered the waiter. Then he ran for the café-keeper. + +The café-keeper came. The Senator repeated the words mentioned above, +though somewhat angrily. The keeper brought forward every customer in +the house to see if any one could understand the language. + +"It's German," said one. + +"It's English," said another. + +"Bah!" said a third. "It's Russian." + +"No," said a fourth, "it's Bohemian; for Carolo Quinto said that +Bohemian was the language of the devil." And Number Four, who was +rather an intelligent-looking man, eyed the Senator compassionately. + +"_Gunk gung, gunkety gung_!" cried the Senator, frowning, for his +patience had at last deserted him. + +The others looked at him helplessly, and some, thinking of the +devil, piously crossed themselves. Whereupon the Senator rose in +majestic wrath, and shaking his purse in the face of the café-keeper, +shouted: + +"You're worse than a nigger!" and stalked grandly out of the place. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + + +THE SENATOR PURSUES HIS INVESTIGATIONS.--AN INTELLIGENT ROMAN +TOUCHES A CHORD IN THE SENATOR'S HEART THAT VIBRATES.--RESULTS OF +THE VIBRATION.--A VISIT FROM THE ROMAN POLICE; AND THE GREAT RACE +DOWN THE CORSO BETWEEN THE SENATOR AND A ROMAN SPY.--GLEE OF THE +POPULACE!--HI! HI! + + +He did not ask for frogs again; but still he did not falter in his +examination into the life of the people. Still he sauntered through +the remoter corners of Rome, wandering over to the other side of the +Tiber, or through the Ghetto, or among the crooked streets at the +end of the Corso. Few have learned so much of Rome in so short a +time. + +On one occasion he was sitting in a café, where he had supplied his +wants in the following way: + +"Hi! coffee! coffee!" and again, "Hi! cigar! cigar!" when his eye +was attracted by a man at the next table who was reading a copy of +the London _Times_, which he had spread out very ostentatiously. +After a brief survey the Senator walked over to his table and, with +a beaming smile, said-- + +"Good-day, Sir." + +The other man looked up and returned a very friendly smile. + +"And how do you do, Sir?" + +"Very well, I thank you," said the other, with a strong Italian +accent. + +"Do you keep your health?" + +"Thank you, yes," said the other, evidently quite pleased at the +advances of the Senator. + +"Nothing gives me so much pleasure," said the Senator, "as to come +across an Italian who understands English. You, Sir, are a Roman, +I presume." + +"Sir, I am." + +The man to whom the Senator spoke was not one who would have +attracted any notice from him if it had not been for his knowledge +of English. He was a narrow-headed, mean-looking man, with very +seedy clothes, and a servile but cunning expression. + +"How do you like Rome?" he asked of the Senator. + +The Senator at once poured forth all that had been in his mind since +his arrival. He gave his opinion about the site, the architecture, +the drains, the municipal government, the beggars, and the commerce +of the place; then the soldiers, the nobles, the priests, monks, +and nuns. + +Then he criticised the Government, its form, its mode of +administration, enlarged upon its tyranny, condemned vehemently +its police system, and indeed its whole administration of every +thing, civil, political, and ecclesiastical. + +Waxing warmer with the sound of his own eloquence, he found +himself suddenly but naturally reminded of a country where all +this is reversed. So he went on to speak about Freedom, +Republicanism, the Rights of Man, and the Ballot-Box. Unable to +talk with sufficient fluency while in a sitting posture he rose +to his feet, and as he looked around, seeing that all present +were staring at him, he made up his mind to improve the occasion. +So he harangued the crowd generally, not because he thought any of +them could understand him, but it was so long since he had made a +speech that the present opportunity was irresistible. Besides, as +he afterward remarked, he felt that it was a crisis, and who could +tell but that a word spoken in season might produce some beneficial +effects. + +He shook hands very warmly with his new friend after it all was +over, and on leaving him made him promise to come and see him at his +lodgings, where he would show him statistics, etc. The Senator then +returned. + +That evening he received a visit. The Senator heard a rap at his door +and called out "Come in." Two men entered--ill-looking, or rather +malignant-looking, clothed in black. + +Dick was in his room, Buttons out, Figgs and the Doctor had not +returned from the café. + +"His Excellency," said he, pointing to the other, "wishes to speak +to you on official business." + +"Happy to hear it," said the Senator. + +"His Excellency is the Chief of the Police, and I am the +Interpreter." + +Whereupon the Senator shook hands with both of them again. + +"Proud to make your acquaintance," said he. "I am personally +acquainted with the Chief of the Boston _po_lice, and also of the +Chief of the New York _po_lice, and my opinion is that they can +stand more liquor than any men I ever met with. Will you liquor?" + +The interpreter did not understand. The Senator made an expressive +sign. The interpreter mentioned the request to the Chief, who shook +his head coldly. + +"This is formal," said the Interpreter-"not social." + +The Senator's face flushed. He frowned. + +"Give him my compliments then, and tell him the next time he +refuses a gentleman's offer he had better do it like a gentleman. +For my part, if I chose to be uncivil, I might say that I consider +your Roman police very small potatoes." + + +[Illustration: Got You There!] + + +The Interpreter translated this literally, and though the final +expression was not very intelligible, yet it seemed to imply +contempt. + +So the Chief of Police made his communication as sternly as possible. +Grave reports had been made about His American Excellency. The +Senator looked surprised. + +"What about?" + +That he was haranguing the people, going about secretly, plotting, +and trying to instill revolutionary sentiments into the public mind. + +"Pooh!" said the Senator. + +The Chief of Police bade him be careful. He would not be permitted +to stir up an excitable populace. This was to give him warning. + +"Pooh!" said the Senator again. + +And if he neglected this warning it would be the worse for him. And +the Chief of Police looked unutterable things. The Senator gazed at +him sternly and somewhat contemptuously for a few minutes. + +"You're no great shakes anyhow," said he. + +"Signore?" said the Interpreter. + +"Doesn't it strike you that you are talking infernal nonsense?" asked +the Senator in a slightly argumentative tone of voice, throwing one +leg over another, tilting back his chair, and folding his arms. + +"Your language is disrespectful," was the indignant reply. + +"Yours strikes me as something of the same kind, too; but more +--it is absurd." + +"What do you mean?" + +"You say I stir up the people." + +"Yes. Do you deny it?" + +"Pooh! How can a man stir up the people when he can't speak a word +of the language?" + +The Chief of Police did not reply for a moment. + +"I rather think I've got you there," said the Senator, dryly. "Hey? +old Hoss?" + +("Old Hoss" was an epithet which he used when he was in a good humor.) +He felt that he had the best of it here, and his anger was gone. He +therefore tilted his chair back farther, and placed his feet upon +the back of a chair that was in front of him. + +"There are Italians in Rome who speak English," was at length the +rejoinder. + +"I wish I could find some then," said the Senator. "It's worse than +looking for a needle in a hay-stack, they're so precious few." + +"You have met one." + +"And I can't say feel over-proud of the acquaintance," said the +Senator, in his former dry tone, looking hard at the Interpreter. + +"At the Café Cenacci, I mean." + +"The what? Where's that?" + +"Where you were this morning." + +"Oh ho! that's it--ah? And was my friend there one of your friends +too?" asked the Senator, as light burst in upon him. + +"He was sufficiently patriotic to give warning." + +"Oh--patriotic?--he was, was he?" said the Senator, slowly, while +his eyes showed a dangerous light. + +"Yes--patriotic. He has watched you for some time." + +"Watched me!" and the Senator frowned wrathfully. + +"Yes, all over Rome, wherever you went." + +"Watched me! dogged me! tracked me! Aha?" + +"So you are known." + +"Then the man is a spy." + +"He is a patriot." + +"Why the mean concern sat next me, attracted my attention by +reading English, and encouraged me to speak as I did. Why don't +you arrest him?" + +"He did it to test you." + +"To test me! How would he like me to test him?" + +"The Government looks on your offense with lenient eyes." + +"Ah!" + +"And content themselves this time with giving you warning." + +"Very much obliged; but tell your Government not to be alarmed. I +won't hurt them." + +Upon this the two visitors took their leave. + + +[Illustration: Walking Spanish.] + + +The Senator informed his two friends about the visit, and thought +very lightly about it; but the recollection of one thing rankled in +his mind. + +That spy! The fellow had humbugged him. He had dogged him, tracked +him, perhaps for weeks, had drawn him into conversation, asked +leading questions, and then given information. If there was any thing +on earth that the Senator loathed it was this. + +But how could such a man be punished! That was the thought. Punishment +could only come from one. The law could do nothing. But there was one +who could do something, and that one was himself. Lynch law! + + + "My fayther was from Bosting, + My uncle was Judge Lynch, + So, darn your fire and roasting, + You can not make me flinch." + + +The Senator hummed the above elegant words all that evening. + +He thought he could find the man yet. He was sure he would know him. +He would devote himself to this on the next day. The next day he +went about the city, and at length in the afternoon he came to +Pincian Hill. There was a great crowd there as usual. The Senator +placed himself in a favorable position, in which he could only be +seen from one point, and then watched with the eye of a hawk. + +He watched for about an hour. At the end of that time he saw a +face. It belonged to a man who had been leaning against a post with +his back turned toward the Senator all this time. It was _the face_! +The fellow happened to turn it far enough round to let the Senator +see him. He was evidently watching him yet. The Senator walked +rapidly toward him. The man saw him and began to move as rapidly +away. The Senator increased his pace. So did the man. The Senator +walked still faster. So did the man. The Senator took long strides. +The man took short, quick ones. It is said that the fastest +pedestrians are those who take short, quick steps. The Senator did +not gain on the other. + +By this time a vast number of idlers had been attracted by the +sight of these two men walking as if for a wager. At last the +Senator began to run. So did the man! + +The whole thing was plain. One man was chasing the other. At once +all the idlers of the Pincian Hill stopped all their avocations +and turned to look. The road winds down the Pincian Hill to the +Piazza del Popolo, and those on the upper part can look down and +see the whole extent. What a place for a race! The quick-eyed +Romans saw it all. + +"A spy! yes, a Government spy!" + +"Chased by an eccentric Englishman!" + +A loud shout burst from the Roman crowd. But a number of English +and Americans thought differently. They saw a little man chased +by a big one. Some cried "Shame!" Others, thinking it a case of +pocket-picking, cried "Stop thief!" Others cried "Go it, little +fellow! Two to one on the small chap!" + +Every body on the Pincian Hill rushed to the edge of the winding +road to look down, or to the paved walk that overlooks the Piazza. +Carriages stopped and the occupants looked down. French soldiers, +dragoons, guards, officers--all staring. + +And away went the Senator. And away ran the terrified spy. Down +the long way, and at length they came to the Piazza del Popolo. +A loud shout came from all the people. Above and on all sides they +watched the race. The spy darted down the Corso. The Senator after +him. + +The Romans in the street applauded vociferously. Hundreds of +people stopped, and then turned and ran after the Senator. All the +windows were crowded with heads. All the balconies were filled with +people. + +Down along the Corso. Past the column of Antonine. Into a street on +the left. The Senator was gaining! At last they came to a square. A +great fountain of vast waters bursts forth there. The spy ran to the +other side of the square, and just as he was darting into a side alley +the Senator's hand clutched his coat-tails! + +The Senator took the spy in that way by which one is enabled to make +any other do what is called "Walking Spanish," and propelled him +rapidly toward the reservoir of the fountain. + +The Senator raised the spy from the ground and pitched him into the +pool. + +The air was rent with acclamations and cries of delight. + +As the spy emerged, half-drowned, the crowd came forward and would +have prolonged the delightful sensation. + +Not often did they have a spy in their hands. + + + + +[Illustration: Dick Thinks It Over.] + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + + +DICK MAKES ANOTHER EFFORT, AND BEGINS TO FEEL ENCOURAGED. + + +Pepita's little visit was beneficial to Dick. It showed him that he +was not altogether cut off from her. Before that he had grown to think +of her as almost inaccessible; now she seemed to have a will, and, +what is better, a heart of her own, which would lead her to do her +share toward meeting him again. Would it not be better now to comply +with her evident desire, and leave Rome for a little while? He could +return again. But how could he tear himself away? Would, it not be far +better to remain and seek her? He could not decide. He thought of +Padre Liguori. He had grossly insulted that gentleman, and the thought +of meeting him again made him feel blank. Yet he was in some way or +other a protector of Pepita, a guardian, perhaps, and as such had +influence over her fortunes. If he could only disarm hostility from +Padre Liguori it would be undoubtedly for his benefit. Perhaps Padre +Liguori would become his friend, and try to influence Pepita's family +in his favor. So he decided on going to see Padre Liguori. + +The new turn which had been given to his feelings by Pepita's visit +had benefited him in mind and body. He was quite strong enough for a +long walk. Arriving at the church he had no difficulty in finding +Liguori. The priest advanced with a look of surprise. + +"Before mentioning the object of my visit," said Dick, bowing +courteously, "I owe you an humble apology for a gross insult. I hope +you will forgive me." + +The priest bowed. + +"After I left here I succeeded in my object," continued Dick. + +"I heard so," said Liguori, coldly. + +"And you have heard also that I met with a terrible punishment for +my presumption, or whatever else you may choose to call it." + +"I heard of that also." said the priest, sternly. "And do you complain +of it? Tell me. Was it not deserved?" + +"If their suspicions and yours had been correct, then the punishment +would have been well deserved. But you all wrong me. I entreat you to +believe me. I am no adventurer. I am honest and sincere." + +"We have only your word for this," said Liguori, coldly. + +"What will make you believe that I am sincere, then?" said Dick. +"What proof can I give?" + +"You are safe in offering to give proofs in a case where none can +be given." + +"I am frank with you. Will you not be so with me? I come to you to +try to convince you of my honesty, Padre Liguori. I love Pepita as +truly and as honorably as it is possible for man to love. It was +that feeling that so bewildered me that I was led to insult you. I +went out in the midst of danger, and would have died for her. With +these feelings I can not give her up." + +"I have heard sentiment like this often before. What is your meaning?" + +"I am rich and of good family in my own country; and I am determined +to have Pepita for my wife." + +"Your wife!" + +"Yes," said Dick, resolutely. "I am honorable and open about it. My +story is short. I love her, and wish to make her my wife." + +The expression of Liguori changed entirely. + +"Ah! this makes the whole matter different altogether. I did not know +this before. Nor did the Count. But he is excusable. A sudden passion +blinded him, and he attacked you. I will tell you"--and at each word +the priest's manner grew more friendly--"I will tell you how it is, +Signore. The Giantis were once a powerful family, and still have their +title. I consider myself as a kind of appanage to the family, for my +ancestors for several generations were their _maggiordomos_. Poverty +at last stripped them of every thing, and I, the last of the family +dependents, entered the Church. But I still preserve my respect and +love for them. You can understand how bitterly I would resent and +avenge any base act or any wrong done to them. You can understand +Luigi's vengeance also." + +"I thought as much," said Dick. "I thought you were a kind of +guardian, and so I came here to tell you frankly how it is. I love +her. I can make her rich and happy. To do so is the desire of my +heart. Why should I be turned away? Or if there be any objection, +what is it?" + +"There is no objection--none whatever, if Pepita is willing, and you +sincerely love her. I think that Luigi would give his consent." + +"Then what would prevent me from marrying her at once?" + +"At once!" + +"Certainly." + +"You show much ardor; but still an immediate marriage is impossible. +There are various reasons for this. In the first place, we love Pepita +too dearly to let her go so suddenly to some one who merely feels a +kind of impulse. We should like to know that there is some prospect +of her being happy. We have cherished her carefully thus far, and will +not let her go without having some security about her happiness." + +"Then I will wait as long as you like, or send for my friends to give +you every information you desire to have; or if you want me to give +any proofs, in any way, about any thing, I'm ready." + +"There is another thing," said Lignori, "which I hope you will take +kindly. You are young and in a foreign country. This sudden impulse +may be a whim. If you were to marry now you might bitterly repent it +before three months were over. Under such circumstances it would be +misery for you and her. If this happened in your native country you +could be betrothed and wait. There is also another reason why waiting +is absolutely necessary. It will take some time to gain her brother's +consent. Now her brother is poor, but he might have been rich. He is a +Liberal, and belongs to the National party. He hates the present +system here most bitterly. He took part in the Roman Republican +movement a few years ago, and was imprisoned after the return of the +Pope, and lost the last vestige of his property by confiscation. He +now dresses coarsely, and declines to associate with any Romans, +except a few who are members of a secret society with him. He is very +closely watched by the Government, so that he has to be quiet. But he +expects to rise to eminence and power, and even wealth, before very +long. So you see he does not look upon his sister as a mere common +every-day match. He expects to elevate her to the highest rank, where +she can find the best in the country around her. For my own part I +think this is doubtful; and if you are in earnest I should do what +I could to further your interest. But it will take some time to +persuade the Count." + +"Then, situated as I am, what can I do to gain her?" asked Dick. + +"Are your friends thinking of leaving Rome soon?" + +"Yes, pretty soon." + +"Do not leave them. Go with them. Pursue the course you originally +intended, just as though nothing had happened. If after your tour is +finished you find that your feelings are as strong as ever, and that +she is as dear to you as you say, then you may return here." + +"And you?" + +"I think all objections may be removed." + +"It will take some weeks to finish our tour." + +"Some weeks! Oh, do not return under three months at least." + +"Three months! that is very long!" + +"Not too long. The time will soon pass away. If you do not really +love her you will be glad at having escaped; if you do you will +rejoice at having proved your sincerity." + +Some further conversation passed, after which Dick, finding the +priest inflexible, ceased to persuade, and acceded to his proposal. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + + +SHOWING HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO GET A LAUNDRESS, FOR THE SENATOR +WANTED ONE, AND NOT KNOWING THE LANGUAGE GOT INTO A SCRAPE, NOT BY +HIS OWN FAULT, FOR HE WAS CAREFUL ABOUT COMMITTING HIMSELF WITH THE +LADIES; BUT PRAY, WAS IT HIS FAULT IF THE LADIES WOULD TAKE A FANCY +TO HIM? + + +Signora Mirandolina Rocca, who was the landlady of the house where +the Club were lodging, was a widow, of about forty years of age, still +fresh and blooming, with a merry dark eye, and much animation of +features. Sitting usually in the small room which they passed on the +way to their apartments, they had to stop to get their keys, or to +leave them when they went out, and Buttons and Dick frequently stopped +to have a little conversation. The rest, not being able to speak +Italian, contented themselves with smiles; the Senator particularly, +who gave the most beaming of smiles both on going and on returning. +Sometimes he even tried to talk to her in his usual adaptation of +broken English, spoken in loud tones to the benighted but fascinating +foreigner. Her attention to Dick during his sickness increased the +Senator's admiration, and he thought her one of the best, one of the +most kind-hearted and sympathetic of beings. + +One day, toward the close of their stay in Rome, the Senator was in +a fix. He had not had any washing done since he came to the city. He +had ran through all his clean linen, and came to a dead stand. Before +leaving for another place it was absolutely necessary to attend to +this. But how? Buttons was off with the Spaniards; Dick had gone out +on a drive. No one could help him, so he tried it himself. In fact, +he had never lost confidence in his powers of making himself +understood. It was still a fixed conviction of his that in cases of +necessity any intelligent man could make his wants known to +intelligent foreigners. If not, there is stupidity somewhere. Had he +not done so in Paris and in other places? + +So he rang and managed to make the servant understand that he wished +to see the landlady. The landlady had always shown a great admiration +for the manly, not to say gigantic charms of the Senator. Upon him +she bestowed her brightest smile, and the quick flush on her face +and heaving breast told that the Senator had made wild work with her +too susceptible heart. + +So now when she learned that the Senator wished to see her, she at +once imagined the cause to be any thing and every thing except the +real one. Why take that particular time, when all the rest were out? +she thought. Evidently for some tender purpose. Why send for her? Why +not come down to see her? Evidently because he did not like the +publicity of her room at the Conciergerie. + + +[Illustration: The Senator In A Bad Fix.] + + +She arrayed herself, therefore, in her brightest and her best +charms; gave an additional flourish to her dark hair that hung +wavingly and luxuriantly, and still without a trace of gray over +her forehead; looked at herself with her dark eyes in the glass to +see if she appeared to the best advantage; and finally, in some +agitation, but with great eagerness, she went to obey the summons. + +Meantime the Senator had been deliberating how to begin. He felt that +he could not show his bundle of clothes to so fair and fine a creature +as this, whose manners were so soft and whose smile so pleasant. He +would do any thing first. He would try a roundabout way of making +known his wishes, trusting to his own powers and the intelligence of +the lady for a full and complete understanding. Just as he had come +to this conclusion there was a timid knock at the door. + +"Come in," said the Senator, who began to feel a little awkward +already. + +"_Epermesso_?" said a soft sweet voice, "_se puo entrare_?" and +Signora Mirandolina Rocca advanced into the room, giving one look at +the Senator, and then casting down her eyes. + +"_Umilissia serva di Lei, Signore, mi commandi_." + +But the Senator was in a quandary. What could he do? How begin? +What gesture would be the most fitting for a beginning? + +The pause began to be embarrassing. The lady, however, as yet was +calm--calmer, in fact, than when she entered. + +So she spoke once more. + +"_Di che ha Ella bisogna, Illustris simo_?" + +The Senator was dreadfully embarrassed. The lady was so fair in his +eyes. Was this a woman who could contemplate the fact of soiled +linen? Never. + +"Ehem!" said he. + +Then he paused. + +"_Servo, devota_," said Signora Mirandolina. "_Che c'e, Signore_." + +Then looking up, she saw the face of the Senator all rosy red, +turned toward her, with a strange confusion and embarrassment in his +eye, yet it was a kind eye--a soft, kind eye. + +"_Egli e forse innamorato di me_," murmured the lady, gathering +new courage as she saw the timidity of the other. "_Che grandezza_!" +she continued, loud enough for the Senator to hear, yet speaking as +if to herself. "_Che bellezza_! _un galantuomo, certamente--e quest' +e molto piacevole_." + +She glanced at the manly figure of the Senator with a tender +admiration in her eye which she could not repress, and which was so +intelligible to the Senator that he blushed more violently than ever, +and looked helplessly around him. + +"_E innamorato di me, senza dubio_," said the Signora, "_vergogna non +vuol che si sapesse_." + +The Senator at length found voice. Advancing toward the lady he +looked at her very earnestly and as she thought very piteously--held +out both his hands, then smiled, then spread his hands apart, then +nodded and smiled again, and said-- + +"Me--me--want--ha--hum--ah! You know--me--gentleman--hum--me +--Confound the luck," he added, in profound vexation. + +"_Signore_," said Mirandolina, "_la di Lei gentelezza me confonde_." + +The Senator turned his eyes all around, everywhere, in a desperate +half-conscious search for escape from an embarrassing situation. + +"_Signore noi ci siamo sole, nessuno ci senti_," remarked the +Signora, encouragingly. + +"Me want to tell you this!" burst forth the Senator. "Clothes--you +know--washy--washy." Whereupon he elevated his eyebrows, smiled, +and brought the tips of his fingers together. + +"_Io non so che cosa vuol dir mi. Illustrissimo_," said the Signora, +in bewilderment. + +"You--you--you know. Ah? Washy? Hey? No, no," shaking his head, "not +washy, but _get_ washy." + +The landlady smiled. The Senator, encouraged by this, came a step +nearer. + +"_Che cosa? Il cuor me palpita. Io tremo_," murmured La Rocca. + +She retreated a step. Whereupon the Senator at once fell back again +in great confusion. + +"Washy, washy," he repeated, mechanically, as his mind was utterly +vague and distrait. + +"_Uassi-Uuassi_?" repeated the other, interrogatively. + +"Me--" + +"_Tu_" said she, with tender emphasis. + +"Wee mounseer," said he, with utter desperation. + +The Signora shook her head. "_Non capisco. Ma quelle, balordaggini ed +intormentimente, che sono si non segni manifesti d'amore_?" + +"I don't understand, marm, a single word of that." + +The Signora smiled. The Senator took courage again. + +"The fact is this, marm," said he, firmly; "I want to get my +clothes washed somewhere. Of course you don't do it, but you can +tell me, you know. Hm?" + +"_Non capisco_." + +"Madame," said he, feeling confident that she would understand that +word at least, and thinking, too, that it might perhaps serve as a +key to explain any other words which he might append to it. "My +clothes--I want to get them washed--laundress--washy--soap and +water--clean 'em all up--iron 'em--hang 'em out to dry. Ha?" + +While saying this he indulged in an expressive pantomine. When +alluding to his clothes he placed his hands against his chest, +when mentioning the drying of them he waved them in the air. The +landlady comprehended this. How not? When a gentleman places his +hand on his heart, what is his meaning? + +"_O sottigliezza d'amore_!" murmured she. "_Che cosa cerca_," she +continued, looking up timidly but invitingly. + +The Senator felt doubtful at this, and in fact a little frightened. +Again he placed his hands on his chest to indicate his clothes; he +struck that manly chest forcibly several times, looking at her all +the time. Then he wrung his hands. + + +[Illustration: The Senator In A Worse Fix.] + + +"_Ah, Signore_," said La Rocca, with a melting glance, "_non e d'uopo +di desperazione_." + +"Washy, washy--" + +"_Eppure, se Ella vuol sposarmi, non ce difficolta_," returned the +other, with true Italian frankness. + +"Soap and water--" + +"_Non ho il coraggio di dir di no_." + +The Senator had his arms outstretched to indicate the hanging-out +process. Still, however, feeling doubtful if he were altogether +understood, he thought he would try another form of pantomime. +Suddenly he fell down on his knees, and began to imitate the action +of a washer-woman over her tub, washing, wringing, pounding, rubbing. + +"_O gran' cielo_!" cried the Signora, her pitying heart filled with +tenderness at the sight of this noble being on his knees before her, +and, as she thought, wringing his hands in despair. "_O gran' cielo! +Egli e innamorato di me non puo dirmelo_." + +Her warm heart prompted her, and she obeyed its impulse. What else +could she do? She flung herself into his outstretched arms, as he +raised himself to hang out imaginary clothes on an invisible line. + +The Senator was thunderstruck, confounded, bewildered, shattered, +overcome, crushed, stupefied, blasted, overwhelmed, horror-stricken, +wonder-smitten, annihilated, amazed, horrified, shocked, frightened, +terrified, nonplused, wilted, awe-struck, shivered, astounded, +dumbfounded. He did not even struggle. He was paralyzed. + +"_Ah, carissimo_," said a soft and tender voice in his ear, a low, +sweet voice, "_se veramenta me me ami, saro lo tua carissima sposa_--" + +At that moment the door opened and Buttons walked in. In an instant +he darted out. The Signora hurried away. + +"_Addio, bellisima, carissima gioja_!" she sighed. + +The Senator was still paralyzed, + +After a time he went with a pale and anxious face to see Buttons. The +young man promised secrecy, and when the Senator was telling his story +tried hard to look serious and sympathetic. In vain. The thought of +that scene, and the cause of it, and the blunder that had been made +overwhelmed him. Laughter convulsed him. At last the Senator got up +indignantly and left the room. + +But what was he to do now? The thing could not be explained. How could +he get out of the house? He would have to pass her as she sat at the +door. + +He had to call on Buttons again and implore his assistance. The +difficulty was so repugnant, and the matter so very delicate, that +Buttons declared he could not take the responsibility of settling it. +It would have to be brought before the Club. + +The Club had a meeting about it, and many plans were proposed. The +stricken Senator had one plan, and that prevailed. It was to leave +Rome on the following day. For his part he had made up his mind to +leave the house at once. He would slip out as though he intended to +return, and the others could settle his bill and bring with them the +clothes that had caused all this trouble. He would meet them in the +morning outside the gate of the city. + +This resolution was adopted by all, and the Senator, leaving money to +settle for himself, went away. He passed hurriedly out of the door. He +dared not look. He heard a soft voice pronounce the word "_Gioja_!" He +fled. + +Now that one who owned the soft voice afterward changed her feelings +so much toward her "gioja" that opposite his name in her house-book +she wrote the following epithets: _Birbone, Villano, Zolicacco, +Burberone, Gaglioffo, Meschino, Briconaccio, Anemalaccio_. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + + +_ROME_.--_ANCIENT HISTORY_.--THE PREHISTORIC ERA.--CRITICAL +EXAMINATION OF NIEBUHR AND HIS SCHOOL.--THE EARLY HISTORY OF ROME +PLACED ON A RIGHT BASIS.--EXPLANATION OF HISTORY OF REPUBLIC. +--NAPOLEON'S "CAESAR."--THE IMPERIAL REGIME.--THE NORTHERN +BARBARIANS.--RISE OF THE PAPACY.--MEDIAEVAL ROME. + +_TOPOGRAPHY_.--TRUE ADJUSTMENT OF BOUNDS OF ANCIENT CITY.--ITS +PROBABLE POPULATION.--_GEOLOGY_.--EXAMINATION OF FORMATION.--TUFA +TRAVERTINE.--ROMAN CEMENT.--TERRA-COTTA. _SPECIAL CONSIDERATION OF +ROMAN CATACOMBS_.--BOSIO.--ARRINGHI.--CARDINAL WISEMAN.--RECENT +EXPLORATIONS, INVESTIGATIONS, EXAMINATIONS, EXHUMATIONS, AND +RESUSCITATIONS.--EARLY CHRISTIAN HISTORY SET ON A TRUE BASIS. +--RELICS.--MARTYRS.--REAL ORIGIN OF CATACOMBS.--TRUE AND RELIABLE +EXTENT (WITH MAPS). + +_REMARKS ON ART_.--THE RENAISSANCE.--THE EARLY PAINTERS: CIMABUE, +GIOTTO, PERUGINO, RAFAELLE SANZIO, MICHELANGELO BUONAROTTI.--THE +TRANSFIGURATION.--THE MOSES OF MICHELANGELO.--BELLINI.--SAINT +PETER'S, AND MORE PARTICULARLY THE COLONNADE.--THE LAST JUDGMENT. +--DANTE.--THE MEDIAEVAL SPIRIT.--EFFECT OF GOTHIC ART ON ITALY AND +ITALIAN TASTE.--COMPARISON, OF LOMBARD WITH SICILIAN CHURCHES.--TO +WHAT EXTENT ROME INFLUENCED THIS DEVELOPMENT.--THE FOSTERING SPIRIT +OF THE CHURCH.--ALL MODERN ART CHRISTIAN.--WHY THIS WAS A NECESSITY. +--FOLLIES OF MODERN CRITICS.--REYNOLDS AND RUSKIN.--HOW FAR POPULAR +TASTE IS WORTH ANY THING.--CONCLUDING REMARKS OF A MISCELLANEOUS +DESCRIPTION. + + +[There! as a bill of fare I flatter myself that the above ought to +take the eye. It was my intention, on the departure of the Club +from Rome, to write a chapter of a thoroughly exhaustive character, +as will be seen by the table of contents above; but afterward, +finding that the chapter had already reached the dimensions of a +good-sized book before a quarter of it was written, I thought that +if it were inserted in this work it would be considered by some as +too long; in fact, if it were admitted nothing more would ever be +heard of the Dodge Club; which would be a great pity, as the best +of their adventures did not take place until after this period; and +as this is the real character of the present work, I have finally +decided to enlarge the chapter into a book, which I will publish +after I have given to the world my "History of the Micmacs," +"Treatise on the Greek Particles," "Course of Twelve Lectures on +Modern History," new edition of the "Agamemnonian Triology" of +Aeschylus, with new readings, "Harmony of Greek Accent and Prosody," +"Exercises in Sanscrit for Beginners, on the Ollendorf System," +"The Odyssey of Homer translated into the Dublin Irish dialect," +"Dissertation on the Symbolical Nature of the Mosaic Economy," +"Elements of Logic," "Examination into the Law of Neutrals," +"Life of General George Washington," "History of Patent Medicines," +"Transactions of the 'Saco Association for the advancement of +Human Learning, particularly Natural Science' (consisting of one +article written by myself on 'The Toads of Maine')," and "Report +of the 'Kennebunkport, Maine, United Congregational Ladies' +Benevolent City Missionary and Mariners' Friend Society," which +will all be out some of these days, I don't know exactly when; +but after they come out this chapter will appear in book form. And +if any of my readers prefer to wait till they read that chapter +before reading any further, all I can say is, perhaps they'd +better not, as after all it has no necessary connection with the +fortunes of the Dodge Club.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + + +ITALIAN TRAVEL, ROADS, INNS.--A GRAND BREAKDOWN.--AN ARMY OF +BEGGARS.--SIX MEN HUNTING UP A CARRIAGE WHEEL; AND PLANS OF THE +SENATOR FOR THE GOOD OF ITALY. + + +On the following morning the Senator was picked up at the gate, +where he had waited patiently ever since the dawn of day. His seat +was secured. His friends were around him. He was safe. They rolled +on merrily all that day. And their carriage was ahead of that of +the Spaniards. They stopped at the same inns. Buttons was happy. + +The next day came. At nine o'clock A.M. on the next day there was +a singular scene: + +A vettura with the fore-wheel crushed into fragments; two horses +madly plunging; five men thrown in different directions on a soft +sand-bank; and a driver gazing upon the scene with a face of woe. + +The Senator tried most energetically to brush the dust from his +clothes with an enormous red silk handkerchief; the Doctor and Mr. +Figgs looked aghast at huge rents in their nether garments; Buttons +and Dick picked themselves up and hurried to the wreck. + +The emotions of the former may be conceived. The wheel was an utter +smash. No patching however thorough, no care however tender, could +place it on its edge again a perfect wheel. A hill rose before +them, behind which the Spaniards, hitherto their companions, had +disappeared half an hour previously, and were now rolling on over +the palin beyond that hill all ignorant of this disaster. Every +moment separated them more widely from the despairing Buttons. +Could he have metamorphosed himself into a wheel most gladly would +he have done it. He had wild thoughts of setting off on foot and +catching up to them before the next day. But, of course, further +reflection showed him that walking was out of the question. + +Dick looked on in silence. They were little more than a day's +journey from Rome. Civita Castellana lay between; yet perhaps a +wheel might not be got at Civita Castellana. In that case a +return to Rome was inevitable. What a momentous thought! Back to +Rome! Ever since he left he had felt a profound melancholy. The +feeling of homesickness was on him. He had amused himself with +keeping his eyes shut and fancying that he was moving to Rome +instead of from it. He had repented leaving the city. Better, he +thought, to have waited. He might then have seen Pepita. The +others gradually came to survey the scene. + +"Eh? Well, what's to be done now?" said Buttons, sharply, as +the driver came along. "How long are you going to wait?" + +"Signore makes no allowance for a poor man's confusion. Behold +that wheel! What is there for me to do--unhappy? May the bitter +curse of the ruined fall upon that miserable wheel!" + + +[Illustration: Travelling In Italy.] + + +"The coach has already fallen on it," said Dick. "Surely that is +enough." + +"It infuriates me to find myself overthrown here." + +"You could not wish for a better place, my Pietro." + +"What will you do?" said Buttons. "We must not waste time here. +Can we go on?" + +"How is that possible?" + +"We might get a wheel at the next town." + +"We could not find one if we hunted all through the three next +towns." + +"Curse your Italian towns!" cried Buttons, in a rage. + +"Certainly, Signore, curse them if you desire." + +"Where can we get this one repaired then?" + +"At Civita Castellana, I hope." + +"Back there! What, go back!" + +"I am not to blame," said Pietro, with resignation. + +"We must not go back. We shall not." + +"If we go forward every mile will make it worse. And how can we +move with this load and this broken wheel up that hill?" + +That was indeed a difficulty. The time that had lapsed since the +lamentable break-down had been sufficient to bring upon the scene an +inconceivable crowd. After satisfying their curiosity they betook +themselves to business. + +Ragged, dirty, evil-faced, wicked-eyed, slouching, whining, +impudent--seventeen women, twenty-nine small boys, and thirty-one men, +without counting curs and goats. + +"Signo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o! in the name of the Ever Blessed, and +for the love of Heaven." "Go to thunder." "For the love of." "We +have nothing, _nothing_, NOTHING! Do you hear?" "Of the Virgin." +"Away! Be off." "Give me." "Go to blazes!" "Me miserable." "Will +you be off?" "Infirm, blind, and." "I'll break your skull!" +"Altogether desperate." "If you torment us any more, I'll." +"Only the smallest charity." "Smash your abominable bottle-nose!" +"Oh, generous nobles!" "Don't press me, you filthy." "Illustrious +cavaliers!" "Take that! and if you say any more I'll kick you +harder." "I kneel before you, oppressed, wretched, starving. Let +these tears." "I'll make you shed more of them if you don't clear +out." "N-n-n-Sig-no-o-o-o-o!" "Away!" "Behold a wretched villager +from the far distant Ticino!" "You be hanged! Keep off!" "Oh, +Signo-o-o-o-o! Oh per l'amor di Dio! Carita! Carita-a-a-a +--solamente un mezzo baroccho--oh, Signo-o-o!--datemi." + +"Pietro! Pietro! for Heaven's sake get us out of this at once. +Anywhere--anywhere, so that we can escape from these infernal +Vagabonds." + +The result was, that Pietro turned his carriage round. By piling +the baggage well behind, and watching the fore-axle carefully, +he contrived to move the vehicle along. Behind them followed the +pertinacious beggars, filling the air with prayers, groans, sighs, +cries, tears, lamentations, appeals, wailings, and entreaties. Thus +situated they made their entry into Civita Castellana. + +Others might have felt flattered at the reception that awaited them. +They only felt annoyed. The entire city turned out. The main street +up which they passed was quite full. The side-streets showed people +hurrying up to the principal thoroughfare. They were the centre of +all eyes. Through the windows of the café the round eyes of the +citizens were visible on the broad stare. Even the dogs and cats had +a general turn out. + +Nor could they seek relief in the seclusion of the hotel. The anxiety +which all felt to resume their journey did not allow them to rest. +They at once explored the entire city. + +Was there a carriage-maker in the place? A half-hour's search +showed them that there was not one. The next thing then was to try +and find a wheel. About this they felt a little hopeful. Strange, +indeed, if so common a thing could not be obtained. + +Yet strange as this might be it was even so. No wheel was +forthcoming. They could not find a carriage even. There was nothing +but two ancient caleches, whose wheels were not only rickety but +utterly disproportioned to the size of the vettura, and any +quantity of bullock carts, which moved on contrivances that could +scarcely be called wheels at all. + +Three hours were consumed in the tedious search. The entire body +of the inhabitants became soon aware of the object of their desires, +and showed how truly sympathetic is the Italian nature, by +accompanying them wherever they went, and making observations that +were more sprightly than agreeable. + +At first the Club kept together, and made their search accompanied +by Pietro; but after a time the crowd became so immense that they +separated, and continued their search singly. This produced but +slight improvement. The crowd followed their example. A large +number followed the Senator: walking when he walked; stopping when +he stopped; turning when he turned; strolling when he strolled; +peering when he peered; commenting when he spoke, and making +themselves generally very agreeable and delightful. + +At every corner the tall form of the Senator might be seen as he +walked swiftly with the long procession following like a tail of a +comet; or as he stopped at times to look around in despair, when + + + "He above the rest + In shape and gesture proudly eminent + Stood like a tower. His form had not yet lost + All its original brightness;" + + +although, to tell the truth, his clothes had, and the traces of mud +and dust somewhat dimmed the former lustre of his garments. + +The appalling truth at last forced itself upon them that Civita +Castellana could not furnish them either with a new wheel or a +blacksmith who could repair the broken one. Whether the entire +mechanical force of the town had gone off to the wars or not they +did not stop to inquire. They believed that the citizens had +combined to disappoint them, in hopes that their detention might +bring in a little ready money and start it in circulation around the +community. + +It was at last seen that the only way to do the was to send Pietro +back to Rome. To delay any longer would be only a waste of time. +Slowly and sadly they took up their quarters at the hotel. Dick +decided to go back so as to hasten Pietro, who might otherwise loiter +on the way. So the dilapidated carriage had to set out on its +journey backward. + +Forced to endure the horrors of detention in one of the dullest +of Italian towns, their situation was deplorable. Mr. Figgs was +least unhappy, for he took to his bed and slept through the +entire period, with the exception of certain little intervals +which he devoted to meals. The Doctor sat quietly by an upper +window playing the devil's tattoo on the ledge with inexhaustible +patience. + +The Senator strolled through the town. He found much to interest him. +His busy brain was filled with schemes for the improvement of the +town. + +How town lots could be made valuable; how strangers could be +attracted; how manufactures could be promoted; how hotels started; +how shops supported; how trade increased; how the whole surrounding +population enriched, especially by the factories. + + +[Illustration: The Senator's Escort.] + + +"Why, among these here hills," said he, confidentially, to Buttons +--"among these very hills there is water-power and excellent +location for, say--Silk-weaving mills, Fulling ditto, Grist ditto, +Carding ditto, Sawing ditto, Plaster-crushing ditto, Planing ditto. +--Now I would locate a cotton-mill over there." + +"Where would you get your cotton?" mumbled Buttons. + +"Where?" repeated the Senator. "Grow it on the Campagna, of course." + +Buttons passed the time in a fever of impatience. + +For far ahead the Spaniards were flying further and further away, +no doubt wondering at every stage why he did not join them. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + + +TRIUMPHANT PROGRESS OF DICK.--GENDARMES FOILED.--THE DODGE CLUB +IS ATTACKED BY BRIGANDS, AND EVERY MAN OF IT COVERS HIMSELF WITH +GLORY.--SCREAM OF THE AMERICAN EAGLE! + + +It was late on the evening of the following day before Dick made +his appearance with Pietro, Another vettura had been obtained, and +with cracks of a long whip that resounded through the whole town, +summoning the citizens to the streets; with thunder of wheels over +the pavements; with prancing and snorting of horses; Pietro drove up +to the hotel. Most conspicuous in the turn-out was Dick, who was +seated in the coupe, waving his hat triumphantly in the air. + +The appearance of the carriage was the signal for three hearty +cheers, which burst involuntarily from the three Americans on the +courtyard, rousing Mr. Figgs from sleep and the inn-keeper from his +usual lethargy. One look at the horses was enough to show that there +was no chance of proceeding further that day. The poor beasts were +covered with foam, and trembled excessively. However, they all felt +infinite relief at the prospect of getting away, even though they +would have to wait till the following morning. + +Dick was dragged to the dining-room by his eager friends and fiercely +interrogated. He had not much to tell. + +The journey to Rome had been made without any difficulty, the +carriage having tumbled forward on its front axle not more than one +hundred and fifty-seven times. True, when it reached Rome it was a +perfect wreck, the framework being completely wrenched to pieces; +and the proprietor was bitterly enraged with Pietro for not leaving +the carriage at Civita Castellana, and returning on horseback for a +wheel; but Dick interceded for the poor devil of a driver, and the +proprietor kindly consented to deduct the value of the coach from his +wages piecemeal. + +Their journey back was quick but uninteresting. Dick acknowledged that +he had a faint idea of staying in Rome, but saw a friend who advised +him not to. He had taken the reins and driven for a great part of the +way, while Pietro had gone inside and slumbered the sleep of the just. + +As it was a lonely country, with few inhabitants, he had beguiled the +tedious hours of the journey by blowing patriotic airs on an enormous +trombone, purchased by him from a miscellaneous dealer in Rome. The +result had been in the highest degree pleasing to himself, though +perhaps a little surprising to others. No one, however, interfered +with him except a party of gendarmes who attempted to stop him. They +thought that he was a Garibaldino trying to rouse the country. The +trombone might have been the cause of that suspicion. + +Fortunately the gendarmes, though armed to the teeth, were not +mounted, and so it was that, when they attempted to arrest Dick, +that young man lashed his horses to fury, and, loosening the reins +at the same moment, burst through the line, and before they knew +what he was about he was away. + +They fired a volley. The echoes died away, mingled with +gendarmerian curses. The only harm done was a hole made by a +bullet through the coach. The only apparent effect was the waking +of Pietro. That worthy, suddenly roused from slumber, jumped up to +hear the last sounds of the rifles, to see the hole made by the +bullet, the fading forms of the frantic officials, and the nimble +figure of the gallant driver, who stood upright upon the seat waving +his hat over his head, while the horses dashed on at a furious gallop. + + +[Illustration: Dick In His Glory.] + + +This was all. Nothing more occurred, for Pietro drove the remainder +of the way, and Dick's trombone was tabooed. + +On the following morning the welcome departure was made. To their +inexpressible joy they found that the coach was this time a strong +one, and no ordinary event of travel could delay them. They had lost +two days, however, and that was no trifle. They now entered upon the +second stage, and passed on without difficulty. + +In fact, they didn't meet with a single incident worth mentioning +till they came to Perugia. Perugia is one of the finest places in +Italy, and really did not deserve to be overhauled so terrifically +by the Papal troops. Every body remembers that affair. At the time +when the Dodge Club arrived at this city they found the Papal party +in the middle of a reaction. They actually began to fear that they +had gone a little too far. They were making friendly overtures to +the outraged citizens. But the latter were implacable, stiff! + +What rankled most deeply was the maddening fact that these Swiss, +who were made the ministers of vengeance, were part of that accursed, +detested, hated, shunned, despised, abhorred, loathed, execrated, +contemptible, stupid, thick-headed, brutal, gross, cruel, bestial, +demoniacal, fiendish, and utterly abominable race--_I Tedeschi_ +--whose very name, when hissed from an Italian month, expresses +unutterable scorn and undying hate. + +They left Perugia at early dawn. Jogging on easily over the hills, +they were calculating the time when they would reach Florence. + +In the disturbed state of Italy at this time, resulting from war +and political excitement, and general expectation of universal +change, the country was filled with disorder, and scoundrels +infested the roads, particularly in the Papal territories. Here +the Government, finding sufficient employment for all its energies +in taking care of itself, could scarcely be expected to take care +either of its own subjects or the traveller through its dominions. +The Americans had heard several stories about brigands, but had +given themselves no trouble whatever about them. + +Now it came to pass that about five miles from Perugia they wound +round a very thickly-wooded mountain, which ascended on the left, +far above, and on the right descended quite abruptly into a gorge. +Dick was outside; the others inside. Suddenly a loud shout, and a +scream from Pietro. The carriage stopped. + +The inside passengers could see the horses rearing and plunging, +and Dick, snatching whip and reins from Pietro, lashing them with +all his might. In a moment all inside was in an uproar. + +"We are attacked!" cried Buttons. + +"The devil!" cried the Senator, who, in his sudden excitement, used +the first and only profane expression which his friends ever heard him +utter. + +Out came the Doctor's revolver. + +Bang! bang! wept two rifles outside, and a loud voice called on them +to surrender. + +"_Andate al Diavolo_!" pealed out Dick's voice as loud as a trumpet. +His blows fell fast and furiously on the horses. Maddened by pain, +the animals bounded forward for a few rods, and then swerving from +the road-side, dashed against the precipitous hill, where the coach +stuck, the horses rearing. + +Through the doors which they had flung open in order to jump out +the occupants of the carriage saw the reeling figures of armed men +overthrown and cursing. In a moment they all were out. + +Bang! and then-- + +Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-bang! went half a dozen rifles. + +Thank Heaven! not one of the Club, was struck. There were twenty +scoundrels armed to the teeth. + +The Doctor was as stiff as a rock. He aimed six times as calmly as +though he were in a pistol-gallery. Nerve told. Six explosions +roared. Six yells followed. Six men reeled. + +"I'd give ten years of my life for such a pistol!" cried Buttons. + +The Italians were staggered. Dick had a bowie-knife. The Senator +grasped a ponderous beam that he had placed on the coach in case +of another break-down. Mr. Figgs had a razor which he had grabbed +from the storehouse in the Doctor's pocket. Buttons had nothing. But +on the road lay three Italians writhing. + +"Hurrah!" cried Buttons. "Load again, Doctor. Come; let's make a +rush and get these devils on the road." + +He rushed forward. The others all at his side. The Italians stood +paralyzed at the effect of the revolver. As Buttons led the charge +they fell back a few paces. + +"Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" burst Buttons, the Senator, and Dick, as +each snatched a rifle from the prostrate bandits, and hastily tore +the cartridge-boxes from them. + +"Load up! load up! Doctor!" cried Buttons. + +"All right,"' said the Doctor, who never changed in his cool +self-possession. + +But now the Italians with curses and screams came back to the +attack. It is absolutely stupefying to think how few shots hit the +mark in the excitement of a fight. Here were a number of men firing +from a distance of hardly more than forty paces, and not one took +effect. + +The next moment the whole crowd were upon them. Buttons snatched Mr. +Figgs's razor from his grasp and used it vigorously. Dick plied his +bowie-knife. The Senator wielded a clubbed rifle on high as though +it were a wand, and dealt the blows of a giant upon the heads of his +assailants. All the Italians were physically their inferiors--small, +puny men. Mr. Figgs made a wild dash at the first man he saw and +seized his rifle. The fight was spirited. + +The rascally brigands were nearly three times as numerous, but the +Americans surpassed them in bodily strength and spirit. + +Crash--crash--fell the Senator's rifle, and down went two men. His +strength was enormous--absorbed as it had been from the granite +cliffs of the old Granite State. Two brawny fellows seized him from +behind. A thrust of his elbow laid one low. Buttons slashed the wrist +of the other. A fellow threw himself on Buttons. Dick's bowie-knife +laid open his arm and thigh. The next moment Dick went down beneath +the blows of several Italians. But Buttons rushed with his razor to +rescue Dick. Three men glared at him with uplifted weapons. Down +came the Senator's clubbed rifle like an avalanche, sweeping +their weapons over the cliff. They turned simultaneously on the +Senator, and grasped him in a threefold embrace. Buttons's razor +again drank blood. Two turned upon him. Bang! went the Doctor's +pistol, sending one of them shrieking to the ground. Bang! Once +more, and a fellow who had nearly overpowered the breathless Figgs +staggered back. Dick was writhing on the ground beneath the weight +of a dead man and a fellow who was trying to suffocate him. Buttons +was being throttled by three others who held him powerless, his +razor being broken. A crack on Mr. Figgs's head laid him low. The +Doctor stood off at a little distance hastily reloading. + +The Senator alone was free; but six fierce fellows assailed him. It +was now as in the old Homeric days, when the heroic soul, sustained +by iron nerve and mighty muscle, came out particularly strong in the +hour of conflict. + +The Senator's form towered up like one of his own granite cliffs in +the storm--as rugged, as unconquerable. His blood was up! The same +blood it was that coursed through the veins of Cromwell's grim old +"Ironsides," and afterward animated those sturdy backwoods-men who +had planted themselves in American forests, and beaten back wild +beasts and howling savages. + +Buttons, prostrate on the ground, looked up, gasping through the +smoke and dust, as he struggled with his assailants. He saw the +Senator, his hair bristling out straight, his teeth set, his eye on +fire, his whole expression sublimed by the ardor of battle. His +clothes were torn to shreds; his coat was gone, his hat nowhere, +his hands and face were covered with clots of blood and streaks +from mud, dust, smoke, and powder. + +The eye of Buttons took in all this in one glance. The next instant, +with a wide sweep of his clubbed rifle the Senator put forth all +his gigantic strength in one tremendous effort. The shock was +irresistible. Down went the six bandits as though a cannon-ball had +struck them. The Senator leaped away to relieve Dick, and seizing +his assailant by neck and heel, flung him over the cliff. Then +tearing away another from Mr. Figgs's prostrate and almost +senseless form, he rushed back upon the six men whom he had just +levelled to the earth. + +Dick sprang to the relief of Buttons, who was at his last extremity. +But the Doctor was before him, as cool as ever. He grasped one fellow +by the throat--a favorite trick of the Doctor's, in which his +anatomical knowledge came very finely into play: + +"Off!" rang the Doctor's voice. + +The fellow gasped a curse. The next instant a roar burst through the +air, and the wretch fell heavily forward, shot through the head, +while his brains were splattered over the face of Buttons. The +Doctor with a blow of his fist sent the other fellow reeling over. + +Buttons sprang up gasping. The Italians were falling back. He called +to the Senator. That man of might came up. Thank God they were all +alive! Bruised, and wounded, and panting--but alive. + +The scowling bandits drew off, leaving seven of their number on the +road _hors de combat_. Some of the retreating ones had been badly +treated, and limped and staggered. The Club proceeded to load their +rifles. + +The Doctor stepped forward. Deliberately aiming he fired his revolver +five times in rapid succession. Before he had time to load again the +bandits had darted into the woods. + +"Every one of those bullets _hit_," said the Doctor with unusual +emphasis. + +"We must get under cover at once," said Dick. "They'll be back +shortly with others!" + +"Then we must fortify our position," said the Senator, "and wait for +relief. As we were, though, it was lucky they tried a hand-to-hand +fight first. This hill shelters us on one side. There are so many +trees that they can't roll stones down, nor can they shoot us. We'll +fix a barricade in front with our baggage. We'll have to fight behind +a barricade this time; though, by the Eternal! I wish it were +hand-to-hand again, for I don't remember of ever having had such a +glorious time in all my born days!" + +The Senator passed his hand over his gory brow, and walked to the +coach. + +"Where's Pietro?" + +"Pietro! _Pietro_!" + +No answer. + +"PI-E-TRO!" + +Still no answer. + +"Pietro!" cried Dick, "if you don't come here I'll blow your--" + +"Oh! is it you, Signori?" exclaimed Pietro's voice; and that +worthy appeared among the trees a little way up the hill. He was +deadly pale, and trembled so much that he could scarcely speak. + +"Look here!" cried Buttons; "we are going to barricade ourselves." + +"Barricade!" + +"We can not carry our baggage away, and we are not going to leave +it behind. We expect to have another battle." + +Pietro's face grew livid. + +"You can stay and help us if you wish." + +Pietro's teeth chattered. + +"Or you can help us far more, by running to the nearest town and +letting the authorities know." + +"Oh, Signore, trust me! I go." + +"Make haste, then, or you may find us all murdered, and then how +will you get your fares--eh?" + +"I go--I go; I will run all the way!" + +"Won't you take a gun to defend yourself with?" + +"Oh no!" cried Pietro, with horror. "No, no!" + +In a few minutes he had vanished among the thick woods. + + +[Illustration: Pietro.] + + +After stripping the prostrate Italians the travellers found +themselves in possession of seven rifles, with cartridges, and some +other useful articles. Four of these men were stone-dead. They +pulled their bodies in front of their place of shelter. The wounded +men they drew inside, and the Doctor at once attended to them, while +the others were strengthening the barricade. + +"I don't like putting these here," said the Senator; "but it'll +likely frighten the brigands, or make them delicate about firing at +us. That's my idee." + +The horses were secured fast. Then the baggage was piled all around, +and made an excellent barricade. With this and the captured rifles +they felt themselves able to encounter a small regiment. + +"Now let them come on," cried the Senator, "just as soon as they +damn please! We'll try first the European system of barricades; and +if that don't work, then we can fall back, on the real original, +national, patriotic, independent, manly, native American, true-blue, +and altogether heroic style!" + +"What is that?" + +The Senator looked at the company, and held out his clenched fist: + +"Why, from behind a tree, in the woods, like your glorious +forefathers!" + + +[Illustration: The Barricade.] + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + + +PLEASANT MEDIATIONS ABOUT THE WONDERS OF TOBACCO; AND THREE PLEASANT +ANECDOTES BY AN ITALIAN BRIGAND. + + +A pull apiece at the brandy-flask restored strength and freshness to +the beleaguered travellers, who now, intrenched behind their +fortifications, awaited any attack which the Italians might choose to +make. + +"The _I_talians," said the Senator, "are not a powerful race. By no +means. Feeble in body--no muscle--no brawn. Above all, no real +_pluck_. Buttons, is there a word in their language that expresses +the exact idee of _pluck_?" + +"Or _game_?" + +"No." + +"Or even _spunk_?" + +"No." + +"I thought not," said the Senator, calmly. "They haven't the _idee_, +and can't have the word. Now it would require a rather considerable +crowd to demolish us at the present time." + +"How long will we have to stay here?" asked Mr. Figgs abruptly. + +"My dear Sir," said Buttons, with more sprightliness than he had +shown for many days, "be thankful you are here at all. We'll get off +at some time to-day. These fellows are watching us, and the moment +we start they'll fire on us. We would be a good mark for them in the +coach. No, we must wait a while." + +Seated upon the turf, they gave themselves up to the pleasing +influence that flows from the pipe. Is there any thing equal to it? +How did the ancients contrive to while away the time without it? Had +they known its effects how they would have cherished it! We should +now be gazing on the ruins of venerable temples, reared by adoring +votaries to the goddess Tabaca. Boys at school would have construed +passages about her. Lempriere, Smith, Anthon, Drissler, and others +would have done honor to her. Classic mythology would have been full +of her presence. Olympian Jove would have been presented to us with +this divinity as his constant attendant, and a nimbus around his +immortal brows of her making. Bacchus would have had a rival, a +superior! + +Poets would have told how TABACA went over the world girt in that but +set off the more her splendid radiance. We should have known how much +Bacchus had to do with [Transcriber's Note: Greek Transliteration] ta +bakcheia [/end Greek]; a chapter which will probably be a lost one in +the History of Civilization. But that he who smokes should drink beer +is quite indisputable. Whether the beer is to be X, XX, or XXX; or +whether the brewer's name should begin with an A, as in Alsopp, and +run through the whole alphabet, ending with V, as in Vassar, may be +fairly left to individual consideration. + +What noble poetry, what spirited odes, what eloquent words, has not +the world lost by the ignorance of the Greek and Roman touching this +plant? + +The above remarks were made by Dick on this occasion. But Buttons was +talking with the wounded Italians. + +The Doctor had bound up their wounds and Buttons had favored them +with a drop from his flask. Dick cut up some tobacco and filled a +pipe for each. After all, the Italians were not fiends. They had +attacked them not from malice, but purely from professional motives. + +Yet, had their enemies been Tedeschi, no amount of attention would +have overcome their sullen hate. But being Americans, gay, easy, +without malice, in fact kind and rather agreeable, they softened, +yielded altogether, and finally chatted familiarly with Buttons +and Dick. They were young, not worse in appearance than the majority +of men; perhaps not bad fellows in their social relations; at any +rate, rather inclined to be jolly in their present circumstances. +They were quite free in their expressions of admiration for the +bravery of their captors, and looked with awe upon the Doctor's +revolver, which was the first they had ever seen. + +In fact, the younger prisoner became quite communicative. Thus: + +"I was born in Velletri. My age is twenty-four years. I have +never shed blood except three times. The first time was in +Narni--odd place, Narni. My employer was a vine-dresser. The season +was dry; the brush caught fire, I don't know how, and in five +minutes a third of the vineyard was consumed to ashes. My employer +came cursing and raving at me, and swore he'd make me work for him +till I made good the loss. Enraged, I struck him. He seized an axe. +I drew my stiletto, and--of course I had to run away. + +"The second time was in Naples. The affair was brought about by a +woman. Signore, women are at the bottom of most crimes that men +commit. I was in love with her. A friend of mine fell in love with +her too. I informed him that if he interfered with me I would kill +him. I told her that if she encouraged him I would kill him and her +too. I suppose she was piqued. Women will get piqued sometimes. At +any rate she gave him marked encouragement. I scolded and threatened. +No use. She told me she was tired of me; that I was too tyrannical. +In fact, she dared to turn me off and take the other fellow. Maffeo +was a good fellow. I was sorry for him, but I had to keep my word. + +"The third time was only a month ago. I robbed a Frenchman, out of +pure patriotism--the French, you know, are our oppressors--and kept +what I found about him to reward me for my gallant act. The +Government, however, did not look upon it in a proper light. They +sent out a detachment to arrest me. I was caught, and by good +fortune brought to an inn. At night I was bound tightly and shut +up in the same room with the soldiers. The innkeeper's daughter, a +friend of mine, came in for something, and by mere chance dropped +a knife behind me. I got it, cut my cords, and when they were all +asleep I departed. Before going I left the knife behind; and where +now, Signore, do you think I left it?" + +"I have no idea." + +"You would never guess. You never would have thought of it yourself." + +"Where did you leave it?" + +"In the heart of the Captain." + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + + +FINAL ATTACK OF REINFORCEMENTS OF BRIGANDS.--THE DODGE CLUB DEFIES +THEM AND REPELS THEM.--HOW TO MAKE A BARRICADE.--FRATERNIZATION OF +AMERICAN EAGLE AND GALLIC COCK.--THERE'S NOTHING LIKE LEATHER. + + +"It is certainly a singular position for an American citizen to be +placed in," said the Senator. "To come from a cotton-mill to such +a regular out-and-out piece of fighting as this. Yet it seems to me +that fighting comes natural to the American blood." + +"They've been very quiet for ever so long," said Mr. Figgs; "perhaps +they've gone away." + +"I don't believe they have, for two reasons. The first is, they are +robbers, and want our money; the second, they are Italians, and want +revenge. They won't let us off so easily after the drubbing we gave +them." + +Thus Buttons, and the others rather coincided in his opinion. For +several miles further on the road ran through a dangerous place, +where men might lurk in ambush, and pick them off like so many +snipe. They rather enjoyed a good fight, but did not care about +being regularly shot down. So they waited. + +It was three in the afternoon. Fearfully hot, too, but not so bad +as it might have been. High trees sheltered them. They could +ruminate under the shade. The only difficulty was the want of +food. What can a garrison do that is ill provided with eatables? +The Doctor's little store of crackers and cheese was divided and +eaten. A basket of figs and oranges followed. Still they were +hungry. + +"Well," said Dick, "there's one thing we can do if the worst comes +to the worst." + +"What's that?" + +"Go through the forest in Indian file back to Perugia." + +"That's all very well," said the Senator, stubbornly, "but we're not +going back. No, Sir, not a step!" + +"I'm tired of this," said Buttons, impatiently. "I'll go out as +scout." + +"I'll go too," said Dick. + +"Don't go far, boys," said the Senator, in the tone of an anxious +father. + +"No, not very. That hill yonder will be a good lookout place." + +"Yes, if you are not seen yourselves." + +"We'll risk that. If we see any signs of these scoundrels, and find +that they see us, we will fire to let you know. If we remain +undiscovered we will come back quietly." + +"Very well. But I don't like to let you go off alone, my boys; it's +too much of an exposure." + +"Nonsense." + +"I have a great mind to go too." + +"No, no, you had better stay to hold our place of retreat. We'll come +back, you know." + +"Very well, then." + +The Senator sat himself down again, and Buttons and Dick vanished +among the trees. An hour passed; the three in the barricade began to +feel uneasy; the prisoners were asleep and snoring. + +"Hang it," cried the Senator, "I wish I had gone with them!" + +"Never fear," said the Doctor, "they are too nimble to be caught just +yet. If they had been caught you'd have heard a little firing." + +At that very moment the loud report of a rifle burst through the air, +followed by a second; upon which a whole volley poured out. The three +started to their feet. + +"They are found!" cried the Senator. "It's about a mile away. Be +ready." + +Mr. Figgs had two rifles by his side, and sat looking at the distance +with knitted brows. He had received some terrific bruises in the late +mêlée, but was prepared to fight till he died. He had said but little +through the day. He was not talkative. His courage was of a quiet +order. He felt the solemnity of the occasion. It was a little +different from sitting at the head of a Board of bank directors, or +shaving notes in a private office. At the end of about ten minutes +there was a crackling among the bushes. Buttons and Dick came tumbling +down into the road. + +"Get ready! Quick. They're here!" + +"All ready." + +"All loaded?" + +"Yes." + +"We saw them away down the road, behind a grove of trees. We +couldn't resist, and so fired at them. The whole band leaped up +raving, and saw us, and fired. They then set off up the road to +this place, thinking that we are divided. They're only a few rods +away." + +"How many are there of them?" + +"Fourteen." + +"They must have got some more. There were only ten able-bodied, +unwounded men when they left." + +"Less," said the Doctor; "my pistol--" + +"H'st!" + +At this moment they heard the noise of footsteps. A band of armed +men came in sight. Halting cautiously, they examined the barricade. +Bang! It was the Doctor's revolver. Down went one fellow, yelling. +The rest were frantic. Like fools, they made a rush at the barricade. + +Bang! a second shot, another wounded. A volley was the answer. Like +fools, the brigands fired against the barricade. No damage was done. +The barricade was too strong. + +The answer to this was a withering volley from the Americans. The +bandits reeled, staggered, fell back, shrieking, groaning, and +cursing. Two men lay dead on the road. The others took refuge in the +woods. + +For two hours an incessant fire was kept up between the bandits in +the woods and the Americans in their retreat. No damage was done on +either side. + +"Those fellows try so hard they almost deserve to lick us," said the +Senator dryly. + +Suddenly there came from afar the piercing blast of a trumpet. + +"Hark!" cried Buttons. + +Again. + +A cavalry trumpet! + +"They are horsemen!" cried Dick, who was holding his ear to the +ground; and then added: + +"[Transcriber's Note: Greek Transliteration] ippon m okupodon amphi +ktupos ouata ballei [/end Greek]." + +"Hey?" cried the Senator; "water barley?" + +Again the sound. A dead silence. All listening. + +And now the tramp of horses was plainly heard. The firing had ceased +altogether since the first blast of the trumpet. The bandits +disappeared. The horsemen drew nearer, and were evidently quite +numerous. At last they burst upon the scene, and the little garrison +greeted them with a wild hurrah. They were French dragoons, about +thirty in number. Prominent among them was Pietro, who at first +stared wildly around, and then, seeing the Americans, gave a cry +of joy. + +The travellers now came out into the road, and quick and hurried +greetings were interchanged. The commander of the troop, learning +that the bandits had just left, sent off two-thirds of his men in +pursuit, and remained with the rest behind. + +Pietro had a long story to tell of his own doings. He had +wandered through the forest till he came to Perugia. The commandant +there listened to his story, but declined sending any of his men +to the assistance of the travellers. Pietro was in despair. +Fortunately a small detachment of French cavalry had just arrived +at Perugia on their way to Rome and the captain was more merciful. +The gallant fellow at once set out, and, led by Pietro, arrived at +the place most opportunely. + +It did not take long to get the coach ready again. One horse was +found to be so badly wounded that it had to be killed. The others +were slightly hurt. The baggage and trunks were riddled with +bullets. These were once more piled up, the wounded prisoners +placed inside, and the travellers, not being able to get in all +together, took turns in walking. + +At the next town the prisoners were delivered up to the authorities. +The travellers celebrated their victory by a grand banquet, to which +they invited the French officer and the soldiers, who came on with +them to this town. Uproar prevailed. The Frenchmen were exuberant +in compliments to the gallantry of their entertainers. Toasts +followed. + +"The Emperor and President!" + +"America and France!" + +"Tricolor and stars!" + +"The two countries intertwined!" + +"A song, Dick!" cried the Senator, who always liked to hear Dick +sing. Dick looked modest. + + +[Illustration: An International Affair.] + + +"Strike up!" + +"What?" + +"The 'Scoodoo abscook!'" cried Mr Figgs. + +"No; 'The Old Cow!'" cried Buttons. + +"'The Pig by the Banks of the River!'" said the Doctor. + +"Dick, don't," said the Senator. "I'll tell you an appropriate song. +These Frenchmen believe in France. We believe in America. Each one +thinks there is nothing like Leather. Sing 'Leather,' then." + +FIGGS. BUTTONS. THE DOCTOR.} "Yes, 'Leather!'" + +"Then let it be 'Leather,'" said Dick; and he struck up the +following (which may not be obtained of any of the music publishers), +to a very peculiar tune: + + +I. + + + "Mercury! Patron of melody, + Father of Music and Lord, + Thine was the skill that invented + Music's harmonious chord. + Sweet were the sounds that arose, + Sweetly they blended together; + Thus, in the ages of old, + Music arose out of--LEATHER! + + +[_Full chorus by all the company_.] + "Then Leather! sing Leather! my lads! + Mercury! Music!! and Leather!!! + Of all the things under the sun, + Hurrah! there is nothing like _Leather_! + + +[_Extra Chorus, descriptive of a Cobbler hammering on his Lapstone_.] + "Then Rub a dub, dub! + Rub a dub, dub! + Rub a dub, dub!!! say we! + + +II. + + + "War is a wonderful science, + Mars was its patron, I'm told, + How did he used to accoutre + Armies in battles of old? + With casque, and with sling, and with shield, + With bow-string and breastplate together; + Thus, in the ages of old, + War was begun out of--LEATHER! + + +[_Chorus_.] + "Then Leather! sing Leather! my lads! + Mars and his weapons of Leather!!! + Of all the things under the sun, + Hurrah! there is nothing like _Leather_! + + +[_Extra Chorus_.] + "Then Rub a dub, dub! + Rub a dub, dub! + Rub a dub, dub!!! say we! + + +III. + + + "Love is a pleasing emotion, + All of us know it by heart; + Whence, can you tell me, arises + Love's overpowering smart? + Tipped with an adamant barb, + Gracefully tufted with feather, + Love's irresistible dart + Comes from a quiver of--LEATHER! + + +[_Chorus_.] + "Then Leather! sing Leather, my lads! + Darts! and Distraction!! and Leather!!! + Of all the things under the sun, + Hurrah! there is nothing like _Leather_! + + + + +[_Extra Chorus_.] + "Then Rub a dub, dub! + Rub a dub, dub! + Rub a dub, dub!!! say we! + + +IV. + + + "Orators wrote out their speeches, + Poets their verses recited, + Statesmen promulgated edicts, + Sages their maxims indited. + Parchment, my lads, was the article + All used to write on together; + Thus the Republic of Letters + Sprang into life out of--LEATHER! + + +[_Chorus_.] + "Then Leather! sing Leather, my lads! + Poetry! Science!! and Leather!!! + Of all the things under the sun, + Hurrah! there is nothing like _Leather_! + + +[_Extra Chorus_.] + "Then Rub a dub, dub! + Rub a dub, dub! + Rub a dub, dub!!! say we!" + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + + +FLORENCE.--DESPERATION OF BUTTONS, OF MR. FIGGS, AND OF THE DOCTOR. + + +Florence, the fair!--Certainly it is the fairest of cities. Beautiful +for situation; the joy of the whole earth! It has a beauty that grows +upon the heart. The Arno is the sweetest of rivers, its valley the +loveliest of vales; luxuriant meadows; rich vineyards; groves of +olive, of orange, and of chestnut; forests of cypress; long lines of +mulberry; the dark purple of the distant Apennines; innumerable white +villas peeping through the surrounding groves; the mysterious haze of +the sunset, which throws a softer charm over the scene; the +magnificent cattle; the fine horses; the bewitching girls, with their +broad hats of Tuscan straw; the city itself, with its gloomy old +palaces, iron-grated and massive walled, from the ancient holds of +street-fighting nobles, long since passed away, to the severe Etruscan +majesty of the Pitti Palace; behold Florence! + +It is the abode of peace, gentleness, and kindly pleasure (or at any +rate it was so when the Club was there). Every stone in its pavement +has a charm. Other cities may please; Florence alone can win enduring +love. It is one of the very few which a man can select as a permanent +home, and never repent of his decision. In fact, it is probably the +only city on earth which a stranger can live in and make for himself +a true home, so pleasant as to make desire for any other simply +impossible. + + +[Illustration: Florence From San Miniato.] + + +In Florence there is a large English population, drawn there by two +powerful attractions. The first is the beauty of the place, with +its healthy climate, its unrivalled collections of art, and its +connection with the world at large. The second is the astonishing +cheapness of living, though, alas! this is greatly changed from +former times, since Florence has become the capital of Italy. +Formerly a palace could be rented for a trifle, troops of servants +for another trifle, and the table could be furnished from day to day +with rarities and delicacies innumerable for another trifle. It is, +therefore, a paradise for the respectable poor, the needy men of +intelligence, and perhaps it may be added, for the shabby genteel. +There is a glorious congregation of dilettante, literati, savans; a +blessed brotherhood of artists and authors; here gather political +philosophers of every grade. It was all this even under the Grand +Duke of refreshing memory; hereafter it will be the same, only, +perhaps, a little more so, under the new influences which it shall +acquire and exert as the metropolis of a great kingdom. + +The Florentines are the most polished people under the sun. The +Parisians claim this proud pre-eminence, but it can not be +maintained. Amid the brilliancies of Parisian life there are +fearful memories of bloody revolutions, brutal fights, and +blood-thirsty cruelties. No such events as these mar the fair +pages of later Florentine history. In fact, the forbearance and +gentleness of the people have been perhaps to their disadvantage. +Life in Florence is joy. The sensation of living is of itself a +pleasure. Life in that delicious atmosphere becomes a higher state of +being. It is the proper home for poets and artists. Those who pretend +that there is any thing in America equal to Florence either in +climate, landscape, or atmosphere, are simply humbugs. Florence is +unique. It is the only Athens of the modern world. + + +[Illustration: Pitti Palace.] + + +The streets are cool and delightful. The great bath houses keep off +the rays of the sun. The people love to stroll away the greater part +of their happy days. They loiter around the corners or under the +porticoes gathering news and retailing the same. Hand-organs are +generally discountenanced. Happy city! + + +[Illustration: Fountain Of Neptune, Palazzo Vecchio.] + +When it is too hot in the streets there is the vast cathedral--Il +Duomo--dim, shadowy, magnificent, its gigantic dome surpassed only +by that of St. Peter's. And yet in the twilight of this sacred +interior, where there dwells so much of the mysterious gloom only +found in the Gothic cathedrals of the north, many find greater +delight than in all the dazzling splendor, the pomp, and glory, and +majesty of the Roman temple. Beside it rises the Campanile, as fair +as a dream, and in appearance almost as unsubstantial. Not far off +is the Baptistery, with its gates of bronze--an assemblage of glory +which might well suffice for one city. + + +[Illustration: The Duomo.] + + +Around the piazza that incloses these sacred buildings they sell +the best roasted chestnuts in the world. Is it any wonder that +Florence is so attractive? + + +[Illustration: The Campanile.] + + +The Dodge Club obtained furnished apartments in a fine large hotel +that looked out on the Ponte della Trinita and on the Arno. Beneath +was the principal promenade in the city. It was a highly agreeable +residence. + +No sooner had they arrived than Buttons set out in search of the +Spaniards. Three days had been lost on the road. He was half afraid +that those three days had lost him the Spaniards altogether. Three +days! It was possible that they had seen Florence in that time and +had already left. The thought of this made Buttons feel extremely +nervous. He spent the first day in looking over all the hotels in +the city. The second in searching through as many of the +lodging-houses as were likely to be chosen by the Spaniards. The +third he spent in meandering disconsolately through the cafés. Still +there were no signs of them. Upon this Buttons fell into a profound +melancholy. In fact it was a very hard case. There seemed nothing +left for him to do. How could he find them out? + + +[Illustration: Trozzi Palace.] + + +Dick noticed the disquietude of his friend, and sympathized with +him deeply. So he lent his aid and searched through the city as +industriously as possible. Yet in spite of every effort their +arduous labors were defeated. So Buttons became hopeless. + +The Senator, however, had met with friends. The American Minister +at Turin happened at that time to be in Florence. Him the Senator +recollected as an old acquaintance, and also as a tried companion +in arms through many a political campaign. The Minister received +him with the most exuberant delight. Dinner, wine, feast of reason, +flow of soul, interchange of latest news, stories of recent +adventures on both sides, laughter, compliments, speculations on +future party prospects, made the hours of an entire afternoon fly +like lightning. The American Eagle was never more convivial. + +The Minister would not let him go. He made him put up at his hotel. +He had the entree into the highest Florentine society. He would +introduce the Senator everywhere. The Senator would have an +opportunity of seeing Italian manners and customs such as was very +rarely enjoyed. The Senator was delighted at the idea. + +But Mr. Figgs and the Doctor began to show signs of weariness. The +former walked with Dick through the Boboli gardens and confided +all his soul to his young friend. What was the use of an elderly +man like him putting himself to so much trouble? He had seen enough +of Italy. He didn't want to see any more. He would much rather be safe +at home. Besides, the members of the Club were all going down the +broad road that leadeth to ruin. Buttons was infatuated about +those Spaniards. The Doctor thought that he (Dick) was involved in +some mysterious affair of a similar nature. Lastly, the Senator was +making a plunge into society. It was too much. The ride over the +Apennines to Bologna might be interesting for two young fellows +like him and Buttons, but was unfit for an elderly person. +Moreover, he didn't care about going to the seat of war. He had +seen enough of fighting. In short, he and the Doctor had made up +their minds to go back to Paris via Leghorn and Marseilles. + +Dick remonstrated, expostulated, coaxed. But Mr. Figgs was inflexible. + + +[Illustration: Buttons Melancholy.] + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +THE SENATOR ENTRAPPED.--THE WILES AND WITCHERY OF A QUEEN OF SOCIETY. +--HIS FATE DESTINED TO BE, AS HE THINKS, ITALIAN COUNTESSES. +--SENTIMENTAL CONVERSATION.--POETRY.--BEAUTY.--MOONLIGHT.--RAPTURE. +--DISTRACTION.--BLISS! + + +The blandishments of Florentine society might have led captive a +sterner soul than that of the Senator. Whether he wished it or not, +he was overcome. His friend, the Minister, took him to the houses of +the leaders of society, and introduced him as an eminent American +statesman and member of the Senate. + +Could any recommendation be equal to that? For, be it remembered, it +was the Revolutionary time. Republicanism ran high. America was +synonymous with the Promised Land. To be a statesman in America was +as great a dignity as to be prince in any empire on earth. Besides, +it was infinitely more honored, for it was popular. The eyes of the +struggling people were tamed to that country which shoved them an +example of republican freedom. + +So if the Florentines received the Senator with boundless hospitality, +it was because they admired his country, and reverenced his dignity. +They liked to consider the presence of the American Minister and +Senator as an expression of the good-will of the American Government. +They looked upon him diplomatically. All that he said was listened to +with the deepest respect, which was none the less when they did not +comprehend a word. His pithy sentences, when translated into Italian, +became the neatest epigrams in the world. His suggestions as to the +best mode of elevating and enriching the country were considered by +one set as the profoundest philosophy, and by another as the keenest +satire. They were determined to lionize him. It was a new sensation +to the Senator. He desired to prolong it. He recalled the lines of +the good Watts: + + + "My willing soul would stay + In such a frame as this." + + +He thought of Dr. Franklin in Paris, of his severe republicanism amid +the aristocratic influences around. How like his present situation +was to that of the august philosopher! + +The marked attention which the Minister paid to the Senator added +greatly to the importance of the latter. The Florentines reasoned +thus: A Minister is a great man. As a general thing his travelling +countrymen pay respect to him. What then must be the position of +that travelling fellow-countryman who receives attention instead of +paying it? What would the position of an Englishman need to be in +order to gain the attention of the British Embassador? Ducal at +least. Hence there is only one conclusion. An American Senator ranks +with an English Duke. + +Others went beyond this: Mark the massive forehead, the severe eye, +the cool, self-possessed mien of this American. The air of one +accustomed to rule. Listen to his philosophic conversation. One of +America's greatest statesmen. No doubt he has a certain prospect of +becoming President. President! It must be so; and that accounts for +the attention paid by the American Embassador. He, of course, wishes +to be continued in his office under the next administration. After +all, the Florentines were not so far out of the way. A much worse +man than the Senator might be made President. In the chapter of +accidents his name, or the name of one like him, might carry the +votes of some roaring convention. + +For two or three days the Senator was the subject of an eager +contest among all the leaders of society. At length there appeared +upon, the scene the great Victrix in a thousand contests such as +these. The others fell back discomfited, and the Senator became her +prey. + +The Countess di Nottinero was not exactly a Recamier, but she was a +remarkably brilliant woman, and the acknowledged leader of the +liberal part of Florentine society. Of course, the haughty +aristocratic party held themselves grandly aloof, and knew nothing +either of her or the society to which she belonged. + +She was generally known as _La Cica_, a nickname given by her +enemies, though what "Cica" meant no one could tell exactly. It was +a sort of contraction made up from her Christian name, Cecilia, as +some thought; others thought it was the Italian word _cica_ given +on account of some unknown incident. At any rate, as soon as she +made her appearance driving down the Lungh' Arno, with the massive +form of the Senator by her side, his fame rose up to its zenith. He +became more remarked than ever, and known among all classes as the +illustrious American to whom belonged the certainty of being next +President of the United States. + +Rumor strengthened as it grew. Reports were circulated which would +certainly have amazed the worthy Senator if he had heard them all. +It was said that he was the special Plenipotentiary Extraordinary +sent by the American Government as a mark of their deep sympathy with +the Italian movement, and that he was empowered, at the first +appearance of a new Government in Italy, to recognize it officially +as a first-class Power, and thus give it the mighty sanction of the +United States. What wonder that all eyes were turned admiringly +toward him wherever he went. But he was too modest to notice it. He +little knew that he was the chief object of interest to every house, +hotel, and café in the city. Yet it was a fact. + +His companions lost sight of him for some time. They heard the +conversation going on about the sayings of the great American. They +did not know at first who it was; but at length concluded that it +referred to the Minister from Turin. + +_La Cica_ did her part marvellously well. All the dilettanti, the +artists, authors, political philosophers, and _beaux esprits_ of +every grade followed the example of _La Cica_. And it is a fact that +by the mere force of character, apart from any adventitious aids of +refinement, the Senator held his own remarkably. Yet it must be +confessed that he was at times extremely puzzled. + +_La Cica_ did not speak the best English in the world; yet that +could not account for all the singular remarks which she made. +Still less could it account for the tender interest of her manner. +She had remarkably bright eyes. Why wandered those eyes so often +to his, and why did they beam with such devotion--beaming for a +moment only to fall in sweet innocent confusion? _La Cica_ had the +most fascinating manners, yet they were often perplexing to the +Senator's soul. The little offices which she required of him did +not appear in his matter-of-fact eyes as strictly prudent. The +innate gallantry which he possessed carried him bravely along +through much that was bewildering to his nerves. Yet he was often +in danger of running away in terror. + +"The Countess," he thought, "is a most remarkable fine woman; but +she does use her eyes uncommon, and I do wish she wouldn't be quite +so demonstrative." + +The good Senator had never before encountered a thorough woman of +the world, and was as ignorant as a child of the innumerable +little harmless arts by which the power of such a one is extended +and secured. At last the Senator came to this conclusion. _La Cica_ +was desperately in love with him. + +She appeared to be a widow. At least she had no husband that he had +ever seen; and therefore to the Senator's mind she must be a +spinster or a widow. From the general style in which she was +addressed he concluded that she was the latter. Now if the poor +_Cica_ was hopelessly in love, it must be stopped at once. For he +was a married man, and his good lady still lived, with a very +large family, most of the members of which had grown up. + +_La Cica_ ought to know this. She ought indeed. But let the +knowledge be given delicately, not abruptly. He confided his +little difficulty to his friend the Minister. The Minister only +laughed heartily. + +"But give me your opinion." + +The Minister held his sides, and laughed more immoderately than ever. + +"It's no laughing matter," said the Senator. "It's serious. I think +you might give an opinion." + +But the Minister declined. A broad grin wreathed his face during +all the remainder of his stay at Florence. In fact, it is said that +it has remained there ever since. + +The Senator felt indignant, but his course was taken. On the +following evening they walked on the balcony of _La Cica_'s noble +residence. She was sentimental, devoted, charming. + +The conversation of a fascinating woman does not look so well when +reported as it is when uttered. Her power is in her tone, her +glance, her manner. Who can catch the evanescent beauty of her +expression or the deep tenderness of her well-modulated voice? Who +indeed? + +"Does ze scene please you, my Senator?" + +"Very much indeed." + +"Youar countrymen haf tol me zey would like to stay here alloway." + +"It is a beautiful place." + +"Did you aiver see any thin moaire loafely?" And the Countess looked +full in his face. + +"Never," said the Senator, earnestly. The next instant he blushed. +He had been betrayed into a compliment. + +The Countess sighed. + +"Helas! my Senator, that it is not pairmitted to moartals to +sociate as zey would laike." + +"'Your Senator,'" thought the gentleman thus addressed; "how fond, +how tender--poor thing! poor thing!" + +"I wish that Italy was nearer to the States," said he. + +"How I adamiar youar style of mind, so differente from ze +Italiana. You are so strong--so nobile. Yet would Maike to see +moar of ze poetic in you." + +"I always loved poetry, marm," said the Senator, desperately. + +"Ah--good--nais--eccelente. I am plees at zat," cried the Countess, +with much animation. "You would loafe it moar eef you knew Italiano. +Your langua ees not sufficiente musicale for poatry." + +"It is not so soft a language as the _I_-talian." + +"Ah--no--not so soft. Very well. And what theenka you of ze +Italiano?" + +"The sweetest language I ever heard in all my born days." + +"Ah, now--you hev not heard much of ze Italiano, my Senator." + +"I have heard you speak often," said the Senator, naively. + +"Ah, you compliment! I sot you was aboove flattera." + +And the Countess playfully tapped his arm with her little fan. + +"What Ingelis poet do you loafe best?" + +"Poet? English poet?" said the Senator, with some surprise. +"Oh--why, marm, I think Watts is about the best of the lot!" + +"Watt? Was he a poet? I did not know zat. He who invented ze +stim-injaine? And yet if he was a poet it is natnrale zat you +loafe him best." + +"Steam-engine? Oh no! This one was a minister." + +"A meeneestaire? Ah! an abbé? I know him not. Yet I haf read mos of +all youar poets." + +"He made up hymns, marm, and psalms--for instance: 'Watts's Divine +Hymns and Spiritual Songs.'" + +"Songs? Spiritnelle? Ah, I mus at once procuaire ze works of Watt, +which was favorit poet of my Senator." + +"A lady of such intelligence as you would like the poet Watts," said +the Senator, firmly. + + +[Illustration: La Cica.] + + +"He is the best known by far of all our poets." + +"What? better zan Sakespeare, Milton, Bairon? You much surprass +me." + +"Better known and better loved than the whole lot. Why, his poetry +is known by heart through all England and America." + +"Merciful Heaven! what you tell me! ees eet possbl! An yet he is +not known here efen by name. It would plees me mooch, my Senator, +to hajre you make one quotatione. Know you Watt? Tell to me some +words of his which I may remembaire." + +"I have a shocking bad memory." + +"Bad raemora! Oh, but you remember somethin, zis mos beautful +charm nait--you haf a nobile soul--you mus be affecta by beauty--by +ze ideal. Make for a me one quotatione." + +And she rested her little hand on the Senator's arm, and looked up +imploringly in his face. + +The Senator looked foolish. He felt even more so. Here was a +beautiful woman, by act and look showing a tender interest in him. +Perplexing--but very flattering after all. So he replied: + +"You will not let me refuse you any thing." + +"Aha! you are vera willin to refuse. It is difficulty for me to +excitare youar regards. You are fill with the grands ideas. But +come--will you spik for me some from your favorit Watt?" + +"Well, if you wish it so much," said the Senator, kindly, and he +hesitated. + +"Ah--I do wis it so much!" + +"Ehem!" + +"Begin," said the Countess. "Behold me. I listen. I hear everysin, +and will remembaire it forava." + +The only thing that the Senator could think of was the verse which +had been running in his head for the last few days, its measured +rhythm keeping time with every occupation: + +"'My willing soul would stay--'" + +"Stop one moment," said the Countess. "I weesh to learn it from +you;" and she looked fondly and tenderly up, but instantly +dropped her eyes. + +"'Ma willina sol wooda sta--'" + +"In such a frame as this,'" prompted the Senator. + +"'Een socha framas zees.' Wait--'Ma willina sol wooda sta in +socha framas zees.' Ah, appropriat! but could I hope zat you were +true to zose lines, my Senator? Well?" + +"'And sit and sing herself away,'" said the Senator, in a +faltering voice, and breaking out into a cold perspiration for +fear of committing himself by such uncommonly strong language. + +"'Ansit ansin hassaf awai,'" repeated the Countess, her face +lighting up with a sweetly conscious expression. + +The Senator paused. + +"Well?" + +"I--ehem! I forget." + +"Forget? Impossible!" + +"I do really." + +"Ah now! Forget? I see by youar face--you desave. Say on." + +The Countess again gently touched his arm with both of her +little hands, and held it as though she would clasp it. + +"Have you fear? Ah, cruel!" + +The Senator turned pale, but finding refusal impossible, boldly +finished: + +"'To everlasting bliss'--there!" + +"'To affarlastin blees thar.' Stop. I repeat it all: 'My willina +sol wooda sta in socha framas zees, ansit ansin hassaf awai to +affarlastin blees thar.' Am I right?" + +"Yes," said the Senator, meekly. + +"I knew you war a poetic sola," said the Countess, confidingly. +"You air honesto--true--you can not desave. When you spik I can +beliv you. Ah, my Senator! an you can spik zis poetry!--at soch a +taime! I nefare knew befoare zat you was so impassione!--an you +air so artaful! You breeng ze confersazione to beauty--to poatry--to +ze poet Watt--so you may spik verses mos impassione! Ah! What +do you mean? Santissima madre! how I wish you spik Italiano." + +The Countess drew nearer to him, but her approach only deepened his +perplexity. + +"How that poor thing does love me!" sighed the Senator. "Law bless +it! she can't help it--can't help it nohow. She is a goner; and what +can I do? I'll have to leave Florence. Oh, why did I quit Buttons! +Oh, why--" + +The Countess was standing close beside him in a tender mood waiting +for him to break the silence. How could he? He had been uttering +words which sounded to her like love; and she--"a widow! a widow! +wretched man that I am!" + +There was a pause. The longer it lasted the more awkward the +Senator felt. What upon earth was he to do or say? What business had +he to go and quote poetry to widows? What an old fool he must be! +But the Countess was very far from feeling awkward. Assuming an +elegant attitude she looked up, her face expressing the tenderest +solicitude. + +"What ails my Senator?" + +"Why the fact is, marm--I feel sad--at leaving Florence. I must go +shortly. My wife has written summoning me home. The children are +down with the measles." + +Oh, base fabrication! Oh, false Senator! There wasn't a word of +truth in that remark. You spoke so because you wished _La Cica_ to +know that you had a wife and family. Yet it was very badly done. + +_La Cica_ changed neither her attitude nor her expression. +Evidently the existence of his wife, and the melancholy situation +of his unfortunate children, awaked no sympathy. + +"But, my Senator--did you not say you wooda seeng yousellef away +to affarlasteen belees?" + +"Oh, marm, it was a quotation--only a quotation." + +But at this critical juncture the conversation was broken up by the +arrival of a number of ladies and gentlemen. + +But could the Senator have known! + +Could he but have known how and where those words would confront him +again! + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + + +"MORERE DIAGORA, NON ENIM IN COELUM ADSCENSURUS ES."--THE APOTHEOSIS +OF THE SENATOR (NOTHING LESS--IT WAS A MOMENT IN WHICH A MAN MIGHT +WISH TO DIE--THOUGH, OF COURSE, THE SENATOR DIDN'T DIE). + + +Strolling through the streets day by day Buttons and Dick beheld +the triumph of the Senator. They gazed on it from afar, and in +amazement saw their old companion suddenly lifted up to a position +which they could not hope to gain. The companion of nobles--the +associate of _beaux esprits_--the friend of the wealthy, the great, +and the proud; what in the world was the cause of this sudden, this +unparalleled leap forward to the very highest point of honor? Who, +in the name of goodness, was that dashing woman with whom he was +always driving about? Who were those fair ladies with whom he was +forever promenading? Plainly the chief people of the land; but how +the mischief did he get among them? They were bewildered even though +the half of the truth had not begun to dawn upon their minds. They +never saw him to ask him about it, and for some time only looked +upon him from a distance. + +"Do you give it up?" asked Buttons. + +"I give it up." + +"And I too." + +"At any rate the United States might have many a worse +representative." + +"But I wonder how he can get along. How can he manage to hold his +own among these refined, over-cultivated, fastidious Florentines?" + +"Goodness knows!" + +"A common school New England education can scarcely fit a man for +intercourse with polished Italians. The granite hills of New +Hampshire have never been famous for producing men of high breeding. +That is not their specialty." + +"Besides, our good friend can not speak a single word of any +language but his own." + +"And frequently fails in that." + +"He hasn't the remotest glimmering of an idea about Art." + +"Not of the Fine Arts, but in the useful arts he is immense." + +"He looks upon Italy as he would upon a field of stumps--a place +to be cleared, broken up, brought under cultivation, and made +productive." + +"Yes, productive in cotton factories and Yankee notions." + +"What in the world can keep up his reputation among the most poetic +and least utilitarian people in the world?" + +"There's the mystery!" + +"The beauty of it is he goes as much with the English as with +the Italians. Can he keep up his vernacular among them and still +preserve the charm?" + +"Well, whatever is the secret. I glory in it. I believe in him. +He is a man. A more noble-hearted, sincere, upright, guileless +soul never lived. Besides, he knows thoroughly what he has gone +over." + +"He is as generous a soul as ever lived." + +"Yes, a stiff utilitarian in theory, but in practice an impulsive +sentimentalist." + +"He would legislate according to the most narrow and selfish +principles, but would lay down his life for his friend." + +"Think of him at Perugia!" + +"Yes; the man himself with his brave soul and invincible courage. +Didn't he fight? Methinks he did!" + +"If it hadn't been for him it is extremely probable that you and I +would now have been--well, certainly not just here." + +Talking thus, the two young men walked up toward the Palazzo +Vecchio. They noticed that the busy street through which they +passed was filled with an unusual multitude, who were all agitated +with one general and profound excitement, and were all hurrying in +one direction. The sight awakened their interest. They went on with +the stream. At every step the crowd increased. At every street new +throngs poured in to join the vast multitude. + +Confused murmurs rose into the air. Hasty words passed from mouth +to month. They were unintelligible. They could only distinguish +broken sentences--words unknown--Cavriana--Mincio--Tedeschi +--Napoleone--Spia d'ltalia. What was it all about? They could not +guess. Evidently some mighty national event had occurred, which was +of overwhelming importance. For the entire city had turned out, and +now, as they entered the great square in front of the Palazzo +Vecchio, an astonishing sight burst upon their view. A vast +multitude filled the square to overflowing. Load cries arose. Shouts +of a thousand kinds all blending together into one deafening roar, +and rising on high like the thunder of a cataract: + +"Vittoria!" "Vittoria!" "Cavriana!" "I Francesi!" "Viva l'Italia!" +"Viva Vittore Emmannele! il nostro Re!" "Viva!" "_Viva_!" "VIVA!!!" +Words like these rose all around, mingled with thousands of similar +exclamations. At length there was distinguished one word. It was +passed from man to man, more frequently uttered, gathering as it +passed, adding new volumes of meaning to its own sonorous sound, +till at last all other words were drowned in that one grand word, +which to this rejoicing multitude was the lyre of glorious victory, +the promise of endless triumphs for regenerated Italy: + +"SOLFERINO!" + + +[Illustration: Solferino!] + + +"_Solferino_!" They did not know then, as they listened, the full +meaning of that eloquent word. But on mingling with the shouting +crowd they soon learned it all: how the accursed Tedeschi had +summoned all their energy to crush forever the array of liberty; +how the Kaisar himself came from beyond the mountains to insure his +triumph; how the allied armies had rushed upon their massive columns +and beaten them back; how, hour after hour, the battle raged, till +at last the plain for many a league was covered with the wounded and +the dead: how the wrongs of ages were crowded together in the +glorious vengeance of that day of days; how Victory hovered over the +invincible banners of Italy; how the Tedeschi fled, routed, over the +river, no more to cross it as masters; how the hopes of Italy arose +immortal from that one day's terrific slaughter; how Liberty was now +forever secured, and a Kingdom of Italy under an Italian King. + +"Viva Italia!" "Viva Luigi Napoleone!" "Vira Garibaldi!" "Viva +Vittore Eramanuele Re d'Italia!" + +In great moments of popular excitement people do not talk to one +another. They rhapsodize; and the Italians more than any other +people. Hence the above. + + +[Illustration: The Senator Speaks.] + + +Buttons and Dick clambered up to the recess of a window and +contemplated the scene. There was the innumerable crowd; swaying, +embracing, laughing, weeping, shouting, cheering. High in the air +waved hundreds of banners; and the tri-color flaunted in ribbons, +from thousands of breasts, or shone in rosettes, or gleamed in +flowers. Ever and anon loud trumpet blasts arose triumphantly on +high; in the distance victorious strains came swelling up front +bands hurried there to express in thrilling music what words could +never utter; while all around the whole air rang with the thunder +of cannon that saluted the triumph of Solferino. + +"Look there! _Look_! LOOK!" cried Dick. + +He pointed to the large portico which is on the right of the +Palazzo Vecchio. Buttons looked as he was directed. + +He saw a great assemblage of ladies and gentlemen, the chief people +of the Tuscan state. From this place those announcements had been +made which had set the people wild with joy. There were beautiful +ladies whose flashed faces and suffused eyes bore witness to their +deep emotion. There were noble gentlemen whose arms still waved in +the air as they cheered for Italy. And there, high above all others, +rose a familiar figure--the massive shoulders, the calm, shrewd, +square face, the benignant glance and smile, which could belong +only to one person. + +"_The Senator_!" cried Buttons. + +Every body was looking in that direction. The impulsive crowd +having celebrated abstract ideas, were now absolutely hungering +for some tangible object upon which to expend something of the +warmth of their feelings. A few who stood near the Senator and +were impressed by his aspect, as soon as all the news had been made +known, gave expression and direction to the feeling by shouting his +name. As they shouted others took up the cry, louder, louder, and +louder still, till his name burst forth in one sublime sound from +thirty thousand lips. + +No wonder that he started at such an appeal. He turned and looked upon +the crowd. An ordinary man would have exhibited either confusion or +wonder. The Senator, being an extraordinary man, exhibited neither. +As he turned a vast roar burst from the multitude. + +"Good Heavens!" cried Buttons; "what's in the wind now? Will this be +a repetition of the scene in the Place Vendôme?" + +"Hush!" + +The crowd saw before them the man whose name and fame had been the +subject of conjecture, wonder, applause, and hope for many days. +They beheld in him the Representative of a mighty nation, sent to +give them the right hand of fellowship, and welcome their country +among the great powers of the earth. In him they saw the embodiment +of America! + +"Viva!" burst through the air. "The American Embassador!" "Hurrah +for the American Embassador!" "The Plenipotentiary Extraordinary!" +"He comes to crown our triumph!" "Hurrah for America!" "Free, +generous America!" "The first nation to welcome Italy!" "Hurrah!" +"This is the time!" "He will speak!" "Silence!" "Silence!" "He rises!" +"Lo!" "He looks at us!" "Silence!" "Listen to the Most Illustrious +Plenipotentiary Extraordinary!" "_Hush_! AMERICA SPEAKS!" + +Such shouts and exclamations as these burst forth, with many others +to the same effect. The crowd in front of the portico where the +Senator stood--were almost uncontrollable in their excitement. The +Senator rose to the greatness of the occasion. Here was a chance to +Speak--to utter forth the deep sympathy of his countrymen with +every down-trodden people striving for freedom. He turned to face +them and held out his hand. At once the immense assemblage was +hushed to silence. + +The Senator took off his hat. Never before did he look as he looked +now. The grandeur of the occasion had sublimed his usually rugged +features into majesty. He looked like the incarnation of a strong, +vigorous, invincible people. + +The Senator spoke: + +"Men of Italy!" + +"In the name of the Great Republic!--I congratulate you on this +glorious victory! It is a triumph of Liberty!--of the principles of +'76!--of the immortal idees!--for which our forefathers fought and +died!--at Lexington!--at Bunker Hill!--and at a thousand other +places in the great and glorious Revolution!" + +The Senator paused. This was enough. It had been spoken in English. +The Italians did not of course understand a word, yet they +comprehended all his meaning. As he paused there burst forth a shout +of joy such as is heard only once in a life-time; shout upon shout. +The long peals of sound rose up and spread far away over the city. +The vast crowd vibrated like one man to the impulse of the common +enthusiasm. + +It was too great to last. They rushed to the carriage of _La Cica_. +They unharnessed the horses. They led the Senator to it and made him +enter. They flung their tri-colors in. They threw flowers on his lap. +They wound the flag of Italy around the carriage. A thousand marched +before it. Thousands more walked beside and behind. They drew him up +to his hotel in triumph, and the band struck up the thrilling strain +of "Yankee Doodle!" + +It would be unfair not to render justice to _La Cica_. She bore the +scene admirably. Her beaming face, and lustrous eyes, and heaving +bosom, and majestic air, showed that she appropriated to herself all +the honor thus lavished upon the Senator. It was a proud moment for +_La Cica_. + +"Dick," said Buttons, as they descended from their perch. + +"Well?" + +"How do you feel now?" + +"Obliterated. I do not exist. I was once a blot. I am expunged. There +is no such thing as Dick." + +"Who could have imagined this?" + +"And how he bore it! The Senator is a great man. But come. Don't let +us speak for an hour, for we are both unable to talk coherently." + +From patriotic motives the two young men walked behind the Senator's +carriage and cheered all the way. + +Upon arriving at their lodgings in the evening they stationed +themselves at the window and looked out upon the illuminated scene. +Dick, finding his emotions too strong to be restrained, took his +trombone and entertained a great crowd for hours with all the national +airs he knew. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. + + +THE PRIVATE OPINION OF THE DOCTOR ABOUT FOREIGN TRAVEL.--BUTTONS +STILL MEETS WITH AFFLICTIONS. + + +"The Italians, of at any rate the people of Florence, have just about +as much cuteness as you will find anywhere." + +Such was the dictum of the Senator in a conversation with his +companions after rejoining them at the hotel. They had much to ask; +he had much to tell. Never had he been more critical, more +approbative. He felt now that he thoroughly understood the Italian +question, and expressed himself in accordance with his consciousness. + +"Nothing does a feller so much good," said he, "as mixing in all +grades of society. It won't ever do to confine our observation to the +lower class. We must mingle with the upper crust, who are the leaders +of the people." + +"Unfortunately," said Buttons, "we are not all Senators, so we have +to do the best we can with our limited opportunities." + +They had been in Florence long enough, and now the general desire was +to go on. Mr. Figgs and the Doctor had greatly surprised the Senator +by informing him that they did not intend to go any further. + +And why not? + +"Well, for my own part," said Mr. Figgs, "the discomforts of travel +are altogether too great. It would not be so bad in the winter, but +think how horribly hot it is. What is my condition? That of a man +slowly suffocating. Think how fat I am. Even if I had the enthusiasm +of Dick, or the fun of Buttons, my fat would force me to leave. Can +you pretend to be a friend of mine and still urge me to go further? +And suppose we passed over into Austrian territory. Perhaps we might +be unmolested, but it is doubtful. Suppose, for the sake of argument, +that we were arrested and detained. Imagine us--imagine _me_ shut up +in a room--or worse, a cell--in the month of July in midsummer, in +the hottest part of this burning fiery furnace of a country! What +would be left of me at the end of a week, or at the end of even one +day? What? A grease spot! A grease spot! Not a bit more, by Jingo!" + + +[Illustration: A Grease Spot.] + + +After this speech, which was for him one of extraordinary length +and vigor, Mr. Figgs fell exhausted into his chair. + +"But you, Doctor," said the Senator, seeing that Mr. Figgs was +beyond the reach of persuasion--"you--what reason is there for you +to leave? You are young, strong, and certainly not fat." + +"No, thank heaven! it is not the heat, or the fear of being +suffocated in an Austrian dungeon that influences me." + +"What, is the reason?" + +"These confounded disturbances," said the Doctor languidly. + +"Disturbances?" + +"Yes. I hear that the road between this and Bologna swarms with +vagabonds. Several diligences have been robbed. I heard a story +which shows this state of things. A band of men entered the theatre +of a small town along the road while the inhabitants were witnessing +the play. At first the spectators thought it was part of the +performance. They were soon undeceived. The men drew up in line in +front of the stage and levelled their pieces. Then fastening the +doors, they sent a number of men around through the house to plunder +the whole audience. Not content with this they made the authorities +of the town pay a heavy ransom." + +"Some one has been humbugging you, Doctor," said Buttons. + +"I had it from good authority," said the Doctor, calmly. "These +fellows call themselves Revolutionists, and the peasantry sympathize +with them." + +"Well, if we meet with them there will be a little additional +excitement." + +"Yes, and the loss of our watches and money." + +"We can carry our money where they won't find it, and our bills of +exchange are all right, you know." + +"I think none of you will accuse me of want of courage. If I met +these fellows you know very well that I would go in for fighting +them. But what I do object to is the infernal bother of being stopped, +detained, or perhaps sent back. Then if any of us got wounded we +would be laid up for a month or so. That's what I object to. If I had +to do it it would be different, but I see no necessity." + +"You surely want to see Lombardy?" + +"No, I don't." + +"Not Bologna?" + +"No." + +"Ferrara?" + +"No." + +"Do you mean to say that you don't want to see Venice and Milan?" + +"Haven't the remotest desire to see either of the places. I merely +wish to get back again to Paris. It's about the best place I've +seen yet, except, of course, my native city, Philadelphia. That I +think is without an equal. However, our minds are made up. We don't +wish to change your plans--in fact, we never thought it possible. +We are going to take the steamer at Leghorn for Marseilles, and +go on to Paris." + +"Well, Doctor," said Dick, "will you do me one favor before you go?" + +"With pleasure. What is it?" + +"Sell me your pistol." + +"I can't _sell_ it," said the Doctor. "It was a present to me. But I +will be happy to lend it to you till we meet again in Paris. We will +be sure to meet there in a couple of months at the furthest." + +The Doctor took out his pistol and handed it to Dick, who thankfully +received it. + +"Oh, Buttons," said the Senator, suddenly, "I have good news for you. +I ought to have told you before." + +"Good news? what?" + +"I saw the Spaniards." + +"The Spaniards!" cried Buttons, eagerly, starting up. "Where did you +see them? When? Where are they? I have scoured the whole town." + +"I saw them at a very crowded assembly at the Countess's. There was +such a scrouging that I could not get near them. The three were +there. The little Don and his two sisters." + +"And don't you know any thing about them?" + +"Not a hooter, except something that the Countess told me. I think +she said that they were staying at the villa of a friend of hers." + +"A friend? Oh, confound it all! What shall I do?" + +"The villa is out of town." + +"That's the reason why I never could see them. Confound it all, what +shall I do?" + +"Buttons," said the Senator, gravely, "I am truly sorry to see a +young man like you so infatuated about foreign women. Do not be +offended, I mean it kindly. She may be a Jesuit in disguise; who +knows? And why will you put yourself to grief about a little +black-eyed gal that don't know a word of English? Believe me, New +England is wide, and has ten thousand better gals than ever she +began to be. If you will get in love wait till you get home and +fall in love like a Christian, a Republican, and a Man." + +But the Senator's words had no effect. Buttons sat for a few +moments lost in thought. At length he rose and quietly left the +room. It was about nine in the morning when he left. It was about +nine in the evening when he returned. He looked dusty, fatigued, +fagged, and dejected. He had a long story to tell and was quite +communicative. The substance of it was this: On leaving the hotel +he had gone at once to _La Cica_'s residence, and had requested +permission to see her. He could not till twelve. He wandered about +and called again at that hour. She was very amiable, especially +on learning that he was a friend of the Senator, after whom she +asked with deep interest. Nothing could exceed her affability. +She told him all that she knew about the Spaniards. They were +stopping at the villa of a certain friend of hers whom she named. +It was ten miles from the city. The friend had brought them to the +assembly. It was but for a moment that she had seen them. She +wished for his sake that she had learned more about them. She +trusted that he would succeed in his earnest search. She should +think that they might still be in Florence, and if he went out at +once he might see them. Was this his first visit to Florence? How +perfectly he had the Tuscan accent; and why had he not accompanied +his friend the Senator to her salon? But it would be impossible to +repeat all that _La Cica_ said. + + +[Illustration: Farewell, Figgs!] + + +Buttons went out to the villa at once; but to his extreme disgust +found that the Spaniards, had left on the preceding day for Bologna. +He drove about the country for some distance, rested his horses, +and took a long walk, after which he returned. + +Their departure for Bologna on the following morning was a settled +thing. The diligence started early. They had pity on the flesh of +Figgs and the spirit of the Doctor. So they bade them good-bye on +the evening before retiring. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. + + +A MEMORABLE DRIVE.--NIGHT.--THE BRIGANDS ONCE MORE.--GARIBALDI'S +NAME.--THE FIRE.--THE IRON BAR.--THE MAN FROM THE GRANITE STATE +AND HIS TWO BOYS. + + +"The great beauty of this pistol is a little improvement that I +have not seen before." + +And Dick proceeded to explain. + +"Here is the chamber with the six cavities loaded. Now, you see, +when you wish, you touch this spring and out pops the butt." + +"Well?" + +"Very well. Here I have another chamber with six cartridges: It's +loaded, the cartridges are covered with copper and have detonating +powder at one end. As quick as lightning I put this on, and there +you have the pistol ready to be fired again six times." + +"So you have twelve shots?" + +"Yes." + +"And cartridges to spare?" + +"The Doctor gave me all that he had, about sixty, I should think." + +"You have enough to face a whole army--" + +"Precisely--and in my coat-pocket." + +This conversation took place in the banquette of the diligence that +conveyed Dick, Buttons, and the Senator from Florence to Bologna. A +long part of the journey had been passed over. They were among the +mountains. + +"Do you expect to use that?" asked the Senator, carelessly. + +"I do." + +"You believe these stories then?" + +"Yes; don't you?" + +"Certainly." + +"So do I," said Buttons. "I could not get a pistol; but I got this +from an acquaintance." + +And he drew from his pocket an enormous bowie-knife. + +"Bowie-knives are no good," said the Senator. "Perhaps they may do +if you want to assassinate; but for nothing else. You can't defend +yourself. I never liked it. It's not American. It's not the direct +result of our free institutions." + +"What have you then?" + +"This," said the Senator. + +And he lifted up a crow-bar from the front of the coach. +Brandishing it in the air as easily as an ordinary man would swing a +walking-stick. He looked calmly at his astonished companions. + +"You see," said he, "there are several reasons why this is the best +sort of weapon for me. A short knife is no use. A sword is no good, +for I don't know the sword exercise. A gun is worthless; I would fire +it off once and then have to use it as a club. It would then be apt to +break. That would be disagreeable--especially in the middle of a +fight. A stick or club of any kind would be open to the same +objection. What, then, is the weapon for me? Look at me. I am big, +strong, and active. I have no skill. I am brute strength. So a club +is my only weapon--a club that won't break. Say iron, then. There you +have it." + +And the Senator swung the ponderous bar around in a way that showed +the wisdom of his choice. + +"You are about right," said Buttons. "I venture to say you'll do as +much mischief with that as Dick will with his pistol. Perhaps more. +As for me, I don't expect to do much. Still, if the worst comes, +I'll try to do what I can." + +"We may not have to use them," said the Senator. "Who are below?" + +"Below?" + +"In the coach?" + +"Italians." + +"Women?" + +"No, all men. Two priests, three shop-keeper-looking persons, and +a soldier." + +"Ah! Why, we ought to be comparatively safe." + +"Oh, our number is not any thing. The country is in a state of +anarchy. Miserable devils of half-starved Italians swarm along the +road, and they will try to make hay while the sun shines. I have no +doubt we will be stopped half a dozen times before we get to Bologna." + +"I should think," said the Senator, indignantly, "that if these chaps +undertake to govern the country--these republican chaps--they had +ought to govern it. What kind of a way is this to leave helpless +travellers at the mercy of cut-throats and assassins?" + +"They think," said Buttons, "that their first duty is to secure +independence, and after that they will promote order." + +"The Florentines are a fine people--a people of remarkable cuteness +and penetration; but it seems to me that they are taking things easy +as far as fighting is concerned. They don't send their soldiers to +the war, do they?" + +"Well, no, I suppose they think their army may be needed nearer home. +The Grand Duke has long arms yet; and knows how to bribe." + +By this time they were among the mountain forests where the scenery +was grander, the air cooler, the sky darker, than before. It was late +in the day, and every mile increased the wildness of the landscape and +the thickness of the gloom. Further and further, on they went till at +least they came to a winding-place where the road ended at a gully over +which there was a bridge. On the bridge was a barricade. They did not +see it until they had made a turn where the road wound, where at once +the scene burst on their view. + +The leaders reared, the postillions swore, the driver snapped his whip +furiously. The passengers in "coupé," "rotonde," and "interieure" +popped out their heads, the passengers on the "banquette" stared, +until at last, just as the postillions were dismounting to reconnoitre, +twelve figures rose up from behind the barricade, indistinct in the +gloom, and bringing their rifles to their shoulders took aim. + +The driver yelled, the postillions shouted, the passengers shrieked. +The three men in the banquette prepared for a fight. Suddenly a loud +voice was heard from behind. They looked. A number of men stood there, +and several more were leaping out from the thick woods on the right. +They were surrounded. At length one of the men came forward from +behind. + +"You are at our mercy," said he. "Whoever gives up his money may go +free. Whoever resists dies. Do you hear?" + +Meanwhile the three men in the banquette had piled some trunks +around, and prepared to resist till the last extremity. Dick was to +fire; Buttons to keep each spare butt loaded; the Senator to use his +crow-bar on the heads of any assailants. They waited in silence. +They heard the brigands rummaging through the coach below, the +prayers of the passengers, their appeals for pity, their groans at +being compelled to give up every thing. + +"The cowards don't deserve pity!" cried the Senator. "There are +enough to get up a good resistance. We'll show fight, anyhow!" + + +[Illustration: In The Coach.] + + +Scarcely had he spoke when three or four heads appeared above the +edge of the coach. + +"Haste!--your money!" said one. + +"Stop!" said Buttons. "This gentleman is the American +Plenipotentiary Extraordinary, who has just come from Florence, +and is on his way to communicate with Garibaldi." + +"Garibaldi!" cried the man, in a tone of deep respect. + +"Yes," said Buttons, who had not miscalculated the effect of that +mighty name. "If you harm us or plunder us you will have to settle +your account with Garibaldi--that's all!" + +The man was silent. Then he leaped down, and in another moment +another man came. + +"Which is the American Plenipotentiary Extraordinary?" + +"He," said Buttons, pointing to the Senator. + +"Ah! I know him. It is the same. I saw him at his reception in +Florence, and helped to pull his carriage." + +The Senator calmly eyed the brigand, who had respectfully taken +off his hat. + +"So you are going to communicate with Garibaldi at once. Go in peace! +Gentlemen every one of us fought under Garibaldi at Rome. Ten years +ago he disbanded a large number of us among these mountains. I have +the honor to inform you that ever since that time I have got my +living out of the public, especially those in the service of the +Government. You are different. I like you because you are Americans. +I like you still better because you are friends of Garibaldi. Go in +peace! When you see the General tell him Giuglio Malvi sends his +respects." + +And the man left them. In about a quarter of an hour the barricade +was removed, and the passengers resumed their seats with lighter +purses but heavier hearts. The diligence started, and once more went +thundering along the mountain road. + +"I don't believe we've seen the last of these scoundrels yet," said +Buttons. + +"Nor I," said Dick. + +A general conversation followed. It was late, and but few things +were visible along the road. About two hours passed away without any +occurrence. + +"Look!" cried Dick, suddenly. + +They looked. + +About a quarter of a mile ahead a deep red glow arose above the +forest, illumining the sky. The windings of the road prevented them +from seeing the cause of it. The driver was startled, but evidently +thought it was no more dangerous to go on than to stop. So he lashed +up his horses and set them off at a furious gallop. The rumble of the +ponderous wheels shut out all other sounds. As they advanced the +light grew more vivid. + +"I shouldn't wonder," said the Senator, "if we have another +barricade here. Be ready, boys! We won't get off so easily this time." + +The other two said not a word. On, and on. The report of a gun +suddenly roused all. The driver lashed his horses. The postillions +took the butts of their riding-whips and pelted the animals. The +road took a turn, and, passing this a strange scene burst upon their +sight. + +A wide, open space on the road-side, a collection of beams across +the road, the shadowy forms of about thirty men, and the whole scene +dimly lighted by a smouldering fire. As it blazed up a little the +smoke rolled off and they saw as overturned carriage, two horses tied +to a tree, and two men with their hands bound behind them lying on the +ground. + +A voice rang out through the stillness which for a moment followed +the sudden stoppage of the coach at the barrier. There came a wail +from the frightened passengers within--cries for mercy--piteous +entreaties. + +"Silence, fools!" roared the same voice, which seemed to be that of +the leader. + +"Wait! wait!" said the Senator to his companions. "Let me give the +word." + +A crowd of men advanced to the diligence, and as they left the +fire Buttons saw three figures left behind--two women and a man. They +did not move. But suddenly a loud shriek burst from one of the women. +At the shriek Buttons trembled. + +"The Spaniards! It is! I know the voice! My God!" + +In an instant Buttons was down on the ground and in the midst of the +crowd of brigands who surrounded the coach. + +Bang! bang! bang! It was not the guns of the brigands, but Dick's +pistol that now spoke, and its report was the signal of death to +three men who rolled upon the ground in their last agonies. As the +third report burst forth the Senator hurled himself down upon the +heads of those below. The action of Buttons had broken up all their +plans, rendered parley impossible, and left nothing for them to do +but to follow him and save him. The brigands rushed at them with a +yell of fury. + +"Death to them! Death to them all! No quarter!" + +"Help!" cried Buttons. "Passengers, we are armed! We can save +ourselves!" + +But the passengers, having already lost their money, now feared to +lose their lives. Not one responded. All about the coach the scene +became one of terrible confusion. Guns were fired, blows fell in every +direction. The darkness, but faintly illuminated by the fitful +firelight, prevented the brigands from distinguishing their enemies +very clearly--a circumstance which favored the little band of +Americans. + +The brigands fired at the coach, and tried to break open the doors. +Inside the coach the passengers, frantic with fear, sought to make +their voices heard amid the uproar. They begged for mercy; they +declared they had no money; they had already been robbed; they would +give all that was left; they would surrender if only their lives were +spared. + +"And, oh! good Americans, yield, yield, or we all die!" + +"Americans?" screamed several passionate voices. "Death to the +Americans! Death to all foreigners!" + +These bandits were unlike the last. + +Seated in the banquette Dick surveyed the scene, while himself +concealed from view. Calmly he picked out man after man and fired. +As they tried to climb up the diligence, or to force open the door, +they fell back howling. One man had the door partly broken open by +furious blows with the butt of his gun. Dick fired. The ball entered +his arm. He shrieked with rage. With his other arm he seized his gun, +and again his blows fell crashing. In another instant a ball passed +into his brain. + +"Two shots wasted on one man! Too much!" muttered Dick; and taking +aim again he fired at a fellow who was just leaping up the other side. +The wretch fell cursing. + +Again! again! again! Swiftly Dick's shots flashed around. He had now +but one left in his pistol. Hurriedly he filled the spare chamber +with six cartridges, and taking out the other he filled it and placed +it in again. He looked down. + + +[Illustration: A Free Fight.] + + +There was the Senator. More than twenty men surrounded him, firing, +swearing, striking, shrieking, rushing forward, trying to tear him +from his post. For he had planted himself against the fore-part of +the diligence, and the mighty arm whose strength had been so proved +at Perugia was now descending again with irresistible force upon the +heads of his assailants. All this was the work of but a few minutes. +Buttons could not be seen. Dick's preparations were made. For a moment +he waited for a favorable chance to get down. He could not stay up +there any longer. He must stand by the Senator. + +There stood the Senator, his giant form towering up amidst the mêlée, +his muscular arms wielding the enormous iron bar, his astonishing +strength increased tenfold by the excitement of the fight. He never +spoke a word. + +One after another the brigands went down before the awful descent of +that iron bar. They clung together; they yelled in fury; they threw +themselves _en masse_ against the Senator. He met them as a rock meets +a hundred waves. The remorseless iron bar fell only with redoubled +fury. They raised their clubbed muskets in the air and struck at him. +One sweep of the iron bar and the muskets were dashed out of their +hands, broken or bent, to the ground. They fired, but from their wild +excitement their aim was useless. In the darkness they struck at one +another. One by one the number of his assailants lessened--they grew +more furious but less bold. They fell back a little; but the Senator +advanced as they retired, guarding his own retreat, but still swinging +his iron bar with undiminished strength. The prostrate forms of a +dozen men lay around. Again they rushed at him. The voice of their +leader encouraged them and shamed their fears. He was a stoat, +powerful man, armed with a knife and a gun. + + +[Illustration: Don't Speak.] + + +"Cowards! kill this one! This is the one! All the rest will yield if +we kill him. Forward!" + +That moment Dick leaped to the ground. The next instant the brigands +leaped upon them. The two were lost in the crowd. Twelve reports, one +after the other, rang into the air. Dick did not fire till the muzzle +of his pistol was against his enemy's breast. The darkness, now deeper +than ever, prevented him from being distinctly seen by the furious +crowd, who thought only of the Senator. But now the fire shooting up +brightly at the sudden breath of a strong wind threw a lurid light +upon the scene. + +There stood Dick, his clothes torn, his face covered with blood, his +last charge gone. There stood the Senator, his face blackened with +smoke and dust, and red with blood, his colossal form erect, and still +the ponderous bar swung on high to fall as terribly as ever. Before +him were eight men. Dick saw it all in an instant. He screamed to the +passengers in the diligence: + +"There are only eight left! Come! Help us take them prisoners! Haste!" + +The cowards in the diligence saw how things were. They plucked up +courage, and at the call of Dick jumped out. The leader of the +brigands was before Dick with uplifted rifle. Dick flung his pistol +at his head. The brigand drew back and felled Dick senseless to the +ground. The next moment the Senator's arm descended, and, with his +head broken by the blow, the robber fell dead. + +As though the fall of Dick had given him fresh fury, the Senator +sprang after the others. Blow after blow fell. They were struck down +helplessly as they ran. At this moment the passengers, snatching up +the arms of the prostrate bandits, assaulted those who yet remained. +They fled. The Senator pursued--long enough to give each one a +parting blow hard enough to make him remember it for a month. When +he returned the passengers were gathering around the coach, with +the driver and postillions, who had thus far hidden themselves, and +were eagerly looking at the dead. + +"Off!" cried the Senator, in an awful voice--"Off; you white-livered +sneaks! Let me find my two boys!" + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + + +BAD BRUISES, BUT GOOD MUSES.--THE HONORABLE SCABS OF DICK.--A +KNOWLEDGE OF BONES. + + +The Senator searched long and anxiously among the fallen bandits +for those whom he affectionately called his "boys." Dick was first +found. He was senseless. + +The Senator carried him to the fire. He saw two ladies and a +gentleman standing there. Hurriedly he called on them and pointed +to Dick. The gentleman raised his arms. They were bound tightly. The +ladies also were secured in a similar manner. The Senator quickly cut +the cords from the gentleman, who in his turn snatched the knife and +freed the ladies, and then went to care for Dick. + +The Senator then ran back to seek for Buttons. + +The gentleman flung a quantity of dry brush on the fire, which at +once blazed up and threw a bright light over the scene. Meanwhile +the passengers were looking anxiously around as though they dreaded +a new attack. Some of them had been wounded inside the coach and +were groaning and cursing. + +The Senator searched for a long time in vain. At last at the bottom +of a heap of fallen brigands, whom the Senator had knocked over, he +found Buttons. His face and clothes were covered with blood, his +forehead was blackened as though by an explosion, his arm was +broken and hung loosely as the Senator lifted him up. For a moment +he thought that it was all over with him. + +He carried him toward the fire. The appearance of the young man +was terrible. He beckoned to one of the ladies. The lady approached. +One look at the young man and the next instant, with a heart-rending +moan, she flung herself on her knees by his side. + +"The Spaniard!" said the Senator, recognizing her for the first time. +"Ah! he'll be taken care of then." + +There was a brook near by, and he hurried there for water. There +was nothing to carry it in, so he took his beaver hat and filled +it. Returning, he dashed it vigorously in Buttons's face. A faint +sigh, a gasp, and the young man feebly opened his eyes. Intense +pain forced a groan from him. In the hasty glance that he threw +around he saw the face of Ida Francia as she bent over him bathing +his brow, her face pale as death, her hand trembling, and her eyes +filled with tears. The sight seemed to alleviate his pain. A faint +smile crossed his lips. He half raised himself toward her. + +"I've found you at last," he said, and that was all. + +At this abrupt address a burning flush passed over the face and +neck of the young girl. She bent down her head. Her tears flowed +faster than ever. + +"Don't speak," she said; "you are in too much pain." + +She was right, for the next moment Buttons fell back exhausted. + +The Senator drew a flask from his pocket and motioned to the young +girl to give some to Buttons; and then, thinking that the attention +of the Señorita would be far better than his, he hurried away to +Dick. + +So well had he been treated by the Don (whom the reader has of +course already recognized) that he was now sitting up, leaning +against the driver of the diligence, who was making amends for his +cowardice during the fight by kind attention to Dick after it was +over. + +"My dear boy, I saw you had no bones broken," said the Senator, +"and knew you were all right; so I devoted my first attention to +Buttons. How do you feel?" + +"Better," said Dick, pressing the honest hand which the Senator +held out. "Better; but how is Buttons?" + +"Recovering. But he is terribly bruised, and his arm is broken." + +"His arm broken! Poor Buttons, what'll he do?" + +"Well, my boy, I'll try what _I_ can do. I've set an arm before now. +In our region a necessary part of a good education was settin' +bones." + +Dick was wounded in several places. Leaving the Don to attend to him +the Senator took his knife and hurriedly made some splints. Then +getting his valise, he tore up two or three of his shirts. Armed +with these he returned to Buttons. The Señorita saw the preparations, +and, weeping bitterly, she retired. + +"Your arm is broken, my poor lad," said the Senator. "Will you let +me fix it for you? I can do it." + +"Can you? Oh, then, I am all right! I was afraid I would have to +wait till I got to Bologna." + +"It would be a pretty bad arm by the time you got there, I guess," +said the Senator. "But come--no time must be lost." + +His simple preparations were soon made. Buttons saw that he knew what +he was about. A few moments of excessive pain, which forced +ill-suppressed moans from the sufferer, and the work was done. + +After taking a sip from the flask both Buttons and Dick felt very +much stronger. On questioning the driver they found that Bologna +was not more than twenty miles away. The passengers were busily +engaged in removing the barricade. It was decided that an immediate +departure was absolutely necessary. At the suggestion of Dick, the +driver, postillions, and passengers armed themselves with guns of +the fallen brigands. + +The severest wound which Dick had was on his head, which had been +almost laid open by a terrific blow from the gun of the robber chief. +He had also wounds on different parts of his body. Buttons had more. +These the Senator bound up with such skill that he declared himself +ready to resume his journey. Upon this the Don insisted on taking +him into his own carriage. Buttons did not refuse. + +At length they all started, the diligence ahead, the Don following. +On the way the Don told Buttons how he had fared on the road. He had +left Florence in a hired carriage the day before the diligence had +left. He had heard nothing of the dangers of the road, and suspected +nothing. Shortly after entering the mountain district they had been +stopped and robbed of all their money. Still he kept on, thinking +that there was no further danger. To his horror they were stopped +again at the bridge, where the brigands, vexed at not getting any +money, took all their baggage and let them go. They went on +fearfully, every moment dreading some new misadventure. At length +their worst fears were realized. At the place where the fight had +occurred they were stopped and dragged from their carriage. The +brigands were savage at not getting any plunder, and swore they +would hold them prisoners till they procured a ransom, which they +fixed at three thousand piastres. This was about four in the +afternoon. They overturned the coach, kindled a fire, and waited +for the diligence. They knew the rest. + +Buttons, seated next to Ida Francia, forgot his sufferings. +Meanwhile Dick and the Senator resumed their old seats on the +banquette. After a while the Senator relapsed into a fit of musing, +and Dick fell asleep. + +Morning dawned and found them on the plain once more, only a few +miles from Bologna. Far ahead they saw the lofty Leaning Tower that +forms so conspicuous an object in the fine old city. Dick awaked, +and on looking at the Senator was shocked to see him very pale, +with an expression of pain. He hurriedly asked the cause. + +"Why the fact is, after the excitement of fightin' and slaughterin' +and seein' to you chaps was over I found that I was covered with +wounds. One of my fingers is broken. I have three bullet wounds in +my left arm, one in my right, a stab of a dirk in my right thigh, +and a terrible bruise on my left knee. I think that some fellow +must have passed a dagger through my left foot, for there is a cut +in the leather, my shoe is full of blood and it hurts dreadful. It's +my opinion that the Dodge Club will be laid up in Bologny for a +fortnight.--Hallo!" + +The Senator had heard a cry behind, and looked out. Something +startled him. Dick looked also. + +The Don's carriage was in confusion. The two Señoritas were +standing up in the carriage wringing their hands. The Don was +supporting Buttons in his arms. He had fainted a second time. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII. + + +SUFFERING AND SENTIMENT AT BOLOGNA.--MOONSHINE.--BEST BALM FOR WOUNDS. + + +They all put up at the same hotel. Buttons was carried in senseless, +and it was long before he revived. The Senator and Dick were quite +exhausted--stiff with fatigue, stiff with wounds. + +There was one thing, however, which made their present situation more +endurable. The war in Lombardy made farther progress impossible. They +could not be permitted to pass the borders into Venetia. Even if they +had been perfectly well they would have been compelled to wait there +for a time. + +The city was in a ferment. The delight which the citizens felt at +their new-found freedom was mingled with a dash of anxiety about the +result of the war. For, in spite of Solferino, it was probable that +the tide of victory would be hurled back from the Quadrilateral. +Still they kept up their spirits; and the joy of their hearts found +vent in songs, music, processions. Roman candles, _Te Deums_, +sky-rockets, volleys of cannon, masses, public meetings, patriotic +songs, speeches, tri-colors, and Italian versions of "The +Marseillaise." + +In a short time the Senator was almost as well as ever. Not so Dick. +After struggling heroically for the first day against his pain he +succumbed, and on the morning of the second was unable to leave his +bed. + +The Senator would not leave him. The kind attention which he had +once before shown in Rome was now repeated. He spent nearly all his +time in Dick's room, talking to him when he was awake, and looking +at him when asleep. Dick was touched to the heart. + + +[Illustration: Used Up.] + + +The Senator thought that, without exception, Bologna was the best +Italian city that he had seen. It had a solid look. The people +were not such everlasting fools as the Neapolitans, the Romans, +and the Florentines, who thought that the highest end of life was +to make pictures and listen to music. They devoted their energies +to an article of nourishment which was calculated to benefit the +world. He alluded to the famous _Bologna Sausage_, and he put it +to Dick seriously, whether the manufacture of a sausage which was +so eminently adapted to sustain life was not a far nobler thing +than the production of useless pictures for the pampered tastes +of a bloated aristocracy. + +Meanwhile Buttons fared differently. If he had been more afflicted +he was now more blessed. The Don seemed to think that the sufferings +of Buttons were caused by himself, or, at any rate, by the eagerness +of the young man to come to the assistance of his sisters. He felt +grateful accordingly, and spared no pain to give him assistance and +relief. He procured the best medical advice in the city. For +several days the poor fellow lay in a very dangerous condition, +hovering between life and death. His wounds were numerous and severe, +and the excitement afterward, with the fatigue of the ride, had made +his situation worse. But a strong constitution was on his side, and +he at length was able to leave his bed and his room. + +He was as pale as death, and woefully emaciated. But the society of +the ladies acted like a charm upon him; and from the moment when he +left his room his strength came back rapidly. + +He would have liked it still better if he had been able to see the +younger sister alone; but that was impossible, for the sisters were +inseparable. One evening, however, the Don offered to take them to +the cathedral to see some ceremony. Ida declined, but the other +eagerly accepted. + +So Buttons for the first time in his life found himself alone with +the maid of his heart. It was a solemn season. + +Both were much embarrassed. Buttons looked as though he had +something dreadful to tell; the Señorita as though she had +something dreadful to hear. At length Buttons began to tell the +story of his many searches, pursuits, wanderings, etc., in search of +her, and particularly his last search at Florence, in which he had +grown disheartened, and had made up his mind to follow her to Spain. +At last he came to the time when he caught up to them on the road. +He had seen them first. His heart told him that one of the ladies +was Ida. Then he had lost all control of himself, and had leaped +down to rescue her. + +The Spanish nature is an impetuous, a demonstrative, a fiery +nature. The Señorita was a Spaniard. As Buttons told all this in +passionate words, to which his ardent love gave resistless eloquence, +her whole manner showed that her heart responded. An uncontrollable +excitement filled her being; her large, lustrous eyes, bright with +the glow of the South, now beamed more luminously through her tears, +and--in short: Buttons felt encouraged--and ventured nearer--and, +almost before he knew it himself, somehow or other, his arm had got +round a slender waist! + +While the Señorita trembled--timidly drew back--and then all was +still!--except, of course, whisperings--and broken sentences--and +soft, sweet......Well, all these were brought to an abrupt close by +the return of the Don and his sister. + +As they entered the room they saw Buttons at one end, and the +Señorita at the other. The moonbeams stole in softly through the +window. + +"Why did you not call for a light?" + +"Oh, it is so pleasant in the moonshine!" + +At the end of a few weeks there came the great, the unlooked-for, +the unhoped-for news--the Peace of Villafranca! So war was over. +Moreover, the road was open. They could go wherever they wished. + +Buttons was now strong enough to travel. Dick and the Senator +were as well as ever. The news of the Peace was delightful to +the travellers. + +Not so, however, to the Bolognese. They railed at Napoleon. They +forgot all that he had done, and taunted him with what he had +neglected to do. They insulted him. They made caricatures of +him. They spread scandalous reports about him. Such is the way of +the world. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX. + + +CROSSING INTO THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY.--CONSTERNATION OF THE CUSTOM-HOUSE +OFFICERS. + + +The journey was a pleasant one. The Spaniards were an agreeable +addition to the party in the estimation of others than Buttons. +The Senator devoted himself particularly to the elder sister. Indeed, +his acquaintance with _La Cica_, as he afterward confessed, had given +him a taste for foreign ladies. He carried on little conversations +with the Señorita in broken English. The Señorita's English was +pretty, but not very idiomatic. The Senator imitated her English +remarkably well, and no doubt did it out of compliment. He also +astonished the company by speaking at the very top of a voice whose +ordinary tone was far stronger than common. + + +[Illustration: Buttons In Bliss.] + + +The journey from Bologna to Ferrara was not diversified by any +incident. Buttons was rapidly regaining his gayety and his strength. +He wore his arm in a sling, it is true, but thought it better to have +a broken arm with the Señorita than a sound one without her. It must +be confessed, however, that his happiness was visible not so much in +lively conversation as in his flushed cheek, glistening eye, and +general air of ecstasy. Moreover, Ida could not speak English much--a +conversation in that language was difficult, and they would not be +so rude to the Senator as to talk Spanish in his presence. The +consequence was that the conversation flagged, and the Senator was by +far the most talkative member of the company, and laid out all his +strength in broken English. + +Ferrara was reached at last, and they put up at a hotel which boasted +of having entertained in its day any quantity of kings, emperors, and +nobles of every European nation. It is an astonishing town. Vast +squares, all desolate; great cathedrals, empty; proud palaces, +neglected and ruinous; broad streets, grass-grown and empty; long +rows of houses, without inhabitants; it presents the spectacle of a +city dying without hope of recovery. The Senator walked through every +street in Ferrara, looked carelessly at Tasso's dungeon, and seemed to +feel relieved when they left the city. + +On arriving at the Po. which forms the boundary between this district +and Venetia, they underwent some examination from the authorities, +but crossed without accident. But on the other side they found the +Austrian officials far more particular. They asked a multiplicity of +questions, opened every trunk, scanned the passports, and detained +them long. The ladies were annoyed in a similar manner, and a number +of Roman and Neapolitan trinkets which had passed the Italian +_doganas_ were now taken from them. + +Dick had a valise, both compartments of which were strapped down +carefully. Under a cairn exterior he concealed a throbbing heart, for +in that valise was the Doctor's pistol, upon which he relied in +anticipation of future dangers. The officials opened the valise. It +was apparently a puzzle to them. They found but little clothing. On +the contrary, a very extensive assortment of articles wrapped in +paper and labelled very neatly. These they opened one by one in the +first compartment, and found the following: + + +1, Six collars; 2, a brick; 3, lump of lime; 4, pebbles; 5, plaster; +6, ashes; 7, paper; 8, another brick; 9, a chip; 10, more plaster; 11, +more ashes; 13, an ink bottle; 13, three pair stockings; 14, more +ashes; 15, more ashes; 16, a neck-tie; 17, a bit of wood; 18, vial; +19, some grass; 20, bone; 21, rag; 22, stone; 23, another stone: 24, +some more grass; 25, more pebbles; 26, more bones; 27, pot of +blacking; 28, slippers; 29, more stones; 30, more stones. + + +The officials started up with an oath apiece. Their heavy German faces +confronted Dick with wrath and indignation, and every separate hair of +their warlike mustaches stood out. However, they swallowed their rage, +and turned to the others. Dick drew a long breath of relief. The +pistol was safe. It had been taken apart and each piece wrapped in +paper and labelled. Had he carried it about with him it would have +been taken. + +The Senator thought it was better to have three battles with brigands +than one encounter with custom-house officials. He had a little store +of specimens of Italian manufactures, which were all taken from him. +One thing struck him forcibly, and that was the general superiority +of the Austrian over the Roman side. + +There was more thrift neatness, and apparent prosperity. His +sentiments on this subject were embodied in a letter home, which he +wrote from Padua on a dreary evening which they spent there before +starting for Venice: + + +"If this part of Italy is oppressed by Austria, then all I can say +is, that the pressure has squeezed an immense amount of vegetation +out of the soil. Passing from the Roman territories into the +Austrian is like going from darkness into light, or from Canada into +the United States. What kind of people are they who do better under +foreign rule than Native? In my opinion, the territories of the +Pope are worse than those of other rulers in Italy. A Spanish friend +of mine tells me that it is because the thoughts of the Pope's +subjects are set not on things below, but on things on high. He tells +me that we've got to choose between two masters--Christianity on the +one hand, and Mammon on the other. Whoever chooses the latter will be +destitute of the former. He gives as examples of this France, England, +and America, which countries, though possessed of the highest material +blessings, are yet a prey to crime, scepticism, doubt, infidelity, +heresy, false doctrine, and all manner of similar evils. Those +nations which prefer religion to worldly prosperity present a +different scene; and he points to Spain and Italy--poor in this +world's goods, but rich in faith--the only evils which afflict them +being the neighborhood of unbelieving nations." + + + + +CHAPTER L. + + +VENICE AND ITS PECULIAR GLORY.--THE DODGE CLUB COME TO GRIEF AT LAST. +--UP A TREE.--IN A NET, ETC. + + +Few sensations are so singular as that which the traveller +experiences on his first approach to Venice. The railway passes +for miles through swamps, pools, ponds, and broken mud banks, till +at length, bursting away altogether from the shore, it pushes +directly out into the sea. Away goes the train of cars over the long +viaduct, and the traveller within can scarcely understand the +situation. The firm and even roll and the thunder of the wheels tell +of solid ground beneath; but outside of the windows on either side +there is nothing but a wide expanse of sea. + +At length the city is reached. The train stops, and the passenger +steps out into the station-house. But what a station-house! and what +a city! There is the usual shouting from carriers and cabmen, but +none of that deep roar of a large city which in every other place +drones heavily into the traveller's ear. + +Going out to what he thinks is a street, the traveller finds merely +a canal. Where are the carriages, cabs, caliches, hand-carts, +barouches, pony-carriages, carryalls, wagons, hansoms, hackneys, +wheelbarrows, broughams, dog-carts, buggies? Where are the horses, +mares, dogs, pigs, ponies, oxen, cows, cats, colts, calves, and +livestock generally? + +Nowhere. There's not a wheeled carriage in the place. It may be +doubted if there is a dog. There certainly is not a cow. The people +use goats' milk. The horse is as unknown as the pterodactyl, +icthyosaurus, dodo, iguanodon, mastodon, great awk. How do they go +about? Where are the conveniences for moving to and fro? + +Then, at the platform of the station, a score or two of light +gondolas await you. The gondolier is the cabman. He waits for you, +with his hand toward you, and the true "Keb, Sir!" tone and smile. +A double-sized gondola is here called an "omnibus," and the name is +painted on the side in huge letters. And these are the substitutes +for wheeled vehicles. + + +[Illustration: Dick's Luggage.] + + +Now after entering one of these you go along smoothly and +noiselessly. The first thing one notices in Venice is the absence of +noise. As the boat goes along the only sound that is heard is the +sharp cry from the boatman as he approaches a corner. At first the +novelty interests the mind, afterward it affects the spirits. In +three days most people leave the city in a kind of panic. The +stillness is awful. A longer stay would reduce one to a state of +melancholy madness. A few poets, however, have been able to endure, +and even to love, the sepulchral stillness of the city. But to +appreciate Venice one must be strongly poetical. + +There are many things to be seen. First of all there is the city +itself, one grand curiosity, unique, with nothing on earth that +bears a distant approach to it. Its canals, gondolas, antique +monuments, Byzantine architecture, bridges, mystery: its pretty +women with black lace veils, the true glory of Venice--though +Murray says nothing about them. + +For Murray, in what was meant to be an exhaustive description of +Venice, has omitted all mention of that which makes it what it is. +Whereas if it had been Homer instead of Murray he would have rolled +out the following epithets: [Transcriber's Note: Greek +transliteration] euplokamoi, apalai, choroetheis, eukomoi, +rodopechees, erateinai, kalliplokamoi, elkechitones, kuanopides, +imeroessai, bathukolpoi, ligumolpoi: k. t. l. [/end Greek] + +The travellers visited the whole round of sights. They remained in +company and went about in the same gondola. The Senator admired what +he saw as much as any of them, though it appeared to be out of his +particular line. It was not the Cathedral of St. Mark's, however, nor +the Doge's Palace, nor the Court of the Inquisition, nor the Bridge +of Sighs, nor the Rialto, that interested him, but rather the +spectacle of all these magnificent edifices around him, with all +the massive masonry of a vast city, built up laboriously on the +uncertain sand. He admired the Venetians who had done this. To such +men, he thought, the commerce of the world might well have belonged. +In discussing the causes of the decline of Venice he summed up the +subject in a few words, and in the clearest possible manner. + +"These Venetians, when they set up shop, were in the principal street +of the world--the Mediterranean. They had the best stand in the +street. They did work up their business uncommon well now, and no +mistake. They made money hand over fist, and whatever advantage +could be given by energy, capital, and a good location, they got. +But the currents of traffic change in the world just as they do in +a city. After a while it passed in another direction. Venice was +thrown out altogether. She had no more chance than a New York shop +would have after the business that it lived on had gone into another +street. Hence," said the Senator--he always said "hence" when he was +coming to a triumphant conclusion--"hence the downfall of Venice." + +On arriving at their hotel a little circumstance occurred which made +them look at Venice from a new and startling point of view. On going +to their rooms after dinner they were followed by a file of Austrian +soldiers. They wanted to see the passports. They requested this in a +thick guttural tone, which made the Americans feel quite nervous. They +showed the passports nevertheless. + +On looking over them the Austrian soldiers arrested them. They were +informed that if they went peaceably they would be well treated, but +if they made any resistance they would all be bound. + +The Americans remonstrated. No use. A thousand conjectures were made +as to the cause of their arrest, but they were completely baffled. +Before they could arrive at any conclusion they had arrived at the +place of their destination, to which they had, of course, been taken +in a gondola. It was too dark to distinguish the place, but it looked +like a large and gloomy edifice. The soldiers took them to a room, +where they locked them all in together. It was a comfortable +apartment, with another larger one opening from it, in which were +two beds and two couches. Evidently they were not neglected. + + +[Illustration: Arrested.] + + +After waiting for half the night in a kind of fever they retired to +rest. They slept but little. They rose early, and at about seven +o'clock breakfast was brought in to them, with a guard of soldiers +following the waiters. + +After breakfast they were visited again. This time it was a legal +gentleman. They did not know who he was, but he gave them to +understand that he was a person high in authority. He questioned +them very closely as to their business in Venice, but did his +questioning in a courteous manner. After about an hour he left. + +Lunch was brought in at one o'clock. Their feelings at being treated +in this mysterious manner can be imagined. Such neglect of the rights +of man--such trifling with his time and patience--such utter disregard +of _habeas corpus_, awaked indignation which words could not express. + +Positively they were treated like dumb cattle; locked up, fed, +deprived of liberty and fresh air; no communication with friends +outside; and, worst of all, no idea in the world of the cause of their +imprisonment. They came to the conclusion that they were mistaken for +some other parties--for some _Cacciatori degli Alpi_; and Buttons +insisted that the Senator was supposed to be Garibaldi himself. In +these troublous times any idea, however absurd, might be acted upon. + +At about three in the afternoon the door was thrown open, and a file +of soldiers appeared. An officer approached and requested the +prisoners to follow. They did so. They passed along many halls, and at +length came to a large room. A long table extended nearly from one +end to another. Soldiers were arranged down the sides of the +apartment. + +At the head of the table sat an elderly man, with a stern face, +ferocious mustache, sharp eye, bushy gray eyebrows, and universal air +of Mars. His uniform showed him to be a General. By his side was +their visitor of the morning. Officials sat at the table. + +"_Silence_!" + + +[Illustration: Silence!] + + + + +CHAPTER LI. + + +THE AMERICAN EAGLE AND THE AUSTRIAN DOUBLE-HEADED DITTO. + + +At the command of the Austrian General every body became still. +Thereupon he motioned to the prisoners to stand at the bottom of +the table. They did so. The General took a long stare at the +prisoners, particularly at the Senator. They bore it steadily. +As for the Senator, he regarded the other with an expression which +would have done honor to the Austrian General's own father. + +"Who are you?" + +The General spoke in German. The legal gentleman, at his side +instantly interpreted it into English. + +"Americans." + +"Ah! dangerous characters--dangerous characters! What is your +business?" + +"Travellers." + +"Travellers? Ah! But what are your occupations in America?" + +"Our passports tell." + +"Your passports say--'Gentlemen.'" + +"Well, we _are_ gentlemen." + +The Austrian looked blank. After a while he resumed; and as he +directed his glance to the Senator the latter made all the replies, +while the Interpreter served as a medium of communication. + +"How long have you been in Italy?" + +"Two or three months." + +"You came here just about the commencement of these difficulties?" + +"Yes--the beginning of the war." + +"Where did you land?" + +"At Naples." + +"Naples? Ha! hm! Where did you go next?" + +"To Rome. We stayed there a few weeks and then went to Florence; +from Florence to Bologna, and thence through Ferrara and Padua to +Venice." + +"You went to Florence! How long ago did you leave?" + +"About a month ago." + +"A month! Ah, hm!" + +And the General exchanged glances with the legal gentleman at his +side. + +"What were you doing in Florence?" + +"Seeing the city." + +"Did you place yourselves in connection with the Revolutionists?" + +"No." + +"Did you have any thing to do with the emissaries of Garibaldi?" + +"Nothing." + +"Take care how you deny." + +"We say we know nothing at all either of the Revolutionists or +Imperialists or Garibaldians or any other party. We are merely +travellers." + +"Hm--a strong disavowment," said the General to himself. "You have +never in any way countenanced the rebels."' + +"No." + +"Think before you speak." + +"We are free Americans. Perhaps you know that the citizens of that +country say what they think and do what they like. We have gone on +that rule in Italy. What I say is, that we do not know any thing +about rebels or any political parties in the country." + +"Do you know _La Cica_?" asked the General, with the air of a man +who was putting a home-thrust, and speaking with uncommon +fierceness. + +"I do," said the Senator, mildly. + +"You know her well? You are one of her intimate friends?" + +"Am I?" + +"Are you not?" + +"I am friendly with her. She is an estimable woman, with much +feeling and penetration"--and a fond regret exhibited itself in +the face of the speaker. + +"Well, Sir, you may as well confess. We know you, Sir. We know you. +You are one of the chosen associates of that infamous Garibaldian +plotter and assassin, whose hotel is the hot-bed of conspiracy and +revolution. We know you. Do you dare to come here and deny it?" + +"I did not come here; I was brought. I do not deny that you know me, +though I haven't the pleasure of knowing you. But I do deny that I +am the associate of conspirators." + +"Are you not the American whom _La Cica_ so particularly distinguished +with her favor?" + +"I have reason to believe that she was partial to me--somewhat." + +"He confesses!" said the General. "You came from her to this place, +communicating on the way with her emissaries." + +"I communicated on the way with none but brigands among the mountains. +If they were her emissaries I wish her joy of them. My means of +communication," said the Senator, while a grim smile passed over his +face, "was an iron crow-bar, and my remarks left some deep impression +on them, I do believe." + +"Tell me now--and tell me truly," said the General after a pause, +in which he seemed trying to make out whether the Senator was joking +or not. "To whom are you sent in this city?" + +"To no one." + +"Sir! I warn you that I will not be trifled with." + +"I tell you," said the Senator, with no apparent excitement, "I tell +you that I have come here to no one. What more can I say?" + +"You must confess." + +"I have nothing to confess." + +"Sir! you have much to confess," cried the General, angrily, "and I +swear to you I will wring it out of you. Beware how you trifle with +my patience. If you wish to regain your liberty confess at once, +and you may escape your just punishment. But if you refuse, then, +by the immortal gods, I'll shut you up in a dungeon for ten years!" + +"You will do no such thing." + +"What!" roared the General. "Won't I?" + +"You will not. On the contrary, you will have to make apologies for +these insults." + +"I!--Apologies! Insults!" + +The General gnawed his mustache, and his eyes blazed in fury. + +"You have arrested us on a false charge, based on some slanderous +or stupid information of some of your infernal spies," said the +Senator. "What right have you to pry into the private affairs of +an American traveller? We have nothing to do with you." + +"You are associated with conspirators. You are charged with +treasonable correspondence with rebels. You countenanced revolution +in Florence. You openly took part with Republicans. You are a +notorious friend of _La Cica_. And you came here with the intention +of fomenting treason in Venice!" + +"Whoever told you that," replied the Senator, "told infernal lies--most +infernal lies. I am no emissary of any party. I am a private +traveller." + +"Sir, we have correspondents in Florence on whom we can rely better +than on you. They watched you." + +"Then the best thing you can do is to dismiss those correspondents +and get rogues who have half an idea." + +"Sir, I tell you that they watched you well. You had better confess +all. Your antecedents in Florence are known. You are in a position +of imminent danger. I tell you--_beware_." + +The General said this in an awful voice, which was meant to strike +terror into the soul of his captive. The Senator looked back into +his eyes with an expression of calm scorn. His form seemed to grow +larger, and his eyes dilated as he spoke: + +"Then you, General, I tell you--_beware_! Do you know who you've got +hold of?--No conspirator; no infernal Italian bandit, or Dutch-man +either; but an American citizen. Your Government has already tried +the temper of Americans on one or two remarkable occasions. Don't try +it on a third time, and don't try it on with me. Since you want to +know who I am I'll tell you. I, Sir, am an American Senator. I take +an active and prominent part in the government of that great and +glorious country. I represent a constituency of several hundred +thousand. You tell me to _beware_. I tell you--BEWARE! for, by the +Eternal! if you don't let me go, I swear to you that you'll have to +give me up at the cannon's mouth. I swear to you if you don't let +me off by evening I won't go at all till I am delivered up with +humble and ample apologies, both to us and to our country, whom +you have insulted in our persons." + +"Sir, you are bold!" + +"Bold! Send for the American Consul of this city and see if he +don't corroborate this. But you had better make haste, for if you +subject me to further disgrace it will be the worse for your +Government, and particularly for _you_, my friend. You'll have the +town battered down about your ears. Don't get another nation down +on you, and, above all, don't let that nation be the American. What +I tell you is the solemn truth, and if you don't mind it you will +know it some day to your sorrow." + +Whatever the cause may have been the company present, including even +the General, were impressed by the Senator's words. The announcement +of his dignity; the venerable title of Senator; the mention of his +"constituency," a word the more formidable from not being at all +understood--all combined to fill them with respect and even awe. + + +[Illustration: Don't Try It On With Me.] + + +So at his proposal to send for the American Consul the General +gave orders to a messenger who went off at once in search of that +functionary. + + + + +CHAPTER LII. + + +THE SENATOR STILL ENGAGED IN FACING DOWN THE AUSTRIAN.--THE AMERICAN +CONSUL.--UNEXPECTED RE-APPEARANCE OF FORGOTTEN THINGS.--COLLAPSE OF +THE COURT. + + +The American Consul soon made his appearance. Not having had any +thing to do for months, the prospect of business gave wings to his +feet. Moreover, he felt a very natural desire to help a countryman +in trouble. Upon entering the hall he cast a rapid look around, and +seemed surprised at so august a tribunal. For in the General's martial +form he saw no less a person than the Austrian Commandant. + +The Consul bowed and then looked at the prisoners. As his eye fell +upon the Senator it lighted up, and his face assumed an expression of +the most friendly interest. Evidently a recognition. The Austrian +Commandant addressed the Consul directly in German. + +"Do you know the prisoners?" + +"I know one of them." + +"He is here under a very heavy accusation. I have well-substantiated +charges by which he is implicated in treason and conspiracy. He has +been connected with Revolutionists of the worst stamp in Florence, +and there is strong proof that he has come here to communicate with +Revolutionists in this city." + +"Who accuses him of this? Are they here?" + +"No, but they have written from Florence warning me of his journey +here." + +"Does the prisoner confess?" + +"Of course not. He denies. He requested me to send for you. I +don't want to be unjust, so if you have any thing to say, say on." + +"These charges are impossible." + +"Impossible?" + +"He is altogether a different man from what you suppose. He is an +eminent member of the American Senate. Any charges made against +one like him will have to be well substantiated; and any injury +done to him will be dangerous in the highest degree. Unless you +have undeniable proofs of his guilt it will be best to free him +at once--or else--" + +"Or else what?" + +"Or else there will be very grave complications." + +The Commandant looked doubtful. The others impassive. Buttons and +Dick interested. The Senator calm. Again the Commandant turned to +the Senator, his remarks being interpreted as before. + +"How does it happen that you were so particularly intimate with +all the Revolutionists in Florence, and an habitué of _La Cica_'s +salon? that your mission was well known throughout the city? That +you publicly acknowledged the Florentine rebellion in a speech? +that the people carried you home in triumph? and that immediately +before leaving you received private instructions from _La Cica_?" + +"To your questions," said the Senator, with unabated dignity, "I +will reply in brief: _First_, I am a free and independent citizen +of the great and glorious American Republic. If I associated with +Revolutionists in Florence, I did so because I am accustomed to +choose my own society, and not to recognize any law or any master +that can forbid my doing so. I deny, however, that I was in any way +connected with plots, rebellions, or conspiracies. _Secondly_, I was +friendly with the Countess because I considered her a most remarkably +fine woman, and because she showed a disposition to be friendly with +me--a stranger in a strange land. _Thirdly_, I have no mission of +any kind whatever. I am a traveller for self-improvement. I have no +business political or commercial. So that my mission could not have +been known. If people talked about me they talked nonsense. +_Fourthly_, I confess I made a speech, but what of that? It's not +the first time, by a long chalk. I don't know what you mean by +'acknowledging.' As a private citizen I congratulated them on their +success, and would do so again. If a crowd calls on me for a speech, +I'm thar! The people of Florence dragged me home in a carriage. Well, +I don't know why they did so. I can't help it if people will take +possession of me and pull me about. _Fifthly_, and lastly, I had an +interview with the Countess, had I? Well, is it wrong for a man to +bid good-bye to a friend? I ask you, what upon earth do you mean by +such a charge as that? Do you take me for a puling infant?" + +"On that occasion," said the Commandant, "she taught you some +mysterious words which were to be repeated among the Revolutionists +here." + +"Never did any thing of the kind. That's a complete full-blown +fiction." + +"I have the very words." + +"That's impossible. You've got hold of the wrong man I see." + +"I will have them read," said the General, solemnly. + +And he beckoned to the Interpreter. Whereupon the Interpreter +gravely took out a formidable roll of papers from his breast, and +opened it. Every gesture was made as though his hand was heavy with +the weight of crushing proof. At last a paper was produced. +The Interpreter took one look at the prisoner, then glanced +triumphantly at the Consul, and said: + +"It is a mysterious language with no apparent meaning, nor have I +been able to find the key to it in any way. It is very skillfully +made, for all the usual tests of cipher writing fail in this. The +person who procured it did not get near enough till the latter part +of the interview, so that he gained no explanation whatever from the +conversation." + +"Read," said the Commandant. The Senator waited, wonderingly. The +Interpreter read: + + +"_Ma ouillina sola ouda ste ensoce fremas dis ansit ansin assalef a +oue lu affa lastinna belis_." + + +Scarcely had the first words been uttered in the Italian voice of +the reader than the Senator started as though a shot had struck him. +His face flushed. Finally a broad grin spread itself over his +countenance, and down his neck, and over his chest, and over his +form, and into his boots, till at last his whole colossal frame +shook with an earthquake of laughter. + +The Commandant stared and looked uneasy, All looked at the Senator +--all with amazement--the General, the Interpreter, the Officials, +the Guards, Buttons, Dick, and the American Consul. + +"Oh dear! Oh _de-ar_! Oh DEEE-AR!" cried the Senator, in the +intervals of his outrageous peals of laughter. "OH!" and a new peal +followed. + +What did all this mean? Was he crazy? Had misfortunes turned his +brain? + +But at last the Senator, who was always remarkable for his +self-control, recovered himself. He asked the Commandant if he might +be permitted to explain. + +"Certainly," said the Commandant, dolefully. He was afraid that +the thing would take a ridiculous turn, and nothing is so terrible +as that to an Austrian official. + +"Will you allow me to look at the paper?" asked the Senator. "I will +not injure it at all." + +The Interpreter politely carried it to him as the Commandant nodded. +The Senator beckoned to the Consul. They then walked up to the +Commandant. All four looked at the paper. + +"You see, gentlemen," said the Senator, drawing a lead pencil from +his pocket, "the Florence correspondent has been too sharp. I can +explain all this at once. I was with the Countess, and we got +talking of poetry. Now, I don't know any more about poetry than a +horse." + +"Well?" + +"Well, she insisted on my making a quotation. I had to give in. +The only one I could think of was a line or two from Watts." + +"_Watts_? Ah! I don't know him," said the Interpreter. + +"He was a minister--a parson." + +"Ah!" + +"So I said it to her, and she repeated it. These friends of yours, +General, have taken it down, but their spellin' is a little +unusual," said the Senator, with a tremendous grin that threatened +a new outburst. + +"Look. Here is the true-key which this gentleman tried so hard to +find." + +And taking his pencil the Senator wrote under the strange words +the true meaning: + + + "My willing soul would stay + In such a frame as this, + And sit and sing herself away + To everlasting bliss." + + +The Interpreter saw it all. He looked profoundly foolish. The whole +thing was clear. The Senator's innocence was plain. He turned to +explain to the Commandant. The Consul's face exhibited a variety +of expressions, over which a broad grimace finally predominated, +like sunshine over an April sky. In a few words the whole was made +plain to the Commandant. He looked annoyed, glared angrily at the +Interpreter, tossed the papers on the floor, and rose to his feet. + + +[Illustration: Watts Mis-spelled.] + + +"Give these gentlemen our apologies," said he to the Interpreter. +"In times of trouble, when States have to be held subject to +martial law, proceedings are abrupt. Their own good sense will, I +trust, enable them to appreciate the difficulty of our position. +They are at liberty." + +At liberty! No sooner were the words spoken than the prisoners +bowed and left, in company with the Consul, who eagerly shook +hands with all three--particularly the Senator, who, as they were +leaving, was heard to whisper something in which these words were +audible: + +"Wa'al, old hoss! The American eagle showed it claws, anyhow." + + + + +CHAPTER LIII. + + +A MYSTERIOUS FLIGHT.--DESPAIR OF BUTTONS.--PURSUIT.--HISTORIC GROUND, +AND HISTORIC CITIES. + + +It was about seven o'clock in the evening when they reached their +hotel. Every thing was as they had left it. Some trifles had +occurred, such as a general overhaul of the baggage, in which the +Doctor's pistol had again miraculously escaped seizure. Buttons +went immediately to call on the Spaniards, but their apartment was +closed. Supposing that they were out about the town, he returned to +his friends. + +During their memorable captivity they had eaten but little, and +now nothing was more welcome than a dinner. So they ordered the very +best that the hotel could supply, and made the American Consul stay. +Buttons did not give himself up so completely as the rest to the +hilarity of the occasion. Something was on his mind. So he took +advantage of a conversation in which the Senator was giving the +Consul an animated description of the fight with the brigands, and +the pluck of his two "boys," and stole out of the room. Whereupon the +Senator stopped and remarked-- + +"Hang these fellows that are in love!" + +"Certainly," said Dick. "They often hang themselves, or feel like +it." + +"Of course Buttons is on his usual errand." + +"Of course." + +"It seems to me that his foreign travel has become nothing but one +long chase after that gal. He is certainly most uncommon devoted." + +Scarce had these words been spoken when the door was flung open, and +Buttons made his appearance, much agitated. + +"What's the matter?" cried Dick. "The Spaniards!" "Well?" "They're +off!" "Off?" "Gone!" "Where?" "Away from Venice." "When?" "I don't +know." "Why?" "I don't know." + +"What sent them? It looks as though they were running away from +you on purpose." + +"They're off, at any rate!" cried Buttons. "I went to their room. +It was open. The servants were fixing it up. I asked why. They said +the Spaniards had left Venice early this morning. They did not know +any thing more." + +"Strange!" + +"Strange, of course. It's so sudden. Their plans were laid out for +a week in Venice." + +"Perhaps they were frightened at our adventure." + +Buttons sprung to the bell and pulled it vigorously. Then he rushed +to the door and flung it open. Five or six waiters came tumbling in. +They had all been listening at the key-hole. + +"Where's the chief waiter?" + +"Here," said that functionary, approaching. + +"Come here. You may retire," said Buttons to the others. They went +out reluctantly. + +"Now, my friend," said he, putting some piastres in the hand of the +chief waiter. "Think, and answer me right. Where are the Spaniards +--a gentleman and two ladies--who came here with us?" + +"They have left the city." + +"When?" + +"At six this morning, by the first train." + +"Why did they leave?" + +"A hint came from the Commandant." + +"From him. Ah! What about?" + +"Why--you know--your Excellencies were to waited on by a +deputation." + +"We were arrested. Well?" + +"Well, these Spaniards were friends yours." + +"Yes." + +"That connection made them suspected." + +"Diavolo!" + +"Such is the melancholy fact. There was no cause strong enough to +lead to their arrest. It would have been inconvenient. So the +Commandant sent a message, immediately after your Excellency's +lamentable arrest, to warn them--" + +"What of?" + +"That they had better leave the country at once." + +"Yes, but that didn't force them to go." + +"Ah, Signore! Do you not know what such a warning is? There is no +refusal." + +"And so they left." + +"At six by the train." + +"Where to?" + +"Signore, they had their passports made out for Milan." + +"Milan!" + +"Certainly. It was necessary for them not only to leave Venice, but +Venetia." + +"Very well. When does the next train leave?" + +"Not till to-morrow morning at six." + +"You must call us then at five, for we are going. Here, take our +passports and get them viséd;" and having explained matters to the +Senator, Buttons found no need of persuasion to induce them to quit +the city, so the passports were handed over to the waiter. + +So at six the next morning they went flying over the sea, over the +lagoons, over the marshes, over the plains, away toward Lombardy. + + +[Illustration: Formalities.] + + +They had to stop for a while at Verona, waiting to comply with "some +formalities." They had time to walk about the town and see the Roman +ruins and the fortifications. Of all these much might be said, if it +were not to be found already in Guide-books, Letters of +Correspondents, Books of Travel, Gazetteers, and Illustrated +Newspapers. Our travellers saw enough of the mighty military works, +in a brief survey, to make them thoroughly comprehend the Peace of +Villafranca. In the neighborhood of Solferino they left the train to +inspect the scene of battle. Only a month had passed since the +terrific contest, and the traces remained visible on every side. The +peasants had made two trenches of enormous size. In one of these the +bodies of the Austrians had been buried, in the other those of the +French and Italians. In one place there was a vast heap of arms, which +had been gathered from off the field. There was no piece among them +which was not bent or broken. All were of the best construction and +latest pattern, but had seen their day. Shattered trees, battered +walls, crumbling houses, deep ruts in the earth, appeared on every +side to show where the battle had raged; yet already the grass, in +its swift growth, had obliterated the chief marks of the tremendous +conflict. + +At length they arrived at Milan. The city presented a most imposing +appearance. Its natural situation, its magnificent works of +architecture, its stately arches and majestic avenues presented an +appearance which was now heightened by the presence of victory. It +was as though the entire population had given themselves up to +rejoicing. The evil spirit had been cast out, and the house +thoroughly swept and garnished. The streets were filled with gay +multitudes; the avenues resounded with the thrilling strains of the +Marseillaise, repeated everywhere; every window displayed the +portrait of Napoleon, Victor Emanuel, or Garibaldi, and from every +house-top flaunted the tri-color. The heavy weight imposed by the +military rule--the iron hand, the cruelty, the bands of spies, the +innumerable soldiers sent forth by Austria--had been lifted off, and +in the first reaction of perfect liberty the whole population rushed +into the wildest demonstrations of joy and gayety. The churches were +all marked by the perpetual presence of the emblems of Holy Peace, +and Heavenly Faith, and Immortal Hope. The sublime Cathedral, from +all its marble population of sculptured saints and from all its +thousands of pinnacles, sent up one constant song. Through the +streets marched soldiers--regular, irregular, horse, foot, and +dragoons; cannon thundered at intervals through every day; +volunteer militia companies sprang up like butterflies to flash +their gay uniforms in the sun. + +It was not the season for theatres. _La Scala_ had opened for a +few nights when Napoleon and Victor Emanuel where here, but had +closed again. Not so the smaller theatres. Less dignified, they +could burst forth unrestrained. Especially the Day Theatres, places +formed somewhat on the ancient model, with open roofs. In these the +spectators can smoke. Here the performance begins at five or six +and ends at dark. All the theatres on this season, day or night alike, +burst forth into joy. The war was the universal subject. Cannon, +fighting, soldiers, gunpowder, saltpetre, sulphur, fury, explosions, +wounds, bombardments, grenadiers, artillery, drum, gun, trumpet, +blunderbuss, and thunder! Just at that time the piece which was +having the greatest run was THE VICTORY Of SOLFERINO! + +Two theatres exhibited this piece with all the pomp and circumstance +of glorious war. Another put out in a pantomime "The Battle of +Malegnano!" + +Another, "The Fight at Magenta!" But perhaps the most popular of all +was "GARIBALDI IN VARESE, _od_ I CACCIATORI DEGLI ALPI!" + + + + +CHAPTER LIV. + + +DICK MEETS AN OLD FRIEND.--THE EMOTIONAL NATURE OF THE ITALIAN. +--THE SENATOR OVERCOME AND DUMBFOUNDED. + + +The day of their arrival at Milan was distinguished by a pleasing +circumstance. Buttons found the Spaniards, and was happy. And by +another circumstance, scarcely less pleasing, Dick found an old +acquaintance. + +On this wise: + +Finding himself in Milan he suddenly called to mind an old friend +with whom he had been intimate in Boston. He had been exiled from +Italy on account of his connection with the movements of 1848. He +had fled to America, and had taken with him barely enough to live +on. For five years he had lived in Boston under the plain name of +_Hugh Airey_. Then Dick met with him, and had been attracted by the +polished manners, melancholy air, and high spirit of the +unfortunate exile. In the course of time their acquaintance ripened +into intimate friendship. Dick introduced him to all his friends, +and did all in his power to make his life pleasant. From him he had +learned Italian, and under his guidance formed a wide and deep +acquaintance with Italian literature. In 1858 Mr. Airey decided to +return to Italy and live in Turin till the return of better days. +Before leaving he confided to Dick the fact that he belonged to one +of the oldest families in Lombardy, and that he was the Count Ugo di +Gonfiloniere. The exile bade Dick and all his friends good-bye and +departed. Since then Dick had heard from him but once. The Count was +happy, and hopeful of a speedy return of better days for his country. +His hopes had been realized, as the world knows. + + +[Illustration: The Count Ugo.] + + +Dick had no difficulty in finding out where he lived, and went to +call on him. It was a magnificent palace. Throngs of servants were +around the entrance. Dick sent up his name, and was conducted by a +servant to an ante-chamber. Scarcely had he finished a hasty +survey of the apartment when hurried footsteps were heard. He turned. +The Count came rushing into the room, flushed and trembling, and +without a word threw himself into Dick's arms, embraced him, and +kissed him. It was a trying moment for Dick. Nothing is so frightful +to a man of the Anglo-Saxon race as to be hugged and kissed by a man. +However, Dick, felt deeply touched at the emotion of his friend and +his grateful remembrance of himself. + +"This is a circumstance most unexpected!" cried the Count. "Why did +you not write and tell me that you were coming, my dearest friend? I +did not know that you were in Italy. But perhaps you wished to give +me a surprise?" And then the Count asked after all the friends in +America, for whom he still evinced the tenderest attachment. + +On being questioned he related his own subsequent adventures. After +leaving America he went at once to Turin. Though proscribed in +Lombardy he was free in Piedmont. He managed to communicate +secretly with his relatives in Milan, and lived comfortably. At +length he became aware of the great movement on foot which ended +in the Italian war. He had thrown himself altogether in the good +cause, and, without being at all disheartened by his former +misfortunes, he embarked energetically in the current of events. He +was at once recognized by the Sardinian Government as a powerful +recruit, and appointed to an important military command. Finally war +was declared. The French came, the Count had taken a conspicuous part +in the events of the war, had been present at every battle, and had +been promoted for his gallant conduct. Fortunately he had not once +been wounded. On the occupation of Milan by the Allies he had +regained all his rights, titles, privileges, and estates. He was a +happy man. His ten years of exile had given him a higher capacity +for enjoyment. He looked forward to a life of honor and usefulness. +He had found joy harder to endure than grief; the reunion with all +his old friends and relations, the presence of all the familiar +scenes of his native land had all well-nigh overcome him. Yet he +assured Dick that no friend with whom he had met was more welcome to +his sight than he, and the joy that he felt at seeing him had only +been exceeded once in his life--that one time having been on the +occasion of the entrance of the Allies into Milan. + +And now that he was here, where was his luggage? Did he come without +it? There was certainly only one place in the city where he could +stop. He must remain nowhere else but here. Dick modestly excused +himself. He was scarcely prepared. He was travelling in company with +friends, and would hardly like to leave them. The Count looked +reproachfully at him. Did he hesitate about that? Why, his friends +also must come. He would have no refusal. They all must come. They +would be as welcome as himself. He would go with Dick to his hotel +in person and bring his friends there. + +In a short time the Count and Dick had driven to the hotel, where +the former pressed upon the Senator and Buttons an invitation to +his house. They were not allowed to refuse, but were taken away, +and before they fairly understood the unexpected occurrence they +were all installed in magnificent apartments in the Palazzo +Gonfaloniere. + +Buttons's acquaintance with the language, literature, manners, +and customs of Italy made him appreciate his advantages; the +friendship of the Count prevented Dick from feeling otherwise than +perfectly at home; and as for the Senator, if it had been possible +for him to feel otherwise, his experience of high life at Florence +would have enabled him to bear himself serenely here. His complete +self-possession, his unfaltering gaze, his calm countenance, were +never for a moment disturbed. + +The Count had been long enough in America to appreciate a man of +the stamp of the Senator; he therefore from the very first treated +him with marked respect, which was heightened when Dick told him of +the Senator's achievements during the past few weeks. The brilliant +society which surrounded the Count was quite different from that +which the Senator had found in Florence. The people were equally +cultivated, but more serious. They had less excitability, but more +deep feeling. Milan, indeed, had borne her burden far differently +from Florence. Both hated the foreigner; but the latter could be gay, +and smiling, and trifling even under her chains; this the former +could never be. The thoughtful, earnest, and somewhat pensive +Milanese was more to the Senator's taste than the brilliant and +giddy Florentine. These, thought he, may well be a free people. + +Moreover, the Senator visited the Grand Cathedral, and ascended to +the summit. Arriving there his thoughts were not taken up by the +innumerable statues of snow-white marble, or the countless pinnacles +of exquisite sculpture that extended all around like a sacred forest +filled with saints and angels, but rather to the scene that lay +beyond. + +There spread away a prospect which was superior in his eyes to any +thing that he had ever seen before, nor had it ever entered his +mind to conceive such a matchless scene. The wide plains of Lombardy, +green, glorious, golden with the richest and most inexhaustible +fertility; vast oceans of grain and rice, with islands of dark-green +trees that bore untold wealth of all manner of fruit; white villas, +little hamlets, close-packed villages, dotted the wide expanse, with +the larger forms of many a populous town. He looked to the north and +to the west. The plain spread away for many a league, till the purple +mountains arose as a barrier, rising up till they touched the +everlasting ice. He looked to the east and south. There the plains +stretched away to the horizon in illimitable extent. + +"What a country! All cleared too! Every acre! And the villages! Why, +there are thousands if there is one! Dear! dear! dear! How can I +have the heart to blow about New England or Boston after that there! +Buttons, why don't somebody tell about all this to the folks at +home and stop their everlasting bragging? But"--after a long +pause--"I'll do it! I'll do it!--this very night. I'll write about it +to our paper!" + + + + +CHAPTER LV. + + +IN WHICH BUTTONS WRITES A LETTER; AND IN WHICH THE CLUB LOSES AN +IMPORTANT MEMBER.--SMALL BY DEGREES AND BEAUTIFULLY LESS. + + +But all things, however pleasant, must have an end, so their +stay in Milan soon approached its termination. + +Buttons and the Senator were both quite willing to leave. The +departure of the Spaniards had taken away the charm of Milan. They +had already returned to Spain, and had urged Buttons very strongly +to accompany them. It cost him a great struggle to decline, but he +did so from certain conscientious motives, and promised to do so +after going to Paris. So there was an agonizing separation, and all +that. At his room Buttons unbosomed himself to his friends. + +"I'll begin at the beginning," said he, directing his remarks more +particularly to the Senator. + +"My father is a rich man, though you may not think I live very much +like a rich man's son. The fact is, he is dreadfully afraid that I +will turn out a spendthrift. So he gave me only a moderate sum on +which to travel on through Europe. So far I have succeeded very +well. Excuse my blushes while I make the sweet confession. The +Señorita whom we all admire will, some of these days, I trust, +exchange the musical name of Francia for the plainer one of +Buttons." + +The Senator smiled with mild and paternal approbation, and shook +Buttons by the hand. + +"It's all arranged," continued Buttons, with sweet confusion. "Now, +under the circumstances, you might think it natural that I should go +back with them to Spain." + +"I should certainly. Why don't you?" + +"For two reasons. The first is, I have barely enough tin left to +take me to Paris." + +At once both the Senator and Dick offered to make unlimited advances. +Buttons made a deprecatory gesture. + +"I know well that I could look to you for any help in any way. But +that is not the reason why I don't go to Spain. I have money enough +for my wants if I don't go there." + +"What is the real reason, then?" + +"Well, I thought that in an affair of this kind it would be just as +well to get the Governor's concurrence, and so I thought I'd drop a +line to him. I've just got the letter written, and I'll put it in +the mail this evening." + +"You have done right, my boy," said the Senator, paternally. "There +are many excellent reasons for getting your father's consent in an +affair like this." + +"I don't mind reading you what I have written," said Buttons, "if +you care about hearing it." + +"Oh, if you have no objection, we should like to hear very much," +said Dick. + +Whereupon Buttons, taking a letter from his pocket, read as follows: + + +"DEAR FATHER,--I have endeavored to follow out your instructions and +be as economical as possible. + +"During my tour through Italy, have made the acquaintance of the +senior member of the house of Francia, in Cadiz, a gentleman with +whom you are acquainted. He was travelling with his two sisters. +The younger one is very amiable. As I know you would like to see me +settled I have requested her hand in marriage. + +"As I wish to be married before my return I thought I would let you +know. Of course in allying myself to a member of so wealthy a family +I will need to do it in good style. Whatever you can send me will +therefore be quite acceptable. + +"Please reply immediately on receipt of this, addressing me at Paris +as before. + +"And very much oblige E. BUTTONS." + + +"Well," said the Senator, "that's a sensible letter. It's to the +point. I'm glad to see that you are not so foolish as most lads in +your situation. Why should not a man talk as wisely about a +partnership of this kind as of any other? I do declare that these +rhapsodies, this highblown, high-flown, sentimental twaddle is +nauseating." + +"You see, Dick," said Buttons, "I must write a letter which will +have weight with the old gentleman. He likes the terse business +style. I think that little hint about her fortune is well managed +too. That's a great deal better than boring him with the state of +my affections. Isn't it?" + +"There's nothing like adapting your style to the disposition of +the person you address," said Dick. + +"Well," said the Senator, "you propose to start to-morrow, do you?" + +"Yes," said Buttons. + +"I'm agreed then I was just beginning to get used up myself. I'm an +active man, and when I've squeezed all the juice out of a place I +want to throw it away and go to another. What do you say, Dick? You +are silent." + +"Well, to tell the truth," said Dick, "I don't care about leaving +just yet. Gonfaloniere expects me to stay longer, and he would feel +hurt if I hurried off, I am very sorry that you are both going. It +would be capital if you could only wait here a month or so." + +"A month!" cried Buttons. "I couldn't stand it another day. Will +nothing induce you to come? What can we do without you?" + +"What can I do without you?" said Dick, with some emotion. + +"Well, Dick," said the Senator, "I'm really pained. I feel something +like a sense of bereavement at the very idea. I thought, of course, +we would keep together till our feet touched the sacred soil once +more. But Heaven seems to have ordained it otherwise. I felt bad +when Figgs and the Doctor left us at Florence, but now I feel worse +by a long chalk. Can't you manage to come along nohow?" + +"No," said Dick. "I really can not. I really must stay." + +"What! must!" + +"Yes, must!" + +The Senator sighed. + + + + +CHAPTER LVI. + + +THE FAITHFUL ONE!--DARTS, DISTRACTION, LOVE'S VOWS, OVERPOWERING +SCENE AT THE MEETING OF TWO FOND ONES.--COMPLETE BREAK-DOWN OF THE +HISTORIAN. + + +About a month after the departure of the Senator and Buttons from +Milan, Dick reappeared upon the scene at Rome, in front of the +little church which had borne so prominent a part in his fortunes; +true to his love, to his hopes, to his promises, with undiminished +ardor and unabated resolution. He found the Padre Liguori there, +who at once took him to his room in a building adjoining the church. + +"Welcome!" said he, in a tone of the deepest pleasure. "Welcome! +It has been more than a passing fancy, then." + +"It is the only real purpose of my life, I assure you." + +"I must believe you," said Liguori, pressing his hand once more. + +"And now, where is Pepita?" + +"She is in Rome." + +"May I see her at once?" + +"How at once?" + +"Well, to-day." + +"No, not to-day. Her brother wishes to see you first. I must go and +let them both know that you are here. But she is well and has been +so." + +Dick looked relieved. After some conversation Liguori told Dick to +return in an hour, and he could see the Count. After waiting most +impatiently Dick came back again in an hour. On entering he found +Luigi. He was dressed as a gentleman this time. He was a strongly +knit, well-made man of about thirty, with strikingly handsome and +aristocratic features. + +"Let me make my peace with you at once," said he, with the utmost +courtesy. "You are a brave man, and must be generous. I have done +you wrongs for which I shall never forgive myself," and taking +Dick's outstretched hand, he pressed it heartily. + +"Say nothing about it, I beg," said Dick; "you were justified in +what you did, though you may have been a little hasty." + +"Had I not been blinded by passion I would have been incapable of +such a piece of cowardice. But I have had much to endure, and I +was always afraid about her." + +With the utmost frankness the two men received each other's +explanations, and the greatest cordiality arose at once. Dick +insisted on Luigi's taking dinner with him, and Luigi, laughingly +declaring that it would be a sign of peace to eat bread and salt +together, went with Dick to his hotel. + +As they entered Dick's apartments Gonfaloniere was lounging near +the window. He had accompanied Dick to Rome. He started at the +sight of Luigi. + +"God in Heaven!" he cried, bounding to his feet. + +"Ugo!" exclaimed the other. + +"Luigi!" + +And the two men, in true Italian fashion, sprang into one +another's arms. + +"And is my best friend, and oldest friend, the brother of your +betrothed?" asked Gonfaloniere of Dick. + +But Dick only nodded. He was quite mystified by all this. An +explanation, however, was soon made. The two had been educated +together, and had fought side by side in the great movements of +'48, under Garibaldi, and in Lombardy. + +For full an hour these two friends asked one another a torrent +of questions. Luigi asked Gonfaloniere about his exile in America; +whereupon the other described that exile in glowing terms--how he +landed in Boston, how Dick, then little more than a lad, became +acquainted with him, and how true a friend he had been in his +misery. The animated words of Gonfaloniere produced a striking +effect. Luigi swore eternal friendship with Dick, and finally +declared that he must come and see Pepita that very day. + +So, leaving Gonfaloniere with the promise of seeing him again, +Luigi walked with Dick out to the place where he lived. The +reason why he had not wanted him to see Pepita that day was +because he was ashamed of their lodgings. But that had passed, +and as he understood Dick better he saw there was no reason for +such shame. It was a house within a few rods of the church. + +Dick's heart throbbed violently as he entered the door after Luigi +and ascended the steps inside the court-yard. Luigi pointed to a +door and drew back. + + +[Illustration: The Door.] + + +Dick knocked. + +The door opened. + +"Pepita!" + + +*** + + +To describe such a meeting is simply out of the question. + +"I knew you would come," said she, after about one solid hour, in +which not a single intelligible word was uttered. + +"And for you! Oh, Pepita!" + +"You do not think now that I was cruel?" and a warm flush +overspread the lovely face of the young girl. + +"Cruel!" (and Dick makes her see that he positively does not think +so). + +"I could not do otherwise." + +"I love you too well to doubt it." + +"My brother hated you so. It would have been impossible. And I +could not wound his feelings." + +"He's a splendid fellow, and you were right." + +"Padre Liguori showed him what you were, and I tried to explain a +little," added Pepita, shyly. + +"Heaven bless Padre Liguori! As for you--you--" + +"Don't." + +"Well, your brother understands me at last. He knows that I love +you so well that I would die for you." + +Tears came into Pepita's eyes as the sudden recollection arose +of Dick's misadventure on the road. + + +*** + + +"Do you remember," asked Dick, softly, after about three hours +and twenty minutes--"do you remember how I once wished that I was +walking with you on a road that would go on forever?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, we're on that track now." + + +[The Historian of these adventures feels most keenly his utter +inadequacy to the requirements of this scene. Need he say that +the above description is a complete _fiasco_? Reader, your +imagination, if you please.] + + + + +CHAPTER LVII. + + +THE DODGE CLUB IN PARIS ONCE MORE.--BUTTONS'S "JOLLY GOOD HEALTH." + + +Not very long after the events alluded to in the last chapter a +brilliant dinner was given in Paris at the "Hotel de Lille et +d'Albion." On the arrival of the Senator and Buttons at Paris they +had found Mr. Figgs and the Doctor without any trouble. The meeting +was a rapturous one. The Dodge Club was again an entity, although +an important member was not there. On this occasion the one who gave +the dinner was BUTTONS! + + +[Illustration: He's A Jolly Good Fellow.] + + +All the delicacies of the season. In fact, a banquet. Mr. Figgs +shone resplendently. If a factory was the sphere of the Senator, +a supper-table was the place for Mr. Figgs. The others felt that +they had never before known fully all the depth of feeling, of +fancy, and of sentiment that lurked under that placid, smooth, and +rosy exterior. The Doctor was epigrammatic; the Senator sententious; +Buttons uproarious. + +Dick's health was drunk in bumpers with all the honors: + + + "For he's a jolly good fe-e-e-e-e-e-llow! + For he's a jolly good fe-e-e-e-e-e-llow!! + For he's a jolly good FE-E-E-E-E-E-LLOW!!! + Which nobody can deny!" + + +All this time Buttons was more joyous, more radiant, and altogether +more extravagant than usual. The others asked themselves, "Why?" +In the course of the evening it became known. Taking advantage of a +short pause in the conversation he communicated the startling fact +that he had that day received a letter from his father. + +"Shall I read it?" + +"AYE!!!" unanimously, in tones of thunder. + +Buttons opened it and read: + + +DEAR SON.--Your esteemed favor, 15th ult., I have recd. + +"I beg leave hereby to express my concurrence with your design. + +"My connection with the house of Francia has been of the most +satisfactory kind. I have no doubt that yours will be equally so. + +"I inclose you draft on Mess. Dupont Geraud, et Cie of Paris, for +$5000--say five thousand dollars--rect of which please acknowledge. +If this sum is insufficient you are at liberty to draw for what may +be required. + +"I remain, HIRAM BUTTONS." + + +Thunders of applause arose as Buttons folded the letter. + +A speech from the Senator proposed health of Buttons Senior. + +Another from the Doctor. + +Another from Mr. Figgs. + +Acknowledgment by Buttons. + +Announcement by Buttons of immediate departure for Cadiz. + +Wild cheers! Buttons's jolly good health! + + + "For he's a jolly good fe-e-e-e-e-e-llow! + For he's a jolly good fe-e-e-e-f-e-llow!! + For he's a jolly good FE-E-E-E-E-E-LLOW!!! + Which nobody can deny!" + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dodge Club, by James De Mille + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DODGE CLUB *** + +***** This file should be named 27086-8.txt or 27086-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/0/8/27086/ + +Produced by Marlo Dianne + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/27086-8.zip b/27086-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..19eae4c --- /dev/null +++ b/27086-8.zip diff --git a/27086-h.zip b/27086-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..290020c --- /dev/null +++ b/27086-h.zip diff --git a/27086-h/27086-h.htm b/27086-h/27086-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a0063d4 --- /dev/null +++ b/27086-h/27086-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,17663 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of THE DODGE CLUB, OR, ITALY IN MDCCCLIX by James De Mille +</title> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dodge Club, by James De Mille + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Dodge Club + or, Italy in 1859 + +Author: James De Mille + +Release Date: October 29, 2008 [EBook #27086] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DODGE CLUB *** + + + + +Produced by Marlo Dianne + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + +THE DODGE CLUB, OR, ITALY IN MDCCCLIX. +<br> +<br> +by +<br> +<br> +James De Mille +<br> +<br> +Author of "Cord and Creese; or, the Brandon Mystery," etc., etc +<br> +<br> +<br> +With One Hundred Illustrations +<br> +<br> +<br> +New York:<br> +Harper & Brothers Publishers,<br> +Franklin Square<br> +1872. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CONTENTS. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a>. +<br> +<br> +PARIS.--THE DODGE CLUB.--HOW TO SPEAK FRENCH.--HOW TO RAISE A CROWD. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Dick!--Here I Invite My Friends.--The Club.--The Place +Vendôme.--Keep It Buttons! +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a>. +<br> +<br> +ORLEANS.--HOW TO QUELL A LANDLORD.--HOW TO FIGHT OFF HUMBUGS; AND HOW +TO TRAVEL WITHOUT BAGGAGE. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. That's A Hotel Bill.--Cicero Against Verres. +--Sac-r-r-r-ré. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a>. +<br> +<br> +THE RHONE IN A RAIN.--THE MAD FRENCHMAN.--SUICIDE A CAPITAL +CRIME IN FRANCE. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Number 729.--Horror! Despair! +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a>. +<br> +<br> +MARSEILLES. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a>. +<br> +<br> +THE RETIRED ORGAN-GRINDER.--THE SENATOR PHILOSOPHIZES.--EVILS OF NOT +HAVING A PASSPORT. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Those Italians.--Genoa, The Superb. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a>. +<br> +<br> +LAZARONI AND MACARONI. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Their Noble Excellencies.--Lazaroni And Macaroni. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a>. +<br> +<br> +DOLORES.--AN ITALIAN MAID LEARNS ENGLISH.--A ROMANTIC ADVENTURE.--A +MASQUERADE, AND WHAT BEFELL THE SENATOR.--A CHARMING DOMINO.--A +MOONLIGHT WALK, AND AN ASTOUNDING DISCOVERY. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Yankee Doodle.--I Kiss Hands.--The Young Hussar.--A +Perplexed Senator.--Exit Senator. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a>. +<br> +<br> +ADVENTURES AND MISADVENTURES.--A WET GROTTO AND A BOILING LAKE.--THE +TWO FAIR SPANIARDS, AND THE DONKEY RIDE. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Darn it!--Don't.--Thump!--A Trying Moment.--Senator +And Donkey. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a>. +<br> +<br> +A DRIVE INTO THE COUNTRY.--A FIGHT WITH A VETTURINO.--THE EFFECT OF +EATING "HARD BOILED EGGS."--WHAT THEY SAW AT PAESTUM.--FIVE TEMPLES +AND ONE "MILL." +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Do You See That?--The Mill At Paestum. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a>. +<br> +<br> +ON THE WATER, WHERE BUTTONS SEES A LOST IDEA AND GIVES CHASE TO IT, +TOGETHER WITH THE HEART-SICKENING RESULTS THEREOF. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. The Spaniards.--A Thousand Pardons! +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a>. +<br> +<br> +THE SENATOR HAS SUCH A FANCY FOR SEEKING USEFUL INFORMATION!--CURIOUS +POSITION OF A WISE, AND WELL-KNOWN, AND DESERVEDLY-POPULAR LEGISLATOR, +AND UNDIGNIFIED MODE OF HIS ESCAPE. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. The Senator. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a>. +<br> +<br> +HERCULANEUM AND POMPEII, AND ALL THAT THE SIGHT OF THOSE FAMOUS PLACES +PRODUCED ON THE MINDS OF THE DODGE CLUB. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Villa Of Diomedes.--Phew!--A Street In Pompeii. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a>. +<br> +<br> +VESUVIUS.--WONDERFUL ASCENT OF THE CONE.--WONDERFUL DESCENT INTO THE +CRATER.--AND MOST WONDERFUL DISAPPEARANCE OF MR. FIGGS, AFTER WHOM +ALL HIS FRIENDS GO, WITH THEIR LIVES IN THEIR HANDS.--GREAT SENSATION +AMONG SPECTATORS. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. The Ascent Of Vesuvius.--The Descent Of Vesuvius.--Where's Figgs?--Mr Figgs.--The Ladies. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a>. +<br> +<br> +MAGNIFICENT ATTITUDE OF THE SENATOR; BRILLIANCY OF BUTTONS; AND PLUCK +OF THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE CLUB: BY ALL OF WHICH THE GREATEST EFFECTS +ARE PRODUCED. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. The Bandits Captured.--Sold. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV</a>. +<br> +<br> +DOLORES ONCE MORE.--A PLEASANT CONVERSATION.--BUTTONS LEARNS MORE OF +HIS YOUNG FRIEND.--AFFECTING FAREWELL. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Two Piastres!--The Brave Soldier. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</a>. +<br> +<br> +DICK RELATES A FAMILY LEGEND. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Buying A Whale.--The Long-Lost Son. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</a>. +<br> +<br> +NIGHT ON THE ROAD.--THE CLUB ASLEEP.--THEY ENTER ROME.--THOUGHTS ON +APPROACHING AND ENTERING "THE ETERNAL CITY." +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. To Rome. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII</a>. +<br> +<br> +A LETTER BY DICK, AND CRITICISMS OF HIS FRIENDS. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX</a>. +<br> +<br> +ST. PETER'S!--THE TRAGIC STORY OF THE FAT MAN IN THE BALL.--HOW +ANOTHER TRAGEDY NEARLY HAPPENED.--THE WOES OF MEINHERR SCHATT. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Gracious Me! +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX</a>. +<br> +<br> +THE GLORY, GRANDEUR, BEAUTY, AND INFINITE VARIETY OF THE PINCIAN +HILL; NARRATED AND DETAILED NOT COLUMNARILY BUT EXHAUSTIVELY, +AND AFTER THE MANNER OF RABELAIS. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI</a>. +<br> +<br> +HARMONY ON THE PINCIAN HILL.--MUSIC HATH CHARMS.--AMERICAN MELODIES. +--THE GLORY, THE POWER, AND THE BEAUTY OF YANKEE DOODLE, AND THE +MERCENARY SOUL OF AN ITALIAN ORGAN-GRINDER. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Old Virginny. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII</a>. +<br> +<br> +HOW A BARGAIN IS MADE.--THE WILES OF THE ITALIAN TRADESMAN.--THE NAKED +SULKY BEGGAR, AND THE JOVIAL WELL-CLAD BEGGAR.--WHO IS THE KING OF +BEGGARS? +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. The Shrug. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII</a>. +<br> +<br> +THE MANIFOLD LIFE OF THE CAFÉ NUOVO, AND HOW THEY RECEIVED THE NEWS +ABOUT MAGENTA.--EXCITEMENT.--ENTHUSIASM.--TEARS.--EMBRACES. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. News Of Magenta! +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV</a>. +<br> +<br> +CHECKMATE! +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Before And After. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV</a>. +<br> +<br> +BUTTONS A MAN OF ONE IDEA.--DICK AND HIS MEASURING TAPE.--DARK EYES. +--SUSCEPTIBLE HEART.--YOUNG MAIDEN WHO LIVES OUT OF TOWN.--GRAND +COLLISION OF TWO ABSTRACTED LOVERS IN THE PUBLIC STREETS. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Away!--Pepita. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI</a>. +<br> +<br> +CONSEQUENCES OF BEING GALLANT IN ITALY, WHERE THERE ARE LOVERS, +HUSBANDS, BROTHERS, FATHERS, COUSINS, AND INNUMERABLE OTHER RELATIVES +AND CONNECTIONS, ALL READY WITH THE STILETTO. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. An Interruption. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII</a>. +<br> +<br> +DICK ON THE SICK LIST.--RAPTURE OF BUTTONS AT MAKING AN IMPORTANT +DISCOVERY. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Poor Dick! +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII</a>. +<br> +<br> +WHAT KIND OF A LETTER THE SENATOR WROTE FOR THE "NEW ENGLAND PATRIOT," +WHICH SHOWS A TRITE, LIBERAL, UNBIASED, PLAIN, UNVARNISHED VIEW OF +ROME. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Sketches By A Friend. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX</a>. +<br> +<br> +THE LONELY ONE AND HIS COMFORTER.--THE TRUE MEDICINE FOR A SICK MAN. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">CHAPTER XXX</a>. +<br> +<br> +OCCUPATIONS AND PEREGRINATIONS OF BUTTONS. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Buttons and Murray. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">CHAPTER XXXI</a>. +<br> +<br> +BUTTONS ACTS THE GOOD SAMARITAN, AND LITERALLY UNEARTHS A MOST +UNEXPECTED VICTIM OF AN ATROCIOUS ROBBERY.--GR-R-R-A-CIOUS ME! +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">CHAPTER XXXII</a>. +<br> +<br> +ANOTHER DISCOVERY MADE BY BUTTONS. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII">CHAPTER XXXIII</a>. +<br> +<br> +[Transcriber's Note: Transliteration of Greek.] Brekekek koax koax +koax. [TN: /end Greek.] +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Brekekekek koax koax! +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV">CHAPTER XXXIV</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +THE SENATOR PURSUES HIS INVESTIGATIONS.--AN INTELLIGENT ROMAN +TOUCHES A CHORD IN THE SENATOR'S HEART THAT VIBRATES.--RESULTS OF +THE VIBRATION.--A VISIT FROM THE ROMAN POLICE; AND THE GREAT RACE +DOWN THE CORSO BETWEEN THE SENATOR AND A ROMAN SPY.--GLEE OF THE +POPULACE!--HI! HI! +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Got You There!--Walking Spanish. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV">CHAPTER XXXV</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +DICK MAKES ANOTHER EFFORT, AND BEGINS TO FEEL ENCOURAGED. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Dick Thinks It Over. The Senator In A Bad Fix.--The +Senator In A Worse Fix. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVII">CHAPTER XXXVII</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +_ROME_.--_ANCIENT HISTORY_.--THE PREHISTORIC ERA.--CRITICAL +EXAMINATION OF NIEBUHR AND HIS SCHOOL.--THE EARLY HISTORY OF ROME +PLACED ON A RIGHT BASIS.--EXPLANATION OF HISTORY OF REPUBLIC. +--NAPOLEON'S "CAESAR."--THE IMPERIAL REGIME.--THE NORTHERN +BARBARIANS.--RISE OF THE PAPACY.--MEDIAEVAL ROME. +<br> +<br> +_TOPOGRAPHY_.--TRUE ADJUSTMENT OF BOUNDS OF ANCIENT CITY.--ITS +PROBABLE POPULATION.--_GEOLOGY_.--EXAMINATION OF FORMATION.--TUFA +TRAVERTINE.--ROMAN CEMENT.--TERRA-COTTA. _SPECIAL CONSIDERATION OF +ROMAN CATACOMBS_.--BOSIO.--ARRINGHI.--CARDINAL WISEMAN.--RECENT +EXPLORATIONS, INVESTIGATIONS, EXAMINATIONS, EXHUMATIONS, AND +RESUSCITATIONS.--EARLY CHRISTIAN HISTORY SET ON A TRUE BASIS. +--RELICS.--MARTYRS.--REAL ORIGIN OF CATACOMBS.--TRUE AND RELIABLE +EXTENT (WITH MAPS). +<br> +<br> +_REMARKS ON ART_.--THE RENAISSANCE.--THE EARLY PAINTERS: CIMABUE, +GIOTTO, PERUGINO, RAFAELLE SANZIO, MICHELANGELO BUONAROTTI.--THE +TRANSFIGURATION.--THE MOSES OF MICHELANGELO.--BELLINI.--SAINT +PETER'S, AND MORE PARTICULARLY THE COLONNADE.--THE LAST JUDGMENT. +--DANTE.--THE MEDIAEVAL SPIRIT.--EFFECT OF GOTHIC ART ON ITALY AND +ITALIAN TASTE.--COMPARISON, OF LOMBARD WITH SICILIAN CHURCHES.--TO +WHAT EXTENT ROME INFLUENCED THIS DEVELOPMENT.--THE FOSTERING SPIRIT +OF THE CHURCH.--ALL MODERN ART CHRISTIAN.--WHY THIS WAS A NECESSITY. +--FOLLIES OF MODERN CRITICS.--REYNOLDS AND RUSKIN.--HOW FAR POPULAR +TASTE IS WORTH ANY THING.--CONCLUDING REMARKS OF A MISCELLANEOUS +DESCRIPTION. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVIII">CHAPTER XXXVIII</a>. +<br> +<br> +ITALIAN TRAVEL, ROADS, INNS.--A GRAND BREAKDOWN.--AN ARMY OF +BEGGARS.--SIX MEN HUNTING UP A CARRIAGE WHEEL; AND PLANS OF THE +SENATOR FOR THE GOOD OF ITALY. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Travelling In Italy.--The Senator's Escort. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIX">CHAPTER XXXIX</a>. +<br> +<br> +TRIUMPHANT PROGRESS OF DICK.--GENDARMES FOILED.--THE DODGE CLUB +IS ATTACKED BY BRIGANDS, AND EVERY MAN OF IT COVERS HIMSELF WITH +GLORY.--SCREAM OF THE AMERICAN EAGLE! +<br> +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Dick In His Glory.--Pietro.--The Barricade. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XL">CHAPTER XL</a>. +<br> +<br> +PLEASANT MEDIATIONS ABOUT THE WONDERS OF TOBACCO; AND THREE PLEASANT +ANECDOTES BY AN ITALIAN BRIGAND. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLI">CHAPTER XLI</a>. +<br> +<br> +FINAL ATTACK OF REINFORCEMENTS OF BRIGANDS.--THE DODGE CLUB DEFIES +THEM AND REPELS THEM.--HOW TO MAKE A BARRICADE.--FRATERNIZATION OF +AMERICAN EAGLE AND GALLIC COCK.--THERE'S NOTHING LIKE LEATHER. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. An International Affair. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLII">CHAPTER XLII</a>. +<br> +<br> +FLORENCE.--DESPERATION OF BUTTONS, OF MR. FIGGS, AND OF THE DOCTOR. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Florence From San Miniato.--Pitti Palace.--Fountain Of +Neptune, Palazzo Vecchio.--The Duomo.--The Campanile.--Trozzi Palace. +--Buttons Melancholy. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLIII">CHAPTER XLIII</a>. +<br> +<br> +THE SENATOR ENTRAPPED.--THE WILES AND WITCHERY OF A QUEEN OF SOCIETY. +--HIS FATE DESTINED TO BE, AS HE THINKS, ITALIAN COUNTESSES. +--SENTIMENTAL CONVERSATION.--POETRY.--BEAUTY.--MOONLIGHT.--RAPTURE. +--DISTRACTION.--BLISS! +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. La Cica. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLIV">CHAPTER XLIV</a>. +<br> +<br> +"MORERE DIAGORA, NON ENIM IN COELUM ADSCENSURUS ES."--THE APOTHEOSIS +OF THE SENATOR (NOTHING LESS--IT WAS A MOMENT IN WHICH A MAN MIGHT +WISH TO DIE--THOUGH, OF COURSE, THE SENATOR DIDN'T DIE). +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Solferino!--The Senator Speaks. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLV">CHAPTER XLV</a>. +<br> +<br> +THE PRIVATE OPINION OF THE DOCTOR ABOUT FOREIGN TRAVEL.--BUTTONS +STILL MEETS WITH AFFLICTIONS. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. A Grease Spot.--Farewell, Figgs! +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLVI">CHAPTER XLVI</a>. +<br> +<br> +A MEMORABLE DRIVE.--NIGHT.--THE BRIGANDS ONCE MORE.--GARIBALDI'S +NAME.--THE FIRE.--THE IRON BAR.--THE MAN FROM THE GRANITE STATE +AND HIS TWO BOYS. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. In The Coach.--A Free Fight.--Don't Speak. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLVII">CHAPTER XLVII</a>. +<br> +<br> +BAD BRUISES, BUT GOOD MUSES.--THE HONORABLE SCABS OF DICK.--A +KNOWLEDGE OF BONES. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLVIII">CHAPTER XLVIII</a>. +<br> +<br> +SUFFERING AND SENTIMENT AT BOLOGNA.--MOONSHINE.--BEST BALM FOR WOUNDS. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Used Up. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XLIX">CHAPTER XLIX</a>. +<br> +<br> +CROSSING INTO THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY.--CONSTERNATION OF THE CUSTOM-HOUSE +OFFICERS. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Buttons In Bliss. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_L">CHAPTER L</a>. +<br> +<br> +VENICE AND ITS PECULIAR GLORY.--THE DODGE CLUB COME TO GRIEF AT LAST. +--UP A TREE.--IN A NET, ETC. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Dick's Luggage.--Arrested.--Silence! +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LI">CHAPTER LI</a>. +<br> +<br> +THE AMERICAN EAGLE AND THE AUSTRIAN DOUBLE-HEADED DITTO. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Don't Try It On With Me. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LII">CHAPTER LII</a>. +<br> +<br> +THE SENATOR STILL ENGAGED IN FACING DOWN THE AUSTRIAN.--THE AMERICAN +CONSUL.--UNEXPECTED RE-APPEARANCE OF FORGOTTEN THINGS.--COLLAPSE OF +THE COURT. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Watts Mis-spelled. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LIII">CHAPTER LIII</a>. +<br> +<br> +A MYSTERIOUS FLIGHT.--DESPAIR OF BUTTONS.--PURSUIT.--HISTORIC GROUND, +AND HISTORIC CITIES. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. Formalities. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LIV">CHAPTER LIV</a>. +<br> +<br> +DICK MEETS AN OLD FRIEND.--THE EMOTIONAL NATURE OF THE ITALIAN. +--THE SENATOR OVERCOME AND DUMBFOUNDED. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. The Count Ugo. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LV">CHAPTER LV</a>. +<br> +<br> +IN WHICH BUTTONS WRITES A LETTER; AND IN WHICH THE CLUB LOSES AN +IMPORTANT MEMBER.--SMALL BY DEGREES AND BEAUTIFULLY LESS. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LVI">CHAPTER LVI</a>. +<br> +<br> +THE FAITHFUL ONE!--DARTS, DISTRACTION, LOVE'S VOWS, OVERPOWERING +SCENE AT THE MEETING OF TWO FOND ONES.--COMPLETE BREAK-DOWN OF THE +HISTORIAN. +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. The Door. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_LVII">CHAPTER LVII</a>. +<br> +<br> +THE DODGE CLUB IN PARIS ONCE MORE.--BUTTONS'S "JOLLY GOOD HEALTH." +<br> +<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS. He's A Jolly Good Fellow. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/5-illo-dick.png" alt="Dick!"> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Dick!] +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +PARIS.--THE DODGE CLUB.--HOW TO SPEAK FRENCH.--HOW TO RAISE A CROWD. +<br> +<br> +<br> +It is a glorious day in Paris. The whole city is out in the public +places, watching the departure of the army of Italy. Every imaginable +uniform, on foot and on horseback, enlivens the scene. Zouaves are +everywhere. Cent Gardes hurry to and fro, looking ferocious. Imperial +Gardes look magnificent. Innumerable little red-legged soldiers of the +line dance about, gesticulating vehemently. Grisettes hang about the +necks of departing braves. A great many tears are shed, and a great +deal of bombast uttered. For the invincible soldiers of France are off +to fight for an idea; and doesn't every one of them carry a marshal's +baton in his knapsack? +<br> +<br> +A troop of Cent Gardes comes thundering down in a cloud of dust, +dashing the people right and left. Loud cheers arise: "Vive +l'Empereur!" The hoarse voices of myriads prolong the yell. It is Louis +Napoleon. He touches his hat gracefully to the crowd. +<br> +<br> +A chasseur leaps into a cab. +<br> +<br> +"Where shall I take you?" +<br> +<br> +"To Glory!" shouts the soldier. +<br> +<br> +The crowd applaud. The cabman drives off and don't want any further +direction. Here a big-bearded Zouave kisses his big-bearded brother in +a blouse. +<br> +<br> +"Adieu, mon frère; write me." +<br> +<br> +"Where shall I write?" +<br> +<br> +"Direct to Vienna--_poste restante_." +<br> +<br> +Every body laughs at every thing, and the crowd are quite wild at +this. +<br> +<br> +A young man is perched upon a pillar near the garden wall of the +Tuileries. He enjoys the scene immensely. After a while he takes a +clay pipe from his pocket and slowly fills it. Having completed this +business he draws a match along the stone and is just about lighting +his pipe. +<br> +<br> +"Halloo!" +<br> +<br> +Down drops the lighted match on the neck of an _ouvrier_. It burns. +The man scowls up; but seeing the cause, smiles and waves his hand +forgivingly. +<br> +<br> +"Dick!" +<br> +<br> +At this a young man in the midst of the crowd stops and looks around. +He is a short young man, in whose face there is a strange mixture of +innocence and shrewdness. He is pulling a baby-carriage, containing a +small specimen of French nationality, and behind him walks a majestic +female. +<br> +<br> +The young man Dick takes a quick survey and recognizes the person who +has called him. Down drops the pole of the carriage, and, to the +horror of the majestic female, he darts off, and, springing up the +pillar, grasps first the foot and then the hand of his friend. +<br> +<br> +"Buttons!" he cried; "what, you! you here in Paris!" +<br> +<br> +"I believe I am." +<br> +<br> +"Why, when did you come?" +<br> +<br> +"About a month ago." +<br> +<br> +"I had no idea of it. I didn't know you were here." +<br> +<br> +"And I didn't know that you were. I thought by this time that you were +in Italy. What has kept you here so long?" +<br> +<br> +Dick looked confused. +<br> +<br> +"Why the fact is, I am studying German." +<br> +<br> +"German! in Paris! French, you mean." +<br> +<br> +"No, German." +<br> +<br> +"You're crazy; who with?" +<br> +<br> +Dick nodded his head toward his late companion. +<br> +<br> +"What, that woman? How she is scowling at us!" +<br> +<br> +"Is she?" said Dick, with some trepidation. +<br> +<br> +"Yes. But don't look. Have you been with her all the time?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes, seven months." +<br> +<br> +"Studying German!" cried Buttons, with a laugh. "Who is she?" +<br> +<br> +"Madame Bang." +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/6-illo-here-i-invite-my-friends.png" alt="Here I Invite My Friends."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Here I Invite My Friends.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Bang? Well, Madame Bang must look out for another lodger. You must +come with me, young man. You need a guardian. It's well that I came in +time to rescue you. Let's be off!" +<br> +<br> +And the two youths descended and were soon lost in the crowd. +<br> +<br> +<br> +*** +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Three flights of steps are bad enough; but great Heavens! what do you +mean by taking a fellow up to the eighth story?" +<br> +<br> +Such was the exclamation of Dick as he fell exhausted into a seat in a +little room at the top of one of the tallest houses in Paris. +<br> +<br> +"Economy, my dear boy." +<br> +<br> +"Ehem!" +<br> +<br> +"Paris is overflowing, and I could get no other place without paying +an enormous price. Now I am trying to husband my means." +<br> +<br> +"I should think so." +<br> +<br> +"I sleep here--" +<br> +<br> +"And have plenty of bedfellows." +<br> +<br> +"I eat here--" +<br> +<br> +"The powers of the human stomach are astounding." +<br> +<br> +"And here I invite my friends." +<br> +<br> +"Friends only. I should think. Nothing but the truest friendship could +make a man hold out in such an ascent." +<br> +<br> +"But come. What are your plans?" +<br> +<br> +"I have none." +<br> +<br> +"Then you must league yourself with me." +<br> +<br> +"I shall be delighted." +<br> +<br> +"And I'm going to Italy." +<br> +<br> +"Then I'm afraid our league is already at an end." +<br> +<br> +"Why?" +<br> +<br> +"I haven't money enough." +<br> +<br> +"How much have you?" +<br> +<br> +"Only five hundred dollars; I've spent all the rest of my allowance." +<br> +<br> +"Five hundred? Why, man, I have only four hundred." +<br> +<br> +"What! and you're going to Italy?" +<br> +<br> +"Certainly." +<br> +<br> +"Then I'll go too and run the risk. But is this the style?" and Dick +looked dolefully around. +<br> +<br> +"By no means--not always. But you must practice economy." +<br> +<br> +"Have you any acquaintances?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes, two. We three have formed ourselves into a society for the +purpose of going to Italy. We call ourselves the Dodge Club." +<br> +<br> +"The Dodge Club?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes. Because our principle is to dodge all humbugs and swindles, +which make travelling so expensive generally. We have gained much experience already, and hope to gain more. One of my friends is a +doctor from Philadelphia, Doctor Snakeroot, and the other is +Senator Jones from Massachusetts. Neither the Doctor nor the Senator +understands a word of any language but the American. That is the +reason why I became acquainted with them. +<br> +<br> +"First as to the Doctor, I picked him up at Dunkirk. It was in a café. +I was getting my modest breakfast when I saw him come in. He sat down +and boldly asked for coffee. After the usual delay the garçon brought +him a small cup filled with what looked like ink. On the waiter was a +cup of _eau de vie_, and a little plate containing several enormous +lumps of loaf-sugar. Never shall I forget the Doctor's face of +amazement. He looked at each article in succession. What was the ink +for? what the brandy? what the sugar? He did not know that the two +first when mixed makes the best drink in the world, and that the last +is intended for the pocket of the guest by force of a custom dear to +every Frenchman. To make a long story short, I explained to him the +mysteries of French coffee, and we became sworn friends. +<br> +<br> +"My meeting with the Senator was under slightly different +circumstances. It was early in the morning. It was chilly. I was +walking briskly out of town. Suddenly I turned a corner and came upon +a crowd. They surrounded a tall man. He was an American, and appeared +to be insane. First he made gestures like a man hewing or chopping. +Then he drew his hand across his throat. Then he staggered forward and +pretended to fall. Then he groaned heavily. After which he raised +himself up and looked at the crowd with an air of mild inquiry. They +did not laugh. They did not even smile. They listened respectfully, +for they knew that the strange gentleman wished to express something. +On the whole, I think if I hadn't come up that the Senator would have +been arrested by a stiff gendarme who was just then coming along the +street. As it was, I arrived just in time to learn that he was anxious to see +the French mode of killing cattle, and was trying to find his way to +the abattoirs. The Senator is a fine man, but eminently practical. He +used to think the French language an accomplishment only. He has +changed his mind since his arrival here. He has one little +peculiarity, and that is, to bawl broken English at the top of his +voice when he wants to communicate with foreigners." +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/7-illo-the-club.png" alt="The Club."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: The Club.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +Not long afterward the Dodge Club received a new member in the person +of Mr. Dick Whiffletree. The introduction took place in a modest café, +where a dinner of six courses was supplied for the ridiculous sum of +one franc--soup, a roast, a fry, a bake, a fish, a pie, bread at +discretion, and a glass of vinegar generously thrown in. +<br> +<br> +At one end of the table sat the Senator, a very large and muscular +man, with iron-gray hair, and features that were very strongly marked +and very strongly American. He appeared to be about fifty years of +age. At the other sat the Doctor, a slender young man in black. On +one side sat Buttons, and opposite to him was Dick. +<br> +<br> +"Buttons," said the Senator, "were you out yesterday?" +<br> +<br> +"I was." +<br> +<br> +"It was a powerful crowd." +<br> +<br> +"Rather large." +<br> +<br> +"It was immense. I never before had any idea of the population of +Paris. New York isn't to be compared to it." +<br> +<br> +"As to crowds, that is nothing uncommon in Paris. Set a rat loose in +the Champs Elysées, and I bet ten thousand people will be after it in +five minutes." +<br> +<br> +"Sho!" +<br> +<br> +"Any thing will raise a crowd in Paris." +<br> +<br> +"It will be a small one, then." +<br> +<br> +"My dear Senator, in an hour from this I'll engage myself to raise as +large a crowd as the one you saw yesterday." +<br> +<br> +"My dear Buttons, you look like it." +<br> +<br> +"Will you bet?" +<br> +<br> +"Bet? Are you in earnest?" +<br> +<br> +"Never more so." +<br> +<br> +"But there is an immense crowd outside already." +<br> +<br> +"Then let the scene of my trial be in a less crowded place--the Place +Vendôme, for instance." +<br> +<br> +"Name the conditions." +<br> +<br> +"In an hour from this I engage to fill the Place Vendôme with people. +Whoever fails forfeits a dinner to the Club." +<br> +<br> +The eyes of Dick and the Doctor sparkled. +<br> +<br> +"Done!" said the Senator. +<br> +<br> +"All that you have to do," said Buttons, "is to go to the top of the +Colonne Vendôme and wave your hat three times when you want me to +begin." +<br> +<br> +"I'll do that. But it's wrong," said the Senator. "It's taking money +from you. You must lose." +<br> +<br> +"Oh, don't be alarmed," said Buttons, cheerfully. +<br> +<br> +The Dodge Club left for the Place Vendôme, and the Senator, separating +himself from his companions, began the ascent. Buttons left his +friends at a corner to see the result, and walked quickly down a +neighboring street. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/8-illo-the-place-vendome.png" alt="The Place Vendôme."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: The Place Vendôme.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +Dick noticed that every one whom he met stopped, stared, and then +walked quickly forward, looking up at the column. These people +accosted others, who did the same. In a few minutes many hundreds of +people were looking up and exchanging glances with one another. +<br> +<br> +In a short time Buttons had completed the circuit of the block, and +re-entered the Place by another street. He was running at a quick +pace, and, at a moderate calculation, about two thousand _gamins de +Paris_ ran before, beside, and behind him. Gens d'armes caught the +excitement, and rushed frantically about. Soldiers called to one +another, and tore across the square gesticulating and shouting. +Carriages stopped; the occupants stared up at the column; horsemen +drew up their rearing horses; dogs barked; children screamed; up +flew a thousand windows, out of which five thousand heads were thrust. +<br> +<br> +At the end of twenty minutes, after a very laborious journey, the +Senator reached the top of the column. He looked down. A cry of +amazement burst from him. The immense Place Vendôme was crammed with +human beings. Innumerable upturned faces were staring at the startled +Senator. All around, the lofty houses sent all their inmates to the +open window, through which they looked up. The very house-tops were +crowded. Away down all the streets which led to the Place crowds of +human beings poured along. +<br> +<br> +"Well," muttered the Senator, "it's evident that Buttons understands +these Frenchmen. However, I must perform my part, so here goes." +<br> +<br> +And the Senator, majestically removing his hat, waved it slowly around +his head seven times. At the seventh whirl his fingers slipped, and a +great gust of wind caught the hat and blew it far out into the air. +<br> +<br> +It fell. +<br> +<br> +A deep groan of horror burst forth from the multitude, so deep, so +long, so terrible that the Senator turned pale. +<br> +<br> +A hundred thousand heads upturned; two hundred thousand arms waved +furiously in the air. The tide of new-comers flowing up the other +streets filled the Place to overflowing; and the vast host of people +swayed to and fro, agitated by a thousand passions. All this was the +work of but a short time. +<br> +<br> +"Come," said the Senator, "this is getting beyond a joke." +<br> +<br> +There was a sudden movement among the people at the foot of the +column. The Senator leaned over to see what it was. +<br> +<br> +At once a great cry came up, like the thunder of a cataract, +warningly, imperiously, terribly. The Senator drew back confounded. +<br> +<br> +Suddenly he advanced again. He shook his head deprecatingly, and waved +his arms as if to disclaim any evil motives which they might impute to +him. But they did not comprehend him. Scores of stiff gens d'armes, +hundreds of little soldiers, stopped in their rush to the foot of the +column to shake their fists and scream at him. +<br> +<br> +"Now if I only understood their doosid lingo," thought the Senator. +"But"--after a pause--"it wouldn't be of no account up here. And what +an awkward fix," he added, "for the father of a family to stand +hatless on the top of a pillory like this! Sho!" +<br> +<br> +There came a deep rumble from the hollow stairway beneath him, which +grew nearer and louder every moment. +<br> +<br> +"Somebody's coming," said the Senator. "Wa'al, I'm glad. Misery loves +company. Perhaps I can purchase a hat." +<br> +<br> +In five minutes more the heads of twenty gens d'armes shot up through +the opening in the top of the pillar, one after another, and reminded +the Senator of the "Jump-up-Johnnies" in children's toys. Six of them +seized him and made him prisoner. +<br> +<br> +The indignant Senator remonstrated, and informed them that he was an +American citizen. +<br> +<br> +His remark made no impression. They did not understand English. +<br> +<br> +The Senator's wrath made his hair fairly bristle. He contented +himself, however, with drawing up the programme of an immediate war +between France and the Great Republic. +<br> +<br> +It took an hour for the column to get emptied. It was choked with +people rushing up. Seven gentlemen fainted, and three escaped with +badly sprained limbs. During this time the Senator remained in the +custody of his captors. +<br> +<br> +At last the column was cleared. +<br> +<br> +The prisoner was taken down and placed in a cab. He saw the dense crowd +and heard the mighty murmurs of the people. +<br> +<br> +He was driven away for an immense distance. It seemed miles. +<br> +<br> +At last the black walls of a huge edifice rose before him. The cab +drove under a dark archway. The Senator thought of the dungeons of the +Inquisition, and other Old World horrors of which he had heard in his +boyhood. +<br> +<br> +<br> +*** +<br> +<br> +<br> +So the Senator had to give the dinner. The Club enjoyed it amazingly. +<br> +<br> +Almost at the moment of his entrance Buttons had arrived, arm in arm +with the American minister, whose representations and explanations +procured the Senator's release. +<br> +<br> +"I wouldn't have minded it so much," said the Senator, from whose +manly bosom the last trace of vexation had fled, "if it hadn't been +for that darned policeman that collared me first. What a Providence +it was that I didn't knock him down! Who do you think he was?" +<br> +<br> +"Who?" +<br> +<br> +"The very man that was going to arrest me the other day when I was +trying to find my way to the slaughter-house. That man is my evil +genius. I will leave Paris before another day." +<br> +<br> +"The loss of your hat completed my plans," said Buttons. "Was that +done on purpose? Did you throw it down for the sake of saying 'Take +my hat?'" +<br> +<br> +"No. It was the wind," said the Senator, innocently. "But how did you +manage to raise the crowd? You haven't told us that yet." +<br> +<br> +"How? In the simplest way possible. I told every soul I met that a +crazy man was going up the Colonne Vendôme to throw himself down." +<br> +<br> +A light burst in upon the Senator's soul. He raised his new hat from a +chair, and placing it before Buttons, said fervently and with unction: +<br> +<br> +"Keep it, Buttons!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/9-illo-keep-it-buttons.png" alt="Keep It Buttons!"> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Keep It Buttons!] +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/10-illo-thats-a-hotel-bill.png" alt="That's A Hotel Bill."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: That's A Hotel Bill.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +ORLEANS.--HOW TO QUELL A LANDLORD.--HOW TO FIGHT OFF HUMBUGS; AND HOW +TO TRAVEL WITHOUT BAGGAGE. +<br> +<br> +<br> +A tremendous uproar in the hall of a hotel at Orleans awaked every +member of the Dodge Club from the sound and refreshing slumber into +which they had fallen after a fatiguing journey from Paris. +<br> +<br> +Filing out into the hall one after another they beheld a singular +spectacle. +<br> +<br> +It was a fat man, bald-headed, middle-aged, with a well-to-do look, +that burst upon their sight. +<br> +<br> +He was standing in the hall with flushed face and stocking feet, +swearing most frightfully. A crowd of waiters stood around shrugging +their shoulders, and trying to soothe him. As the fat man spoke +English, and the waiters French, there was a little misapprehension. +<br> +<br> +"There, gentlemen," cried the fat man, as he caught sight of our four +friends, "look at that! What do you call that?" +<br> +<br> +"That?" said Buttons, taking a paper which the fat man thrust in his +face, "why, that's a hotel bill." +<br> +<br> +"A hotel bill? Why it's an imposition!" cried the other excitedly. +<br> +<br> +"Perhaps it is," said Buttons, coolly. +<br> +<br> +"Of course it is! Read it out loud, and let these gentlemen see what +they think of it." +<br> +<br> +"I'll read it in English," said Buttons, "for the benefit of the +Club:" +<br> +<br> +<br> +Mister Blank, +<br> +<br> +To the Hotel du Roi: +<br> +<br> +<br> +One dinner..........3 francs.<br> +Six porters.........6 francs.<br> +One cab.............2 francs.<br> +One do..............2 francs.<br> +One information.....5 francs.<br> +Wine................5 francs.<br> +Tobacco............ 2 francs.<br> +One bed.............5 francs.<br> +One boots...........1 francs.<br> +One candle..........1 francs.<br> +One candle..........1 francs.<br> +One candle..........1 francs.<br> +One candle..........1 francs.<br> +=============================<br> + 35 francs. +<br> +<br> +<br> +"By Jove! Thirty-five francs! My dear Sir. I quite agree with you. +It's an imposition." +<br> +<br> +A deep sigh expressed the relief of the fat man at this mark of +sympathy. +<br> +<br> +"There's no redress," said Buttons. "You'll have to grin and bear it. +For you must know that in these inland towns hotel-keepers are in +league, offensive and defensive, with all the cab-drivers, +omnibus-drivers, postillions, truckmen, hostlers, porters, +errand-boys, café-keepers, cicerones, tradesmen, lawyers, +chambermaids, doctors, priests, soldiers, gens d'armes, magistrates, +etc., etc., etc. In short, the whole community is a joint-stock +company organized to plunder the unsuspecting traveller." +<br> +<br> +"And must I stand here and be swindled without a word?" cried the +other. +<br> +<br> +"By no means. Row like fury. Call up the whole household one by one, +and swear at them in broad Saxon. That's the way to strike terror into +the soul of a Frenchman." +<br> +<br> +The fat man stared for a moment at Buttons, and then plunging his +hands deep into his trowsers pockets he walked up and down the hall. +<br> +<br> +At last he turned to the others: "Gentlemen, is this endurable?" +<br> +<br> +"Horrible!" cried Dick. +<br> +<br> +"Abominable!" the Doctor. +<br> +<br> +"Infamous!" the Senator. +<br> +<br> +"By jingo! I've a great mind to go home. If I've pot to be plundered, +I'd a durned sight rather have my money go to support our own great +and glorious institutions." +<br> +<br> +There is no doubt that the unfortunate man would have had to pay up if +it bad not been for the energetic action of Buttons. +<br> +<br> +He summoned the hotel-keeper before him, and closing the door, asked +his friends to sit down. +<br> +<br> +Then Buttons, standing up, began to repeat to the hotel-keeper, +smilingly, but with extraordinary volubility, Daniel Webster's oration +against Hayne. The polite Frenchman would not interrupt him, but +listened with a bland though somewhat dubious smile. +<br> +<br> +The Dodge Club did infinite credit to themselves by listening without +a smile to the words of their leader. +<br> +<br> +Buttons then went through the proposition about the hypothenuse of a +right-angled triangle, and appended the words of a few negro songs. +<br> +<br> +Here the worthy landlord interrupted him, begging his pardon, and +telling him that he did not understand English very well, and could +his Excellency speak French? +<br> +<br> +His Excellency, with equal politeness, regretted his want of complete +familiarity with French. He was forced when he felt deeply on any +subject to express himself in English. +<br> +<br> +Then followed Cicero's oration against Verres, and he was just +beginning a speech of Chatham's when the landlord surrendered at +discretion. +<br> +<br> +When, after the lapse of three hours and twenty-five minutes, the fat +man held his bill toward him, and Buttons offered five francs, he did +not even remonstrate, but took the money, and hastily receipting the +bill with his pencil, darted from the room. +<br> +<br> +"Well," exclaimed the Senator, when he had recovered from the effects +of the scene--"I never before realized the truth of a story I once +heard." +<br> +<br> +"What was the story?" +<br> +<br> +"Oh, it was about a bet between a Yankee and a Frenchman, who could +talk the longest. The two were shut up in a room. They remained there +three days. At the end of that time their friends broke open the door +and entered, and what do you think they found there?" +<br> +<br> +"Nobody?" suggested the fat man. +<br> +<br> +"No," said the Senator, with a glow of patriotic pride on his fine +face. "But they found the Frenchman lying dead upon the floor, and the +Yankee whispering in his ear the beginning of the second part of the +Higgins story." +<br> +<br> +"And what is the Higgins story?" +<br> +<br> +"For Heaven's sake," gasped the Doctor, starting up, "don't ask him +now--wait till next week!" +<br> +<br> +As they passed over the Mountains of Auvergne a new member was added +to the Dodge Club. +<br> +<br> +It was the fat man. +<br> +<br> +He was President of a Western bank. +<br> +<br> +His name was Figgs. +<br> +<br> +<br> +*** +<br> +<br> +<br> +It was a damp, dull, dreary, drenching night, when the lumbering +diligence bore the Dodge Club through the streets of Lyons and up to +the door of their hotel. Seventeen men and five small boys stood +bowing ready to receive them. +<br> +<br> +The Senator, Buttons, and Dick took the small valises which contained +their travelling apparel, and dashed through the line of servitors +into the house. The Doctor walked after, serenely and majestically. +He had no baggage. Mr. Figgs descended from the roof with considerable +difficulty. Slipping from the wheel, he fell into the outstretched +arms of three waiters. They put him on his feet. +<br> +<br> +His luggage was soon ready. +<br> +<br> +Mr. Figgs had two trunks and various other articles. Of these trunks +seven waiters took one, and four the other. Then +<br> +<br> +<br> +Waiter No. 12 took hat-box; <br> +Waiter No. 13 took travelling desk;<br> +Waiter No. 14 took Scotch plaid;<br> +Waiter No. 15 took over-coat;<br> +Waiter No. 16 took umbrella;<br> +Waiter No. 17 took rubber coat;<br> +Boy No. 1 took cane;<br> +Boy No. 2 took muffler;<br> +Boy No. 3 took one of his mittens;<br> +Boy No. 4 took the other;<br> +Boy No. 5 took cigar-case. +<br> +<br> +<br> +After a long and laborious dinner they rose and smoked. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/11-illo-cicero-against-verres.png" alt="Cicero Against Verres."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Cicero Against Verres.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/12-illo-sacre.png" alt="Sac-r-r-r-ré."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Sac-r-r-r-ré.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +The head waiter informed Mr. Figgs that with his permission a +deputation would wait on him. Mr. Figgs was surprised but +graciously invited the deputation to walk in. They accordingly +walked in. Seventeen men and five boys. +<br> +<br> +"What did they want?" +<br> +<br> +"Oh, only a _pourboire_ with which to drink his Excellency's +noble health." +<br> +<br> +"Really they did his Excellency too much honor. Were they not +mistaken in their man?" +<br> +<br> +"Oh no. They had carried his luggage into the hotel." +<br> +<br> +Upon this Mr. Figgs gave strong proof of poor moral training, by +breaking out into a volley of Western oaths, which shocked one +half of the deputation, and made the other half grin. +<br> +<br> +Still they continued respectful but firm, and reiterated their +demand. +<br> +<br> +Mr. Figgs called for the landlord. That gentleman was in bed. +For his wife. She did not attend to the business. For the head +waiter. The spokesman of the deputation, with a polite bow, +informed him that the head waiter stood before him and was quite +at his service. +<br> +<br> +The scene was ended by the sudden entrance of Buttons, who, +motioning to Mr. Figgs, proceeded to give each waiter a douceur. +One after another took the proffered coin, and without looking +at it, thanked the generous donor with a profusion of bows. +<br> +<br> +Five minutes after the retreating form of Buttons had vanished +through the door, twenty-persons, consisting of men and boys, +stood staring at one another in blank amazement. +<br> +<br> +Anger followed; then +sac-r-r-r-_r-r-r_-R-R-R-_R-Ré_! +<br> +<br> +He had given each one a _centime_. +<br> +<br> +But the customs of the hotel were not to be changed by the shabby +conduct of one mean-minded person. When the Club prepared to retire +for the night they were taken to some rooms opening in to each other. +Five waiters led the way; one waiter to each man, and each carried a +pair of tall wax-candles. Mr. Figgs's waiter took him to his room, +laid down the lights, and departed. +<br> +<br> +The doors which connected the rooms were all opened, and Mr. +Figgs walked through to see about something. He saw the Doctor, +the Senator, Buttons, and Dick, each draw the short, well-used +stump of a wax-candle from his coat pocket and gravely light it. +Then letting the melted wax fall on the mantle-pieces they stuck +their candles there, and in a short time the rooms were +brilliantly illuminated. +<br> +<br> +The waiters were thunderstruck. Such a procedure had never come +within the compass of their experience of the ways of travellers. +<br> +<br> +"Bonsoir," said Buttons. "Don't let us detain you." +<br> +<br> +They went out stupefied. +<br> +<br> +"What's the idea now?" inquired Mr. Figgs. +<br> +<br> +"Oh. They charge a franc apiece for each candle, and that is a +swindle which we will not submit to." +<br> +<br> +"And will I have to be humbugged again?" +<br> +<br> +"Certainly." +<br> +<br> +"Botheration." +<br> +<br> +"My dear Sir, the swindle of bougies is the curse of the +Continental traveller. None of us are particularly prudent, but +we are all on the watch against small swindles, and of them all +this is the most frequent and most insidious, the most constantly +and ever recurrent. Beware, my dear President, of bougies--that's +what we call candles." +<br> +<br> +Mr. Figgs said nothing, but leaned against the wall for a moment +in a meditative mood, as if debating what he should do next. +<br> +<br> +He happened to be in the Doctor's room. He had already noticed +that this gentleman had no perceptible baggage, and didn't +understand it. +<br> +<br> +But now he saw it all. +<br> +<br> +The Doctor began gravely to make preparations for the night. +<br> +<br> +Before taking off his over-coat he drew various articles from +the pockets, among which were: +<br> +<br> +<br> +A hair-brush,<br> +A tooth-brush,<br> +A shoe-brush,<br> +A pot of blacking,<br> +A night-shirt,<br> +A clothes-broth,<br> +A pipe,<br> +A pouch of tobacco,<br> +A razor,<br> +A shaving-brush,<br> +A piece of soap,<br> +A night-cap,<br> +A bottle of hair-oil,<br> +A pistol,<br> +A guide-book,<br> +A cigar-case,<br> +A bowie-knife,<br> +A piece of cord,<br> +A handkerchief,<br> +A case of surgical instruments,<br> +Some bits of candles. +<br> +<br> +<br> +Mr. Figgs rushed from the room. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/13-illo-number-729.png" alt="Number 729."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Number 729.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +THE RHONE IN A RAIN.--THE MAD FRENCHMAN.--SUICIDE A CAPITAL +CRIME IN FRANCE. +<br> +<br> +<br> +The steamboats that run on the Rhone are very remarkable +contrivances. Their builders have only aimed at combining a +maximum of length with a minimum of other qualities, so that +each boat displays an incredible extent of deck with no +particular breadth at all. Five gentlemen took refuge in the +cabin of the _Etoile_, from the drenching rain which fell during +half of their voyage. This was an absurd vessel, that made trips +between Lyons and Avignon. Her accommodations resembled those of +a canal boat, and she was propelled by a couple of paddle-wheels +driven by a Lilliputian engine. It was easy enough for her to go +down the river, as the current took the responsibility of moving +her along; but how she could ever get back it was difficult to +tell. +<br> +<br> +They were borne onward through some of the fairest scenes on +earth. Ruined towers, ivy-covered castles, thunder-blasted +heights, fertile valleys, luxuriant orchards, terraced slopes, +trellised vineyards, broad plains, bounded by distant mountains, +whose summits were lost in the clouds; such were the successive +charms of the region through which they were passing. Yet though +they were most eloquently described in the letters which Buttons +wrote home to his friends, it must be confessed that they made +but little impression at the time, and indeed were scarcely seen +at all through the vapor-covered cabin windows. +<br> +<br> +Avignon did not excite their enthusiasm. In vain the guide-book +told them about Petrarch and Laura. The usual raptures were not +forthcoming. In vain the cicerone led them through the old papal +palace. Its sombre walls awakened no emotion. The only effect +produced was on the Senator, who whiled away the hours of early +bed-time by pointing out the superiority of American institutions +to those which reared the prisons which they had visited. +<br> +<br> +Arles was much more satisfactory. There are more pretty women in +Arles than in any other town of the same size on the Continent. +The Club created an unusual excitement in this peaceful town by +walking slowly through it in Indian file, narrowly scrutinizing +every thing. They wondered much at the numbers of people that +filled the cathedral, all gayly dressed. It was not until after +a long calculation that they found out that it was Sunday. +Buttons kept his memorandum-book in his hand all day, and took +account of all the pretty women whom he saw. The number rose as +high as 729. He would have raised it higher, but unfortunately +an indignant citizen put a stop to it by charging him with +impertinence to his wife. +<br> +<br> +On the railroad to Marseilles is a famous tunnel. At the last +station before entering the tunnel a gentleman got in. As they +passed through the long and gloomy place there suddenly arose a +most outrageous noise in the car. +<br> +<br> +It was the new passenger. +<br> +<br> +Occasionally the light shining in would disclose him, dancing, +stamping, tearing his hair, rolling his eyes, gnashing his +teeth, and cursing. +<br> +<br> +"Is he crazy?" said Dick. +<br> +<br> +"Or drunk?" said Buttons. +<br> +<br> +Lo and behold! just as the train emerged from the tunnel the +passenger made a frantic dash at the window, flung it open, and +before any body could speak or move he was half out. +<br> +<br> +To spring over half a dozen seats, to land behind him, to seize +his outstretched leg, to jerk him in again, was but the work of +a moment. It was Buttons who did this, and who banged down the +window again. +<br> +<br> +"Sac-r-r-R-R-Ré!" cried the Frenchman. +<br> +<br> +"Is it that you are mad?" said Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"Sacré Bleu!" cried the other. "Who are you that lays hands on me?" +<br> +<br> +"I saved you from destruction." +<br> +<br> +"Then, Sir, you have no thanks. Behold me, I'm a desperate man!" +<br> +<br> +In truth he looked like one. His clothes were all disordered. +His lips were bleeding, and most of his hair was torn out. By +this time the guard had come to the spot. All those in the car +had gathered round. It was a long car, second-class, like the +American. +<br> +<br> +"M'sieu, how is this? What is it that I see? You endeavor to +kill yourself?" +<br> +<br> +"Leave me. I am desperate." +<br> +<br> +"But no. M'sieu, what is it?" +<br> +<br> +"Listen. I enter the train thinking to go to Avignon. I have +important business there, most important. Suddenly I am struck by a +thought. I find I have mistaken. I am carried to Marseilles. It is +the express train, and I must go all the way. Horror! Despair! Life is +of no use! It is time to resign, it! I die! Accordingly I attempt to +leap from the window, when this gentleman seizes me by the leg and +pulls me in. Behold all." +<br> +<br> +"M'sieu," said the guard, slowly, and with emphasis, "you have +committed a grave offense. Suicide is a capital crime." +<br> +<br> +"A capital crime!" exclaimed the Frenchman, turning pale. "Great +Heaven!" +<br> +<br> +"Yes, Sir. If you leap from the car I shall put you in irons, and hand +you over to the police when we stop." +<br> +<br> +The Frenchman's pale face grew paler. He became humble. He entreated +the guard's compassion. He begged Buttons to intercede. He had a +family. Moreover he had fought in the wars of his country. He had +warred in Africa. He appealed to the Senator, the Doctor, to Figgs, +to Dick. Finally he became calm, and the train shortly after arrived +at Marseilles. +<br> +<br> +The last that was seen of him he was rushing frantically about looking +for the return train. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/14-illo-horror-despair.png" alt="Horror! Despair!"> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Horror! Despair!] +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +MARSEILLES. +<br> +<br> +<br> +Old Massilia wears her years well. To look at her now as she appears, +full of life and joy and gayety, no one would imagine that thirty +centuries or more had passed over her head. +<br> +<br> +Here is the first glimpse of the glorious South, with all its sunshine +and luxury and voluptuous beauty. Here the Mediterranean rolls its +waters of deepest blue, through the clear air the landscape appears +with astonishing distinctness, and the sharply-defined lines of +distinct objects surprise the Northern eye. Marseilles is always a +picturesque city. No commercial town in the world can compare with it +in this respect. On the water float the Mediterranean craft, rakish +boats, with enormous latteen sails; long, low, sharp, black vessels, +with a suspicious air redolent of smuggling and piracy. No tides +rise and fall--advance and retreat. The waters are always the same. +<br> +<br> +All the Mediterranean nations are represented in Marseilles. +Three-quarters of the world send their people here. Europe, Asia, +Africa. In the streets the Syrian jostles the Spaniard; the Italian +the Arab; the Moor jokes with the Jew; the Greek chaffers with the +Algerine; the Turk scowls at the Corsican; the Russian from Odessa +pokes the Maltese in the ribs. There is no want of variety here. +Human nature is seen under a thousand aspects. Marseilles is the most +cosmopolitan of cities, and represents not only many races but many +ages. +<br> +<br> +Moreover it is a fast city. New York is not more ambitions; Chicago +not more aspiring; San Francisco not more confident in its future. +Amazing sight! Here is a city which, at the end of three thousand +years, looks forward to a longer and grander life in the future. +<br> +<br> +And why? +<br> +<br> +Why, because she expects yet to be the arbiter of Eastern commerce. +Through her the gold, the spices, and the gems of India will yet be +conveyed over the European world. For the Suez Canal, which will once +more turn the tide of this mighty traffic through its ancient +Mediterranean channel, will raise Marseilles to the foremost rank +among cities. +<br> +<br> +So, at least, the Marseillaise believe. When our travellers arrived +there the city was crammed with soldiers. The harbor was packed with +steamships. Guns were thundering, bands playing, fifes screaming, +muskets rattling, regiments tramping, cavalry galloping. Confusion +reigned supreme. Every thing was out of order. No one spoke or thought +of any thing but the coming war in Lombardy. +<br> +<br> +Excitable little red-legged French soldiers danced about everywhere. +Every one was beside himself. None could use the plain language of +every-day life. All were intoxicated with hope and enthusiasm. +<br> +<br> +The travellers admired immensely the exciting scene, but their +admiration was changed to disgust when they found that on account +of the rush of soldiers to Italy their own prospects of getting there +were extremely slight. +<br> +<br> +At length they found that a steamer was going. It was a propeller. +Its name was the _Prince_. The enterprising company that owned her +had patriotically chartered every boat on their line to the +Government at an enormous profit, and had placed the _Prince_ on the +line for the use of travellers. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/15-illo-those-italians.png" alt="Those Italians."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Those Italians.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +THE RETIRED ORGAN-GRINDER.--THE SENATOR PHILOSOPHIZES.--EVILS OF NOT +HAVING A PASSPORT. +<br> +<br> +<br> +The Mediterranean is the most glorious of seas. The dark-blue waves; +the skies of darker blue; the distant hills of purple, with their +crowns of everlasting snow; and the beetling precipice, where the +vexed waters forever throw up their foaming spray; the frequent +hamlets that nestle among them, the castles and towers that crown the +lofty heights; and the road that winds tortuously along the shore--all +these form a scene in which beauty more romantic than that of the +Rhine is contrasted with all the grandeur of the ocean. +<br> +<br> +Buttons, with his usual flexible and easy disposition, made the +acquaintance of a couple of Italians who had been away from Italy +and were now returning. They were travelling second-class. +<br> +<br> +Buttons supposed they were glad to get back. +<br> +<br> +"Glad? Did he doubt it? Why, they were Italians." +<br> +<br> +"Are Italians fonder of their country than others?" +<br> +<br> +"Without doubt. Had they not the best reason to be?" +<br> +<br> +"Why?" +<br> +<br> +"They had the garden and pride of the world for their country. +Mention any other in the same breath with Italy." +<br> +<br> +"If they love it so much why can they not keep it for themselves?" +<br> +<br> +"How can you ask that? If you know the history of the country you will +see that it has been impossible. No other was ever so beset. It is +split up into different States. It is surrounded by powerful enemies +who take advantage of this. It would not be so bad if there were only +one foreign foe; but there are many, and if one were driven out another +would step in." +<br> +<br> +"There will be a chance for them now to show what they can do." +<br> +<br> +"True; and you will see what they will do. They only want the French +to open the way. We Italians can do the rest ourselves. It is a good +time to go to Italy. You will see devotion and patriotism such as you +never saw before. There is no country so beloved as Italy." +<br> +<br> +"I think other nations are as patriotic." +<br> +<br> +"Other nations! What nations? Do you know that the Italians can not +leave Italy? It is this love that keeps them home. French, Germans, +Spaniards, Portuguese, English--all others leave their homes, and +go all over the world to live. Italians can not and do not." +<br> +<br> +"I have seen Italians in America." +<br> +<br> +"You have seen Italian exiles, not emigrants. Or you have seen them +staying there for a few years so as to earn a little money to go back +with. They are only travellers on business. They are always unhappy, +and are always cheered by the prospect of getting home at last." +<br> +<br> +These Italians were brothers, and from experience in the world had +grown very intelligent. One had been in the hand-organ business, +the other in the image-making line. Italians can do nothing else +in the bustling communities of foreign nations. Buttons looked with +respect upon those men who thus had carried their lore for their +dear Art for years through strange lands and uncongenial climes. +<br> +<br> +"If I were an Italian I too would be an organ-grinder!" he at length +exclaimed. +<br> +<br> +The Italians did not reply, but evidently thought that Buttons could +not be in a better business. +<br> +<br> +"These _I_talians," said the Senator, to whom Buttons had told +the conversation--"these _I_talians," said he, after they had gone, +"air a singular people. They're deficient. They're wanting in the +leading element of the age. They haven't got any idee of the principle +of pro-gress. They don't understand trade. There's where they miss it. +What's the use of hand-organs? What's the use of dancers? What's the +use of statoos, whether plaster images or marble sculptoor? Can they +clear forests or build up States? No, Sir; and therefore I say that +this _I_talian nation will never be wuth a cuss until they are +inoculated with the spirit of Seventy-six, the principles of the +Pilgrim Fathers, and the doctrines of the Revolution. Boney knows it" +--he added, sententiously--"bless you, Boney knows it." +<br> +<br> +After a sound sleep, which lasted until late in the following day, +they went out on deck. +<br> +<br> +There lay Genoa. +<br> +<br> +Glorious sight! As they stood looking at the superb city the sun +poured down upon the scene his brightest rays. The city rose in +successive terraces on the side of a semicircular slope crowned with +massive edifices; moles projected into the harbor terminated by lofty +towers; the inner basin was crowded with shipping, prominent among +which were countless French ships of war and transports. The yells of +fifes, the throbbing of drums, the bang of muskets, the thunder of +cannon, and the strains of martial music filled die air. Boats crowded +with soldiers constantly passed from the ship to the stone quays, +where thousands more waited to receive them--soldiers being mixed up +with guns, cannons, wheels, muskets, drums, baggage, sails, beams, +timbers, camps, mattresses, casks, boxes, irons, in infinite +confusion. +<br> +<br> +"We must go ashore here," said Buttons. "Does any body know how long +the steamer will remain here?" +<br> +<br> +"A day." +<br> +<br> +"A day! That will be magnificent! We will be able to see the whole +city in that time. Let's go and order a boat off." +<br> +<br> +The Captain received them politely. +<br> +<br> +"What did Messieurs want? To go ashore? With the utmost pleasure. Had +they their passports? Of course they had them _viséd_ in Marseilles +for Genoa." +<br> +<br> +Buttons looked blank, and feebly inquired: +<br> +<br> +"Why?" +<br> +<br> +"It's the law, Monsieur. We are prohibited from permitting passengers +to go ashore unless their passports are all right. It's a mere form." +<br> +<br> +"A mere form!" cried Buttons. "Why, ours are _viséd_ for Naples." +<br> +<br> +"Naples!" cried the Captain, with a shrug; "you are unfortunate, +Messieurs. That will not pass you to Genoa." +<br> +<br> +"My dear Sir, you don't mean to tell me that, on account of this +little informality, you will keep us prisoners on board of this +vessel? Consider--" +<br> +<br> +"Monsieur," said the Captain, courteously, "I did not make these +laws. It is the law; I can not change it. I should be most happy +to oblige you, but I ask you, how is it possible?" +<br> +<br> +The Captain was right. He could do nothing. The travellers would +have to swallow their rage. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/16-illo-genoa-the-superb.png" alt="Genoa, The Superb."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Genoa, The Superb.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +Imagine them looking all day at the loveliest of Italian scenes-- +the glorious city of Genoa, with all its historic associations!-- +the city of the Dorias, the home of Columbus, even now the scene +of events upon which the eyes of all the world were fastened. +<br> +<br> +Imagine them looking upon all this, and only looking, unable to go +near; seeing all the preparations for war, but unable to mingle with +the warriors. To pace up and down all day; to shake their fists at the +scene; to fret, and fume, and chafe with irrepressible impatience; to +scold, to rave, to swear--this was the lot of the unhappy tourists. +<br> +<br> +High in the startled heavens rose the thunder of preparations for the +war in Lombardy. They heard the sounds, but could not watch the scene +near at hand. +<br> +<br> +The day was as long as an ordinary week, but at length it came to an +end. On the following morning steam was got up, and they went to +Leghorn. +<br> +<br> +"I suppose they will play the same game on us at Leghorn," said Dick, +mournfully. +<br> +<br> +"Without doubt," said Buttons. "But I don't mind; the bitterness of +Death is past. I can stand any thing now." +<br> +<br> +Again the same tantalizing view of a great city from afar. Leghorn lay +inviting them, but the unlucky passport kept them on board of the +vessel. The Senator grew impatient, Mr. Figgs and the Doctor were +testy; Dick and Buttons alone were calm. It was the calmness of +despair. +<br> +<br> +After watching Leghorn for hours they were taken to Civita Vecchia. +Here they rushed down below, and during the short period of their stay +remained invisible. +<br> +<br> +At last their voyage ended, and they entered the harbor of Naples. +Glorious Naples! Naples the captivating! +<br> +<br> +"_Vede Napoli_, _e poi mori_!" +<br> +<br> +There was the Bay of Naples--the matchless, the peerless, the +indescribable! There the rock of Ischia, the Isle of Capri, there the +slopes of Sorrento, where never-ending spring abides; there the long +sweep of Naples and her sister cities; there Vesuvius, with its thin +volume of smoke floating like a pennon in the air! +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/17-illo-their-noble-excellencies.png" alt="Their Noble Excellencies."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Their Noble Excellencies.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +LAZARONI AND MACARONI. +<br> +<br> +<br> +About forty or fifty lazaroni surrounded the Dodge Club when they +landed, but to their intense disgust the latter ignored them +altogether, and carried their own umbrellas and carpet-bags. But the +lazaroni revenged themselves. As the Doctor stooped to pick up his +cane, which had fallen, a number of articles dropped from his +breast-pocket, and among them was a revolver, a thing which was +tabooed in Naples. A ragged rascal eagerly snatched it and handed it +to a gendarme, and it was only after paying a piastre that the Doctor +was permitted to retain it. +<br> +<br> +Even after the travellers had started on foot in search of lodgings +the lazaroni did not desert them. Ten of them followed everywhere. +At intervals they respectfully offered to carry their baggage, or show +them to a hotel, whichever was most agreeable to their Noble +Excellencies. +<br> +<br> +Their Noble Excellencies were in despair. At length, stumbling upon +The Café dell' Europa, they rushed in and passed three hours over +their breakfast. This done, they congratulated themselves on. Having +got rid of their followers. +<br> +<br> +In vain! +<br> +<br> +Scarcely had they emerged from the café than Dick uttered a cry of +horror. From behind a corner advanced their ten friends, with the +same calm demeanor, the game unruffled and even cheerful patience, +and the same respectful offer of their humble services. +<br> +<br> +In despair they separated. Buttons and Dick obtained lodgings in the +Strada di San Bartollomeo. The Senator and the other two engaged +pleasant rooms on the Strada Nuova, which overlooked the Bay. +<br> +<br> +Certainly Naples is a very curious place. There are magnificent +edifices--palaces, monuments, castles, fortresses, churches, and +cathedrals. There are majestic rows of buildings; gay shops, +splendidly decorated; stately colonnades, and gardens like Paradise. +There are streets unrivalled for gayety, forever filled to overflowing +with the busy, the laughing, the jolly; dashing officers, noisy +soldiers, ragged lazaroni, proud nobles, sickly beggars, lovely +ladies; troops of cavalry galloping up and down; ten thousand caleches +dashing to and fro. There is variety enough everywhere. +<br> +<br> +All the trades are divided, and arranged in different parts of the +city. Here are the locksmiths, there the cabinet-makers; here the +builders, there the armorers; in this place the basket-weavers, in +that the cork-makers. +<br> +<br> +And most amusing of all is the street most favored of the lazaroni. +Here they live, and move, and have their being; here they are born, +they grow, they wed, they rear families, they eat, and drink, and die. +A long array of furnaces extends up the street; over each is a +stew-pan, and behind each a cook armed with an enormous ladle. At all +hours of the day the cook serves up macaroni to customers. This is the +diet of the people. +<br> +<br> +In the cellars behind those lines of stew-pans are the eating-houses +of the vulgar--low, grimy places, floors incrusted with mud, tables of +thick deal worn by a thousand horny hands, slippery with ten thousand +upset dishes of macaroni. Here the pewter plates, and the iron knives, +forks, and spoons are chained to the massive tables. How utter must +the destitution be when it is thought necessary to chain up such +worthless trash! +<br> +<br> +Into one of these places went Buttons and Dick in their study of human +nature. They sat at the table. A huge dish of macaroni was served up. +Fifty guests stopped to look at the new-comers. The waiters winked at +the customers of the house, and thrust their tongues in their cheeks. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/18-illo-lazaroni-and-macaroni.png" alt="Lazaroni And Macaroni."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Lazaroni And Macaroni.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +Dick could not eat, but the more philosophical Buttons made an +extremely hearty meal, and pronounced the macaroni delicious. +<br> +<br> +On landing in a city which swarmed with beggars the first thought of +our tourists was, How the mischief do they all live? There are sixty +thousand lazaroni in this gay city. The average amount of clothing to +each man is about one-third of a pair of trowsers and a woolen cap. +But after spending a day or two the question changed its form, and +became, How the mischief can they all help living? Food may be picked +up in the streets. Handfuls of oranges and other fruits sell for next +to nothing; strings of figs cost about a cent. +<br> +<br> +The consequence is that these sixty thousand people, fellow-creatures +of ours, who are known as the lazaroni of Naples, whom we half pity +and altogether despise, and look upon as lowest members of the +Caucasian race, are not altogether very miserable. On the contrary, +taken as a whole, they form the oiliest, fattest, drollest, noisiest, +sleekest, dirtiest, ignorantest, prejudicedest, narrow-mindedest, +shirtlessest, clotheslessest, idlest, carelessest, jolliest, +absurdest, rascaliest--but still, all that, perhaps--taken all in +all--the happiest community on the face of the earth. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/19-illo-yankee-doodle.png" alt="Yankee Doodle."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Yankee Doodle.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +DOLORES.--AN ITALIAN MAID LEARNS ENGLISH.--A ROMANTIC ADVENTURE.--A +MASQUERADE, AND WHAT BEFELL THE SENATOR.--A CHARMING DOMINO.--A +MOONLIGHT WALK, AND AN ASTOUNDING DISCOVERY. +<br> +<br> +<br> +The lodgings of Buttons and Dick were in a remarkably central part of +Naples. The landlord was a true Neapolitan; a handsome, gay, witty, +noisy, lively, rascally, covetous, ungrateful, deceitful, cunning, +good-hearted old scoundrel, who took advantage of his guests in a +thousand ways, and never spoke to them without trying to humbug them. +He was the father of a pretty daughter who had all her parent's nature +somewhat toned down, and expanded in a feminine mould. +<br> +<br> +Buttons had a chivalrous soul, and so had Dick; the vivacity of this +very friendly young lady was like an oasis in the wilderness of +travel. In the evening they loved to sit in the sunshine of her smile. +She was singularly unconventional, this landlord's daughter, and made +many informal calls on her two lodgers in their apartment. +<br> +<br> +An innocent, sprightly little maid--name Dolores--age seventeen-- +complexion olive--hair jet black--eyes like stars, large, luminous, +and at the same time twinkling--was anxious to learn English, +especially to sing English songs; and so used to bring her guitar and +sing for the Americans. Would they teach her their national song? "Oh +yes happy beyond expression to do so." +<br> +<br> +The result, after ten lessons, was something like this: +<br> +<br> +<br> + "Anty Dooda tumma towna<br> + By his sef a po-ne<br> + Stacca fadda inna sat<br> + Kalla Maccaroni." +<br> +<br> +<br> +She used to sing this in the most charming manner, especially the last +word in the last line. Not the least charm in her manner was her +evident conviction that she had mastered the English language. +<br> +<br> +"Was it not an astonishing thing for so young a Signorina to know +English?" +<br> +<br> +"Oh, it was indeed!" said Buttons, who knew Italian very well, and had +the lion's share of the conversation always. +<br> +<br> +"And they said her accent was fine?" +<br> +<br> +"Oh, most beautiful!" +<br> +<br> +"Bellissima! Bellissima!" repeated little Dolores, and she would laugh +until her eyes overflowed with delighted vanity. +<br> +<br> +"Could any Signorina Americana learn Italian in so short a time?" +<br> +<br> +"No, not one. They had not the spirit. They could never equal her most +beautiful accent." +<br> +<br> +"Ah! you say all the time that my accent is most beautiful." +<br> +<br> +One day she picked up a likeness of a young lady which was lying on +the table. +<br> +<br> +"Who is this?" she asked, abruptly, of Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"A Signorina." +<br> +<br> +"Oh yes! I know; but is she a relative?" +<br> +<br> +"No." +<br> +<br> +"Are you married?" +<br> +<br> +"No." +<br> +<br> +"Is this your affianced?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes." +<br> +<br> +"Ah, how strange! What will you bet?--a soldier or an advocate?" +<br> +<br> +"Neither. I will be a priest." +<br> +<br> +"A priest! Signor, what is it that you tell me? How can this be your +affianced lady?" +<br> +<br> +"Oh! in our country the priests all marry, and live in beautiful +little cottages, with a garden in front." +<br> +<br> +This Dolores treated with the most contemptuous incredulity. Who ever +heard of such a thing? Impossible! Moreover, it was so absurd. Buttons +told her that he was affianced five years ago. +<br> +<br> +"An eternity!" exclaimed Dolores. "How can you wait? But you must have +been very young." +<br> +<br> +"Young? Yes, only sixteen." +<br> +<br> +"Blessed and most venerable Virgin! Only sixteen! And is she the most +beautiful girl you know?" +<br> +<br> +"No." +<br> +<br> +"Where have you seen one more so?" +<br> +<br> +"In Naples." +<br> +<br> +"Who is she?" +<br> +<br> +"An Italian." +<br> +<br> +"What is her name?" +<br> +<br> +"Dolores." +<br> +<br> +"That's me." +<br> +<br> +"I mean you." +<br> +<br> +This was pretty direct; but Dolores was frank, and required +frankness from others. Some young ladies would have considered this +too coarse and open to be acceptable. But Dolores had so high an +opinion of herself that she took it for sincere homage. So she half +closed her eyes, leaned back in her chair, looked languishingly at +Buttons, and then burst into a merry peal of musical laughter. +<br> +<br> +"I think I am the most beautiful girl you ever saw." +<br> +<br> +It was Buttons's turn to laugh. He told Dolores that she was quite +right, and repeated her favorite word, "Belissima!" +<br> +<br> +One evening when Dick was alone in the room a knock came to the door. +<br> +<br> +"Was he disengaged?" +<br> +<br> +"Oh, quite." +<br> +<br> +"The Signora in the room next--" +<br> +<br> +"Yes." +<br> +<br> +"Would be happy to see him." +<br> +<br> +"Now?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes, as soon as he liked." +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/20-illo-i-kiss-hands.png" alt="I Kiss Hands."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: I Kiss Hands.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +The Signora did not have to wait long. In less time than it takes to +tell this Dick stood with his best bow before her. How he +congratulated himself on having studied Italian! The lady reclined on +a sofa. She was about thirty, and undeniably pretty. A guitar lay at +her feet. Books were scattered around--French novels, and manuals of +devotion. Intelligence beamed from her large, expressive eyes. How +delightful! Here was an adventure, perhaps a fair conquest. +<br> +<br> +"Good-evening, Signor!" +<br> +<br> +"I kiss the hands to your ladyship," said Dick, mustering a sentence +from Ollendorff. +<br> +<br> +"Pardon me for this liberty." +<br> +<br> +"I assure you it gives me the greatest happiness, and I am wholly at +your service." +<br> +<br> +"I have understood that you are an American." +<br> +<br> +"I am, Signora." +<br> +<br> +"And this is your first visit to Naples?" +<br> +<br> +"My first, Signora." +<br> +<br> +"How does Naples please you?" +<br> +<br> +"Exceedingly. The beautiful city, the crowded streets, the delightful +views--above all, the most charming ladies." +<br> +<br> +A bow--a slight flush passed over the lady's face, and Dick whispered +to himself-- +<br> +<br> +"Well put, Dick, my boy--deuced well put for a beginner." +<br> +<br> +"To come to the point," said the lady, with sigh.--("Ah, here we have +it!" thought Dick--the point--blessed moment!)--"I would not have +ventured to trouble you for any slight cause, Signor, but this nearly +concerns myself."--(Keep down--our heart, murmured Dick--cool, you +dog--cool!)--"My happiness and my tenderest feelings--"(Dick's +suffused eyes expressed deep sympathy.)--"I thought of you--" +<br> +<br> +"Ah, Signora!" +<br> +<br> +"And not being acquainted with you--"(What a shame!--_aside_)--I +concluded to waive all formality"--(Social forms are generally a +nuisance to ardent souls--_aside_)--"and to communicate at once with +you." +<br> +<br> +"Signora, let me assure you that this is the happiest moment in my +life." +<br> +<br> +The Signora looked surprised, but went on in a sort of preoccupied +way: +<br> +<br> +"I want to know if you can tell me any thing about my brother." +<br> +<br> +"Brother!" +<br> +<br> +"Who is now in America." +<br> +<br> +Dick opened his eyes. +<br> +<br> +"I thought that perhaps you could tell me how he is. I have not heard +from him for two years, and feel very anxious." +<br> +<br> +Dick sat for a moment surprised at this unexpected turn. The lady's +anxiety about her brother he could see was not feigned. So he +concealed his disappointment, and in his most engaging manner informed +her that he had not seen her brother; but if she could tell him his +name, and the place where he was living, he might be able to tell +something about him. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/21-illo-the-young-hussar.png" alt="The Young Hussar."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: The Young Hussar.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +"His name," sighed the lady, "is Giulio Fanti." +<br> +<br> +"And the place?" +<br> +<br> +"Rio Janeiro." +<br> +<br> +"Rio Janeiro?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes," said the lady, slowly. +<br> +<br> +Dick was in despair. Not to know any thing of her brother would make +her think him stupid. So he attempted to explain: +<br> +<br> +"America," he began, "is a very large country--larger, in fact, than +the whole Kingdom of Naples. It is principally inhabited by savages, +who are very hostile to the whites. The whites have a few cities, +however. In the North the whites all speak English. In the South they +all speak Spanish. The South Americans are good Catholics, and +respect the Holy Father; but the English in the North are all +heretics. Consequently there is scarcely any communication between +the two districts." +<br> +<br> +The lady had heard somewhere that in the American wars they employed +the savages to assist them. Dick acknowledged the truth of this with +candor, but with pain. She would see by this why he was unable to tell +her any thing about her brother. His not knowing that brother was now +the chief sorrow of his life. The lady earnestly hoped that Rio +Janeiro was well protected from the savages. +<br> +<br> +"Oh, perfectly so. The fortifications of that city are impregnable." +<br> +<br> +Dick thus endeavored to give the lady an idea of America. The +conversation gradually tapered down until the entrance of a gentleman +brought it to a close. Dick bowed himself out. +<br> +<br> +"At any rate," he murmured, "if the lady wanted to inspect me she had +a chance, and if she wanted to pump me she ought to be satisfied." +<br> +<br> +<br> +*** +<br> +<br> +<br> +One evening Buttons and Dick came in and found a stranger chatting +familiarly with the landlord and a young hussar. The stranger was +dressed like a cavalry officer, and was the most astounding fop that +the two Americans had ever seen. He paced up and down, head erect, +chest thrown out, sabre clanking, spurs jingling, eyes sparkling, +ineffable smile. He strode up to the two youths, spun round on one +heel, bowed to the ground, waved his hand patronizingly, and welcomed +them in. +<br> +<br> +"A charming night, gallant gentlemen. A bewitching night. All Naples +is alive. All the world is going. Are you?" +<br> +<br> +The young men stared, and coldly asked where? +<br> +<br> +"Ha, ha, ha!" A merry peal of laughter rang out. "Absolutely--if the +young Americans are not stupid. They don't know me!" +<br> +<br> +"Dolores!" exclaimed Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"Yes," exclaimed the other. "How do you like me? Am I natural?--eh? +military? Do I look terrible?" +<br> +<br> +And Dolores skipped up and down with a strut beyond description, +breathing hard and frowning. +<br> +<br> +"If you look so fierce you will frighten us away," said Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"How do I look, now?" she said, standing full before him with folded +arms, _à la_ Napoleon at St. Helena. +<br> +<br> +"Bellissima! Bellissima!" said Buttons, in unfeigned admiration. +<br> +<br> +"Ah!" ejaculated Dolores, smacking her lips, and puffing out her +little dimpled cheeks. "Oh!" and her eyes sparkled more brightly with +perfect joy and self-contentment. +<br> +<br> +"And what is all this for?" +<br> +<br> +"Is it possible that you do not know?" +<br> +<br> +"I have no idea." +<br> +<br> +"Then listen. It is at the Royal Opera-house. It will be the greatest +masquerade ball ever given." +<br> +<br> +"Oh--a masquerade ball!--and you?" +<br> +<br> +"I? I go as a handsome young officer to break the hearts of the +ladies, and have such rare sport. My brave cousin, yonder gallant +soldier, goes with me." +<br> +<br> +The brave cousin, who was a big, heavy-headed fellow, grinned in +acknowledgment, but said nothing. +<br> +<br> +The Royal Opera-house at Naples is the largest, the grandest, and the +most capacious in the world. An immense stage, an enormous pit all +thrown into one vast room, surrounded by innumerable boxes, all +rising, tier above tier--myriads of dancers, myriads of masks, +myriads of spectators--so the scene appeared. Moreover, the Neapolitan +is a born buffoon. Nowhere is he so natural as at a masquerade. The +music, the crowd, the brilliant lights, the incessant motion are all +intoxication to this impressible being. +<br> +<br> +The Senator lent the countenance of his presence--not from curiosity, +but from benevolent desire to keep his young friends out of trouble. +He narrowly escaped being prohibited from entering by making an +outrageous fuss at the door about some paltry change. He actually +imagined that it was possible to get the right change for a large coin +in Naples. +<br> +<br> +The multitudes of moving forms made the new-comers dizzy. There were +all kinds of fantastic figures. Lions polked with sylphs, crocodiles +chased serpents, giants walked arm in arm with dwarfs, elephants on +two legs ran nimbly about, beating every body with hope probosces of +inflated India rubber. Pretty girls in dominos abounded; every body +whose face was visible was on the broad grin. All classes were +represented. The wealthier nobles entered into the spirit of the scene +with as great gusto as the humblest artisan who treated his obscure +sweet-heart with an entrance ticket. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/22-illo-a-perplexed-senator.png" alt="A Perplexed Senator."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: A Perplexed Senator.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +Our friends all wore black dominos, "just for the fun of the thing." +Every body knew that they were English or American, which is just +the same; for Englishmen and Americans are universally recognizable by +the rigidity of their muscles. +<br> +<br> +A bevy of masked beauties were attracted by the colossal form of the +Senator. To say that he was bewildered would express his sensations +but faintly. He was distracted. He looked for Buttons. Buttons was +chatting with a little domino. He turned to Dick. Dick was walking off +with a rhinoceros. To Figgs and the Doctor. Figgs and the Doctor were +exchanging glances with a couple of lady codfishes and trying to look +amiable. The Senator gave a sickly smile. +<br> +<br> +"What'n thunder'll I do?" he muttered. +<br> +<br> +Two dominos took either arm. A third stood smilingly before him. A +fourth tried to appropriate his left hand. +<br> +<br> +"Will your Excellency dance with one of us at a time," said No. 4, +with a Tuscan accent, "or will you dance with all of us at once?" +<br> +<br> +The Senator looked helplessly at her. +<br> +<br> +"He does not know how," said No 1. "He has passed his life among the +stars." +<br> +<br> +"Begone, irreverent ones!" said No. 3. "This is an American prince. +He said I should be his partner." +<br> +<br> +"Boh! malidetta!" cried No. 2. "He told me the same; but he said he +was a Milor Inglese." +<br> +<br> +No. 4 thereupon gave a smart pull at the Senator's hand to draw him +off. Whereupon No. 2 did the same. No. 3 began singing "Come e bello!" +and No. 1 stood coaxing him to "Fly with her." A crowd of idlers +gathered grinningly around. +<br> +<br> +"My goodness!" groaned the Senator. "Me! The--the representative of a +respectable constituency; the elder of a Presbyterian church; the +president of a temperance society; the deliverer of that famous Fourth +of July oration; the father of a family--me! to be treated thus! Who +air these females? Air they countesses? Is this the way the foreign +nobility treat an American citizen?" +<br> +<br> +But the ladies pulled and the crowd grinned. The Senator endeavored to +remonstrate. Then he tried to pull his arms away; but finding that +impossible he looked in a piteous manner, first at one, and then at +the other. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/23-illo-exit-senator.png" alt="Exit Senator."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Exit Senator.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +"He wants, I tell you, to be my partner," said No. 1. +<br> +<br> +"Bah!" cried No. 2, derisively; "he intends to be mine. I understand +the national dance of his country--the famous jeeg Irelandese." +<br> +<br> +"MRS.!!!" +<br> +<br> +The Senator shouted this one word in a stentorian voice. The ladies +dropped his arms and started. +<br> +<br> +"I say, Mrs.!" cried the Senator. "Look here. Me no speeky +_I_talian--me American. Me come just see zee fun, you know--zee +spaort--you und-stand? Ha? Hum!" +<br> +<br> +The ladies clapped their hands, and cried "Bravo!" +<br> +<br> +Quite a crowd gathered around them. The Senator, impressed with the +idea that, to make foreigners understand, it was only necessary to +yell loud enough, bawled so loudly that ever so many dancers stopped. +Among these Buttons came near with the little Domino. Little Domino +stopped, laughed, clapped her hands, and pointed to the Senator. +<br> +<br> +The Senator was yelling vehemently in broken English to a large crowd +of masks. He told them that he had a large family; that he owned a +factory; that he was a man of weight, character, influence, +popularity, wealth; that he came here merely to study their manners +and customs. He disclaimed any intention to participate in their +amusements just then, or to make acquaintances.--He would be proud to +visit them all at their houses, or see them at his apartments, or--or--in +short, would be happy to do any thing if they would only let him +go in peace. +<br> +<br> +The crowd laughed, chattered, and shouted "Bravo!" at every pause. The +Senator was covered with shame and perspiration. What would have +become of him finally it is impossible to guess; but, fortunately, at +this extremity he caught sight of Buttons. To dash away from the +charming ladies, to burst through the crowd, and to seize the arm of +Buttons was but the work of a moment. +<br> +<br> +"Buttons! Buttons! Buttons! Help me! These confounded _I_talian +wimmin! Take them away. Tell them to leave me be. Tell them I don't +know them--don't want to have them hanging round me. Tell them _I'm +your father_!" cried the Senator, his voice rising to a shout in his +distraction and alarm. +<br> +<br> +About 970 people were around him by this time. +<br> +<br> +"Goodness!" said Buttons; "you are in a fix. Why did you make yourself +so agreeable? and to so many? Why, it's too bad. One at a time!" +<br> +<br> +"Buttons," said the Senator, solemnly, "is this the time for joking? +For Heaven's sake get me away." +<br> +<br> +"Come then; you must run for it." +<br> +<br> +He seized the Senator's right arm. The little Domino clung to the +other. Away they started. It was a full run. A shout arose. So arises +the shout in Rome along the bellowing Corso when the horses are +starting for the Carnival races. It was a long, loud shout, gathering +and growing and deepening as it rose, till it burst on high in one +grand thunder-clap of sound. +<br> +<br> +Away the Senator went like the wind. The dense crowd parted on either +side with a rush. The Opera-house is several hundred feet in length. +Down this entire distance the Senator ran, accompanied by Buttons and +the little Domino. Crowds cheered him as he passed. Behind him the +passage-way closed up, and a long trail of screaming maskers pressed +after him. The louder they shouted the faster the Senator ran. At +length they reached the other end. +<br> +<br> +"Do you see that box?" asked Buttons, pointing to one on the topmost +tier. +<br> +<br> +"Yes, yes." +<br> +<br> +"Fly! Run for your life! It's your only hope. Get in there and hide +till we go." +<br> +<br> +The Senator vanished. Scarcely had his coat-tails disappeared through +the door when the pursuing crowd arrived there. Six thousand two +hundred and twenty-seven human beings, dressed in every variety of +costume, on finding that the runner had vanished, gave vent to their +excited feelings by a loud cheer for the interesting American who had +contributed so greatly to the evening's enjoyment. +<br> +<br> +Unlucky Senator! Will it be believed that even in the topmost box his +pursuers followed him? It was even so. About an hour afterward +Buttons, on coming near the entrance, encountered him. His face was +pale but resolute, his dress disordered. He muttered a few words about +"durned _I_talian countesses," and hurried out. +<br> +<br> +Buttons kept company with the little Domino. Never in his life had he +passed so agreeable an evening. He took good care to let his companion +know this. At length the crowd began to separate. The Domino would go. +Buttons would go with her. Had she a carriage? No, she walked. Then he +would walk with her. +<br> +<br> +Buttons tried hard to get a carriage, but all were engaged. But a walk +would not be unpleasant in such company. The Domino did not complain. +She was vivacious, brilliant, delightful, bewitching. Buttons had been +trying all evening to find out who she was. In vain. +<br> +<br> +"Who in the world is she? I must find out, so that I may see her +again." This was his one thought. +<br> +<br> +They approached the Strada Nuova. +<br> +<br> +"She is not one of the nobility at any rate, or she would not live +here." +<br> +<br> +They turned up a familiar street. +<br> +<br> +"How exceedingly jolly! She can't live far away from my lodgings." +<br> +<br> +They entered the Strada di San Bartolomeo. +<br> +<br> +"Hanged if she don't live on the same street!" +<br> +<br> +A strange thought occurred. It was soon confirmed. They stopped in +front of Buttons's own lodgings. A light gleamed over the door. +Another flashed into the soul of Buttons. That face, dimpled, smiling, +bewitching; flashing, sparking eyes; little mouth with its rosy lips! +<br> +<br> +"_Delores_!" +<br> +<br> +"Blessed Saints and Holy Virgin! Is it possible that you never +suspected?" +<br> +<br> +"Never. How could I when I thought you were dressed like a dragoon?" +<br> +<br> +"And you never passed so happy an evening; and never had so +fascinating and charming a partner; and you never heard such a voice +of music as mine; and you can never forget me through all life; and +you never can hope to find any one equal to me!" said Dolores, in her +usual laughing volubility. +<br> +<br> +"Never!" cried Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"Oh dear! I think you must love me very much." +<br> +<br> +And a merry peal of laughter rang up the stairs as Dolores, evading +Buttons's arm, which that young man had tried to pass about her +waist, dashed away into the darkness and out of sight. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +ADVENTURES AND MISADVENTURES.--A WET GROTTO AND A BOILING LAKE.--THE +TWO FAIR SPANIARDS, AND THE DONKEY RIDE. +<br> +<br> +<br> +The Grotto of Posilippo is a most remarkable place, and, in the +opinion of every intelligent traveller, is more astonishing than even +the Hoosac Tunnel, which nobody will deny except the benighted +Bostonian. +<br> +<br> +The city of Pozzuoli is celebrated for two things; first, because St. +Paul once landed there, and no doubt hurried away as fast as he could; +and, secondly, on account of the immense number of beggars that throng +around the unhappy one who enters its streets. +<br> +<br> +The Dodge Club contributed liberally. The Doctor gave a cork-screw; +the Senator, a bladeless knife; Dick, an old lottery ticket; Buttons, +a candle-stump; Mr. Figgs, a wild-cat banknote. After which +they all hurried away on donkeys as fast as possible. +<br> +<br> +The donkey is in his glory here. Nowhere else does he develop such a +variety of forms--nowhere attain such an infinity of sizes--nowhere +emit so impressive a bray. It is the Bray of Naples. "It is like the +thunder of the night when the cloud bursts o'er Cona, and a thousand +ghosts shriek at once in the hollow wind." +<br> +<br> +There is a locality in this region which the ancient named after a +certain warm region which no reined person ever permits himself to +mention in our day. Whatever it may have been when some Roman Tityrus +walked pipe in mouth along its shore, its present condition renders +its name singularly appropriate and felicitous. Here the party amused +themselves with a lunch of figs and oranges, which they gathered +indiscriminately from orchards and gardens on the road-side. +<br> +<br> +There was the Lake Lucrine. Averno and the Elysian Fields were there. +The ruins of Caligula's Bridge dotted the surface of the sea. Yet the +charms of all these classic scenes were eclipsed in the tourists' eyes +by those of a number of pretty peasants girls who stood washing +clothes in the limpid waters of the lake. +<br> +<br> +It was in this neighborhood that they found the Grotto of the Cumaean +Sibyl. They followed the intelligent cicerone, armed with torches, +into a gloomy tunnel. The intelligent cicerone walked before them with +the air of one who had something to show. Seven stoat peasants +followed after. The cavern was as dark as possible, and extended +apparently for an endless distance. +<br> +<br> +After walking a distance of about two miles, according to the +Senator's calculation, they came to the centre of interest. It was a +hole in the wall of the tunnel. The Americans were given to understand +that they must enter here. +<br> +<br> +"But how?" +<br> +<br> +"How? Why on the broad backs of the stout peasants, who all stood +politely offering their humble services." The guide went first. +Buttons, without more ado, got on the back of the nearest Italian and +followed. Dick came next; then the Doctor. Mr. Figgs and the Senator +followed in the same dignified manner. +<br> +<br> +They descended for some distance, and finally came to water about +three feet deep. As the roof was low, and only rose three feet above +the water, the party had some difficulty, not only in keeping their +feet out of the water, but also in breathing. At length they came to +a chamber about twelve feet square. From this they passed on to +another of the same size. Thence to another. And so on. +<br> +<br> +Arriving at the last, Bearer No. 1 quietly deposited Buttons on a +raised stone platform, which fortunately arose about half an inch +above the water. Three other bearers did the same. Mr. Figgs looked +forlornly about him, and, being a fat man, seemed to grow somewhat +apoplectic. Dick beguiled the time by lighting his pipe. +<br> +<br> +"So this is the Grotto of the Cumaean Sibyl, is it?" said Buttons. +"Then all I can say is that--" +<br> +<br> +What he was going to say was lost by a loud cry which interrupted +him and startled all. It came from the other chamber. +<br> +<br> +"The Senator!" said Dick. +<br> +<br> +It was indeed his well-known voice. There was a splash and a groan. +Immediately afterward a man staggered into the room. He was deathly +pale, and tottered feebly under the tremendous weight of the Senator. +The latter looked as anxious as his trembling bearer. +<br> +<br> +"Darn it! I say," he cried. "Darn it! Don't! Don't!" +<br> +<br> +"Diavo-lo!" muttered the Italian. +<br> +<br> +And in the next instant plump went the Senator into the water. A +scene then followed that baffles description. The Senator, rising +from his unexpected bath, foaming and sputtering, the Italian praying +for forgiveness, the loud voices of all the others shouting, calling, +and laughing. +<br> +<br> +The end of it was that they all left as soon as possible, and the +Senator indignantly waded back through the water himself. A furious +row with the unfortunate bearer, whom the Senator refused to pay, +formed a beautifully appropriate termination to their visit to this +classic spot. The Senator was so disturbed by this misadventure that +his wrath did not subside until his trowsers were thoroughly dried. +This, however, was accomplished at last, under the warm sun, and then +he looked around him with his usual complacency. +<br> +<br> +The next spot of interest which attracted them was the Hall of the +Subterranean Lake. In this place there is a cavern in the centre of +a hill, which is approached by a passage of some considerable length, +and in the subterranean cavern a pool of water boils and bubbles. The +usual crowd of obliging peasantry surrounded them as they entered the +vestibule of this interesting place. It was a dingy-looking chamber, +out of which two narrow subterranean passages ran. A grimy, sooty, +blackened figure stood before them with torches. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/25-illo-darn-it-dont.png" alt="Darn it!--Don't."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Darn it!--Don't.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Follow!" +<br> +<br> +This was all that he condescended to say, after lighting his torches +and distributing them to his visitors. He stalked off, and stooping +down, darted into the low passage-way. The cicerone followed, then +Buttons, then Dick, then the Senator, then the Doctor, then Mr. Figgs. +The air was intensely hot, and the passage-way grew lower. Moreover, +the smoke from the torches filled the air, blinding and choking them. +<br> +<br> +Mr. Figgs faltered. Fat, and not by any means nimble, he came to a +pause about twenty feet from the entrance, and, making a sudden turn, +darted out. The Doctor was tall and unaccustomed to bend his +perpendicular form. Half choked and panting heavily he too gave up, +and turning about rushed out after Mr. Figgs. +<br> +<br> +The other three went on bravely. Buttons and Dick, because they had +long since made up their minds to see every thing that presented +itself, and the Senator, because when he started on an enterprise he +was incapable of turning back. +<br> +<br> +After a time the passage went sloping steeply down. At the bottom of +the declivity was a pond of water bubbling and steaming. Down this +they ran. Now the stone was extremely slippery, and the subterranean +chamber was but faintly illuminated by the torches. And so it came to +pass that, as the Senator ran down after the others, they had barely +reached the bottom when +<br> +<br> +_Thump_! +<br> +<br> +At once all turned round with a start. +<br> +<br> +Not too quickly; for there lay the Senator, on his back, sliding, in +an oblique direction, straight toward the pool. His booted feet were +already in the seething waves; his nails were dug into the slippery +soil; he was shouting for help. +<br> +<br> +To grasp his hand, his collar, his leg--to jerk him away and place +him upright, was the work of a shorter time than is taken to tell it. +<br> +<br> +The guide now wanted them to wait till he boiled an egg. The Senator +remonstrated, stating that he had already nearly boiled a leg. The +Senator's opposition overpowered the wishes of the others, and the +party proceeded to return. Pale, grimy with soot, panting, covered +with huge drops of perspiration, they burst into the chamber where the +others were waiting--first Buttons, then Dick, then the Senator +covered with mud and slime. +<br> +<br> +The latter gentleman did not answer much to the eager inquiries of +his friends, but maintained a solemn silence. The two former loudly +and volubly descanted on the accumulated horrors of the subterranean +way, the narrow passage, the sulphurous air, the lake of boiling +floods. +<br> +<br> +In this outer chamber their attention was directed to a number of +ancient relics. These are offered for sale in such abundance that +they may be considered stable articles of commerce in this country. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/26-illo-thump.png" alt="Thump!"> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Thump!] +<br> +<br> +<br> +So skillful are the manufacturers that they can produce unlimited +supplies of the following articles, and many others too numerous +to mention: +<br> +<br> +<br> +Cumaean and Oscan coins;<br> +Ditto and ditto statuettes;<br> +Ditto and ditto rings;<br> +Ditto and ditto bracelets;<br> +Ditto and ditto images;<br> +Ditto and ditto toilet articles;<br> +Ditto and ditto vases;<br> +Ditto and ditto flasks;<br> +Relics of Parthenope;<br> +Ditto of Baiae;<br> +Ditto of Misenum;<br> +Ditto of Paestum;<br> +Ditto of Herculaneum;<br> +Ditto of Pompeii;<br> +Ditto of Capraea;<br> +Ditto of Capua;<br> +Ditto of Cumae-- +<br> +<br> +<br> +And other places too numerous to mention; all supplied to order; all +of which are eaten by rust, and warranted to be covered by the canker +and the mould of antiquity. +<br> +<br> +The good guide earnestly pressed some interesting relics upon their +attention, but without marked success. And now, as the hour of dinner +approached, they made the best of their way to a neighboring inn, +which commanded a fine view of the bay. Emerging from the chamber the +guide followed them, offering his wares. +<br> +<br> +"Tell me," he cried, in a sonorous voice, "oh most noble Americans! +how much will you give for this most ancient vase?" +<br> +<br> +"Un' mezzo carlino," said Dick, +<br> +<br> +"Un' mezzo carlino!!!" +<br> +<br> +The man's hand, which had been uplifted to display the vase, fell +downward as he said this. His tall figure grew less and less distinct +as they went further away; but long after he was out of sight the +phantom of his reproachful face haunted their minds. +<br> +<br> +After dinner they went out on the piazza in front of the hotel. Two +Spanish ladies were there, whose dark eyes produced an instantaneous +effect upon the impressible heart of Buttons. +<br> +<br> +They sat side by side, leaning against the stone balustrade. They +were smoking cigarettes, and the effect produced by waving their +pretty hands as they took the cigarettes from their mouths was, to +say the least, bewildering. +<br> +<br> +Buttons awaited his opportunity, and did not have to wait long. +Whether it was that they were willing to give the young American a +chance, or whether it was really unavoidable, can not be said, but +certainly one of the fair Spaniards found that her cigarette had +gone out. A pretty look of despair, and an equally pretty gesture of +vexation, showed at once the state of things. Upon which Buttons +stepped up, and with a bow that would have done honor to Chesterfield, +produced a box of scented allumettes, and lighting one, gravely held +it forward. The fair Spaniard smiled bewitchingly, and bending +forward without hesitation to light her cigarette, brought her rosy +lips into bewildering proximity to Buttons's hand. +<br> +<br> +It was a trying moment. +<br> +<br> +The amiable expression of the ladies' faces, combined with the +softly-spoken thanks of the lady whom Buttons first addressed, +encouraged him. The consequence was, that in about five minutes more +he was occupying a seat opposite them, chatting as familiarly as +though he were an old playmate. Dick looked on with admiration; the +others with envy. +<br> +<br> +"How in the world does it happen," asked the Senator, "that Buttons +knows the lingo of every body he meets?" +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/27-illo-a-trying-moment.png" alt="A Trying Moment."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: A Trying Moment.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +"He can't help it," said Dick. "These Continental languages are all +alike; know one, and you've got the key to the others--that is with +French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese." +<br> +<br> +"And look at him now!" cried the Senator, his eye beaming with +cordial admiration. +<br> +<br> +"You may well look at him!" sighed Dick. "Two such pretty girls as +these won't turn up again in a hurry. Spaniards too; I always admired +them." And he walked down to the shore humming to himself something +about "the girls of Cadiz." +<br> +<br> +The ladies informed Buttons that they were travelling with their +brother, and had been through Russia, Germany, England, France, and +were now traversing Italy; did not like the three first-mentioned +countries, but were charmed with Italy. +<br> +<br> +Their _naïveté_ was delightful. Buttons found out that the name of +one was Lucia, and the other Ida. For the life of him he did not know +which he admired most; but, on the whole, rather inclined to the one +to whom he had offered the light--Ida. +<br> +<br> +He was equally frank, and let them know his name, his country, his +Creed. They were shocked at his creed, pleased with his country and +amused at his name, which they pronounced, "Señor Bo-to-nes." +<br> +<br> +After about an hour their brother came. He was a small man, very +active, and full of vivacity. Instead of looking fiercely at the +stranger, he shook hands with him very cordially. Before doing this, +however, he took one short, quick survey of his entire person, from +felt hat down to his Congress boots. The consequence was that Buttons +deserted his companions, and went off with the ladies. +<br> +<br> +Dick took the lead of the party on the return home. They viewed the +conduct of Buttons with displeasure. The Senator did not show his +usual serenity. The party were all riding on donkeys. To do this on +the minute animals which the Neapolitans furnish it is necessary to +seat one's self on the stern of the animal, and draw the legs well +up, so that they may not trail on the ground. The appearance of the +rider from behind is that of a Satyr dressed in the fashion of the +nineteenth century. Nothing can be more ridiculous than the sight +of a figure dressed in a frock-coat and beaver hat, and terminated +by the legs and tail of a donkey. +<br> +<br> +As it was getting late the party harried. The donkeys were put on the +full gallop. First rode the guide, then the others, last of whom was +the Senator, whose great weight was a sore trial to the little donkey. +<br> +<br> +They neared Pozzuoli, when suddenly the Senator gave his little beast +a smart whack to hasten his steps. The donkey lost all patience. With +a jump he leaped forward. Away he went, far ahead of the others. The +saddle whose girth was rather old, slipped off. The Senator held on +tightly. In vain! Just as he rounded a corner formed by a projecting +sandbank the donkey slipped. Down went the rider; down went the donkey +also--rider and beast floundering in the dusty road. +<br> +<br> +A merry peal of ill-suppressed laughter came from the road-side as he +rolled into view. It came from a carriage. In the carriage were the +Spaniards--there, too, was Buttons. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/28-illo-senator-and-donkey.png" alt="Senator And Donkey."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Senator And Donkey.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +A DRIVE INTO THE COUNTRY.--A FIGHT WITH A VETTURINO.--THE EFFECT OF +EATING "HARD BOILED EGGS."--WHAT THEY SAW AT PAESTUM.--FIVE TEMPLES +AND ONE "MILL." +<br> +<br> +<br> +To hire a carriage in Naples for any length of time is by no means +an easy thing. It is necessary to hold long commune with the +proprietor, to exert all the wiles of masterly diplomacy to circumvent +cunning by cunning, to exert patience, skill, and eloquence. After a +decision has been reached, there is but one way in which you can hold +your vetturino to his bargain, and that is to bind him to it by +securing his name to a contract. Every vetturino has a printed form +all ready. If he can't write his name, he does something equally +binding and far simpler. He dips his thumb in the ink-bottle and +stamps it on the paper. If that is not his signature, what else +is it? +<br> +<br> +"Thus," said one, "Signor Adam signed the marriage-contract with +Signora Eva." +<br> +<br> +After incredible difficulties a contract had been drawn up and +signed by the horny thumb of a certain big vetturino, who went by the +name of "II Piccolo." It was to the effect that, for a certain +specified sum, Il Piccolo should take the party to Paestum and back +with a detour to Sorrento. +<br> +<br> +It was a most delightful morning. All were in the best of spirits. +So they started. On for miles through interminable streets of houses +that bordered the circular shore, through crowds of sheep, droves of +cattle, dense masses of human beings, through which innumerable +caleches darted like meteors amid the stars of heaven. Here came the +oxen of Southern Italy, stately, solemn, long-horned, cream-colored; +there marched great droves of Sorrento hogs--the hog of hogs--a +strange but not ill-favored animal, thick in hide, leaden in color, +hairless as a hippopotamus. The flesh of the Sorrento hog bears the +same relation to common pork that "Lubin's Extrait" bears to the +coarse scent of a country grocery. A pork-chop from the Sorrento +animal comes to the palate with the force of a new revelation; it is +the highest possibility of pork--the apotheosis of the pig! Long lines +of macaroni-cooks doing an enormous business; armies of dealers in +anisette; crowds of water-carriers; throngs of fishermen, carrying +nets and singing merry songs--"Ecco mi!" "Ecco la!"--possible +Massaniellos every man of them, I assure you, Sir. And--enveloping +all, mingling with all, jostling all, busy with the busiest, idle +with the idlest, noisy with the noisest, jolly with the jolliest, +the fat, oily, swarthy, rosy--(etc., for further epithets see +preceding pages)--_Lazaroni_! +<br> +<br> +Every moment produces new effects in the ever-shifting scenes of +Naples. Here is the reverse of monotony; if any thing becomes +wearisome, it is the variety. Here is the monotony of incessant +change. The whole city, with all its vast suburbs, lives on the +streets. +<br> +<br> +The Senator wiped his fevered brow. He thought that for crowds, +noise, tumult, dash, hurry-skurry, gayety, life, laughter, joyance, +and all that incites to mirth, and all that stirs the soul, even New +York couldn't hold a candle to Naples. +<br> +<br> +Rabelais ought to have been a Neapolitan. +<br> +<br> +Then, as the city gradually faded into the country, the winding road +opened up before them with avenues of majestic trees--overhanging, +arching midway--forming long aisles of shade. Myrtles, that grew up +into trees, scented the air. Interminable groves of figs and oranges +spread away up the hill, intermingled with the darker foliage of the +olive or cypress. +<br> +<br> +The mountains come lovingly down to bathe their feet in the sea. The +road winds among them. There is a deep valley around which rise lofty +hills topped with white villages or ancient towers, or dotted with +villas which peep forth from amid dense groves. As far as the eye can +reach the vineyards spread away. Not as in France or Germany, +miserable sandy fields with naked poles or stunted bushes; but +vast extents of trees, among which the vines leap in wild luxuriance, +hanging in long festoons from branch to branch, or intertwining with +the foliage. +<br> +<br> +"I don't know how it is," said the Senator, "but I'm cussed if I feel +as if this here country was ground into the dust. If it is, it is no +bad thing to go through the mill. I don't much wonder that these +_I_talians don't emigrate. If I owned a farm in this neighborhood I'd +stand a good deal of squeezin' before I'd sell out and go anywheres +else." +<br> +<br> +At evening they reached Salerno, a watering-place the sea-coast, and +Naples in miniature. +<br> +<br> +There is no town in Italy without its opera-house or theatre, and +among the most vivid and most precious of scenic delights the +pantomime commends itself to the Italian bosom. Of course there was a +pantomime at Salerno. It was a mite of a house; on a rough calculation +thirty feet by twenty; a double tier of boxes; a parquette about +twelve feet square; and a stage of about two-thirds that size. +<br> +<br> +Yet behold what the ingenuity of man can accomplish! On that stage +there were performed all the usual exhibitions of human passion, and +they even went into the production of great scenic displays, among +which a great storm in the forest was most prominent. +<br> +<br> +Polichinello was in his glory! On this occasion the joke of the +evening was an English traveller. The ideal Englishman on the +Continent is a never-failing source of merriment. The presence of +five Americans gave additional piquancy to the show. The corpulent, +double-chinned, red-nosed Englishman, with knee-breeches, +shoe-buckles, and absurd coat, stamped, swore, frowned, doubled up +his fists, knocked down waiters, scattered gold right and left, was +arrested, was tried, was fined; but came forth unterrified from every +persecution, to rave, to storm, to fight, to lavish money as before. +<br> +<br> +How vivid were the flashes of lightning produced by touching off some +cotton-wool soaked in alcohol! How terrific the peals of thunder +produced by the vibrations of a piece of sheet-iron! Whatever was +deficient in mechanical apparatus was readily supplied by the powerful +imagination of the Italians, who, though they had often seen all this +before, were not at all weary of looking at it, but enjoyed the +thousandth repetition as much as the first. +<br> +<br> +Those merry Italians! +<br> +<br> +There is an old, old game played by every vetturino. +<br> +<br> +When our travellers had returned to the hotel, and were enjoying +themselves in general conversation, the vetturino bowed himself in. +He was a good deal exercised in his mind. With a great preamble he +came to his point. As they intended to start early in the morning, +he supposed they would not object to settle their little bill now. +<br> +<br> +"_What_!" shouted Buttons, jumping up. "What bill? Settle a bill? +_We_ settle a bill? Are you mad?" +<br> +<br> +"Your excellencies intend to settle the bill, of course," said the +vetturino, with much phlegm. +<br> +<br> +"Our excellencies never dreamed of any such thing." +<br> +<br> +"Not pay? Ha! ha! You jest, Signor." +<br> +<br> +"Do you see this?" said Buttons, solemnly producing the contract. +<br> +<br> +"Well?" responded Il Piccolo. +<br> +<br> +"What is this?" +<br> +<br> +"Our contract." +<br> +<br> +"Do you know what it is that you have engaged to do?" +<br> +<br> +"To take you to Paestum." +<br> +<br> +"Yes; to Paestum and back, with a detour to Sorrento. Moreover, you +engage to supply us with three meals a day and lodgings, to all of +which we engage to pay a certain sum. What, then," cried Buttons, +elevating his voice, "in the name of all the blessed saints and +apostles, do you mean by coming to us about hotel bills?" +<br> +<br> +"Signor," said the vetturino, meekly, "when I made that contract I +fear I was too sanguine." +<br> +<br> +"Too sanguine!" +<br> +<br> +"And I have changed my mind since." +<br> +<br> +"Indeed?" +<br> +<br> +"I find that I am a poor man." +<br> +<br> +"Did you just find that out?" +<br> +<br> +"And that if I carry out this it will ruin me." +<br> +<br> +"Well?" +<br> +<br> +"So you'll have to pay for the hotel expenses yourselves," said +Il Piccolo, with desperation. +<br> +<br> +"I will forgive this insufferable insolence," said Buttons, +majestically, "on condition that it never occurs again. Do you +see that?" he cried, in louder tones. +<br> +<br> +And he unfolded the contract, which he had been holding in his hand, +and sternly pointed to the big blotch of ink that was supposed to be +II Piccolo's signature. +<br> +<br> +"_Do you see that_!" he cried, in a voice of thunder. +<br> +<br> +The Italian did not speak. +<br> +<br> +"And _that_?" he cried, pointing to the signature of the witness. +<br> +<br> +The Italian opened his month to speak, but was evidently nonplused. +<br> +<br> +"You are in my power!" said Buttons, in a fine melodramatic tone, and +with a vivacity of gesture that was not without its effect on the +Italian. He folded the contract, replaced it in his breast-pocket, and +slapped it with fearful emphasis. Every slap seemed to go to the heart +of Il Piccolo. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/30-illo-do-you-see-that.png" alt="Do You See That?"> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Do You See That?] +<br> +<br> +<br> +"If you dare to try to back out of this agreement I'll have you up +before the police. I'll enforce the awful penalty that punishes the +non-performance of a solemn engagement. I'll have you arrested by +the Royal Guards in the name of His Majesty the King, and cause you +to be incarcerated in the lowest dungeons of St. Elmo. Besides, I +won't pay you for the ride thus far." +<br> +<br> +With this last remark Buttons walked to the door, and without another +word opened it, and motioned to Il Piccolo to leave. The vetturino +departed in silence. +<br> +<br> +On the following morning he made his appearance as pleasant as though +nothing had happened. +<br> +<br> +The carriage rolled away from Salerno. Broad fields stretched away on +every side. Troops of villagers marched forth to their labor. As they +went on they saw women working in the fields, and men lolling on the +fences. +<br> +<br> +"Do you call that the stuff for a free country?" cried the Senator, +whose whole soul rose up in arms against such a sight. "Air these +things men? or can such slaves as these women seem to be give birth +to any thing but slaves?" +<br> +<br> +"Bravo!" cried Buttons. +<br> +<br> +The Senator was too indignant to say more, and so fell into a fit of +musing. +<br> +<br> +"Dick," said Buttons, after a long pause, "you are as pale as a ghost. +I believe you must be beginning to feel the miasma from these plains." +<br> +<br> +"Oh no," said Dick, dolefully; "something worse." +<br> +<br> +"What's the matter?" +<br> +<br> +"Do you remember the eggs we had for dinner last evening?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes." +<br> +<br> +"That's what's the matter," said Dick, with a groan. "I can't explain; +but this, perhaps, will tell thee all I feel." +<br> +<br> +He took from his pocket a paper and handed it to Buttons. Around the +margin were drawn etchings of countless fantastic figures, +illustrating the following lines: +<br> +<br> +<br> +A NIGHTMARE. +<br> +<br> +<br> +"_Gorgons, and hydras, and chimeras dire_." +<br> +<br> +<br> +BY A VICTIM. +<br> +<br> +<br> + Eggs! Eggs!! Eggs!!!<br> + Hard boiled eggs for tea!<br> + And oh! the horrible nightmare dream<br> + They brought to luckless me!<br> +<br> +<br> + The hippopotamus came;<br> + He sat upon my chest:<br> + The hippopotamus roared "I'll spot him!" as<br> + He trampled upon my breast.<br> +<br> +<br> + The big iguanodon hunched<br> + And rooted in under me:<br> + The big iguanodon raised by that pan o' done<br> + Overdone eggs for tea.<br> +<br> +<br> + The ichthyosaurus tried<br> + To roll me up in a ball;<br> + While all the three were grinning at me,<br> + And pounding me, bed and all.<br> +<br> +<br> + Hip! hip! hurrah!<br> + It was a little black pig,<br> + And a big bull-frog, and a bobtailed dog--<br> + All of them dancing a jig.<br> +<br> +<br> + And oh, the snakes! the snakes!<br> + And the boa constrictor too!<br> + And the cobra capello--a terrible fellow--<br> + Came to my horrified view.<br> +<br> +<br> + Snakes and horrible beasts,<br> + Frog, pig, and dog<br> + Hustled me, pushed me, tickled me, crushed me,<br> + Rolled me about like a log.<br> +<br> +<br> + The little blue devils came on;<br> + They rode on a needle's point;<br> + And the big giraffe, with asthmatic laugh,<br> + And legs all out of joint.<br> +<br> +<br> + Bats crawled into my ears,<br> + Hopping about in my brain;<br> + And grizzly bears rode up on mares,<br> + And then rode down again.<br> +<br> +<br> + An antediluvian roared,<br> + In the form of a Brahmin bull;<br> + And a Patagonian squeezed an onion,<br> + Filling my aching eyes full.<br> +<br> +<br> + The three blue bottles that sat<br> + Upon the historical stones<br> + Sang, "Hey diddle diddle"--two on a fiddle,<br> + The other one on the bones.<br> +<br> +<br> + "Whoo! whoo! whoo!<br> + Get up, get up, you beauty!<br> + Here come the shaved monkeys, a-ridlng on donkeys,<br> + Fresh from Bobberty Shooty."<br> +<br> +<br> + They raised me up in the air,<br> + Bed, body, and all,<br> + And carried me soon to the man in the moon,<br> + At the siege of Sebastopol.<br> +<br> +<br> + Down, down, down,<br> + Round, round, round,<br> + A whirlpool hurled me out of the world,<br> + And on, no bottom I found.<br> +<br> +<br> + Down, down, down,<br> + Whirl, whirl, whirl,<br> + And the Florentine boar was pacing the shore,<br> + His tail all out of curl.<br> +<br> +<br> + He smoked my favorite pipe,<br> + He blew a cloud of smoke,<br> + He pulled me out with his porcine snout,<br> + And hugging him, I awoke. +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Why, Dick," cried the Senator, "what precious nonsense!" +<br> +<br> +"It was intended to be so," said Dick. +<br> +<br> +"Well, but you might as well put on an _idee_. It must have some +meaning." +<br> +<br> +"Not a bit of it. It has no meaning; that is, no more than a dream +or a nightmare." +<br> +<br> +The Senator now began to discuss the nature of poetry, but was +suddenly interrupted by a shout-- +<br> +<br> +"The Temples!" +<br> +<br> +The country about Paestum is one of the most beautiful in the world. +Between the mountains and the sea lies a luxuriant plain, and in the +middle of it is the ruined city. The outlines of walls and remnants of +gates are there. Above all rise five ancient edifices. They strolled +carelessly around. The marble floors of a good many private houses +are yet visible, but the stupendous temples are the chief attractions +here; above all, the majestic shrine of Neptune. +<br> +<br> +It was while standing with head thrown back, eyes and mouth opened +wide, and thoughts all taken up with a deep calculation, that the +Senator was startled by a sudden noise. +<br> +<br> +Turning hastily he saw something that made him run with the speed of +the wind toward the place where the noise arose. Buttons and Dick were +surrounded by a crowd of fierce-looking men, who were making very +threatening demonstrations. There were at least fifteen. As the +Senator ran up from one direction, so came up Mr. Figgs and the Doctor +from another. +<br> +<br> +"What is this?" cried the Senator, bursting in upon the crowd. +<br> +<br> +A huge Italian was shaking his fist in Buttons's face, and stamping +and gesticulating violently. +<br> +<br> +"These men say we must pay five piastres each to them for strolling +about their ground, and Buttons has told this big fellow that he will +give them five kicks each. There'll be some kind of a fight. They +belong to the Camorra." Dick said all this in a hurried under-tone. +<br> +<br> +"Camorry, what's that--brigands?" +<br> +<br> +"All the same." +<br> +<br> +"They're not armed, anyhow." +<br> +<br> +Just at this moment Buttons said something which seemed to sting the +Italians to the soul, for with a wild shout they rushed forward. The +Doctor drew out his revolver. Instantly Dick snatched it from him, +and rushing forward, drove back the foremost. None of them were armed. +<br> +<br> +"Stand off!" he cried, in Italian. "The fight is between this big +fellow and my friend. If any one of you interferes I'll put a bullet +through him." +<br> +<br> +The Italians fell back cursing. Buttons instantly divested himself of +his coat, vest, and collar. The Italian waited with a grim smile. +<br> +<br> +At one end were the Senator, the Doctor, Mr. Figgs; at the other the +Italian ruffians. In the middle Buttons and his big antagonist. Near +them Dick with his pistol. +<br> +<br> +The scene that followed had better be described in Dick's own words, +as he pencilled them in his memorandum-book, from time to time, +keeping a sharp lookout with his pistol also. Afterward the +description was retouched: +<br> +<br> +<br> +_Great mill at Paestum, between E. BUTTONS, Esq., Gentleman, and +Italian party called BEPPO_. +<br> +<br> +_1st Round_.--Beppo defiant, no attitude at all. Buttons assumed an +elegant pose. Beppo made a succession of wild strokes without any +aim, which were parried without effort. After which Buttons landed +four blows, one on each peeper, one on the smeller, and one on the +mug. +<br> +<br> +_First blood for Buttons_. Beppo considerably surprised. Rushed +furiously at Buttons, arms flying everywhere, struck over Buttons's +head. Buttons lightly made obeisance, and then fired a hundred-pounder +on Beppo's left auricular, which had the effect of bringing him to the +grass. _First knock down for Buttons_. +<br> +<br> +_2nd Round_.--Foreign population quite dumbfounded. Americans amused +but not excited. One hundred to one on Buttons eagerly offered, but no +takers. Beppo jumped to his feet like a wild cat. Eyes encircled with +ebon aurioles, olfactory quite demolished. Made a rush at Buttons, +who, being a member of the Dodge Club, dodged him, and landed a +rattler on the jugular, which again sent foreign party to grass. +<br> +<br> +_3d Round_.--Nimble to the scratch. Beppo badly mashed and raving. +Buttons unscathed and laughing; Beppo more cautious made a faint +attempt to get into Buttons. No go. Tried a little sparing, which +was summarily ended by a cannonade from Buttons directly in +his countenance. +<br> +<br> +_4th Round_.--Foreigners wild. Yelling to their man to go in. Don't +understand a single one of the rules of the P.R. Very benighted. +Need missionaries. Evinced strong determination to go in themselves, +but where checked by attitude of referee, who threatened to blow out +brains of first man that interfered. Beppo's face magnified +considerably. Appearance not at all prepossessing. Much distressed but +furious. Made a bound at Buttons, who calmly, and without any apparent +effort, met him with a terrific upper cut, which made the Italian's +gigantic frame tremble like a ship under the stroke of a big wave. He +tottered, and swung his arms, trying to regain his balance, when +another annihilator most cleanly administered by Buttons laid him low. +A great tumult rose among the foreigners. Beppo lay panting with no +determination to come to the scratch. At the expiration of usual time, +opponent not appearing. Buttons was proclaimed victor. Beppo very much +mashed. Foreigners very greatly cowed. After waiting a short time +Buttons resumed his garments and walked off with his friends. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/32-illo-the-mill-at-paestum.png" alt="The Mill At Paestum."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: The Mill At Paestum.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +After the victory the travellers left Paestum on their return. +<br> +<br> +The road that turns off to Sorrento is the most beautiful in the +world. It winds along the shore with innumerable turnings, climbing +hills, descending into valleys, twining around precipices. There are +scores of the prettiest villages under the sun, ivy-covered ruins, +frowning fortresses, lofty towers, and elegant villas. +<br> +<br> +At last Sorrento smiles out from a valley which is proverbial for +beauty, where, within its shelter of hills, neither the hot blast +of midsummer nor the cold winds of winter can ever disturb its +repose. This is the valley of perpetual spring, where fruits +forever grow, and the seasons all blend together, so that the same +orchard shows trees in blossom and bearing fruit. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +ON THE WATER, WHERE BUTTONS SEES A LOST IDEA AND GIVES CHASE TO IT, +TOGETHER WITH THE HEART-SICKENING RESULTS THEREOF. +<br> +<br> +On the following morning Buttons and Dick went a little way out of +town, and down the steep cliff toward the shore. +<br> +<br> +It was a classic spot. Here was no less a place than the cave of +Polyphemus, where Homer, at least, may have stood, if Ulysses didn't. +And here is the identical stone with which the giant was wont to +block up the entrance to his cavern. +<br> +<br> +The sea rolled before. Away down to the right was Vesuvius, starting +from which the eye took in the whole wide sweep of the shore, lined +with white cities, with a background of mountains, till the land +terminated in bold promontories. +<br> +<br> +Opposite was the Isle of Capri. +<br> +<br> +Myriads of white sails flashed across the sea. One of these arrested +the attention of Buttons, and so absorbed him that he stared fixedly +at it for half an hour without moving. +<br> +<br> +At length an exclamation burst from him: +<br> +<br> +"By Jove! It is! It is!" +<br> +<br> +"What is? What is?" +<br> +<br> +"The Spaniards!" +<br> +<br> +"Where?" +<br> +<br> +"In that boat." +<br> +<br> +"Ah!" said Dick, coolly, looking at the object pointed out by +Buttons. +<br> +<br> +It was an English sail-boat, with a small cabin and an immense +sail. In the stern were a gentleman and two ladies. Buttons was +confident that they were the Spaniards. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/33-illo-the-spaniards.png" alt="The Spaniards."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: The Spaniards.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Well," said Dick, "what's the use of getting so excited about +it?" +<br> +<br> +"Why, I'm going back to Naples by water!" +<br> +<br> +"Are you? Then I'll go too. Shall we leave the others?" +<br> +<br> +"Certainly not, if they want to come with us." +<br> +<br> +Upon inquiry they found that the others had a strong objection to +going by sea. Mr. Figgs preferred the ease of the carriage. The +Doctor thought the sea air injurious. The Senator had the honesty +to confess that he was afraid of seasickness. They would not listen +to persuasion, but were all resolutely bent on keeping to the +carriage. +<br> +<br> +Buttons exhibited a feverish haste in searching after a boat. There +was but little to choose from among a crowd of odd-looking +fishing-boats that crowded the shore. However, they selected the +cleanest from among them, and soon the boat, with her broad sail +spread, was darting over the sea. +<br> +<br> +The boat of which they went in pursuit was far away over near the +other shore, taking long tacks across the bay. Buttons headed his +boat so as to meet the other on its return tack. +<br> +<br> +It was a magnificent scene. After exhausting every shore view of +Naples, there is nothing like taking to the water. Every thing +then appears in a new light. The far, winding cities that surround +the shore, the white villages, the purple Apennines, the rocky +isles, the frowning volcano. +<br> +<br> +This is what makes Naples supreme in beauty. The peculiar combinations +of scenery that are found there make rivalry impossible. For if you +find elsewhere an equally beautiful bay, you will not have so liquid +an atmosphere; if you have a shore with equal beauty of outline, and +equal grace in its long sweep of towering headland and retreating +slope, you will not have so deep a purple on the distant hills. Above +all, nowhere else on earth has Nature placed in the very centre of so +divine a scene the contrasted terrors of the black volcano. +<br> +<br> +Watching a chase is exciting; but taking part in it is much more so. +Buttons had made the most scientific arrangements. He had calculated +that at a certain point on the opposite shore the other boat would +turn on a new tack, and that if he steered to his boat to a point +about half-way over, he would meet them, without appearing to be in +pursuit. He accordingly felt so elated at the idea that he burst +forth into song. +<br> +<br> +The other boat at length had passed well over under the shadow of +the land. It did not turn. Further and further over, and still it +did not change its course. Buttons still kept the course which he +had first chosen; but finding that he was getting far out of the way +of the other boat, he was forced to turn the head of his boat +closer to the wind, and sail slowly, watching the others. +<br> +<br> +There was an island immediately ahead of the other boat. What was his +dismay at seeing it gracefully pass beyond the outer edge of the +island, turn behind it, and vanish. He struck the taffrail furiously +with his clenched hand. However, there was no help for it; so, +changing his course, he steered in a straight line after the other, +to where it had disappeared. +<br> +<br> +Now that the boat was out of sight Dick did not feel himself called +on to watch. So he went forward into the bow, and made himself a snug +berth, where he laid down; and lighting his pipe, looked dreamily out +through a cloud of smoke upon the charming scene. The tossing of the +boat and the lazy flapping of the sails had a soothing influence. His +nerves owned the lulling power. His eyelids grew heavy and gently +descended. +<br> +<br> +The wind and waves and islands and sea and sky, all mingled together +in a confused mass, came before his mind. He was sailing on clouds, +and chasing Spanish ladies through the sky. The drifting currents of +the air bore them resistlessly along in wide and never-ending curves +upward in spiral movements towards the zenith; and then off in +ever-increasing speed, with ever-widening gyrations, toward the +sunset, where the clouds grew red, and lazaroni grinned from behind-- +<br> +<br> +A sudden bang of the huge sail struck by the wind, a wild creaking +of the boom, and a smart dash of spray over the bows and into his +face waked him from his slumber. He started up, half blinded, to +look around. Buttons sat gazing over the waters with an expression +of bitter vexation. They had passed the outer point of the island, +and had caught a swift current, a chopping sea, and a brisk breeze. +The other boat was nowhere to be seen. Buttons had already headed back +again. +<br> +<br> +"I don't see the other boat," said Dick. Buttons without a word +pointed to the left. There she was. She had gone quietly around the +island, and had taken the channel between it and the shore. All the +time that she had been hidden she was steadily increasing the distance +between them. +<br> +<br> +"There's no help for it," said Dick, "but to keep straight after +them." +<br> +<br> +Buttons did not reply, but leaned back with a sweet expression of +patience. The two boats kept on in this way for a long time; but +the one in which our friends had embarked was no match at all for +the one they were pursuing. At every new tack this fact became more +painfully evident. The only hope for Buttons was to regain by his +superior nautical skill what he might lose. Those in the other boat +had but little skill in sailing. These as length became aware that +they were followed, and regarded their pursuers with earnest +attention. It did not seem to have any effect. +<br> +<br> +"They know we are after them at last!" said Dick. +<br> +<br> +"I wonder if they can recognize us?" +<br> +<br> +"If they do they have sharp eyes. I'll be hanged if I can recognize +them. I don't see how you can." +<br> +<br> +"Instinct, Dick--instinct!" said Buttons, with animation. +<br> +<br> +"What's that flashing in their boat?" +<br> +<br> +"That?" said Buttons. "It's a spy-glass. I didn't notice it before." +<br> +<br> +"I've seen it for the last half-hour." +<br> +<br> +"Then they most recognize us. How strange that they don't slacken a +little! Perhaps we are not in full view. I will sit a little more +out the shade of the sail, so that they can recognize me." +<br> +<br> +Accordingly Buttons moved out to a more conspicuous place, and Dick +allowed himself to be more visible. Again the flashing brass was seen +in the boat, and they could plainly perceive that it was passed from +one to the other, while each took a long survey. +<br> +<br> +"They must be able to see us if they have any kind of a glass at all." +<br> +<br> +"I should think so," said Buttons, dolefully. +<br> +<br> +"Are you sure they are the Spaniards?" +<br> +<br> +"Oh! quite." +<br> +<br> +"Then I must say they might be a little more civil, and not keep +us racing after them forever!" +<br> +<br> +"Oh, I don't know; I suppose they wouldn't like to sail close up +to us." +<br> +<br> +"They needn't sail up to us, but they might give us a chance to hail +them." +<br> +<br> +"I don't think the man they have with them looks like Señor Francia." +<br> +<br> +"Francia? Is that his name? He certainly looks larger. He is larger." +<br> +<br> +"Look!" +<br> +<br> +As Buttons spoke the boat ahead fell rapidly to leeward. The wind had +fallen, and a current which they had struck upon bore them away. In +the effort to escape from the current the boat headed toward Buttons, +and when the wind again arose she continued to sail toward them. As +they came nearer Buttons's face exhibited a strange variety of +expressions. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/34-illo-a-thousand-pardons.png" alt="A Thousand Pardons!"> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: A Thousand Pardons!] +<br> +<br> +<br> +They met. +<br> +<br> +In the other boat sat two English ladies and a tall gentleman, who +eyed the two young men fixedly, with a "stony British stare." +<br> +<br> +"A thousand pardons!" said Buttons, rising and bowing. "I mistook you +for some acquaintances." +<br> +<br> +Whereupon the others smiled in a friendly way, bowed, and said +something. A few commonplaces were interchanged, and the boats drifted +away out of hearing. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +THE SENATOR HAS SUCH A FANCY FOR SEEKING USEFUL INFORMATION!--CURIOUS +POSITION OF A WISE, AND WELL-KNOWN, AND DESERVEDLY-POPULAR LEGISLATOR, +AND UNDIGNIFIED MODE OF HIS ESCAPE. +<br> +<br> +<br> +It was not much after ten in the morning when Buttons and Dick +returned. On reaching the hotel they found Mr. Figgs and the Doctor, +who asked them if they had seen the Senator. To which they replied by +putting the same question to their questioners. +<br> +<br> +He had not been seen since they had all been together last. Where was +he? +<br> +<br> +Of course there was no anxiety felt about him, but still they all +wished to have him near at hand, as it was about time for them to +leave the town. The vetturino was already grumbling, and it required +a pretty strong remonstrance from Buttons to silence him. +<br> +<br> +They had nothing to do but to wait patiently. Mr. Figgs and the Doctor +lounged about the sofas. Buttons and Dick strolled about the town. +Hearing strains of music as they passed the cathedral, they turned in +there to listen to the service. Why there should be service, and full +service too, they could not imagine. +<br> +<br> +"Can it be Sunday, Dick?" said Buttons, gravely. +<br> +<br> +"Who can tell?" exclaimed Dick, lost in wonder. +<br> +<br> +The cathedral was a small one, with nave and transept as usual, and in +the Italian Gothic style. At the end of the nave stood the high altar, +which was now illuminated with wax-candles, while priests officiated +before it. At the right extremity of the transact was the organ-loft, +a somewhat unusual position; while at the opposite end of the transept +was a smaller door. The church was moderately filled. Probably there +were as many people there as it ever had. They knelt on the floor with +their faces toward the altar, Finding the nave somewhat crowded, +Buttons and Dick went around to the door at the end of the transept, +and entered there. A large space was empty as far as the junction with +the nave. Into this the two young men entered, very reverently, and on +coming near to the place where the other worshipers were they knelt +down in the midst of them. +<br> +<br> +While looking before him, with his mind full of thoughts called up by +the occasion, and while the grand music of one of Mozart's masses was +filling his soul, Buttons suddenly felt his arm twitched. He turned. +It was Dick. +<br> +<br> +Buttons was horrified. In the midst of this solemn scene the young +man was convulsed with laughter. His features were working, his lips +moving, as he tried to whisper something which his laughter prevented +him from saying, and tears were in his eyes. At last he stuck his +handkerchief in his mouth and bowed down very low, while his whole +frame shook. Some of the worshipers near by looked scandalized, +others shocked, others angry. Buttons felt vexed. At last Dick raised +his face and rolled his eyes toward the organ-loft, and instantly +bowed his head again. Buttons looked up mechanically, following the +direction of Dick's glance. The next instant he too fell forward, +tore his handkerchief out of his pocket, while his whole frame shook +with the most painful convulsion of laughter. +<br> +<br> +And how dreadful is such a convulsion in a solemn place! In a church, +amid worshipers; perhaps especially amid worshipers of another creed, +for then one is suspected of offering deliberate insult. So it was +here. People near saw the two young men, and darted angry looks at +them. +<br> +<br> +Now what was it that had so excited two young men, who were by no +means inclined to offer insult to any one, especially in religious +matters? +<br> +<br> +It was this: As they looked up to the organ-loft they saw a figure +there. +<br> +<br> +The organ projected from the wall about six feet; on the left side +was the handle worked by the man who blew it, and a space for the +choir. On the right was a small narrow space not more than about +three feet wide, and it was in this space that they saw the figure +which produced such an effect on them. +<br> +<br> +It was the Senator. He stood there erect, bare-headed of course, +with confusion in his face and vexation and bewilderment. The sight +of him was enough--the astonishing position of the man, in such a +place at such a time. But the Senator was looking eagerly for help. +And he had seen them enter, and all his soul was in his eyes, and all +his eyes were fixed on those two. +<br> +<br> +As Dick looked up startled and confounded at the sight, the Senator +projected his head as far forward as he dared, frowned, nodded, and +then began working his lips violently as certain deaf and dumb people +do, who converse by such movements, and can understand what words are +said by the shape of the mouth in uttering them. But the effect was +to make the Senator buck like a man who was making grimaces, to +wager, like those in Victor Hugo's "Notre Dame." As such the +apparition was so over-powering that neither Buttons nor Dick dared +to look up for some time. What made it worse, each was conscious that +the other was laughing, so that self-control was all the more +difficult. Worse still, each knew that this figure in the organ-loft +was watching them with his hungry glance, ready the moment that they +looked up to begin his grimaces once more. +<br> +<br> +"That poor Senator!" thought Buttons; "how did he get there? Oh, how +did he get there?" +<br> +<br> +Yet how could he be rescued? Could he be? No. He must wait till the +service should be over. +<br> +<br> +Meanwhile the young men mustered sufficient courage to look up again, +and after a mighty struggle to gaze upon the Senator for a few +seconds at a time at least. There he stood, projecting forward his +anxious face, making faces as each one looked up. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/36-illo-the-senator.png" alt="The Senator."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: The Senator.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +Now the people in the immediate vicinity of the two young men had +noticed their agitation as has already been stated, and, moreover, +they had looked up to see the cause of it. They too saw the Senator. +Others again, seeing their neighbors looking up, did the same, until +at last all in the transept were staring up at the odd-looking +stranger. +<br> +<br> +As Buttons and Dick looked up, which they could not help doing often, +the Senator would repeat his mouthings, and nods, and becks, and +looks of entreaty. The consequence was, that the people thought the +stranger was making faces at them. Three hundred and forty-seven +honest people of Sorrento thus found themselves shamefully insulted +in their own church by a barbarous foreigner, probably an Englishman, +no doubt a heretic. The other four hundred and thirty-six who knelt +in the nave knew nothing about it. They could not see the organ-loft +at all. The priests at the high altar could not see it, so that they +were uninterrupted in their duties. The singers in the organ-loft saw +nothing, for the Senator was concealed from their view. Those +therefore who saw him were the people in the transept, who now kept +staring fixedly, and with angry eyes, at the man in the loft. +<br> +<br> +There was no chance of getting him out of that before the service +was over, and Buttons saw that there might be a serious tumult when +the Senator came down among that wrathful crowd. Every moment made it +worse. Those in the nave saw the agitation of those in the transept, +and got some idea of the cause. +<br> +<br> +At last the service was ended; the singers departed, the priests +retired, but the congregation remained. Seven hundred and eighty-three +human beings waiting to take vengeance on the miscreant who had +thrown ridicule on the Holy Father by making faces at the faithful +as they knelt in prayer. Already a murmur arose on every side. +<br> +<br> +"A heretic! A heretic! A blasphemer! He has insulted us!" +<br> +<br> +Buttons saw that a bold stroke alone could save them. He burst into +the midst of the throng followed by Dick. +<br> +<br> +"Fly!" he cried. "Fly for your lives! _It is a madman_! Fly! Fly!" +<br> +<br> +A loud cry of terror arose. Instantaneous conviction flashed on the +minds of all. A madman! Yes. He could be nothing else. +<br> +<br> +A panic arose. The people recoiled from before that terrible madman. +Buttons sprang up to the loft. He seized the Senator's arm and dragged +him down. The people fled in horror. As the Senator emerged he saw +seven hundred and eighty-three good people of Sorrento scampering away +like the wind across the square in front of the cathedral. +<br> +<br> +On reaching the hotel he told his story. He had been peering about +in search of useful information, and had entered the cathedral. +After going through every part he went up into the organ-loft. Just +then the singers came. Instead of going out like a man, he dodged +them from some absurd cause or other, with a half idea that he would +get into trouble for intruding. The longer he stayed the worse it +was for him. At last he saw Buttons and Dick enter, and tried to +make signals. +<br> +<br> +"Well," said Buttons, "we had better leave. The Sorrentonians will be +around here soon to see the maniac. They will find out all about him, +and make us acquainted with Lynch law." +<br> +<br> +In a quarter of an hour more they were on their way back to Naples. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +HERCULANEUM AND POMPEII, AND ALL THAT THE SIGHT OF THOSE FAMOUS PLACES +PRODUCED ON THE MINDS OF THE DODGE CLUB. +<br> +<br> +<br> +They had already visited Herculaneum, but the only feeling which had +been awakened by the sight of that ill-fated city was one of +unmitigated disgust. As honesty was the chief characteristic of the +whole party, they did not hesitate to express themselves with the +utmost freedom on this subject. They hoped for better things from +Pompeii. At any rate Pompeii was above ground; what might be there +would be visible. No fuss with torches. No humbugging with lanterns. +No wandering through long black passages. No mountains bringing forth +mice. +<br> +<br> +Their expectations were encouraged as they walked up the street of +Tombs leading to the Herculaneum Gate. Tombs were all around, any +quantity, all sizes, little black vaults full of pigeon-holes. These +they narrowly examined, and when the guide wasn't looking they filled +their pockets with the ashes of the dead. +<br> +<br> +"Strange," quoth the Senator, musingly, "that these ancient Pompey +fellers should pick out this kind of a way of getting buried. This +must be the reason why people speak of urns and ashes when they speak +of dead people." +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/37-illo-villa-of-diomedes.png" alt="Villa Of Diomedes."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Villa Of Diomedes.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +They walked through the Villa of Diomedes. They were somewhat +disappointed. From guide-books, and especially from the remarkably +well-got-up Pompeian court at Sydenham Palace, Buttons had been led to +expect something far grander. But in this, the largest house in the +city, what did he find? Mites of rooms, in fact closets, in which even +a humble modern would find himself rather crowded. There was scarcely +a decent-sized apartment in the whole establishment, as they all +indignantly declared. The cellars were more striking. A number of +earthern vessels of enormous size were in one corner. +<br> +<br> +"What are these?" asked the Senator. +<br> +<br> +"Wine jars." +<br> +<br> +"What?" +<br> +<br> +"Wine jars. They didn't use wooden casks." +<br> +<br> +"The more fools they. Now do you mean to say that wooden casks are +not infinitely more convenient than these things that can't stand up +without they are leaned against the wall? Pho!" +<br> +<br> +At one corner the guide stopped, and pointing down, said something. +<br> +<br> +"What does he say?" asked the Senator. +<br> +<br> +"He says if you want to know how the Pompeians got choked, stoop down +and smell that. Every body who comes here is expected to smell this +particular spot, or he can't say that he has seen Pompeii." +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/38-illo-phew.png" alt="Phew!"> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Phew!] +<br> +<br> +<br> +So down went the five on their knees, and up again faster than they +went down. With one universal shout of: "Phew-w-w-w-w-h-h-h!" +<br> +<br> +It was a torrent of sulphurous vapor that they inhaled. +<br> +<br> +"Now, I suppose," said the Senator, as soon as he could speak, +"that that there comes direct in a bee-line through a subterranean +tunnel right straight from old Vesuvius." +<br> +<br> +"Yes, and it was this that suggested the famous scheme for +extinguishing the volcano." +<br> +<br> +"How? What famous scheme?" +<br> +<br> +"Why, an English stock-broker came here last year, and smelled this +place, as every one must do. An idea struck him. He started up. He ran +off without a word. He went straight to London. There he organized a +company. They propose to dig a tunnel from the sea to the interior of +the mountain. When all is ready they will let in the water. There will +be a tremendous hiss. The volcano will belch out steam for about six +weeks; but the result will be that the fires will be put out forever." +<br> +<br> +From the Villa of Diomedes they went to the gate where the guard-house +is seen. Buttons told the story of the sentinel who died there on +duty, embellishing it with a few new features of an original +character. +<br> +<br> +"Now that may be all very well," said the Senator, "but don't ask me +to admire that chap, or the Roman army, or the system. It was all +hollow. Why, don't you see the man was a blockhead? He hadn't sense +enough to see that when the whole place was going to the dogs, it was +no good stopping to guard it. He'd much better have cleared out and +saved his precious life for the good of his country. Do you suppose a +Yankee would act that way?" +<br> +<br> +"I should suppose not." +<br> +<br> +"That man, Sir, was a machine, and nothing more. A soldier must know +something else than merely obeying orders." +<br> +<br> +By this time they had passed through the gate and stood inside. The +street opened before them for a considerable distance with houses on +each side. Including the sidewalks it might have been almost twelve +feet wide. As only the lower part of the walls of the houses was +standing, the show that they made was not imposing. There was no +splendor in the architecture or the material, for the style of the +buildings was extremely simple, and they were made with brick covered +with stucco. +<br> +<br> +After wandering silently through the streets the Senator at length +burst forth: +<br> +<br> +"I say it's an enormous imposition!" +<br> +<br> +"What?" inquired Buttons, faintly. +<br> +<br> +"Why, the whole system of Cyclopedias, Panoramas, Books of Travel, +Woodbridge's Geography, Sunday-school Books--" +<br> +<br> +"What do you mean?" +<br> +<br> +"I mean the descriptions they give of this place. The fellows who +write about it get into the heroics, and what with their descriptions, +and pictures, and moralizing, you believe it is a second Babylon. It +don't seem possible for any of them to tell the truth. Why, there +isn't a single decent-sized house in the place. Oh, it's small! it's +small!" +<br> +<br> +"It certainly might be larger." +<br> +<br> +"I know," continued the Senator, with a majestic wave of his hand--"I +know that I'm expected to find this here scene very impressive; but +I'll be hanged if I'm satisfied. Why, in the name of Heaven, when they +give us pictures of the place, can't they make things of the right +size? Why, I've seen a hundred pictures of that gate. They make it +look like a triumphant arch; and now that I'm here, durn me if I can't +touch the top of it when I stand on tiptoe." +<br> +<br> +In all his walk the Senator found only one thing that pleased him. +This was the celebrated Pompeian institution of a shop under the +dwelling-house. +<br> +<br> +"Whenever I see any signs of any thing like trade among these +ancients," said he, "I respect them. And what is more satisfactory +than to see a bake-shop or an eating-saloon in the lower story of +a palace?" +<br> +<br> +Their walk was terminated by the theatre and amphitheatre. The sight +of these were more satisfactory to the Senator. +<br> +<br> +"Didn't these fellows come it uncommon strong though in the matter +of shows?" he asked, with considerable enthusiasm. "Hey? Why, +we haven't got a single travelling circus, menagerie and all, that +could come any way near to this. After all, this town might have +looked well enough when it was all bran-new and painted up. It might +have looked so then; but, by thunder! it looks any thing but that +now. What makes me mad is to see every traveller pretend to get into +raptures about it now. Raptures be hanged! I ask you, as a sensible +man, is there any thing here equal to any town of the same population +in Massachusetts?" +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/39-illo-a-street-in-pompeii.png" alt="A Street In Pompeii."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: A Street In Pompeii.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +Although the expectations which he had formed were not quite realized, +yet Buttons found much to excite interest after the first +disappointment had passed away. Dick excited the Senator's disgust +by exhibiting those, raptures which the latter had condemned. +<br> +<br> +The Doctor went by the Guide-book altogether, and regulated his +emotions accordingly. Having seen the various places enumerated there, +he wished no more. As Buttons and Dick wished to stroll further +among the houses, the other three waited for them in the amphitheatre, +where the Senator beguiled the time by giving his "idee" of an ancient +show. +<br> +<br> +It was the close of day before the party left. At the outer barrier an +official politely examined them. The result of the examination was +that the party was compelled to disgorge a number of highly +interesting souvenirs, consisting of lava, mosaic stones, ashes, +plaster, marble chips, pebbles, bricks, a bronze hinge, a piece of +bone, a small rag, a stick, etc. +<br> +<br> +The official apologized with touching politeness: "It was only a +form," he said. "Yet we must do it. For look you, Signori," and +here he shrugged up his shoulders, rolled his eyes, and puffed out +his lips in a way that was possible to none but an Italian, "were it +not thus the entire city would be carried away piecemeal!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +VESUVIUS.--WONDERFUL ASCENT OF THE CONE.--WONDERFUL DESCENT INTO THE +CRATER.--AND MOST WONDERFUL DISAPPEARANCE OF MR. FIGGS, AFTER WHOM +ALL HIS FRIENDS GO, WITH THEIR LIVES IN THEIR HANDS.--GREAT SENSATION +AMONG SPECTATORS. +<br> +<br> +<br> +To every visitor to Naples the most prominent object is Vesuvius. The +huge form of the volcano forever stands before him. The long pennon of +smoke from its crater forever floats out triumphantly in the air. Not +in the landscape only, but in all the picture-shops. In these +establishments they really seem to deal in nothing but prints and +paintings of Vesuvius. +<br> +<br> +It was a lovely morning when a carriage, filled with Americans, drew +up on an inn near the foot of the mountain. There were guides +without number waiting, like beasts of prey, to fall on them; and +all the horses of the country--a wonderful lot--an amazing lot--a +lean, cranky, raw-boned, ill-fed, wall-eyed, ill-natured, sneaking, +ungainly, half-foundered, half-starved lot; afflicted with all the +diseases that horse-flesh is heir to. There were no others, so but +little time was wasted. All were on an equal footing. To have a +preference was out of the question, so they amused themselves with +picking out the ugliest. +<br> +<br> +When the horses were first brought out Mr. Figgs looked uneasy, +and made some mysterious remarks about walking. He thought such nags +were an imposition. He vowed they could go faster on foot. On foot! +The others scouted the idea. Absurd! Perhaps he wasn't used to such +beasts. Never mind. He mustn't be proud. Mr. Figgs, however, seemed +to have reasons which were strictly private, and announced his +intention of walking. But the others would not hear of such a thing. +They insisted. They forced him to mount. This Mr. Figgs at length +accomplished, though he got up on the wrong side, and nearly pulled +his horse over backward by pulling at the curb-rein, shouting all +the time, in tones of agony, "Who-a!" +<br> +<br> +At length they all set out, and, with few interruptions, arrived at +a place half-way up the mountain called The Hermitage. Here they +rested, and leaving their horses behind, walked on over a barren +region to the foot of the cone. All around was the abomination of +desolation. Craggy rocks, huge, disjointed masses of shattered +lava-blocks, cooled off into the most grotesque shapes, mixed with +ashes, scoriae, and pumice-stones. The cone towered frowningly above +their heads. Looking up, the aspect was not enticing. A steep slope +ran up for an immense distance till it touched the smoky canopy. +<br> +<br> +On one side it was covered with loose sand, but in other places it +was all overlaid with masses of lava fragments. The undertaking +seemed prodigious. +<br> +<br> +The Senator looked up with a weary smile, but did not falter; the +Doctor thought they would not be able to get up to the top, and +proposed returning; the others declined; whereupon the Doctor +slowly sauntered back to the Hermitage. Mr. Figgs, whom the ride had +considerably shaken, expressed a desire to ascend but felt doubtful +about his wind. Dick assured him that he would find plenty when he +got to the top. The guides also came to his relief. Did he want to +go? Behold them. They had chairs to carry him up or straps to pull +him. Their straps were so made that they could envelop the traveller +and allow him to be pulled comfortably up. So Mr. Figgs gracefully +resigned himself to the guides, who in a short time had adjusted +their straps, and led him to the foot of the cone. +<br> +<br> +Now for the ascent. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/40-illo-the-ascent-of-vesuvius.png" alt="The Ascent Of Vesuvius."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: The Ascent Of Vesuvius.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +Buttons went first. Like a young chamois this youth bounded up, +leaping from rock to rock, and steering in a straight line for the +summit. Next the Senator, who mounted slowly and perseveringly, as +though he had a solemn duty to perform, and was determined to do it +thoroughly. Then came Dick. More fitful. A few steps upward: then a +rest; then a fresh start; followed by another rest. At length he sat +down about one-third of the way up and took a smoke. Behind him Mr. +Figgs toiled up, pulled by the panting guides. Three stout men in +front--two others boosting from behind. +<br> +<br> +A long description might be given of this remarkable ascent. How Mr. +Figgs aggravated the guides almost beyond endurance by mere force of +inertia. Having committed himself to them he did it thoroughly, and +not by one single act of exertion did he lessen their labor. They +pulled, pushed, and shouted; then they rested; then they rose again +to pull, to push, to shout, and to rest as before; then they implored +him in the most moving terms to do something to help them, to put +one foot before the other, to brace himself firmly--in short, to do +any thing. +<br> +<br> +In vain. Mr. Figgs didn't understand a word. He was unmovable. Then +they threatened to drop him and leave him half-way. The threat was +disregarded. Mr. Figgs sat on a stone while they rested and smiled +benignantly at them. At last, maddened by his impassibility, they +screamed at him and at one another with furious gesticulations, and +then tearing off the straps, they hurried up the slope, leaving him +on the middle of the mount to take care of himself. +<br> +<br> +It might be told how the Senator toiled up slowly but surely, never +stopping till he had gained the summit; or how Buttons, who arrived +there first, spent the time in exploring the mysteries of this +elevated region; or how Dick stopped every twenty paces to rest and +smoke; how he consumed much time and much tobacco; and how he did not +gain the summit until twenty minutes after the serene face of the +Senator had confronted the terrors of the crater. +<br> +<br> +Before these three there was a wonderful scene. Below them lay the +steep sides of the cone, a waste of hideous ruin-- +<br> +<br> +<br> + "Rocks, crags, and mounds confusedly hurled,<br> + The fragments of a ruined world." +<br> +<br> +<br> +Before them was the crater, a vast abyss, the bottom of which was +hidden from sight by dense clouds of sulphurous smoke which forever +ascended. Far away on the other side rose the opposite wall of +abyss--black, rocky cliffs that rose precipitously upward. The side +on which they stood sloped down at a steep angle for a few hundred +feet, and then went abruptly downward. A mighty wind was blowing +and carried all the smoke away to the opposite side of the crater, +so that by getting down into the shelter of a rock they were quite +comfortable. +<br> +<br> +The view of the country that lay beneath was superb. There lay +Naples with its suburbs, extending for miles along the shore, with +Portici, Castellamare, and the vale of Sorrento. There rose the hills +of Baiae, the rock of Ischia, and the Isle of Capri. There lay +countless vineyards, fields forever green, groves of orange and +fig-trees, clusters of palms and cypresses. Mountains ascended all +around, with many heights crowned with castles or villages. There lay +the glorious Bay of Naples, the type of perfect beauty. Hundreds of +white sails dotted the intense blue of its surface. Ships were +there at anchor, and in full sail. Over all was a sky such as is +seen only in Italy, with a depth of blue, which, when seen in +paintings, seems to the inexperienced eye like an exaggeration. +<br> +<br> +The guides drew their attention from all this beauty to a solid fact. +This was the cooking of an egg by merely burying it in the hot sand +for a few minutes. +<br> +<br> +Buttons now proposed to go down into the crater. The guides looked +aghast. +<br> +<br> +"Why not?" +<br> +<br> +"Impossible, Signor. It's death." +<br> +<br> +"Death? Nonsense! come along and show us the way." +<br> +<br> +"The way? There is no way. No one ever dares to go down. Where can +we go to? Do you not see that beyond that point where the rock +projects it is all a precipice?" +<br> +<br> +"That point? Well, that is the very spot I wish to go to. Come +along." +<br> +<br> +"Never, Signor." +<br> +<br> +"Then I'll go." +<br> +<br> +"Don't. For the sake of Heaven, and in the name of the most Holy +Mother, of St. Peter in chains, of all the blessed Apostles and +Martyrs, the glorious Saints and--" +<br> +<br> +"Blessed Botheration," cried Buttons, abruptly turning his back +and preparing to descend. +<br> +<br> +"Are you in earnest, Buttons?" asked Dick. "Are you really going +down?" +<br> +<br> +"Certainly." +<br> +<br> +"Oh, then I'll go too." +<br> +<br> +Upon this the others warned, rebuked, threatened, remonstrated, +and begged. In vain. The Senator interposed the authority of years +and wisdom. But to no purpose. With much anxiety he sat on the edge +of the crater, looking for the result and expecting a tragedy. +<br> +<br> +The slope down which they ventured was covered with loose sand. At +each step the treacherous soil slid beneath them. It was a mad and +highly reprehensible undertaking. Nevertheless down they went--further +and further. The kind heart of the Senator felt a pang at every step. +His voice sounded mournfully through the rolling smoke that burst +through a million crevices, and at times hid the adventurers from +view. But down they went. Sometimes they slid fearfully. Then they +would wait and cautiously look around. Sometimes the vapors covered +them with such dense folds that they had to cover their faces. +<br> +<br> +"If they ain't dashed to pieces they'll be suffocated--sure!" cried +the Senator, starting up, and unable to control his feelings. "I can't +stand this," he muttered, and he too stepped down. +<br> +<br> +The guides looked on in horror. "Your blood will be on your own +heads!" they cried. +<br> +<br> +As the Senator descended the smoke entered his eyes, month, and +nostrils, making him cough and sneeze fearfully. The sand slid; the +heat under the surface pained his feet; every step made it worse. +However, he kept on bravely. At length he reached the spot where the +others were standing. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/42-illo-the-descent-of-vesuvius.png" alt="The Descent Of Vesuvius."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: The Descent Of Vesuvius.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +At the foot of the declivity was an angular rock which jutted out +for about twelve feet. It was about six feet wide. Its sides went +down precipitously. The Senator walked painfully to where they were +standing. It was a fearful scene. All around arose the sides of +the crater, black and rocky, perpendicular on all sides, except +the small slope down which they had just descended--a vast and +gloomy circumference. But the most terrific sight lay beneath. +<br> +<br> +The sides of the crater went sheer down to a great depth enclosing +a black abyss which in the first excitement of the scene the +startled fancy might well imagine extending to the bowels of the +earth from which there came rolling up vast clouds dense black +sulphurous which at times completely encircled them shutting out +every thing from view filling eyes nose mouth with fumes of +brimstone forcing them to hold the tails of their coats or +the skirts it's all the same over their faces so as not to be +altogether suffocated while again after a while a fierce blast +of wind driving downward would hurl the smoke away and dashing it +against the other side of the crater gather it up in dense volumes +of blackest smoke in thick clouds which rolled up the flinty cliffs +and reaching the summit bounded fiercely out into the sky to pass +on and be seen from afar as that dread pennant of Vesuvius which is +the sign and symbol of its mastery over the earth around it and the +inhabitants thereof ever changing and in all its changes watched with +awe by fearful men who read in those changes their own fate now +taking heart as they see it more tenuous in its consistency anon +shuddering as they see it gathering in denser folds and finally +awe-stricken and all overcome as they see the thick black cloud rise +proudly up to heaven in a long straight column at whose upper +termination the colossal pillar spreads itself out and shows to the +startled gaze the dread symbol of the cypress tree the herald of +earthquakes eruptions and-- +<br> +<br> +--There--I flatter myself that in the way of description it would not +be easy to beat the above. I just throw it off as my friend Tit-marsh, +poor fellow, once said, to show what I could do if I tried. I have +decided not to put punctuation marks there, but rather to let each +reader supply them for himself. They are often in the way, +particularly to the writer, when he has to stop in the full flow +of a description and insert them-- +<br> +<br> +But-- +<br> +<br> +We left our friends down in the crater of Vesuvius. Of course they +hurried out as soon as they could, and mounting the treacherous steep +they soon regained the summit, where the guides had stood bawling +piteously all the time. +<br> +<br> +Then came the descent. It was not over the lava blocks, but in +another place, which was covered with loose sliding sand. Away they +started. +<br> +<br> +Buttons ahead, went with immense strides down the slope. At every +step the sliding sand carried him about ten feet further, so that +each step was equal to about twenty feet. It was like flying. But it +was attended by so many falls that the descent of Buttons and Dick +was accomplished as much by sliding and rolling as by walking. +<br> +<br> +The Senator was more cautious. Having fallen once or twice, he tried +to correct this tendency by walking backward. Whenever he found +himself falling he would let himself go, and thus, on his hands and +knees, would let himself slide for a considerable distance. This plan +gave him immense satisfaction. +<br> +<br> +"It's quite like coasting," said he, after he had reached the bottom; +"only it does come a little hard on the trowsers." +<br> +<br> +On their arrival at the Hermitage to their surprise they saw nothing +of Mr. Figgs. The Doctor had been sleeping all the time, but the +landlord said he had not been that way. As they knew that the +neighborhood of Vesuvius was not always the safest in the world, they +all went back at once to search after him. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/43-illo-wheres-figgs.png" alt="Where's Figgs?"> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Where's Figgs?] +<br> +<br> +<br> +Arriving at the foot of the cone they went everywhere shouting his +name. There was no response. They skirted the base of the cone. They +walked up to where he had been. They saw nothing. The guides who had +thus far been with them now said they had to go. So they received +their pay and departed. +<br> +<br> +"Of all the mean, useless, chicken-hearted dolts that ever I see," +said the Senator, "they are the wust!" +<br> +<br> +But meanwhile there was no Figgs. They began to feel anxious. At last +Buttons, who had been up to where Mr. Figgs was left, thought he saw +traces of footsteps in the sand that was nearest. He followed these +for some time, and at last shouted to the others. The others went to +where he was. They saw an Italian with him--an ill-looking, low-browed +rascal, with villain stamped on every feature. +<br> +<br> +"This fellow says he saw a man who answers the description of Figgs go +over in that direction," said Buttons, pointing toward the part of the +mountain which is furthest from the sea. +<br> +<br> +"There? What for?" +<br> +<br> +"I don't know." +<br> +<br> +"Is there any danger?" +<br> +<br> +"I think so--Figgs may have had to go--who knows?" +<br> +<br> +"Well," said the Senator, "we must go after him." +<br> +<br> +"What arms have you?" said the Doctor. "Don't show it before this +rascal." +<br> +<br> +"I have a bowie-knife," said Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"So have I," said Dick. +<br> +<br> +"And I," said the Senator, "am sorry to say that I have nothing at +all." +<br> +<br> +"Well, I suppose we must go," said the Doctor. "My revolver is +something. It is a double revolver, of peculiar shape." +<br> +<br> +Without any other thought they at once prepared to venture into a +district that for all they knew might swarm with robbers. They had +only one thought, and that was to save Figgs. +<br> +<br> +"Can this man lead us?" asked Dick. +<br> +<br> +"He says he can take us along where he saw Figgs go, and perhaps we +may see some people who can tell us about him." +<br> +<br> +"Perhaps we can," said the Senator, grimly. +<br> +<br> +They then started off with the Italian at their head. The sun was by +this time within an hour's distance from the horizon, and they had no +time to lose. So they walked rapidly. Soon they entered among hills +and rocks of lava, where the desolation of the surrounding country +began to be modified by vegetation. It was quite difficult to keep +their reckoning, so as to know in what direction they were going, but +they kept on nevertheless. +<br> +<br> +All of them knew that the errand was a dangerous one. All of them knew +that it would be better if they were armed. But no one said any thing +of the kind. In fact, they felt such confidence in their own pluck and +resolution that they had no doubt of success. +<br> +<br> +At length they came to a place where trees were on each side of the +rough path. At an opening here three men stood. Buttons at once +accosted them and told his errand. They looked at the Americans +with a sinister smile. +<br> +<br> +"Don't be afraid of us," said Buttons, quietly. "We're armed with +revolvers, but we won't hurt you. Just show us where our friend is, +for we're afraid he has lost his way." +<br> +<br> +At this strange salutation the Italians looked puzzled. They looked +at their guns, and then at the Americans. Two or three other men +came out from the woods at the same time, and stood in their rear. +At length as many as ten men stood around them. +<br> +<br> +"What are you staring at?" said Buttons again. "You needn't look so +frightened. Americans only use their revolvers against thieves." +<br> +<br> +The Doctor at this, apparently by accident, took out his revolver. +Standing a little on one side, he fired at a large crow on the top +of a tree. The bird fell dead. He then fired five other shots just +by way of amusement, laughing all the time with the Senator. +<br> +<br> +"You see," said he--"ha, ha--we're in a fix--ha, ha--and I want to +show them what a revolver is?" +<br> +<br> +"But you're wasting all your shot." +<br> +<br> +"Not a bit of it. See?" And saying this he drew a second chamber +from his pocket, and taking the first out of the pistol inserted +the other. He then fired another shot. All this was the work of a +few moments. He then took some cartridges and filled the spare +chamber once more. +<br> +<br> +The Italians looked on this display in great astonishment, +exchanging significant glances, particularly when the Doctor +changed the chambers. The Americans, on the contrary, took good care +to manifest complete indifference. The Italians evidently thought +they were all armed like the Doctor. Naturally enough, too, for if +not, why should they venture here and talk so loftily to them? So +they were puzzled, and in doubt. After a time one who appeared to +be their leader stepped aside with two or three of the men, and +talked in a low voice, after which he came to Buttons and said: +<br> +<br> +"Come, then, and we will show you." +<br> +<br> +"Go on." +<br> +<br> +The Captain beckoned to his men. Six of them went to the rear. +Buttons saw the manoeuvre, and burst into roars of laughter. The +Italians looked more puzzled than ever. +<br> +<br> +"Is that to keep us from getting away?" he cried--"ha, ha, ha, +ha, ha! Well, well!" +<br> +<br> +"He's putting a guard behind us. Laugh like fury, boys," said Buttons, +in English. +<br> +<br> +Whereupon they all roared, the tremendous laughter of the Senator +coming in with fearful effect. +<br> +<br> +"There's nothing to laugh at," said the man who appeared to be +Captain, very sulkily. +<br> +<br> +"It's evident that you Italians don't understand late improvements," +said Buttons. "But come, hurry on." +<br> +<br> +The Captain turned and walked ahead sullenly. +<br> +<br> +"It's all very well to laugh," said the Doctor, in a cheerful tone; +"but suppose those devils behind us shoot us." +<br> +<br> +"I think if they intended to do that the Captain would not walk in +front. No, they want to take us alive, and make us pay a heavy +ransom." +<br> +<br> +After this the Club kept up an incessant chatter. They talked over +their situation, but could as yet decide upon nothing. It grew dark +at length. The sun went down. The usual rapid twilight came on. +<br> +<br> +"Dick," said the Doctor, "when it gets dark enough I'll give you my +pistol, so that you may show off with it as if it were yours." +<br> +<br> +"All right, my son," said Dick. Shortly after, when it was quite +dark, the Doctor slipped the pistol into the side-pocket of Dick's +coat. At length a light appeared before them. It was an old ruin +which stood upon an eminence. Where they were not a soul of them +could tell. Dick declared that he smelt salt water. +<br> +<br> +The light which they saw came from the broken windows of a +dilapidated hall belonging to the building. They went up some +crumbling steps, and the Captain gave a peculiar knock at the door. +A woman opened it. A bright light streamed out. Dick paused for a +moment, and took the Doctor's pistol, from his pocket. He held it up +and pretended to arrange the chamber. Then he carelessly put it in +his pocket again. +<br> +<br> +"You haven't bound them?" said the woman who opened the door to +the Captain. +<br> +<br> +"Meaning us, my joy?" said Buttons, in Italian. "Not just yet, I +believe, and not for some time. But how do you all do?" +<br> +<br> +The woman stared hard at Buttons, and then at the Captain. There +were eight or ten women here. It was a large hall, the roof still +entire, but with the plaster all gone. A bright fire burned at one +end. Torches burned around. On a stool near the fire was a familiar +form--a portly, well-fed form--with a merry face--a twinkle in his +eye--a pipe in his mouth--calmly smoking--apparently quite at home +though his feet were tied--in short, Mr. Figgs. +<br> +<br> +"Figgs, my boy!" +<br> +<br> +One universal shout and the Club surrounded their companion. In an +instant Buttons cut his bonds. +<br> +<br> +"Bless you--bless you, my children!" cried Figgs. "But how the +(Principal of Evil) did you get here? These are brigands. I've just +been calculating how heavy a bill I would have to foot." +<br> +<br> +The brigands saw the release of Figgs, and stood looking gloomily at +the singular prisoners, not quite knowing whether they were prisoners +or not, not knowing what to do. Each member of the Club took the most +comfortable seat he could find near the fire, and began talking +vehemently. Suddenly Buttons jumped up. +<br> +<br> +"A thousand pardons--I really forgot that there were ladies present. +Will you not sit here and give us the honor of your company?" +<br> +<br> +He made a profound bow and looked at several of them. They looked +puzzled, then pleased; then they all began to titter. +<br> +<br> +"Signor makes himself very much at home," said one, at length. +<br> +<br> +"And where could there be a pleasanter place? This old hall, this +jolly old fire, and this delightful company!" +<br> +<br> +Another bow. The Captain looked very sullen still. He was evidently +in deep perplexity. +<br> +<br> +"Come, cheer up there!" said Buttons. "We won't do you any harm; +we won't even complain to the authorities that we found our friend +here. Cheer up! Have you any thing to eat, most noble Captain?" +<br> +<br> +The Captain turned away. +<br> +<br> +Meanwhile Figgs had told the story of his capture. After resting +for a while on the slope he prepared to descend, but seeing sand +further away he went over toward it and descended there. Finding it +very dangerous or difficult to go down straight he made the +descent obliquely, so that when he reached the foot of the cone +he was far away from the point at which he had started to make +the ascent. Arriving there, he sat down to rest after his exertions. +Some men came toward him, but he did not think much about it. +Suddenly, before he knew what was up, he found himself a prisoner. +He had a weary march, and was just getting comfortable as they +came in. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/45-illo-mr-figgs.png" alt="Mr Figgs."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Mr Figgs.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +As they sat round the fire they found it very comfortable. Like +many evenings in Italy, it was damp and quite chilly. They laughed +and talked, and appeared to be any thing but captives in a +robber's hold. The Captain had been out for some time, and at +length returned. He was now very cheerful. He came laughingly up +to the fire. +<br> +<br> +"Well, Signori Americani, what do you think of your +accommodation?" +<br> +<br> +"Delightful! Charming!" cried Buttons and Dick. +<br> +<br> +"If the ladies would only deign to smile on us--" +<br> +<br> +"Aha! You are a great man for the ladies," said the Captain. +<br> +<br> +"Who is not?" said Buttons, sententiously. +<br> +<br> +After a few pleasant words the Captain left again. +<br> +<br> +"He has some scheme in his villainous head," said Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"To drug us," said the Doctor. +<br> +<br> +"To send for others," said Dick. +<br> +<br> +"To wait till we sleep, and then fall on us," said Mr. Figgs. +<br> +<br> +"Well, gentlemen," said the Senator, drawing himself up, "we're +more than a match for them. Why, what are these brigands? Is there +a man of them who isn't a poor, miserable, cowardly cuss? Not one. +If we are captured by such as these we deserve to be captives all +our lives." +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/46-illo-the-ladies.png" alt="The Ladies."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: The Ladies.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +"If we don't get off soon we'll have a good round sum to pay," said +Mr. Figgs. +<br> +<br> +"And that I object to," said Buttons; "for I promised my Governor +solemnly that I wouldn't spend more than a certain sum in Europe, +and I won't." +<br> +<br> +"For my part," said the Doctor, "I can't afford it." +<br> +<br> +"And I would rather use the amount which they would ask in some +other way," said Dick. +<br> +<br> +"That's it, boys! You're plucky. Go in! We'll fix their flints. The +American eagle is soaring, gentlemen--let him ascend to the zenith. +Go it! But mind now--don't be too hasty. Let's wait for a time to +see further developments." +<br> +<br> +"Richard, my boy, will you occupy the time by singing a hymn?" +continued the Senator. "I see a guitar there." +<br> +<br> +Dick quietly got up, took the guitar, and, tuning it, began to sing. +The brigands were still in a state of wonder. The women looked shy. +Most of the spectators, however, were grinning at the eccentric +Americans. Dick played and sang a great quantity of songs, all of a +comic character. +<br> +<br> +The Italians were fond of music, of course. Dick had a good voice. +Most of his songs had choruses, and the whole Club joined in. The +Italians admired most the nigger songs. "Oh, Susannah!" was greeted +with great applause. So was "Doo-dah;" and the Italians themselves +joined energetically in the chorus. But the song that they loved best +was "Ole Virginny Shore." This they called for over and over, and as +they had quick ears they readily caught the tune; so that, finally, +when Dick, at their earnest request, sang it for the seventh time, +they whistled the air all through, and joined in with a thundering +chorus. The Captain came in at the midst of it, and listened with +great delight. After Dick had laid down his instrument he approached +the Americans. +<br> +<br> +"Well, ole hoss," said the Senator, "won't you take an arm-chair?" +<br> +<br> +"What is it?" said the Captain to Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"He wants to know if your Excellency will honor him by sitting near +him." +<br> +<br> +The Captain's eye sparkled. Evidently it met his wishes. The Americans +saw his delight. +<br> +<br> +"I should feel honored by sitting beside the illustrious stranger," +said he. "It was what I came to ask. And will you allow the rest of +these noble gentlemen to sit here and participate in your amusement?" +<br> +<br> +"The very thing," said Buttons, "which we have been trying to get them +to do, but they won't. Now we are as anxious as ever, but still more +anxious for the ladies." +<br> +<br> +"Oh, the ladies!" said the Captain; "they are timid." +<br> +<br> +Saying this he made a gesture, and five of his men came up. The whole +six then sat with the five Americans. The Senator insisted that the +Captain should sit by his side. Yet it was singular. Each one of the +men still kept his gun. No notice was taken of this, however. The +policy of the Americans was to go in for utter jollity. They sat thus: +<br> +<br> +<br> +The Captain.<br> + The Senator.<br> +Bandit Number 1.<br> + Mr. Figgs.<br> +Bandit Number 2.<br> + The Doctor.<br> +Bandit Number 3.<br> + Dick.<br> +Bandit Number 4.<br> + Buttons.<br> +Bandit Number 5. +<br> +<br> +<br> +Five members of the Club. Six bandits. In addition to these, four +others stood armed at the door. The women were at a distance. +<br> +<br> +But the sequel must be left to another chapter. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +MAGNIFICENT ATTITUDE OF THE SENATOR; BRILLIANCY OF BUTTONS; AND PLUCK +OF THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE CLUB: BY ALL OF WHICH THE GREATEST EFFECTS +ARE PRODUCED. +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Boys," said the Senator, assuming a gay tone, "it's evident these +rascals have planned this arrangement to attack us; but I've got a +plan by which we can turn the tables. Now laugh, all of you." A roar +of laughter arose. "I'll tell it in a minute. Whenever I stop, you +all laugh, so that they may not think that we are plotting." Another +roar of laughter. "Buttons, talk Italian as hard as you can; pretend +to translate what I am saying; make up something funny, so as to get +them laughing; but take good care to listen to what I say." +<br> +<br> +"All right," said Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!" said the others. +<br> +<br> +Now the Senator began to divulge his plan, and Buttons began to +talk Italian, pretending to translate what the Senator said. To do +this required much quickness, and a vivid imagination, with a sense +of the ridiculous, and many other qualities too numerous to mention. +Fortunately Buttons had all these, or else the Club would not have +acted precisely as it did act; and perhaps it might not have been +able to move along in the capacity of a Club any longer, in which +case it would, of course, have had no further adventures; and then +this history would not have been written; and whether the world +would have been better off or worse is more than I can say, +I'm sure. +<br> +<br> +<br> +[What the Senator said.] +<br> +<br> +"Boys, look at these devils, one on each side of us. They have +arranged some signal, and when it is given they will spring at us. +Look sharp for your lives, and be ready to do what I say. Buttons, +listen, and when you don't hear look at me, and I'll repeat it." +<br> +<br> +[_Club_.--"Ha! hal ha! ha! ha!"] +<br> +<br> +<br> +[What Buttons said he said.] +<br> +<br> +"He says, most noble Captain, and gentlemen, that he is desperately +hungry; that he can't get what he wants to eat. He generally eats +dried snakes, and the supply he brought from the Great American +desert is exhausted; he wants more, and will have it." +<br> +<br> +[Sensation among bandits.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +[What the Senator said.] +<br> +<br> +"My idea is to turn the tables on these varmints. They put themselves +in our power. What they have arranged for themselves will do for us +just as well as if we planned it all. In fact, if we had tried we +could not have adjusted the present company better." +<br> +<br> +[_Club_.--"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!"] +<br> +<br> +<br> +[What Buttons said he said.] +<br> +<br> +"He says he wouldn't have come out here to-day, but had a little +difficulty just before he joined our party. He was landing from +the American ship of war, and on stepping on shore a man trod on +his foot, whereupon he put him into the water, and held him there +till he was drowned." +<br> +<br> +[Bandits looking more respectfully.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +[What the Senator said.] +<br> +<br> +"Listen now, Buttons. We will arrange a signal, and at a certain word +we will fall on our neighbors and do with them as they propose doing +with us. But first let us arrange carefully about the signal; for +every thing depends on that." +<br> +<br> +[_Club_--"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!"] +<br> +<br> +<br> +[What Buttons said he said.] +<br> +<br> +"It makes him feel amused, he says, when he thinks how odd that +guide looked at him when he made him go down into the crater of +Vesuvius; gave him five minutes to say his prayers, and then lifted +him up in the air and pitched him down to the bottom. He thinks +he is falling still." +<br> +<br> +[Bandits exchange glances.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +[What the Senator said.] +<br> +<br> +"First, we must keep up our uproar and merriment to as great an +extent as we can, but not very long. Let it be wild, mad, boisterous, +but short. It will distract these vagabonds, and throw them off their +guard. The first thing on the programme, then, is merriment. Laugh as +loud and long as you can." +<br> +<br> +[_Club_.--"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!"] +<br> +<br> +<br> +[What Buttons said he said.] +<br> +<br> +"He doesn't know but what he'll have a little trouble about a +priest he killed last night. He was in a church, and was walking +about whistling, when a priest came up and ordered him out; +whereupon he drew his revolver, and put all six of the bullets in +the priest's head." +<br> +<br> +[Bandits cross themselves, and look serious.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/47-illo-the-bandits-captured.png" alt="The Bandits Captured."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: The Bandits Captured.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +[What the Senator said.] +<br> +<br> +"The next thing is, to have some singing. They seem to like our +glorious national songs. Give them some of them. Let the first one +be 'Old Virginny.'" +<br> +<br> +[_Club_.--"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!"] +<br> +<br> +<br> +[What Buttons said he said.] +<br> +<br> +"He heard that the priest was not dead. As he always makes sure +work, he intends to look in the morning, and if he's alive, he'll +cut his throat, and make all his attendants dance to the tune of +'Old Virginny.'" +<br> +<br> +<br> +Buttons had to work on that word "Old Virginny," for the quick ears +of the Italians had caught it. Bandits cross themselves again. +<br> +<br> +_Captain_.--"I don't believe a word of it. It's impossible." +<br> +<br> +Bandit No. 6.--"He looks like it, any way." +<br> +<br> +In fact, the Senator did look like it. His hair tinged to an +unnatural hue by the sulphur of Vesuvius, his square, determined +jaw, his heavy, overhanging brow, marked him as one who was capable +of any desperate enterprise. +<br> +<br> +<br> +[What the Senator said.] +<br> +<br> +"Next and last, Dick, you are to sing 'Yankee Doodle.' You know +the words about 'coming to town riding on a pony.' You know that +verse ends with an Italian word. I am particular about this, for +you might sing the wrong verse. Do you understand, all of you? If +so, wink your eyes twice." +<br> +<br> +[The Club all winked twice. Then, as usual: +"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!"] +<br> +<br> +<br> +[What Buttons said he said.] +<br> +<br> +"He says there is no danger for him, however, for foreigners are +in terror of the tune of 'Yankee Doodle.' If he were arrested by +the Government, the American Admiral would at once send ashore a +file of marines with an 'ultimatum,' a 'Columbiad,' a 'spanker +boom,' a 'Webster's Unabridged,' and a 'brachycatalectic,' to demand +his surrender at the cannon's mouth." +<br> +<br> +[Great sensation among the bandits at the formidable arms of +American marines.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +[What the Senator said.] +<br> +<br> +"Look at me. There are six. I will take two; each of you take +one--the man on your right, remember. As Dick, in singing, comes +to that word, each of you go at your man. Buttons, you hear, of +course." +<br> +<br> +[_Club_.--"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!"] +<br> +<br> +<br> +[What Buttons said he said.] +<br> +<br> +"They think in town that he is the Devil, because he has killed +seven men in duels since he came, and has never been wounded. People +don't know the great American invention, worn next the skin, which +makes the body impervious to bullets." +<br> +<br> +[_Captain_, sneering.--"I don't believe it." +<br> +<br> +Bandit No. 3.--"I don't know. They invented the revolver. If only I +had one."] +<br> +<br> +<br> +[What the Senator said.] +<br> +<br> +"Boys, arrange to your minds what to do. Grab the gun, and put +your man down backward. I'm almost ashamed of the game, it's so +easy. Look at these boobies by me. They are like children. No +muscle. The fellows at the end won't dare to shoot for fear of +wounding their own man." +<br> +<br> +[_Club_.--"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!"] +<br> +<br> +<br> +[What Buttons said he said.] +<br> +<br> +"He's made up his mind to go and take part in the war in Lombardy. +He will raise a band of Americans, all clothed in the great shot-proof +shirt, and armed with revolvers like ours, that shoot twelve times, +and have bullets like bomb-shells, that burst inside of a man and +blow him to pieces." +<br> +<br> +_Captain_, coldly,--"That crow didn't blow up." +<br> +<br> +_Buttons_.--"Oh yes it did. It was dark, and you didn't notice. +Go get it to-morrow, examine it, and you will find traces of the +exploded shell." +<br> +<br> +_Bandit No. 4_.--"Santa Maria! What lies this giant tells his friends! +and they all laugh. They don't believe him." +<br> +<br> +_Bandit No. 3_. "Well, that revolver is enough for me; and they all +have them." +<br> +<br> +The above conversation was all carried on very rapidly, and did not +take up much time. +<br> +<br> +At once the Club proceeded to carry out the Senator's plan. First +they talked nonsense, and roared and laughed, and perfected their +plan, and thus passed about ten minutes. Then Buttons asked the +Italians if they wished more music. +<br> +<br> +"Answer, gallant Captain of these Kings of the Road. Will you hear +our foreign songs?" +<br> +<br> +"Most gladly," said the gallant Captain. "There will yet be time +before we get our supper." +<br> +<br> +A sinister gleam in his eye as he said this about the supper did not +escape the notice of Buttons. Thereupon he handed the guitar to Dick, +and the latter began to sing once more the strains of "Ole Virginny." +The Italians showed the same delight, and joined in a roaring chorus. +Even the men by the door stood yelling or whistling as Dick sang. +<br> +<br> +Lastly, Dick struck up the final song. The hour had come! +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Yankee Doodle came to town<br> + To buy himself a pony,<br> +Stuck a feather in his hat<br> + And called it--_Maccaroni_!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +As the song began each man had quietly braced himself for one grand +effort. At the sound of the last word the effect was tremendous. +<br> +<br> +The Senator threw his mighty arms round the Captain and the other +bandit. They were both small men, as indeed Italians are generally, +and beside his colossal frame they were like boys to a grown man. He +held them as if a vice, and grasping their hands, twisted them back +till their guns fell from their grasp. As he hurled the affrighted +ruffians to the floor, the guns crashed on the stone pavement, one +of them exploding in its fall. He then by sheer strength jerked the +Captain over on his face, and threw the other man on him face +downward. This done he sat on them, and turned to see what the others +were doing. +<br> +<br> +Buttons had darted at No. 5 who was on his right, seized his gun and +thrown him backward. He was holding him down now while the fellow was +roaring for help. +<br> +<br> +Dick had done about the same thing, but had not yet obtained +possession of the gun. He was holding the Doctor's pistol to the +bandit's head, and telling him in choice Italian to drop his gun, or +he would send him out of the world with twelve bullets. +<br> +<br> +The Doctor was all right. He was calmly seated on Bandit No. 3, with +one hand holding the bandit's gun pointed toward the door, and the +other grasping the ruffian's throat in a death like clutch. The man's +face was black, and he did not move. +<br> +<br> +Mr. Figgs had not been so successful. Being fat, he had not been +quick enough. He was holding the bandit's gun, and aiming blows at +his face. +<br> +<br> +"Doctor," said the Senator, "your man's all right. Give it to Figgs's +man." +<br> +<br> +The Doctor sprang up, seized Figgs's man by throat, just as he +staggered back, and brought him down. +<br> +<br> +The whole thing had been done in an incredibly short time. The +robbers had been taken by complete surprise. In strength they were +far inferior to their assailants. Attacked as they were so +unexpectedly the success of the Americans was not very wonderful. +The uproar was tremendous. The women were most noisy. At first all +were paralyzed. Then wild shrieks rang through the hall. They yelled, +they shouted, they wrung their hands. +<br> +<br> +The four bandits at the end of the hall stood for a moment +horror-struck. Then they raised their guns. But they dared not fire. +They might shoot their own men. Suddenly Dick, who had got the gun +which he wished, looked at the door, and seeing the guns levelled +he fired the revolver. A loud scream followed. One of the men fell. +The women rushed to take care of him. The other three ran off. +<br> +<br> +"Doctor," said the Senator, "have you a rope? Tie that man's hands +behind him." +<br> +<br> +The Doctor took his handkerchief, twisted it, and tied the man's +hands as neatly and as firmly as though they were in handcuffs. He +then went to Buttons, got a handkerchief from him, and tied up his +man in the same way. Then Dick's man was bound. At that moment a +bullet fired through one of the windows grazed the head of Mr. Figgs. +<br> +<br> +"Dick," said the Senator, "go out and keep guard." +<br> +<br> +Dick at once obeyed. The women screamed and ran as he came along. +<br> +<br> +Then the two men whom the Senator had captured were bound. After a +while some pieces of rope and leather straps were found by Buttons. +With these all the bandits were secured more firmly. The men whom the +Senator had captured were almost lifeless from the tremendous weight +of his manly form. They made their captives squat down in one corner, +while the others possessed themselves of their guns and watched them. +The wretches looked frightened out of their wits. They were +Neapolitans and peasants, weak, feeble, nerveless. +<br> +<br> +"It's nothing to boast of," said the Senator, contemptuously, as he +looked at the slight figures. "They're a poor lot--small, no muscle, +no spirit, no nothing." +<br> +<br> +The poor wretches now began to whine and cry. +<br> +<br> +"Oh, Signore," they cried, appealing to Buttons. "Spare our lives!" +<br> +<br> +At that the whole crowd of women came moaning and screaming. +<br> +<br> +"Back!" said Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"Oh, Signori, for the sake of Heaven spare them, spare our husbands!" +<br> +<br> +"Back, all of you! We won't hurt any one if you all keep quiet." +<br> +<br> +The women went sobbing back again. The Doctor then went to look at +the wounded man by the door. The fellow was trembling and weeping. +All Italians weep easily. +<br> +<br> +The Doctor examined him and found it was only a flesh wound. The +women were full of gratitude as the Doctor bound up his arm after +probing the wound, and lifted the man on a rude couch. From time to +time Dick would look in at the door to see how things were going on. +The field was won. +<br> +<br> +"Well," said the Senator, "the other three have probably run for it. +They may bring others back. At any rate we had better hurry off. We +are armed now, and can be safe. But what ought we to do with these +fellows?" +<br> +<br> +"Nothing," said Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"Nothing?" +<br> +<br> +"No. They probably belong to the 'Camorra,' a sort of legalized +brigandage, and if had them all put in prison they would be let +out the next day." +<br> +<br> +"Well, I must say I'd rather not. They're a mean lot, but I don't +wish them any harm. Suppose we make them take us out to the road +within sight of the city, and then let them go?" +<br> +<br> +"Well." +<br> +<br> +The others all agreed to this. +<br> +<br> +"We had better start at once then." +<br> +<br> +"For my part," said Mr. Figgs, "I think we had much better get +some thing to eat before we go--" +<br> +<br> +"Pooh! We can get a good dinner in Naples. We may have the whole +country around us if we wait, and though I don't care for myself, +yet I wouldn't like to see one of you fall, boys." +<br> +<br> +So it was decided to go at once. One man still was senseless. He was +left to the care of the women after being resuscitated by the Doctor. +The Captain and four bandits were taken away. +<br> +<br> +"Attend," said Buttons, sternly. "You must show us the nearest way +to Naples. If you deceive us you die. If you show us our way we may +perhaps let you go." +<br> +<br> +The women all crowded around their husbands, screaming and yelling. In +Vain. Buttons told them there was no danger. At last he said-- +<br> +<br> +"You come along too, and make them show us the way. You will then +return here with them. The sooner the better. Haste!" +<br> +<br> +The women gladly assented to this. +<br> +<br> +Accordingly they all started, each one of the Americans carrying a +gun in one hand, and holding the arm of a bandit with the other. +The women went ahead of their own accord, eager to put an end to +their fears by getting rid of such dangerous guests. After a walk of +about half an hour they came to the public road which ran near to +the sea. +<br> +<br> +"I thought I smelt the sea-air," said Dick. +<br> +<br> +They had gone by the other side of Vesuvius. +<br> +<br> +"This is the road to Naples, Signori," said the women. +<br> +<br> +"Ah! And you won't feel safe till you get the men away. Very well, you +may go. We can probably take care of ourselves now." +<br> +<br> +The women poured forth a torrent of thanks and blessings. The men were +then allowed to go, and instantly vanished into the darkness. At first +it was quite dark, but after a while the moon arose and they walked +merrily along, though very hungry. +<br> +<br> +Before they reached their hotel it was about one o'clock. Buttons and +Dick stared there. As they were all sitting over the repast which they +forced the landlord to get for them, Dick suddenly struck his hand on +the table. +<br> +<br> +"Sold!" he cried. +<br> +<br> +"What?" +<br> +<br> +"They've got our handkerchiefs." +<br> +<br> +"Handkerchiefs!" cried Mr. Figgs, ruefully, "why, I forgot to get back +my purse." +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/50-illo-sold.png" alt="Sold."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Sold.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Your purse! Well, let's go out to-morrow--" +<br> +<br> +"Pooh! It's no matter. There were only three piastres in it. I keep my +circular bill and larger money elsewhere." +<br> +<br> +"Well they made something of us after all. Three piastres and five +handkerchiefs." +<br> +<br> +The Senator frowned. "I've a precious good mind to go out there +to-morrow and make them disgorge," said he. "I'll think it over." +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +DOLORES ONCE MORE.--A PLEASANT CONVERSATION.--BUTTONS LEARNS MORE OF +HIS YOUNG FRIEND.--AFFECTING FAREWELL. +<br> +<br> +<br> +As the Club intended to leave for Rome almost immediately, the two +young men in the Strado di San Bartollo were prepared to settle with +their landlord. +<br> +<br> +When Buttons and Dick packed up their modest valises there was a +general excitement in the house; and when they called for their little +bill it appeared, and the whole family along with it. The landlord +presented it with a neat bow. Behind him stood his wife, his left the +big dragoon. And on his right Dolores. +<br> +<br> +Such was the position which the enemy took up. +<br> +<br> +Buttons took up the paper and glanced at it. +<br> +<br> +"What is this?" +<br> +<br> +"Your bill." +<br> +<br> +"My bill?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes, Signore." +<br> +<br> +"Yes," repeated Dolores, waving her little hand at Buttons. +<br> +<br> +Something menacing appeared in the attitude and tone of Dolores. Had +she changed? Had she joined the enemy? What did all this mean? +<br> +<br> +"What did you say you would ask for this room when I came here?" +Buttons at length asked. +<br> +<br> +"I don't recollect naming any price," said the landlord, evasively. +<br> +<br> +"I recollect," said Dolores, decidedly. "He didn't name any price at +all." +<br> +<br> +"Good Heavens!" cried Buttons, aghast, and totally unprepared for this +on the part of Dolores, though nothing on the part of the landlord +could have astonished him. In the brief space of three weeks that +worthy had been in the habit of telling him on an average about four +hundred and seventy-seven downright lies per day. +<br> +<br> +"You told me," said Buttons, with admirable calmness, "that it would +be two piastres a week." +<br> +<br> +"Two piastres! Two for both of you! Impossible! You might as well say +I was insane." +<br> +<br> +"Two piastres!" echoed Dolores, in indignant tones--"only think! And +for this magnificent apartment! the best in the house--elegantly +furnished, and two gentlemen! Why, what is this that he means?" +<br> +<br> +"Et tu Brute!" sighed Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"Signore!" said Dolores. +<br> +<br> +"Didn't he, Dick?'" +<br> +<br> +"He did," said Dick; "of course he did." +<br> +<br> +"Oh, that _uomicciuolo_ will say any thing," said Dolores, +contemptuously snapping her fingers in Dick's face. +<br> +<br> +"Why, Signore. Look you. How is it possible? Think what +accommodations! Gaze upon that bed! Gaze upon that furniture! +Contemplate that prospect of the busy street!" +<br> +<br> +"Why, it's the most wretched room in town," cried Buttons. "I've been +ashamed to ask my friends here." +<br> +<br> +"Ah, wretch!" cried Dolores, with flashing eyes. "You well know that +you were never so well lodged at home. This miserable! This a room to +be ashamed of! Away, American savage! And your friends, who are they? +Do you lodge with the lazaroni?" +<br> +<br> +"You said that you would charge two piastres. I will pay no more; no, +not half a carline. How dare you send me a bill for eighteen piastres? +I will pay you six piastres for the three weeks. Your bill for +eighteen is a cheat. I throw it away. Behold!" +<br> +<br> +And Buttons, tearing the paper into twenty fragments, scattered them +over the floor. +<br> +<br> +"Ah!" cried Dolores, standing before him, with her arms folded, and +her face all aglow with beautiful anger; "you call it a cheat, do you? +You would like, would you not, to run off and pay nothing? That is the +custom, I suppose, in America. But you can not do that in this honest +country." +<br> +<br> +"Signore, you may tear up fifty bills, but you must pay," said the +landlord, politely. +<br> +<br> +"If you come to travel you should bring money enough to take you +along," said Dolores. +<br> +<br> +"Then I would not have to take lodgings fit only for a Sorrento +beggar," said Buttons, somewhat rudely. +<br> +<br> +"They are too good for an American beggar," rejoined Dolores, taking +a step nearer to him, and slapping her little hands together by way +of emphasis. +<br> +<br> +"Is this the maid," thought Buttons, "that hung so tenderly on my arm +at the masquerade? the sweet girl who has charmed so many evenings +with her innocent mirth. Is this the fair young creature who--" +<br> +<br> +"Are you going to pay, or do you think you can keep us waiting +forever?" cried the fair young creature, impatiently and sharply. +<br> +<br> +"No more than six piastres," replied Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"Be reasonable, Signore. Be reasonable," said the landlord, with a +conciliatory smile; "and above all, be calm--be calm. Let us have no +contention. I feel that these honorable American gentlemen have no +wish but to act justly," and he looked benignantly at his family. +<br> +<br> +"I wish I could feel the same about these Italians," said Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"You will soon feel that these Italians are determined to have their +due," said Dolores. +<br> +<br> +"They shall have their due and no more." +<br> +<br> +"Come, Buttons," said Dick, in Italian, "let us leave this old +rascal." +<br> +<br> +"Old rascal?" hissed Dolores, rushing up toward Dick as though she +would tear his eyes out, and stamping her little foot. "Old rascal! +Ah, piccolo Di-a-vo-lo!" +<br> +<br> +"Come," said the landlord; "I have affection for you. I wish to +satisfy you. I have always tried to satisfy and please you." +<br> +<br> +"The ungrateful ones!" said Dolores. "Have we not all been as +friendly to them as we never were before? And now they try like +vipers to sting us." +<br> +<br> +"Peace, Dolores," said the landlord, majestically. "Let us all be +very friendly. Come, good American gentlemen, let us have peace. What +now _will_ you pay?" +<br> +<br> +"Stop!" cried Dolores. "Do you bargain? Why, they will try and make +you take a half a carline for the whole three weeks. I am ashamed +of you. I will not consent." +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/51-illo-two-piastres.png" alt="Two Piastres!"> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Two Piastres!] +<br> +<br> +<br> +"How much will you give?" said the landlord, once more, without +heeding his daughter. +<br> +<br> +"Six piastres," said Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"Impossible!" +<br> +<br> +"When I came here I took good care to have it understood. You +distinctly said two piastres per week. You may find it very +convenient to forget. I find it equally convenient to remember." +<br> +<br> +"Try--try hard, and perhaps you will remember that we offered to +take nothing. Oh yes, nothing--absolutely nothing. Couldn't think +of it," said Dolores, with a multitude of ridiculous but +extremely pretty gestures, that made the little witch charming +even in her rascality.--"Oh yes, nothing"--a shrug of the shoulders +--"we felt so honored"--spreading out her hands and bowing.--"A great +American!--a noble foreigner!"--folding her arms, and strutting up +and down.--"Too much happiness!"--here her voice assumed a tone of +most absurd sarcasm.--"We wanted to entertain them all the rest of +our lives for nothing"--a ridiculous grimace--"or perhaps your sweet +conversation has been sufficient pay--ha?" and she pointed her little +rosy taper finger at Buttons as though she would transfix him. +<br> +<br> +Buttons sighed. "Dolores!" said he, "I always thought _you_ were my +friend. I didn't think that you would turn against me." +<br> +<br> +"Ah, infamous one! and foolish too! Did you think that I could ever +help you to cheat my poor parents? Was this the reason why you sought +me? Dishonest one! I am only an innocent girl, but I can understand +your villainy." +<br> +<br> +"I think you understand a great many things," said Buttons, +mournfully. +<br> +<br> +"And to think that one would seek my friendship to save his money!" +<br> +<br> +Buttons turned away. "Suppose I stayed here three weeks longer, how +much would you charge?" he asked the landlord. +<br> +<br> +That worthy opened his eyes. His face brightened. +<br> +<br> +"Three weeks longer? Ah--I--Well--Perhaps--" +<br> +<br> +"Stop!" cried Dolores, placing her hand over her father's mouth--"not +a word. Don't you understand? He don't want to stay three minutes +longer. He wants to get you into a new bargain, and cheat you." +<br> +<br> +"Ah!" said the landlord, with a knowing wink. "But, my child, you are +really too harsh. You must not mind her, gentlemen. She's only a +willful young girl--a spoiled child--a spoiled child." +<br> +<br> +"Her language is a little strong," said Buttons, "but I don't mind +what she says." +<br> +<br> +"You may deceive my poor, kind, simple, honest, unsuspecting father," +said she, "but you can't deceive me." +<br> +<br> +"Probably not." +<br> +<br> +"Buttons, hadn't we better go?" said Dick; "squabbling here won't +benefit us." +<br> +<br> +"Well," said Buttons, slowly, and with a lingering look at Dolores. +<br> +<br> +But as Dolores saw them stoop to take their valises she sprang to the +door-way. +<br> +<br> +"They're going! They're going!" she cried. "And they will rob us. Stop +them." +<br> +<br> +"Signore," said Buttons, "here are six piastres. I leave them on the +table. You will get no more. If you give me any trouble I will summon +you before the police for conspiracy against a traveller. You can't +cheat me. You need not try." +<br> +<br> +So saying, he quietly placed the six piastres on the table, and +advanced toward the door. +<br> +<br> +"Signore! Signore!" cried the landlord, and he put himself in his way. +At a sign from Dolores the big dragoon came also, and put himself +behind her. +<br> +<br> +"You shall not go," she cried. "You shall never pass through this door +till you pay." +<br> +<br> +"Who is going to stop us?" said Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"My father, and this brave soldier who is armed," said Dolores, in a +voice to which she tried to give a terrific emphasis. +<br> +<br> +"Then I beg leave to say this much," said Buttons; and he looked with +blazing eyes full in the face of the "brave soldier." "I am not a +'brave soldier,' and I am not armed; but my friend and I have paid +our bills, and we are going through that door. If you dare to lay so +much as the weight of your finger on me I'll show you how a man can +use his fists." +<br> +<br> +Now the Continentals have a great and a wholesome dread of the English +fist, and consider the American the same flesh and blood. They believe +that "le bogues" is a necessary, part of the education of the whole +Anglo-Saxon race, careful parents among that people being intent upon +three things for their children, to wit: +<br> +<br> +(1.) To eat _Rosbif_ and _Bifiek_, but especially the former. +<br> +<br> +(2.) To use certain profane expressions, by which the Continental can +always tell the Anglo-Saxon. +<br> +<br> +(3.) TO STRIKE FROM THE SHOULDER!!! +<br> +<br> +Consequently, when Buttons, followed by Dick, advanced to the door, +the landlord and the "brave soldier" slipped aside, and actually +allowed them to pass. +<br> +<br> +Not so Dolores. +<br> +<br> +She tried to hound her relatives on; she stormed; she taunted them; +she called them cowards; she even went so far as to run after Buttons +and seize his valise. Whereupon that young gentleman patiently waited +without a word till she let go her hold. He then went on his way. +<br> +<br> +Arriving at the foot of the stairway he looked back. There was the +slender form of the young girl quivering with rage. +<br> +<br> +"Addio, Dolores!" in the most mournful of voices. +<br> +<br> +"Scelerato!" was the response, hissed out from the prettiest of lips. +<br> +<br> +The next morning the Dodge Club left Naples. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/52-illo-the-brave-soldier.png" alt="The Brave Soldier."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: The Brave Soldier.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +DICK RELATES A FAMILY LEGEND. +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Dick," said the Senator, as they rolled over the road, "spin a yarn +to beguile the time." +<br> +<br> +Dick looked modest. +<br> +<br> +The rest added their entreaties. +<br> +<br> +"Oh, well," said Dick, "since you're so very urgent it would be +unbecoming to refuse. A story? Well, what? I will tell you about my +maternal grandfather. +<br> +<br> +"My maternal grandfather, then, was once out in Hong Kong, and had +saved up a little money. As the climate did not agree with him he +thought he would come home; and at length an American ship touched +there, on board of which he went, and he saw a man in the galley; so +my grandfather stepped up to him and asked him: +<br> +<br> +"'Are you the mate?' +<br> +<br> +"'No. I'm the man that boils the _mate_,' said the other, who was also +an Irishman. +<br> +<br> +"So he had to go to the cabin, where he found the Captain and mate +writing out clearance papers for the custom-house. +<br> +<br> +"'Say, captain, will you cross the sea to plow the raging main?' asked +my grandfather. +<br> +<br> +"'Oh, the ship it is ready and the wind is fair to plow the raging +main!' said the captain. Of course my grandfather at once paid his +fare without asking credit, and the amount was three hundred and +twenty-seven dollars thirty-nine cents. +<br> +<br> +"Well, they set sail, and after going ever so many thousand miles, +or hundred--I forget which, but it don't matter--a great storm arose, +a typhoon or simoon, perhaps both; and after slowly gathering up its +energies for the space of twenty-nine days, seven hours, and +twenty-three minutes, without counting the seconds, it burst upon +them at exactly forty-two minutes past five, on the sixth day of the +week. Need I say that day was Friday? Now my grandfather saw all the +time how it was going to end; and while the rest were praying and +shrieking he had cut the lashings of the ship's long-boat and stayed +there all the time, having put on board the nautical instruments, two +or three fish-hooks, a gross of lucifer matches, and a sauce-pan. At +last the storm struck the ship, as I have stated, and at the first +crack away went the vessel to the bottom, leaving my grandfather +floating alone on the surface of the ocean. +<br> +<br> +"My grandfather navigated the long-boat fifty-two days, three hours, +and twenty minutes by the ship's chronometer; caught plenty of fish +with his fish-hooks; boiled sea-water in his sauce-pan, and boiled +all the salt away, making his fire in the bottom of the boat, which +is a very good place, for the fire can't burn through without touching +the water, which it can't burn; and finding plenty of fuel in the +boat, which he gradually dismantled, taking first the thole-pins, then +the seats, then the taffrail, and so on. This sort of thing, though, +could not last forever, and at last, just in the nick of time, he came +across a dead whale. +<br> +<br> +"It was floating bottom upward, covered with barnacles of very large +size indeed; and where his fins projected there were two little coves, +one on each side. Into the one on the lee-side he ran his boat, of +which there was nothing left but the stem and stern and two side +planks. +<br> +<br> +"My grandfather looked upon the whale as an island. It was a very +nice country to one who had been so long in a boat, though a little +monotonous. The first thing that he did was to erect the banner of his +country, of which he happened to have a copy on his +pocket-handkerchief; which he did by putting it at the end of an oar +and sticking it in the ground, or the flesh, whichever you please to +call it. He then took an observation, and proceeded to make himself a +house, which he did by whittling up the remains of the long-boat, and +had enough left to make a table, a chair, and a boot-jack. So here +he stayed, quite comfortable, for forty-three days and a half, taking +observations all the time with great accuracy; and at the end of that +time all his house was gone, for he had to cut it up for fuel to cook +his meals, and nothing was left but half of the boot-jack and the oar +which served to uphold the banner of his country. At the end of this +time a ship came up. +<br> +<br> +"The men of the ship did not know what on earth to make of this +appearance on the water, where the American flag was flying. So they +bore straight down toward it. +<br> +<br> +"'I see a sight across the sea, hi ho cheerly men!' remarked the +captain to the mate, in a confidential manner. +<br> +<br> +"'Methinks it is my own countrie, hi ho cheerly men!' rejoined the +other, quietly. +<br> +<br> +"'It rises grandly o'er the brine, hi ho cheerly men!' said the +captain. +<br> +<br> +"'And bears aloft our own ensign, hi ho cheerly men!' said the mate. +<br> +<br> +"As the ship came up my grandfather placed both hands to his mouth in +the shape of a speaking-trumpet, and cried out: 'Ship ahoy across the +wave, with a way-ay-ay-ay-ay! Storm along!' +<br> +<br> +"To which the captain of the ship responded through his trumpet: 'Tis +I, my messmate bold and brave, with a way-ay-ay-ay-ay! Storm along." +<br> +<br> +"At this my grandfather inquired; 'What vessel are you gliding on? +Pray tell to me its name.' +<br> +<br> +"And the captain replied: 'Our bark it is a whaler bold, and Jones +the captain's name.' +<br> +<br> +"Thereupon the captain came on board the whale, or on shore, +whichever you like--I don't know which, nor does it matter--he came, +at any rate. My grandfather shook hands with him and asked him to +sit down. But the captain declined, saying he preferred standing. +<br> +<br> +"'Well,' said my grandfather, 'I called on you to see if you would +like to buy a whale.' +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/54-illo-buying-a-whale.png" alt="Buying A Whale."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Buying A Whale.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +"'Wa'al, yes, I don't mind. I'm in that line myself.' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give for it?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take for it?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"Twenty-five minutes were taken up in the repetition of this question, +for neither wished to commit himself. +<br> +<br> +"'Have you had any offers for it yet?' asked Captain Jones at last. +<br> +<br> +"'Wa'al, no; can't say that I have.' +<br> +<br> +"'I'll give as much as any body.' +<br> +<br> +"'How much?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"Then my grandfather, after a long deliberation, took the captain by +the arm and led him all around, showing him the country, as one may +say, enlarging upon the fine points, and doing as all good traders are +bound to do when they find themselves face to face with a customer. +<br> +<br> +"To which the end was: +<br> +<br> +"'Wa'al, what'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you take?' +<br> +<br> +"'What'll you give?' +<br> +<br> +"'Well,' said my grandfather, 'I don't know as I care about trading +after all. I think I'll wait till the whaling fleet comes along. I've +been waiting for them for some time, and they ought to be here soon.' +<br> +<br> +"'You're not in the right track,' said Captain Jones. +<br> +<br> +"'Yes, I am.' +<br> +<br> +"'Excuse me.' +<br> +<br> +"'Ex-cuse _me_,' said my grandfather. 'I took an observation just +before you came in sight, and I am in lat. 47° 22' 20", long. 150° +15' 55".' +<br> +<br> +"Captain Jones's face fell. My grandfather poked him in the ribs and +smiled. +<br> +<br> +"'I'll tell you what I'll do, as I don't care, after all, about +waiting here. It's a little damp, and I'm subject to rheumatics. I'll +let you have the whole thing if you give me twenty-five per cent. of +the oil after it's barreled, barrels and all.' +<br> +<br> +"The captain thought for a moment. +<br> +<br> +"'You drive a close bargain.' +<br> +<br> +"'Of course.' +<br> +<br> +"'Well, it'll save a voyage, and that's something.' +<br> +<br> +"'Something! Bless your heart! ain't that every thing?' +<br> +<br> +"'Well, I'll agree. Come on board, and we'll make out the papers.' +<br> +<br> +"So my grandfather went on board, and they made out the papers; and +the ship hauled up alongside of the whale, and they went to work +cutting, and slashing, and hoisting, and burning, and boiling, and +at last, after ever so long a time--I don't remember exactly how +long--the oil was all secured, and my grandfather, in a few months +afterward, when he landed at Nantucket and made inquiries, sold his +share of the oil for three thousand nine hundred and fifty-six dollars +fifty-six cents, which he at once invested in business in New Bedford, +and started off to Pennsylvania to visit his mother. The old lady +didn't know him at all, he was so changed by sun, wind, storm, +hardship, sickness, fatigue, want, exposure, and other things of that +kind. She looked coldly on him. +<br> +<br> +"'Who are you?' +<br> +<br> +"'Don't you know?' +<br> +<br> +"'No.' +<br> +<br> +"'Think.' +<br> +<br> +"'_Have you a strawberry on your arm_?' +<br> +<br> +"'No.' +<br> +<br> +"'Then--you are--_you are_--YOU ARE--my own--my long--lost son!' +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/55-illo-the-long-lost-son.png" alt="The Long-Lost Son."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: The Long-Lost Son.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +"And she caught him in her arms. +<br> +<br> +"Here endeth the first part of my grandfather's adventures, but he +had many more, good and bad; for he was a remarkable man, though I +say it; and if any of you ever want to hear more about him, which I +doubt, all you've got to do is to say so. But perhaps it's just as +well to let the old gentleman drop, for his adventures were rather +strange; but the narration of them is not very profitable, not that +I go in for the utilitarian theory of conversation; but I think, on +the whole, that, in story-telling, fiction should be preferred to +dull facts like these, and so the next time I tell a story I will +make one up." +<br> +<br> +The Club had listened to the story with the gravity which should be +manifested toward one who is relating family matters. At its close +the Senator prepared to speak. He cleared his throat: +<br> +<br> +"Ahem! Gentlemen of the Club! our adventures, thus far, have not +been altogether contemptible. We have a President and a Secretary; +ought we not also to have a Recording Secretary--a Historian?" +<br> +<br> +"Ay!" said all, very earnestly. +<br> +<br> +"Who, then, shall it be?" +<br> +<br> +All looked at Dick. +<br> +<br> +"I see there is but one feeling among us all," said the Senator. +"Yes, Richard, you are the man. Your gift of language, your fancy, +your modesty, your fluency--But I spare you. From this time forth +you know your duty." +<br> +<br> +Overcome by this honor, Dick was compelled to bow his thanks in +silence and hide his blushing face. +<br> +<br> +"And now," said Mr. Figgs, eagerly, "I want to hear _the Higgins +Story_." +<br> +<br> +The Doctor turned frightfully pale. Dick began to fill his pipe. +The Senator looked earnestly out of the window. Buttons looked at +the ceiling. +<br> +<br> +"What's the matter?" said Mr. Figgs. +<br> +<br> +"What?" asked Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"The Higgins Story?" +<br> +<br> +The Doctor started to his feet. His excitement was wonderful. He +clenched his fist. +<br> +<br> +"I'll quit! I'm going back. I'll join you at Rome by another route. +I'll--" +<br> +<br> +"No, you won't!" said Buttons; "for on a journey like this it would +be absurd to begin the Higgins Story." +<br> +<br> +"Pooh!" said Dick, "it would require nineteen days at least to get +through the introductory part." +<br> +<br> +"When, then, can I hear it?" asked Mr. Figgs, in perplexity. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +NIGHT ON THE ROAD.--THE CLUB ASLEEP.--THEY ENTER ROME.--THOUGHTS ON +APPROACHING AND ENTERING "THE ETERNAL CITY." +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/56-illo-to-rome.png" alt="To Rome."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: To Rome.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +A LETTER BY DICK, AND CRITICISMS OF HIS FRIENDS. +<br> +<br> +They took lodgings near the Piazza di Spagna. This is the best part +of Rome to live in, which every traveller will acknowledge. Among +other advantages, it is perhaps the only clean spot in the Capital +of Christendom. +<br> +<br> +Their lodgings were peculiar. Description is quite unnecessary. They +were not discovered without toil, and not secured without warfare. +Once in possession they had no reason to complain. True, the +conveniences of civilized life do not exist there--but who dreams of +convenience in Rome? +<br> +<br> +On the evening of their arrival they were sitting in the Senator's +room, which was used as the general rendezvous. Dick was diligently +writing. +<br> +<br> +"Dick," said the Senator, "what are you about?" +<br> +<br> +"Well," said Dick, "the fact is, I just happened to remember that when +I left home the editor of the village paper wished me to write +occasionally. I promised, and he at once published the fact in +enormous capitals. I never thought of it till this evening, when I +happened to find a scrap of the last issue of his paper in my valise. +I recollected my promise, and I thought I might as well drop a line." +<br> +<br> +"Read what you have written." +<br> +<br> +Dick blushed and hesitated. +<br> +<br> +"Nonsense! Go ahead, my boy!" said Buttons. +<br> +<br> +Whereupon Dick cleared his throat and began: +<br> +<br> +<br> +"ROME, May 30, 1859. +<br> +<br> +MR. EDITOR,--Rome is a subject which is neither uninteresting nor +alien to the present age." +<br> +<br> +<br> +"That's a fact, or you wouldn't be here writing it," remarked +Buttons. +<br> +<br> +<br> +"In looking over the past, our view is too often hounded by the Middle +Ages. We consider that period as the chaos of the modern world, when +it lay covered with darkness, until the Reform came and said. 'Let +there be light!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Hang it, Dick! be original or be nothing." +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Yet, if the life of the world began anywhere, it was in Rome. Assyria +is nothing to me. Egypt is but a spectacle!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +"If you only had enough funds to carry you there you'd change your +tune. But go on." +<br> +<br> +<br> +"But Rome arises before me as the parent of the latter time. By her +the old battles between Freedom and Despotism were fought long ago, +and the forms and principles of Liberty came forth, to pass, amid +many vicissitudes, down to a new-born day." +<br> +<br> +<br> +"There! I'm coming to the point now!" +<br> +<br> +"About time, I imagine. The editor will get into despair." +<br> +<br> +<br> +"There is but one fitting approach to Rome. By any other road the +majesty of the Old Capital is lost in the lesser grandeur of the +Medieval City. Whoever goes there let him come up from Naples and +enter by the Jerusalem Gate." +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Jerusalem fiddlesticks! Why, there's no such gate!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +"There the very spirit of Antiquity sits enthroned to welcome the +traveller, and all the solemn Past sheds her influences over his +soul--" +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Excuse me; there is a Jerusalem Gate." +<br> +<br> +"Perhaps so--in Joppa." +<br> +<br> +<br> +"There the Imperial City lies in the sublimity of ruin. It is the Rome +of our dreams--the ghost of a dead and buried Empire hovering over its +own neglected grave!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Dick, it's not fair to work off an old college essay as European +correspondence." +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Nothing may be seen but desolation. The waste Campagna stretches its +arid surface away to the Alban mountains, uninhabited, and forsaken of +man and beast. For the dust and the works and the monuments of +millions lie here, mingled in the common corruption of the tomb, and +the life of the present age shrinks away in terror. Long lines of +lofty aqueducts come slowly down from the Alban hills, but these +crumbled stones and broken arches tell a story more eloquent than +human voice. +<br> +<br> +"The walls arise before us, but there is no city beyond. The +desolation that reigns in the Campagna has entered here. The palace +of the noble, the haunts of pleasure, the resorts of the multitude, +the garrison of the soldier, have crumbled to dust, and mingled +together in one common ruin. The soil on which we tread, which gives +birth to trees, shrubs, and wild flowers without number, is but an +assemblage of the disintegrated atoms of stones and mortar that once +arose on high in the form of palace, pyramid, or temple." +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Dick, I advise you to write all your letters before you see the +places you speak of. You've no idea how eloquent you can be!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Now if we pass on in this direction, we soon come to a spot which is +the centre of the world--the place where most of all we must look when +we search for the source of much that is valuable in our age. +<br> +<br> +"It in a rude and a neglected spot. At one end rises a rock crowned +with houses; on one side are a few mean edifices, mingled with masses +of tottering ruins; on the other a hill formed altogether of crumbled +atoms of bricks, mortar, and precious marbles. In the midst are a few +rough columns blackened by time and exposure. The soil is deep, and +in places there are pits where excavations have been made. Rubbish +lies around; bits of straw, and grass, and hay, and decayed leather, +and broken bottles, and old bones. A few dirty shepherds pass along, +driving lean and miserable sheep. Further up is a cluster of +wine-carts, with still more curious horses and drivers. +<br> +<br> +"What is this place?--what those ruins, these fallen monuments, these +hoary arches, these ivy-covered walls? What? This is-- +<br> +<br> +<br> + "'The field of freedom, faction, fame, and blood;<br> + Here a proud people's passions were exhaled,<br> + From the first hour of Empire in the bud<br> + To that when further worlds to conquer failed;<br> + The Forum where the immortal accents glow,<br> + And still the eloquent air breathes, burns with Cicero!' +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Yet if you go up to one of those people and ask this Question, he +will answer you and tell you the only name, he knows--The Cow Market!'" +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Is that all?" inquired Buttons, as Dick laid down his paper. +<br> +<br> +"That's all I've written as yet." +<br> +<br> +Whereupon Buttons clapped his bands to express applause, and all the +others laughingly followed his example. +<br> +<br> +"Dick," said the Senator, after a pause, "what you have written sounds +pretty. But look at the facts. Here you are writing a description of +Rome before you've seen any thing of the place at all. All that you +have put in that letter is what you have read in books of travel. I +mention this not from blame, but merely to show what a wrong principle +travellers go on. They don't notice real live facts. Now I've promised +the editor of our paper a letter. As soon as I write it I'll read it +for you. The style won't be equal to yours. But, if I write, I'll be +bound to tell something new. Sentiment," pursued the Senator, +thoughtfully, "is playing the dickens with the present age. What we +ought to look at is not old ruins or pictures, but men--men--live men. +I'd rather visit the cottage of an Italian peasant than any church in +the country. I'd rather see the working of the political constitution +of this 'ere benighted land than any painting you can show. +Horse-shoes before ancient stones, and macaroni before statues, say I! +For these little things show me all the life of the people. If I only +understood their cursed lingo," said the Senator, with a tinge of +regret, "I'd rather stand and hear them talk by the hour, particularly +the women, than listen to the pootiest music they can scare up!" +<br> +<br> +"I tried that game," said Mr. Figgs, ruefully, "in Naples. I went into +a broker's shop to change a Napoleon. I thought I'd like to see their +financial system. I saw enough of it; for the scoundrel gave me a lot +of little bits of coin that only passed for a few cents apiece in +Naples, with difficulty at that, and won't pass here at all!" +<br> +<br> +The Senator laughed. "Well, you shouldn't complain. You lost your +Napoleon, but gained experience. You have a new wrinkle. I gained a +new wrinkle too when I gave a half-Napoleon, by mistake, to a wretched +looking beggar, blind of one eye. I intended to give him a centime." +<br> +<br> +"Your principle," said Buttons, "does well enough for you as a +traveller. But you don't look at all the points of the subject. The +point is to write a letter for a newspaper. Now what is the most +successful kind of letter? The readers of a family paper are +notoriously women and young men, or lads. Older men only look at the +advertisements or the news. What do women and lads care for +horse-shoes and macaroni? Of course, if one were to write about +these things in a humorous style they would take; but, as a general +thing, they prefer to read about old ruins, and statues, and cities, +and processions. But the best kind of a correspondence is that which +deals altogether in adventures. That's what takes the mind! Incidents +of travel, fights with ruffians, quarrels with landlords, shipwrecks, +robbery, odd scrapes, laughable scenes; and Dick, my boy! when you +write again be sure to fill your letter with events of this sort." +<br> +<br> +"But suppose," suggested Dick, meekly, "that we meet with no +ruffians, and there are no adventures to relate?" +<br> +<br> +"Then use a traveller's privilege and invent them. What was +imagination given for if not to use?" +<br> +<br> +"It will not do--it will not do," said the Senator, decidedly. "You +must hold on to facts. Information, not amusement, should be your +aim." +<br> +<br> +"But information is dull by itself. Amusement perhaps is useless. Now +how much better to combine the utility of solid information with the +lighter graces of amusement, fun, and fancy. Your pill, Doctor, is +hard to take, though its effects are good. Coat it with sugar and +it's easy." +<br> +<br> +"What!" exclaimed the Doctor, suddenly starting up. "I'm not asleep! +Did you speak to me?" +<br> +<br> +The Doctor blinked and rubbed his eyes, and wondered what the company +were laughing at. In a few minutes, however, he concluded to resume +his broken slumber in his bed. He accordingly retired; and the +company followed his example. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +ST. PETER'S!--THE TRAGIC STORY OF THE FAT MAN IN THE BALL.--HOW +ANOTHER TRAGEDY NEARLY HAPPENED.--THE WOES OF MEINHERR SCHATT. +<br> +<br> +<br> +Two stately fountains, a colonnade which in spite of faults possesses +unequalled majesty, a vast piazza, enclosing many acres, in whose +immense area puny man dwindles to a dwarf, and in the distance the +unapproachable glories of the greatest of earthly temples--such is the +first view of St. Peter's. +<br> +<br> +Our party of friends entered the lordly vestibule, and lifting the +heavy mat that hung over the door-way they passed through. There came +a soft air laden with the odor of incense; and strains of music from +one of the side chapels came echoing dreamily down one of the side +aisles. A glare of sunlight flashed in on polished marbles of a +thousand colors that covered pillars, walls, and pavement. The vaulted +ceiling blazed with gold. People strolled to and fro without any +apparent object. They seemed to be promenading. In different places +some peasant women were kneeling. +<br> +<br> +They walked up the nave. The size of the immense edifice increased +with every step. Arriving under the dome they stood looking up with +boundless astonishment. +<br> +<br> +They walked round and round. They saw statues which were masterpieces +of genius; sculptures that glowed with immortal beauty; pictures which +had consumed a life-time as they grew up beneath the patient toil of +the mosaic worker. There were altars containing gems equal to a +king's ransom; curious pillars that came down from immemorial ages; +lamps that burn forever. +<br> +<br> +"This," said the Senator, "is about the first place that has really +come up to my idee of foreign parts. In fact it goes clean beyond it. +I acknowledge its superiority to any thing that America can produce. +But what's the good of it all? If this Government really cared for +the good of the people it would sell out the hull concern, and devote +the proceeds to railways and factories. Then Italy would go ahead as +Providence intended." +<br> +<br> +"My dear Sir, the people of this country would rise and annihilate +any Government that dared to touch it." +<br> +<br> +"Shows how debased they have grown. There's no utility in all this. +There couldn't be any really good Gospel preaching here. +<br> +<br> +"Different people require different modes of worship," said Buttons, +sententiously. +<br> +<br> +"But it's immense," said the Senator, as they stood at the furthest +end and looked toward the entrance. "I've been calc'latin' that you +could range along this middle aisle about eighteen good-sized +Protestant churches, and eighteen more along the side aisles. You +could pile them up three tiers high. You could stow away twenty-four +more in the cross aisle. After that you could pile up twenty more in +the dome. That would make room here for one hundred and fifty-two, +good-sized Protestant churches, and room enough would be left to +stow away all their spires." +<br> +<br> +And to show the truth of his calculation he exhibited a piece of paper +on which he had pencilled it all. +<br> +<br> +If the interior is imposing the ascent to the roof is equally so. +There is a winding path so arranged that mules can go up carrying +loads. Up this they went and reached the roof. Six or seven acres of +territory snatched from the air spread around; statutes rose from the +edge; all around cupolas and pillars rose. In the center the huge dome +itself towered on high. There was a long low building filled with +people who lived up here. They were workmen whose duty it was to +attend to the repairs of the vast structure. Two fountains poured +forth a never-ceasing supply of water. It was difficult to conceive +that this was a roof of a building. +<br> +<br> +Entering the base of the central cupola a stairway leads up. There is +a door which leads to the interior, where one can walk around a +gallery on the inside of the dome and look down. Further up where +the arch springs there is another. Finally at the apex of the dome +there is a third opening. Looking down through this the sensation +is terrific. +<br> +<br> +Upon the summit of the vast dome stands an edifice of large size, +which is called the lantern, and appears insignificant in comparison +with the mighty structure beneath. Up this the stairway goes until +at length the opening into the ball is reached. +<br> +<br> +The whole five climbed up into the ball. They found to their surprise +that it would hold twice as many more. The Senator reached up his +hand. He could not touch the top. They looked through the slits in +the side. The view was boundless; the wide Campagna, the purple +Apennines, the blue Mediterranean, appeared from different sides. +<br> +<br> +"I feel," said the Senator, "that the conceit is taken out of me. +What is Boston State House to this; or Bunker Hill monument! I +used to see pictures of this place in Woodbridge's Geography; but +I never had a realizing sense of architecture until now." +<br> +<br> +"This ball," said Buttons, "has its history, its associations. It +has been the scene of suffering. Once a stoutish man came up here. +The guides warned him, but to no purpose. He was a willful +Englishman. You may see, gentlemen, that the opening is narrow. How +the Englishman managed to get up does not appear; but it is certain +that when he tried to get down he found it impossible. He tried for +hours to squeeze through. No use. Hundreds of people came up to help +him. They couldn't. The whole city got into a state of wild +excitement. Some of the churches had prayers offered up for him +though he was a heretic. At the end of three days he tried again. +Fasting and anxiety had come to his relief, and he slipped through +without difficulty." +<br> +<br> +"He must have been a London swell," said Dick. +<br> +<br> +"I don't believe a word of it," said Mr. Figgs, looking with an +expression of horror, first at the opening, and then at his own +rotundity. Then springing forward he hurriedly began to descend. +<br> +<br> +Happy Mr. Figgs! There was no danger for him. But in his eagerness to +get down he did not think of looking below to see if the way was +clear. And so it happened, that as he descended quickly and with +excited haste, he stepped with all his weight upon the hand of a man +who was coming up. The stranger shouted. Mr. Figgs jumped. His foot +slipped. His hand loosened, and down he fell plump to the bottom. Had +he fallen on the floor there is no doubt that he would have sustained +severe injury. Fortunately for himself he fell upon the stranger and +nearly crushed his life out. +<br> +<br> +The stranger writhed and rolled till he had got rid of his heavy +burden. The two men simultaneously started to their feet. The +stranger was a short stout man with an unmistakable German face. He +had bright blue eyes, red hair, and a forked red beard. He stared +with all his might, stroked his forked red beard piteously, and then +ejaculated most gutturally, in tones that seemed to come from his +boots-- +<br> +<br> +"Gh-h-h-r-r-r-r-r-acious me!" +<br> +<br> +Mr. Figgs overwhelmed him with apologies, assured him that it was +quite unintentional, hoped that he wasn't hurt, begged his pardon; +but the stranger only panted, and still he stroked his forked red +beard, and still ejaculated-- +<br> +<br> +"Gh-h-h-r-r-r-r-r-acious me!" +<br> +<br> +Four heads peered through the opening above; but seeing no accident +their owners, one by one, descended, and all with much sympathy asked +the stranger if he was much hurt. But the stranger, who seemed quite +bewildered, still panted and stroked his beard, and ejaculated-- +<br> +<br> +"Gh-h-h-r-r-r-r-r-acious me!" +<br> +<br> +At length he seemed to recover his faculties, and discovered that he +was not hurt. Upon this he assured Mr. Figgs, in heavy guttural +English, that it was nothing. He had often been knocked down before. +If Mr. Figgs was a Frenchman, he would feel angry. But as he was an +American he was glad to make his acquaintance. He himself had once +lived in America, in Cincinnati, where he had edited a German paper. +His name was Meinherr Schatt. +<br> +<br> +Meinherr Schatt showed no further disposition to go up; but +descended with the others down as far as the roof, when they went to +the front and stood looking down on the piazza. In the course of +conversation Meinherr Schatt informed them that he belonged to the +Duchy of Saxe Meiningen, that he had been living in Rome about two +years, and liked it about as well as any place that he had seen. +<br> +<br> +He went every autumn to Paris to speculate on the Bourse, and +generally made enough to keep him for a year. He was acquainted with +all the artists in Rome. Would they like to be introduced to some +of them? +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/59-illo-gracious-me.png" alt="Gracious Me!"> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Gracious Me!] +<br> +<br> +<br> +Buttons would be most charmed. He would rather become acquainted +with artists than with any class of people. +<br> +<br> +Meinherr Schatt lamented deeply the present state of things arising +from the war in Lombardy. A peaceful German traveller was scarcely +safe now. Little boys made faces at him in the street, and shouted +after him, "Mudedetto Tedescho!" +<br> +<br> +Just at this moment the eye of Buttons was attracted by a carriage +that rolled away from under the front of the cathedral down the +piazza. In it were two ladies and a gentleman. Buttons stared eagerly +for a few moments, and then gave a jump. +<br> +<br> +"What's the matter?" cried Dick. +<br> +<br> +"It is! By Jove! It is!" +<br> +<br> +"What? Who?" +<br> +<br> +"I see her face! I'm off!" +<br> +<br> +"Confound it! Whose face?" +<br> +<br> +But Buttons gave no answer. He was off like the wind, and before the +others could recover from their surprise had vanished down the +descent. +<br> +<br> +"What upon airth has possessed Buttons now?" asked the Senator. +<br> +<br> +"It must be the Spanish girl," said Dick. +<br> +<br> +"Again? Hasn't his mad chase at sea given him a lesson? Spanish +girl! What is he after? If he wants a girl, why can't he wait and +pick out a regular thorough-bred out and outer of Yankee stock? +These Spaniards are not the right sort." +<br> +<br> +In an incredible short space of time the figure of Buttons was +seen dashing down the piazza, in the direction which the carriage +had taken. But the carriage was far ahead, and even as he left the +church it had already crossed the Ponte di S. Angelo. The others +then descended. Buttons was not seen till the end of the day. +<br> +<br> +He then made his appearance with a dejected air. +<br> +<br> +"What luck?" asked Dick, as he came in. +<br> +<br> +"None at all," said Buttons, gloomily. +<br> +<br> +"Wrong ones again?" +<br> +<br> +"No, indeed. I'm not mistaken this time. But I couldn't catch them. +They got out of sight, and kept out too. I've been to every hotel +in the place, but couldn't find them. It's too bad." +<br> +<br> +"Buttons," said the Senator, gravely, "I'm sorry to see a young man +like you so infatuated. Beware--Buttons--beware of wimmin! Take the +advice of an older and more experienced man. Beware of wimmin. +Whenever you see one coming--dodge! It's your only hope. If it +hadn't been for wimmin"--and the Senator seemed to speak half to +himself, while his face assumed a pensive air--"if it hadn't been +for wimmin, I'd been haranguing the Legislatoor now, instead of +wearying my bones in this benighted and enslaved country." +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +THE GLORY, GRANDEUR, BEAUTY, AND INFINITE VARIETY OF THE PINCIAN +HILL; NARRATED AND DETAILED NOT COLUMNARILY BUT EXHAUSTIVELY, +AND AFTER THE MANNER OF RABELAIS. +<br> +<br> +<br> +Oh, the Pincian Hill!--Does the memory of that place affect all +alike? Whether it does or not matters little to the chronicler of +this veracious history. To him it is the crown and glory of modern +Rome; the centre around which all Rome clusters. Delightful walks! +Views without a parallel! Place on earth to which no place else can +hold a candle! +<br> +<br> +Pooh--what's the use of talking? Contemplate, O Reader, from the +Pincian Hill the following: +<br> +<br> +<br> +The Tiber, The Campagna, The Aqueducts, Trajan's Column, +Antonine's Pillar, The Piazza del Popolo, The Torre del Capitoglio, +The Hoar Capitoline, The Palatine, The Quirinal, The Viminal, +The Esquiline, The Caelian, The Aventine, The Vatican, The Janiculum, +St. Peter's, The Lateran, The Stands for Roast Chestnuts, The New +York _Times_, the Hurdy-gurdys, The London _Times_, The Raree-shows, +The Obelisk of Mosaic Pharaoh, The Wine-carts, Harper's Weekly, +Roman Beggars, Cardinals, Monks, Artists, Nuns, The New York +_Tribune_, French soldiers, Swiss Guards, Dutchmen, Mosaic-workers, +Plane-trees, Cypress-trees, Irishmen, Propaganda Students, Goats, +Fleas, Men from Bosting, Patent Medicines, Swells Lager, +Meerschaum-pipes, The New York _Herald_, Crosses, Rustic Seats, +Dark-eyed Maids, Babel, Terrapins, Marble Pavements, Spiders, +Dreamy Haze, Jews, Cossacks, Hens, All the Past, Rags, The +original Barrel-organ, The original Organ-grinder, Bourbon Whisky, +Civita Vecchia Olives, Hadrian's Mausoleum, _Harper's Magazine_, +The Laurel Shade, Murray's Hand-book, Cicerones, Englishmen, +Dogcarts, Youth, Hope, Beauty, Conversation Kenge, Bluebottle Flies, +Gnats, _Galignani_, Statues, Peasants, Cockneys, Gas-lamps, +Dundreary, Michiganders, Paper-collars, Pavilions, Mosaic Brooches, +Little Dogs, Small Boys, Lizards, Snakes, Golden Sunsets, Turks, +Purple Hills, Placards, Shin-plasters, Monkeys, Old Boots, +Coffee-roasters, Pale Ale, The Dust of Ages, The Ghost of Rome, +Ice Cream, Memories, Soda-Water, Harper's Guide-Book. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +HARMONY ON THE PINCIAN HILL.--MUSIC HATH CHARMS.--AMERICAN MELODIES. +--THE GLORY, THE POWER, AND THE BEAUTY OF YANKEE DOODLE, AND THE +MERCENARY SOUL OF AN ITALIAN ORGAN-GRINDER. +<br> +<br> +<br> +The Senator loved the Pincian Hill, for there he saw what he loved +best; more than ruins, more than churches, more than pictures and +statues, more than music. He saw man and human nature. +<br> +<br> +He had a smile for all; of superiority for the bloated aristocrat; of +friendliness for the humble, yet perchance worthy mendicant. He longed +every day more and more to be able to talk the language of the people. +<br> +<br> +On one occasion the Club was walking on the Pincian Hill, when +suddenly they were arrested by familiar sounds which came from some +place not very far away. It was a barrel-organ; a soft and musical +organ; but it was playing "Sweet Home." +<br> +<br> +"A Yankee tune," said the Senator. "Let us go and patronize domestic +manufacture. That is my idee of political economy." +<br> +<br> +Reaching the spot they saw a pale, intellectual-looking Italian +working away at his instrument. +<br> +<br> +"It's not bad, though that there may not be the highest kind of +musical instrument." +<br> +<br> +"No," said Buttons; "but I wonder that you, an elder of a church, +can stand here and listen to it." +<br> +<br> +"Why, what has the church to do with a barrel-organ?" +<br> +<br> +"Don't you believe the Bible?" +<br> +<br> +"Of course," said the Senator, looking mystified. +<br> +<br> +"Don't you know what it says on the subject?" +<br> +<br> +"What the Bible says? Why no, of course not. It says nothing." +<br> +<br> +"I beg your pardon. It says, 'The sound of the grinding is low.' See +Ecclesiastes, twelfth, fourth." +<br> +<br> +The Senator looked mystified, but said nothing. But suddenly the +organ-grinder struck up another tune. +<br> +<br> +"Well, I do declare," cried the Senator, delighted, "if it isn't +another domestic melody!" +<br> +<br> +It was "Independence Day." +<br> +<br> +"Why, it warms my heart," he said, as a flush spread over his fine +countenance. +<br> +<br> +The organ-grinder received any quantity of _baiocchi_, which so +encouraged him that he tried another--"Old Virginny." +<br> +<br> +"That's better yet," said the Senator. "But how on airth did this +man manage to get hold of these tunes?" +<br> +<br> +Then came others. They were all American: "Old Folks at Home," +"Nelly Ely," "Suwannee Ribber," "Jordan," "Dan Tucker," "Jim Crow." +<br> +<br> +The Senator was certainly most demonstrative, but all the others +were equally affected. +<br> +<br> +Those native airs; the dashing, the reckless, the roaringly-humorous, +the obstreperously jolly--they show one part of the many-sided +American character. +<br> +<br> +Not yet has justice been done to the nigger song. It is not a +nigger song. It is an American melody. Leaving out those which have +been stolen from Italian Operas, how many there are which are truly +American in their extravagance, their broad humor, their glorious +and uproarious jollity! The words are trash. The melodies are every +thing. +<br> +<br> +These melodies touched the hearts of the listeners. American life +rose before them as they listened.--American life--free, boundless, +exuberant, broadly-developing, self-asserting, gaining its +characteristics from the boundless extent of its home--a continental +life of limitless variety. As mournful as the Scotch; as reckless as +the Irish; as solemnly patriotic as the English. +<br> +<br> +"Listen!" cried the Senator, in wild excitement. +<br> +<br> +It was "Hail Columbia." +<br> +<br> +"The Pincian Hill," said the Senator, with deep solemnity, "is +glorified from this time forth and for evermore. It has gained a +new charm. The Voice of Freedom hath made itself heard!" +<br> +<br> +The others, though less demonstrative, were no less delighted. Then +came another, better yet. "The Star-Spangled Banner." +<br> +<br> +"There!" cried the Senator, "is our true national anthem--the +commemoration of national triumph; the grand upsoaring of the +victorious American Eagle as it wings its everlasting flight +through the blue empyrean away up to the eternal stars!" +<br> +<br> +He burst into tears; the others respected his emotion. +<br> +<br> +Then he wiped his eyes and looked ashamed of himself--quite +uselessly--for it is a mistake to suppose that tears are unmanly. +Unmanly! The manliest of men may sometimes shed tears out of his +very manhood. +<br> +<br> +At last there arose a magic strain that produced an effect to +which the former was nothing. It was "Yankee Doodle!" +<br> +<br> +The Senator did not speak. He could not find words. He turned +his eyes first upon one, and then another of his companions; eyes +beaming with joy and triumph--eyes that showed emotion arising +straight from a patriot's heart--eyes which seemed to say: Is there +any sound on earth or above the earth that can equal this? +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/61-illo-old-virginny.png" alt="Old Virginny."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Old Virginny.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +Yankee Doodle has never, received justice. It is a tune without +words. What are the recognized words? Nonsense unutterable--the +sneer of a British officer. But the tune!--ah that is quite +another thing! +<br> +<br> +The tune was from the very first taken to the national heart, and +has never ceased to be cherished there. The Republic has grown to +be a very different thing from that weak beginning, but its +national air is as popular as ever. The people do not merely +love it. They glory in it. And yet apologies are sometimes made +for it. By whom? By the soulless dilettante. The people know +better:--the farmers, the mechanics, the fishermen, the +dry-goods clerks, the newsboys, the railway stokers, the butchers, +the bakers, the candlestick-makers, the tinkers, the tailors, the +soldiers, the sailors. Why? Because this music has a voice of its +own, more expressive than words; the language of the soul, which +speaks forth in certain melodies which form an utterance of +unutterable passion. +<br> +<br> +The name was perhaps given in ridicule. It was accepted with pride. +The air is rash, reckless, gay, triumphant, noisy, boisterous, +careless, heedless, rampant, raging, roaring, rattle, brainish, +devil-may-care-ish, plague-take-the-hindmost-ish; but! solemn, +stern, hopeful, resolute, fierce, menacing, strong, cantankerous +(cantankerous is entirely an American idea), bold, daring-- +<br> +<br> +Words fail. +<br> +<br> +Yankee Doodle has not yet received its Doo! +<br> +<br> +The Senator had smiled, laughed, sighed, wept, gone through many +variations of feeling. +<br> +<br> +He had thrown _baiocchi_ till his pockets were exhausted, and then +handed forth silver. He had shaken hands with all his companions ten +times over. They themselves went not quite as far in feeling as he, +but yet to a certain extent they went in. +<br> +<br> +And yet Americans are thought to be practical, and not ideal. Yet here +was a true American who was intoxicated--drunk! By what? By sound, +notes, harmony. By music! +<br> +<br> +"Buttons," said he, as the music ceased and the Italian prepared to +make his bow and quit the scene, "I must make that gentleman's +acquaintance." +<br> +<br> +Buttons walked up to the organ-grinder. +<br> +<br> +"Be my interpreter," said the Senator. "Introduce me." +<br> +<br> +"What's your name?" asked Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"Maffeo Cloto." +<br> +<br> +"From where?" +<br> +<br> +"Urbino." +<br> +<br> +"Were you ever in America?" +<br> +<br> +"No, Signore." +<br> +<br> +"What does he say?" asked the Senator, impatiently. +<br> +<br> +"He says his name is Mr. Cloto, and he was never in America." +<br> +<br> +"How did you get these tunes?" +<br> +<br> +"Out of my organ," said the Italian, grinning. +<br> +<br> +"Of course; but how did you happen to get an organ with such tunes?" +<br> +<br> +"I bought it." +<br> +<br> +"Oh yes; but how did you happen to buy one with these tunes?" +<br> +<br> +"For you illustrious American Signore. You all like to hear them." +<br> +<br> +"Do you know any thing about the tunes?" +<br> +<br> +"Signore?" +<br> +<br> +"Do you know what the words are?" +<br> +<br> +"Oh no. I am an Italian." +<br> +<br> +"I suppose you make money out of them." +<br> +<br> +"I make more in a day with these than I could in a week with other +tunes." +<br> +<br> +"You lay up money, I suppose." +<br> +<br> +"Oh yes. In two years I will retire and let my younger brother play +here." +<br> +<br> +"These tunes?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes, Signore." +<br> +<br> +"To Americans?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes, Signore." +<br> +<br> +"What is it all?" asked the Senator. +<br> +<br> +"He says that he finds he makes money by playing American tunes to +Americans." +<br> +<br> +"Hm," said the Senator, with some displeasure; "and he has no soul +then to see the--the beauty, the sentiment, the grandeur of his +vocation!" +<br> +<br> +"Not a bit--he only goes in for money." +<br> +<br> +The Senator turned away in disgust. "Yankee Doodle," he murmured, +"ought of itself to have a refining and converting influence on the +European mind; but it is too debased--yes--yes--too debased." +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +HOW A BARGAIN IS MADE.--THE WILES OF THE ITALIAN TRADESMAN.--THE NAKED +SULKY BEGGAR, AND THE JOVIAL WELL-CLAD BEGGAR.--WHO IS THE KING OF +BEGGARS? +<br> +<br> +<br> +"What are you thinking about, Buttons?" +<br> +<br> +"Well, Dick, to tell the truth, I have been thinking that if I do +find the Spaniards they won't have reason to be particularly proud of +me as a companion. Look at me." +<br> +<br> +"I look, and to be frank, my dear boy, I must say that you look more +shabby-genteel than otherwise." +<br> +<br> +"That's the result of travelling on one suit of clothes--without +considering fighting. I give up my theory." +<br> +<br> +"Give it up, then, and come out as a butterfly." +<br> +<br> +"Friend of my soul, the die is cast. Come forth with me and seek a +clothing-store." +<br> +<br> +It was not difficult to find one. They entered the first one that they +saw. The polite Roman overwhelmed them with attention. +<br> +<br> +"Show me a coat, Signore." +<br> +<br> +Signore sprang nimbly at the shelves and brought down every coat in +his store. Buttons picked out one that suited his fancy, and tried it +on. +<br> +<br> +"What is the price?" +<br> +<br> +With a profusion of explanation and description the Roman informed +him: "Forty piastres." +<br> +<br> +"I'll give you twelve," said Buttons, quietly. +<br> +<br> +The Italian smiled, put his head on one side, drew down the corners +of his mouth, and threw up his shoulders. This is the _shrug_. The +shrug requires special attention. The shrug is a gesture used by the +Latin race for expressing a multitude of things, both objectively and +subjectively. It is a language of itself. It is, as circumstances +require, a noun, adverb, pronoun, verb, adjective, preposition, +interjection, conjunction. Yet it does not supersede the spoken +language. It comes in rather when spoken words are useless, to convey +intensity of meaning or delicacy. It is not taught, but it is learned. +<br> +<br> +The coarser, or at least blunter, Teutonic race have not cordially +adopted this mode of human intercommunication. The advantage of the +shrug is that in one slight gesture it contains an amount of meaning +which otherwise would require many words. A good shrugger in Italy is +admired, just as a good conversationist is in England, or a good stump +orator in America. When the merchant shrugged, Buttons understood him +and said: +<br> +<br> +"You refuse? Then I go. Behold me!" +<br> +<br> +"Ah, Signore, how can you thus endeavor to take advantage of the +necessities of the poor?" +<br> +<br> +"Signore, I must buy according to my ability." +<br> +<br> +The Italian laughed long and quietly. The idea of an Englishman or +American not having much money was an exquisite piece of humor. +<br> +<br> +"Go not, Signore. Wait a little. Let me unfold more garments. Behold +this, and this. You shall have many of my goods for twelve piastres." +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/63-illo-the-shrug.png" alt="The Shrug."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: The Shrug.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +"No, Signore; I must have this, or I will have none." +<br> +<br> +"You are very hard, Signore. Think of my necessities. Think of the +pressure of this present war, which we poor miserable tradesmen feel +most of all." +<br> +<br> +"Then addio, Signore; I must depart." +<br> +<br> +They went out and walked six paces. +<br> +<br> +"P-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-t!" (Another little idea of the Latin race. It is +a much more penetrating sound than a loud Hallo! Ladies can use it. +Children too. This would be worth importing to America.) +<br> +<br> +"P-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-t!" +<br> +<br> +Buttons and Dick turned. The Italian stood smiling and bowing and +beckoning. +<br> +<br> +"Take it for twenty-four piastres." +<br> +<br> +"No, Signore; I can only pay twelve." +<br> +<br> +With a gesture of ruffled dignity the shopkeeper withdrew. Again they +turned away. They had scarcely gone ten paces before the shop-keeper +was after them: +<br> +<br> +"A thousand pardons. But I have concluded to take twenty." +<br> +<br> +"No; twelve, and no more." +<br> +<br> +"But think, Signore; only think." +<br> +<br> +"I do think, my friend; I do think." +<br> +<br> +"Say eighteen." +<br> +<br> +"No, Signore." +<br> +<br> +"Seventeen." +<br> +<br> +"Twelve." +<br> +<br> +"Here. Come back with me." +<br> +<br> +They obeyed. The Italian folded the coat neatly, tied it carefully, +stroked the parcel tenderly, and with a meek yet sad smile handed it +to Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"There--only sixteen piastres." +<br> +<br> +Buttons had taken out his purse. At this he hurriedly replaced it, +with an air of vexation. +<br> +<br> +"I can only give twelve." +<br> +<br> +"Oh, Signore, be generous. Think of my struggles, my expenses, my +family. You will not force me to lose." +<br> +<br> +"I would scorn to force you to any thing, and therefore I will +depart." +<br> +<br> +"Stop, Signore," cried the Italian, detaining them at the door. "I +consent. You may take it for fourteen." +<br> +<br> +"For Heaven's sake, Buttons, take it," said Dick, whose patience was +now completely exhausted. "Take it." +<br> +<br> +"Twelve," said Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"Let me pay the extra two dollars, for my own peace of mind," said +Dick. +<br> +<br> +"Nonsense, Dick. It's the principle of the thing. As a member of the +Dodge Club, too, I could not give more." +<br> +<br> +"Thirteen, good Signore mine," said the Italian piteously. +<br> +<br> +"My friend, I have given my word that I would pay only twelve." +<br> +<br> +"Your word? Your pardon, but to whom?" +<br> +<br> +"To you." +<br> +<br> +"Oh, then, how gladly I release you from your word!" +<br> +<br> +"Twelve, Signore, or I go." +<br> +<br> +"I can not." +<br> +<br> +Buttons turned away. They walked along the street, and at length +arrived at another clothier's. Just as they stepped in a hand was +laid on Buttons's shoulder, and a voice cried out-- +<br> +<br> +"Take it! Take it, Signore!" +<br> +<br> +"Ah! I thought so. Twelve?" +<br> +<br> +"Twelve." +<br> +<br> +Buttons paid the money and directed where it should be sent. He found +out afterward that the price which an Italian gentleman would pay was +about ten piastres. +<br> +<br> +There is no greater wonder than the patient waiting of an Italian +tradesman, in pursuit of a bargain. The flexibility of the Italian +conscience and imagination under such circumstances is truly +astonishing. +<br> +<br> +Dress makes a difference. The very expression of the face changes when +one has passed from shabbiness into elegance. After Buttons had +dressed himself in his gay attire his next thought was what to do with +his old clothes. +<br> +<br> +"Come and let us dispose of them." +<br> +<br> +"Dispose of them!" +<br> +<br> +"Oh, I mean get rid of them. I saw a man crouching in a corner nearly +naked as I came up. Let us go and see if we can find him. I'd like to +try the effect." +<br> +<br> +They went to the place where the man had been seen. He was there +still. A young man, in excellent health, brown, muscular, lithe. +He had an old coverlet around his loins--that was all. He looked up +sulkily. +<br> +<br> +"Are you not cold?" +<br> +<br> +"No," he blurted out, and turned away. +<br> +<br> +"A boor," said Dick. "Don't throw away your charity on him." +<br> +<br> +"Look here." +<br> +<br> +The man looked up lazily. +<br> +<br> +"Do you want some clothes?" +<br> +<br> +No reply. +<br> +<br> +"I've got some here, and perhaps will give them to you." +<br> +<br> +The man scrambled to his feet. +<br> +<br> +"Confound the fellow!" said Dick. "If he don't want them let's find +some one who does." +<br> +<br> +"Look here," said Buttons. +<br> +<br> +He unfolded his parcel. The fellow looked indifferently at the things. +<br> +<br> +"Here, take this," and he offered the pantaloons. +<br> +<br> +The Italian took them and slowly put them on. This done, he stretched +himself and yawned. +<br> +<br> +"Take this." +<br> +<br> +It was his vest. +<br> +<br> +The man took the vest and put it on with equal _sang froid_. Again +he yawned and stretched himself. +<br> +<br> +"Here's a coat." +<br> +<br> +Buttons held it out to the Italian. The fellow took it, surveyed it +closely, felt in the pockets, and examined very critically the +stiffening of the collar. Finally he put it on. He buttoned it +closely around him, and passed his fingers through his matted hair. +Then he felt the pockets once more. After which he yawned long and +solemnly. This done, he looked earnestly at Buttons and Dick. He saw +that they had nothing more. Upon which he turned on his heel, and +without saying a word, good or bad, walked off with immense strides, +turned a corner, and was out of sight. The two philanthropists were +left staring at one another. At last they laughed. +<br> +<br> +"That man is an original," said Dick. +<br> +<br> +"Yes, and there is another," said Buttons. +<br> +<br> +As he spoke he pointed to the flight of stone steps that goes up from +the Piazza di Spagna. Dick looked up. There sat The Beggar! +<br> +<br> +ANTONIO! +<br> +<br> +Legless, hatless, but not by any means penniless, king of Roman +beggars, with a European reputation, unequalled, in his own +profession--there sat the most scientific beggar that the world has +ever seen. +<br> +<br> +He had watched the recent proceedings, and caught the glance of the +young men. +<br> +<br> +As they looked up his voice came clear and sonorous through the air: +<br> +<br> +"O most generous--0 most noble--O most illustrious youths--Draw near +--Look in pity upon the abject--Behold legless, armless, helpless, the +beggar Antonio forsaken of Heaven--For the love of the Virgin--For the +sake of the saints--In the name of humanity--Date me uno mezzo +baioccho--Sono poooocooooovero--Miseraaaaaaaaaabile-- +Desperrrraaaaaaaado!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +THE MANIFOLD LIFE OF THE CAFÉ NUOVO, AND HOW THEY RECEIVED THE NEWS +ABOUT MAGENTA.--EXCITEMENT.--ENTHUSIASM.--TEARS.--EMBRACES. +<br> +<br> +<br> +All modern Rome lives in the Café Nuovo. It was once a palace. Lofty +ceilings, glittering walls, marble pavements, countless tables, +luxurious couches, immense mirrors, all dazzle the eye. The hubbub is +immense, the confusion overpowering. +<br> +<br> +The European mode of life is not bad. Lodgings in roomy apartments, +where one sleeps and attends to one's private affairs; meals +altogether at the café. There one invites one's friends. No delay with +dinner; no badly-cooked dishes; no stale or sour bread; no timid, +overworn wife trembling for the result of new experiments in +housekeeping. On the contrary, one has: prompt meals; exquisite food; +delicious bread; polite waiters; and happy wife, with plenty of +leisure at home to improve mind and adorn body. +<br> +<br> +The first visit which the Club paid to the Café Nuovo was an eventful +one. News had just been received of the great strife at Magenta. Every +one was wild. The two _Galignani's_ had been appropriated by two +Italians, who were surrounded by forty-seven frenzied Englishmen, all +eager to get hold of the papers. The Italians obligingly tried to read +the news. The wretched mangle which they made of the language, the +impatience, the excitement, and the perplexity of the audience, +combined with the splendid self-complacency of the readers, formed a +striking scene. +<br> +<br> +The Italians gathered in a vast crowd in one of the billiard-rooms, +where one of their number, mounted on a table, was reading with +terrific volubility, and still more terrific gesticulations, a +private letter from a friend at Milan. +<br> +<br> +"Bravo!" cried all present. +<br> +<br> +In pronouncing which word the Italians rolled the "r" so tumultuously +that the only audible sound was-- +<br> +<br> +B-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-f-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-ah! Like the letter B +in a railway train. +<br> +<br> +The best of all was to see the French. They were packed in a dense +mass at the furthest extremity of the Grand Saloon. Every one was +talking. Every one was describing to his neighbor the minute +particulars of the tremendous contest. Old soldiers, hoarse with +excitement, emulated the volubility of younger ones. A thousand arms +waved energetically in the air. Every one was too much interested in +his own description to heed his neighbor. They were all talkers, no +listeners. +<br> +<br> +A few Germans were there, but they sat forsaken and neglected. Even +the waiters forsook them. So they smoked the cigars of sweet and +bitter fancy, occasionally conversing in thick gutturals. It was +evident that they considered the present occasion as a combined crow +of the whole Latin race over the German. So they looked on with +impassive faces. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/65-illo-news-of-magenta.png" alt="News Of Magenta!"> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: News Of Magenta!] +<br> +<br> +<br> +Perhaps the most stolid of all was Meinheer Schatt, who smoked and +sipped coffee alternately, stopping after each sip to look around +with mild surprise, to stroke his forked beard, and to ejaculate-- +<br> +<br> +"Gr-r-r-r-r-r-acious me!" +<br> +<br> +Him the Senator saw and accosted, who, making room for the Senator, +conversed with much animation. After a time the others took seats near +them, and formed a neutral party. At this moment a small-sized +gentleman with black twinkling eyes came rushing past, and burst into +the thick of the crowd of Frenchmen. At the sight of him Buttons +leaped up, and cried: +<br> +<br> +"There's Francia! I'll catch him now!" +<br> +<br> +Francia shouted a few words which set the Frenchmen wild. +<br> +<br> +"The Allies have entered Milan! A dispatch has just arrived!" +<br> +<br> +There burst a shrill yell of triumph from the insane Frenchmen. There +was a wild rushing to and fro, and the crowd swayed backward and +forward. The Italians came pouring in from the other room. One word +was sufficient to tell them all. It was a great sight to see. On each +individual the news produced a different effect. Some stood still as +though petrified; others flung up their arms and yelled; others +cheered; others upset tables, not knowing what they were doing; +others threw themselves into one another's arms, and embraced and +kissed; others wept for joy:--these last were Milanese. +<br> +<br> +Buttons was trying to find Francia. The rush of the excited crowd +bore him away, and his efforts were fruitless. In fact, when he +arrived at the place where that gentleman had been, he was gone. The +Germans began to look more uncomfortable than ever. At length Meinheer +Schatt proposed that they should all go in a body to the Café Scacchi. +So they all left. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHECKMATE! +<br> +<br> +<br> +The Café Scacchi, as its name implies, is devoted to chess. Germans +patronize it to a great extent. Politics do not enter into the +precincts sacred to Caissa. +<br> +<br> +After they had been seated about an hour Buttons entered. He had not +been able to find Francia. To divert his melancholy he proposed that +Meinheer Schatt should play a game of chess with the Senator. Now, +chess was the Senator's hobby. He claimed to be the best player in +his State. With a patronizing smile he consented to play with a tyro +like Meinheer Schatt. At the end of one game Meinheer Schatt stroked +his beard and meekly said-- +<br> +<br> +"Gr-r-r-acious me!" +<br> +<br> +The Senator frowned and bit his lips. He was checkmated. +<br> +<br> +Another game. Meinheer Schatt played in a calm, and some might say a +stupid, manner. +<br> +<br> +"Gr-r-r-acious me!" +<br> +<br> +It was a drawn game. +<br> +<br> +Another: this was a very long game. The Senator played laboriously. +It was no use. Slowly and steadily Meinheer Schatt won the game. +<br> +<br> +When he uttered his usual exclamation the Senator felt strongly +inclined to throw the board at his head. However, he restrained +himself, and they commenced another game. Much to delight the +Senator beat. He now began to explain to Buttons exactly why it was +that he had not beaten before. +<br> +<br> +Another game followed. The Senator lost woefully. His defeat was in +fact disgraceful. When Meinheer Schatt said the ominous word the +Senator rose, and was so overcome with vexation he had not the +courtesy to say Good-night. +<br> +<br> +As they passed out Meinheer Schatt was seen staring after them with +his large blue eyes, stroking his beard, and whispering to himself-- +<br> +<br> +"Gr-r-r-acious me!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/66-illo-before-and-after.png" alt="Before And After."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Before And After.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +BUTTONS A MAN OF ONE IDEA.--DICK AND HIS MEASURING TAPE.--DARK EYES. +--SUSCEPTIBLE HEART.--YOUNG MAIDEN WHO LIVES OUT OF TOWN.--GRAND +COLLISION OF TWO ABSTRACTED LOVERS IN THE PUBLIC STREETS. +<br> +<br> +<br> +Too much blame can not be given to Buttons for his behavior at this +period. He acted as though the whole motive of his existence was to +find the Francias. To this he devoted his days, and of this he dreamed +at night. He deserted his friends. Left to themselves, without his +moral influence to keep them together and give aim to their efforts, +each one followed his own inclination. +<br> +<br> +Mr. Figgs spent the whole of his time in the Café Nuovo, drawing out +plans of dinners for each successive day. The Doctor, after sleeping +till noon, lounged on the Pincian Hill till evening, when he joined +Mr. Figgs at dinner. The Senator explored every nook and corner of +Rome. At first Dick accompanied him, but gradually they diverged +from one another in different paths. The Senator visited every place +in the city, peered into dirty houses, examined pavements, +investigated fountains, stared hard at the beggars, and looked +curiously at the Swiss Guard in the Pope's Palace. He soon became +known to the lower classes, who recognized with a grin the tall +foreigner that shouted queer foreign words and made funny gestures. +<br> +<br> +Dick lived among churches, palaces, and ruins. Tired at length of +wandering, he attached himself to some artists, in whose studios he +passed the greater part of his afternoons. He became personally +acquainted with nearly every member of the fraternity, to whom he +endeared himself by the excellence of his tobacco, and his great +capacity for listening. Your talkative people bore artists more +than any others. +<br> +<br> +"What a lovely girl! What a look she gave!" +<br> +<br> +Such was the thought that burst upon the soul of Dick, after a +little visit to a little church that goes by the name of Saint +Somebody _ai quattri fontani_. He had visited it simply because he +had heard that its dimensions exactly correspond with those of each +of the chief piers that support the dome of Saint Peter's. As he +wished to be accurate, he had taken a tape-line, and began stretching +it from the altar to the door. The astonished priests at first stood +paralyzed by his sacrilegious impudence, but finally, after a +consultation, they came to him and ordered him to be gone. Dick looked +up with mild wonder. They indignantly repeated the order. +<br> +<br> +Dick was extremely sorry that he had given offense. Wouldn't they +overlook it? He was a stranger, and did not know that they would be +unwilling. However, since he had begun, he supposed they would kindly +permit him to finish. +<br> +<br> +--"They would kindly do no such thing," remarked one of the priests, +brusquely. "Was their church a common stable or a wine-shop that he +should presume to molest them at their services? If he had no +religion, could he not have courtesy; or, if he had no faith himself, +could he not respect the faith of others?" +<br> +<br> +Dick felt abashed. The eyes of all the worshipers were on him, and it +was while rolling up his tape that his eyes met the glance of a +beautiful Italian girl, who was kneeling opposite. The noise had +disturbed her devotions, and she had turned to see what it was. It was +a thrilling glance from deep black lustrous orbs, in which there was +a soft and melting languor which he could not resist. He went out +dazzled, and so completely bewildered that he did not think of +waiting. After he had gone a few blocks he hurried back. She had gone. +However, the impression of her face remained. +<br> +<br> +He went so often to the little church that the priests noticed him; +but finding that he was quiet and orderly they were not offended. One +of them seemed to think that his rebuke had awakened the young +foreigner to a sense of higher things; so he one day accosted him +with much politeness. The priest delicately brought forward the claims +of religion. Dick listened meekly. At length he asked the priest if +he recollected a certain young girl with beautiful face, wonderful +eyes, and marvellous appearance that was worshiping there on the day +that he came to measure the church. +<br> +<br> +"Yes," said the priest, coldly. +<br> +<br> +Could he tell her name and where she lived? +<br> +<br> +"Sir," said the priest, "I had hoped that you came here from a higher +motive. It will do you no good to know, and I therefore decline +telling you." +<br> +<br> +Dick begged most humbly, but the priest was inexorable. At last Dick +remembered having heard that an Italian was constitutionally unable +to resist a bribe. He thought he might try. True, the priest was a +gentleman; but perhaps an Italian gentleman was different from an +English or American; so he put his hand in his pocket and blushing +violently, brought forth a gold piece of about twenty dollars value. +He held it out. The priest stared at him with a look that was +appalling. +<br> +<br> +"If you know--" faltered Dick--"any one--of course I don't mean +yourself--far from it--but--that is--" +<br> +<br> +"Sir," cried the priest, "who are you? Are there no bounds to your +impudence? Have you come to insult me because I am a priest, and +therefore can not revenge myself? Away!" +<br> +<br> +The priest choked with rage. Dick walked out. Bitterly he cursed +his wretched stupidity that had led him to this. His very ears +tingled with shame as he saw the full extent of the insult that he +had offered to a priest and a gentleman. He concluded to leave Rome +at once. +<br> +<br> +But at the very moment when he had made this desperate resolve he +saw some one coming. A sharp thrill went through his heart. +<br> +<br> +It was SHE! She looked at him and glanced modestly away. Dick at +once walked up to her. +<br> +<br> +"Signorina," said he, not thinking what a serious thing it was to +address an Italian maiden in the streets. But this one did not +resent it. She looked up and smiled. "What a smile!" thought Dick. +<br> +<br> +"Signorina," he said again, and then stopped, not knowing what to +say. His voice was very tremulous, and the expression of his face +tender and beseeching. His eyes told all. +<br> +<br> +"Signore," said the girl, with a sweet smile. The smile encouraged +Dick. +<br> +<br> +"Ehem--I have lost my way. I--I--could you tell me how I could get +to Piazza del Popolo? I think I might find my way home from there." +<br> +<br> +The girl's eyes beamed with a mischievous light. +<br> +<br> +"Oh yes, most easily. You go down that street; when you pass four +side-streets you turn; to the left--the left--remember, and then you +keep on till you come to a large church with a fountain before it, +then you turn round that, and you see the obelisk of the Piazza del +Popolo." +<br> +<br> +Her voice was the sweetest that Dick had ever heard. He listened as +he would listen to music, and did not hear a single word that he +comprehended. +<br> +<br> +"Pardon me," said he, "but would you please to tell me again. I can +not remember all. Three streets?" +<br> +<br> +The girl laughed and repeated it +<br> +<br> +Dick sighed. +<br> +<br> +"I'm a stranger here, and am afraid that I can not find my way. I left +my map at home. If I could find some one who would go with me and +show me." +<br> +<br> +He looked earnestly at her, but she modestly made a movement to go. +<br> +<br> +"Are you in a great hurry?" said he. +<br> +<br> +"No, Signore," replied the girl, softly. +<br> +<br> +"Could you--a--a--would you be willing--to--to--walk a little part +of the way with me, and--show me a very little part of the way--only +a very little?" +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/68-illo-away.png" alt="Away!"> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Away!] +<br> +<br> +<br> +The girl seemed half to consent, but modestly hesitated, and a faint +flush stole over her face. +<br> +<br> +"Ah do!" said Dick. He was desperate. +<br> +<br> +"It's my only chance," thought he. +<br> +<br> +The girl softly assented and walked on with him. +<br> +<br> +"I am very much obliged to you for your kindness," said Dick. "It's +very hard for a stranger to find his way in Rome." +<br> +<br> +"But, Signore, by this time you ought to know the whole of our city." +<br> +<br> +"What? How?" +<br> +<br> +"Why, you have been here three weeks at least." +<br> +<br> +"How do you know?" and the young man blushed to his eyes. He had been +telling lies, and she knew it all the time. +<br> +<br> +"Oh, I saw you once in the church, and I have seen you with that tall +man. Is he your father?" +<br> +<br> +"No, only a friend." +<br> +<br> +"I saw you," and she shook her little head triumphantly, and her +eyes beamed with fun and laughter. +<br> +<br> +"Any way," thought Dick, "she ought to understand." +<br> +<br> +"And did you see me when I was in that little church with a measuring +line?" +<br> +<br> +The young girl looked up at him, her large eyes reading his very soul. +<br> +<br> +"Did I look at you? Why, I was praying." +<br> +<br> +"You looked at me, and I have never forgotten it." +<br> +<br> +Another glance as though to assure herself of Dick's meaning. The +next moment her eyes sank and her face flushed crimson. Dick's heart +beat so fast that he could not speak for some time. +<br> +<br> +"Signore," said the young girl at last, "when you turn that corner +you will see the Piazza del Popolo." +<br> +<br> +"Will you not walk as far as that corner?" said Dick. +<br> +<br> +"Ah, Signore, I am afraid I will not have time." +<br> +<br> +"Will I never see you again?" asked he, mournfully. +<br> +<br> +"I do not know, Signore. You ought to know." +<br> +<br> +A pause. Both had stopped, and Dick was looking earnestly at her, but +she was looking at the ground. +<br> +<br> +"How can I know when I do not know even your name? Let me know that, +so that I may think about it." +<br> +<br> +"Ah, how you try to flatter! My name is Pepita Gianti." +<br> +<br> +"And do you live far from here?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes. I live close by the Basilica di San Paolo fuori le mure." +<br> +<br> +"A long distance. I was out there once." +<br> +<br> +"I saw you." +<br> +<br> +Dick exulted. +<br> +<br> +"How many times have you seen me? I have only seen you once before." +<br> +<br> +"Oh, seven or eight times." +<br> +<br> +"And will this be the last?" said Dick, beseechingly. +<br> +<br> +"Signore, if I wait any longer the gates will be shut." +<br> +<br> +"Oh, then, before you go, tell me where I can find you to-morrow. If +I walk out on that road will I see you? Will you come in to-morrow? +or will you stay out there and shall I go there? Which of the houses +do you live in? or where can I find you? If you lived over on the +Alban Hills I would walk every day to find you." +<br> +<br> +Dick spoke with ardor and impetuosity. The deep feeling which he +showed, and the mingled eagerness and delicacy which he exhibited, +seemed not offensive to his companion. She looked up timidly. +<br> +<br> +"When to-morrow comes you will be thinking of something else--or +perhaps away on those Alban mountains. You will forget all about +me. What is the use of telling you? I ought to go now." +<br> +<br> +"I'll never forget!" burst forth Dick. "Never--never. Believe me. +On my soul; and oh, Signorina, it is not much to ask!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/69-illo-pepita.png" alt="Pepita."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Pepita.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +His ardor carried him away. In the broad street he actually made a +gesture as though he would take her hand. The young girl drew back +blushing deeply. She looked at him with a reproachful glance. +<br> +<br> +"You forget--" +<br> +<br> +Whereupon Dick interrupted her with innumerable apologies. +<br> +<br> +"You do not deserve forgiveness. But I will forgive you if you leave +me now. Did I not tell you that I was in a hurry?" +<br> +<br> +"Will you not tell me where I can see you again?" +<br> +<br> +"I suppose I will be walking out about this time to-morrow." +<br> +<br> +"Oh, Signorina! and I will be at the gate." +<br> +<br> +"If you don't forget." +<br> +<br> +"Would you be angry if you saw me at the gate this evening?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes; for friends are going out with me. Addio, Signore." +<br> +<br> +The young girl departed, leaving Dick rooted to the spot. After a +while he went on to the Piazza del Popolo. A thousand feelings +agitated him. Joy, triumph, perfect bliss, were mingled with countless +tender recollections of the glance, the smile, the tone, and the +blushes of Pepita. He walked on with new life. So abstracted was his +mind in all kinds of delicious anticipations that he ran full against +a man who was hurrying at full speed and in equal abstraction in the +opposite direction. There was a recoil. Both fell. Both began to make +apologies. But suddenly: +<br> +<br> +"Why, Buttons!" +<br> +<br> +"Why, Dick!" +<br> +<br> +"Where in the world did you come from?" +<br> +<br> +"Where in the world did you come from?" +<br> +<br> +"What are you after, Buttons?" +<br> +<br> +"Did you see a carriage passing beyond that corner?" +<br> +<br> +"No, none." +<br> +<br> +"You must have seen it." +<br> +<br> +"Well, I didn't." +<br> +<br> +"Why, it must have just passed you." +<br> +<br> +"I saw none." +<br> +<br> +"Confound it!" +<br> +<br> +Buttons hurriedly left, and ran all the way to the corner, round which +he passed. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +CONSEQUENCES OF BEING GALLANT IN ITALY, WHERE THERE ARE LOVERS, +HUSBANDS, BROTHERS, FATHERS, COUSINS, AND INNUMERABLE OTHER RELATIVES +AND CONNECTIONS, ALL READY WITH THE STILETTO. +<br> +<br> +<br> +After his meeting with Pepita, Dick found it extremely difficult to +restrain his impatience until the following evening. He was at the +gate long before the time, waiting with trembling eagerness. +<br> +<br> +It was nearly sundown before she came; but she did come at last. Dick +watched her with strange emotions, murmuring to himself all those +peculiar epithets which are commonly used by people in his situation. +The young girl was unmistakably lovely, and her grace and beauty might +have affected a sterner heart than Dick's. +<br> +<br> +"Now I wonder if she knows how perfectly and radiantly lovely she +is," thought he, as she looked at him and smiled. +<br> +<br> +He joined her a little way from the gate. +<br> +<br> +"So you do not forget." +<br> +<br> +"_I_ forget! Before I spoke to you I thought of you without ceasing, +and now I can never forget you." +<br> +<br> +"Do your friends know where you are?" she asked, timidly. +<br> +<br> +"Do you think I would tell them?" +<br> +<br> +"Are you going to stay long in Rome?" +<br> +<br> +"I will not go away for a long time." +<br> +<br> +"You are an American." +<br> +<br> +"Yes." +<br> +<br> +"America is very far away." +<br> +<br> +"But it is easy to get there." +<br> +<br> +"How long will you be in Rome?" +<br> +<br> +"I don't know. A very long time." +<br> +<br> +"Not in the summer?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes, in the summer." +<br> +<br> +"But the malaria. Are you not afraid of that? Will your friends stay?" +<br> +<br> +"I do not care whether my friends do or not." +<br> +<br> +"But you will be left alone." +<br> +<br> +"I suppose so." +<br> +<br> +"But what will you do for company? It will be very lonely." +<br> +<br> +"I will think of you all day, and at evening come to the gate." +<br> +<br> +"Oh, Signore! You jest now!" +<br> +<br> +"How can I jest with you?" +<br> +<br> +"You don't mean what you say." +<br> +<br> +"Pepita!" +<br> +<br> +Pepita blushed and looked embarrassed. Dick had called her by her +Christian name; but she did not appear to resent it. +<br> +<br> +"You don't know who I am," she said at last. "Why do you pretend to +be so friendly?" +<br> +<br> +"I know that you are Pepita, and I don't want to know any thing +more, except one thing, which I am afraid to ask." +<br> +<br> +Pepita quickened her pace. +<br> +<br> +"Do not walk so fast, Pepita," said Dick, beseechingly. "Let the walk +be as long as you can." +<br> +<br> +"But if I walked so slowly you would never let me get home." +<br> +<br> +"I wish I could make the walk so slow that we could spend a +life-time on the road." +<br> +<br> +Pepita laughed. "That would be a long time." +<br> +<br> +It was getting late. The sun was half-way below the horizon. The sky +was flaming with golden light, which glanced dreamily through the hazy +atmosphere. Every thing was toned down to soft beauty. Of course it +was the season for lovers and lovers' vows. Pepita walked a little +more slowly to oblige Dick. She uttered an occasional murmur at their +slow progress, but still did not seem eager to quicken her pace. Every +step was taken unwillingly by Dick, who wanted to prolong the happy +time. +<br> +<br> +Pepita's voice was the sweetest in the world, and her soft Italian +sounded more musically that that language had ever sounded before. +She seemed happy, and by many little signs showed that her companion +was not indifferent to her. At length Dick ventured to offer his arm. +She rested her hand on it very gently, and Dick tremulously took it in +his. The little hand fluttered for a few minutes, and then sank to +rest. +<br> +<br> +The sun had now set. Evening in Italy is far different from what it +is in northern latitudes. There it comes on gently and slowly, +sometimes prolonging its presence for hours, and the light will be +visible until very late. In Italy, however, it is short and abrupt. +Almost as soon as the sun disappears the thick shadows come swiftly +on and cover every thing. It was so at this time. It seemed but a +moment after sunset, and yet every thing was growing indistinct. The +clumps of trees grew black; the houses and walls of the city behind +all faded into a mass of gloom. The stars shone faintly. There was +no moon. +<br> +<br> +"I will be very late to-night," said Pepita, timidly. +<br> +<br> +"But are you much later than usual?" +<br> +<br> +"Oh, very much!" +<br> +<br> +"There is no danger, is there? But if there is you are safe. I can +protect you. Can you trust me?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes," said Pepita, in a low voice. +<br> +<br> +It was too dark to see the swiftly-changing color of Pepita's face as +Dick murmured some words in her ear. But her hand trembled violently +as Dick held it. She did not say a word in response. Dick stood still +for a moment and begged her to answer him. She made an effort and +whispered some indistinct syllables. Whereupon Dick called her by +every endearing name that he could think of, and--Hasty footsteps! +Exclamations! Shouts! They were surrounded! Twelve men or more-- +stout, strong fellows, magnified by the gloom. Pepita shrieked. +<br> +<br> +"Who are you?" cried Dick. "Away, or I'll shoot you all. I'm armed." +<br> +<br> +"Boh!" said one of the men, contemptuously. "Off!" cried Dick, as +the fellow drew near. He put himself before Pepita to protect her, +and thrust his right hand in the breast-pocket of his coat. +<br> +<br> +"Who is that with you?" said a voice. At the sound of the voice +Pepita uttered a cry. Darting from behind Dick she rushed up to him. +<br> +<br> +"It is Pepita, Luigi!" +<br> +<br> +"Pepita! Sister! What do you mean by this?" said the man hoarsely. +"Why are you so late? Who is this man?" +<br> +<br> +"An American gentleman who walked out as far as this to protect me," +said Pepita, bursting into tears. +<br> +<br> +"An American gentleman!" said Luigi, with a bitter sneer. "He came +to protect you, did he? Well; we will show him in a few minutes +how grateful we are." +<br> +<br> +Dick stood with folded arms awaiting the result of all this. +<br> +<br> +"Luigi! dearest brother!" cried Pepita, with a shudder, "on my soul +--in the name of the Holy Mother--he is an honorable American +gentleman, and he came to protect me." +<br> +<br> +"Oh! we know, and we will reward him." +<br> +<br> +"Luigi! Luigi!" moaned Pepita, "if you hurt him I will die!" +<br> +<br> +"Ah! Has it come to that?" said Luigi, bitterly. "A half-hour's +acquaintance, and you talk of dying. Here, Pepita; go home with +Ricardo." +<br> +<br> +"I will not. I will not go a step unless you let him go." +<br> +<br> +"Oh, we will let him go!" +<br> +<br> +"Promise me you will not hurt him." +<br> +<br> +"Pepita, go home!" cried her brother, sternly. +<br> +<br> +"I will not unless you promise." +<br> +<br> +"Foolish girl! Do you suppose we are going to break the laws and +get into trouble? No, no. Come, go home with Ricardo. I'm going to +the city." +<br> +<br> +Ricardo came forward, and Pepita allowed herself to be led away. +<br> +<br> +When she was out of sight and hearing Luigi approached Dick. Amid +the gloom Dick did not see the wrath and hate that might have been on +his face, but the tone of his voice was passionate and menacing. He +prepared for the worst. "That is my sister.--Wretch! what did you +mean?" +<br> +<br> +"I swear--" +<br> +<br> +"Peace! We will give you cause to remember her." +<br> +<br> +Dick saw that words and excuses were useless. He thought his hour had +come. He resolved to die game. He hadn't a pistol. His manoeuvre of +putting his hand in his pocket was merely intended to deceive. The +Italians thought that if he had one he would have done more than +mention it. He would at least have shown it. He had stationed +himself under a tree. The men were before him. Luigi rushed at him +like a wild beast. Dick gave him a tremendous blow between his eyes +that knocked him headlong. +<br> +<br> +"You can kill me," he shouted, "but you'll find it hard work!" +<br> +<br> +Up jumped Luigi, full of fury; half a dozen others rushed +simultaneously at Dick. He struck out two vigorous blows, which +crashed against the faces of two of them. The next moment he was on +the ground. On the ground, but striking well-aimed blows and kicking +vigorously. He kicked one fellow completely over. The brutal Italians +struck and kicked him in return. At last a tremendous blow descended +on his head. He sank senseless. +<br> +<br> +When he revived it was intensely dark. He was covered with painful +bruises. His head ached violently. He could see nothing. He arose +and tried to walk, but soon fell exhausted. So he crawled closer to +the trunk of the tree, and groaned there in his pain. At last he +fell into a light sleep, that was much interrupted by his suffering. +<br> +<br> +He awoke at early twilight. He was stiff and sore, but very much +refreshed. His head did not pain so excessively. He heard the +trickling of water near, and saw a brook. There he went and washed +himself. The water revived him greatly. Fortunately his clothes were +only slightly torn. After washing the blood from his face, and +buttoning his coat over his bloodstained shirt, and brushing the +dirt from his clothes, he ventured to return to the city. +<br> +<br> +He crawled rather than walked, often stopping to rest, and once +almost fainting from utter weakness. But at last he reached the +city, and managed to find a wine-cart, the only vehicle that he +could see, which took him to his lodgings. He reached his room +before any of the others were up, and went to bed. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/71-illo-an-interruption.png" alt="An Interruption."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: An Interruption.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +DICK ON THE SICK LIST.--RAPTURE OF BUTTONS AT MAKING AN IMPORTANT +DISCOVERY. +<br> +<br> +<br> +Great was the surprise of all on the following morning at finding that +Dick was confined to his bed. All were very anxious, and even Buttons +showed considerable feeling. For as much as a quarter of an hour he +ceased thinking about the Spaniards. Poor Dick! What on earth was the +matter? Had he fever? No. Perhaps it was the damp night-air. He should +not have been out so late. Where was he? A confounded pity! The Doctor +felt his pulse. There was no fever. The patient was very pale, and +evidently in great pain. His complaint was a mystery. However, the +Doctor recommended perfect quiet, and hoped that a few days would +restore him. Dick said not a word about the events of the evening. He +thought it would do no good to tell them. He was in great pain. His +body was black with frightful bruises, and the depression of his mind +was as deep as the pain of his body. +<br> +<br> +The others went out at their usual hour. +<br> +<br> +The kind-hearted Senator remained at home all day, and sat by Dick's +bedside, sometimes talking, sometimes reading. Dick begged him not to +put himself to so much inconvenience on his account; but such language +was distasteful to the Senator. +<br> +<br> +"My boy," he said, "I know that you would do as much for me. Besides, +it is a far greater pleasure to do any thing for you than to walk +about merely to gratify myself. Don't apologize, or tell me that I am +troubling myself. Leave me to do as I please." +<br> +<br> +Dick's grateful look expressed more than words. +<br> +<br> +In a few days his pain had diminished, and it was evident that he +would be out in a fortnight or so. The kind attentions of his friends +affected him greatly. They all spent more time than ever in his room, +and never came there without bringing some little trifle, such as +grapes, oranges, or other fruit. The Senator hunted all over Rome for +a book, and found Victor Hugo's works, which he bought on a venture, +and had the gratification of seeing that it was acceptable. +<br> +<br> +All suspected something. The Doctor had contended from the first that +Dick had met with an accident. They had too much delicacy to question +him, but made many conjectures amongst themselves. The Doctor thought +that he had been among some ruins, and met with a fall. Mr. Figgs +suggested that he might have been run over. The Senator thought it was +some Italian epidemic. Buttons was incapable of thinking rationally +about any thing just then. He was the victim of a monomania: the +Spaniards! +<br> +<br> +About a week after Dick's adventure Buttons was strolling about on +his usual quest, when he was attracted by a large crowd around the +Chiesa di Gesu. The splendid equipages of the cardinals were crowded +about the principal entrance, and from the interior sounds of music +came floating magnificently down. Buttons went in to see what was +going on. A vast crowd filled the church. Priests in gorgeous +vestments officiated at the high altar, which was all ablaze with +the light of enormous wax-candles. The gloom of the interior was +heightened by the clouds of incense that rolled on high far within +the vaulted ceiling. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/72-illo-poor-dick.png" alt="Poor Dick!"> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Poor Dick!] +<br> +<br> +<br> +The Pope was there. In one of the adjoining chambers he was performing +a ceremony which sometimes takes place in this church. Guided by +instinct, Buttons pressed his way into the chamber. A number of people +filled it. Suddenly he uttered an exclamation. +<br> +<br> +Just as His Holiness was rising to leave, Buttons saw the group that +had filled his thoughts for weeks. +<br> +<br> +The Spaniards! No mistake this time. And he had been right all along. +All his efforts had, after all, been based on something tangible. Not +in vain had he had so many walks, runnings, chasings, searchings, +strolls, so many hopes, fears, desires, discouragements. He was +right! Joy, rapture, bliss, ecstasy, delight! There they were: _the +little Don_--THE DONNA--IDA! +<br> +<br> +Buttons, lost for a while in the crowd, and pressed away, never lost +sight of the Spaniards. They did not see him, however, until, as +they slowly moved out, they were stopped and greeted with astonishing +eagerness. The Don shook hands cordially. The Donna--that is, the +elder sister--smiled sweetly. Ida blushed and cast down her eyes. +<br> +<br> +Nothing could be more gratifying than this reception. Where had he +been? How long in Rome? Why had they not met before? Strange that +they had not seen him about the city. And had he really been here +three weeks? Buttons informed them that he had seen them several +times, but at a distance. He had been at all the hotels, but had +not seen their names. +<br> +<br> +Hotels! Oh, they lived in lodgings in the Palazzo Concini, not far +from the Piazza del Popolo. And how much longer did he intend to +stay?--Oh, no particular time. His friends enjoyed themselves here +very much. He did not know exactly when they would leave. How long +would they remain?--They intended to leave for Florence on the +following week.--Ah! He was thinking of leaving for the same place +at about the same time. Whereupon the Don expressed a polite hope +that they might see one another on the journey. +<br> +<br> +By this time the crowd had diminished. They looked on while the Pope +entered his state-coach, and with strains of music, and prancing of +horses, and array of dragoons, drove magnificently away. +<br> +<br> +The Don turned to Buttons: Would he not accompany them to their +lodgings? They were just about returning to dinner. If he were +disengaged they should be most happy to have the honor of his +company. +<br> +<br> +Buttons tried very hard to look as though he were not mad with +eagerness to accept the invitation, but not very successfully. The +carriage drove off rapidly. The Don and Buttons on one seat, the +ladies on the other. +<br> +<br> +Then the face of Ida as she sat opposite! Such a face! Such a smile! +Such witchery in her expression! Such music in her laugh! +<br> +<br> +At any rate so it seemed to Buttons, and that is all that is needed. +<br> +<br> +On through the streets of Rome; past the post-office, round the column +of Antoninus, up the Corso, until at last they stopped in front of +an immense edifice which had once been a palace. The descendants of +the family lived in a remote corner, and their poverty compelled them +to let out all the remainder as lodgings. This is no uncommon thing +in Italy. Indeed, there are so many ruined nobles in the country that +those are fortunate who have a shelter over their heads. Buttons +remarked this to the Don, who told some stories of these fallen +nobles. He informed him that in Naples their laundress was said to be +the last scion of one of the most ancient families in the kingdom. +She was a countess in her own right, but had to work at menial labor. +Moreover, many had sunk down to the grade of peasantry, and lived in +squalor on lands which were once the estates of their ancestors. +<br> +<br> +Buttons spent the evening there. The rooms were elegant. Books lay +around which showed a cultivated taste. The young man felt himself in +a realm of enchantment. The joy of meeting was heightened by their +unusual complaisance. During the evening he found out all about them. +They lived in Cadiz, where the Don was a merchant. This was their +first visit to Italy. +<br> +<br> +They all had fine perceptions for the beautiful in art or nature, +and, besides, a keen sense of the ludicrous. So, when Buttons, growing +communicative, told them about Mr. Figgs's adventure in the ball of +St. Peter's, they were greatly amused. He told about the adventures +of all his friends. He told of himself: all about the chase in Naples +Bay, and his pursuit of their carriage from St. Peter's. He did not +tell them that he had done this more than once. Ida was amused; but +Buttons felt gratified at seeing a little confusion on her face, as +though she was conscious of the real cause of such a persevering +pursuit. She modestly evaded his glance, and sat at a little +distance from the others. Indeed, she said but little during the +whole evening. +<br> +<br> +When Buttons left he felt like a spiritual being. He was not conscious +of treading on any material earth, but seemed to float along through +enchanted air over the streets into his lodgings, and so on into the +realm of dreams. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +WHAT KIND OF A LETTER THE SENATOR WROTE FOR THE "NEW ENGLAND PATRIOT," +WHICH SHOWS A TRITE, LIBERAL, UNBIASED, PLAIN, UNVARNISHED VIEW OF +ROME. +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Dick," said the Senator, as he sat with him in his room, "I've been +thinking over your tone of mind, more particularly as it appears in +those letters which you write home, such as you read the other day. +It is a surprising thing to me how a young man with your usual good +sense, keenness of perception, and fine education, can allow yourself +to be so completely carried away by a mawkish sentiment. What is the +use of all these memories and fancies and hysterical emotions that +you talk about? In one place you call yourself by the absurd name of +'A Pensive Traveller.' Why not be honest? Be a sensible American, +exhibiting in your thoughts and in all your actions the effect of +democratic principles and stiff republican institutions. Now I'll +read you what I have written. I think the matter is a little nearer +the mark than your flights of fancy. But perhaps you don't care just +now about hearing it?" +<br> +<br> +"Indeed I do; so read on," said Dick. +<br> +<br> +<br> +"As I have travelled considerable in Italy," said the Senator, +reading from a paper which he drew from his pocket, "with my eyes +wide open, I have some idea of the country and of the general +condition of the farming class." +<br> +<br> +<br> +The Senator stopped. "I forgot to say that this is for the _New +England Patriot_, published in our village, you know." +<br> +<br> +Dick nodded. The Senator resumed: +<br> +<br> +<br> +"The soil is remarkably rich. Even where there are mountains they +are well wooded. So if the fields look well it is not surprising. +What is surprising is the cultivation. I saw ploughs such as Adam +might have used when forced for the first time to turn up the +ground outside the locality of Eden; harrows which were probably +invented by Numa Pompey, an old Roman that people talk about. +<br> +<br> +"They haven't any idea of draining clear. For here is a place called +the Pontine Marsh, beautiful soil, surrounded by a settled country, +and yet they let it go to waste almost entirely. +<br> +<br> +"The Italians are lazy. The secret of their bad farming lies in +this. For the men loll and smoke on the fences, leaving the poor +women to toil in the fields. A woman ploughing! And yet these people +want to be free. +<br> +<br> +"They wear leather leggins, short breeches, and jackets. Many of +them wear wooden shifts. The women of the south use a queer kind of +outlandish head-dress, which if they spent less time in fixing it +would be better for their own worldly prosperity. +<br> +<br> +"The cattle are fine: very broad in the chest, with splendid action. +I don't believe any other country can show such cattle. The pigs are +certainly the best I ever saw by a long chalk. Their chops beat all +creation. A friend of mine has made some sketches, which I will give +to the Lyceum on my return. They exhibit the Sorrento pig in +various attitudes. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/74-illo-sketches-by-a-friend.png" alt="Sketches By A Friend."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Sketches By A Friend.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +"The horses, on the contrary, are poor affairs. I have yet to see +the first decent horse. The animals employed by travellers generally +are the lowest of their species. The shoes which the horses wear are +of a singular shape. I can't describe them in writing, but they look +more like a flat-iron than any thing else. +<br> +<br> +"I paid a visit to Pompeii, and on coming back I saw some of the carts +of the country. They gave one a deplorable idea of the state of the +useful arts in this place. Scientific farming is out of the question. +If fine plantations are seen it's Nature does it. +<br> +<br> +"Vineyards abound everywhere. Wine is a great staple of the country. +Yet they don't export much after all. In fact the foreign commerce +is comparatively trifling. Chestnuts and olives are raised in +immense quantities. The chestnut is as essential to the Italian as +the potato is to the Irishman. A failure in the crop is attended +with the same disastrous consequences. They dry the nuts, grind them +into a kind of flour, and make them into cakes. I tasted one and +found it abominable. Yet these people eat it with garlic, and grow +fat on it. Chestnut bread, oil instead of butter, wine instead of +tea, and you have an Italian meal. +<br> +<br> +"It's a fine country for fruit. I found Gaeta surrounded by orange +groves. The fig is an important article in the economy of an Italian +household. +<br> +<br> +"I have been in Rome three weeks. Many people take much interest in +this place, though quite unnecessarily. I do not think it is at all +equal to Boston. Yet I have taken great pains to examine the place. +The streets are narrow and crooked, like those of Boston. They are +extremely dirty. There are no sidewalks. The gutter is in the middle +of the street. The people empty their slops from their windows. The +pavements are bad and very slippery. The accumulation of filth about +the streets is immense. The drainage is not good. They actually use +one old drain which, they tell me, was made three thousand years ago. +<br> +<br> +"Gas has only been recently introduced. I understand that a year or +two ago the streets were lighted by miserable contrivances, consisting +of a mean oil lamp swung from the middle of a rope stretched across +the street. +<br> +<br> +"The shops are not worth mentioning. There are no magnificent +_Dry-goods Stores_, such as I have seen by the hundred in Boston; +no _Hardware Stores_; no palatial _Patent Medicine Edifices_; no +signs of enterprise, in fact, at all. +<br> +<br> +"The houses are very uncomfortable. They are large, and built in the +form of a square. People live on separate flats. If it is cold they +have to grin and bear it. There are no stoves. I have suffered more +from the cold on some evenings since I have been here than ever I +did in-doors at home. I have asked for a fire, but all they could +give me was a poisonous fire of charcoal in an earthen thing like +a basket. +<br> +<br> +"Some of their public buildings are good, but that can't make the +population comfortable. In fact, the people generally are ill-cared +for. Here are the wretched Jews, who live in a filthy quarter of +the city crowded together like pigs. +<br> +<br> +"The people pass the most of their time in coffee-houses. They are +an idle set--have nothing in the world to do. It is still a mystery +to me how they live. +<br> +<br> +"The fact is, there are too many soldiers and priests. Now it is +evident that these gentry, being non-producers, must be supported +directly or indirectly by the producers. This is the cause, I suppose, +of the poverty of a great part of the population. +<br> +<br> +"Begging is reduced to a science. In this I confess the Italian beats +the American all to pieces. The American eye has not seen, nor ear +heard, the devices of an Italian beggar to get along. +<br> +<br> +"I have seen them in great crowds waiting outside of a monastery for +their dinner, which consists of huge bowls of porridge given by the +monks. Can any thing be more ruinous to a people? +<br> +<br> +"The only trade that I could discover after a long and patient search +was the trade in brooches and toys which are bought as curiosities by +travellers. +<br> +<br> +"There are nothing but churches and palaces wherever you go. Some +of these palaces are queer-looking concerns. There isn't one in the +whole lot equal to some of the Fifth Avenue houses in New York in +point of real genuine style. +<br> +<br> +"There has been too much money spent in churches, and too little +on houses. If it amounted to any thing it would not be so bad, but +the only effect has been to promote an idle fondness for music +and pictures and such like. If they tore down nine-tenths of their +churches and turned them into school-houses on the New England +system, it would not be bad for the rising generation. +<br> +<br> +"The newspapers which they have are miserable things-wretched +little sheets, full of lies--no advertisements, no news, no nothing. +I got a friend to translate what pretended to be the latest American +news. It was a collection of murders, duels, railway accidents, and +steamboat explosions. +<br> +<br> +"I don't see what hope there is for this unfortunate country; I don't +really. The people have gone on so long in their present course that +they are now about incorrigible. If the entire population were to +emigrate to the Western States, and mix up with the people there, +it might be possible for their descendants in the course of time to +amount to something. +<br> +<br> +"I don't see any hope except perhaps in one plan, which would be no +doubt impossible for these lazy and dreamy Italians to carry out. +It is this: Let this poor, brokendown, bankrupt Government make an +inventory of its whole stock of jewels, gold, gems, pictures, and +statues. I understand that the nobility throughout Europe would +be willing to pay immense sums of money for these ornaments. If they +are fools enough to do so, then in Heaven's name let them have the +chance. Clear out the whole stock of rubbish, and let the hard cash +come in to replace it. That would be a good beginning, with something +tangible to start from. I am told that the ornaments of St. Peter's +Cathedral cost ever so many millions of dollars. In the name of +goodness why not sell out the stock and realize instead of issuing +those ragged notes for twenty-five cents, which circulate among +the people here at a discount of about seventy-five per cent? +<br> +<br> +"Then let them run a railroad north to Florence and south to Naples. +It would open up a fine tract of county which is capable of growing +grain; it would tap the great olive-growing districts, and originate +a vast trade of oil, wine, and dried fruits. +<br> +<br> +"The country around Rome is uninhabited, but not barren. It is sickly +in summer-time, but if there was a population on it who would +cultivate it property I calculate the malaria would vanish, just as +the fever and ague do from many Western districts in our country by +the same agencies. I calculate that region could be made one of the +most fertile on this round earth if occupied by an industrious class +of emigrants. +<br> +<br> +"But there is a large space inside the walls of the city which could +be turned to the best of purposes. +<br> +<br> +"The place which used to be the Roman Forum is exactly calculated +to be the terminus of the railroad which I have suggested. A +commodious depot could be made, and the door-way might be worked up +out of the arch of Titus, which now stands blocking up the way, and +is of no earthly use. +<br> +<br> +"The amount of crumbling stones and old mined walls that they +leave about this quarter of the city is astonishing. It ought not +to be so. +<br> +<br> +"What the Government ought to do after being put in funds by the +process mentioned above is this: +<br> +<br> +"The Government ought to tear down all those unsightly heaps of +stone and erect factories and industrial schools. There is plenty +of material to do it with. For instance, take the old ruin called +the Coliseum. It is a fact, arrived at by elaborate calculation, +that the entire contents of that concern are amply sufficient +to construct no less than one hundred and fifty handsome +factories, each two hundred feet by seventy-five. +<br> +<br> +"The factories being built, they could be devoted to the +production of the finer tissues. Silks and velvets could be produced +here. Glass-ware of all kinds could be made. There is a fine Italian +clay that makes nice cups and crocks. +<br> +<br> +"I could also suggest the famous Roman cement as an additional +article of export. The Catacombs under the city could be put to +some direct practical use. +<br> +<br> +"I have hastily put out these few ideas to show what a liberal +and enlightened policy might effect even in such an unpromising +place as Rome. It is not probable, however, that my scheme would +meet with favor here. The leading classes in this city are such +an incurable get of old fogies that, I verily believe, rather +than do what I have suggested, they would choose to have the +earth open beneath them and swallow them up forever--city, churches, +statues, pictures, museums, palaces, ruins and all. +<br> +<br> +"I've got a few other ideas, some of which will work some day. +Suppose Russia should sell us her part of America. Spain sell us +Cuba, Italy give us Rome, Turkey an island or two--then what? But +I'll keep this for another letter." +<br> +<br> +<br> +"That's all," said the Senator. +<br> +<br> +Dick's face was drawn up into the strangest expression. He did not +say any thing, however. The Senator calmly folded up his paper, and +with a thoughtful air took up his hat. +<br> +<br> +"I'm going to that Coliseum again to measure a place I forgot," +said he. +<br> +<br> +Upon which he retired, leaving Dick alone. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +THE LONELY ONE AND HIS COMFORTER.--THE TRUE MEDICINE FOR A SICK MAN. +<br> +<br> +<br> +Dick was alone in his chamber. Confinement to his room was bad +enough, but what was that in comparison with the desolation of soul +that afflicted him? Pepita was always in his thoughts. The bright +moment was alone remembered, and the black sequel could not efface +her image. Yet his misadventure showed him that his chances of +seeing her again were extremely faint. But how could he give her +up? They would soon be leaving for Florence. How could he leave +never to see her again--the lovely, the sweet, the tender, the-- +<br> +<br> +A faint knock at the door. +<br> +<br> +"Come in," said Dick, without rising from his chair. +<br> +<br> +A female entered. She was dressed in black. A thick veil hid her +features, but her bent figure denoted age and weariness. She slowly +closed the door. +<br> +<br> +"Is it here where a young American lives with this name?" +<br> +<br> +She held out a card. It was his name, his card. He had only given it +to one person in Rome, and that one was Pepita. +<br> +<br> +"Oh!" cried Dick, rising, his whole expression changing from sadness +to eager and beseeching hope, "oh, if you know where she is--where I +may find her--" +<br> +<br> +The female raised her form, then with a hand that trembled +excessively she slowly lifted her veil. It was a face not old and +wrinkled but young and lovely, with tearful eyes downcast, and +cheeks suffused with blushes. +<br> +<br> +With an eager cry Dick bounded from his chair and caught her in +his arms. Not a word was spoken. He held her in a strong embrace as +though he would not let her go. At last he drew her to a seat beside +him, still holding her in his arms. +<br> +<br> +"I could not stay away. I led you into misfortune. Oh, how you +have suffered. You are thin and wan. What a wretch am I! When you see +me no more will you forgive me?" +<br> +<br> +"Forgive!" and Dick replied in a more emphatic way than words afford. +<br> +<br> +"They would not let me leave the house for ten days. They told me +if I ever dared to see you again they would kill you. So I knew you +were not dead. But I did not know how they had beaten you till one +day Ricardo told me all. To think of you unarmed fighting so +gallantly. Four of them were so bruised that they have not yet +recovered. To-day Luigi went to Civita Vecchia. He told me that +if I dared to go to Rome he would send me to a convent. But I +disobeyed him. I could not rest. I had to come and see how you +were, and to--bid--adieu--" +<br> +<br> +"Adieu! bid adieu?--never. I will not let you." +<br> +<br> +"Ah, now you talk wildly," said Pepita, mournfully, "for you know +we must part." +<br> +<br> +"We shall not part." +<br> +<br> +"I will have to go home, and you can not follow me." +<br> +<br> +"Oh, Pepita, I can not give you up. You shall be mine--now--my wife +--and come with me home--to America. And we shall never again have +to part." +<br> +<br> +"Impossible," said Pepita, as big tear-drops fell from her eyes. +"Impossible!" +<br> +<br> +"Why impossible?" +<br> +<br> +"Luigi would track us to the end of the world." +<br> +<br> +"Track us! I would like to see him try it!" cried Dick in a fury. "I +have an account to settle with him which will not be pleasant for +him to pay. Who is he to dare to stand between me and you? As to +following me--Well, I have already given him a specimen of what I +am. I would give a year of my life to have him alone for about half +an hour." +<br> +<br> +"You wrong him," cried Pepita, earnestly. "You wrong him. You must +not talk so. He is not a bravo. He is my brother. He has been like +a father to me. He loves me dearly, and my good name is dearer to +him than life. He is so good and so noble, dear Luigi! It was his +love for me that blinded him and made him furious. He thought you +were deceiving us all, and would not listen to you." +<br> +<br> +"But if he were so noble would he have attacked one unarmed man, +and he at the head of a dozen?" +<br> +<br> +"I tell you," cried Pepita, "you do not know him. He was so blinded +by passion that he had no mercy. Oh, I owe every thing to him! And +I know how good and noble he is!" +<br> +<br> +"Pepita, for your sake I will forgive him every thing." +<br> +<br> +"I can not stay longer," said Pepita, making an effort to rise. +<br> +<br> +"Oh, Pepita! you can not leave me forever." +<br> +<br> +Pepita fell weeping into his arms, her slender form convulsed with +emotion. +<br> +<br> +"You shall not." +<br> +<br> +"I must--there is no help." +<br> +<br> +"Why must you? Can you not fly with me? What prevents you from being +mine? Let us go and be united in the little church where I saw you +first." +<br> +<br> +"Impossible!" moaned Pepita. +<br> +<br> +"Why?" +<br> +<br> +"Because I could not do you such injustice. You have your father far +away in America. You might offend him." +<br> +<br> +"Bother my father!" cried Dick. +<br> +<br> +Pepita looked shocked. +<br> +<br> +"I mean--he would allow me to do any thing I liked, and glory in it, +because I did it. He would chuckle over it for a month." +<br> +<br> +"Luigi--" +<br> +<br> +"Pepita, do you love him better than me?" +<br> +<br> +"No, but if I leave him so it would break his heart. He will think I +am ruined. He will declare a vendetta against you, and follow you to +the end of the world." +<br> +<br> +"Is there no hope?" +<br> +<br> +"No--not now." +<br> +<br> +"Not now? And when will there be? Can it be possible that you would +give me up? Then I would not give you up! If you do not love me I +must love you." +<br> +<br> +"Cruel!" murmured Pepita. +<br> +<br> +"Forgive," said Dick, penitently. "Perhaps I am too sudden. If I +come back again in two or three months will you be as hardhearted +as you are now?" +<br> +<br> +"Hard-hearted!" sighed Pepita, tearfully. "You should not reproach +me. My troubles are more than I can bear. It is no slight thing that +you ask." +<br> +<br> +"Will waiting soften you? Will it make any difference? If I came for +you--" +<br> +<br> +"You must not leave me so," said Pepita, reproachfully. "I will tell +you all. You will understand me better. Listen. My family is noble." +<br> +<br> +"Noble!" cried Dick, thunderstruck. He had certainly always thought +her astonishingly lady--like for a peasant girl, but attributed this +to the superior refinement of the Italian race. +<br> +<br> +"Yes, noble," said Pepita, proudly. "We seem now only poor peasants. +Yet once we were rich and powerful. My grandfather lost all in the +wars in the time of Napoleon, and only left his descendants an +honorable name. Alas! honor and titles are worth but little when one +is poor. My brother Luigi is the Count di Gianti." +<br> +<br> +"And you are the Countess di Gianti." +<br> +<br> +"Yes," said Pepita, smiling at last, and happy at the change that +showed itself in Dick. "I am the Countess Pepita di Gianti. Can you +understand now my dear Luigi's high sense of honor and the fury +that he felt when he thought that you intended an insult? Our +poverty, which we can not escape, chafes him sorely. If I were to +desert him thus suddenly it would kill him." +<br> +<br> +"Oh, Pepita! if waiting will win you I will wait for years. Is there +any hope?" +<br> +<br> +"When will you leave Rome?" +<br> +<br> +"In a few days my friends leave." +<br> +<br> +"Then do not stay behind. If you do you can not see me." +<br> +<br> +"But if I come again in two or three months? What then? Can I see +you?" +<br> +<br> +"Perhaps," said Pepita, timidly. +<br> +<br> +"And you will apt refuse? No, no! You can not! How can I find you?" +<br> +<br> +"Alas! you will by that time forget all about me." +<br> +<br> +"Cruel Pepita! How can you say I will forget? Would I not die for +you? How can I find you?" +<br> +<br> +"The Padre Lignori." +<br> +<br> +"Who?" +<br> +<br> +"Padre Lignori, at the little church. The tall priest--the one who +spoke to you." +<br> +<br> +"But he will refuse. He hates me." +<br> +<br> +"He is a good man. If he thinks you are honorable he will be your +friend. He is a true friend to me." +<br> +<br> +"I will see him before I leave and tell him all." +<br> +<br> +There were voices below. +<br> +<br> +Pepita started. +<br> +<br> +"They come. I must go," said she, dropping her veil. +<br> +<br> +"Confound them!" cried Dick. +<br> +<br> +"_Addio_!" sighed Pepita. +<br> +<br> +Dick caught her in his arms. She tore herself away with sobs. +<br> +<br> +She was gone. +<br> +<br> +Dick sank back in his chair, with his eyes fixed hungrily on the door. +<br> +<br> +"Hallo!" burst the Doctor's voice on his ears. "Who's that old girl? +Hey? Why, Dick, how pale you are! You're worse. Hang it! you'll have +a relapse if you don't look out. You must make a total change in your +diet--more stimulating drink and generous food. However, the drive to +Florence will set you all right again." +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXX">CHAPTER XXX</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +OCCUPATIONS AND PEREGRINATIONS OF BUTTONS. +<br> +<br> +<br> +If Buttons had spent little time in his room before he now spent less. +He was exploring the ruins of Rome, the churches, the picture +galleries, and the palaces under new auspices. He knew the name of +every palace and church in the place. He acquired this knowledge by +means of superhuman application to "Murray's Hand-book" on the +evenings after leaving his companions. They were enthusiastic, +particularly the ladies. They were perfectly familiar with all the +Spanish painters and many of the Italian. Buttons felt himself far +inferior to them in real familiarity with Art, but he made amends by +brilliant criticisms of a transcendental nature. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/77-illo-buttons-and-murray.png" alt="Buttons and Murray."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Buttons and Murray.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +It was certainly a pleasant occupation for youth, sprightliness, and +beauty. To wander all day long through that central world from which +forever emanate all that is fairest and most enticing in Art, +Antiquity, and Religion; to have a soul open to the reception of all +these influences, and to have all things glorified by Almighty love; +in short, to be in love in Rome. +<br> +<br> +Rome is an inexhaustible store-house of attractions. For the lovers +of gayety there are the drives of the Pincian Hill, or the Villa +Borghese. For the student, ruins whose very dust is eloquent. For the +artist, treasures beyond price. For the devotee, religion. How +fortunate, thought Buttons, that in addition to all this there is, +for the lovers of the beautiful, beauty! +<br> +<br> +Day after day they visited new scenes. Upon the whole, perhaps, the +best way to see the city, when one can not spend one's life there, +is to take Murray's Hand-book, and, armed with that red necessity, +dash energetically at the work; see every thing that is mentioned; +hurry it up in the orthodox manner; then throw the book away, and go +over the ground anew, wandering easily wherever fancy leads. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXXI">CHAPTER XXXI</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +BUTTONS ACTS THE GOOD SAMARITAN, AND LITERALLY UNEARTHS A MOST +UNEXPECTED VICTIM OF AN ATROCIOUS ROBBERY.--GR-R-R-A-CIOUS ME! +<br> +<br> +To these, once wandering idly down the Appian Way, the ancient tower +of Metella rose invitingly. The carriage stopped, and ascending, +they walked up to the entrance. They marvelled at the enormous blocks +of travertine of which the edifice was built, the noble simplicity of +the style, the venerable garment of ivy which hid the ravages of +time. +<br> +<br> +The door was open, and they walked in. Buttons first; the ladies +timidly following; and the Don bringing up the rear. Suddenly a low +groan startled them. It seemed to come from the very depths of the +earth. The ladies gave a shriek, and dashing past their brother, ran +out. The Don paused. Buttons of course advanced. He never felt so +extensive in his life before. What a splendid opportunity to give +an exhibition of manly courage! So he walked on, and shouted: +<br> +<br> +"Who's there?" +<br> +<br> +A groan! +<br> +<br> +Further in yet, till he came to the inner chamber. It was dark there, +the only light coming in through the passages. Through the gloom he +saw the figure of a man lying on the floor so tied that he could not +move. +<br> +<br> +"Who are you? What's the matter?" +<br> +<br> +"Let me loose, for God's sake!" said a voice, in thick Italian, with +a heavy German accent. "I'm a traveller. I've been robbed by brigands." +<br> +<br> +To snatch his knife from his pocket, to cut the cords that bound the +man, to lift him to his feet, and then to start back with a cry of +astonishment, were all the work of an instant. By this time the others +had entered. +<br> +<br> +The man was a German, unmistakably. He stood blinking and staring. +Then he stretched his several limbs and rubbed himself. Then he took +a long survey of the new-comers. Then he stroked a long, red, forked +beard, and, in tones expressive of the most profound bewilderment, +slowly ejaculated-- +<br> +<br> +"Gr-r-r-r-acious me!" +<br> +<br> +"Meinheer Schatt!" cried Buttons, grasping his hand. "How in the name +of wonder did you get here? What has happened to you? Who tied you up? +Were you robbed? Were you beaten? Are you hurt? But come out of this +dark hole to the sunshine." +<br> +<br> +Meinheer Schatt walked slowly out, saying nothing to these rapid +inquiries of Buttons. The German intellect is profound, but slow; and +so Meinheer Schatt took a long time to collect his scattered ideas. +Buttons found that he was quite faint; so producing a flask from +his pocket he made him drink a little precious cordial, which revived +him greatly. After a long pull he heaved a heavy sigh, and looked +with a piteous expression at the new-comers. The kind-hearted +Spaniards insisted on taking him to their carriage. He was too weak +to walk. They would drive him. They would listen to no refusal. So +Meinheer Schatt was safely deposited in the carriage, and told his +story. +<br> +<br> +He had come out very early in the morning to visit the Catacombs. He +chose the early part of the day so as to be back before it got hot. +Arriving at the Church of St. Sebastian he found to his disappointment +that it was not open yet. So he thought he would beguile the time by +walking about. So he strolled off to the tomb of Caecelia Metella, +which was the most striking object in view. He walked around it, and +broke off a few pieces of stone. He took also a few pieces of ivy. +These he intended to carry away as relics. At last he ventured to +enter and examine the interior. Scarce had he got inside than he +heard footsteps without. The door was blocked up by a number of +ill-looking men, who came in and caught him. +<br> +<br> +Meinheer Schatt confessed that he was completely overcome by terror. +<br> +<br> +However, he at last mustered sufficient strength to ask what they +wanted. +<br> +<br> +"You are our prisoner." +<br> +<br> +"Why? Who are you?" +<br> +<br> +"We are the secret body-guard of His Holiness, appointed by the +Sacred Council of the Refectory," said one of the men, in a mocking +tone. +<br> +<br> +Then Meinheer Schatt knew that they were robbers. Still he indignantly +protested he was an unoffending traveller. +<br> +<br> +"It's false! You have been mutilating the sacred sepulchre of the +dead, and violating the sanctity of their repose!" +<br> +<br> +And the fellow, thrusting his hands in the prisoner's pockets, +brought forth the stones and ivy. The others looked into his other +pockets, examined his hat, made him strip, shook his clothes, pried +into his boots--in short, gave him a thorough overhaul. +<br> +<br> +They found nothing, except, as Meinheer acknowledged, with a faint +smile, a piece of the value of three half-cents American, which he +had brought as a fee to the guide through the Catacombs. It was that +bit of money that caused his bonds. It maddened them. They danced +around him in perfect fury, and asked what he meant by daring to +come out and give them so much trouble with only that bit of impure +silver about him. +<br> +<br> +"Dog of a Tedescho! Your nation has trampled upon our liberties; but +Italy shall be avenged! Dog! scoundrel! villain! Tedescho! +Tedes-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-cho!" +<br> +<br> +The end of it was that Meinheer Schatt was tied in a singularly +uncomfortable position and left there. He thought he had been there +about five hours. He was faint and hungry. +<br> +<br> +They took him home. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXXII">CHAPTER XXXII</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +ANOTHER DISCOVERY MADE BY BUTTONS. +<br> +<br> +<br> +On the evening after this adventure the Don turned the conversation +into a new channel. They all grew communicative. Buttons told them +that his father was an extensive merchant and ship-owner in Boston. +His business extended over many parts of the world. He thought he +might have done something in Cadiz. +<br> +<br> +"Your father a ship-owner in Boston! I thought you belonged to New +York," said the Don, in surprise. +<br> +<br> +"Oh," said Buttons, "I said I came from there. The fact is, I lived +there four years at college, and will live there when I return." +<br> +<br> +"And your father lives in Boston," said the Don, with an interest +that surprised Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"Yes." +<br> +<br> +"Is his name Hiram Buttons?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes," cried Buttons, eagerly. "How do you know?" +<br> +<br> +"My dear Sir," cried the Don, "Hiram Buttons and I are not only +old business correspondents, but I hope I can add personal friends." +<br> +<br> +The Don rose and grasped Buttons cordially by the hand. The young man +was overcome by surprise, delight, and triumph. +<br> +<br> +"I liked you from the first," said the Don. "You bear your character +in your face. I was happy to receive you into our society. But now I +feel a still higher pleasure, for I find you are the son of a man +for whom I assure you I entertain an infinite respect." +<br> +<br> +The sisters were evidently delighted at the scene. As to Buttons, he +was overcome. +<br> +<br> +Thus far he often felt delicacy about his position among them, and +fears of intruding occasionally interfered with his enjoyment. His +footing now was totally different; and the most punctilious Spaniard +could find no fault with his continued intimacy. +<br> +<br> +"Hurrah for that abominable old office, and that horrible business to +which the old gentleman tried to bring me! It has turned out the best +thing for me. What a capital idea it was for the governor to trade +with Cadiz!" +<br> +<br> +Such were the thoughts of Buttons as he went home. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXXIII">CHAPTER XXXIII</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +[Transcriber's Note: Transliteration of Greek.] Brekekek koax koax +koax. [TN: /end Greek.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +In his explorations of the nooks and corners of Rome the Senator was +compelled for some time to make his journeys alone. He sometimes felt +regret that he had not some interpreter with him on these occasions; +but on the whole he thought he was well paid for his trouble, and he +stored up in his memory an incredible number of those items which are +usually known as "useful facts." +<br> +<br> +On one of these occasions he entered a very common café near one of +the gates, and as he felt hungry he determined to get his dinner. He +had long felt a desire to taste those "frogs" of which he had heard +so much, and which to his great surprise he had never yet seen. On +coming to France he of course felt confident that he would find frogs +as common as potatoes on every dinner-table. To his amazement he had +not yet seen one. +<br> +<br> +He determined to have some now. But how could he get them? How ask +for them? +<br> +<br> +"Pooh! easy enough!" said the Senator to himself, with a smile of +superiority. "I wish I could ask for every thing else as easily." +<br> +<br> +So he took his seat at one of the tables, and gave a thundering rap +to summon the waiter. All the café had been startled by the advent of +the large foreigner. And evidently a rich man, for he was an +Englishman, as they thought. So up came the waiter with a very low +bow, and a very dirty jacket; and all the rest of the people in the +café looked at the Senator out of the corner of their eyes, and +stopped talking. The Senator gazed with a calm, serene face and +steady eye upon the waiter. +<br> +<br> +"Signore?" said the waiter, interrogatively. +<br> +<br> +"_Gunk_! _gung_!" said the Senator, solemnly, without moving a muscle. +<br> +<br> +The waiter stared. +<br> +<br> +"_Che vuol ella_?" he repeated, in a faint voice. +<br> +<br> +"_Gunk_! _gung_!" said the Senator, as solemnly as before. +<br> +<br> +"Non capisco." +<br> +<br> +"_Gunk gung_! _gunkety gunk gung_!" +<br> +<br> +The waiter shrugged his shoulders till they reached the upper part +of his ears. The Senator looked for a moment at him, and saw that he +did not understand him. He looked at the floor involved in deep +thought. At last he raised his eyes once more to meet those of the +waiter, which still were fixed upon him, and placing the palms of his +hands on his hips, threw back his head, and with his eyes still fixed +steadfastly upon the waiter he gave utterance to a long shrill gurgle +such as he thought the frogs might give: +<br> +<br> +[Transcriber's Note: Transliteration of Greek.] Brekekekek koax koax, +Brekekekek koax koax. [TN: /end Greek.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/79-illo-Brekekekek-koax-koax.png" alt="Brekekekek koax koax!"> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Brekekekek koax koax!] +<br> +<br> +<br> +(Recurrence must be made to Aristophanes, who alone of articulate +speaking men has written down the utterance of the common frog.) +<br> +<br> +The waiter started back. All the men in the café jumped to their feet. +<br> +<br> +"[Transcriber's Note: Transliteration of Greek.] Brekekekek koax koax +[TN: /end Greek.]," continued the Senator, quite patiently. The +waiter looked frightened. +<br> +<br> +"Will you give me some or not?" cried the Senator, indignantly. +<br> +<br> +"Signore," faltered the waiter. Then he ran for the café-keeper. +<br> +<br> +The café-keeper came. The Senator repeated the words mentioned above, +though somewhat angrily. The keeper brought forward every customer in +the house to see if any one could understand the language. +<br> +<br> +"It's German," said one. +<br> +<br> +"It's English," said another. +<br> +<br> +"Bah!" said a third. "It's Russian." +<br> +<br> +"No," said a fourth, "it's Bohemian; for Carolo Quinto said that +Bohemian was the language of the devil." And Number Four, who was +rather an intelligent-looking man, eyed the Senator compassionately. +<br> +<br> +"_Gunk gung, gunkety gung_!" cried the Senator, frowning, for his +patience had at last deserted him. +<br> +<br> +The others looked at him helplessly, and some, thinking of the +devil, piously crossed themselves. Whereupon the Senator rose in +majestic wrath, and shaking his purse in the face of the café-keeper, +shouted: +<br> +<br> +"You're worse than a nigger!" and stalked grandly out of the place. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXXIV">CHAPTER XXXIV</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +THE SENATOR PURSUES HIS INVESTIGATIONS.--AN INTELLIGENT ROMAN +TOUCHES A CHORD IN THE SENATOR'S HEART THAT VIBRATES.--RESULTS OF +THE VIBRATION.--A VISIT FROM THE ROMAN POLICE; AND THE GREAT RACE +DOWN THE CORSO BETWEEN THE SENATOR AND A ROMAN SPY.--GLEE OF THE +POPULACE!--HI! HI! +<br> +<br> +<br> +He did not ask for frogs again; but still he did not falter in his +examination into the life of the people. Still he sauntered through +the remoter corners of Rome, wandering over to the other side of the +Tiber, or through the Ghetto, or among the crooked streets at the +end of the Corso. Few have learned so much of Rome in so short a +time. +<br> +<br> +On one occasion he was sitting in a café, where he had supplied his +wants in the following way: +<br> +<br> +"Hi! coffee! coffee!" and again, "Hi! cigar! cigar!" when his eye +was attracted by a man at the next table who was reading a copy of +the London _Times_, which he had spread out very ostentatiously. +After a brief survey the Senator walked over to his table and, with +a beaming smile, said-- +<br> +<br> +"Good-day, Sir." +<br> +<br> +The other man looked up and returned a very friendly smile. +<br> +<br> +"And how do you do, Sir?" +<br> +<br> +"Very well, I thank you," said the other, with a strong Italian +accent. +<br> +<br> +"Do you keep your health?" +<br> +<br> +"Thank you, yes," said the other, evidently quite pleased at the +advances of the Senator. +<br> +<br> +"Nothing gives me so much pleasure," said the Senator, "as to come +across an Italian who understands English. You, Sir, are a Roman, +I presume." +<br> +<br> +"Sir, I am." +<br> +<br> +The man to whom the Senator spoke was not one who would have +attracted any notice from him if it had not been for his knowledge +of English. He was a narrow-headed, mean-looking man, with very +seedy clothes, and a servile but cunning expression. +<br> +<br> +"How do you like Rome?" he asked of the Senator. +<br> +<br> +The Senator at once poured forth all that had been in his mind since +his arrival. He gave his opinion about the site, the architecture, +the drains, the municipal government, the beggars, and the commerce +of the place; then the soldiers, the nobles, the priests, monks, +and nuns. +<br> +<br> +Then he criticised the Government, its form, its mode of +administration, enlarged upon its tyranny, condemned vehemently +its police system, and indeed its whole administration of every +thing, civil, political, and ecclesiastical. +<br> +<br> +Waxing warmer with the sound of his own eloquence, he found +himself suddenly but naturally reminded of a country where all +this is reversed. So he went on to speak about Freedom, +Republicanism, the Rights of Man, and the Ballot-Box. Unable to +talk with sufficient fluency while in a sitting posture he rose +to his feet, and as he looked around, seeing that all present +were staring at him, he made up his mind to improve the occasion. +So he harangued the crowd generally, not because he thought any of +them could understand him, but it was so long since he had made a +speech that the present opportunity was irresistible. Besides, as +he afterward remarked, he felt that it was a crisis, and who could +tell but that a word spoken in season might produce some beneficial +effects. +<br> +<br> +He shook hands very warmly with his new friend after it all was +over, and on leaving him made him promise to come and see him at his +lodgings, where he would show him statistics, etc. The Senator then +returned. +<br> +<br> +That evening he received a visit. The Senator heard a rap at his door +and called out "Come in." Two men entered--ill-looking, or rather +malignant-looking, clothed in black. +<br> +<br> +Dick was in his room, Buttons out, Figgs and the Doctor had not +returned from the café. +<br> +<br> +"His Excellency," said he, pointing to the other, "wishes to speak +to you on official business." +<br> +<br> +"Happy to hear it," said the Senator. +<br> +<br> +"His Excellency is the Chief of the Police, and I am the +Interpreter." +<br> +<br> +Whereupon the Senator shook hands with both of them again. +<br> +<br> +"Proud to make your acquaintance," said he. "I am personally +acquainted with the Chief of the Boston _po_lice, and also of the +Chief of the New York _po_lice, and my opinion is that they can +stand more liquor than any men I ever met with. Will you liquor?" +<br> +<br> +The interpreter did not understand. The Senator made an expressive +sign. The interpreter mentioned the request to the Chief, who shook +his head coldly. +<br> +<br> +"This is formal," said the Interpreter-"not social." +<br> +<br> +The Senator's face flushed. He frowned. +<br> +<br> +"Give him my compliments then, and tell him the next time he +refuses a gentleman's offer he had better do it like a gentleman. +For my part, if I chose to be uncivil, I might say that I consider +your Roman police very small potatoes." +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/81-illo-got-you-there.png" alt="Got You There!"> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Got You There!] +<br> +<br> +<br> +The Interpreter translated this literally, and though the final +expression was not very intelligible, yet it seemed to imply +contempt. +<br> +<br> +So the Chief of Police made his communication as sternly as possible. +Grave reports had been made about His American Excellency. The +Senator looked surprised. +<br> +<br> +"What about?" +<br> +<br> +That he was haranguing the people, going about secretly, plotting, +and trying to instill revolutionary sentiments into the public mind. +<br> +<br> +"Pooh!" said the Senator. +<br> +<br> +The Chief of Police bade him be careful. He would not be permitted +to stir up an excitable populace. This was to give him warning. +<br> +<br> +"Pooh!" said the Senator again. +<br> +<br> +And if he neglected this warning it would be the worse for him. And +the Chief of Police looked unutterable things. The Senator gazed at +him sternly and somewhat contemptuously for a few minutes. +<br> +<br> +"You're no great shakes anyhow," said he. +<br> +<br> +"Signore?" said the Interpreter. +<br> +<br> +"Doesn't it strike you that you are talking infernal nonsense?" asked +the Senator in a slightly argumentative tone of voice, throwing one +leg over another, tilting back his chair, and folding his arms. +<br> +<br> +"Your language is disrespectful," was the indignant reply. +<br> +<br> +"Yours strikes me as something of the same kind, too; but more +--it is absurd." +<br> +<br> +"What do you mean?" +<br> +<br> +"You say I stir up the people." +<br> +<br> +"Yes. Do you deny it?" +<br> +<br> +"Pooh! How can a man stir up the people when he can't speak a word +of the language?" +<br> +<br> +The Chief of Police did not reply for a moment. +<br> +<br> +"I rather think I've got you there," said the Senator, dryly. "Hey? +old Hoss?" +<br> +<br> +("Old Hoss" was an epithet which he used when he was in a good humor.) +He felt that he had the best of it here, and his anger was gone. He +therefore tilted his chair back farther, and placed his feet upon +the back of a chair that was in front of him. +<br> +<br> +"There are Italians in Rome who speak English," was at length the +rejoinder. +<br> +<br> +"I wish I could find some then," said the Senator. "It's worse than +looking for a needle in a hay-stack, they're so precious few." +<br> +<br> +"You have met one." +<br> +<br> +"And I can't say feel over-proud of the acquaintance," said the +Senator, in his former dry tone, looking hard at the Interpreter. +<br> +<br> +"At the Café Cenacci, I mean." +<br> +<br> +"The what? Where's that?" +<br> +<br> +"Where you were this morning." +<br> +<br> +"Oh ho! that's it--ah? And was my friend there one of your friends +too?" asked the Senator, as light burst in upon him. +<br> +<br> +"He was sufficiently patriotic to give warning." +<br> +<br> +"Oh--patriotic?--he was, was he?" said the Senator, slowly, while +his eyes showed a dangerous light. +<br> +<br> +"Yes--patriotic. He has watched you for some time." +<br> +<br> +"Watched me!" and the Senator frowned wrathfully. +<br> +<br> +"Yes, all over Rome, wherever you went." +<br> +<br> +"Watched me! dogged me! tracked me! Aha?" +<br> +<br> +"So you are known." +<br> +<br> +"Then the man is a spy." +<br> +<br> +"He is a patriot." +<br> +<br> +"Why the mean concern sat next me, attracted my attention by +reading English, and encouraged me to speak as I did. Why don't +you arrest him?" +<br> +<br> +"He did it to test you." +<br> +<br> +"To test me! How would he like me to test him?" +<br> +<br> +"The Government looks on your offense with lenient eyes." +<br> +<br> +"Ah!" +<br> +<br> +"And content themselves this time with giving you warning." +<br> +<br> +"Very much obliged; but tell your Government not to be alarmed. I +won't hurt them." +<br> +<br> +Upon this the two visitors took their leave. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/82-illo-walking-spanish.png" alt="Walking Spanish."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Walking Spanish.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +The Senator informed his two friends about the visit, and thought +very lightly about it; but the recollection of one thing rankled in +his mind. +<br> +<br> +That spy! The fellow had humbugged him. He had dogged him, tracked +him, perhaps for weeks, had drawn him into conversation, asked +leading questions, and then given information. If there was any thing +on earth that the Senator loathed it was this. +<br> +<br> +But how could such a man be punished! That was the thought. Punishment +could only come from one. The law could do nothing. But there was one +who could do something, and that one was himself. Lynch law! +<br> +<br> +<br> + "My fayther was from Bosting,<br> + My uncle was Judge Lynch,<br> + So, darn your fire and roasting,<br> + You can not make me flinch." +<br> +<br> +<br> +The Senator hummed the above elegant words all that evening. +<br> +<br> +He thought he could find the man yet. He was sure he would know him. +He would devote himself to this on the next day. The next day he +went about the city, and at length in the afternoon he came to +Pincian Hill. There was a great crowd there as usual. The Senator +placed himself in a favorable position, in which he could only be +seen from one point, and then watched with the eye of a hawk. +<br> +<br> +He watched for about an hour. At the end of that time he saw a +face. It belonged to a man who had been leaning against a post with +his back turned toward the Senator all this time. It was _the face_! +The fellow happened to turn it far enough round to let the Senator +see him. He was evidently watching him yet. The Senator walked +rapidly toward him. The man saw him and began to move as rapidly +away. The Senator increased his pace. So did the man. The Senator +walked still faster. So did the man. The Senator took long strides. +The man took short, quick ones. It is said that the fastest +pedestrians are those who take short, quick steps. The Senator did +not gain on the other. +<br> +<br> +By this time a vast number of idlers had been attracted by the +sight of these two men walking as if for a wager. At last the +Senator began to run. So did the man! +<br> +<br> +The whole thing was plain. One man was chasing the other. At once +all the idlers of the Pincian Hill stopped all their avocations +and turned to look. The road winds down the Pincian Hill to the +Piazza del Popolo, and those on the upper part can look down and +see the whole extent. What a place for a race! The quick-eyed +Romans saw it all. +<br> +<br> +"A spy! yes, a Government spy!" +<br> +<br> +"Chased by an eccentric Englishman!" +<br> +<br> +A loud shout burst from the Roman crowd. But a number of English +and Americans thought differently. They saw a little man chased +by a big one. Some cried "Shame!" Others, thinking it a case of +pocket-picking, cried "Stop thief!" Others cried "Go it, little +fellow! Two to one on the small chap!" +<br> +<br> +Every body on the Pincian Hill rushed to the edge of the winding +road to look down, or to the paved walk that overlooks the Piazza. +Carriages stopped and the occupants looked down. French soldiers, +dragoons, guards, officers--all staring. +<br> +<br> +And away went the Senator. And away ran the terrified spy. Down +the long way, and at length they came to the Piazza del Popolo. +A loud shout came from all the people. Above and on all sides they +watched the race. The spy darted down the Corso. The Senator after +him. +<br> +<br> +The Romans in the street applauded vociferously. Hundreds of +people stopped, and then turned and ran after the Senator. All the +windows were crowded with heads. All the balconies were filled with +people. +<br> +<br> +Down along the Corso. Past the column of Antonine. Into a street on +the left. The Senator was gaining! At last they came to a square. A +great fountain of vast waters bursts forth there. The spy ran to the +other side of the square, and just as he was darting into a side alley +the Senator's hand clutched his coat-tails! +<br> +<br> +The Senator took the spy in that way by which one is enabled to make +any other do what is called "Walking Spanish," and propelled him +rapidly toward the reservoir of the fountain. +<br> +<br> +The Senator raised the spy from the ground and pitched him into the +pool. +<br> +<br> +The air was rent with acclamations and cries of delight. +<br> +<br> +As the spy emerged, half-drowned, the crowd came forward and would +have prolonged the delightful sensation. +<br> +<br> +Not often did they have a spy in their hands. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/83-illo-dick-thinks-it-over.png" alt="Dick Thinks It Over."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Dick Thinks It Over.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXXV">CHAPTER XXXV</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +DICK MAKES ANOTHER EFFORT, AND BEGINS TO FEEL ENCOURAGED. +<br> +<br> +<br> +Pepita's little visit was beneficial to Dick. It showed him that he +was not altogether cut off from her. Before that he had grown to think +of her as almost inaccessible; now she seemed to have a will, and, +what is better, a heart of her own, which would lead her to do her +share toward meeting him again. Would it not be better now to comply +with her evident desire, and leave Rome for a little while? He could +return again. But how could he tear himself away? Would, it not be far +better to remain and seek her? He could not decide. He thought of +Padre Liguori. He had grossly insulted that gentleman, and the thought +of meeting him again made him feel blank. Yet he was in some way or +other a protector of Pepita, a guardian, perhaps, and as such had +influence over her fortunes. If he could only disarm hostility from +Padre Liguori it would be undoubtedly for his benefit. Perhaps Padre +Liguori would become his friend, and try to influence Pepita's family +in his favor. So he decided on going to see Padre Liguori. +<br> +<br> +The new turn which had been given to his feelings by Pepita's visit +had benefited him in mind and body. He was quite strong enough for a +long walk. Arriving at the church he had no difficulty in finding +Liguori. The priest advanced with a look of surprise. +<br> +<br> +"Before mentioning the object of my visit," said Dick, bowing +courteously, "I owe you an humble apology for a gross insult. I hope +you will forgive me." +<br> +<br> +The priest bowed. +<br> +<br> +"After I left here I succeeded in my object," continued Dick. +<br> +<br> +"I heard so," said Liguori, coldly. +<br> +<br> +"And you have heard also that I met with a terrible punishment for +my presumption, or whatever else you may choose to call it." +<br> +<br> +"I heard of that also." said the priest, sternly. "And do you complain +of it? Tell me. Was it not deserved?" +<br> +<br> +"If their suspicions and yours had been correct, then the punishment +would have been well deserved. But you all wrong me. I entreat you to +believe me. I am no adventurer. I am honest and sincere." +<br> +<br> +"We have only your word for this," said Liguori, coldly. +<br> +<br> +"What will make you believe that I am sincere, then?" said Dick. +"What proof can I give?" +<br> +<br> +"You are safe in offering to give proofs in a case where none can +be given." +<br> +<br> +"I am frank with you. Will you not be so with me? I come to you to +try to convince you of my honesty, Padre Liguori. I love Pepita as +truly and as honorably as it is possible for man to love. It was +that feeling that so bewildered me that I was led to insult you. I +went out in the midst of danger, and would have died for her. With +these feelings I can not give her up." +<br> +<br> +"I have heard sentiment like this often before. What is your meaning?" +<br> +<br> +"I am rich and of good family in my own country; and I am determined +to have Pepita for my wife." +<br> +<br> +"Your wife!" +<br> +<br> +"Yes," said Dick, resolutely. "I am honorable and open about it. My +story is short. I love her, and wish to make her my wife." +<br> +<br> +The expression of Liguori changed entirely. +<br> +<br> +"Ah! this makes the whole matter different altogether. I did not know +this before. Nor did the Count. But he is excusable. A sudden passion +blinded him, and he attacked you. I will tell you"--and at each word +the priest's manner grew more friendly--"I will tell you how it is, +Signore. The Giantis were once a powerful family, and still have their +title. I consider myself as a kind of appanage to the family, for my +ancestors for several generations were their _maggiordomos_. Poverty +at last stripped them of every thing, and I, the last of the family +dependents, entered the Church. But I still preserve my respect and +love for them. You can understand how bitterly I would resent and +avenge any base act or any wrong done to them. You can understand +Luigi's vengeance also." +<br> +<br> +"I thought as much," said Dick. "I thought you were a kind of +guardian, and so I came here to tell you frankly how it is. I love +her. I can make her rich and happy. To do so is the desire of my +heart. Why should I be turned away? Or if there be any objection, +what is it?" +<br> +<br> +"There is no objection--none whatever, if Pepita is willing, and you +sincerely love her. I think that Luigi would give his consent." +<br> +<br> +"Then what would prevent me from marrying her at once?" +<br> +<br> +"At once!" +<br> +<br> +"Certainly." +<br> +<br> +"You show much ardor; but still an immediate marriage is impossible. +There are various reasons for this. In the first place, we love Pepita +too dearly to let her go so suddenly to some one who merely feels a +kind of impulse. We should like to know that there is some prospect +of her being happy. We have cherished her carefully thus far, and will +not let her go without having some security about her happiness." +<br> +<br> +"Then I will wait as long as you like, or send for my friends to give +you every information you desire to have; or if you want me to give +any proofs, in any way, about any thing, I'm ready." +<br> +<br> +"There is another thing," said Lignori, "which I hope you will take +kindly. You are young and in a foreign country. This sudden impulse +may be a whim. If you were to marry now you might bitterly repent it +before three months were over. Under such circumstances it would be +misery for you and her. If this happened in your native country you +could be betrothed and wait. There is also another reason why waiting +is absolutely necessary. It will take some time to gain her brother's +consent. Now her brother is poor, but he might have been rich. He is a +Liberal, and belongs to the National party. He hates the present +system here most bitterly. He took part in the Roman Republican +movement a few years ago, and was imprisoned after the return of the +Pope, and lost the last vestige of his property by confiscation. He +now dresses coarsely, and declines to associate with any Romans, +except a few who are members of a secret society with him. He is very +closely watched by the Government, so that he has to be quiet. But he +expects to rise to eminence and power, and even wealth, before very +long. So you see he does not look upon his sister as a mere common +every-day match. He expects to elevate her to the highest rank, where +she can find the best in the country around her. For my own part I +think this is doubtful; and if you are in earnest I should do what +I could to further your interest. But it will take some time to +persuade the Count." +<br> +<br> +"Then, situated as I am, what can I do to gain her?" asked Dick. +<br> +<br> +"Are your friends thinking of leaving Rome soon?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes, pretty soon." +<br> +<br> +"Do not leave them. Go with them. Pursue the course you originally +intended, just as though nothing had happened. If after your tour is +finished you find that your feelings are as strong as ever, and that +she is as dear to you as you say, then you may return here." +<br> +<br> +"And you?" +<br> +<br> +"I think all objections may be removed." +<br> +<br> +"It will take some weeks to finish our tour." +<br> +<br> +"Some weeks! Oh, do not return under three months at least." +<br> +<br> +"Three months! that is very long!" +<br> +<br> +"Not too long. The time will soon pass away. If you do not really +love her you will be glad at having escaped; if you do you will +rejoice at having proved your sincerity." +<br> +<br> +Some further conversation passed, after which Dick, finding the +priest inflexible, ceased to persuade, and acceded to his proposal. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXXVI">CHAPTER XXXVI</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +SHOWING HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO GET A LAUNDRESS, FOR THE SENATOR +WANTED ONE, AND NOT KNOWING THE LANGUAGE GOT INTO A SCRAPE, NOT BY +HIS OWN FAULT, FOR HE WAS CAREFUL ABOUT COMMITTING HIMSELF WITH THE +LADIES; BUT PRAY, WAS IT HIS FAULT IF THE LADIES WOULD TAKE A FANCY +TO HIM? +<br> +<br> +<br> +Signora Mirandolina Rocca, who was the landlady of the house where +the Club were lodging, was a widow, of about forty years of age, still +fresh and blooming, with a merry dark eye, and much animation of +features. Sitting usually in the small room which they passed on the +way to their apartments, they had to stop to get their keys, or to +leave them when they went out, and Buttons and Dick frequently stopped +to have a little conversation. The rest, not being able to speak +Italian, contented themselves with smiles; the Senator particularly, +who gave the most beaming of smiles both on going and on returning. +Sometimes he even tried to talk to her in his usual adaptation of +broken English, spoken in loud tones to the benighted but fascinating +foreigner. Her attention to Dick during his sickness increased the +Senator's admiration, and he thought her one of the best, one of the +most kind-hearted and sympathetic of beings. +<br> +<br> +One day, toward the close of their stay in Rome, the Senator was in +a fix. He had not had any washing done since he came to the city. He +had ran through all his clean linen, and came to a dead stand. Before +leaving for another place it was absolutely necessary to attend to +this. But how? Buttons was off with the Spaniards; Dick had gone out +on a drive. No one could help him, so he tried it himself. In fact, +he had never lost confidence in his powers of making himself +understood. It was still a fixed conviction of his that in cases of +necessity any intelligent man could make his wants known to +intelligent foreigners. If not, there is stupidity somewhere. Had he +not done so in Paris and in other places? +<br> +<br> +So he rang and managed to make the servant understand that he wished +to see the landlady. The landlady had always shown a great admiration +for the manly, not to say gigantic charms of the Senator. Upon him +she bestowed her brightest smile, and the quick flush on her face +and heaving breast told that the Senator had made wild work with her +too susceptible heart. +<br> +<br> +So now when she learned that the Senator wished to see her, she at +once imagined the cause to be any thing and every thing except the +real one. Why take that particular time, when all the rest were out? +she thought. Evidently for some tender purpose. Why send for her? Why +not come down to see her? Evidently because he did not like the +publicity of her room at the Conciergerie. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/85-illo-the-senator-in-a-bad-fix.png" alt="The Senator In A Bad Fix."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: The Senator In A Bad Fix.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +She arrayed herself, therefore, in her brightest and her best +charms; gave an additional flourish to her dark hair that hung +wavingly and luxuriantly, and still without a trace of gray over +her forehead; looked at herself with her dark eyes in the glass to +see if she appeared to the best advantage; and finally, in some +agitation, but with great eagerness, she went to obey the summons. +<br> +<br> +Meantime the Senator had been deliberating how to begin. He felt that +he could not show his bundle of clothes to so fair and fine a creature +as this, whose manners were so soft and whose smile so pleasant. He +would do any thing first. He would try a roundabout way of making +known his wishes, trusting to his own powers and the intelligence of +the lady for a full and complete understanding. Just as he had come +to this conclusion there was a timid knock at the door. +<br> +<br> +"Come in," said the Senator, who began to feel a little awkward +already. +<br> +<br> +"_Epermesso_?" said a soft sweet voice, "_se puo entrare_?" and +Signora Mirandolina Rocca advanced into the room, giving one look at +the Senator, and then casting down her eyes. +<br> +<br> +"_Umilissia serva di Lei, Signore, mi commandi_." +<br> +<br> +But the Senator was in a quandary. What could he do? How begin? +What gesture would be the most fitting for a beginning? +<br> +<br> +The pause began to be embarrassing. The lady, however, as yet was +calm--calmer, in fact, than when she entered. +<br> +<br> +So she spoke once more. +<br> +<br> +"_Di che ha Ella bisogna, Illustris simo_?" +<br> +<br> +The Senator was dreadfully embarrassed. The lady was so fair in his +eyes. Was this a woman who could contemplate the fact of soiled +linen? Never. +<br> +<br> +"Ehem!" said he. +<br> +<br> +Then he paused. +<br> +<br> +"_Servo, devota_," said Signora Mirandolina. "_Che c'e, Signore_." +<br> +<br> +Then looking up, she saw the face of the Senator all rosy red, +turned toward her, with a strange confusion and embarrassment in his +eye, yet it was a kind eye--a soft, kind eye. +<br> +<br> +"_Egli e forse innamorato di me_," murmured the lady, gathering +new courage as she saw the timidity of the other. "_Che grandezza_!" +she continued, loud enough for the Senator to hear, yet speaking as +if to herself. "_Che bellezza_! _un galantuomo, certamente--e quest' +e molto piacevole_." +<br> +<br> +She glanced at the manly figure of the Senator with a tender +admiration in her eye which she could not repress, and which was so +intelligible to the Senator that he blushed more violently than ever, +and looked helplessly around him. +<br> +<br> +"_E innamorato di me, senza dubio_," said the Signora, "_vergogna non +vuol che si sapesse_." +<br> +<br> +The Senator at length found voice. Advancing toward the lady he +looked at her very earnestly and as she thought very piteously--held +out both his hands, then smiled, then spread his hands apart, then +nodded and smiled again, and said-- +<br> +<br> +"Me--me--want--ha--hum--ah! You know--me--gentleman--hum--me +--Confound the luck," he added, in profound vexation. +<br> +<br> +"_Signore_," said Mirandolina, "_la di Lei gentelezza me confonde_." +<br> +<br> +The Senator turned his eyes all around, everywhere, in a desperate +half-conscious search for escape from an embarrassing situation. +<br> +<br> +"_Signore noi ci siamo sole, nessuno ci senti_," remarked the +Signora, encouragingly. +<br> +<br> +"Me want to tell you this!" burst forth the Senator. "Clothes--you +know--washy--washy." Whereupon he elevated his eyebrows, smiled, +and brought the tips of his fingers together. +<br> +<br> +"_Io non so che cosa vuol dir mi. Illustrissimo_," said the Signora, +in bewilderment. +<br> +<br> +"You--you--you know. Ah? Washy? Hey? No, no," shaking his head, "not +washy, but _get_ washy." +<br> +<br> +The landlady smiled. The Senator, encouraged by this, came a step +nearer. +<br> +<br> +"_Che cosa? Il cuor me palpita. Io tremo_," murmured La Rocca. +<br> +<br> +She retreated a step. Whereupon the Senator at once fell back again +in great confusion. +<br> +<br> +"Washy, washy," he repeated, mechanically, as his mind was utterly +vague and distrait. +<br> +<br> +"_Uassi-Uuassi_?" repeated the other, interrogatively. +<br> +<br> +"Me--" +<br> +<br> +"_Tu_" said she, with tender emphasis. +<br> +<br> +"Wee mounseer," said he, with utter desperation. +<br> +<br> +The Signora shook her head. "_Non capisco. Ma quelle, balordaggini ed +intormentimente, che sono si non segni manifesti d'amore_?" +<br> +<br> +"I don't understand, marm, a single word of that." +<br> +<br> +The Signora smiled. The Senator took courage again. +<br> +<br> +"The fact is this, marm," said he, firmly; "I want to get my +clothes washed somewhere. Of course you don't do it, but you can +tell me, you know. Hm?" +<br> +<br> +"_Non capisco_." +<br> +<br> +"Madame," said he, feeling confident that she would understand that +word at least, and thinking, too, that it might perhaps serve as a +key to explain any other words which he might append to it. "My +clothes--I want to get them washed--laundress--washy--soap and +water--clean 'em all up--iron 'em--hang 'em out to dry. Ha?" +<br> +<br> +While saying this he indulged in an expressive pantomine. When +alluding to his clothes he placed his hands against his chest, +when mentioning the drying of them he waved them in the air. The +landlady comprehended this. How not? When a gentleman places his +hand on his heart, what is his meaning? +<br> +<br> +"_O sottigliezza d'amore_!" murmured she. "_Che cosa cerca_," she +continued, looking up timidly but invitingly. +<br> +<br> +The Senator felt doubtful at this, and in fact a little frightened. +Again he placed his hands on his chest to indicate his clothes; he +struck that manly chest forcibly several times, looking at her all +the time. Then he wrung his hands. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/87-illo-the-senator-in-a-worse-fix.png" alt="The Senator In A Worse Fix."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: The Senator In A Worse Fix.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +"_Ah, Signore_," said La Rocca, with a melting glance, "_non e d'uopo +di desperazione_." +<br> +<br> +"Washy, washy--" +<br> +<br> +"_Eppure, se Ella vuol sposarmi, non ce difficolta_," returned the +other, with true Italian frankness. +<br> +<br> +"Soap and water--" +<br> +<br> +"_Non ho il coraggio di dir di no_." +<br> +<br> +The Senator had his arms outstretched to indicate the hanging-out +process. Still, however, feeling doubtful if he were altogether +understood, he thought he would try another form of pantomime. +Suddenly he fell down on his knees, and began to imitate the action +of a washer-woman over her tub, washing, wringing, pounding, rubbing. +<br> +<br> +"_O gran' cielo_!" cried the Signora, her pitying heart filled with +tenderness at the sight of this noble being on his knees before her, +and, as she thought, wringing his hands in despair. "_O gran' cielo! +Egli e innamorato di me non puo dirmelo_." +<br> +<br> +Her warm heart prompted her, and she obeyed its impulse. What else +could she do? She flung herself into his outstretched arms, as he +raised himself to hang out imaginary clothes on an invisible line. +<br> +<br> +The Senator was thunderstruck, confounded, bewildered, shattered, +overcome, crushed, stupefied, blasted, overwhelmed, horror-stricken, +wonder-smitten, annihilated, amazed, horrified, shocked, frightened, +terrified, nonplused, wilted, awe-struck, shivered, astounded, +dumbfounded. He did not even struggle. He was paralyzed. +<br> +<br> +"_Ah, carissimo_," said a soft and tender voice in his ear, a low, +sweet voice, "_se veramenta me me ami, saro lo tua carissima sposa--_" +<br> +<br> +At that moment the door opened and Buttons walked in. In an instant +he darted out. The Signora hurried away. +<br> +<br> +"_Addio, bellisima, carissima gioja_!" she sighed. +<br> +<br> +The Senator was still paralyzed, +<br> +<br> +After a time he went with a pale and anxious face to see Buttons. The +young man promised secrecy, and when the Senator was telling his story +tried hard to look serious and sympathetic. In vain. The thought of +that scene, and the cause of it, and the blunder that had been made +overwhelmed him. Laughter convulsed him. At last the Senator got up +indignantly and left the room. +<br> +<br> +But what was he to do now? The thing could not be explained. How could +he get out of the house? He would have to pass her as she sat at the +door. +<br> +<br> +He had to call on Buttons again and implore his assistance. The +difficulty was so repugnant, and the matter so very delicate, that +Buttons declared he could not take the responsibility of settling it. +It would have to be brought before the Club. +<br> +<br> +The Club had a meeting about it, and many plans were proposed. The +stricken Senator had one plan, and that prevailed. It was to leave +Rome on the following day. For his part he had made up his mind to +leave the house at once. He would slip out as though he intended to +return, and the others could settle his bill and bring with them the +clothes that had caused all this trouble. He would meet them in the +morning outside the gate of the city. +<br> +<br> +This resolution was adopted by all, and the Senator, leaving money to +settle for himself, went away. He passed hurriedly out of the door. He +dared not look. He heard a soft voice pronounce the word "_Gioja_!" He +fled. +<br> +<br> +Now that one who owned the soft voice afterward changed her feelings +so much toward her "gioja" that opposite his name in her house-book +she wrote the following epithets: _Birbone, Villano, Zolicacco, +Burberone, Gaglioffo, Meschino, Briconaccio, Anemalaccio_. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXXVII">CHAPTER XXXVII</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +_ROME_.--_ANCIENT HISTORY_.--THE PREHISTORIC ERA.--CRITICAL +EXAMINATION OF NIEBUHR AND HIS SCHOOL.--THE EARLY HISTORY OF ROME +PLACED ON A RIGHT BASIS.--EXPLANATION OF HISTORY OF REPUBLIC. +--NAPOLEON'S "CAESAR."--THE IMPERIAL REGIME.--THE NORTHERN +BARBARIANS.--RISE OF THE PAPACY.--MEDIAEVAL ROME. +<br> +<br> +_TOPOGRAPHY_.--TRUE ADJUSTMENT OF BOUNDS OF ANCIENT CITY.--ITS +PROBABLE POPULATION.--_GEOLOGY_.--EXAMINATION OF FORMATION.--TUFA +TRAVERTINE.--ROMAN CEMENT.--TERRA-COTTA. _SPECIAL CONSIDERATION OF +ROMAN CATACOMBS_.--BOSIO.--ARRINGHI.--CARDINAL WISEMAN.--RECENT +EXPLORATIONS, INVESTIGATIONS, EXAMINATIONS, EXHUMATIONS, AND +RESUSCITATIONS.--EARLY CHRISTIAN HISTORY SET ON A TRUE BASIS. +--RELICS.--MARTYRS.--REAL ORIGIN OF CATACOMBS.--TRUE AND RELIABLE +EXTENT (WITH MAPS). +<br> +<br> +_REMARKS ON ART_.--THE RENAISSANCE.--THE EARLY PAINTERS: CIMABUE, +GIOTTO, PERUGINO, RAFAELLE SANZIO, MICHELANGELO BUONAROTTI.--THE +TRANSFIGURATION.--THE MOSES OF MICHELANGELO.--BELLINI.--SAINT +PETER'S, AND MORE PARTICULARLY THE COLONNADE.--THE LAST JUDGMENT. +--DANTE.--THE MEDIAEVAL SPIRIT.--EFFECT OF GOTHIC ART ON ITALY AND +ITALIAN TASTE.--COMPARISON, OF LOMBARD WITH SICILIAN CHURCHES.--TO +WHAT EXTENT ROME INFLUENCED THIS DEVELOPMENT.--THE FOSTERING SPIRIT +OF THE CHURCH.--ALL MODERN ART CHRISTIAN.--WHY THIS WAS A NECESSITY. +--FOLLIES OF MODERN CRITICS.--REYNOLDS AND RUSKIN.--HOW FAR POPULAR +TASTE IS WORTH ANY THING.--CONCLUDING REMARKS OF A MISCELLANEOUS +DESCRIPTION. +<br> +<br> +<br> +[There! as a bill of fare I flatter myself that the above ought to +take the eye. It was my intention, on the departure of the Club +from Rome, to write a chapter of a thoroughly exhaustive character, +as will be seen by the table of contents above; but afterward, +finding that the chapter had already reached the dimensions of a +good-sized book before a quarter of it was written, I thought that +if it were inserted in this work it would be considered by some as +too long; in fact, if it were admitted nothing more would ever be +heard of the Dodge Club; which would be a great pity, as the best +of their adventures did not take place until after this period; and +as this is the real character of the present work, I have finally +decided to enlarge the chapter into a book, which I will publish +after I have given to the world my "History of the Micmacs," +"Treatise on the Greek Particles," "Course of Twelve Lectures on +Modern History," new edition of the "Agamemnonian Triology" of +Aeschylus, with new readings, "Harmony of Greek Accent and Prosody," +"Exercises in Sanscrit for Beginners, on the Ollendorf System," +"The Odyssey of Homer translated into the Dublin Irish dialect," +"Dissertation on the Symbolical Nature of the Mosaic Economy," +"Elements of Logic," "Examination into the Law of Neutrals," +"Life of General George Washington," "History of Patent Medicines," +"Transactions of the 'Saco Association for the advancement of +Human Learning, particularly Natural Science' (consisting of one +article written by myself on 'The Toads of Maine')," and "Report +of the 'Kennebunkport, Maine, United Congregational Ladies' +Benevolent City Missionary and Mariners' Friend Society," which +will all be out some of these days, I don't know exactly when; +but after they come out this chapter will appear in book form. And +if any of my readers prefer to wait till they read that chapter +before reading any further, all I can say is, perhaps they'd +better not, as after all it has no necessary connection with the +fortunes of the Dodge Club.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXXVIII">CHAPTER XXXVIII</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +ITALIAN TRAVEL, ROADS, INNS.--A GRAND BREAKDOWN.--AN ARMY OF +BEGGARS.--SIX MEN HUNTING UP A CARRIAGE WHEEL; AND PLANS OF THE +SENATOR FOR THE GOOD OF ITALY. +<br> +<br> +<br> +On the following morning the Senator was picked up at the gate, +where he had waited patiently ever since the dawn of day. His seat +was secured. His friends were around him. He was safe. They rolled +on merrily all that day. And their carriage was ahead of that of +the Spaniards. They stopped at the same inns. Buttons was happy. +<br> +<br> +The next day came. At nine o'clock A.M. on the next day there was +a singular scene: +<br> +<br> +A vettura with the fore-wheel crushed into fragments; two horses +madly plunging; five men thrown in different directions on a soft +sand-bank; and a driver gazing upon the scene with a face of woe. +<br> +<br> +The Senator tried most energetically to brush the dust from his +clothes with an enormous red silk handkerchief; the Doctor and Mr. +Figgs looked aghast at huge rents in their nether garments; Buttons +and Dick picked themselves up and hurried to the wreck. +<br> +<br> +The emotions of the former may be conceived. The wheel was an utter +smash. No patching however thorough, no care however tender, could +place it on its edge again a perfect wheel. A hill rose before +them, behind which the Spaniards, hitherto their companions, had +disappeared half an hour previously, and were now rolling on over +the palin beyond that hill all ignorant of this disaster. Every +moment separated them more widely from the despairing Buttons. +Could he have metamorphosed himself into a wheel most gladly would +he have done it. He had wild thoughts of setting off on foot and +catching up to them before the next day. But, of course, further +reflection showed him that walking was out of the question. +<br> +<br> +Dick looked on in silence. They were little more than a day's +journey from Rome. Civita Castellana lay between; yet perhaps a +wheel might not be got at Civita Castellana. In that case a +return to Rome was inevitable. What a momentous thought! Back to +Rome! Ever since he left he had felt a profound melancholy. The +feeling of homesickness was on him. He had amused himself with +keeping his eyes shut and fancying that he was moving to Rome +instead of from it. He had repented leaving the city. Better, he +thought, to have waited. He might then have seen Pepita. The +others gradually came to survey the scene. +<br> +<br> +"Eh? Well, what's to be done now?" said Buttons, sharply, as +the driver came along. "How long are you going to wait?" +<br> +<br> +"Signore makes no allowance for a poor man's confusion. Behold +that wheel! What is there for me to do--unhappy? May the bitter +curse of the ruined fall upon that miserable wheel!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/89-illo-travelling-in-italy.png" alt="Travelling In Italy."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Travelling In Italy.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +"The coach has already fallen on it," said Dick. "Surely that is +enough." +<br> +<br> +"It infuriates me to find myself overthrown here." +<br> +<br> +"You could not wish for a better place, my Pietro." +<br> +<br> +"What will you do?" said Buttons. "We must not waste time here. +Can we go on?" +<br> +<br> +"How is that possible?" +<br> +<br> +"We might get a wheel at the next town." +<br> +<br> +"We could not find one if we hunted all through the three next +towns." +<br> +<br> +"Curse your Italian towns!" cried Buttons, in a rage. +<br> +<br> +"Certainly, Signore, curse them if you desire." +<br> +<br> +"Where can we get this one repaired then?" +<br> +<br> +"At Civita Castellana, I hope." +<br> +<br> +"Back there! What, go back!" +<br> +<br> +"I am not to blame," said Pietro, with resignation. +<br> +<br> +"We must not go back. We shall not." +<br> +<br> +"If we go forward every mile will make it worse. And how can we +move with this load and this broken wheel up that hill?" +<br> +<br> +That was indeed a difficulty. The time that had lapsed since the +lamentable break-down had been sufficient to bring upon the scene an +inconceivable crowd. After satisfying their curiosity they betook +themselves to business. +<br> +<br> +Ragged, dirty, evil-faced, wicked-eyed, slouching, whining, +impudent--seventeen women, twenty-nine small boys, and thirty-one men, +without counting curs and goats. +<br> +<br> +"Signo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o! in the name of the Ever Blessed, and +for the love of Heaven." "Go to thunder." "For the love of." "We +have nothing, _nothing_, NOTHING! Do you hear?" "Of the Virgin." +"Away! Be off." "Give me." "Go to blazes!" "Me miserable." "Will +you be off?" "Infirm, blind, and." "I'll break your skull!" +"Altogether desperate." "If you torment us any more, I'll." +"Only the smallest charity." "Smash your abominable bottle-nose!" +"Oh, generous nobles!" "Don't press me, you filthy." "Illustrious +cavaliers!" "Take that! and if you say any more I'll kick you +harder." "I kneel before you, oppressed, wretched, starving. Let +these tears." "I'll make you shed more of them if you don't clear +out." "N-n-n-Sig-no-o-o-o-o!" "Away!" "Behold a wretched villager +from the far distant Ticino!" "You be hanged! Keep off!" "Oh, +Signo-o-o-o-o! Oh per l'amor di Dio! Carita! Carita-a-a-a +--solamente un mezzo baroccho--oh, Signo-o-o!--datemi." +<br> +<br> +"Pietro! Pietro! for Heaven's sake get us out of this at once. +Anywhere--anywhere, so that we can escape from these infernal +Vagabonds." +<br> +<br> +The result was, that Pietro turned his carriage round. By piling +the baggage well behind, and watching the fore-axle carefully, +he contrived to move the vehicle along. Behind them followed the +pertinacious beggars, filling the air with prayers, groans, sighs, +cries, tears, lamentations, appeals, wailings, and entreaties. Thus +situated they made their entry into Civita Castellana. +<br> +<br> +Others might have felt flattered at the reception that awaited them. +They only felt annoyed. The entire city turned out. The main street +up which they passed was quite full. The side-streets showed people +hurrying up to the principal thoroughfare. They were the centre of +all eyes. Through the windows of the café the round eyes of the +citizens were visible on the broad stare. Even the dogs and cats had +a general turn out. +<br> +<br> +Nor could they seek relief in the seclusion of the hotel. The anxiety +which all felt to resume their journey did not allow them to rest. +They at once explored the entire city. +<br> +<br> +Was there a carriage-maker in the place? A half-hour's search +showed them that there was not one. The next thing then was to try +and find a wheel. About this they felt a little hopeful. Strange, +indeed, if so common a thing could not be obtained. +<br> +<br> +Yet strange as this might be it was even so. No wheel was +forthcoming. They could not find a carriage even. There was nothing +but two ancient caleches, whose wheels were not only rickety but +utterly disproportioned to the size of the vettura, and any +quantity of bullock carts, which moved on contrivances that could +scarcely be called wheels at all. +<br> +<br> +Three hours were consumed in the tedious search. The entire body +of the inhabitants became soon aware of the object of their desires, +and showed how truly sympathetic is the Italian nature, by +accompanying them wherever they went, and making observations that +were more sprightly than agreeable. +<br> +<br> +At first the Club kept together, and made their search accompanied +by Pietro; but after a time the crowd became so immense that they +separated, and continued their search singly. This produced but +slight improvement. The crowd followed their example. A large +number followed the Senator: walking when he walked; stopping when +he stopped; turning when he turned; strolling when he strolled; +peering when he peered; commenting when he spoke, and making +themselves generally very agreeable and delightful. +<br> +<br> +At every corner the tall form of the Senator might be seen as he +walked swiftly with the long procession following like a tail of a +comet; or as he stopped at times to look around in despair, when +<br> +<br> +<br> + "He above the rest<br> + In shape and gesture proudly eminent<br> + Stood like a tower. His form had not yet lost<br> + All its original brightness;" +<br> +<br> +<br> +although, to tell the truth, his clothes had, and the traces of mud +and dust somewhat dimmed the former lustre of his garments. +<br> +<br> +The appalling truth at last forced itself upon them that Civita +Castellana could not furnish them either with a new wheel or a +blacksmith who could repair the broken one. Whether the entire +mechanical force of the town had gone off to the wars or not they +did not stop to inquire. They believed that the citizens had +combined to disappoint them, in hopes that their detention might +bring in a little ready money and start it in circulation around the +community. +<br> +<br> +It was at last seen that the only way to do the was to send Pietro +back to Rome. To delay any longer would be only a waste of time. +Slowly and sadly they took up their quarters at the hotel. Dick +decided to go back so as to hasten Pietro, who might otherwise loiter +on the way. So the dilapidated carriage had to set out on its +journey backward. +<br> +<br> +Forced to endure the horrors of detention in one of the dullest +of Italian towns, their situation was deplorable. Mr. Figgs was +least unhappy, for he took to his bed and slept through the +entire period, with the exception of certain little intervals +which he devoted to meals. The Doctor sat quietly by an upper +window playing the devil's tattoo on the ledge with inexhaustible +patience. +<br> +<br> +The Senator strolled through the town. He found much to interest him. +His busy brain was filled with schemes for the improvement of the +town. +<br> +<br> +How town lots could be made valuable; how strangers could be +attracted; how manufactures could be promoted; how hotels started; +how shops supported; how trade increased; how the whole surrounding +population enriched, especially by the factories. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/91-illo-the-senators-escort.png" alt="The Senator's Escort."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: The Senator's Escort.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Why, among these here hills," said he, confidentially, to Buttons +--"among these very hills there is water-power and excellent +location for, say--Silk-weaving mills, Fulling ditto, Grist ditto, +Carding ditto, Sawing ditto, Plaster-crushing ditto, Planing ditto. +--Now I would locate a cotton-mill over there." +<br> +<br> +"Where would you get your cotton?" mumbled Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"Where?" repeated the Senator. "Grow it on the Campagna, of course." +<br> +<br> +Buttons passed the time in a fever of impatience. +<br> +<br> +For far ahead the Spaniards were flying further and further away, +no doubt wondering at every stage why he did not join them. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXXIX">CHAPTER XXXIX</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +TRIUMPHANT PROGRESS OF DICK.--GENDARMES FOILED.--THE DODGE CLUB +IS ATTACKED BY BRIGANDS, AND EVERY MAN OF IT COVERS HIMSELF WITH +GLORY.--SCREAM OF THE AMERICAN EAGLE! +<br> +<br> +<br> +It was late on the evening of the following day before Dick made +his appearance with Pietro, Another vettura had been obtained, and +with cracks of a long whip that resounded through the whole town, +summoning the citizens to the streets; with thunder of wheels over +the pavements; with prancing and snorting of horses; Pietro drove up +to the hotel. Most conspicuous in the turn-out was Dick, who was +seated in the coupe, waving his hat triumphantly in the air. +<br> +<br> +The appearance of the carriage was the signal for three hearty +cheers, which burst involuntarily from the three Americans on the +courtyard, rousing Mr. Figgs from sleep and the inn-keeper from his +usual lethargy. One look at the horses was enough to show that there +was no chance of proceeding further that day. The poor beasts were +covered with foam, and trembled excessively. However, they all felt +infinite relief at the prospect of getting away, even though they +would have to wait till the following morning. +<br> +<br> +Dick was dragged to the dining-room by his eager friends and fiercely +interrogated. He had not much to tell. +<br> +<br> +The journey to Rome had been made without any difficulty, the +carriage having tumbled forward on its front axle not more than one +hundred and fifty-seven times. True, when it reached Rome it was a +perfect wreck, the framework being completely wrenched to pieces; +and the proprietor was bitterly enraged with Pietro for not leaving +the carriage at Civita Castellana, and returning on horseback for a +wheel; but Dick interceded for the poor devil of a driver, and the +proprietor kindly consented to deduct the value of the coach from his +wages piecemeal. +<br> +<br> +Their journey back was quick but uninteresting. Dick acknowledged that +he had a faint idea of staying in Rome, but saw a friend who advised +him not to. He had taken the reins and driven for a great part of the +way, while Pietro had gone inside and slumbered the sleep of the just. +<br> +<br> +As it was a lonely country, with few inhabitants, he had beguiled the +tedious hours of the journey by blowing patriotic airs on an enormous +trombone, purchased by him from a miscellaneous dealer in Rome. The +result had been in the highest degree pleasing to himself, though +perhaps a little surprising to others. No one, however, interfered +with him except a party of gendarmes who attempted to stop him. They +thought that he was a Garibaldino trying to rouse the country. The +trombone might have been the cause of that suspicion. +<br> +<br> +Fortunately the gendarmes, though armed to the teeth, were not +mounted, and so it was that, when they attempted to arrest Dick, +that young man lashed his horses to fury, and, loosening the reins +at the same moment, burst through the line, and before they knew +what he was about he was away. +<br> +<br> +They fired a volley. The echoes died away, mingled with +gendarmerian curses. The only harm done was a hole made by a +bullet through the coach. The only apparent effect was the waking +of Pietro. That worthy, suddenly roused from slumber, jumped up to +hear the last sounds of the rifles, to see the hole made by the +bullet, the fading forms of the frantic officials, and the nimble +figure of the gallant driver, who stood upright upon the seat waving +his hat over his head, while the horses dashed on at a furious gallop. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/92-illo-dick-in-his-glory.png" alt="Dick In His Glory."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Dick In His Glory.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +This was all. Nothing more occurred, for Pietro drove the remainder +of the way, and Dick's trombone was tabooed. +<br> +<br> +On the following morning the welcome departure was made. To their +inexpressible joy they found that the coach was this time a strong +one, and no ordinary event of travel could delay them. They had lost +two days, however, and that was no trifle. They now entered upon the +second stage, and passed on without difficulty. +<br> +<br> +In fact, they didn't meet with a single incident worth mentioning +till they came to Perugia. Perugia is one of the finest places in +Italy, and really did not deserve to be overhauled so terrifically +by the Papal troops. Every body remembers that affair. At the time +when the Dodge Club arrived at this city they found the Papal party +in the middle of a reaction. They actually began to fear that they +had gone a little too far. They were making friendly overtures to +the outraged citizens. But the latter were implacable, stiff! +<br> +<br> +What rankled most deeply was the maddening fact that these Swiss, +who were made the ministers of vengeance, were part of that accursed, +detested, hated, shunned, despised, abhorred, loathed, execrated, +contemptible, stupid, thick-headed, brutal, gross, cruel, bestial, +demoniacal, fiendish, and utterly abominable race--_I Tedeschi_ +--whose very name, when hissed from an Italian month, expresses +unutterable scorn and undying hate. +<br> +<br> +They left Perugia at early dawn. Jogging on easily over the hills, +they were calculating the time when they would reach Florence. +<br> +<br> +In the disturbed state of Italy at this time, resulting from war +and political excitement, and general expectation of universal +change, the country was filled with disorder, and scoundrels +infested the roads, particularly in the Papal territories. Here +the Government, finding sufficient employment for all its energies +in taking care of itself, could scarcely be expected to take care +either of its own subjects or the traveller through its dominions. +The Americans had heard several stories about brigands, but had +given themselves no trouble whatever about them. +<br> +<br> +Now it came to pass that about five miles from Perugia they wound +round a very thickly-wooded mountain, which ascended on the left, +far above, and on the right descended quite abruptly into a gorge. +Dick was outside; the others inside. Suddenly a loud shout, and a +scream from Pietro. The carriage stopped. +<br> +<br> +The inside passengers could see the horses rearing and plunging, +and Dick, snatching whip and reins from Pietro, lashing them with +all his might. In a moment all inside was in an uproar. +<br> +<br> +"We are attacked!" cried Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"The devil!" cried the Senator, who, in his sudden excitement, used +the first and only profane expression which his friends ever heard him +utter. +<br> +<br> +Out came the Doctor's revolver. +<br> +<br> +Bang! bang! wept two rifles outside, and a loud voice called on them +to surrender. +<br> +<br> +"_Andate al Diavolo_!" pealed out Dick's voice as loud as a trumpet. +His blows fell fast and furiously on the horses. Maddened by pain, +the animals bounded forward for a few rods, and then swerving from +the road-side, dashed against the precipitous hill, where the coach +stuck, the horses rearing. +<br> +<br> +Through the doors which they had flung open in order to jump out +the occupants of the carriage saw the reeling figures of armed men +overthrown and cursing. In a moment they all were out. +<br> +<br> +Bang! and then-- +<br> +<br> +Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-bang! went half a dozen rifles. +<br> +<br> +Thank Heaven! not one of the Club, was struck. There were twenty +scoundrels armed to the teeth. +<br> +<br> +The Doctor was as stiff as a rock. He aimed six times as calmly as +though he were in a pistol-gallery. Nerve told. Six explosions +roared. Six yells followed. Six men reeled. +<br> +<br> +"I'd give ten years of my life for such a pistol!" cried Buttons. +<br> +<br> +The Italians were staggered. Dick had a bowie-knife. The Senator +grasped a ponderous beam that he had placed on the coach in case +of another break-down. Mr. Figgs had a razor which he had grabbed +from the storehouse in the Doctor's pocket. Buttons had nothing. But +on the road lay three Italians writhing. +<br> +<br> +"Hurrah!" cried Buttons. "Load again, Doctor. Come; let's make a +rush and get these devils on the road." +<br> +<br> +He rushed forward. The others all at his side. The Italians stood +paralyzed at the effect of the revolver. As Buttons led the charge +they fell back a few paces. +<br> +<br> +"Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" burst Buttons, the Senator, and Dick, as +each snatched a rifle from the prostrate bandits, and hastily tore +the cartridge-boxes from them. +<br> +<br> +"Load up! load up! Doctor!" cried Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"All right,"' said the Doctor, who never changed in his cool +self-possession. +<br> +<br> +But now the Italians with curses and screams came back to the +attack. It is absolutely stupefying to think how few shots hit the +mark in the excitement of a fight. Here were a number of men firing +from a distance of hardly more than forty paces, and not one took +effect. +<br> +<br> +The next moment the whole crowd were upon them. Buttons snatched Mr. +Figgs's razor from his grasp and used it vigorously. Dick plied his +bowie-knife. The Senator wielded a clubbed rifle on high as though +it were a wand, and dealt the blows of a giant upon the heads of his +assailants. All the Italians were physically their inferiors--small, +puny men. Mr. Figgs made a wild dash at the first man he saw and +seized his rifle. The fight was spirited. +<br> +<br> +The rascally brigands were nearly three times as numerous, but the +Americans surpassed them in bodily strength and spirit. +<br> +<br> +Crash--crash--fell the Senator's rifle, and down went two men. His +strength was enormous--absorbed as it had been from the granite +cliffs of the old Granite State. Two brawny fellows seized him from +behind. A thrust of his elbow laid one low. Buttons slashed the wrist +of the other. A fellow threw himself on Buttons. Dick's bowie-knife +laid open his arm and thigh. The next moment Dick went down beneath +the blows of several Italians. But Buttons rushed with his razor to +rescue Dick. Three men glared at him with uplifted weapons. Down +came the Senator's clubbed rifle like an avalanche, sweeping +their weapons over the cliff. They turned simultaneously on the +Senator, and grasped him in a threefold embrace. Buttons's razor +again drank blood. Two turned upon him. Bang! went the Doctor's +pistol, sending one of them shrieking to the ground. Bang! Once +more, and a fellow who had nearly overpowered the breathless Figgs +staggered back. Dick was writhing on the ground beneath the weight +of a dead man and a fellow who was trying to suffocate him. Buttons +was being throttled by three others who held him powerless, his +razor being broken. A crack on Mr. Figgs's head laid him low. The +Doctor stood off at a little distance hastily reloading. +<br> +<br> +The Senator alone was free; but six fierce fellows assailed him. It +was now as in the old Homeric days, when the heroic soul, sustained +by iron nerve and mighty muscle, came out particularly strong in the +hour of conflict. +<br> +<br> +The Senator's form towered up like one of his own granite cliffs in +the storm--as rugged, as unconquerable. His blood was up! The same +blood it was that coursed through the veins of Cromwell's grim old +"Ironsides," and afterward animated those sturdy backwoods-men who +had planted themselves in American forests, and beaten back wild +beasts and howling savages. +<br> +<br> +Buttons, prostrate on the ground, looked up, gasping through the +smoke and dust, as he struggled with his assailants. He saw the +Senator, his hair bristling out straight, his teeth set, his eye on +fire, his whole expression sublimed by the ardor of battle. His +clothes were torn to shreds; his coat was gone, his hat nowhere, +his hands and face were covered with clots of blood and streaks +from mud, dust, smoke, and powder. +<br> +<br> +The eye of Buttons took in all this in one glance. The next instant, +with a wide sweep of his clubbed rifle the Senator put forth all +his gigantic strength in one tremendous effort. The shock was +irresistible. Down went the six bandits as though a cannon-ball had +struck them. The Senator leaped away to relieve Dick, and seizing +his assailant by neck and heel, flung him over the cliff. Then +tearing away another from Mr. Figgs's prostrate and almost +senseless form, he rushed back upon the six men whom he had just +levelled to the earth. +<br> +<br> +Dick sprang to the relief of Buttons, who was at his last extremity. +But the Doctor was before him, as cool as ever. He grasped one fellow +by the throat--a favorite trick of the Doctor's, in which his +anatomical knowledge came very finely into play: +<br> +<br> +"Off!" rang the Doctor's voice. +<br> +<br> +The fellow gasped a curse. The next instant a roar burst through the +air, and the wretch fell heavily forward, shot through the head, +while his brains were splattered over the face of Buttons. The +Doctor with a blow of his fist sent the other fellow reeling over. +<br> +<br> +Buttons sprang up gasping. The Italians were falling back. He called +to the Senator. That man of might came up. Thank God they were all +alive! Bruised, and wounded, and panting--but alive. +<br> +<br> +The scowling bandits drew off, leaving seven of their number on the +road _hors de combat_. Some of the retreating ones had been badly +treated, and limped and staggered. The Club proceeded to load their +rifles. +<br> +<br> +The Doctor stepped forward. Deliberately aiming he fired his revolver +five times in rapid succession. Before he had time to load again the +bandits had darted into the woods. +<br> +<br> +"Every one of those bullets _hit_," said the Doctor with unusual +emphasis. +<br> +<br> +"We must get under cover at once," said Dick. "They'll be back +shortly with others!" +<br> +<br> +"Then we must fortify our position," said the Senator, "and wait for +relief. As we were, though, it was lucky they tried a hand-to-hand +fight first. This hill shelters us on one side. There are so many +trees that they can't roll stones down, nor can they shoot us. We'll +fix a barricade in front with our baggage. We'll have to fight behind +a barricade this time; though, by the Eternal! I wish it were +hand-to-hand again, for I don't remember of ever having had such a +glorious time in all my born days!" +<br> +<br> +The Senator passed his hand over his gory brow, and walked to the +coach. +<br> +<br> +"Where's Pietro?" +<br> +<br> +"Pietro! _Pietro_!" +<br> +<br> +No answer. +<br> +<br> +"PI-E-TRO!" +<br> +<br> +Still no answer. +<br> +<br> +"Pietro!" cried Dick, "if you don't come here I'll blow your--" +<br> +<br> +"Oh! is it you, Signori?" exclaimed Pietro's voice; and that +worthy appeared among the trees a little way up the hill. He was +deadly pale, and trembled so much that he could scarcely speak. +<br> +<br> +"Look here!" cried Buttons; "we are going to barricade ourselves." +<br> +<br> +"Barricade!" +<br> +<br> +"We can not carry our baggage away, and we are not going to leave +it behind. We expect to have another battle." +<br> +<br> +Pietro's face grew livid. +<br> +<br> +"You can stay and help us if you wish." +<br> +<br> +Pietro's teeth chattered. +<br> +<br> +"Or you can help us far more, by running to the nearest town and +letting the authorities know." +<br> +<br> +"Oh, Signore, trust me! I go." +<br> +<br> +"Make haste, then, or you may find us all murdered, and then how +will you get your fares--eh?" +<br> +<br> +"I go--I go; I will run all the way!" +<br> +<br> +"Won't you take a gun to defend yourself with?" +<br> +<br> +"Oh no!" cried Pietro, with horror. "No, no!" +<br> +<br> +In a few minutes he had vanished among the thick woods. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/94-illo-pietro.png" alt="Pietro."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Pietro.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +After stripping the prostrate Italians the travellers found +themselves in possession of seven rifles, with cartridges, and some +other useful articles. Four of these men were stone-dead. They +pulled their bodies in front of their place of shelter. The wounded +men they drew inside, and the Doctor at once attended to them, while +the others were strengthening the barricade. +<br> +<br> +"I don't like putting these here," said the Senator; "but it'll +likely frighten the brigands, or make them delicate about firing at +us. That's my idee." +<br> +<br> +The horses were secured fast. Then the baggage was piled all around, +and made an excellent barricade. With this and the captured rifles +they felt themselves able to encounter a small regiment. +<br> +<br> +"Now let them come on," cried the Senator, "just as soon as they +damn please! We'll try first the European system of barricades; and +if that don't work, then we can fall back, on the real original, +national, patriotic, independent, manly, native American, true-blue, +and altogether heroic style!" +<br> +<br> +"What is that?" +<br> +<br> +The Senator looked at the company, and held out his clenched fist: +<br> +<br> +"Why, from behind a tree, in the woods, like your glorious +forefathers!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/95-illo-the-barricade.png" alt="The Barricade."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: The Barricade.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XL">CHAPTER XL</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +PLEASANT MEDIATIONS ABOUT THE WONDERS OF TOBACCO; AND THREE PLEASANT +ANECDOTES BY AN ITALIAN BRIGAND. +<br> +<br> +<br> +A pull apiece at the brandy-flask restored strength and freshness to +the beleaguered travellers, who now, intrenched behind their +fortifications, awaited any attack which the Italians might choose to +make. +<br> +<br> +"The _I_talians," said the Senator, "are not a powerful race. By no +means. Feeble in body--no muscle--no brawn. Above all, no real +_pluck_. Buttons, is there a word in their language that expresses +the exact idee of _pluck_?" +<br> +<br> +"Or _game_?" +<br> +<br> +"No." +<br> +<br> +"Or even _spunk_?" +<br> +<br> +"No." +<br> +<br> +"I thought not," said the Senator, calmly. "They haven't the _idee_, +and can't have the word. Now it would require a rather considerable +crowd to demolish us at the present time." +<br> +<br> +"How long will we have to stay here?" asked Mr. Figgs abruptly. +<br> +<br> +"My dear Sir," said Buttons, with more sprightliness than he had +shown for many days, "be thankful you are here at all. We'll get off +at some time to-day. These fellows are watching us, and the moment +we start they'll fire on us. We would be a good mark for them in the +coach. No, we must wait a while." +<br> +<br> +Seated upon the turf, they gave themselves up to the pleasing +influence that flows from the pipe. Is there any thing equal to it? +How did the ancients contrive to while away the time without it? Had +they known its effects how they would have cherished it! We should +now be gazing on the ruins of venerable temples, reared by adoring +votaries to the goddess Tabaca. Boys at school would have construed +passages about her. Lempriere, Smith, Anthon, Drissler, and others +would have done honor to her. Classic mythology would have been full +of her presence. Olympian Jove would have been presented to us with +this divinity as his constant attendant, and a nimbus around his +immortal brows of her making. Bacchus would have had a rival, a +superior! +<br> +<br> +Poets would have told how TABACA went over the world girt in that but +set off the more her splendid radiance. We should have known how much +Bacchus had to do with [Transcriber's Note: Greek Transliteration] ta +bakcheia [/end Greek]; a chapter which will probably be a lost one in +the History of Civilization. But that he who smokes should drink beer +is quite indisputable. Whether the beer is to be X, XX, or XXX; or +whether the brewer's name should begin with an A, as in Alsopp, and +run through the whole alphabet, ending with V, as in Vassar, may be +fairly left to individual consideration. +<br> +<br> +What noble poetry, what spirited odes, what eloquent words, has not +the world lost by the ignorance of the Greek and Roman touching this +plant? +<br> +<br> +The above remarks were made by Dick on this occasion. But Buttons was +talking with the wounded Italians. +<br> +<br> +The Doctor had bound up their wounds and Buttons had favored them +with a drop from his flask. Dick cut up some tobacco and filled a +pipe for each. After all, the Italians were not fiends. They had +attacked them not from malice, but purely from professional motives. +<br> +<br> +Yet, had their enemies been Tedeschi, no amount of attention would +have overcome their sullen hate. But being Americans, gay, easy, +without malice, in fact kind and rather agreeable, they softened, +yielded altogether, and finally chatted familiarly with Buttons +and Dick. They were young, not worse in appearance than the majority +of men; perhaps not bad fellows in their social relations; at any +rate, rather inclined to be jolly in their present circumstances. +They were quite free in their expressions of admiration for the +bravery of their captors, and looked with awe upon the Doctor's +revolver, which was the first they had ever seen. +<br> +<br> +In fact, the younger prisoner became quite communicative. Thus: +<br> +<br> +"I was born in Velletri. My age is twenty-four years. I have +never shed blood except three times. The first time was in +Narni--odd place, Narni. My employer was a vine-dresser. The season +was dry; the brush caught fire, I don't know how, and in five +minutes a third of the vineyard was consumed to ashes. My employer +came cursing and raving at me, and swore he'd make me work for him +till I made good the loss. Enraged, I struck him. He seized an axe. +I drew my stiletto, and--of course I had to run away. +<br> +<br> +"The second time was in Naples. The affair was brought about by a +woman. Signore, women are at the bottom of most crimes that men +commit. I was in love with her. A friend of mine fell in love with +her too. I informed him that if he interfered with me I would kill +him. I told her that if she encouraged him I would kill him and her +too. I suppose she was piqued. Women will get piqued sometimes. At +any rate she gave him marked encouragement. I scolded and threatened. +No use. She told me she was tired of me; that I was too tyrannical. +In fact, she dared to turn me off and take the other fellow. Maffeo +was a good fellow. I was sorry for him, but I had to keep my word. +<br> +<br> +"The third time was only a month ago. I robbed a Frenchman, out of +pure patriotism--the French, you know, are our oppressors--and kept +what I found about him to reward me for my gallant act. The +Government, however, did not look upon it in a proper light. They +sent out a detachment to arrest me. I was caught, and by good +fortune brought to an inn. At night I was bound tightly and shut +up in the same room with the soldiers. The innkeeper's daughter, a +friend of mine, came in for something, and by mere chance dropped +a knife behind me. I got it, cut my cords, and when they were all +asleep I departed. Before going I left the knife behind; and where +now, Signore, do you think I left it?" +<br> +<br> +"I have no idea." +<br> +<br> +"You would never guess. You never would have thought of it yourself." +<br> +<br> +"Where did you leave it?" +<br> +<br> +"In the heart of the Captain." +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XLI">CHAPTER XLI</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +FINAL ATTACK OF REINFORCEMENTS OF BRIGANDS.--THE DODGE CLUB DEFIES +THEM AND REPELS THEM.--HOW TO MAKE A BARRICADE.--FRATERNIZATION OF +AMERICAN EAGLE AND GALLIC COCK.--THERE'S NOTHING LIKE LEATHER. +<br> +<br> +<br> +"It is certainly a singular position for an American citizen to be +placed in," said the Senator. "To come from a cotton-mill to such +a regular out-and-out piece of fighting as this. Yet it seems to me +that fighting comes natural to the American blood." +<br> +<br> +"They've been very quiet for ever so long," said Mr. Figgs; "perhaps +they've gone away." +<br> +<br> +"I don't believe they have, for two reasons. The first is, they are +robbers, and want our money; the second, they are Italians, and want +revenge. They won't let us off so easily after the drubbing we gave +them." +<br> +<br> +Thus Buttons, and the others rather coincided in his opinion. For +several miles further on the road ran through a dangerous place, +where men might lurk in ambush, and pick them off like so many +snipe. They rather enjoyed a good fight, but did not care about +being regularly shot down. So they waited. +<br> +<br> +It was three in the afternoon. Fearfully hot, too, but not so bad +as it might have been. High trees sheltered them. They could +ruminate under the shade. The only difficulty was the want of +food. What can a garrison do that is ill provided with eatables? +The Doctor's little store of crackers and cheese was divided and +eaten. A basket of figs and oranges followed. Still they were +hungry. +<br> +<br> +"Well," said Dick, "there's one thing we can do if the worst comes +to the worst." +<br> +<br> +"What's that?" +<br> +<br> +"Go through the forest in Indian file back to Perugia." +<br> +<br> +"That's all very well," said the Senator, stubbornly, "but we're not +going back. No, Sir, not a step!" +<br> +<br> +"I'm tired of this," said Buttons, impatiently. "I'll go out as +scout." +<br> +<br> +"I'll go too," said Dick. +<br> +<br> +"Don't go far, boys," said the Senator, in the tone of an anxious +father. +<br> +<br> +"No, not very. That hill yonder will be a good lookout place." +<br> +<br> +"Yes, if you are not seen yourselves." +<br> +<br> +"We'll risk that. If we see any signs of these scoundrels, and find +that they see us, we will fire to let you know. If we remain +undiscovered we will come back quietly." +<br> +<br> +"Very well. But I don't like to let you go off alone, my boys; it's +too much of an exposure." +<br> +<br> +"Nonsense." +<br> +<br> +"I have a great mind to go too." +<br> +<br> +"No, no, you had better stay to hold our place of retreat. We'll come +back, you know." +<br> +<br> +"Very well, then." +<br> +<br> +The Senator sat himself down again, and Buttons and Dick vanished +among the trees. An hour passed; the three in the barricade began to +feel uneasy; the prisoners were asleep and snoring. +<br> +<br> +"Hang it," cried the Senator, "I wish I had gone with them!" +<br> +<br> +"Never fear," said the Doctor, "they are too nimble to be caught just +yet. If they had been caught you'd have heard a little firing." +<br> +<br> +At that very moment the loud report of a rifle burst through the air, +followed by a second; upon which a whole volley poured out. The three +started to their feet. +<br> +<br> +"They are found!" cried the Senator. "It's about a mile away. Be +ready." +<br> +<br> +Mr. Figgs had two rifles by his side, and sat looking at the distance +with knitted brows. He had received some terrific bruises in the late +mêlée, but was prepared to fight till he died. He had said but little +through the day. He was not talkative. His courage was of a quiet +order. He felt the solemnity of the occasion. It was a little +different from sitting at the head of a Board of bank directors, or +shaving notes in a private office. At the end of about ten minutes +there was a crackling among the bushes. Buttons and Dick came tumbling +down into the road. +<br> +<br> +"Get ready! Quick. They're here!" +<br> +<br> +"All ready." +<br> +<br> +"All loaded?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes." +<br> +<br> +"We saw them away down the road, behind a grove of trees. We +couldn't resist, and so fired at them. The whole band leaped up +raving, and saw us, and fired. They then set off up the road to +this place, thinking that we are divided. They're only a few rods +away." +<br> +<br> +"How many are there of them?" +<br> +<br> +"Fourteen." +<br> +<br> +"They must have got some more. There were only ten able-bodied, +unwounded men when they left." +<br> +<br> +"Less," said the Doctor; "my pistol--" +<br> +<br> +"H'st!" +<br> +<br> +At this moment they heard the noise of footsteps. A band of armed +men came in sight. Halting cautiously, they examined the barricade. +Bang! It was the Doctor's revolver. Down went one fellow, yelling. +The rest were frantic. Like fools, they made a rush at the barricade. +<br> +<br> +Bang! a second shot, another wounded. A volley was the answer. Like +fools, the brigands fired against the barricade. No damage was done. +The barricade was too strong. +<br> +<br> +The answer to this was a withering volley from the Americans. The +bandits reeled, staggered, fell back, shrieking, groaning, and +cursing. Two men lay dead on the road. The others took refuge in the +woods. +<br> +<br> +For two hours an incessant fire was kept up between the bandits in +the woods and the Americans in their retreat. No damage was done on +either side. +<br> +<br> +"Those fellows try so hard they almost deserve to lick us," said the +Senator dryly. +<br> +<br> +Suddenly there came from afar the piercing blast of a trumpet. +<br> +<br> +"Hark!" cried Buttons. +<br> +<br> +Again. +<br> +<br> +A cavalry trumpet! +<br> +<br> +"They are horsemen!" cried Dick, who was holding his ear to the +ground; and then added: +<br> +<br> +"[Transcriber's Note: Greek Transliteration] ippon m okupodon amphi +ktupos ouata ballei [/end Greek]." +<br> +<br> +"Hey?" cried the Senator; "water barley?" +<br> +<br> +Again the sound. A dead silence. All listening. +<br> +<br> +And now the tramp of horses was plainly heard. The firing had ceased +altogether since the first blast of the trumpet. The bandits +disappeared. The horsemen drew nearer, and were evidently quite +numerous. At last they burst upon the scene, and the little garrison +greeted them with a wild hurrah. They were French dragoons, about +thirty in number. Prominent among them was Pietro, who at first +stared wildly around, and then, seeing the Americans, gave a cry +of joy. +<br> +<br> +The travellers now came out into the road, and quick and hurried +greetings were interchanged. The commander of the troop, learning +that the bandits had just left, sent off two-thirds of his men in +pursuit, and remained with the rest behind. +<br> +<br> +Pietro had a long story to tell of his own doings. He had +wandered through the forest till he came to Perugia. The commandant +there listened to his story, but declined sending any of his men +to the assistance of the travellers. Pietro was in despair. +Fortunately a small detachment of French cavalry had just arrived +at Perugia on their way to Rome and the captain was more merciful. +The gallant fellow at once set out, and, led by Pietro, arrived at +the place most opportunely. +<br> +<br> +It did not take long to get the coach ready again. One horse was +found to be so badly wounded that it had to be killed. The others +were slightly hurt. The baggage and trunks were riddled with +bullets. These were once more piled up, the wounded prisoners +placed inside, and the travellers, not being able to get in all +together, took turns in walking. +<br> +<br> +At the next town the prisoners were delivered up to the authorities. +The travellers celebrated their victory by a grand banquet, to which +they invited the French officer and the soldiers, who came on with +them to this town. Uproar prevailed. The Frenchmen were exuberant +in compliments to the gallantry of their entertainers. Toasts +followed. +<br> +<br> +"The Emperor and President!" +<br> +<br> +"America and France!" +<br> +<br> +"Tricolor and stars!" +<br> +<br> +"The two countries intertwined!" +<br> +<br> +"A song, Dick!" cried the Senator, who always liked to hear Dick +sing. Dick looked modest. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/98-illo-an-international-affair.png" alt="An International Affair."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: An International Affair.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Strike up!" +<br> +<br> +"What?" +<br> +<br> +"The 'Scoodoo abscook!'" cried Mr Figgs. +<br> +<br> +"No; 'The Old Cow!'" cried Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"'The Pig by the Banks of the River!'" said the Doctor. +<br> +<br> +"Dick, don't," said the Senator. "I'll tell you an appropriate song. +These Frenchmen believe in France. We believe in America. Each one +thinks there is nothing like Leather. Sing 'Leather,' then." +<br> +<br> +FIGGS. BUTTONS. THE DOCTOR.} "Yes, 'Leather!'" +<br> +<br> +"Then let it be 'Leather,'" said Dick; and he struck up the +following (which may not be obtained of any of the music publishers), +to a very peculiar tune: +<br> +<br> +<br> +I. +<br> +<br> +<br> + "Mercury! Patron of melody,<br> + Father of Music and Lord,<br> + Thine was the skill that invented<br> + Music's harmonious chord.<br> + Sweet were the sounds that arose,<br> + Sweetly they blended together;<br> + Thus, in the ages of old,<br> + Music arose out of--LEATHER! +<br> +<br> +<br> +[_Full chorus by all the company_.]<br> + "Then Leather! sing Leather! my lads!<br> + Mercury! Music!! and Leather!!!<br> + Of all the things under the sun,<br> + Hurrah! there is nothing like _Leather_! +<br> +<br> +<br> +[_Extra Chorus, descriptive of a Cobbler hammering on his Lapstone_.]<br> + "Then Rub a dub, dub!<br> + Rub a dub, dub!<br> + Rub a dub, dub!!! say we! +<br> +<br> +<br> +II. +<br> +<br> +<br> + "War is a wonderful science,<br> + Mars was its patron, I'm told,<br> + How did he used to accoutre<br> + Armies in battles of old?<br> + With casque, and with sling, and with shield,<br> + With bow-string and breastplate together;<br> + Thus, in the ages of old,<br> + War was begun out of--LEATHER! +<br> +<br> +<br> +[_Chorus_.]<br> + "Then Leather! sing Leather! my lads!<br> + Mars and his weapons of Leather!!!<br> + Of all the things under the sun,<br> + Hurrah! there is nothing like _Leather_! +<br> +<br> +<br> +[_Extra Chorus_.]<br> + "Then Rub a dub, dub!<br> + Rub a dub, dub!<br> + Rub a dub, dub!!! say we! +<br> +<br> +<br> +III. +<br> +<br> +<br> + "Love is a pleasing emotion,<br> + All of us know it by heart;<br> + Whence, can you tell me, arises<br> + Love's overpowering smart?<br> + Tipped with an adamant barb,<br> + Gracefully tufted with feather,<br> + Love's irresistible dart<br> + Comes from a quiver of--LEATHER! +<br> +<br> +<br> +[_Chorus_.]<br> + "Then Leather! sing Leather, my lads!<br> + Darts! and Distraction!! and Leather!!!<br> + Of all the things under the sun,<br> + Hurrah! there is nothing like _Leather_! +<br> +<br> +<br> +[_Extra Chorus_.]<br> + "Then Rub a dub, dub!<br> + Rub a dub, dub!<br> + Rub a dub, dub!!! say we! +<br> +<br> +<br> +IV. +<br> +<br> +<br> + "Orators wrote out their speeches,<br> + Poets their verses recited,<br> + Statesmen promulgated edicts,<br> + Sages their maxims indited.<br> + Parchment, my lads, was the article<br> + All used to write on together;<br> + Thus the Republic of Letters<br> + Sprang into life out of--LEATHER! +<br> +<br> +<br> +[_Chorus_.]<br> + "Then Leather! sing Leather, my lads!<br> + Poetry! Science!! and Leather!!!<br> + Of all the things under the sun,<br> + Hurrah! there is nothing like _Leather_! +<br> +<br> +<br> +[_Extra Chorus_.]<br> + "Then Rub a dub, dub!<br> + Rub a dub, dub!<br> + Rub a dub, dub!!! say we!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XLII">CHAPTER XLII</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +FLORENCE.--DESPERATION OF BUTTONS, OF MR. FIGGS, AND OF THE DOCTOR. +<br> +<br> +<br> +Florence, the fair!--Certainly it is the fairest of cities. Beautiful +for situation; the joy of the whole earth! It has a beauty that grows +upon the heart. The Arno is the sweetest of rivers, its valley the +loveliest of vales; luxuriant meadows; rich vineyards; groves of +olive, of orange, and of chestnut; forests of cypress; long lines of +mulberry; the dark purple of the distant Apennines; innumerable white +villas peeping through the surrounding groves; the mysterious haze of +the sunset, which throws a softer charm over the scene; the +magnificent cattle; the fine horses; the bewitching girls, with their +broad hats of Tuscan straw; the city itself, with its gloomy old +palaces, iron-grated and massive walled, from the ancient holds of +street-fighting nobles, long since passed away, to the severe Etruscan +majesty of the Pitti Palace; behold Florence! +<br> +<br> +It is the abode of peace, gentleness, and kindly pleasure (or at any +rate it was so when the Club was there). Every stone in its pavement +has a charm. Other cities may please; Florence alone can win enduring +love. It is one of the very few which a man can select as a permanent +home, and never repent of his decision. In fact, it is probably the +only city on earth which a stranger can live in and make for himself +a true home, so pleasant as to make desire for any other simply +impossible. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/99-florence-from-san-miniato.png" alt="Florence From San Miniato."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Florence From San Miniato.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +In Florence there is a large English population, drawn there by two +powerful attractions. The first is the beauty of the place, with +its healthy climate, its unrivalled collections of art, and its +connection with the world at large. The second is the astonishing +cheapness of living, though, alas! this is greatly changed from +former times, since Florence has become the capital of Italy. +Formerly a palace could be rented for a trifle, troops of servants +for another trifle, and the table could be furnished from day to day +with rarities and delicacies innumerable for another trifle. It is, +therefore, a paradise for the respectable poor, the needy men of +intelligence, and perhaps it may be added, for the shabby genteel. +There is a glorious congregation of dilettante, literati, savans; a +blessed brotherhood of artists and authors; here gather political +philosophers of every grade. It was all this even under the Grand +Duke of refreshing memory; hereafter it will be the same, only, +perhaps, a little more so, under the new influences which it shall +acquire and exert as the metropolis of a great kingdom. +<br> +<br> +The Florentines are the most polished people under the sun. The +Parisians claim this proud pre-eminence, but it can not be +maintained. Amid the brilliancies of Parisian life there are +fearful memories of bloody revolutions, brutal fights, and +blood-thirsty cruelties. No such events as these mar the fair +pages of later Florentine history. In fact, the forbearance and +gentleness of the people have been perhaps to their disadvantage. +Life in Florence is joy. The sensation of living is of itself a +pleasure. Life in that delicious atmosphere becomes a higher state of +being. It is the proper home for poets and artists. Those who pretend +that there is any thing in America equal to Florence either in +climate, landscape, or atmosphere, are simply humbugs. Florence is +unique. It is the only Athens of the modern world. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/100-illo-pitti-palace.png" alt="Pitti Palace."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Pitti Palace.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +The streets are cool and delightful. The great bath houses keep off +the rays of the sun. The people love to stroll away the greater part +of their happy days. They loiter around the corners or under the +porticoes gathering news and retailing the same. Hand-organs are +generally discountenanced. Happy city! +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/100-illo-fountain-of-neptune-palazzo-vecchio.png" alt="Fountain Of Neptune, Palazzo Vecchio."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Fountain Of Neptune, Palazzo Vecchio.] +<br> +<br> +When it is too hot in the streets there is the vast cathedral--Il +Duomo--dim, shadowy, magnificent, its gigantic dome surpassed only +by that of St. Peter's. And yet in the twilight of this sacred +interior, where there dwells so much of the mysterious gloom only +found in the Gothic cathedrals of the north, many find greater +delight than in all the dazzling splendor, the pomp, and glory, and +majesty of the Roman temple. Beside it rises the Campanile, as fair +as a dream, and in appearance almost as unsubstantial. Not far off +is the Baptistery, with its gates of bronze--an assemblage of glory +which might well suffice for one city. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/101-illo-the-duomo.png" alt="The Duomo."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: The Duomo.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +Around the piazza that incloses these sacred buildings they sell +the best roasted chestnuts in the world. Is it any wonder that +Florence is so attractive? +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/101-illo-the-campanile.png" alt="The Campanile."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: The Campanile.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +The Dodge Club obtained furnished apartments in a fine large hotel +that looked out on the Ponte della Trinita and on the Arno. Beneath +was the principal promenade in the city. It was a highly agreeable +residence. +<br> +<br> +No sooner had they arrived than Buttons set out in search of the +Spaniards. Three days had been lost on the road. He was half afraid +that those three days had lost him the Spaniards altogether. Three +days! It was possible that they had seen Florence in that time and +had already left. The thought of this made Buttons feel extremely +nervous. He spent the first day in looking over all the hotels in +the city. The second in searching through as many of the +lodging-houses as were likely to be chosen by the Spaniards. The +third he spent in meandering disconsolately through the cafés. Still +there were no signs of them. Upon this Buttons fell into a profound +melancholy. In fact it was a very hard case. There seemed nothing +left for him to do. How could he find them out? +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/102-illo-trozzi-palace.png" alt="Trozzi Palace."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Trozzi Palace.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +Dick noticed the disquietude of his friend, and sympathized with +him deeply. So he lent his aid and searched through the city as +industriously as possible. Yet in spite of every effort their +arduous labors were defeated. So Buttons became hopeless. +<br> +<br> +The Senator, however, had met with friends. The American Minister +at Turin happened at that time to be in Florence. Him the Senator +recollected as an old acquaintance, and also as a tried companion +in arms through many a political campaign. The Minister received +him with the most exuberant delight. Dinner, wine, feast of reason, +flow of soul, interchange of latest news, stories of recent +adventures on both sides, laughter, compliments, speculations on +future party prospects, made the hours of an entire afternoon fly +like lightning. The American Eagle was never more convivial. +<br> +<br> +The Minister would not let him go. He made him put up at his hotel. +He had the entree into the highest Florentine society. He would +introduce the Senator everywhere. The Senator would have an +opportunity of seeing Italian manners and customs such as was very +rarely enjoyed. The Senator was delighted at the idea. +<br> +<br> +But Mr. Figgs and the Doctor began to show signs of weariness. The +former walked with Dick through the Boboli gardens and confided +all his soul to his young friend. What was the use of an elderly +man like him putting himself to so much trouble? He had seen enough +of Italy. He didn't want to see any more. He would much rather be safe +at home. Besides, the members of the Club were all going down the +broad road that leadeth to ruin. Buttons was infatuated about +those Spaniards. The Doctor thought that he (Dick) was involved in +some mysterious affair of a similar nature. Lastly, the Senator was +making a plunge into society. It was too much. The ride over the +Apennines to Bologna might be interesting for two young fellows +like him and Buttons, but was unfit for an elderly person. +Moreover, he didn't care about going to the seat of war. He had +seen enough of fighting. In short, he and the Doctor had made up +their minds to go back to Paris via Leghorn and Marseilles. +<br> +<br> +Dick remonstrated, expostulated, coaxed. But Mr. Figgs was inflexible. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/102-illo-buttons-melancholy.png" alt="Buttons Melancholy."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Buttons Melancholy.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XLIII">CHAPTER XLIII</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +THE SENATOR ENTRAPPED.--THE WILES AND WITCHERY OF A QUEEN OF SOCIETY. +--HIS FATE DESTINED TO BE, AS HE THINKS, ITALIAN COUNTESSES. +--SENTIMENTAL CONVERSATION.--POETRY.--BEAUTY.--MOONLIGHT.--RAPTURE. +--DISTRACTION.--BLISS! +<br> +<br> +<br> +The blandishments of Florentine society might have led captive a +sterner soul than that of the Senator. Whether he wished it or not, +he was overcome. His friend, the Minister, took him to the houses of +the leaders of society, and introduced him as an eminent American +statesman and member of the Senate. +<br> +<br> +Could any recommendation be equal to that? For, be it remembered, it +was the Revolutionary time. Republicanism ran high. America was +synonymous with the Promised Land. To be a statesman in America was +as great a dignity as to be prince in any empire on earth. Besides, +it was infinitely more honored, for it was popular. The eyes of the +struggling people were tamed to that country which shoved them an +example of republican freedom. +<br> +<br> +So if the Florentines received the Senator with boundless hospitality, +it was because they admired his country, and reverenced his dignity. +They liked to consider the presence of the American Minister and +Senator as an expression of the good-will of the American Government. +They looked upon him diplomatically. All that he said was listened to +with the deepest respect, which was none the less when they did not +comprehend a word. His pithy sentences, when translated into Italian, +became the neatest epigrams in the world. His suggestions as to the +best mode of elevating and enriching the country were considered by +one set as the profoundest philosophy, and by another as the keenest +satire. They were determined to lionize him. It was a new sensation +to the Senator. He desired to prolong it. He recalled the lines of +the good Watts: +<br> +<br> +<br> + "My willing soul would stay<br> + In such a frame as this." +<br> +<br> +<br> +He thought of Dr. Franklin in Paris, of his severe republicanism amid +the aristocratic influences around. How like his present situation +was to that of the august philosopher! +<br> +<br> +The marked attention which the Minister paid to the Senator added +greatly to the importance of the latter. The Florentines reasoned +thus: A Minister is a great man. As a general thing his travelling +countrymen pay respect to him. What then must be the position of +that travelling fellow-countryman who receives attention instead of +paying it? What would the position of an Englishman need to be in +order to gain the attention of the British Embassador? Ducal at +least. Hence there is only one conclusion. An American Senator ranks +with an English Duke. +<br> +<br> +Others went beyond this: Mark the massive forehead, the severe eye, +the cool, self-possessed mien of this American. The air of one +accustomed to rule. Listen to his philosophic conversation. One of +America's greatest statesmen. No doubt he has a certain prospect of +becoming President. President! It must be so; and that accounts for +the attention paid by the American Embassador. He, of course, wishes +to be continued in his office under the next administration. After +all, the Florentines were not so far out of the way. A much worse +man than the Senator might be made President. In the chapter of +accidents his name, or the name of one like him, might carry the +votes of some roaring convention. +<br> +<br> +For two or three days the Senator was the subject of an eager +contest among all the leaders of society. At length there appeared +upon, the scene the great Victrix in a thousand contests such as +these. The others fell back discomfited, and the Senator became her +prey. +<br> +<br> +The Countess di Nottinero was not exactly a Recamier, but she was a +remarkably brilliant woman, and the acknowledged leader of the +liberal part of Florentine society. Of course, the haughty +aristocratic party held themselves grandly aloof, and knew nothing +either of her or the society to which she belonged. +<br> +<br> +She was generally known as _La Cica_, a nickname given by her +enemies, though what "Cica" meant no one could tell exactly. It was +a sort of contraction made up from her Christian name, Cecilia, as +some thought; others thought it was the Italian word _cica_ given +on account of some unknown incident. At any rate, as soon as she +made her appearance driving down the Lungh' Arno, with the massive +form of the Senator by her side, his fame rose up to its zenith. He +became more remarked than ever, and known among all classes as the +illustrious American to whom belonged the certainty of being next +President of the United States. +<br> +<br> +Rumor strengthened as it grew. Reports were circulated which would +certainly have amazed the worthy Senator if he had heard them all. +It was said that he was the special Plenipotentiary Extraordinary +sent by the American Government as a mark of their deep sympathy with +the Italian movement, and that he was empowered, at the first +appearance of a new Government in Italy, to recognize it officially +as a first-class Power, and thus give it the mighty sanction of the +United States. What wonder that all eyes were turned admiringly +toward him wherever he went. But he was too modest to notice it. He +little knew that he was the chief object of interest to every house, +hotel, and café in the city. Yet it was a fact. +<br> +<br> +His companions lost sight of him for some time. They heard the +conversation going on about the sayings of the great American. They +did not know at first who it was; but at length concluded that it +referred to the Minister from Turin. +<br> +<br> +_La Cica_ did her part marvellously well. All the dilettanti, the +artists, authors, political philosophers, and _beaux esprits_ of +every grade followed the example of _La Cica_. And it is a fact that +by the mere force of character, apart from any adventitious aids of +refinement, the Senator held his own remarkably. Yet it must be +confessed that he was at times extremely puzzled. +<br> +<br> +_La Cica_ did not speak the best English in the world; yet that +could not account for all the singular remarks which she made. +Still less could it account for the tender interest of her manner. +She had remarkably bright eyes. Why wandered those eyes so often +to his, and why did they beam with such devotion--beaming for a +moment only to fall in sweet innocent confusion? _La Cica_ had the +most fascinating manners, yet they were often perplexing to the +Senator's soul. The little offices which she required of him did +not appear in his matter-of-fact eyes as strictly prudent. The +innate gallantry which he possessed carried him bravely along +through much that was bewildering to his nerves. Yet he was often +in danger of running away in terror. +<br> +<br> +"The Countess," he thought, "is a most remarkable fine woman; but +she does use her eyes uncommon, and I do wish she wouldn't be quite +so demonstrative." +<br> +<br> +The good Senator had never before encountered a thorough woman of +the world, and was as ignorant as a child of the innumerable +little harmless arts by which the power of such a one is extended +and secured. At last the Senator came to this conclusion. _La Cica_ +was desperately in love with him. +<br> +<br> +She appeared to be a widow. At least she had no husband that he had +ever seen; and therefore to the Senator's mind she must be a +spinster or a widow. From the general style in which she was +addressed he concluded that she was the latter. Now if the poor +_Cica_ was hopelessly in love, it must be stopped at once. For he +was a married man, and his good lady still lived, with a very +large family, most of the members of which had grown up. +<br> +<br> +_La Cica_ ought to know this. She ought indeed. But let the +knowledge be given delicately, not abruptly. He confided his +little difficulty to his friend the Minister. The Minister only +laughed heartily. +<br> +<br> +"But give me your opinion." +<br> +<br> +The Minister held his sides, and laughed more immoderately than ever. +<br> +<br> +"It's no laughing matter," said the Senator. "It's serious. I think +you might give an opinion." +<br> +<br> +But the Minister declined. A broad grin wreathed his face during +all the remainder of his stay at Florence. In fact, it is said that +it has remained there ever since. +<br> +<br> +The Senator felt indignant, but his course was taken. On the +following evening they walked on the balcony of _La Cica_'s noble +residence. She was sentimental, devoted, charming. +<br> +<br> +The conversation of a fascinating woman does not look so well when +reported as it is when uttered. Her power is in her tone, her +glance, her manner. Who can catch the evanescent beauty of her +expression or the deep tenderness of her well-modulated voice? Who +indeed? +<br> +<br> +"Does ze scene please you, my Senator?" +<br> +<br> +"Very much indeed." +<br> +<br> +"Youar countrymen haf tol me zey would like to stay here alloway." +<br> +<br> +"It is a beautiful place." +<br> +<br> +"Did you aiver see any thin moaire loafely?" And the Countess looked +full in his face. +<br> +<br> +"Never," said the Senator, earnestly. The next instant he blushed. +He had been betrayed into a compliment. +<br> +<br> +The Countess sighed. +<br> +<br> +"Helas! my Senator, that it is not pairmitted to moartals to +sociate as zey would laike." +<br> +<br> +"'Your Senator,'" thought the gentleman thus addressed; "how fond, +how tender--poor thing! poor thing!" +<br> +<br> +"I wish that Italy was nearer to the States," said he. +<br> +<br> +"How I adamiar youar style of mind, so differente from ze +Italiana. You are so strong--so nobile. Yet would Maike to see +moar of ze poetic in you." +<br> +<br> +"I always loved poetry, marm," said the Senator, desperately. +<br> +<br> +"Ah--good--nais--eccelente. I am plees at zat," cried the Countess, +with much animation. "You would loafe it moar eef you knew Italiano. +Your langua ees not sufficiente musicale for poatry." +<br> +<br> +"It is not so soft a language as the _I_-talian." +<br> +<br> +"Ah--no--not so soft. Very well. And what theenka you of ze +Italiano?" +<br> +<br> +"The sweetest language I ever heard in all my born days." +<br> +<br> +"Ah, now--you hev not heard much of ze Italiano, my Senator." +<br> +<br> +"I have heard you speak often," said the Senator, naively. +<br> +<br> +"Ah, you compliment! I sot you was aboove flattera." +<br> +<br> +And the Countess playfully tapped his arm with her little fan. +<br> +<br> +"What Ingelis poet do you loafe best?" +<br> +<br> +"Poet? English poet?" said the Senator, with some surprise. +"Oh--why, marm, I think Watts is about the best of the lot!" +<br> +<br> +"Watt? Was he a poet? I did not know zat. He who invented ze +stim-injaine? And yet if he was a poet it is natnrale zat you +loafe him best." +<br> +<br> +"Steam-engine? Oh no! This one was a minister." +<br> +<br> +"A meeneestaire? Ah! an abbé? I know him not. Yet I haf read mos of +all youar poets." +<br> +<br> +"He made up hymns, marm, and psalms--for instance: 'Watts's Divine +Hymns and Spiritual Songs.'" +<br> +<br> +"Songs? Spiritnelle? Ah, I mus at once procuaire ze works of Watt, +which was favorit poet of my Senator." +<br> +<br> +"A lady of such intelligence as you would like the poet Watts," said +the Senator, firmly. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/105-illo-la-cica.png" alt="La Cica."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: La Cica.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +"He is the best known by far of all our poets." +<br> +<br> +"What? better zan Sakespeare, Milton, Bairon? You much surprass +me." +<br> +<br> +"Better known and better loved than the whole lot. Why, his poetry +is known by heart through all England and America." +<br> +<br> +"Merciful Heaven! what you tell me! ees eet possbl! An yet he is +not known here efen by name. It would plees me mooch, my Senator, +to hajre you make one quotatione. Know you Watt? Tell to me some +words of his which I may remembaire." +<br> +<br> +"I have a shocking bad memory." +<br> +<br> +"Bad raemora! Oh, but you remember somethin, zis mos beautful +charm nait--you haf a nobile soul--you mus be affecta by beauty--by +ze ideal. Make for a me one quotatione." +<br> +<br> +And she rested her little hand on the Senator's arm, and looked up +imploringly in his face. +<br> +<br> +The Senator looked foolish. He felt even more so. Here was a +beautiful woman, by act and look showing a tender interest in him. +Perplexing--but very flattering after all. So he replied: +<br> +<br> +"You will not let me refuse you any thing." +<br> +<br> +"Aha! you are vera willin to refuse. It is difficulty for me to +excitare youar regards. You are fill with the grands ideas. But +come--will you spik for me some from your favorit Watt?" +<br> +<br> +"Well, if you wish it so much," said the Senator, kindly, and he +hesitated. +<br> +<br> +"Ah--I do wis it so much!" +<br> +<br> +"Ehem!" +<br> +<br> +"Begin," said the Countess. "Behold me. I listen. I hear everysin, +and will remembaire it forava." +<br> +<br> +The only thing that the Senator could think of was the verse which +had been running in his head for the last few days, its measured +rhythm keeping time with every occupation: +<br> +<br> +"'My willing soul would stay--'" +<br> +<br> +"Stop one moment," said the Countess. "I weesh to learn it from +you;" and she looked fondly and tenderly up, but instantly +dropped her eyes. +<br> +<br> +"'Ma willina sol wooda sta--'" +<br> +<br> +"In such a frame as this,'" prompted the Senator. +<br> +<br> +"'Een socha framas zees.' Wait--'Ma willina sol wooda sta in +socha framas zees.' Ah, appropriat! but could I hope zat you were +true to zose lines, my Senator? Well?" +<br> +<br> +"'And sit and sing herself away,'" said the Senator, in a +faltering voice, and breaking out into a cold perspiration for +fear of committing himself by such uncommonly strong language. +<br> +<br> +"'Ansit ansin hassaf awai,'" repeated the Countess, her face +lighting up with a sweetly conscious expression. +<br> +<br> +The Senator paused. +<br> +<br> +"Well?" +<br> +<br> +"I--ehem! I forget." +<br> +<br> +"Forget? Impossible!" +<br> +<br> +"I do really." +<br> +<br> +"Ah now! Forget? I see by youar face--you desave. Say on." +<br> +<br> +The Countess again gently touched his arm with both of her +little hands, and held it as though she would clasp it. +<br> +<br> +"Have you fear? Ah, cruel!" +<br> +<br> +The Senator turned pale, but finding refusal impossible, boldly +finished: +<br> +<br> +"'To everlasting bliss'--there!" +<br> +<br> +"'To affarlastin blees thar.' Stop. I repeat it all: 'My willina +sol wooda sta in socha framas zees, ansit ansin hassaf awai to +affarlastin blees thar.' Am I right?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes," said the Senator, meekly. +<br> +<br> +"I knew you war a poetic sola," said the Countess, confidingly. +"You air honesto--true--you can not desave. When you spik I can +beliv you. Ah, my Senator! an you can spik zis poetry!--at soch a +taime! I nefare knew befoare zat you was so impassione!--an you +air so artaful! You breeng ze confersazione to beauty--to poatry--to +ze poet Watt--so you may spik verses mos impassione! Ah! What +do you mean? Santissima madre! how I wish you spik Italiano." +<br> +<br> +The Countess drew nearer to him, but her approach only deepened his +perplexity. +<br> +<br> +"How that poor thing does love me!" sighed the Senator. "Law bless +it! she can't help it--can't help it nohow. She is a goner; and what +can I do? I'll have to leave Florence. Oh, why did I quit Buttons! +Oh, why--" +<br> +<br> +The Countess was standing close beside him in a tender mood waiting +for him to break the silence. How could he? He had been uttering +words which sounded to her like love; and she--"a widow! a widow! +wretched man that I am!" +<br> +<br> +There was a pause. The longer it lasted the more awkward the +Senator felt. What upon earth was he to do or say? What business had +he to go and quote poetry to widows? What an old fool he must be! +But the Countess was very far from feeling awkward. Assuming an +elegant attitude she looked up, her face expressing the tenderest +solicitude. +<br> +<br> +"What ails my Senator?" +<br> +<br> +"Why the fact is, marm--I feel sad--at leaving Florence. I must go +shortly. My wife has written summoning me home. The children are +down with the measles." +<br> +<br> +Oh, base fabrication! Oh, false Senator! There wasn't a word of +truth in that remark. You spoke so because you wished _La Cica_ to +know that you had a wife and family. Yet it was very badly done. +<br> +<br> +_La Cica_ changed neither her attitude nor her expression. +Evidently the existence of his wife, and the melancholy situation +of his unfortunate children, awaked no sympathy. +<br> +<br> +"But, my Senator--did you not say you wooda seeng yousellef away +to affarlasteen belees?" +<br> +<br> +"Oh, marm, it was a quotation--only a quotation." +<br> +<br> +But at this critical juncture the conversation was broken up by the +arrival of a number of ladies and gentlemen. +<br> +<br> +But could the Senator have known! +<br> +<br> +Could he but have known how and where those words would confront him +again! +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XLIV">CHAPTER XLIV</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +"MORERE DIAGORA, NON ENIM IN COELUM ADSCENSURUS ES."--THE APOTHEOSIS +OF THE SENATOR (NOTHING LESS--IT WAS A MOMENT IN WHICH A MAN MIGHT +WISH TO DIE--THOUGH, OF COURSE, THE SENATOR DIDN'T DIE). +<br> +<br> +<br> +Strolling through the streets day by day Buttons and Dick beheld +the triumph of the Senator. They gazed on it from afar, and in +amazement saw their old companion suddenly lifted up to a position +which they could not hope to gain. The companion of nobles--the +associate of _beaux esprits_--the friend of the wealthy, the great, +and the proud; what in the world was the cause of this sudden, this +unparalleled leap forward to the very highest point of honor? Who, +in the name of goodness, was that dashing woman with whom he was +always driving about? Who were those fair ladies with whom he was +forever promenading? Plainly the chief people of the land; but how +the mischief did he get among them? They were bewildered even though +the half of the truth had not begun to dawn upon their minds. They +never saw him to ask him about it, and for some time only looked +upon him from a distance. +<br> +<br> +"Do you give it up?" asked Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"I give it up." +<br> +<br> +"And I too." +<br> +<br> +"At any rate the United States might have many a worse +representative." +<br> +<br> +"But I wonder how he can get along. How can he manage to hold his +own among these refined, over-cultivated, fastidious Florentines?" +<br> +<br> +"Goodness knows!" +<br> +<br> +"A common school New England education can scarcely fit a man for +intercourse with polished Italians. The granite hills of New +Hampshire have never been famous for producing men of high breeding. +That is not their specialty." +<br> +<br> +"Besides, our good friend can not speak a single word of any +language but his own." +<br> +<br> +"And frequently fails in that." +<br> +<br> +"He hasn't the remotest glimmering of an idea about Art." +<br> +<br> +"Not of the Fine Arts, but in the useful arts he is immense." +<br> +<br> +"He looks upon Italy as he would upon a field of stumps--a place +to be cleared, broken up, brought under cultivation, and made +productive." +<br> +<br> +"Yes, productive in cotton factories and Yankee notions." +<br> +<br> +"What in the world can keep up his reputation among the most poetic +and least utilitarian people in the world?" +<br> +<br> +"There's the mystery!" +<br> +<br> +"The beauty of it is he goes as much with the English as with +the Italians. Can he keep up his vernacular among them and still +preserve the charm?" +<br> +<br> +"Well, whatever is the secret. I glory in it. I believe in him. +He is a man. A more noble-hearted, sincere, upright, guileless +soul never lived. Besides, he knows thoroughly what he has gone +over." +<br> +<br> +"He is as generous a soul as ever lived." +<br> +<br> +"Yes, a stiff utilitarian in theory, but in practice an impulsive +sentimentalist." +<br> +<br> +"He would legislate according to the most narrow and selfish +principles, but would lay down his life for his friend." +<br> +<br> +"Think of him at Perugia!" +<br> +<br> +"Yes; the man himself with his brave soul and invincible courage. +Didn't he fight? Methinks he did!" +<br> +<br> +"If it hadn't been for him it is extremely probable that you and I +would now have been--well, certainly not just here." +<br> +<br> +Talking thus, the two young men walked up toward the Palazzo +Vecchio. They noticed that the busy street through which they +passed was filled with an unusual multitude, who were all agitated +with one general and profound excitement, and were all hurrying in +one direction. The sight awakened their interest. They went on with +the stream. At every step the crowd increased. At every street new +throngs poured in to join the vast multitude. +<br> +<br> +Confused murmurs rose into the air. Hasty words passed from mouth +to month. They were unintelligible. They could only distinguish +broken sentences--words unknown--Cavriana--Mincio--Tedeschi +--Napoleone--Spia d'ltalia. What was it all about? They could not +guess. Evidently some mighty national event had occurred, which was +of overwhelming importance. For the entire city had turned out, and +now, as they entered the great square in front of the Palazzo +Vecchio, an astonishing sight burst upon their view. A vast +multitude filled the square to overflowing. Load cries arose. Shouts +of a thousand kinds all blending together into one deafening roar, +and rising on high like the thunder of a cataract: +<br> +<br> +"Vittoria!" "Vittoria!" "Cavriana!" "I Francesi!" "Viva l'Italia!" +"Viva Vittore Emmannele! il nostro Re!" "Viva!" "_Viva_!" "VIVA!!!" +Words like these rose all around, mingled with thousands of similar +exclamations. At length there was distinguished one word. It was +passed from man to man, more frequently uttered, gathering as it +passed, adding new volumes of meaning to its own sonorous sound, +till at last all other words were drowned in that one grand word, +which to this rejoicing multitude was the lyre of glorious victory, +the promise of endless triumphs for regenerated Italy: +<br> +<br> +"SOLFERINO!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/107-illo-solferino.png" alt="Solferino."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Solferino!] +<br> +<br> +<br> +"_Solferino_!" They did not know then, as they listened, the full +meaning of that eloquent word. But on mingling with the shouting +crowd they soon learned it all: how the accursed Tedeschi had +summoned all their energy to crush forever the array of liberty; +how the Kaisar himself came from beyond the mountains to insure his +triumph; how the allied armies had rushed upon their massive columns +and beaten them back; how, hour after hour, the battle raged, till +at last the plain for many a league was covered with the wounded and +the dead: how the wrongs of ages were crowded together in the +glorious vengeance of that day of days; how Victory hovered over the +invincible banners of Italy; how the Tedeschi fled, routed, over the +river, no more to cross it as masters; how the hopes of Italy arose +immortal from that one day's terrific slaughter; how Liberty was now +forever secured, and a Kingdom of Italy under an Italian King. +<br> +<br> +"Viva Italia!" "Viva Luigi Napoleone!" "Vira Garibaldi!" "Viva +Vittore Eramanuele Re d'Italia!" +<br> +<br> +In great moments of popular excitement people do not talk to one +another. They rhapsodize; and the Italians more than any other +people. Hence the above. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/108-illo-the-senator-speaks.png" alt="The Senator Speaks."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: The Senator Speaks.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +Buttons and Dick clambered up to the recess of a window and +contemplated the scene. There was the innumerable crowd; swaying, +embracing, laughing, weeping, shouting, cheering. High in the air +waved hundreds of banners; and the tri-color flaunted in ribbons, +from thousands of breasts, or shone in rosettes, or gleamed in +flowers. Ever and anon loud trumpet blasts arose triumphantly on +high; in the distance victorious strains came swelling up front +bands hurried there to express in thrilling music what words could +never utter; while all around the whole air rang with the thunder +of cannon that saluted the triumph of Solferino. +<br> +<br> +"Look there! _Look_! LOOK!" cried Dick. +<br> +<br> +He pointed to the large portico which is on the right of the +Palazzo Vecchio. Buttons looked as he was directed. +<br> +<br> +He saw a great assemblage of ladies and gentlemen, the chief people +of the Tuscan state. From this place those announcements had been +made which had set the people wild with joy. There were beautiful +ladies whose flashed faces and suffused eyes bore witness to their +deep emotion. There were noble gentlemen whose arms still waved in +the air as they cheered for Italy. And there, high above all others, +rose a familiar figure--the massive shoulders, the calm, shrewd, +square face, the benignant glance and smile, which could belong +only to one person. +<br> +<br> +"_The Senator_!" cried Buttons. +<br> +<br> +Every body was looking in that direction. The impulsive crowd +having celebrated abstract ideas, were now absolutely hungering +for some tangible object upon which to expend something of the +warmth of their feelings. A few who stood near the Senator and +were impressed by his aspect, as soon as all the news had been made +known, gave expression and direction to the feeling by shouting his +name. As they shouted others took up the cry, louder, louder, and +louder still, till his name burst forth in one sublime sound from +thirty thousand lips. +<br> +<br> +No wonder that he started at such an appeal. He turned and looked upon +the crowd. An ordinary man would have exhibited either confusion or +wonder. The Senator, being an extraordinary man, exhibited neither. +As he turned a vast roar burst from the multitude. +<br> +<br> +"Good Heavens!" cried Buttons; "what's in the wind now? Will this be +a repetition of the scene in the Place Vendôme?" +<br> +<br> +"Hush!" +<br> +<br> +The crowd saw before them the man whose name and fame had been the +subject of conjecture, wonder, applause, and hope for many days. +They beheld in him the Representative of a mighty nation, sent to +give them the right hand of fellowship, and welcome their country +among the great powers of the earth. In him they saw the embodiment +of America! +<br> +<br> +"Viva!" burst through the air. "The American Embassador!" "Hurrah +for the American Embassador!" "The Plenipotentiary Extraordinary!" +"He comes to crown our triumph!" "Hurrah for America!" "Free, +generous America!" "The first nation to welcome Italy!" "Hurrah!" +"This is the time!" "He will speak!" "Silence!" "Silence!" "He rises!" +"Lo!" "He looks at us!" "Silence!" "Listen to the Most Illustrious +Plenipotentiary Extraordinary!" "_Hush_! AMERICA SPEAKS!" +<br> +<br> +Such shouts and exclamations as these burst forth, with many others +to the same effect. The crowd in front of the portico where the +Senator stood--were almost uncontrollable in their excitement. The +Senator rose to the greatness of the occasion. Here was a chance to +Speak--to utter forth the deep sympathy of his countrymen with +every down-trodden people striving for freedom. He turned to face +them and held out his hand. At once the immense assemblage was +hushed to silence. +<br> +<br> +The Senator took off his hat. Never before did he look as he looked +now. The grandeur of the occasion had sublimed his usually rugged +features into majesty. He looked like the incarnation of a strong, +vigorous, invincible people. +<br> +<br> +The Senator spoke: +<br> +<br> +"Men of Italy!" +<br> +<br> +"In the name of the Great Republic!--I congratulate you on this +glorious victory! It is a triumph of Liberty!--of the principles of +'76!--of the immortal idees!--for which our forefathers fought and +died!--at Lexington!--at Bunker Hill!--and at a thousand other +places in the great and glorious Revolution!" +<br> +<br> +The Senator paused. This was enough. It had been spoken in English. +The Italians did not of course understand a word, yet they +comprehended all his meaning. As he paused there burst forth a shout +of joy such as is heard only once in a life-time; shout upon shout. +The long peals of sound rose up and spread far away over the city. +The vast crowd vibrated like one man to the impulse of the common +enthusiasm. +<br> +<br> +It was too great to last. They rushed to the carriage of _La Cica_. +They unharnessed the horses. They led the Senator to it and made him +enter. They flung their tri-colors in. They threw flowers on his lap. +They wound the flag of Italy around the carriage. A thousand marched +before it. Thousands more walked beside and behind. They drew him up +to his hotel in triumph, and the band struck up the thrilling strain +of "Yankee Doodle!" +<br> +<br> +It would be unfair not to render justice to _La Cica_. She bore the +scene admirably. Her beaming face, and lustrous eyes, and heaving +bosom, and majestic air, showed that she appropriated to herself all +the honor thus lavished upon the Senator. It was a proud moment for +_La Cica_. +<br> +<br> +"Dick," said Buttons, as they descended from their perch. +<br> +<br> +"Well?" +<br> +<br> +"How do you feel now?" +<br> +<br> +"Obliterated. I do not exist. I was once a blot. I am expunged. There +is no such thing as Dick." +<br> +<br> +"Who could have imagined this?" +<br> +<br> +"And how he bore it! The Senator is a great man. But come. Don't let +us speak for an hour, for we are both unable to talk coherently." +<br> +<br> +From patriotic motives the two young men walked behind the Senator's +carriage and cheered all the way. +<br> +<br> +Upon arriving at their lodgings in the evening they stationed +themselves at the window and looked out upon the illuminated scene. +Dick, finding his emotions too strong to be restrained, took his +trombone and entertained a great crowd for hours with all the national +airs he knew. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XLV">CHAPTER XLV</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +THE PRIVATE OPINION OF THE DOCTOR ABOUT FOREIGN TRAVEL.--BUTTONS +STILL MEETS WITH AFFLICTIONS. +<br> +<br> +<br> +"The Italians, of at any rate the people of Florence, have just about +as much cuteness as you will find anywhere." +<br> +<br> +Such was the dictum of the Senator in a conversation with his +companions after rejoining them at the hotel. They had much to ask; +he had much to tell. Never had he been more critical, more +approbative. He felt now that he thoroughly understood the Italian +question, and expressed himself in accordance with his consciousness. +<br> +<br> +"Nothing does a feller so much good," said he, "as mixing in all +grades of society. It won't ever do to confine our observation to the +lower class. We must mingle with the upper crust, who are the leaders +of the people." +<br> +<br> +"Unfortunately," said Buttons, "we are not all Senators, so we have +to do the best we can with our limited opportunities." +<br> +<br> +They had been in Florence long enough, and now the general desire was +to go on. Mr. Figgs and the Doctor had greatly surprised the Senator +by informing him that they did not intend to go any further. +<br> +<br> +And why not? +<br> +<br> +"Well, for my own part," said Mr. Figgs, "the discomforts of travel +are altogether too great. It would not be so bad in the winter, but +think how horribly hot it is. What is my condition? That of a man +slowly suffocating. Think how fat I am. Even if I had the enthusiasm +of Dick, or the fun of Buttons, my fat would force me to leave. Can +you pretend to be a friend of mine and still urge me to go further? +And suppose we passed over into Austrian territory. Perhaps we might +be unmolested, but it is doubtful. Suppose, for the sake of argument, +that we were arrested and detained. Imagine us--imagine _me_ shut up +in a room--or worse, a cell--in the month of July in midsummer, in +the hottest part of this burning fiery furnace of a country! What +would be left of me at the end of a week, or at the end of even one +day? What? A grease spot! A grease spot! Not a bit more, by Jingo!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/110-illo-a-grease-spot.png" alt="A Grease Spot."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: A Grease Spot.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +After this speech, which was for him one of extraordinary length +and vigor, Mr. Figgs fell exhausted into his chair. +<br> +<br> +"But you, Doctor," said the Senator, seeing that Mr. Figgs was +beyond the reach of persuasion--"you--what reason is there for you +to leave? You are young, strong, and certainly not fat." +<br> +<br> +"No, thank heaven! it is not the heat, or the fear of being +suffocated in an Austrian dungeon that influences me." +<br> +<br> +"What, is the reason?" +<br> +<br> +"These confounded disturbances," said the Doctor languidly. +<br> +<br> +"Disturbances?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes. I hear that the road between this and Bologna swarms with +vagabonds. Several diligences have been robbed. I heard a story +which shows this state of things. A band of men entered the theatre +of a small town along the road while the inhabitants were witnessing +the play. At first the spectators thought it was part of the +performance. They were soon undeceived. The men drew up in line in +front of the stage and levelled their pieces. Then fastening the +doors, they sent a number of men around through the house to plunder +the whole audience. Not content with this they made the authorities +of the town pay a heavy ransom." +<br> +<br> +"Some one has been humbugging you, Doctor," said Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"I had it from good authority," said the Doctor, calmly. "These +fellows call themselves Revolutionists, and the peasantry sympathize +with them." +<br> +<br> +"Well, if we meet with them there will be a little additional +excitement." +<br> +<br> +"Yes, and the loss of our watches and money." +<br> +<br> +"We can carry our money where they won't find it, and our bills of +exchange are all right, you know." +<br> +<br> +"I think none of you will accuse me of want of courage. If I met +these fellows you know very well that I would go in for fighting +them. But what I do object to is the infernal bother of being stopped, +detained, or perhaps sent back. Then if any of us got wounded we +would be laid up for a month or so. That's what I object to. If I had +to do it it would be different, but I see no necessity." +<br> +<br> +"You surely want to see Lombardy?" +<br> +<br> +"No, I don't." +<br> +<br> +"Not Bologna?" +<br> +<br> +"No." +<br> +<br> +"Ferrara?" +<br> +<br> +"No." +<br> +<br> +"Do you mean to say that you don't want to see Venice and Milan?" +<br> +<br> +"Haven't the remotest desire to see either of the places. I merely +wish to get back again to Paris. It's about the best place I've +seen yet, except, of course, my native city, Philadelphia. That I +think is without an equal. However, our minds are made up. We don't +wish to change your plans--in fact, we never thought it possible. +We are going to take the steamer at Leghorn for Marseilles, and +go on to Paris." +<br> +<br> +"Well, Doctor," said Dick, "will you do me one favor before you go?" +<br> +<br> +"With pleasure. What is it?" +<br> +<br> +"Sell me your pistol." +<br> +<br> +"I can't _sell_ it," said the Doctor. "It was a present to me. But I +will be happy to lend it to you till we meet again in Paris. We will +be sure to meet there in a couple of months at the furthest." +<br> +<br> +The Doctor took out his pistol and handed it to Dick, who thankfully +received it. +<br> +<br> +"Oh, Buttons," said the Senator, suddenly, "I have good news for you. +I ought to have told you before." +<br> +<br> +"Good news? what?" +<br> +<br> +"I saw the Spaniards." +<br> +<br> +"The Spaniards!" cried Buttons, eagerly, starting up. "Where did you +see them? When? Where are they? I have scoured the whole town." +<br> +<br> +"I saw them at a very crowded assembly at the Countess's. There was +such a scrouging that I could not get near them. The three were +there. The little Don and his two sisters." +<br> +<br> +"And don't you know any thing about them?" +<br> +<br> +"Not a hooter, except something that the Countess told me. I think +she said that they were staying at the villa of a friend of hers." +<br> +<br> +"A friend? Oh, confound it all! What shall I do?" +<br> +<br> +"The villa is out of town." +<br> +<br> +"That's the reason why I never could see them. Confound it all, what +shall I do?" +<br> +<br> +"Buttons," said the Senator, gravely, "I am truly sorry to see a +young man like you so infatuated about foreign women. Do not be +offended, I mean it kindly. She may be a Jesuit in disguise; who +knows? And why will you put yourself to grief about a little +black-eyed gal that don't know a word of English? Believe me, New +England is wide, and has ten thousand better gals than ever she +began to be. If you will get in love wait till you get home and +fall in love like a Christian, a Republican, and a Man." +<br> +<br> +But the Senator's words had no effect. Buttons sat for a few +moments lost in thought. At length he rose and quietly left the +room. It was about nine in the morning when he left. It was about +nine in the evening when he returned. He looked dusty, fatigued, +fagged, and dejected. He had a long story to tell and was quite +communicative. The substance of it was this: On leaving the hotel +he had gone at once to _La Cica_'s residence, and had requested +permission to see her. He could not till twelve. He wandered about +and called again at that hour. She was very amiable, especially +on learning that he was a friend of the Senator, after whom she +asked with deep interest. Nothing could exceed her affability. +She told him all that she knew about the Spaniards. They were +stopping at the villa of a certain friend of hers whom she named. +It was ten miles from the city. The friend had brought them to the +assembly. It was but for a moment that she had seen them. She +wished for his sake that she had learned more about them. She +trusted that he would succeed in his earnest search. She should +think that they might still be in Florence, and if he went out at +once he might see them. Was this his first visit to Florence? How +perfectly he had the Tuscan accent; and why had he not accompanied +his friend the Senator to her salon? But it would be impossible to +repeat all that _La Cica_ said. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/111-illo-farewell-figgs.png" alt=" Farewell, Figgs!"> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Farewell, Figgs!] +<br> +<br> +<br> +Buttons went out to the villa at once; but to his extreme disgust +found that the Spaniards, had left on the preceding day for Bologna. +He drove about the country for some distance, rested his horses, +and took a long walk, after which he returned. +<br> +<br> +Their departure for Bologna on the following morning was a settled +thing. The diligence started early. They had pity on the flesh of +Figgs and the spirit of the Doctor. So they bade them good-bye on +the evening before retiring. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XLVI">CHAPTER XLVI</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +A MEMORABLE DRIVE.--NIGHT.--THE BRIGANDS ONCE MORE.--GARIBALDI'S +NAME.--THE FIRE.--THE IRON BAR.--THE MAN FROM THE GRANITE STATE +AND HIS TWO BOYS. +<br> +<br> +<br> +"The great beauty of this pistol is a little improvement that I +have not seen before." +<br> +<br> +And Dick proceeded to explain. +<br> +<br> +"Here is the chamber with the six cavities loaded. Now, you see, +when you wish, you touch this spring and out pops the butt." +<br> +<br> +"Well?" +<br> +<br> +"Very well. Here I have another chamber with six cartridges: It's +loaded, the cartridges are covered with copper and have detonating +powder at one end. As quick as lightning I put this on, and there +you have the pistol ready to be fired again six times." +<br> +<br> +"So you have twelve shots?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes." +<br> +<br> +"And cartridges to spare?" +<br> +<br> +"The Doctor gave me all that he had, about sixty, I should think." +<br> +<br> +"You have enough to face a whole army--" +<br> +<br> +"Precisely--and in my coat-pocket." +<br> +<br> +This conversation took place in the banquette of the diligence that +conveyed Dick, Buttons, and the Senator from Florence to Bologna. A +long part of the journey had been passed over. They were among the +mountains. +<br> +<br> +"Do you expect to use that?" asked the Senator, carelessly. +<br> +<br> +"I do." +<br> +<br> +"You believe these stories then?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes; don't you?" +<br> +<br> +"Certainly." +<br> +<br> +"So do I," said Buttons. "I could not get a pistol; but I got this +from an acquaintance." +<br> +<br> +And he drew from his pocket an enormous bowie-knife. +<br> +<br> +"Bowie-knives are no good," said the Senator. "Perhaps they may do +if you want to assassinate; but for nothing else. You can't defend +yourself. I never liked it. It's not American. It's not the direct +result of our free institutions." +<br> +<br> +"What have you then?" +<br> +<br> +"This," said the Senator. +<br> +<br> +And he lifted up a crow-bar from the front of the coach. +Brandishing it in the air as easily as an ordinary man would swing a +walking-stick. He looked calmly at his astonished companions. +<br> +<br> +"You see," said he, "there are several reasons why this is the best +sort of weapon for me. A short knife is no use. A sword is no good, +for I don't know the sword exercise. A gun is worthless; I would fire +it off once and then have to use it as a club. It would then be apt to +break. That would be disagreeable--especially in the middle of a +fight. A stick or club of any kind would be open to the same +objection. What, then, is the weapon for me? Look at me. I am big, +strong, and active. I have no skill. I am brute strength. So a club +is my only weapon--a club that won't break. Say iron, then. There you +have it." +<br> +<br> +And the Senator swung the ponderous bar around in a way that showed +the wisdom of his choice. +<br> +<br> +"You are about right," said Buttons. "I venture to say you'll do as +much mischief with that as Dick will with his pistol. Perhaps more. +As for me, I don't expect to do much. Still, if the worst comes, +I'll try to do what I can." +<br> +<br> +"We may not have to use them," said the Senator. "Who are below?" +<br> +<br> +"Below?" +<br> +<br> +"In the coach?" +<br> +<br> +"Italians." +<br> +<br> +"Women?" +<br> +<br> +"No, all men. Two priests, three shop-keeper-looking persons, and +a soldier." +<br> +<br> +"Ah! Why, we ought to be comparatively safe." +<br> +<br> +"Oh, our number is not any thing. The country is in a state of +anarchy. Miserable devils of half-starved Italians swarm along the +road, and they will try to make hay while the sun shines. I have no +doubt we will be stopped half a dozen times before we get to Bologna." +<br> +<br> +"I should think," said the Senator, indignantly, "that if these chaps +undertake to govern the country--these republican chaps--they had +ought to govern it. What kind of a way is this to leave helpless +travellers at the mercy of cut-throats and assassins?" +<br> +<br> +"They think," said Buttons, "that their first duty is to secure +independence, and after that they will promote order." +<br> +<br> +"The Florentines are a fine people--a people of remarkable cuteness +and penetration; but it seems to me that they are taking things easy +as far as fighting is concerned. They don't send their soldiers to +the war, do they?" +<br> +<br> +"Well, no, I suppose they think their army may be needed nearer home. +The Grand Duke has long arms yet; and knows how to bribe." +<br> +<br> +By this time they were among the mountain forests where the scenery +was grander, the air cooler, the sky darker, than before. It was late +in the day, and every mile increased the wildness of the landscape and +the thickness of the gloom. Further and further, on they went till at +least they came to a winding-place where the road ended at a gully over +which there was a bridge. On the bridge was a barricade. They did not +see it until they had made a turn where the road wound, where at once +the scene burst on their view. +<br> +<br> +The leaders reared, the postillions swore, the driver snapped his whip +furiously. The passengers in "coupé," "rotonde," and "interieure" +popped out their heads, the passengers on the "banquette" stared, +until at last, just as the postillions were dismounting to reconnoitre, +twelve figures rose up from behind the barricade, indistinct in the +gloom, and bringing their rifles to their shoulders took aim. +<br> +<br> +The driver yelled, the postillions shouted, the passengers shrieked. +The three men in the banquette prepared for a fight. Suddenly a loud +voice was heard from behind. They looked. A number of men stood there, +and several more were leaping out from the thick woods on the right. +They were surrounded. At length one of the men came forward from +behind. +<br> +<br> +"You are at our mercy," said he. "Whoever gives up his money may go +free. Whoever resists dies. Do you hear?" +<br> +<br> +Meanwhile the three men in the banquette had piled some trunks +around, and prepared to resist till the last extremity. Dick was to +fire; Buttons to keep each spare butt loaded; the Senator to use his +crow-bar on the heads of any assailants. They waited in silence. +They heard the brigands rummaging through the coach below, the +prayers of the passengers, their appeals for pity, their groans at +being compelled to give up every thing. +<br> +<br> +"The cowards don't deserve pity!" cried the Senator. "There are +enough to get up a good resistance. We'll show fight, anyhow!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/113-illo-in-the-coach.png" alt="In The Coach."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: In The Coach.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +Scarcely had he spoke when three or four heads appeared above the +edge of the coach. +<br> +<br> +"Haste!--your money!" said one. +<br> +<br> +"Stop!" said Buttons. "This gentleman is the American +Plenipotentiary Extraordinary, who has just come from Florence, +and is on his way to communicate with Garibaldi." +<br> +<br> +"Garibaldi!" cried the man, in a tone of deep respect. +<br> +<br> +"Yes," said Buttons, who had not miscalculated the effect of that +mighty name. "If you harm us or plunder us you will have to settle +your account with Garibaldi--that's all!" +<br> +<br> +The man was silent. Then he leaped down, and in another moment +another man came. +<br> +<br> +"Which is the American Plenipotentiary Extraordinary?" +<br> +<br> +"He," said Buttons, pointing to the Senator. +<br> +<br> +"Ah! I know him. It is the same. I saw him at his reception in +Florence, and helped to pull his carriage." +<br> +<br> +The Senator calmly eyed the brigand, who had respectfully taken +off his hat. +<br> +<br> +"So you are going to communicate with Garibaldi at once. Go in peace! +Gentlemen every one of us fought under Garibaldi at Rome. Ten years +ago he disbanded a large number of us among these mountains. I have +the honor to inform you that ever since that time I have got my +living out of the public, especially those in the service of the +Government. You are different. I like you because you are Americans. +I like you still better because you are friends of Garibaldi. Go in +peace! When you see the General tell him Giuglio Malvi sends his +respects." +<br> +<br> +And the man left them. In about a quarter of an hour the barricade +was removed, and the passengers resumed their seats with lighter +purses but heavier hearts. The diligence started, and once more went +thundering along the mountain road. +<br> +<br> +"I don't believe we've seen the last of these scoundrels yet," said +Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"Nor I," said Dick. +<br> +<br> +A general conversation followed. It was late, and but few things +were visible along the road. About two hours passed away without any +occurrence. +<br> +<br> +"Look!" cried Dick, suddenly. +<br> +<br> +They looked. +<br> +<br> +About a quarter of a mile ahead a deep red glow arose above the +forest, illumining the sky. The windings of the road prevented them +from seeing the cause of it. The driver was startled, but evidently +thought it was no more dangerous to go on than to stop. So he lashed +up his horses and set them off at a furious gallop. The rumble of the +ponderous wheels shut out all other sounds. As they advanced the +light grew more vivid. +<br> +<br> +"I shouldn't wonder," said the Senator, "if we have another +barricade here. Be ready, boys! We won't get off so easily this time." +<br> +<br> +The other two said not a word. On, and on. The report of a gun +suddenly roused all. The driver lashed his horses. The postillions +took the butts of their riding-whips and pelted the animals. The +road took a turn, and, passing this a strange scene burst upon their +sight. +<br> +<br> +A wide, open space on the road-side, a collection of beams across +the road, the shadowy forms of about thirty men, and the whole scene +dimly lighted by a smouldering fire. As it blazed up a little the +smoke rolled off and they saw as overturned carriage, two horses tied +to a tree, and two men with their hands bound behind them lying on the +ground. +<br> +<br> +A voice rang out through the stillness which for a moment followed +the sudden stoppage of the coach at the barrier. There came a wail +from the frightened passengers within--cries for mercy--piteous +entreaties. +<br> +<br> +"Silence, fools!" roared the same voice, which seemed to be that of +the leader. +<br> +<br> +"Wait! wait!" said the Senator to his companions. "Let me give the +word." +<br> +<br> +A crowd of men advanced to the diligence, and as they left the +fire Buttons saw three figures left behind--two women and a man. They +did not move. But suddenly a loud shriek burst from one of the women. +At the shriek Buttons trembled. +<br> +<br> +"The Spaniards! It is! I know the voice! My God!" +<br> +<br> +In an instant Buttons was down on the ground and in the midst of the +crowd of brigands who surrounded the coach. +<br> +<br> +Bang! bang! bang! It was not the guns of the brigands, but Dick's +pistol that now spoke, and its report was the signal of death to +three men who rolled upon the ground in their last agonies. As the +third report burst forth the Senator hurled himself down upon the +heads of those below. The action of Buttons had broken up all their +plans, rendered parley impossible, and left nothing for them to do +but to follow him and save him. The brigands rushed at them with a +yell of fury. +<br> +<br> +"Death to them! Death to them all! No quarter!" +<br> +<br> +"Help!" cried Buttons. "Passengers, we are armed! We can save +ourselves!" +<br> +<br> +But the passengers, having already lost their money, now feared to +lose their lives. Not one responded. All about the coach the scene +became one of terrible confusion. Guns were fired, blows fell in every +direction. The darkness, but faintly illuminated by the fitful +firelight, prevented the brigands from distinguishing their enemies +very clearly--a circumstance which favored the little band of +Americans. +<br> +<br> +The brigands fired at the coach, and tried to break open the doors. +Inside the coach the passengers, frantic with fear, sought to make +their voices heard amid the uproar. They begged for mercy; they +declared they had no money; they had already been robbed; they would +give all that was left; they would surrender if only their lives were +spared. +<br> +<br> +"And, oh! good Americans, yield, yield, or we all die!" +<br> +<br> +"Americans?" screamed several passionate voices. "Death to the +Americans! Death to all foreigners!" +<br> +<br> +These bandits were unlike the last. +<br> +<br> +Seated in the banquette Dick surveyed the scene, while himself +concealed from view. Calmly he picked out man after man and fired. +As they tried to climb up the diligence, or to force open the door, +they fell back howling. One man had the door partly broken open by +furious blows with the butt of his gun. Dick fired. The ball entered +his arm. He shrieked with rage. With his other arm he seized his gun, +and again his blows fell crashing. In another instant a ball passed +into his brain. +<br> +<br> +"Two shots wasted on one man! Too much!" muttered Dick; and taking +aim again he fired at a fellow who was just leaping up the other side. +The wretch fell cursing. +<br> +<br> +Again! again! again! Swiftly Dick's shots flashed around. He had now +but one left in his pistol. Hurriedly he filled the spare chamber +with six cartridges, and taking out the other he filled it and placed +it in again. He looked down. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/114-illo-a-free-fight.png" alt="A Free Fight."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: A Free Fight.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +There was the Senator. More than twenty men surrounded him, firing, +swearing, striking, shrieking, rushing forward, trying to tear him +from his post. For he had planted himself against the fore-part of +the diligence, and the mighty arm whose strength had been so proved +at Perugia was now descending again with irresistible force upon the +heads of his assailants. All this was the work of but a few minutes. +Buttons could not be seen. Dick's preparations were made. For a moment +he waited for a favorable chance to get down. He could not stay up +there any longer. He must stand by the Senator. +<br> +<br> +There stood the Senator, his giant form towering up amidst the mêlée, +his muscular arms wielding the enormous iron bar, his astonishing +strength increased tenfold by the excitement of the fight. He never +spoke a word. +<br> +<br> +One after another the brigands went down before the awful descent of +that iron bar. They clung together; they yelled in fury; they threw +themselves _en masse_ against the Senator. He met them as a rock meets +a hundred waves. The remorseless iron bar fell only with redoubled +fury. They raised their clubbed muskets in the air and struck at him. +One sweep of the iron bar and the muskets were dashed out of their +hands, broken or bent, to the ground. They fired, but from their wild +excitement their aim was useless. In the darkness they struck at one +another. One by one the number of his assailants lessened--they grew +more furious but less bold. They fell back a little; but the Senator +advanced as they retired, guarding his own retreat, but still swinging +his iron bar with undiminished strength. The prostrate forms of a +dozen men lay around. Again they rushed at him. The voice of their +leader encouraged them and shamed their fears. He was a stoat, +powerful man, armed with a knife and a gun. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/115-illo-dont-speak.png" alt="Don't Speak."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Don't Speak.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Cowards! kill this one! This is the one! All the rest will yield if +we kill him. Forward!" +<br> +<br> +That moment Dick leaped to the ground. The next instant the brigands +leaped upon them. The two were lost in the crowd. Twelve reports, one +after the other, rang into the air. Dick did not fire till the muzzle +of his pistol was against his enemy's breast. The darkness, now deeper +than ever, prevented him from being distinctly seen by the furious +crowd, who thought only of the Senator. But now the fire shooting up +brightly at the sudden breath of a strong wind threw a lurid light +upon the scene. +<br> +<br> +There stood Dick, his clothes torn, his face covered with blood, his +last charge gone. There stood the Senator, his face blackened with +smoke and dust, and red with blood, his colossal form erect, and still +the ponderous bar swung on high to fall as terribly as ever. Before +him were eight men. Dick saw it all in an instant. He screamed to the +passengers in the diligence: +<br> +<br> +"There are only eight left! Come! Help us take them prisoners! Haste!" +<br> +<br> +The cowards in the diligence saw how things were. They plucked up +courage, and at the call of Dick jumped out. The leader of the +brigands was before Dick with uplifted rifle. Dick flung his pistol +at his head. The brigand drew back and felled Dick senseless to the +ground. The next moment the Senator's arm descended, and, with his +head broken by the blow, the robber fell dead. +<br> +<br> +As though the fall of Dick had given him fresh fury, the Senator +sprang after the others. Blow after blow fell. They were struck down +helplessly as they ran. At this moment the passengers, snatching up +the arms of the prostrate bandits, assaulted those who yet remained. +They fled. The Senator pursued--long enough to give each one a +parting blow hard enough to make him remember it for a month. When +he returned the passengers were gathering around the coach, with +the driver and postillions, who had thus far hidden themselves, and +were eagerly looking at the dead. +<br> +<br> +"Off!" cried the Senator, in an awful voice--"Off; you white-livered +sneaks! Let me find my two boys!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XLVII">CHAPTER XLVII</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +BAD BRUISES, BUT GOOD MUSES.--THE HONORABLE SCABS OF DICK.--A +KNOWLEDGE OF BONES. +<br> +<br> +<br> +The Senator searched long and anxiously among the fallen bandits +for those whom he affectionately called his "boys." Dick was first +found. He was senseless. +<br> +<br> +The Senator carried him to the fire. He saw two ladies and a +gentleman standing there. Hurriedly he called on them and pointed +to Dick. The gentleman raised his arms. They were bound tightly. The +ladies also were secured in a similar manner. The Senator quickly cut +the cords from the gentleman, who in his turn snatched the knife and +freed the ladies, and then went to care for Dick. +<br> +<br> +The Senator then ran back to seek for Buttons. +<br> +<br> +The gentleman flung a quantity of dry brush on the fire, which at +once blazed up and threw a bright light over the scene. Meanwhile +the passengers were looking anxiously around as though they dreaded +a new attack. Some of them had been wounded inside the coach and +were groaning and cursing. +<br> +<br> +The Senator searched for a long time in vain. At last at the bottom +of a heap of fallen brigands, whom the Senator had knocked over, he +found Buttons. His face and clothes were covered with blood, his +forehead was blackened as though by an explosion, his arm was +broken and hung loosely as the Senator lifted him up. For a moment +he thought that it was all over with him. +<br> +<br> +He carried him toward the fire. The appearance of the young man +was terrible. He beckoned to one of the ladies. The lady approached. +One look at the young man and the next instant, with a heart-rending +moan, she flung herself on her knees by his side. +<br> +<br> +"The Spaniard!" said the Senator, recognizing her for the first time. +"Ah! he'll be taken care of then." +<br> +<br> +There was a brook near by, and he hurried there for water. There +was nothing to carry it in, so he took his beaver hat and filled +it. Returning, he dashed it vigorously in Buttons's face. A faint +sigh, a gasp, and the young man feebly opened his eyes. Intense +pain forced a groan from him. In the hasty glance that he threw +around he saw the face of Ida Francia as she bent over him bathing +his brow, her face pale as death, her hand trembling, and her eyes +filled with tears. The sight seemed to alleviate his pain. A faint +smile crossed his lips. He half raised himself toward her. +<br> +<br> +"I've found you at last," he said, and that was all. +<br> +<br> +At this abrupt address a burning flush passed over the face and +neck of the young girl. She bent down her head. Her tears flowed +faster than ever. +<br> +<br> +"Don't speak," she said; "you are in too much pain." +<br> +<br> +She was right, for the next moment Buttons fell back exhausted. +<br> +<br> +The Senator drew a flask from his pocket and motioned to the young +girl to give some to Buttons; and then, thinking that the attention +of the Señorita would be far better than his, he hurried away to +Dick. +<br> +<br> +So well had he been treated by the Don (whom the reader has of +course already recognized) that he was now sitting up, leaning +against the driver of the diligence, who was making amends for his +cowardice during the fight by kind attention to Dick after it was +over. +<br> +<br> +"My dear boy, I saw you had no bones broken," said the Senator, +"and knew you were all right; so I devoted my first attention to +Buttons. How do you feel?" +<br> +<br> +"Better," said Dick, pressing the honest hand which the Senator +held out. "Better; but how is Buttons?" +<br> +<br> +"Recovering. But he is terribly bruised, and his arm is broken." +<br> +<br> +"His arm broken! Poor Buttons, what'll he do?" +<br> +<br> +"Well, my boy, I'll try what _I_ can do. I've set an arm before now. +In our region a necessary part of a good education was settin' +bones." +<br> +<br> +Dick was wounded in several places. Leaving the Don to attend to him +the Senator took his knife and hurriedly made some splints. Then +getting his valise, he tore up two or three of his shirts. Armed +with these he returned to Buttons. The Señorita saw the preparations, +and, weeping bitterly, she retired. +<br> +<br> +"Your arm is broken, my poor lad," said the Senator. "Will you let +me fix it for you? I can do it." +<br> +<br> +"Can you? Oh, then, I am all right! I was afraid I would have to +wait till I got to Bologna." +<br> +<br> +"It would be a pretty bad arm by the time you got there, I guess," +said the Senator. "But come--no time must be lost." +<br> +<br> +His simple preparations were soon made. Buttons saw that he knew what +he was about. A few moments of excessive pain, which forced +ill-suppressed moans from the sufferer, and the work was done. +<br> +<br> +After taking a sip from the flask both Buttons and Dick felt very +much stronger. On questioning the driver they found that Bologna +was not more than twenty miles away. The passengers were busily +engaged in removing the barricade. It was decided that an immediate +departure was absolutely necessary. At the suggestion of Dick, the +driver, postillions, and passengers armed themselves with guns of +the fallen brigands. +<br> +<br> +The severest wound which Dick had was on his head, which had been +almost laid open by a terrific blow from the gun of the robber chief. +He had also wounds on different parts of his body. Buttons had more. +These the Senator bound up with such skill that he declared himself +ready to resume his journey. Upon this the Don insisted on taking +him into his own carriage. Buttons did not refuse. +<br> +<br> +At length they all started, the diligence ahead, the Don following. +On the way the Don told Buttons how he had fared on the road. He had +left Florence in a hired carriage the day before the diligence had +left. He had heard nothing of the dangers of the road, and suspected +nothing. Shortly after entering the mountain district they had been +stopped and robbed of all their money. Still he kept on, thinking +that there was no further danger. To his horror they were stopped +again at the bridge, where the brigands, vexed at not getting any +money, took all their baggage and let them go. They went on +fearfully, every moment dreading some new misadventure. At length +their worst fears were realized. At the place where the fight had +occurred they were stopped and dragged from their carriage. The +brigands were savage at not getting any plunder, and swore they +would hold them prisoners till they procured a ransom, which they +fixed at three thousand piastres. This was about four in the +afternoon. They overturned the coach, kindled a fire, and waited +for the diligence. They knew the rest. +<br> +<br> +Buttons, seated next to Ida Francia, forgot his sufferings. +Meanwhile Dick and the Senator resumed their old seats on the +banquette. After a while the Senator relapsed into a fit of musing, +and Dick fell asleep. +<br> +<br> +Morning dawned and found them on the plain once more, only a few +miles from Bologna. Far ahead they saw the lofty Leaning Tower that +forms so conspicuous an object in the fine old city. Dick awaked, +and on looking at the Senator was shocked to see him very pale, +with an expression of pain. He hurriedly asked the cause. +<br> +<br> +"Why the fact is, after the excitement of fightin' and slaughterin' +and seein' to you chaps was over I found that I was covered with +wounds. One of my fingers is broken. I have three bullet wounds in +my left arm, one in my right, a stab of a dirk in my right thigh, +and a terrible bruise on my left knee. I think that some fellow +must have passed a dagger through my left foot, for there is a cut +in the leather, my shoe is full of blood and it hurts dreadful. It's +my opinion that the Dodge Club will be laid up in Bologny for a +fortnight.--Hallo!" +<br> +<br> +The Senator had heard a cry behind, and looked out. Something +startled him. Dick looked also. +<br> +<br> +The Don's carriage was in confusion. The two Señoritas were +standing up in the carriage wringing their hands. The Don was +supporting Buttons in his arms. He had fainted a second time. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XLVIII">CHAPTER XLVIII</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +SUFFERING AND SENTIMENT AT BOLOGNA.--MOONSHINE.--BEST BALM FOR WOUNDS. +<br> +<br> +<br> +They all put up at the same hotel. Buttons was carried in senseless, +and it was long before he revived. The Senator and Dick were quite +exhausted--stiff with fatigue, stiff with wounds. +<br> +<br> +There was one thing, however, which made their present situation more +endurable. The war in Lombardy made farther progress impossible. They +could not be permitted to pass the borders into Venetia. Even if they +had been perfectly well they would have been compelled to wait there +for a time. +<br> +<br> +The city was in a ferment. The delight which the citizens felt at +their new-found freedom was mingled with a dash of anxiety about the +result of the war. For, in spite of Solferino, it was probable that +the tide of victory would be hurled back from the Quadrilateral. +Still they kept up their spirits; and the joy of their hearts found +vent in songs, music, processions. Roman candles, _Te Deums_, +sky-rockets, volleys of cannon, masses, public meetings, patriotic +songs, speeches, tri-colors, and Italian versions of "The +Marseillaise." +<br> +<br> +In a short time the Senator was almost as well as ever. Not so Dick. +After struggling heroically for the first day against his pain he +succumbed, and on the morning of the second was unable to leave his +bed. +<br> +<br> +The Senator would not leave him. The kind attention which he had +once before shown in Rome was now repeated. He spent nearly all his +time in Dick's room, talking to him when he was awake, and looking +at him when asleep. Dick was touched to the heart. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/117-illo-used-up.png" alt="Used Up."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Used Up.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +The Senator thought that, without exception, Bologna was the best +Italian city that he had seen. It had a solid look. The people +were not such everlasting fools as the Neapolitans, the Romans, +and the Florentines, who thought that the highest end of life was +to make pictures and listen to music. They devoted their energies +to an article of nourishment which was calculated to benefit the +world. He alluded to the famous _Bologna Sausage_, and he put it +to Dick seriously, whether the manufacture of a sausage which was +so eminently adapted to sustain life was not a far nobler thing +than the production of useless pictures for the pampered tastes +of a bloated aristocracy. +<br> +<br> +Meanwhile Buttons fared differently. If he had been more afflicted +he was now more blessed. The Don seemed to think that the sufferings +of Buttons were caused by himself, or, at any rate, by the eagerness +of the young man to come to the assistance of his sisters. He felt +grateful accordingly, and spared no pain to give him assistance and +relief. He procured the best medical advice in the city. For +several days the poor fellow lay in a very dangerous condition, +hovering between life and death. His wounds were numerous and severe, +and the excitement afterward, with the fatigue of the ride, had made +his situation worse. But a strong constitution was on his side, and +he at length was able to leave his bed and his room. +<br> +<br> +He was as pale as death, and woefully emaciated. But the society of +the ladies acted like a charm upon him; and from the moment when he +left his room his strength came back rapidly. +<br> +<br> +He would have liked it still better if he had been able to see the +younger sister alone; but that was impossible, for the sisters were +inseparable. One evening, however, the Don offered to take them to +the cathedral to see some ceremony. Ida declined, but the other +eagerly accepted. +<br> +<br> +So Buttons for the first time in his life found himself alone with +the maid of his heart. It was a solemn season. +<br> +<br> +Both were much embarrassed. Buttons looked as though he had +something dreadful to tell; the Señorita as though she had +something dreadful to hear. At length Buttons began to tell the +story of his many searches, pursuits, wanderings, etc., in search of +her, and particularly his last search at Florence, in which he had +grown disheartened, and had made up his mind to follow her to Spain. +At last he came to the time when he caught up to them on the road. +He had seen them first. His heart told him that one of the ladies +was Ida. Then he had lost all control of himself, and had leaped +down to rescue her. +<br> +<br> +The Spanish nature is an impetuous, a demonstrative, a fiery +nature. The Señorita was a Spaniard. As Buttons told all this in +passionate words, to which his ardent love gave resistless eloquence, +her whole manner showed that her heart responded. An uncontrollable +excitement filled her being; her large, lustrous eyes, bright with +the glow of the South, now beamed more luminously through her tears, +and--in short: Buttons felt encouraged--and ventured nearer--and, +almost before he knew it himself, somehow or other, his arm had got +round a slender waist! +<br> +<br> +While the Señorita trembled--timidly drew back--and then all was +still!--except, of course, whisperings--and broken sentences--and +soft, sweet......Well, all these were brought to an abrupt close by +the return of the Don and his sister. +<br> +<br> +As they entered the room they saw Buttons at one end, and the +Señorita at the other. The moonbeams stole in softly through the +window. +<br> +<br> +"Why did you not call for a light?" +<br> +<br> +"Oh, it is so pleasant in the moonshine!" +<br> +<br> +At the end of a few weeks there came the great, the unlooked-for, +the unhoped-for news--the Peace of Villafranca! So war was over. +Moreover, the road was open. They could go wherever they wished. +<br> +<br> +Buttons was now strong enough to travel. Dick and the Senator +were as well as ever. The news of the Peace was delightful to +the travellers. +<br> +<br> +Not so, however, to the Bolognese. They railed at Napoleon. They +forgot all that he had done, and taunted him with what he had +neglected to do. They insulted him. They made caricatures of +him. They spread scandalous reports about him. Such is the way of +the world. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_XLIX">CHAPTER XLIX</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +CROSSING INTO THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY.--CONSTERNATION OF THE CUSTOM-HOUSE +OFFICERS. +<br> +<br> +<br> +The journey was a pleasant one. The Spaniards were an agreeable +addition to the party in the estimation of others than Buttons. +The Senator devoted himself particularly to the elder sister. Indeed, +his acquaintance with _La Cica_, as he afterward confessed, had given +him a taste for foreign ladies. He carried on little conversations +with the Señorita in broken English. The Señorita's English was +pretty, but not very idiomatic. The Senator imitated her English +remarkably well, and no doubt did it out of compliment. He also +astonished the company by speaking at the very top of a voice whose +ordinary tone was far stronger than common. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/118-illo-buttons-in-bliss.png" alt="Buttons In Bliss."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Buttons In Bliss.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +The journey from Bologna to Ferrara was not diversified by any +incident. Buttons was rapidly regaining his gayety and his strength. +He wore his arm in a sling, it is true, but thought it better to have +a broken arm with the Señorita than a sound one without her. It must +be confessed, however, that his happiness was visible not so much in +lively conversation as in his flushed cheek, glistening eye, and +general air of ecstasy. Moreover, Ida could not speak English much--a +conversation in that language was difficult, and they would not be +so rude to the Senator as to talk Spanish in his presence. The +consequence was that the conversation flagged, and the Senator was by +far the most talkative member of the company, and laid out all his +strength in broken English. +<br> +<br> +Ferrara was reached at last, and they put up at a hotel which boasted +of having entertained in its day any quantity of kings, emperors, and +nobles of every European nation. It is an astonishing town. Vast +squares, all desolate; great cathedrals, empty; proud palaces, +neglected and ruinous; broad streets, grass-grown and empty; long +rows of houses, without inhabitants; it presents the spectacle of a +city dying without hope of recovery. The Senator walked through every +street in Ferrara, looked carelessly at Tasso's dungeon, and seemed to +feel relieved when they left the city. +<br> +<br> +On arriving at the Po. which forms the boundary between this district +and Venetia, they underwent some examination from the authorities, +but crossed without accident. But on the other side they found the +Austrian officials far more particular. They asked a multiplicity of +questions, opened every trunk, scanned the passports, and detained +them long. The ladies were annoyed in a similar manner, and a number +of Roman and Neapolitan trinkets which had passed the Italian +_doganas_ were now taken from them. +<br> +<br> +Dick had a valise, both compartments of which were strapped down +carefully. Under a cairn exterior he concealed a throbbing heart, for +in that valise was the Doctor's pistol, upon which he relied in +anticipation of future dangers. The officials opened the valise. It +was apparently a puzzle to them. They found but little clothing. On +the contrary, a very extensive assortment of articles wrapped in +paper and labelled very neatly. These they opened one by one in the +first compartment, and found the following: +<br> +<br> +<br> +1, Six collars; 2, a brick; 3, lump of lime; 4, pebbles; 5, plaster; +6, ashes; 7, paper; 8, another brick; 9, a chip; 10, more plaster; 11, +more ashes; 13, an ink bottle; 13, three pair stockings; 14, more +ashes; 15, more ashes; 16, a neck-tie; 17, a bit of wood; 18, vial; +19, some grass; 20, bone; 21, rag; 22, stone; 23, another stone: 24, +some more grass; 25, more pebbles; 26, more bones; 27, pot of +blacking; 28, slippers; 29, more stones; 30, more stones. +<br> +<br> +<br> +The officials started up with an oath apiece. Their heavy German faces +confronted Dick with wrath and indignation, and every separate hair of +their warlike mustaches stood out. However, they swallowed their rage, +and turned to the others. Dick drew a long breath of relief. The +pistol was safe. It had been taken apart and each piece wrapped in +paper and labelled. Had he carried it about with him it would have +been taken. +<br> +<br> +The Senator thought it was better to have three battles with brigands +than one encounter with custom-house officials. He had a little store +of specimens of Italian manufactures, which were all taken from him. +One thing struck him forcibly, and that was the general superiority +of the Austrian over the Roman side. +<br> +<br> +There was more thrift neatness, and apparent prosperity. His +sentiments on this subject were embodied in a letter home, which he +wrote from Padua on a dreary evening which they spent there before +starting for Venice: +<br> +<br> +<br> +"If this part of Italy is oppressed by Austria, then all I can say +is, that the pressure has squeezed an immense amount of vegetation +out of the soil. Passing from the Roman territories into the +Austrian is like going from darkness into light, or from Canada into +the United States. What kind of people are they who do better under +foreign rule than Native? In my opinion, the territories of the +Pope are worse than those of other rulers in Italy. A Spanish friend +of mine tells me that it is because the thoughts of the Pope's +subjects are set not on things below, but on things on high. He tells +me that we've got to choose between two masters--Christianity on the +one hand, and Mammon on the other. Whoever chooses the latter will be +destitute of the former. He gives as examples of this France, England, +and America, which countries, though possessed of the highest material +blessings, are yet a prey to crime, scepticism, doubt, infidelity, +heresy, false doctrine, and all manner of similar evils. Those +nations which prefer religion to worldly prosperity present a +different scene; and he points to Spain and Italy--poor in this +world's goods, but rich in faith--the only evils which afflict them +being the neighborhood of unbelieving nations." +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_L">CHAPTER L</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +VENICE AND ITS PECULIAR GLORY.--THE DODGE CLUB COME TO GRIEF AT LAST. +--UP A TREE.--IN A NET, ETC. +<br> +<br> +<br> +Few sensations are so singular as that which the traveller +experiences on his first approach to Venice. The railway passes +for miles through swamps, pools, ponds, and broken mud banks, till +at length, bursting away altogether from the shore, it pushes +directly out into the sea. Away goes the train of cars over the long +viaduct, and the traveller within can scarcely understand the +situation. The firm and even roll and the thunder of the wheels tell +of solid ground beneath; but outside of the windows on either side +there is nothing but a wide expanse of sea. +<br> +<br> +At length the city is reached. The train stops, and the passenger +steps out into the station-house. But what a station-house! and what +a city! There is the usual shouting from carriers and cabmen, but +none of that deep roar of a large city which in every other place +drones heavily into the traveller's ear. +<br> +<br> +Going out to what he thinks is a street, the traveller finds merely +a canal. Where are the carriages, cabs, caliches, hand-carts, +barouches, pony-carriages, carryalls, wagons, hansoms, hackneys, +wheelbarrows, broughams, dog-carts, buggies? Where are the horses, +mares, dogs, pigs, ponies, oxen, cows, cats, colts, calves, and +livestock generally? +<br> +<br> +Nowhere. There's not a wheeled carriage in the place. It may be +doubted if there is a dog. There certainly is not a cow. The people +use goats' milk. The horse is as unknown as the pterodactyl, +icthyosaurus, dodo, iguanodon, mastodon, great awk. How do they go +about? Where are the conveniences for moving to and fro? +<br> +<br> +Then, at the platform of the station, a score or two of light +gondolas await you. The gondolier is the cabman. He waits for you, +with his hand toward you, and the true "Keb, Sir!" tone and smile. +A double-sized gondola is here called an "omnibus," and the name is +painted on the side in huge letters. And these are the substitutes +for wheeled vehicles. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/120-illo-dicks-luggage.png" alt="Dick's Luggage."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Dick's Luggage.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +Now after entering one of these you go along smoothly and +noiselessly. The first thing one notices in Venice is the absence of +noise. As the boat goes along the only sound that is heard is the +sharp cry from the boatman as he approaches a corner. At first the +novelty interests the mind, afterward it affects the spirits. In +three days most people leave the city in a kind of panic. The +stillness is awful. A longer stay would reduce one to a state of +melancholy madness. A few poets, however, have been able to endure, +and even to love, the sepulchral stillness of the city. But to +appreciate Venice one must be strongly poetical. +<br> +<br> +There are many things to be seen. First of all there is the city +itself, one grand curiosity, unique, with nothing on earth that +bears a distant approach to it. Its canals, gondolas, antique +monuments, Byzantine architecture, bridges, mystery: its pretty +women with black lace veils, the true glory of Venice--though +Murray says nothing about them. +<br> +<br> +For Murray, in what was meant to be an exhaustive description of +Venice, has omitted all mention of that which makes it what it is. +Whereas if it had been Homer instead of Murray he would have rolled +out the following epithets: [Transcriber's Note: Greek +transliteration] euplokamoi, apalai, choroetheis, eukomoi, +rodopechees, erateinai, kalliplokamoi, elkechitones, kuanopides, +imeroessai, bathukolpoi, ligumolpoi: k. t. l. [/end Greek] +<br> +<br> +The travellers visited the whole round of sights. They remained in +company and went about in the same gondola. The Senator admired what +he saw as much as any of them, though it appeared to be out of his +particular line. It was not the Cathedral of St. Mark's, however, nor +the Doge's Palace, nor the Court of the Inquisition, nor the Bridge +of Sighs, nor the Rialto, that interested him, but rather the +spectacle of all these magnificent edifices around him, with all +the massive masonry of a vast city, built up laboriously on the +uncertain sand. He admired the Venetians who had done this. To such +men, he thought, the commerce of the world might well have belonged. +In discussing the causes of the decline of Venice he summed up the +subject in a few words, and in the clearest possible manner. +<br> +<br> +"These Venetians, when they set up shop, were in the principal street +of the world--the Mediterranean. They had the best stand in the +street. They did work up their business uncommon well now, and no +mistake. They made money hand over fist, and whatever advantage +could be given by energy, capital, and a good location, they got. +But the currents of traffic change in the world just as they do in +a city. After a while it passed in another direction. Venice was +thrown out altogether. She had no more chance than a New York shop +would have after the business that it lived on had gone into another +street. Hence," said the Senator--he always said "hence" when he was +coming to a triumphant conclusion--"hence the downfall of Venice." +<br> +<br> +On arriving at their hotel a little circumstance occurred which made +them look at Venice from a new and startling point of view. On going +to their rooms after dinner they were followed by a file of Austrian +soldiers. They wanted to see the passports. They requested this in a +thick guttural tone, which made the Americans feel quite nervous. They +showed the passports nevertheless. +<br> +<br> +On looking over them the Austrian soldiers arrested them. They were +informed that if they went peaceably they would be well treated, but +if they made any resistance they would all be bound. +<br> +<br> +The Americans remonstrated. No use. A thousand conjectures were made +as to the cause of their arrest, but they were completely baffled. +Before they could arrive at any conclusion they had arrived at the +place of their destination, to which they had, of course, been taken +in a gondola. It was too dark to distinguish the place, but it looked +like a large and gloomy edifice. The soldiers took them to a room, +where they locked them all in together. It was a comfortable +apartment, with another larger one opening from it, in which were +two beds and two couches. Evidently they were not neglected. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/121-illo-arrested.png" alt="Arrested."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Arrested.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +After waiting for half the night in a kind of fever they retired to +rest. They slept but little. They rose early, and at about seven +o'clock breakfast was brought in to them, with a guard of soldiers +following the waiters. +<br> +<br> +After breakfast they were visited again. This time it was a legal +gentleman. They did not know who he was, but he gave them to +understand that he was a person high in authority. He questioned +them very closely as to their business in Venice, but did his +questioning in a courteous manner. After about an hour he left. +<br> +<br> +Lunch was brought in at one o'clock. Their feelings at being treated +in this mysterious manner can be imagined. Such neglect of the rights +of man--such trifling with his time and patience--such utter disregard +of _habeas corpus_, awaked indignation which words could not express. +<br> +<br> +Positively they were treated like dumb cattle; locked up, fed, +deprived of liberty and fresh air; no communication with friends +outside; and, worst of all, no idea in the world of the cause of their +imprisonment. They came to the conclusion that they were mistaken for +some other parties--for some _Cacciatori degli Alpi_; and Buttons +insisted that the Senator was supposed to be Garibaldi himself. In +these troublous times any idea, however absurd, might be acted upon. +<br> +<br> +At about three in the afternoon the door was thrown open, and a file +of soldiers appeared. An officer approached and requested the +prisoners to follow. They did so. They passed along many halls, and at +length came to a large room. A long table extended nearly from one +end to another. Soldiers were arranged down the sides of the +apartment. +<br> +<br> +At the head of the table sat an elderly man, with a stern face, +ferocious mustache, sharp eye, bushy gray eyebrows, and universal air +of Mars. His uniform showed him to be a General. By his side was +their visitor of the morning. Officials sat at the table. +<br> +<br> +"_Silence_!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/122-illo-silence.png" alt="Silence!"> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Silence!] +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_LI">CHAPTER LI</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +THE AMERICAN EAGLE AND THE AUSTRIAN DOUBLE-HEADED DITTO. +<br> +<br> +<br> +At the command of the Austrian General every body became still. +Thereupon he motioned to the prisoners to stand at the bottom of +the table. They did so. The General took a long stare at the +prisoners, particularly at the Senator. They bore it steadily. +As for the Senator, he regarded the other with an expression which +would have done honor to the Austrian General's own father. +<br> +<br> +"Who are you?" +<br> +<br> +The General spoke in German. The legal gentleman, at his side +instantly interpreted it into English. +<br> +<br> +"Americans." +<br> +<br> +"Ah! dangerous characters--dangerous characters! What is your +business?" +<br> +<br> +"Travellers." +<br> +<br> +"Travellers? Ah! But what are your occupations in America?" +<br> +<br> +"Our passports tell." +<br> +<br> +"Your passports say--'Gentlemen.'" +<br> +<br> +"Well, we _are_ gentlemen." +<br> +<br> +The Austrian looked blank. After a while he resumed; and as he +directed his glance to the Senator the latter made all the replies, +while the Interpreter served as a medium of communication. +<br> +<br> +"How long have you been in Italy?" +<br> +<br> +"Two or three months." +<br> +<br> +"You came here just about the commencement of these difficulties?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes--the beginning of the war." +<br> +<br> +"Where did you land?" +<br> +<br> +"At Naples." +<br> +<br> +"Naples? Ha! hm! Where did you go next?" +<br> +<br> +"To Rome. We stayed there a few weeks and then went to Florence; +from Florence to Bologna, and thence through Ferrara and Padua to +Venice." +<br> +<br> +"You went to Florence! How long ago did you leave?" +<br> +<br> +"About a month ago." +<br> +<br> +"A month! Ah, hm!" +<br> +<br> +And the General exchanged glances with the legal gentleman at his +side. +<br> +<br> +"What were you doing in Florence?" +<br> +<br> +"Seeing the city." +<br> +<br> +"Did you place yourselves in connection with the Revolutionists?" +<br> +<br> +"No." +<br> +<br> +"Did you have any thing to do with the emissaries of Garibaldi?" +<br> +<br> +"Nothing." +<br> +<br> +"Take care how you deny." +<br> +<br> +"We say we know nothing at all either of the Revolutionists or +Imperialists or Garibaldians or any other party. We are merely +travellers." +<br> +<br> +"Hm--a strong disavowment," said the General to himself. "You have +never in any way countenanced the rebels."' +<br> +<br> +"No." +<br> +<br> +"Think before you speak." +<br> +<br> +"We are free Americans. Perhaps you know that the citizens of that +country say what they think and do what they like. We have gone on +that rule in Italy. What I say is, that we do not know any thing +about rebels or any political parties in the country." +<br> +<br> +"Do you know _La Cica_?" asked the General, with the air of a man +who was putting a home-thrust, and speaking with uncommon +fierceness. +<br> +<br> +"I do," said the Senator, mildly. +<br> +<br> +"You know her well? You are one of her intimate friends?" +<br> +<br> +"Am I?" +<br> +<br> +"Are you not?" +<br> +<br> +"I am friendly with her. She is an estimable woman, with much +feeling and penetration"--and a fond regret exhibited itself in +the face of the speaker. +<br> +<br> +"Well, Sir, you may as well confess. We know you, Sir. We know you. +You are one of the chosen associates of that infamous Garibaldian +plotter and assassin, whose hotel is the hot-bed of conspiracy and +revolution. We know you. Do you dare to come here and deny it?" +<br> +<br> +"I did not come here; I was brought. I do not deny that you know me, +though I haven't the pleasure of knowing you. But I do deny that I +am the associate of conspirators." +<br> +<br> +"Are you not the American whom _La Cica_ so particularly distinguished +with her favor?" +<br> +<br> +"I have reason to believe that she was partial to me--somewhat." +<br> +<br> +"He confesses!" said the General. "You came from her to this place, +communicating on the way with her emissaries." +<br> +<br> +"I communicated on the way with none but brigands among the mountains. +If they were her emissaries I wish her joy of them. My means of +communication," said the Senator, while a grim smile passed over his +face, "was an iron crow-bar, and my remarks left some deep impression +on them, I do believe." +<br> +<br> +"Tell me now--and tell me truly," said the General after a pause, +in which he seemed trying to make out whether the Senator was joking +or not. "To whom are you sent in this city?" +<br> +<br> +"To no one." +<br> +<br> +"Sir! I warn you that I will not be trifled with." +<br> +<br> +"I tell you," said the Senator, with no apparent excitement, "I tell +you that I have come here to no one. What more can I say?" +<br> +<br> +"You must confess." +<br> +<br> +"I have nothing to confess." +<br> +<br> +"Sir! you have much to confess," cried the General, angrily, "and I +swear to you I will wring it out of you. Beware how you trifle with +my patience. If you wish to regain your liberty confess at once, +and you may escape your just punishment. But if you refuse, then, +by the immortal gods, I'll shut you up in a dungeon for ten years!" +<br> +<br> +"You will do no such thing." +<br> +<br> +"What!" roared the General. "Won't I?" +<br> +<br> +"You will not. On the contrary, you will have to make apologies for +these insults." +<br> +<br> +"I!--Apologies! Insults!" +<br> +<br> +The General gnawed his mustache, and his eyes blazed in fury. +<br> +<br> +"You have arrested us on a false charge, based on some slanderous +or stupid information of some of your infernal spies," said the +Senator. "What right have you to pry into the private affairs of +an American traveller? We have nothing to do with you." +<br> +<br> +"You are associated with conspirators. You are charged with +treasonable correspondence with rebels. You countenanced revolution +in Florence. You openly took part with Republicans. You are a +notorious friend of _La Cica_. And you came here with the intention +of fomenting treason in Venice!" +<br> +<br> +"Whoever told you that," replied the Senator, "told infernal lies--most +infernal lies. I am no emissary of any party. I am a private +traveller." +<br> +<br> +"Sir, we have correspondents in Florence on whom we can rely better +than on you. They watched you." +<br> +<br> +"Then the best thing you can do is to dismiss those correspondents +and get rogues who have half an idea." +<br> +<br> +"Sir, I tell you that they watched you well. You had better confess +all. Your antecedents in Florence are known. You are in a position +of imminent danger. I tell you--_beware_." +<br> +<br> +The General said this in an awful voice, which was meant to strike +terror into the soul of his captive. The Senator looked back into +his eyes with an expression of calm scorn. His form seemed to grow +larger, and his eyes dilated as he spoke: +<br> +<br> +"Then you, General, I tell you--_beware_! Do you know who you've got +hold of?--No conspirator; no infernal Italian bandit, or Dutch-man +either; but an American citizen. Your Government has already tried +the temper of Americans on one or two remarkable occasions. Don't try +it on a third time, and don't try it on with me. Since you want to +know who I am I'll tell you. I, Sir, am an American Senator. I take +an active and prominent part in the government of that great and +glorious country. I represent a constituency of several hundred +thousand. You tell me to _beware_. I tell you--BEWARE! for, by the +Eternal! if you don't let me go, I swear to you that you'll have to +give me up at the cannon's mouth. I swear to you if you don't let +me off by evening I won't go at all till I am delivered up with +humble and ample apologies, both to us and to our country, whom +you have insulted in our persons." +<br> +<br> +"Sir, you are bold!" +<br> +<br> +"Bold! Send for the American Consul of this city and see if he +don't corroborate this. But you had better make haste, for if you +subject me to further disgrace it will be the worse for your +Government, and particularly for _you_, my friend. You'll have the +town battered down about your ears. Don't get another nation down +on you, and, above all, don't let that nation be the American. What +I tell you is the solemn truth, and if you don't mind it you will +know it some day to your sorrow." +<br> +<br> +Whatever the cause may have been the company present, including even +the General, were impressed by the Senator's words. The announcement +of his dignity; the venerable title of Senator; the mention of his +"constituency," a word the more formidable from not being at all +understood--all combined to fill them with respect and even awe. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/124-illo-dont-try-it-on-with-me.png" alt="Don't Try It On With Me."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Don't Try It On With Me.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +So at his proposal to send for the American Consul the General +gave orders to a messenger who went off at once in search of that +functionary. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_LII">CHAPTER LII</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +THE SENATOR STILL ENGAGED IN FACING DOWN THE AUSTRIAN.--THE AMERICAN +CONSUL.--UNEXPECTED RE-APPEARANCE OF FORGOTTEN THINGS.--COLLAPSE OF +THE COURT. +<br> +<br> +<br> +The American Consul soon made his appearance. Not having had any +thing to do for months, the prospect of business gave wings to his +feet. Moreover, he felt a very natural desire to help a countryman +in trouble. Upon entering the hall he cast a rapid look around, and +seemed surprised at so august a tribunal. For in the General's martial +form he saw no less a person than the Austrian Commandant. +<br> +<br> +The Consul bowed and then looked at the prisoners. As his eye fell +upon the Senator it lighted up, and his face assumed an expression of +the most friendly interest. Evidently a recognition. The Austrian +Commandant addressed the Consul directly in German. +<br> +<br> +"Do you know the prisoners?" +<br> +<br> +"I know one of them." +<br> +<br> +"He is here under a very heavy accusation. I have well-substantiated +charges by which he is implicated in treason and conspiracy. He has +been connected with Revolutionists of the worst stamp in Florence, +and there is strong proof that he has come here to communicate with +Revolutionists in this city." +<br> +<br> +"Who accuses him of this? Are they here?" +<br> +<br> +"No, but they have written from Florence warning me of his journey +here." +<br> +<br> +"Does the prisoner confess?" +<br> +<br> +"Of course not. He denies. He requested me to send for you. I +don't want to be unjust, so if you have any thing to say, say on." +<br> +<br> +"These charges are impossible." +<br> +<br> +"Impossible?" +<br> +<br> +"He is altogether a different man from what you suppose. He is an +eminent member of the American Senate. Any charges made against +one like him will have to be well substantiated; and any injury +done to him will be dangerous in the highest degree. Unless you +have undeniable proofs of his guilt it will be best to free him +at once--or else--" +<br> +<br> +"Or else what?" +<br> +<br> +"Or else there will be very grave complications." +<br> +<br> +The Commandant looked doubtful. The others impassive. Buttons and +Dick interested. The Senator calm. Again the Commandant turned to +the Senator, his remarks being interpreted as before. +<br> +<br> +"How does it happen that you were so particularly intimate with +all the Revolutionists in Florence, and an habitué of _La Cica_'s +salon? that your mission was well known throughout the city? That +you publicly acknowledged the Florentine rebellion in a speech? +that the people carried you home in triumph? and that immediately +before leaving you received private instructions from _La Cica_?" +<br> +<br> +"To your questions," said the Senator, with unabated dignity, "I +will reply in brief: _First_, I am a free and independent citizen +of the great and glorious American Republic. If I associated with +Revolutionists in Florence, I did so because I am accustomed to +choose my own society, and not to recognize any law or any master +that can forbid my doing so. I deny, however, that I was in any way +connected with plots, rebellions, or conspiracies. _Secondly_, I was +friendly with the Countess because I considered her a most remarkably +fine woman, and because she showed a disposition to be friendly with +me--a stranger in a strange land. _Thirdly_, I have no mission of +any kind whatever. I am a traveller for self-improvement. I have no +business political or commercial. So that my mission could not have +been known. If people talked about me they talked nonsense. +_Fourthly_, I confess I made a speech, but what of that? It's not +the first time, by a long chalk. I don't know what you mean by +'acknowledging.' As a private citizen I congratulated them on their +success, and would do so again. If a crowd calls on me for a speech, +I'm thar! The people of Florence dragged me home in a carriage. Well, +I don't know why they did so. I can't help it if people will take +possession of me and pull me about. _Fifthly_, and lastly, I had an +interview with the Countess, had I? Well, is it wrong for a man to +bid good-bye to a friend? I ask you, what upon earth do you mean by +such a charge as that? Do you take me for a puling infant?" +<br> +<br> +"On that occasion," said the Commandant, "she taught you some +mysterious words which were to be repeated among the Revolutionists +here." +<br> +<br> +"Never did any thing of the kind. That's a complete full-blown +fiction." +<br> +<br> +"I have the very words." +<br> +<br> +"That's impossible. You've got hold of the wrong man I see." +<br> +<br> +"I will have them read," said the General, solemnly. +<br> +<br> +And he beckoned to the Interpreter. Whereupon the Interpreter +gravely took out a formidable roll of papers from his breast, and +opened it. Every gesture was made as though his hand was heavy with +the weight of crushing proof. At last a paper was produced. +The Interpreter took one look at the prisoner, then glanced +triumphantly at the Consul, and said: +<br> +<br> +"It is a mysterious language with no apparent meaning, nor have I +been able to find the key to it in any way. It is very skillfully +made, for all the usual tests of cipher writing fail in this. The +person who procured it did not get near enough till the latter part +of the interview, so that he gained no explanation whatever from the +conversation." +<br> +<br> +"Read," said the Commandant. The Senator waited, wonderingly. The +Interpreter read: +<br> +<br> +<br> +"_Ma ouillina sola ouda ste ensoce fremas dis ansit ansin assalef a +oue lu affa lastinna belis_." +<br> +<br> +<br> +Scarcely had the first words been uttered in the Italian voice of +the reader than the Senator started as though a shot had struck him. +His face flushed. Finally a broad grin spread itself over his +countenance, and down his neck, and over his chest, and over his +form, and into his boots, till at last his whole colossal frame +shook with an earthquake of laughter. +<br> +<br> +The Commandant stared and looked uneasy, All looked at the Senator +--all with amazement--the General, the Interpreter, the Officials, +the Guards, Buttons, Dick, and the American Consul. +<br> +<br> +"Oh dear! Oh _de-ar_! Oh DEEE-AR!" cried the Senator, in the +intervals of his outrageous peals of laughter. "OH!" and a new peal +followed. +<br> +<br> +What did all this mean? Was he crazy? Had misfortunes turned his +brain? +<br> +<br> +But at last the Senator, who was always remarkable for his +self-control, recovered himself. He asked the Commandant if he might +be permitted to explain. +<br> +<br> +"Certainly," said the Commandant, dolefully. He was afraid that +the thing would take a ridiculous turn, and nothing is so terrible +as that to an Austrian official. +<br> +<br> +"Will you allow me to look at the paper?" asked the Senator. "I will +not injure it at all." +<br> +<br> +The Interpreter politely carried it to him as the Commandant nodded. +The Senator beckoned to the Consul. They then walked up to the +Commandant. All four looked at the paper. +<br> +<br> +"You see, gentlemen," said the Senator, drawing a lead pencil from +his pocket, "the Florence correspondent has been too sharp. I can +explain all this at once. I was with the Countess, and we got +talking of poetry. Now, I don't know any more about poetry than a +horse." +<br> +<br> +"Well?" +<br> +<br> +"Well, she insisted on my making a quotation. I had to give in. +The only one I could think of was a line or two from Watts." +<br> +<br> +"_Watts_? Ah! I don't know him," said the Interpreter. +<br> +<br> +"He was a minister--a parson." +<br> +<br> +"Ah!" +<br> +<br> +"So I said it to her, and she repeated it. These friends of yours, +General, have taken it down, but their spellin' is a little +unusual," said the Senator, with a tremendous grin that threatened +a new outburst. +<br> +<br> +"Look. Here is the true-key which this gentleman tried so hard to +find." +<br> +<br> +And taking his pencil the Senator wrote under the strange words +the true meaning: +<br> +<br> +<br> + "My willing soul would stay<br> + In such a frame as this,<br> + And sit and sing herself away<br> + To everlasting bliss." +<br> +<br> +<br> +The Interpreter saw it all. He looked profoundly foolish. The whole +thing was clear. The Senator's innocence was plain. He turned to +explain to the Commandant. The Consul's face exhibited a variety +of expressions, over which a broad grimace finally predominated, +like sunshine over an April sky. In a few words the whole was made +plain to the Commandant. He looked annoyed, glared angrily at the +Interpreter, tossed the papers on the floor, and rose to his feet. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/126-illo-watts-mis-spelled.png" alt="Watts Mis-spelled."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Watts Mis-spelled.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Give these gentlemen our apologies," said he to the Interpreter. +"In times of trouble, when States have to be held subject to +martial law, proceedings are abrupt. Their own good sense will, I +trust, enable them to appreciate the difficulty of our position. +They are at liberty." +<br> +<br> +At liberty! No sooner were the words spoken than the prisoners +bowed and left, in company with the Consul, who eagerly shook +hands with all three--particularly the Senator, who, as they were +leaving, was heard to whisper something in which these words were +audible: +<br> +<br> +"Wa'al, old hoss! The American eagle showed it claws, anyhow." +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_LIII">CHAPTER LIII</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +A MYSTERIOUS FLIGHT.--DESPAIR OF BUTTONS.--PURSUIT.--HISTORIC GROUND, +AND HISTORIC CITIES. +<br> +<br> +<br> +It was about seven o'clock in the evening when they reached their +hotel. Every thing was as they had left it. Some trifles had +occurred, such as a general overhaul of the baggage, in which the +Doctor's pistol had again miraculously escaped seizure. Buttons +went immediately to call on the Spaniards, but their apartment was +closed. Supposing that they were out about the town, he returned to +his friends. +<br> +<br> +During their memorable captivity they had eaten but little, and +now nothing was more welcome than a dinner. So they ordered the very +best that the hotel could supply, and made the American Consul stay. +Buttons did not give himself up so completely as the rest to the +hilarity of the occasion. Something was on his mind. So he took +advantage of a conversation in which the Senator was giving the +Consul an animated description of the fight with the brigands, and +the pluck of his two "boys," and stole out of the room. Whereupon the +Senator stopped and remarked-- +<br> +<br> +"Hang these fellows that are in love!" +<br> +<br> +"Certainly," said Dick. "They often hang themselves, or feel like +it." +<br> +<br> +"Of course Buttons is on his usual errand." +<br> +<br> +"Of course." +<br> +<br> +"It seems to me that his foreign travel has become nothing but one +long chase after that gal. He is certainly most uncommon devoted." +<br> +<br> +Scarce had these words been spoken when the door was flung open, and +Buttons made his appearance, much agitated. +<br> +<br> +"What's the matter?" cried Dick. "The Spaniards!" "Well?" "They're +off!" "Off?" "Gone!" "Where?" "Away from Venice." "When?" "I don't +know." "Why?" "I don't know." +<br> +<br> +"What sent them? It looks as though they were running away from +you on purpose." +<br> +<br> +"They're off, at any rate!" cried Buttons. "I went to their room. +It was open. The servants were fixing it up. I asked why. They said +the Spaniards had left Venice early this morning. They did not know +any thing more." +<br> +<br> +"Strange!" +<br> +<br> +"Strange, of course. It's so sudden. Their plans were laid out for +a week in Venice." +<br> +<br> +"Perhaps they were frightened at our adventure." +<br> +<br> +Buttons sprung to the bell and pulled it vigorously. Then he rushed +to the door and flung it open. Five or six waiters came tumbling in. +They had all been listening at the key-hole. +<br> +<br> +"Where's the chief waiter?" +<br> +<br> +"Here," said that functionary, approaching. +<br> +<br> +"Come here. You may retire," said Buttons to the others. They went +out reluctantly. +<br> +<br> +"Now, my friend," said he, putting some piastres in the hand of the +chief waiter. "Think, and answer me right. Where are the Spaniards +--a gentleman and two ladies--who came here with us?" +<br> +<br> +"They have left the city." +<br> +<br> +"When?" +<br> +<br> +"At six this morning, by the first train." +<br> +<br> +"Why did they leave?" +<br> +<br> +"A hint came from the Commandant." +<br> +<br> +"From him. Ah! What about?" +<br> +<br> +"Why--you know--your Excellencies were to waited on by a +deputation." +<br> +<br> +"We were arrested. Well?" +<br> +<br> +"Well, these Spaniards were friends yours." +<br> +<br> +"Yes." +<br> +<br> +"That connection made them suspected." +<br> +<br> +"Diavolo!" +<br> +<br> +"Such is the melancholy fact. There was no cause strong enough to +lead to their arrest. It would have been inconvenient. So the +Commandant sent a message, immediately after your Excellency's +lamentable arrest, to warn them--" +<br> +<br> +"What of?" +<br> +<br> +"That they had better leave the country at once." +<br> +<br> +"Yes, but that didn't force them to go." +<br> +<br> +"Ah, Signore! Do you not know what such a warning is? There is no +refusal." +<br> +<br> +"And so they left." +<br> +<br> +"At six by the train." +<br> +<br> +"Where to?" +<br> +<br> +"Signore, they had their passports made out for Milan." +<br> +<br> +"Milan!" +<br> +<br> +"Certainly. It was necessary for them not only to leave Venice, but +Venetia." +<br> +<br> +"Very well. When does the next train leave?" +<br> +<br> +"Not till to-morrow morning at six." +<br> +<br> +"You must call us then at five, for we are going. Here, take our +passports and get them viséd;" and having explained matters to the +Senator, Buttons found no need of persuasion to induce them to quit +the city, so the passports were handed over to the waiter. +<br> +<br> +So at six the next morning they went flying over the sea, over the +lagoons, over the marshes, over the plains, away toward Lombardy. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/127-illo-formalities.png" alt="Formalities."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: Formalities.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +They had to stop for a while at Verona, waiting to comply with "some +formalities." They had time to walk about the town and see the Roman +ruins and the fortifications. Of all these much might be said, if it +were not to be found already in Guide-books, Letters of +Correspondents, Books of Travel, Gazetteers, and Illustrated +Newspapers. Our travellers saw enough of the mighty military works, +in a brief survey, to make them thoroughly comprehend the Peace of +Villafranca. In the neighborhood of Solferino they left the train to +inspect the scene of battle. Only a month had passed since the +terrific contest, and the traces remained visible on every side. The +peasants had made two trenches of enormous size. In one of these the +bodies of the Austrians had been buried, in the other those of the +French and Italians. In one place there was a vast heap of arms, which +had been gathered from off the field. There was no piece among them +which was not bent or broken. All were of the best construction and +latest pattern, but had seen their day. Shattered trees, battered +walls, crumbling houses, deep ruts in the earth, appeared on every +side to show where the battle had raged; yet already the grass, in +its swift growth, had obliterated the chief marks of the tremendous +conflict. +<br> +<br> +At length they arrived at Milan. The city presented a most imposing +appearance. Its natural situation, its magnificent works of +architecture, its stately arches and majestic avenues presented an +appearance which was now heightened by the presence of victory. It +was as though the entire population had given themselves up to +rejoicing. The evil spirit had been cast out, and the house +thoroughly swept and garnished. The streets were filled with gay +multitudes; the avenues resounded with the thrilling strains of the +Marseillaise, repeated everywhere; every window displayed the +portrait of Napoleon, Victor Emanuel, or Garibaldi, and from every +house-top flaunted the tri-color. The heavy weight imposed by the +military rule--the iron hand, the cruelty, the bands of spies, the +innumerable soldiers sent forth by Austria--had been lifted off, and +in the first reaction of perfect liberty the whole population rushed +into the wildest demonstrations of joy and gayety. The churches were +all marked by the perpetual presence of the emblems of Holy Peace, +and Heavenly Faith, and Immortal Hope. The sublime Cathedral, from +all its marble population of sculptured saints and from all its +thousands of pinnacles, sent up one constant song. Through the +streets marched soldiers--regular, irregular, horse, foot, and +dragoons; cannon thundered at intervals through every day; +volunteer militia companies sprang up like butterflies to flash +their gay uniforms in the sun. +<br> +<br> +It was not the season for theatres. _La Scala_ had opened for a +few nights when Napoleon and Victor Emanuel where here, but had +closed again. Not so the smaller theatres. Less dignified, they +could burst forth unrestrained. Especially the Day Theatres, places +formed somewhat on the ancient model, with open roofs. In these the +spectators can smoke. Here the performance begins at five or six +and ends at dark. All the theatres on this season, day or night alike, +burst forth into joy. The war was the universal subject. Cannon, +fighting, soldiers, gunpowder, saltpetre, sulphur, fury, explosions, +wounds, bombardments, grenadiers, artillery, drum, gun, trumpet, +blunderbuss, and thunder! Just at that time the piece which was +having the greatest run was THE VICTORY Of SOLFERINO! +<br> +<br> +Two theatres exhibited this piece with all the pomp and circumstance +of glorious war. Another put out in a pantomime "The Battle of +Malegnano!" +<br> +<br> +Another, "The Fight at Magenta!" But perhaps the most popular of all +was "GARIBALDI IN VARESE, _od_ I CACCIATORI DEGLI ALPI!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_LIV">CHAPTER LIV</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +DICK MEETS AN OLD FRIEND.--THE EMOTIONAL NATURE OF THE ITALIAN. +--THE SENATOR OVERCOME AND DUMBFOUNDED. +<br> +<br> +<br> +The day of their arrival at Milan was distinguished by a pleasing +circumstance. Buttons found the Spaniards, and was happy. And by +another circumstance, scarcely less pleasing, Dick found an old +acquaintance. +<br> +<br> +On this wise: +<br> +<br> +Finding himself in Milan he suddenly called to mind an old friend +with whom he had been intimate in Boston. He had been exiled from +Italy on account of his connection with the movements of 1848. He +had fled to America, and had taken with him barely enough to live +on. For five years he had lived in Boston under the plain name of +_Hugh Airey_. Then Dick met with him, and had been attracted by the +polished manners, melancholy air, and high spirit of the +unfortunate exile. In the course of time their acquaintance ripened +into intimate friendship. Dick introduced him to all his friends, +and did all in his power to make his life pleasant. From him he had +learned Italian, and under his guidance formed a wide and deep +acquaintance with Italian literature. In 1858 Mr. Airey decided to +return to Italy and live in Turin till the return of better days. +Before leaving he confided to Dick the fact that he belonged to one +of the oldest families in Lombardy, and that he was the Count Ugo di +Gonfiloniere. The exile bade Dick and all his friends good-bye and +departed. Since then Dick had heard from him but once. The Count was +happy, and hopeful of a speedy return of better days for his country. +His hopes had been realized, as the world knows. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/128-illo-the-count-ugo.png" alt="The Count Ugo."> +<br><br> +[Illustration: The Count Ugo.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +Dick had no difficulty in finding out where he lived, and went to +call on him. It was a magnificent palace. Throngs of servants were +around the entrance. Dick sent up his name, and was conducted by a +servant to an ante-chamber. Scarcely had he finished a hasty +survey of the apartment when hurried footsteps were heard. He turned. +The Count came rushing into the room, flushed and trembling, and +without a word threw himself into Dick's arms, embraced him, and +kissed him. It was a trying moment for Dick. Nothing is so frightful +to a man of the Anglo-Saxon race as to be hugged and kissed by a man. +However, Dick, felt deeply touched at the emotion of his friend and +his grateful remembrance of himself. +<br> +<br> +"This is a circumstance most unexpected!" cried the Count. "Why did +you not write and tell me that you were coming, my dearest friend? I +did not know that you were in Italy. But perhaps you wished to give +me a surprise?" And then the Count asked after all the friends in +America, for whom he still evinced the tenderest attachment. +<br> +<br> +On being questioned he related his own subsequent adventures. After +leaving America he went at once to Turin. Though proscribed in +Lombardy he was free in Piedmont. He managed to communicate +secretly with his relatives in Milan, and lived comfortably. At +length he became aware of the great movement on foot which ended +in the Italian war. He had thrown himself altogether in the good +cause, and, without being at all disheartened by his former +misfortunes, he embarked energetically in the current of events. He +was at once recognized by the Sardinian Government as a powerful +recruit, and appointed to an important military command. Finally war +was declared. The French came, the Count had taken a conspicuous part +in the events of the war, had been present at every battle, and had +been promoted for his gallant conduct. Fortunately he had not once +been wounded. On the occupation of Milan by the Allies he had +regained all his rights, titles, privileges, and estates. He was a +happy man. His ten years of exile had given him a higher capacity +for enjoyment. He looked forward to a life of honor and usefulness. +He had found joy harder to endure than grief; the reunion with all +his old friends and relations, the presence of all the familiar +scenes of his native land had all well-nigh overcome him. Yet he +assured Dick that no friend with whom he had met was more welcome to +his sight than he, and the joy that he felt at seeing him had only +been exceeded once in his life--that one time having been on the +occasion of the entrance of the Allies into Milan. +<br> +<br> +And now that he was here, where was his luggage? Did he come without +it? There was certainly only one place in the city where he could +stop. He must remain nowhere else but here. Dick modestly excused +himself. He was scarcely prepared. He was travelling in company with +friends, and would hardly like to leave them. The Count looked +reproachfully at him. Did he hesitate about that? Why, his friends +also must come. He would have no refusal. They all must come. They +would be as welcome as himself. He would go with Dick to his hotel +in person and bring his friends there. +<br> +<br> +In a short time the Count and Dick had driven to the hotel, where +the former pressed upon the Senator and Buttons an invitation to +his house. They were not allowed to refuse, but were taken away, +and before they fairly understood the unexpected occurrence they +were all installed in magnificent apartments in the Palazzo +Gonfaloniere. +<br> +<br> +Buttons's acquaintance with the language, literature, manners, +and customs of Italy made him appreciate his advantages; the +friendship of the Count prevented Dick from feeling otherwise than +perfectly at home; and as for the Senator, if it had been possible +for him to feel otherwise, his experience of high life at Florence +would have enabled him to bear himself serenely here. His complete +self-possession, his unfaltering gaze, his calm countenance, were +never for a moment disturbed. +<br> +<br> +The Count had been long enough in America to appreciate a man of +the stamp of the Senator; he therefore from the very first treated +him with marked respect, which was heightened when Dick told him of +the Senator's achievements during the past few weeks. The brilliant +society which surrounded the Count was quite different from that +which the Senator had found in Florence. The people were equally +cultivated, but more serious. They had less excitability, but more +deep feeling. Milan, indeed, had borne her burden far differently +from Florence. Both hated the foreigner; but the latter could be gay, +and smiling, and trifling even under her chains; this the former +could never be. The thoughtful, earnest, and somewhat pensive +Milanese was more to the Senator's taste than the brilliant and +giddy Florentine. These, thought he, may well be a free people. +<br> +<br> +Moreover, the Senator visited the Grand Cathedral, and ascended to +the summit. Arriving there his thoughts were not taken up by the +innumerable statues of snow-white marble, or the countless pinnacles +of exquisite sculpture that extended all around like a sacred forest +filled with saints and angels, but rather to the scene that lay +beyond. +<br> +<br> +There spread away a prospect which was superior in his eyes to any +thing that he had ever seen before, nor had it ever entered his +mind to conceive such a matchless scene. The wide plains of Lombardy, +green, glorious, golden with the richest and most inexhaustible +fertility; vast oceans of grain and rice, with islands of dark-green +trees that bore untold wealth of all manner of fruit; white villas, +little hamlets, close-packed villages, dotted the wide expanse, with +the larger forms of many a populous town. He looked to the north and +to the west. The plain spread away for many a league, till the purple +mountains arose as a barrier, rising up till they touched the +everlasting ice. He looked to the east and south. There the plains +stretched away to the horizon in illimitable extent. +<br> +<br> +"What a country! All cleared too! Every acre! And the villages! Why, +there are thousands if there is one! Dear! dear! dear! How can I +have the heart to blow about New England or Boston after that there! +Buttons, why don't somebody tell about all this to the folks at +home and stop their everlasting bragging? But"--after a long +pause--"I'll do it! I'll do it!--this very night. I'll write about it +to our paper!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_LV">CHAPTER LV</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +IN WHICH BUTTONS WRITES A LETTER; AND IN WHICH THE CLUB LOSES AN +IMPORTANT MEMBER.--SMALL BY DEGREES AND BEAUTIFULLY LESS. +<br> +<br> +<br> +But all things, however pleasant, must have an end, so their +stay in Milan soon approached its termination. +<br> +<br> +Buttons and the Senator were both quite willing to leave. The +departure of the Spaniards had taken away the charm of Milan. They +had already returned to Spain, and had urged Buttons very strongly +to accompany them. It cost him a great struggle to decline, but he +did so from certain conscientious motives, and promised to do so +after going to Paris. So there was an agonizing separation, and all +that. At his room Buttons unbosomed himself to his friends. +<br> +<br> +"I'll begin at the beginning," said he, directing his remarks more +particularly to the Senator. +<br> +<br> +"My father is a rich man, though you may not think I live very much +like a rich man's son. The fact is, he is dreadfully afraid that I +will turn out a spendthrift. So he gave me only a moderate sum on +which to travel on through Europe. So far I have succeeded very +well. Excuse my blushes while I make the sweet confession. The +Señorita whom we all admire will, some of these days, I trust, +exchange the musical name of Francia for the plainer one of +Buttons." +<br> +<br> +The Senator smiled with mild and paternal approbation, and shook +Buttons by the hand. +<br> +<br> +"It's all arranged," continued Buttons, with sweet confusion. "Now, +under the circumstances, you might think it natural that I should go +back with them to Spain." +<br> +<br> +"I should certainly. Why don't you?" +<br> +<br> +"For two reasons. The first is, I have barely enough tin left to +take me to Paris." +<br> +<br> +At once both the Senator and Dick offered to make unlimited advances. +Buttons made a deprecatory gesture. +<br> +<br> +"I know well that I could look to you for any help in any way. But +that is not the reason why I don't go to Spain. I have money enough +for my wants if I don't go there." +<br> +<br> +"What is the real reason, then?" +<br> +<br> +"Well, I thought that in an affair of this kind it would be just as +well to get the Governor's concurrence, and so I thought I'd drop a +line to him. I've just got the letter written, and I'll put it in +the mail this evening." +<br> +<br> +"You have done right, my boy," said the Senator, paternally. "There +are many excellent reasons for getting your father's consent in an +affair like this." +<br> +<br> +"I don't mind reading you what I have written," said Buttons, "if +you care about hearing it." +<br> +<br> +"Oh, if you have no objection, we should like to hear very much," +said Dick. +<br> +<br> +Whereupon Buttons, taking a letter from his pocket, read as follows: +<br> +<br> +<br> +"DEAR FATHER,--I have endeavored to follow out your instructions and +be as economical as possible. +<br> +<br> +"During my tour through Italy, have made the acquaintance of the +senior member of the house of Francia, in Cadiz, a gentleman with +whom you are acquainted. He was travelling with his two sisters. +The younger one is very amiable. As I know you would like to see me +settled I have requested her hand in marriage. +<br> +<br> +"As I wish to be married before my return I thought I would let you +know. Of course in allying myself to a member of so wealthy a family +I will need to do it in good style. Whatever you can send me will +therefore be quite acceptable. +<br> +<br> +"Please reply immediately on receipt of this, addressing me at Paris +as before. +<br> +<br> +"And very much oblige E. BUTTONS." +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Well," said the Senator, "that's a sensible letter. It's to the +point. I'm glad to see that you are not so foolish as most lads in +your situation. Why should not a man talk as wisely about a +partnership of this kind as of any other? I do declare that these +rhapsodies, this highblown, high-flown, sentimental twaddle is +nauseating." +<br> +<br> +"You see, Dick," said Buttons, "I must write a letter which will +have weight with the old gentleman. He likes the terse business +style. I think that little hint about her fortune is well managed +too. That's a great deal better than boring him with the state of +my affections. Isn't it?" +<br> +<br> +"There's nothing like adapting your style to the disposition of +the person you address," said Dick. +<br> +<br> +"Well," said the Senator, "you propose to start to-morrow, do you?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes," said Buttons. +<br> +<br> +"I'm agreed then I was just beginning to get used up myself. I'm an +active man, and when I've squeezed all the juice out of a place I +want to throw it away and go to another. What do you say, Dick? You +are silent." +<br> +<br> +"Well, to tell the truth," said Dick, "I don't care about leaving +just yet. Gonfaloniere expects me to stay longer, and he would feel +hurt if I hurried off, I am very sorry that you are both going. It +would be capital if you could only wait here a month or so." +<br> +<br> +"A month!" cried Buttons. "I couldn't stand it another day. Will +nothing induce you to come? What can we do without you?" +<br> +<br> +"What can I do without you?" said Dick, with some emotion. +<br> +<br> +"Well, Dick," said the Senator, "I'm really pained. I feel something +like a sense of bereavement at the very idea. I thought, of course, +we would keep together till our feet touched the sacred soil once +more. But Heaven seems to have ordained it otherwise. I felt bad +when Figgs and the Doctor left us at Florence, but now I feel worse +by a long chalk. Can't you manage to come along nohow?" +<br> +<br> +"No," said Dick. "I really can not. I really must stay." +<br> +<br> +"What! must!" +<br> +<br> +"Yes, must!" +<br> +<br> +The Senator sighed. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_LVI">CHAPTER LVI</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +THE FAITHFUL ONE!--DARTS, DISTRACTION, LOVE'S VOWS, OVERPOWERING +SCENE AT THE MEETING OF TWO FOND ONES.--COMPLETE BREAK-DOWN OF THE +HISTORIAN. +<br> +<br> +<br> +About a month after the departure of the Senator and Buttons from +Milan, Dick reappeared upon the scene at Rome, in front of the +little church which had borne so prominent a part in his fortunes; +true to his love, to his hopes, to his promises, with undiminished +ardor and unabated resolution. He found the Padre Liguori there, +who at once took him to his room in a building adjoining the church. +<br> +<br> +"Welcome!" said he, in a tone of the deepest pleasure. "Welcome! +It has been more than a passing fancy, then." +<br> +<br> +"It is the only real purpose of my life, I assure you." +<br> +<br> +"I must believe you," said Liguori, pressing his hand once more. +<br> +<br> +"And now, where is Pepita?" +<br> +<br> +"She is in Rome." +<br> +<br> +"May I see her at once?" +<br> +<br> +"How at once?" +<br> +<br> +"Well, to-day." +<br> +<br> +"No, not to-day. Her brother wishes to see you first. I must go and +let them both know that you are here. But she is well and has been +so." +<br> +<br> +Dick looked relieved. After some conversation Liguori told Dick to +return in an hour, and he could see the Count. After waiting most +impatiently Dick came back again in an hour. On entering he found +Luigi. He was dressed as a gentleman this time. He was a strongly +knit, well-made man of about thirty, with strikingly handsome and +aristocratic features. +<br> +<br> +"Let me make my peace with you at once," said he, with the utmost +courtesy. "You are a brave man, and must be generous. I have done +you wrongs for which I shall never forgive myself," and taking +Dick's outstretched hand, he pressed it heartily. +<br> +<br> +"Say nothing about it, I beg," said Dick; "you were justified in +what you did, though you may have been a little hasty." +<br> +<br> +"Had I not been blinded by passion I would have been incapable of +such a piece of cowardice. But I have had much to endure, and I +was always afraid about her." +<br> +<br> +With the utmost frankness the two men received each other's +explanations, and the greatest cordiality arose at once. Dick +insisted on Luigi's taking dinner with him, and Luigi, laughingly +declaring that it would be a sign of peace to eat bread and salt +together, went with Dick to his hotel. +<br> +<br> +As they entered Dick's apartments Gonfaloniere was lounging near +the window. He had accompanied Dick to Rome. He started at the +sight of Luigi. +<br> +<br> +"God in Heaven!" he cried, bounding to his feet. +<br> +<br> +"Ugo!" exclaimed the other. +<br> +<br> +"Luigi!" +<br> +<br> +And the two men, in true Italian fashion, sprang into one +another's arms. +<br> +<br> +"And is my best friend, and oldest friend, the brother of your +betrothed?" asked Gonfaloniere of Dick. +<br> +<br> +But Dick only nodded. He was quite mystified by all this. An +explanation, however, was soon made. The two had been educated +together, and had fought side by side in the great movements of +'48, under Garibaldi, and in Lombardy. +<br> +<br> +For full an hour these two friends asked one another a torrent +of questions. Luigi asked Gonfaloniere about his exile in America; +whereupon the other described that exile in glowing terms--how he +landed in Boston, how Dick, then little more than a lad, became +acquainted with him, and how true a friend he had been in his +misery. The animated words of Gonfaloniere produced a striking +effect. Luigi swore eternal friendship with Dick, and finally +declared that he must come and see Pepita that very day. +<br> +<br> +So, leaving Gonfaloniere with the promise of seeing him again, +Luigi walked with Dick out to the place where he lived. The +reason why he had not wanted him to see Pepita that day was +because he was ashamed of their lodgings. But that had passed, +and as he understood Dick better he saw there was no reason for +such shame. It was a house within a few rods of the church. +<br> +<br> +Dick's heart throbbed violently as he entered the door after Luigi +and ascended the steps inside the court-yard. Luigi pointed to a +door and drew back. +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/131-illo-the-door.png" alt="The Door."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: The Door.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +Dick knocked. +<br> +<br> +The door opened. +<br> +<br> +"Pepita!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +*** +<br> +<br> +<br> +To describe such a meeting is simply out of the question. +<br> +<br> +"I knew you would come," said she, after about one solid hour, in +which not a single intelligible word was uttered. +<br> +<br> +"And for you! Oh, Pepita!" +<br> +<br> +"You do not think now that I was cruel?" and a warm flush +overspread the lovely face of the young girl. +<br> +<br> +"Cruel!" (and Dick makes her see that he positively does not think +so). +<br> +<br> +"I could not do otherwise." +<br> +<br> +"I love you too well to doubt it." +<br> +<br> +"My brother hated you so. It would have been impossible. And I +could not wound his feelings." +<br> +<br> +"He's a splendid fellow, and you were right." +<br> +<br> +"Padre Liguori showed him what you were, and I tried to explain a +little," added Pepita, shyly. +<br> +<br> +"Heaven bless Padre Liguori! As for you--you--" +<br> +<br> +"Don't." +<br> +<br> +"Well, your brother understands me at last. He knows that I love +you so well that I would die for you." +<br> +<br> +Tears came into Pepita's eyes as the sudden recollection arose +of Dick's misadventure on the road. +<br> +<br> +<br> +*** +<br> +<br> +<br> +"Do you remember," asked Dick, softly, after about three hours +and twenty minutes--"do you remember how I once wished that I was +walking with you on a road that would go on forever?" +<br> +<br> +"Yes." +<br> +<br> +"Well, we're on that track now." +<br> +<br> +<br> +[The Historian of these adventures feels most keenly his utter +inadequacy to the requirements of this scene. Need he say that +the above description is a complete _fiasco_? Reader, your +imagination, if you please.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="CHAPTER_LVII">CHAPTER LVII</a>. +<br> +<br> +<br> +THE DODGE CLUB IN PARIS ONCE MORE.--BUTTONS'S "JOLLY GOOD HEALTH." +<br> +<br> +<br> +Not very long after the events alluded to in the last chapter a +brilliant dinner was given in Paris at the "Hotel de Lille et +d'Albion." On the arrival of the Senator and Buttons at Paris they +had found Mr. Figgs and the Doctor without any trouble. The meeting +was a rapturous one. The Dodge Club was again an entity, although +an important member was not there. On this occasion the one who gave +the dinner was BUTTONS! +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/132-illo-hes-a-jolly-good-fellow.png" alt="He's A Jolly Good Fellow."> +<br> +<br> +[Illustration: He's A Jolly Good Fellow.] +<br> +<br> +<br> +All the delicacies of the season. In fact, a banquet. Mr. Figgs +shone resplendently. If a factory was the sphere of the Senator, +a supper-table was the place for Mr. Figgs. The others felt that +they had never before known fully all the depth of feeling, of +fancy, and of sentiment that lurked under that placid, smooth, and +rosy exterior. The Doctor was epigrammatic; the Senator sententious; +Buttons uproarious. +<br> +<br> +Dick's health was drunk in bumpers with all the honors: +<br> +<br> +<br> + "For he's a jolly good fe-e-e-e-e-e-llow!<br> + For he's a jolly good fe-e-e-e-e-e-llow!!<br> + For he's a jolly good FE-E-E-E-E-E-LLOW!!!<br> + Which nobody can deny!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +All this time Buttons was more joyous, more radiant, and altogether +more extravagant than usual. The others asked themselves, "Why?" +In the course of the evening it became known. Taking advantage of a +short pause in the conversation he communicated the startling fact +that he had that day received a letter from his father. +<br> +<br> +"Shall I read it?" +<br> +<br> +"AYE!!!" unanimously, in tones of thunder. +<br> +<br> +Buttons opened it and read: +<br> +<br> +<br> +DEAR SON.--Your esteemed favor, 15th ult., I have recd. +<br> +<br> +"I beg leave hereby to express my concurrence with your design. +<br> +<br> +"My connection with the house of Francia has been of the most +satisfactory kind. I have no doubt that yours will be equally so. +<br> +<br> +"I inclose you draft on Mess. Dupont Geraud, et Cie of Paris, for +$5000--say five thousand dollars--rect of which please acknowledge. +If this sum is insufficient you are at liberty to draw for what may +be required. +<br> +<br> +"I remain, HIRAM BUTTONS." +<br> +<br> +<br> +Thunders of applause arose as Buttons folded the letter. +<br> +<br> +A speech from the Senator proposed health of Buttons Senior. +<br> +<br> +Another from the Doctor. +<br> +<br> +Another from Mr. Figgs. +<br> +<br> +Acknowledgment by Buttons. +<br> +<br> +Announcement by Buttons of immediate departure for Cadiz. +<br> +<br> +Wild cheers! Buttons's jolly good health! +<br> +<br> +<br> + "For he's a jolly good fe-e-e-e-e-e-llow!<br> + For he's a jolly good fe-e-e-e-f-e-llow!!<br> + For he's a jolly good FE-E-E-E-E-E-LLOW!!!<br> + Which nobody can deny!" +<br> +<br> +<br> +THE END. + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dodge Club, by James De Mille + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DODGE CLUB *** + +***** This file should be named 27086-h.htm or 27086-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/0/8/27086/ + +Produced by Marlo Dianne + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Dodge Club + or, Italy in 1859 + +Author: James De Mille + +Release Date: October 29, 2008 [EBook #27086] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DODGE CLUB *** + + + + +Produced by Marlo Dianne + + + + +THE DODGE CLUB, OR, ITALY IN MDCCCLIX. + +by + +James De Mille + +Author of "Cord and Creese; or, the Brandon Mystery," etc., etc + +With One Hundred Illustrations + + +New York: +Harper & Brothers Publishers, +Franklin Square +1872. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +PARIS.--THE DODGE CLUB.--HOW TO SPEAK FRENCH.--HOW TO RAISE A CROWD. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Dick!--Here I Invite My Friends.--The Club.--The Place +Vendome.--Keep It Buttons! + + +CHAPTER II. + +ORLEANS.--HOW TO QUELL A LANDLORD.--HOW TO FIGHT OFF HUMBUGS; AND HOW +TO TRAVEL WITHOUT BAGGAGE. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. That's A Hotel Bill.--Cicero Against Verres. +--Sac-r-r-r-re. + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE RHONE IN A RAIN.--THE MAD FRENCHMAN.--SUICIDE A CAPITAL +CRIME IN FRANCE. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Number 729.--Horror! Despair! + + +CHAPTER IV. + +MARSEILLES. + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE RETIRED ORGAN-GRINDER.--THE SENATOR PHILOSOPHIZES.--EVILS OF NOT +HAVING A PASSPORT. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Those Italians.--Genoa, The Superb. + + +CHAPTER VI. + +LAZARONI AND MACARONI. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Their Noble Excellencies.--Lazaroni And Macaroni. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +DOLORES.--AN ITALIAN MAID LEARNS ENGLISH.--A ROMANTIC ADVENTURE.--A +MASQUERADE, AND WHAT BEFELL THE SENATOR.--A CHARMING DOMINO.--A +MOONLIGHT WALK, AND AN ASTOUNDING DISCOVERY. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Yankee Doodle.--I Kiss Hands.--The Young Hussar.--A +Perplexed Senator.--Exit Senator. + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +ADVENTURES AND MISADVENTURES.--A WET GROTTO AND A BOILING LAKE.--THE +TWO FAIR SPANIARDS, AND THE DONKEY RIDE. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Darn it!--Don't.--Thump!--A Trying Moment.--Senator +And Donkey. + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A DRIVE INTO THE COUNTRY.--A FIGHT WITH A VETTURINO.--THE EFFECT OF +EATING "HARD BOILED EGGS."--WHAT THEY SAW AT PAESTUM.--FIVE TEMPLES +AND ONE "MILL." + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Do You See That?--The Mill At Paestum. + + +CHAPTER X. + +ON THE WATER, WHERE BUTTONS SEES A LOST IDEA AND GIVES CHASE TO IT, +TOGETHER WITH THE HEART-SICKENING RESULTS THEREOF. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. The Spaniards.--A Thousand Pardons! + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE SENATOR HAS SUCH A FANCY FOR SEEKING USEFUL INFORMATION!--CURIOUS +POSITION OF A WISE, AND WELL-KNOWN, AND DESERVEDLY-POPULAR LEGISLATOR, +AND UNDIGNIFIED MODE OF HIS ESCAPE. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. The Senator. + + +CHAPTER XII. + +HERCULANEUM AND POMPEII, AND ALL THAT THE SIGHT OF THOSE FAMOUS PLACES +PRODUCED ON THE MINDS OF THE DODGE CLUB. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Villa Of Diomedes.--Phew!--A Street In Pompeii. + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +VESUVIUS.--WONDERFUL ASCENT OF THE CONE.--WONDERFUL DESCENT INTO THE +CRATER.--AND MOST WONDERFUL DISAPPEARANCE OF MR. FIGGS, AFTER WHOM +ALL HIS FRIENDS GO, WITH THEIR LIVES IN THEIR HANDS.--GREAT SENSATION +AMONG SPECTATORS. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. The Ascent Of Vesuvius.--The Descent Of Vesuvius. +-Where's Figgs?--Mr Figgs.--The Ladies. + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +MAGNIFICENT ATTITUDE OF THE SENATOR; BRILLIANCY OF BUTTONS; AND PLUCK +OF THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE CLUB: BY ALL OF WHICH THE GREATEST EFFECTS +ARE PRODUCED. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. The Bandits Captured.--Sold. + + +CHAPTER XV. + +DOLORES ONCE MORE.--A PLEASANT CONVERSATION.--BUTTONS LEARNS MORE OF +HIS YOUNG FRIEND.--AFFECTING FAREWELL. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Two Piastres!--The Brave Soldier. + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +DICK RELATES A FAMILY LEGEND. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Buying A Whale.--The Long-Lost Son. + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +NIGHT ON THE ROAD.--THE CLUB ASLEEP.--THEY ENTER ROME.--THOUGHTS ON +APPROACHING AND ENTERING "THE ETERNAL CITY." + +ILLUSTRATIONS. To Rome. + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +A LETTER BY DICK, AND CRITICISMS OF HIS FRIENDS. + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +ST. PETER'S!--THE TRAGIC STORY OF THE FAT MAN IN THE BALL.--HOW +ANOTHER TRAGEDY NEARLY HAPPENED.--THE WOES OF MEINHERR SCHATT. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Gracious Me! + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE GLORY, GRANDEUR, BEAUTY, AND INFINITE VARIETY OF THE PINCIAN +HILL; NARRATED AND DETAILED NOT COLUMNARILY BUT EXHAUSTIVELY, +AND AFTER THE MANNER OF RABELAIS. + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +HARMONY ON THE PINCIAN HILL.--MUSIC HATH CHARMS.--AMERICAN MELODIES. +--THE GLORY, THE POWER, AND THE BEAUTY OF YANKEE DOODLE, AND THE +MERCENARY SOUL OF AN ITALIAN ORGAN-GRINDER. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Old Virginny. + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +HOW A BARGAIN IS MADE.--THE WILES OF THE ITALIAN TRADESMAN.--THE NAKED +SULKY BEGGAR, AND THE JOVIAL WELL-CLAD BEGGAR.--WHO IS THE KING OF +BEGGARS? + +ILLUSTRATIONS. The Shrug. + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +THE MANIFOLD LIFE OF THE CAFE NUOVO, AND HOW THEY RECEIVED THE NEWS +ABOUT MAGENTA.--EXCITEMENT.--ENTHUSIASM.--TEARS.--EMBRACES. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. News Of Magenta! + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +CHECKMATE! + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Before And After. + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +BUTTONS A MAN OF ONE IDEA.--DICK AND HIS MEASURING TAPE.--DARK EYES. +--SUSCEPTIBLE HEART.--YOUNG MAIDEN WHO LIVES OUT OF TOWN.--GRAND +COLLISION OF TWO ABSTRACTED LOVERS IN THE PUBLIC STREETS. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Away!--Pepita. + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +CONSEQUENCES OF BEING GALLANT IN ITALY, WHERE THERE ARE LOVERS, +HUSBANDS, BROTHERS, FATHERS, COUSINS, AND INNUMERABLE OTHER RELATIVES +AND CONNECTIONS, ALL READY WITH THE STILETTO. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. An Interruption. + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +DICK ON THE SICK LIST.--RAPTURE OF BUTTONS AT MAKING AN IMPORTANT +DISCOVERY. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Poor Dick! + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +WHAT KIND OF A LETTER THE SENATOR WROTE FOR THE "NEW ENGLAND PATRIOT," +WHICH SHOWS A TRITE, LIBERAL, UNBIASED, PLAIN, UNVARNISHED VIEW OF +ROME. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Sketches By A Friend. + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +THE LONELY ONE AND HIS COMFORTER.--THE TRUE MEDICINE FOR A SICK MAN. + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +OCCUPATIONS AND PEREGRINATIONS OF BUTTONS. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Buttons and Murray. + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +BUTTONS ACTS THE GOOD SAMARITAN, AND LITERALLY UNEARTHS A MOST +UNEXPECTED VICTIM OF AN ATROCIOUS ROBBERY.--GR-R-R-A-CIOUS ME! + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +ANOTHER DISCOVERY MADE BY BUTTONS. + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +[Transcriber's Note: Transliteration of Greek.] Brekekek koax koax +koax. [TN: /end Greek.] + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Brekekekek koax koax! + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + + +THE SENATOR PURSUES HIS INVESTIGATIONS.--AN INTELLIGENT ROMAN +TOUCHES A CHORD IN THE SENATOR'S HEART THAT VIBRATES.--RESULTS OF +THE VIBRATION.--A VISIT FROM THE ROMAN POLICE; AND THE GREAT RACE +DOWN THE CORSO BETWEEN THE SENATOR AND A ROMAN SPY.--GLEE OF THE +POPULACE!--HI! HI! + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Got You There!--Walking Spanish. + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + + +DICK MAKES ANOTHER EFFORT, AND BEGINS TO FEEL ENCOURAGED. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Dick Thinks It Over. The Senator In A Bad Fix.--The +Senator In A Worse Fix. + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + + +_ROME_.--_ANCIENT HISTORY_.--THE PREHISTORIC ERA.--CRITICAL +EXAMINATION OF NIEBUHR AND HIS SCHOOL.--THE EARLY HISTORY OF ROME +PLACED ON A RIGHT BASIS.--EXPLANATION OF HISTORY OF REPUBLIC. +--NAPOLEON'S "CAESAR."--THE IMPERIAL REGIME.--THE NORTHERN +BARBARIANS.--RISE OF THE PAPACY.--MEDIAEVAL ROME. + +_TOPOGRAPHY_.--TRUE ADJUSTMENT OF BOUNDS OF ANCIENT CITY.--ITS +PROBABLE POPULATION.--_GEOLOGY_.--EXAMINATION OF FORMATION.--TUFA +TRAVERTINE.--ROMAN CEMENT.--TERRA-COTTA. _SPECIAL CONSIDERATION OF +ROMAN CATACOMBS_.--BOSIO.--ARRINGHI.--CARDINAL WISEMAN.--RECENT +EXPLORATIONS, INVESTIGATIONS, EXAMINATIONS, EXHUMATIONS, AND +RESUSCITATIONS.--EARLY CHRISTIAN HISTORY SET ON A TRUE BASIS. +--RELICS.--MARTYRS.--REAL ORIGIN OF CATACOMBS.--TRUE AND RELIABLE +EXTENT (WITH MAPS). + +_REMARKS ON ART_.--THE RENAISSANCE.--THE EARLY PAINTERS: CIMABUE, +GIOTTO, PERUGINO, RAFAELLE SANZIO, MICHELANGELO BUONAROTTI.--THE +TRANSFIGURATION.--THE MOSES OF MICHELANGELO.--BELLINI.--SAINT +PETER'S, AND MORE PARTICULARLY THE COLONNADE.--THE LAST JUDGMENT. +--DANTE.--THE MEDIAEVAL SPIRIT.--EFFECT OF GOTHIC ART ON ITALY AND +ITALIAN TASTE.--COMPARISON, OF LOMBARD WITH SICILIAN CHURCHES.--TO +WHAT EXTENT ROME INFLUENCED THIS DEVELOPMENT.--THE FOSTERING SPIRIT +OF THE CHURCH.--ALL MODERN ART CHRISTIAN.--WHY THIS WAS A NECESSITY. +--FOLLIES OF MODERN CRITICS.--REYNOLDS AND RUSKIN.--HOW FAR POPULAR +TASTE IS WORTH ANY THING.--CONCLUDING REMARKS OF A MISCELLANEOUS +DESCRIPTION. + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +ITALIAN TRAVEL, ROADS, INNS.--A GRAND BREAKDOWN.--AN ARMY OF +BEGGARS.--SIX MEN HUNTING UP A CARRIAGE WHEEL; AND PLANS OF THE +SENATOR FOR THE GOOD OF ITALY. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Travelling In Italy.--The Senator's Escort. + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +TRIUMPHANT PROGRESS OF DICK.--GENDARMES FOILED.--THE DODGE CLUB +IS ATTACKED BY BRIGANDS, AND EVERY MAN OF IT COVERS HIMSELF WITH +GLORY.--SCREAM OF THE AMERICAN EAGLE! + + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Dick In His Glory.--Pietro.--The Barricade. + + +CHAPTER XL. + +PLEASANT MEDIATIONS ABOUT THE WONDERS OF TOBACCO; AND THREE PLEASANT +ANECDOTES BY AN ITALIAN BRIGAND. + + +CHAPTER XLI. + +FINAL ATTACK OF REINFORCEMENTS OF BRIGANDS.--THE DODGE CLUB DEFIES +THEM AND REPELS THEM.--HOW TO MAKE A BARRICADE.--FRATERNIZATION OF +AMERICAN EAGLE AND GALLIC COCK.--THERE'S NOTHING LIKE LEATHER. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. An International Affair. + + +CHAPTER XLII. + +FLORENCE.--DESPERATION OF BUTTONS, OF MR. FIGGS, AND OF THE DOCTOR. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Florence From San Miniato.--Pitti Palace.--Fountain Of +Neptune, Palazzo Vecchio.--The Duomo.--The Campanile.--Trozzi Palace. +--Buttons Melancholy. + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +THE SENATOR ENTRAPPED.--THE WILES AND WITCHERY OF A QUEEN OF SOCIETY. +--HIS FATE DESTINED TO BE, AS HE THINKS, ITALIAN COUNTESSES. +--SENTIMENTAL CONVERSATION.--POETRY.--BEAUTY.--MOONLIGHT.--RAPTURE. +--DISTRACTION.--BLISS! + +ILLUSTRATIONS. La Cica. + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + +"MORERE DIAGORA, NON ENIM IN COELUM ADSCENSURUS ES."--THE APOTHEOSIS +OF THE SENATOR (NOTHING LESS--IT WAS A MOMENT IN WHICH A MAN MIGHT +WISH TO DIE--THOUGH, OF COURSE, THE SENATOR DIDN'T DIE). + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Solferino!--The Senator Speaks. + + +CHAPTER XLV. + +THE PRIVATE OPINION OF THE DOCTOR ABOUT FOREIGN TRAVEL.--BUTTONS +STILL MEETS WITH AFFLICTIONS. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. A Grease Spot.--Farewell, Figgs! + + +CHAPTER XLVI. + +A MEMORABLE DRIVE.--NIGHT.--THE BRIGANDS ONCE MORE.--GARIBALDI'S +NAME.--THE FIRE.--THE IRON BAR.--THE MAN FROM THE GRANITE STATE +AND HIS TWO BOYS. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. In The Coach.--A Free Fight.--Don't Speak. + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + +BAD BRUISES, BUT GOOD MUSES.--THE HONORABLE SCABS OF DICK.--A +KNOWLEDGE OF BONES. + + +CHAPTER XLVIII. + +SUFFERING AND SENTIMENT AT BOLOGNA.--MOONSHINE.--BEST BALM FOR WOUNDS. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Used Up. + + +CHAPTER XLIX. + +CROSSING INTO THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY.--CONSTERNATION OF THE CUSTOM-HOUSE +OFFICERS. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Buttons In Bliss. + + +CHAPTER L. + +VENICE AND ITS PECULIAR GLORY.--THE DODGE CLUB COME TO GRIEF AT LAST. +--UP A TREE.--IN A NET, ETC. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Dick's Luggage.--Arrested.--Silence! + + +CHAPTER LI. + +THE AMERICAN EAGLE AND THE AUSTRIAN DOUBLE-HEADED DITTO. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Don't Try It On With Me. + + +CHAPTER LII. + +THE SENATOR STILL ENGAGED IN FACING DOWN THE AUSTRIAN.--THE AMERICAN +CONSUL.--UNEXPECTED RE-APPEARANCE OF FORGOTTEN THINGS.--COLLAPSE OF +THE COURT. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Watts Mis-spelled. + + +CHAPTER LIII. + +A MYSTERIOUS FLIGHT.--DESPAIR OF BUTTONS.--PURSUIT.--HISTORIC GROUND, +AND HISTORIC CITIES. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. Formalities. + + +CHAPTER LIV. + +DICK MEETS AN OLD FRIEND.--THE EMOTIONAL NATURE OF THE ITALIAN. +--THE SENATOR OVERCOME AND DUMBFOUNDED. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. The Count Ugo. + + +CHAPTER LV. + +IN WHICH BUTTONS WRITES A LETTER; AND IN WHICH THE CLUB LOSES AN +IMPORTANT MEMBER.--SMALL BY DEGREES AND BEAUTIFULLY LESS. + + +CHAPTER LVI. + +THE FAITHFUL ONE!--DARTS, DISTRACTION, LOVE'S VOWS, OVERPOWERING +SCENE AT THE MEETING OF TWO FOND ONES.--COMPLETE BREAK-DOWN OF THE +HISTORIAN. + +ILLUSTRATIONS. The Door. + + +CHAPTER LVII. + +THE DODGE CLUB IN PARIS ONCE MORE.--BUTTONS'S "JOLLY GOOD HEALTH." + +ILLUSTRATIONS. He's A Jolly Good Fellow. + + + + +[Illustration: Dick!] + + +CHAPTER I. + + +PARIS.--THE DODGE CLUB.--HOW TO SPEAK FRENCH.--HOW TO RAISE A CROWD. + + +It is a glorious day in Paris. The whole city is out in the public +places, watching the departure of the army of Italy. Every imaginable +uniform, on foot and on horseback, enlivens the scene. Zouaves are +everywhere. Cent Gardes hurry to and fro, looking ferocious. Imperial +Gardes look magnificent. Innumerable little red-legged soldiers of the +line dance about, gesticulating vehemently. Grisettes hang about the +necks of departing braves. A great many tears are shed, and a great +deal of bombast uttered. For the invincible soldiers of France are off +to fight for an idea; and doesn't every one of them carry a marshal's +baton in his knapsack? + +A troop of Cent Gardes comes thundering down in a cloud of dust, +dashing the people right and left. Loud cheers arise: "Vive +l'Empereur!" The hoarse voices of myriads prolong the yell. It is Louis +Napoleon. He touches his hat gracefully to the crowd. + +A chasseur leaps into a cab. + +"Where shall I take you?" + +"To Glory!" shouts the soldier. + +The crowd applaud. The cabman drives off and don't want any further +direction. Here a big-bearded Zouave kisses his big-bearded brother in +a blouse. + +"Adieu, mon frere; write me." + +"Where shall I write?" + +"Direct to Vienna--_poste restante_." + +Every body laughs at every thing, and the crowd are quite wild at +this. + +A young man is perched upon a pillar near the garden wall of the +Tuileries. He enjoys the scene immensely. After a while he takes a +clay pipe from his pocket and slowly fills it. Having completed this +business he draws a match along the stone and is just about lighting +his pipe. + +"Halloo!" + +Down drops the lighted match on the neck of an _ouvrier_. It burns. +The man scowls up; but seeing the cause, smiles and waves his hand +forgivingly. + +"Dick!" + +At this a young man in the midst of the crowd stops and looks around. +He is a short young man, in whose face there is a strange mixture of +innocence and shrewdness. He is pulling a baby-carriage, containing a +small specimen of French nationality, and behind him walks a majestic +female. + +The young man Dick takes a quick survey and recognizes the person who +has called him. Down drops the pole of the carriage, and, to the +horror of the majestic female, he darts off, and, springing up the +pillar, grasps first the foot and then the hand of his friend. + +"Buttons!" he cried; "what, you! you here in Paris!" + +"I believe I am." + +"Why, when did you come?" + +"About a month ago." + +"I had no idea of it. I didn't know you were here." + +"And I didn't know that you were. I thought by this time that you were +in Italy. What has kept you here so long?" + +Dick looked confused. + +"Why the fact is, I am studying German." + +"German! in Paris! French, you mean." + +"No, German." + +"You're crazy; who with?" + +Dick nodded his head toward his late companion. + +"What, that woman? How she is scowling at us!" + +"Is she?" said Dick, with some trepidation. + +"Yes. But don't look. Have you been with her all the time?" + +"Yes, seven months." + +"Studying German!" cried Buttons, with a laugh. "Who is she?" + +"Madame Bang." + + +[Illustration: Here I Invite My Friends.] + + +"Bang? Well, Madame Bang must look out for another lodger. You must +come with me, young man. You need a guardian. It's well that I came in +time to rescue you. Let's be off!" + +And the two youths descended and were soon lost in the crowd. + + +*** + + +"Three flights of steps are bad enough; but great Heavens! what do you +mean by taking a fellow up to the eighth story?" + +Such was the exclamation of Dick as he fell exhausted into a seat in a +little room at the top of one of the tallest houses in Paris. + +"Economy, my dear boy." + +"Ehem!" + +"Paris is overflowing, and I could get no other place without paying +an enormous price. Now I am trying to husband my means." + +"I should think so." + +"I sleep here--" + +"And have plenty of bedfellows." + +"I eat here--" + +"The powers of the human stomach are astounding." + +"And here I invite my friends." + +"Friends only. I should think. Nothing but the truest friendship could +make a man hold out in such an ascent." + +"But come. What are your plans?" + +"I have none." + +"Then you must league yourself with me." + +"I shall be delighted." + +"And I'm going to Italy." + +"Then I'm afraid our league is already at an end." + +"Why?" + +"I haven't money enough." + +"How much have you?" + +"Only five hundred dollars; I've spent all the rest of my allowance." + +"Five hundred? Why, man, I have only four hundred." + +"What! and you're going to Italy?" + +"Certainly." + +"Then I'll go too and run the risk. But is this the style?" and Dick +looked dolefully around. + +"By no means--not always. But you must practice economy." + +"Have you any acquaintances?" + +"Yes, two. We three have formed ourselves into a society for the +purpose of going to Italy. We call ourselves the Dodge Club." + +"The Dodge Club?" + +"Yes. Because our principle is to dodge all humbugs and swindles, +which make travelling so expensive generally. We have gained much +experience already, and hope to gain more. One of my friends is a +doctor from Philadelphia, Doctor Snakeroot, and the other is +Senator Jones from Massachusetts. Neither the Doctor nor the Senator +understands a word of any language but the American. That is the +reason why I became acquainted with them. + +"First as to the Doctor, I picked him up at Dunkirk. It was in a cafe. +I was getting my modest breakfast when I saw him come in. He sat down +and boldly asked for coffee. After the usual delay the garcon brought +him a small cup filled with what looked like ink. On the waiter was a +cup of _eau de vie_, and a little plate containing several enormous +lumps of loaf-sugar. Never shall I forget the Doctor's face of +amazement. He looked at each article in succession. What was the ink +for? what the brandy? what the sugar? He did not know that the two +first when mixed makes the best drink in the world, and that the last +is intended for the pocket of the guest by force of a custom dear to +every Frenchman. To make a long story short, I explained to him the +mysteries of French coffee, and we became sworn friends. + +"My meeting with the Senator was under slightly different +circumstances. It was early in the morning. It was chilly. I was +walking briskly out of town. Suddenly I turned a corner and came upon +a crowd. They surrounded a tall man. He was an American, and appeared +to be insane. First he made gestures like a man hewing or chopping. +Then he drew his hand across his throat. Then he staggered forward and +pretended to fall. Then he groaned heavily. After which he raised +himself up and looked at the crowd with an air of mild inquiry. They +did not laugh. They did not even smile. They listened respectfully, +for they knew that the strange gentleman wished to express something. +On the whole, I think if I hadn't come up that the Senator would have +been arrested by a stiff gendarme who was just then coming along the +street. As it was, I arrived just in time to learn that he was anxious +to see the French mode of killing cattle, and was trying to find his way +to the abattoirs. The Senator is a fine man, but eminently practical. He +used to think the French language an accomplishment only. He has +changed his mind since his arrival here. He has one little +peculiarity, and that is, to bawl broken English at the top of his +voice when he wants to communicate with foreigners." + + +[Illustration: The Club.] + + +Not long afterward the Dodge Club received a new member in the person +of Mr. Dick Whiffletree. The introduction took place in a modest cafe, +where a dinner of six courses was supplied for the ridiculous sum of +one franc--soup, a roast, a fry, a bake, a fish, a pie, bread at +discretion, and a glass of vinegar generously thrown in. + +At one end of the table sat the Senator, a very large and muscular +man, with iron-gray hair, and features that were very strongly marked +and very strongly American. He appeared to be about fifty years of +age. At the other sat the Doctor, a slender young man in black. On +one side sat Buttons, and opposite to him was Dick. + +"Buttons," said the Senator, "were you out yesterday?" + +"I was." + +"It was a powerful crowd." + +"Rather large." + +"It was immense. I never before had any idea of the population of +Paris. New York isn't to be compared to it." + +"As to crowds, that is nothing uncommon in Paris. Set a rat loose in +the Champs Elysees, and I bet ten thousand people will be after it in +five minutes." + +"Sho!" + +"Any thing will raise a crowd in Paris." + +"It will be a small one, then." + +"My dear Senator, in an hour from this I'll engage myself to raise as +large a crowd as the one you saw yesterday." + +"My dear Buttons, you look like it." + +"Will you bet?" + +"Bet? Are you in earnest?" + +"Never more so." + +"But there is an immense crowd outside already." + +"Then let the scene of my trial be in a less crowded place--the Place +Vendome, for instance." + +"Name the conditions." + +"In an hour from this I engage to fill the Place Vendome with people. +Whoever fails forfeits a dinner to the Club." + +The eyes of Dick and the Doctor sparkled. + +"Done!" said the Senator. + +"All that you have to do," said Buttons, "is to go to the top of the +Colonne Vendome and wave your hat three times when you want me to +begin." + +"I'll do that. But it's wrong," said the Senator. "It's taking money +from you. You must lose." + +"Oh, don't be alarmed," said Buttons, cheerfully. + +The Dodge Club left for the Place Vendome, and the Senator, separating +himself from his companions, began the ascent. Buttons left his +friends at a corner to see the result, and walked quickly down a +neighboring street. + + +[Illustration: The Place Vendome.] + + +Dick noticed that every one whom he met stopped, stared, and then +walked quickly forward, looking up at the column. These people +accosted others, who did the same. In a few minutes many hundreds of +people were looking up and exchanging glances with one another. + +In a short time Buttons had completed the circuit of the block, and +re-entered the Place by another street. He was running at a quick +pace, and, at a moderate calculation, about two thousand _gamins de +Paris_ ran before, beside, and behind him. Gens d'armes caught the +excitement, and rushed frantically about. Soldiers called to one +another, and tore across the square gesticulating and shouting. +Carriages stopped; the occupants stared up at the column; horsemen +drew up their rearing horses; dogs barked; children screamed; up +flew a thousand windows, out of which five thousand heads were thrust. + +At the end of twenty minutes, after a very laborious journey, the +Senator reached the top of the column. He looked down. A cry of +amazement burst from him. The immense Place Vendome was crammed with +human beings. Innumerable upturned faces were staring at the startled +Senator. All around, the lofty houses sent all their inmates to the +open window, through which they looked up. The very house-tops were +crowded. Away down all the streets which led to the Place crowds of +human beings poured along. + +"Well," muttered the Senator, "it's evident that Buttons understands +these Frenchmen. However, I must perform my part, so here goes." + +And the Senator, majestically removing his hat, waved it slowly around +his head seven times. At the seventh whirl his fingers slipped, and a +great gust of wind caught the hat and blew it far out into the air. + +It fell. + +A deep groan of horror burst forth from the multitude, so deep, so +long, so terrible that the Senator turned pale. + +A hundred thousand heads upturned; two hundred thousand arms waved +furiously in the air. The tide of new-comers flowing up the other +streets filled the Place to overflowing; and the vast host of people +swayed to and fro, agitated by a thousand passions. All this was the +work of but a short time. + +"Come," said the Senator, "this is getting beyond a joke." + +There was a sudden movement among the people at the foot of the +column. The Senator leaned over to see what it was. + +At once a great cry came up, like the thunder of a cataract, +warningly, imperiously, terribly. The Senator drew back confounded. + +Suddenly he advanced again. He shook his head deprecatingly, and waved +his arms as if to disclaim any evil motives which they might impute to +him. But they did not comprehend him. Scores of stiff gens d'armes, +hundreds of little soldiers, stopped in their rush to the foot of the +column to shake their fists and scream at him. + +"Now if I only understood their doosid lingo," thought the Senator. +"But"--after a pause--"it wouldn't be of no account up here. And what +an awkward fix," he added, "for the father of a family to stand +hatless on the top of a pillory like this! Sho!" + +There came a deep rumble from the hollow stairway beneath him, which +grew nearer and louder every moment. + +"Somebody's coming," said the Senator. "Wa'al, I'm glad. Misery loves +company. Perhaps I can purchase a hat." + +In five minutes more the heads of twenty gens d'armes shot up through +the opening in the top of the pillar, one after another, and reminded +the Senator of the "Jump-up-Johnnies" in children's toys. Six of them +seized him and made him prisoner. + +The indignant Senator remonstrated, and informed them that he was an +American citizen. + +His remark made no impression. They did not understand English. + +The Senator's wrath made his hair fairly bristle. He contented +himself, however, with drawing up the programme of an immediate war +between France and the Great Republic. + +It took an hour for the column to get emptied. It was choked with +people rushing up. Seven gentlemen fainted, and three escaped with +badly sprained limbs. During this time the Senator remained in the +custody of his captors. + +At last the column was cleared. + +The prisoner was taken down and placed in a cab. He saw the dense crowd +and heard the mighty murmurs of the people. + +He was driven away for an immense distance. It seemed miles. + +At last the black walls of a huge edifice rose before him. The cab +drove under a dark archway. The Senator thought of the dungeons of the +Inquisition, and other Old World horrors of which he had heard in his +boyhood. + + +*** + + +So the Senator had to give the dinner. The Club enjoyed it amazingly. + +Almost at the moment of his entrance Buttons had arrived, arm in arm +with the American minister, whose representations and explanations +procured the Senator's release. + +"I wouldn't have minded it so much," said the Senator, from whose +manly bosom the last trace of vexation had fled, "if it hadn't been +for that darned policeman that collared me first. What a Providence +it was that I didn't knock him down! Who do you think he was?" + +"Who?" + +"The very man that was going to arrest me the other day when I was +trying to find my way to the slaughter-house. That man is my evil +genius. I will leave Paris before another day." + +"The loss of your hat completed my plans," said Buttons. "Was that +done on purpose? Did you throw it down for the sake of saying 'Take +my hat?'" + +"No. It was the wind," said the Senator, innocently. "But how did you +manage to raise the crowd? You haven't told us that yet." + +"How? In the simplest way possible. I told every soul I met that a +crazy man was going up the Colonne Vendome to throw himself down." + +A light burst in upon the Senator's soul. He raised his new hat from a +chair, and placing it before Buttons, said fervently and with unction: + +"Keep it, Buttons!" + + +[Illustration: Keep It Buttons!] + + + + +[Illustration: That's A Hotel Bill.] + + +CHAPTER II. + + +ORLEANS.--HOW TO QUELL A LANDLORD.--HOW TO FIGHT OFF HUMBUGS; AND HOW +TO TRAVEL WITHOUT BAGGAGE. + +A tremendous uproar in the hall of a hotel at Orleans awaked every +member of the Dodge Club from the sound and refreshing slumber into +which they had fallen after a fatiguing journey from Paris. + +Filing out into the hall one after another they beheld a singular +spectacle. + +It was a fat man, bald-headed, middle-aged, with a well-to-do look, +that burst upon their sight. + +He was standing in the hall with flushed face and stocking feet, +swearing most frightfully. A crowd of waiters stood around shrugging +their shoulders, and trying to soothe him. As the fat man spoke +English, and the waiters French, there was a little misapprehension. + +"There, gentlemen," cried the fat man, as he caught sight of our four +friends, "look at that! What do you call that?" + +"That?" said Buttons, taking a paper which the fat man thrust in his +face, "why, that's a hotel bill." + +"A hotel bill? Why it's an imposition!" cried the other excitedly. + +"Perhaps it is," said Buttons, coolly. + +"Of course it is! Read it out loud, and let these gentlemen see what +they think of it." + +"I'll read it in English," said Buttons, "for the benefit of the +Club:" + + +Mister Blank, + +To the Hotel du Roi: + + +One dinner..........3 francs. +Six porters.........6 francs. +One cab.............2 francs. +One do..............2 francs. +One information.....5 francs. +Wine................5 francs. +Tobacco............ 2 francs. +One bed.............5 francs. +One boots...........1 francs. +One candle..........1 francs. +One candle..........1 francs. +One candle..........1 francs. +One candle..........1 francs. +============================= + 35 francs. + + +"By Jove! Thirty-five francs! My dear Sir. I quite agree with you. +It's an imposition." + +A deep sigh expressed the relief of the fat man at this mark of +sympathy. + +"There's no redress," said Buttons. "You'll have to grin and bear it. +For you must know that in these inland towns hotel-keepers are in +league, offensive and defensive, with all the cab-drivers, +omnibus-drivers, postillions, truckmen, hostlers, porters, +errand-boys, cafe-keepers, cicerones, tradesmen, lawyers, +chambermaids, doctors, priests, soldiers, gens d'armes, magistrates, +etc., etc., etc. In short, the whole community is a joint-stock +company organized to plunder the unsuspecting traveller." + +"And must I stand here and be swindled without a word?" cried the +other. + +"By no means. Row like fury. Call up the whole household one by one, +and swear at them in broad Saxon. That's the way to strike terror into +the soul of a Frenchman." + +The fat man stared for a moment at Buttons, and then plunging his +hands deep into his trowsers pockets he walked up and down the hall. + +At last he turned to the others: "Gentlemen, is this endurable?" + +"Horrible!" cried Dick. + +"Abominable!" the Doctor. + +"Infamous!" the Senator. + +"By jingo! I've a great mind to go home. If I've pot to be plundered, +I'd a durned sight rather have my money go to support our own great +and glorious institutions." + +There is no doubt that the unfortunate man would have had to pay up if +it bad not been for the energetic action of Buttons. + +He summoned the hotel-keeper before him, and closing the door, asked +his friends to sit down. + +Then Buttons, standing up, began to repeat to the hotel-keeper, +smilingly, but with extraordinary volubility, Daniel Webster's oration +against Hayne. The polite Frenchman would not interrupt him, but +listened with a bland though somewhat dubious smile. + +The Dodge Club did infinite credit to themselves by listening without +a smile to the words of their leader. + +Buttons then went through the proposition about the hypothenuse of a +right-angled triangle, and appended the words of a few negro songs. + +Here the worthy landlord interrupted him, begging his pardon, and +telling him that he did not understand English very well, and could +his Excellency speak French? + +His Excellency, with equal politeness, regretted his want of complete +familiarity with French. He was forced when he felt deeply on any +subject to express himself in English. + +Then followed Cicero's oration against Verres, and he was just +beginning a speech of Chatham's when the landlord surrendered at +discretion. + +When, after the lapse of three hours and twenty-five minutes, the fat +man held his bill toward him, and Buttons offered five francs, he did +not even remonstrate, but took the money, and hastily receipting the +bill with his pencil, darted from the room. + +"Well," exclaimed the Senator, when he had recovered from the effects +of the scene--"I never before realized the truth of a story I once +heard." + +"What was the story?" + +"Oh, it was about a bet between a Yankee and a Frenchman, who could +talk the longest. The two were shut up in a room. They remained there +three days. At the end of that time their friends broke open the door +and entered, and what do you think they found there?" + +"Nobody?" suggested the fat man. + +"No," said the Senator, with a glow of patriotic pride on his fine +face. "But they found the Frenchman lying dead upon the floor, and the +Yankee whispering in his ear the beginning of the second part of the +Higgins story." + +"And what is the Higgins story?" + +"For Heaven's sake," gasped the Doctor, starting up, "don't ask him +now--wait till next week!" + +As they passed over the Mountains of Auvergne a new member was added +to the Dodge Club. + +It was the fat man. + +He was President of a Western bank. + +His name was Figgs. + + +*** + + +It was a damp, dull, dreary, drenching night, when the lumbering +diligence bore the Dodge Club through the streets of Lyons and up to +the door of their hotel. Seventeen men and five small boys stood +bowing ready to receive them. + +The Senator, Buttons, and Dick took the small valises which contained +their travelling apparel, and dashed through the line of servitors +into the house. The Doctor walked after, serenely and majestically. +He had no baggage. Mr. Figgs descended from the roof with considerable +difficulty. Slipping from the wheel, he fell into the outstretched +arms of three waiters. They put him on his feet. + +His luggage was soon ready. + +Mr. Figgs had two trunks and various other articles. Of these trunks +seven waiters took one, and four the other. Then + + +Waiter No. 12 took hat-box; +Waiter No. 13 took travelling desk; +Waiter No. 14 took Scotch plaid; +Waiter No. 15 took over-coat; +Waiter No. 16 took umbrella; +Waiter No. 17 took rubber coat; +Boy No. 1 took cane; +Boy No. 2 took muffler; +Boy No. 3 took one of his mittens; +Boy No. 4 took the other; +Boy No. 5 took cigar-case. + + +After a long and laborious dinner they rose and smoked. + + +[Illustration: Cicero Against Verres.] + + +[Illustration: Sac-r-r-r-re.] + + +The head waiter informed Mr. Figgs that with his permission a +deputation would wait on him. Mr. Figgs was surprised but +graciously invited the deputation to walk in. They accordingly +walked in. Seventeen men and five boys. + +"What did they want?" + +"Oh, only a _pourboire_ with which to drink his Excellency's +noble health." + +"Really they did his Excellency too much honor. Were they not +mistaken in their man?" + +"Oh no. They had carried his luggage into the hotel." + +Upon this Mr. Figgs gave strong proof of poor moral training, by +breaking out into a volley of Western oaths, which shocked one +half of the deputation, and made the other half grin. + +Still they continued respectful but firm, and reiterated their +demand. + +Mr. Figgs called for the landlord. That gentleman was in bed. +For his wife. She did not attend to the business. For the head +waiter. The spokesman of the deputation, with a polite bow, +informed him that the head waiter stood before him and was quite +at his service. + +The scene was ended by the sudden entrance of Buttons, who, +motioning to Mr. Figgs, proceeded to give each waiter a douceur. +One after another took the proffered coin, and without looking +at it, thanked the generous donor with a profusion of bows. + +Five minutes after the retreating form of Buttons had vanished +through the door, twenty-persons, consisting of men and boys, +stood staring at one another in blank amazement. + +Anger followed; then +sac-r-r-r-_r-r-r_-R-R-R-_R-Re_! + +He had given each one a _centime_. + +But the customs of the hotel were not to be changed by the shabby +conduct of one mean-minded person. When the Club prepared to retire +for the night they were taken to some rooms opening in to each other. +Five waiters led the way; one waiter to each man, and each carried a +pair of tall wax-candles. Mr. Figgs's waiter took him to his room, +laid down the lights, and departed. + +The doors which connected the rooms were all opened, and Mr. +Figgs walked through to see about something. He saw the Doctor, +the Senator, Buttons, and Dick, each draw the short, well-used +stump of a wax-candle from his coat pocket and gravely light it. +Then letting the melted wax fall on the mantle-pieces they stuck +their candles there, and in a short time the rooms were +brilliantly illuminated. + +The waiters were thunderstruck. Such a procedure had never come +within the compass of their experience of the ways of travellers. + +"Bonsoir," said Buttons. "Don't let us detain you." + +They went out stupefied. + +"What's the idea now?" inquired Mr. Figgs. + +"Oh. They charge a franc apiece for each candle, and that is a +swindle which we will not submit to." + +"And will I have to be humbugged again?" + +"Certainly." + +"Botheration." + +"My dear Sir, the swindle of bougies is the curse of the +Continental traveller. None of us are particularly prudent, but +we are all on the watch against small swindles, and of them all +this is the most frequent and most insidious, the most constantly +and ever recurrent. Beware, my dear President, of bougies--that's +what we call candles." + +Mr. Figgs said nothing, but leaned against the wall for a moment +in a meditative mood, as if debating what he should do next. + +He happened to be in the Doctor's room. He had already noticed +that this gentleman had no perceptible baggage, and didn't +understand it. + +But now he saw it all. + +The Doctor began gravely to make preparations for the night. + +Before taking off his over-coat he drew various articles from +the pockets, among which were: + + +A hair-brush, +A tooth-brush, +A shoe-brush, +A pot of blacking, +A night-shirt, +A clothes-broth, +A pipe, +A pouch of tobacco, +A razor, +A shaving-brush, +A piece of soap, +A night-cap, +A bottle of hair-oil, +A pistol, +A guide-book, +A cigar-case, +A bowie-knife, +A piece of cord, +A handkerchief, +A case of surgical instruments, +Some bits of candles. + + +Mr. Figgs rushed from the room. + + + + +[Illustration: Number 729.] + + +CHAPTER III. + + +THE RHONE IN A RAIN.--THE MAD FRENCHMAN.--SUICIDE A CAPITAL +CRIME IN FRANCE. + + +The steamboats that run on the Rhone are very remarkable +contrivances. Their builders have only aimed at combining a +maximum of length with a minimum of other qualities, so that +each boat displays an incredible extent of deck with no +particular breadth at all. Five gentlemen took refuge in the +cabin of the _Etoile_, from the drenching rain which fell during +half of their voyage. This was an absurd vessel, that made trips +between Lyons and Avignon. Her accommodations resembled those of +a canal boat, and she was propelled by a couple of paddle-wheels +driven by a Lilliputian engine. It was easy enough for her to go +down the river, as the current took the responsibility of moving +her along; but how she could ever get back it was difficult to +tell. + +They were borne onward through some of the fairest scenes on +earth. Ruined towers, ivy-covered castles, thunder-blasted +heights, fertile valleys, luxuriant orchards, terraced slopes, +trellised vineyards, broad plains, bounded by distant mountains, +whose summits were lost in the clouds; such were the successive +charms of the region through which they were passing. Yet though +they were most eloquently described in the letters which Buttons +wrote home to his friends, it must be confessed that they made +but little impression at the time, and indeed were scarcely seen +at all through the vapor-covered cabin windows. + +Avignon did not excite their enthusiasm. In vain the guide-book +told them about Petrarch and Laura. The usual raptures were not +forthcoming. In vain the cicerone led them through the old papal +palace. Its sombre walls awakened no emotion. The only effect +produced was on the Senator, who whiled away the hours of early +bed-time by pointing out the superiority of American institutions +to those which reared the prisons which they had visited. + +Arles was much more satisfactory. There are more pretty women in +Arles than in any other town of the same size on the Continent. +The Club created an unusual excitement in this peaceful town by +walking slowly through it in Indian file, narrowly scrutinizing +every thing. They wondered much at the numbers of people that +filled the cathedral, all gayly dressed. It was not until after +a long calculation that they found out that it was Sunday. +Buttons kept his memorandum-book in his hand all day, and took +account of all the pretty women whom he saw. The number rose as +high as 729. He would have raised it higher, but unfortunately +an indignant citizen put a stop to it by charging him with +impertinence to his wife. + +On the railroad to Marseilles is a famous tunnel. At the last +station before entering the tunnel a gentleman got in. As they +passed through the long and gloomy place there suddenly arose a +most outrageous noise in the car. + +It was the new passenger. + +Occasionally the light shining in would disclose him, dancing, +stamping, tearing his hair, rolling his eyes, gnashing his +teeth, and cursing. + +"Is he crazy?" said Dick. + +"Or drunk?" said Buttons. + +Lo and behold! just as the train emerged from the tunnel the +passenger made a frantic dash at the window, flung it open, and +before any body could speak or move he was half out. + +To spring over half a dozen seats, to land behind him, to seize +his outstretched leg, to jerk him in again, was but the work of +a moment. It was Buttons who did this, and who banged down the +window again. + +"Sac-r-r-R-R-Re!" cried the Frenchman. + +"Is it that you are mad?" said Buttons. + +"Sacre Bleu!" cried the other. "Who are you that lays hands on me?" + +"I saved you from destruction." + +"Then, Sir, you have no thanks. Behold me, I'm a desperate man!" + +In truth he looked like one. His clothes were all disordered. +His lips were bleeding, and most of his hair was torn out. By +this time the guard had come to the spot. All those in the car +had gathered round. It was a long car, second-class, like the +American. + +"M'sieu, how is this? What is it that I see? You endeavor to +kill yourself?" + +"Leave me. I am desperate." + +"But no. M'sieu, what is it?" + +"Listen. I enter the train thinking to go to Avignon. I have +important business there, most important. Suddenly I am struck by a +thought. I find I have mistaken. I am carried to Marseilles. It is +the express train, and I must go all the way. Horror! Despair! Life is +of no use! It is time to resign, it! I die! Accordingly I attempt to +leap from the window, when this gentleman seizes me by the leg and +pulls me in. Behold all." + +"M'sieu," said the guard, slowly, and with emphasis, "you have +committed a grave offense. Suicide is a capital crime." + +"A capital crime!" exclaimed the Frenchman, turning pale. "Great +Heaven!" + +"Yes, Sir. If you leap from the car I shall put you in irons, and hand +you over to the police when we stop." + +The Frenchman's pale face grew paler. He became humble. He entreated +the guard's compassion. He begged Buttons to intercede. He had a +family. Moreover he had fought in the wars of his country. He had +warred in Africa. He appealed to the Senator, the Doctor, to Figgs, +to Dick. Finally he became calm, and the train shortly after arrived +at Marseilles. + +The last that was seen of him he was rushing frantically about looking +for the return train. + + +[Illustration: Horror! Despair!] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +MARSEILLES. + + +Old Massilia wears her years well. To look at her now as she appears, +full of life and joy and gayety, no one would imagine that thirty +centuries or more had passed over her head. + +Here is the first glimpse of the glorious South, with all its sunshine +and luxury and voluptuous beauty. Here the Mediterranean rolls its +waters of deepest blue, through the clear air the landscape appears +with astonishing distinctness, and the sharply-defined lines of +distinct objects surprise the Northern eye. Marseilles is always a +picturesque city. No commercial town in the world can compare with it +in this respect. On the water float the Mediterranean craft, rakish +boats, with enormous latteen sails; long, low, sharp, black vessels, +with a suspicious air redolent of smuggling and piracy. No tides +rise and fall--advance and retreat. The waters are always the same. + +All the Mediterranean nations are represented in Marseilles. +Three-quarters of the world send their people here. Europe, Asia, +Africa. In the streets the Syrian jostles the Spaniard; the Italian +the Arab; the Moor jokes with the Jew; the Greek chaffers with the +Algerine; the Turk scowls at the Corsican; the Russian from Odessa +pokes the Maltese in the ribs. There is no want of variety here. +Human nature is seen under a thousand aspects. Marseilles is the most +cosmopolitan of cities, and represents not only many races but many +ages. + +Moreover it is a fast city. New York is not more ambitions; Chicago +not more aspiring; San Francisco not more confident in its future. +Amazing sight! Here is a city which, at the end of three thousand +years, looks forward to a longer and grander life in the future. + +And why? + +Why, because she expects yet to be the arbiter of Eastern commerce. +Through her the gold, the spices, and the gems of India will yet be +conveyed over the European world. For the Suez Canal, which will once +more turn the tide of this mighty traffic through its ancient +Mediterranean channel, will raise Marseilles to the foremost rank +among cities. + +So, at least, the Marseillaise believe. When our travellers arrived +there the city was crammed with soldiers. The harbor was packed with +steamships. Guns were thundering, bands playing, fifes screaming, +muskets rattling, regiments tramping, cavalry galloping. Confusion +reigned supreme. Every thing was out of order. No one spoke or thought +of any thing but the coming war in Lombardy. + +Excitable little red-legged French soldiers danced about everywhere. +Every one was beside himself. None could use the plain language of +every-day life. All were intoxicated with hope and enthusiasm. + +The travellers admired immensely the exciting scene, but their +admiration was changed to disgust when they found that on account +of the rush of soldiers to Italy their own prospects of getting there +were extremely slight. + +At length they found that a steamer was going. It was a propeller. +Its name was the _Prince_. The enterprising company that owned her +had patriotically chartered every boat on their line to the +Government at an enormous profit, and had placed the _Prince_ on the +line for the use of travellers. + + + + +[Illustration: Those Italians.] + + +CHAPTER V. + + +THE RETIRED ORGAN-GRINDER.--THE SENATOR PHILOSOPHIZES.--EVILS OF NOT +HAVING A PASSPORT. + + +The Mediterranean is the most glorious of seas. The dark-blue waves; +the skies of darker blue; the distant hills of purple, with their +crowns of everlasting snow; and the beetling precipice, where the +vexed waters forever throw up their foaming spray; the frequent +hamlets that nestle among them, the castles and towers that crown the +lofty heights; and the road that winds tortuously along the shore--all +these form a scene in which beauty more romantic than that of the +Rhine is contrasted with all the grandeur of the ocean. + +Buttons, with his usual flexible and easy disposition, made the +acquaintance of a couple of Italians who had been away from Italy +and were now returning. They were travelling second-class. + +Buttons supposed they were glad to get back. + +"Glad? Did he doubt it? Why, they were Italians." + +"Are Italians fonder of their country than others?" + +"Without doubt. Had they not the best reason to be?" + +"Why?" + +"They had the garden and pride of the world for their country. +Mention any other in the same breath with Italy." + +"If they love it so much why can they not keep it for themselves?" + +"How can you ask that? If you know the history of the country you will +see that it has been impossible. No other was ever so beset. It is +split up into different States. It is surrounded by powerful enemies +who take advantage of this. It would not be so bad if there were only +one foreign foe; but there are many, and if one were driven out another +would step in." + +"There will be a chance for them now to show what they can do." + +"True; and you will see what they will do. They only want the French +to open the way. We Italians can do the rest ourselves. It is a good +time to go to Italy. You will see devotion and patriotism such as you +never saw before. There is no country so beloved as Italy." + +"I think other nations are as patriotic." + +"Other nations! What nations? Do you know that the Italians can not +leave Italy? It is this love that keeps them home. French, Germans, +Spaniards, Portuguese, English--all others leave their homes, and +go all over the world to live. Italians can not and do not." + +"I have seen Italians in America." + +"You have seen Italian exiles, not emigrants. Or you have seen them +staying there for a few years so as to earn a little money to go back +with. They are only travellers on business. They are always unhappy, +and are always cheered by the prospect of getting home at last." + +These Italians were brothers, and from experience in the world had +grown very intelligent. One had been in the hand-organ business, +the other in the image-making line. Italians can do nothing else +in the bustling communities of foreign nations. Buttons looked with +respect upon those men who thus had carried their lore for their +dear Art for years through strange lands and uncongenial climes. + +"If I were an Italian I too would be an organ-grinder!" he at length +exclaimed. + +The Italians did not reply, but evidently thought that Buttons could +not be in a better business. + +"These _I_talians," said the Senator, to whom Buttons had told +the conversation--"these _I_talians," said he, after they had gone, +"air a singular people. They're deficient. They're wanting in the +leading element of the age. They haven't got any idee of the principle +of pro-gress. They don't understand trade. There's where they miss it. +What's the use of hand-organs? What's the use of dancers? What's the +use of statoos, whether plaster images or marble sculptoor? Can they +clear forests or build up States? No, Sir; and therefore I say that +this _I_talian nation will never be wuth a cuss until they are +inoculated with the spirit of Seventy-six, the principles of the +Pilgrim Fathers, and the doctrines of the Revolution. Boney knows it" +--he added, sententiously--"bless you, Boney knows it." + +After a sound sleep, which lasted until late in the following day, +they went out on deck. + +There lay Genoa. + +Glorious sight! As they stood looking at the superb city the sun +poured down upon the scene his brightest rays. The city rose in +successive terraces on the side of a semicircular slope crowned with +massive edifices; moles projected into the harbor terminated by lofty +towers; the inner basin was crowded with shipping, prominent among +which were countless French ships of war and transports. The yells of +fifes, the throbbing of drums, the bang of muskets, the thunder of +cannon, and the strains of martial music filled die air. Boats crowded +with soldiers constantly passed from the ship to the stone quays, +where thousands more waited to receive them--soldiers being mixed up +with guns, cannons, wheels, muskets, drums, baggage, sails, beams, +timbers, camps, mattresses, casks, boxes, irons, in infinite +confusion. + +"We must go ashore here," said Buttons. "Does any body know how long +the steamer will remain here?" + +"A day." + +"A day! That will be magnificent! We will be able to see the whole +city in that time. Let's go and order a boat off." + +The Captain received them politely. + +"What did Messieurs want? To go ashore? With the utmost pleasure. Had +they their passports? Of course they had them _vised_ in Marseilles +for Genoa." + +Buttons looked blank, and feebly inquired: + +"Why?" + +"It's the law, Monsieur. We are prohibited from permitting passengers +to go ashore unless their passports are all right. It's a mere form." + +"A mere form!" cried Buttons. "Why, ours are _vised_ for Naples." + +"Naples!" cried the Captain, with a shrug; "you are unfortunate, +Messieurs. That will not pass you to Genoa." + +"My dear Sir, you don't mean to tell me that, on account of this +little informality, you will keep us prisoners on board of this +vessel? Consider--" + +"Monsieur," said the Captain, courteously, "I did not make these +laws. It is the law; I can not change it. I should be most happy +to oblige you, but I ask you, how is it possible?" + +The Captain was right. He could do nothing. The travellers would +have to swallow their rage. + + +[Illustration: Genoa, The Superb.] + + +Imagine them looking all day at the loveliest of Italian scenes-- +the glorious city of Genoa, with all its historic associations!-- +the city of the Dorias, the home of Columbus, even now the scene +of events upon which the eyes of all the world were fastened. + +Imagine them looking upon all this, and only looking, unable to go +near; seeing all the preparations for war, but unable to mingle with +the warriors. To pace up and down all day; to shake their fists at the +scene; to fret, and fume, and chafe with irrepressible impatience; to +scold, to rave, to swear--this was the lot of the unhappy tourists. + +High in the startled heavens rose the thunder of preparations for the +war in Lombardy. They heard the sounds, but could not watch the scene +near at hand. + +The day was as long as an ordinary week, but at length it came to an +end. On the following morning steam was got up, and they went to +Leghorn. + +"I suppose they will play the same game on us at Leghorn," said Dick, +mournfully. + +"Without doubt," said Buttons. "But I don't mind; the bitterness of +Death is past. I can stand any thing now." + +Again the same tantalizing view of a great city from afar. Leghorn lay +inviting them, but the unlucky passport kept them on board of the +vessel. The Senator grew impatient, Mr. Figgs and the Doctor were +testy; Dick and Buttons alone were calm. It was the calmness of +despair. + +After watching Leghorn for hours they were taken to Civita Vecchia. +Here they rushed down below, and during the short period of their stay +remained invisible. + +At last their voyage ended, and they entered the harbor of Naples. +Glorious Naples! Naples the captivating! + +"_Vede Napoli_, _e poi mori_!" + +There was the Bay of Naples--the matchless, the peerless, the +indescribable! There the rock of Ischia, the Isle of Capri, there the +slopes of Sorrento, where never-ending spring abides; there the long +sweep of Naples and her sister cities; there Vesuvius, with its thin +volume of smoke floating like a pennon in the air! + + + + +[Illustration. Their Noble Excellencies.] + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +LAZARONI AND MACARONI. + + +About forty or fifty lazaroni surrounded the Dodge Club when they +landed, but to their intense disgust the latter ignored them +altogether, and carried their own umbrellas and carpet-bags. But the +lazaroni revenged themselves. As the Doctor stooped to pick up his +cane, which had fallen, a number of articles dropped from his +breast-pocket, and among them was a revolver, a thing which was +tabooed in Naples. A ragged rascal eagerly snatched it and handed it +to a gendarme, and it was only after paying a piastre that the Doctor +was permitted to retain it. + +Even after the travellers had started on foot in search of lodgings +the lazaroni did not desert them. Ten of them followed everywhere. +At intervals they respectfully offered to carry their baggage, or show +them to a hotel, whichever was most agreeable to their Noble +Excellencies. + +Their Noble Excellencies were in despair. At length, stumbling upon +The Cafe dell' Europa, they rushed in and passed three hours over +their breakfast. This done, they congratulated themselves on. Having +got rid of their followers. + +In vain! + +Scarcely had they emerged from the cafe than Dick uttered a cry of +horror. From behind a corner advanced their ten friends, with the +same calm demeanor, the game unruffled and even cheerful patience, +and the same respectful offer of their humble services. + +In despair they separated. Buttons and Dick obtained lodgings in the +Strada di San Bartollomeo. The Senator and the other two engaged +pleasant rooms on the Strada Nuova, which overlooked the Bay. + +Certainly Naples is a very curious place. There are magnificent +edifices--palaces, monuments, castles, fortresses, churches, and +cathedrals. There are majestic rows of buildings; gay shops, +splendidly decorated; stately colonnades, and gardens like Paradise. +There are streets unrivalled for gayety, forever filled to overflowing +with the busy, the laughing, the jolly; dashing officers, noisy +soldiers, ragged lazaroni, proud nobles, sickly beggars, lovely +ladies; troops of cavalry galloping up and down; ten thousand caleches +dashing to and fro. There is variety enough everywhere. + +All the trades are divided, and arranged in different parts of the +city. Here are the locksmiths, there the cabinet-makers; here the +builders, there the armorers; in this place the basket-weavers, in +that the cork-makers. + +And most amusing of all is the street most favored of the lazaroni. +Here they live, and move, and have their being; here they are born, +they grow, they wed, they rear families, they eat, and drink, and die. +A long array of furnaces extends up the street; over each is a +stew-pan, and behind each a cook armed with an enormous ladle. At all +hours of the day the cook serves up macaroni to customers. This is the +diet of the people. + +In the cellars behind those lines of stew-pans are the eating-houses +of the vulgar--low, grimy places, floors incrusted with mud, tables of +thick deal worn by a thousand horny hands, slippery with ten thousand +upset dishes of macaroni. Here the pewter plates, and the iron knives, +forks, and spoons are chained to the massive tables. How utter must +the destitution be when it is thought necessary to chain up such +worthless trash! + +Into one of these places went Buttons and Dick in their study of human +nature. They sat at the table. A huge dish of macaroni was served up. +Fifty guests stopped to look at the new-comers. The waiters winked at +the customers of the house, and thrust their tongues in their cheeks. + + +[Illustration: Lazaroni And Macaroni.] + + +Dick could not eat, but the more philosophical Buttons made an +extremely hearty meal, and pronounced the macaroni delicious. + +On landing in a city which swarmed with beggars the first thought of +our tourists was, How the mischief do they all live? There are sixty +thousand lazaroni in this gay city. The average amount of clothing to +each man is about one-third of a pair of trowsers and a woolen cap. +But after spending a day or two the question changed its form, and +became, How the mischief can they all help living? Food may be picked +up in the streets. Handfuls of oranges and other fruits sell for next +to nothing; strings of figs cost about a cent. + +The consequence is that these sixty thousand people, fellow-creatures +of ours, who are known as the lazaroni of Naples, whom we half pity +and altogether despise, and look upon as lowest members of the +Caucasian race, are not altogether very miserable. On the contrary, +taken as a whole, they form the oiliest, fattest, drollest, noisiest, +sleekest, dirtiest, ignorantest, prejudicedest, narrow-mindedest, +shirtlessest, clotheslessest, idlest, carelessest, jolliest, +absurdest, rascaliest--but still, all that, perhaps--taken all in +all--the happiest community on the face of the earth. + + + + +[Illustration: Yankee Doodle.] + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +DOLORES.--AN ITALIAN MAID LEARNS ENGLISH.--A ROMANTIC ADVENTURE.--A +MASQUERADE, AND WHAT BEFELL THE SENATOR.--A CHARMING DOMINO.--A +MOONLIGHT WALK, AND AN ASTOUNDING DISCOVERY. + + +The lodgings of Buttons and Dick were in a remarkably central part of +Naples. The landlord was a true Neapolitan; a handsome, gay, witty, +noisy, lively, rascally, covetous, ungrateful, deceitful, cunning, +good-hearted old scoundrel, who took advantage of his guests in a +thousand ways, and never spoke to them without trying to humbug them. +He was the father of a pretty daughter who had all her parent's nature +somewhat toned down, and expanded in a feminine mould. + +Buttons had a chivalrous soul, and so had Dick; the vivacity of this +very friendly young lady was like an oasis in the wilderness of +travel. In the evening they loved to sit in the sunshine of her smile. +She was singularly unconventional, this landlord's daughter, and made +many informal calls on her two lodgers in their apartment. + +An innocent, sprightly little maid--name Dolores--age seventeen-- +complexion olive--hair jet black--eyes like stars, large, luminous, +and at the same time twinkling--was anxious to learn English, +especially to sing English songs; and so used to bring her guitar and +sing for the Americans. Would they teach her their national song? "Oh +yes happy beyond expression to do so." + +The result, after ten lessons, was something like this: + + + "Anty Dooda tumma towna + By his sef a po-ne + Stacca fadda inna sat + Kalla Maccaroni." + + +She used to sing this in the most charming manner, especially the last +word in the last line. Not the least charm in her manner was her +evident conviction that she had mastered the English language. + +"Was it not an astonishing thing for so young a Signorina to know +English?" + +"Oh, it was indeed!" said Buttons, who knew Italian very well, and had +the lion's share of the conversation always. + +"And they said her accent was fine?" + +"Oh, most beautiful!" + +"Bellissima! Bellissima!" repeated little Dolores, and she would laugh +until her eyes overflowed with delighted vanity. + +"Could any Signorina Americana learn Italian in so short a time?" + +"No, not one. They had not the spirit. They could never equal her most +beautiful accent." + +"Ah! you say all the time that my accent is most beautiful." + +One day she picked up a likeness of a young lady which was lying on +the table. + +"Who is this?" she asked, abruptly, of Buttons. + +"A Signorina." + +"Oh yes! I know; but is she a relative?" + +"No." + +"Are you married?" + +"No." + +"Is this your affianced?" + +"Yes." + +"Ah, how strange! What will you bet?--a soldier or an advocate?" + +"Neither. I will be a priest." + +"A priest! Signor, what is it that you tell me? How can this be your +affianced lady?" + +"Oh! in our country the priests all marry, and live in beautiful +little cottages, with a garden in front." + +This Dolores treated with the most contemptuous incredulity. Who ever +heard of such a thing? Impossible! Moreover, it was so absurd. Buttons +told her that he was affianced five years ago. + +"An eternity!" exclaimed Dolores. "How can you wait? But you must have +been very young." + +"Young? Yes, only sixteen." + +"Blessed and most venerable Virgin! Only sixteen! And is she the most +beautiful girl you know?" + +"No." + +"Where have you seen one more so?" + +"In Naples." + +"Who is she?" + +"An Italian." + +"What is her name?" + +"Dolores." + +"That's me." + +"I mean you." + +This was pretty direct; but Dolores was frank, and required +frankness from others. Some young ladies would have considered this +too coarse and open to be acceptable. But Dolores had so high an +opinion of herself that she took it for sincere homage. So she half +closed her eyes, leaned back in her chair, looked languishingly at +Buttons, and then burst into a merry peal of musical laughter. + +"I think I am the most beautiful girl you ever saw." + +It was Buttons's turn to laugh. He told Dolores that she was quite +right, and repeated her favorite word, "Belissima!" + +One evening when Dick was alone in the room a knock came to the door. + +"Was he disengaged?" + +"Oh, quite." + +"The Signora in the room next--" + +"Yes." + +"Would be happy to see him." + +"Now?" + +"Yes, as soon as he liked." + + +[Illustration: I Kiss Hands.] + + +The Signora did not have to wait long. In less time than it takes to +tell this Dick stood with his best bow before her. How he +congratulated himself on having studied Italian! The lady reclined on +a sofa. She was about thirty, and undeniably pretty. A guitar lay at +her feet. Books were scattered around--French novels, and manuals of +devotion. Intelligence beamed from her large, expressive eyes. How +delightful! Here was an adventure, perhaps a fair conquest. + +"Good-evening, Signor!" + +"I kiss the hands to your ladyship," said Dick, mustering a sentence +from Ollendorff. + +"Pardon me for this liberty." + +"I assure you it gives me the greatest happiness, and I am wholly at +your service." + +"I have understood that you are an American." + +"I am, Signora." + +"And this is your first visit to Naples?" + +"My first, Signora." + +"How does Naples please you?" + +"Exceedingly. The beautiful city, the crowded streets, the delightful +views--above all, the most charming ladies." + +A bow--a slight flush passed over the lady's face, and Dick whispered +to himself-- + +"Well put, Dick, my boy--deuced well put for a beginner." + +"To come to the point," said the lady, with sigh.--("Ah, here we have +it!" thought Dick--the point--blessed moment!)--"I would not have +ventured to trouble you for any slight cause, Signor, but this nearly +concerns myself."--(Keep down--our heart, murmured Dick--cool, you +dog--cool!)--"My happiness and my tenderest feelings--"(Dick's +suffused eyes expressed deep sympathy.)--"I thought of you--" + +"Ah, Signora!" + +"And not being acquainted with you--"(What a shame!--_aside_)--I +concluded to waive all formality"--(Social forms are generally a +nuisance to ardent souls--_aside_)--"and to communicate at once with +you." + +"Signora, let me assure you that this is the happiest moment in my +life." + +The Signora looked surprised, but went on in a sort of preoccupied +way: + +"I want to know if you can tell me any thing about my brother." + +"Brother!" + +"Who is now in America." + +Dick opened his eyes. + +"I thought that perhaps you could tell me how he is. I have not heard +from him for two years, and feel very anxious." + +Dick sat for a moment surprised at this unexpected turn. The lady's +anxiety about her brother he could see was not feigned. So he +concealed his disappointment, and in his most engaging manner informed +her that he had not seen her brother; but if she could tell him his +name, and the place where he was living, he might be able to tell +something about him. + + +[Illustration: The Young Hussar.] + + +"His name," sighed the lady, "is Giulio Fanti." + +"And the place?" + +"Rio Janeiro." + +"Rio Janeiro?" + +"Yes," said the lady, slowly. + +Dick was in despair. Not to know any thing of her brother would make +her think him stupid. So he attempted to explain: + +"America," he began, "is a very large country--larger, in fact, than +the whole Kingdom of Naples. It is principally inhabited by savages, +who are very hostile to the whites. The whites have a few cities, +however. In the North the whites all speak English. In the South they +all speak Spanish. The South Americans are good Catholics, and +respect the Holy Father; but the English in the North are all +heretics. Consequently there is scarcely any communication between +the two districts." + +The lady had heard somewhere that in the American wars they employed +the savages to assist them. Dick acknowledged the truth of this with +candor, but with pain. She would see by this why he was unable to tell +her any thing about her brother. His not knowing that brother was now +the chief sorrow of his life. The lady earnestly hoped that Rio +Janeiro was well protected from the savages. + +"Oh, perfectly so. The fortifications of that city are impregnable." + +Dick thus endeavored to give the lady an idea of America. The +conversation gradually tapered down until the entrance of a gentleman +brought it to a close. Dick bowed himself out. + +"At any rate," he murmured, "if the lady wanted to inspect me she had +a chance, and if she wanted to pump me she ought to be satisfied." + + +*** + + +One evening Buttons and Dick came in and found a stranger chatting +familiarly with the landlord and a young hussar. The stranger was +dressed like a cavalry officer, and was the most astounding fop that +the two Americans had ever seen. He paced up and down, head erect, +chest thrown out, sabre clanking, spurs jingling, eyes sparkling, +ineffable smile. He strode up to the two youths, spun round on one +heel, bowed to the ground, waved his hand patronizingly, and welcomed +them in. + +"A charming night, gallant gentlemen. A bewitching night. All Naples +is alive. All the world is going. Are you?" + +The young men stared, and coldly asked where? + +"Ha, ha, ha!" A merry peal of laughter rang out. "Absolutely--if the +young Americans are not stupid. They don't know me!" + +"Dolores!" exclaimed Buttons. + +"Yes," exclaimed the other. "How do you like me? Am I natural?--eh? +military? Do I look terrible?" + +And Dolores skipped up and down with a strut beyond description, +breathing hard and frowning. + +"If you look so fierce you will frighten us away," said Buttons. + +"How do I look, now?" she said, standing full before him with folded +arms, _a la_ Napoleon at St. Helena. + +"Bellissima! Bellissima!" said Buttons, in unfeigned admiration. + +"Ah!" ejaculated Dolores, smacking her lips, and puffing out her +little dimpled cheeks. "Oh!" and her eyes sparkled more brightly with +perfect joy and self-contentment. + +"And what is all this for?" + +"Is it possible that you do not know?" + +"I have no idea." + +"Then listen. It is at the Royal Opera-house. It will be the greatest +masquerade ball ever given." + +"Oh--a masquerade ball!--and you?" + +"I? I go as a handsome young officer to break the hearts of the +ladies, and have such rare sport. My brave cousin, yonder gallant +soldier, goes with me." + +The brave cousin, who was a big, heavy-headed fellow, grinned in +acknowledgment, but said nothing. + +The Royal Opera-house at Naples is the largest, the grandest, and the +most capacious in the world. An immense stage, an enormous pit all +thrown into one vast room, surrounded by innumerable boxes, all +rising, tier above tier--myriads of dancers, myriads of masks, +myriads of spectators--so the scene appeared. Moreover, the Neapolitan +is a born buffoon. Nowhere is he so natural as at a masquerade. The +music, the crowd, the brilliant lights, the incessant motion are all +intoxication to this impressible being. + +The Senator lent the countenance of his presence--not from curiosity, +but from benevolent desire to keep his young friends out of trouble. +He narrowly escaped being prohibited from entering by making an +outrageous fuss at the door about some paltry change. He actually +imagined that it was possible to get the right change for a large coin +in Naples. + +The multitudes of moving forms made the new-comers dizzy. There were +all kinds of fantastic figures. Lions polked with sylphs, crocodiles +chased serpents, giants walked arm in arm with dwarfs, elephants on +two legs ran nimbly about, beating every body with hope probosces of +inflated India rubber. Pretty girls in dominos abounded; every body +whose face was visible was on the broad grin. All classes were +represented. The wealthier nobles entered into the spirit of the scene +with as great gusto as the humblest artisan who treated his obscure +sweet-heart with an entrance ticket. + + +[Illustration: A Perplexed Senator.] + + +Our friends all wore black dominos, "just for the fun of the thing." +Every body knew that they were English or American, which is just +the same; for Englishmen and Americans are universally recognizable by +the rigidity of their muscles. + +A bevy of masked beauties were attracted by the colossal form of the +Senator. To say that he was bewildered would express his sensations +but faintly. He was distracted. He looked for Buttons. Buttons was +chatting with a little domino. He turned to Dick. Dick was walking off +with a rhinoceros. To Figgs and the Doctor. Figgs and the Doctor were +exchanging glances with a couple of lady codfishes and trying to look +amiable. The Senator gave a sickly smile. + +"What'n thunder'll I do?" he muttered. + +Two dominos took either arm. A third stood smilingly before him. A +fourth tried to appropriate his left hand. + +"Will your Excellency dance with one of us at a time," said No. 4, +with a Tuscan accent, "or will you dance with all of us at once?" + +The Senator looked helplessly at her. + +"He does not know how," said No 1. "He has passed his life among the +stars." + +"Begone, irreverent ones!" said No. 3. "This is an American prince. +He said I should be his partner." + +"Boh! malidetta!" cried No. 2. "He told me the same; but he said he +was a Milor Inglese." + +No. 4 thereupon gave a smart pull at the Senator's hand to draw him +off. Whereupon No. 2 did the same. No. 3 began singing "Come e bello!" +and No. 1 stood coaxing him to "Fly with her." A crowd of idlers +gathered grinningly around. + +"My goodness!" groaned the Senator. "Me! The--the representative of a +respectable constituency; the elder of a Presbyterian church; the +president of a temperance society; the deliverer of that famous Fourth +of July oration; the father of a family--me! to be treated thus! Who +air these females? Air they countesses? Is this the way the foreign +nobility treat an American citizen?" + +But the ladies pulled and the crowd grinned. The Senator endeavored to +remonstrate. Then he tried to pull his arms away; but finding that +impossible he looked in a piteous manner, first at one, and then at +the other. + + +[Illustration: Exit Senator.] + + +"He wants, I tell you, to be my partner," said No. 1. + +"Bah!" cried No. 2, derisively; "he intends to be mine. I understand +the national dance of his country--the famous jeeg Irelandese." + +"MRS.!!!" + +The Senator shouted this one word in a stentorian voice. The ladies +dropped his arms and started. + +"I say, Mrs.!" cried the Senator. "Look here. Me no speeky +_I_talian--me American. Me come just see zee fun, you know--zee +spaort--you und-stand? Ha? Hum!" + +The ladies clapped their hands, and cried "Bravo!" + +Quite a crowd gathered around them. The Senator, impressed with the +idea that, to make foreigners understand, it was only necessary to +yell loud enough, bawled so loudly that ever so many dancers stopped. +Among these Buttons came near with the little Domino. Little Domino +stopped, laughed, clapped her hands, and pointed to the Senator. + +The Senator was yelling vehemently in broken English to a large crowd +of masks. He told them that he had a large family; that he owned a +factory; that he was a man of weight, character, influence, +popularity, wealth; that he came here merely to study their manners +and customs. He disclaimed any intention to participate in their +amusements just then, or to make acquaintances.--He would be proud to +visit them all at their houses, or see them at his apartments, or--or +--in short, would be happy to do any thing if they would only let him +go in peace. + +The crowd laughed, chattered, and shouted "Bravo!" at every pause. The +Senator was covered with shame and perspiration. What would have +become of him finally it is impossible to guess; but, fortunately, at +this extremity he caught sight of Buttons. To dash away from the +charming ladies, to burst through the crowd, and to seize the arm of +Buttons was but the work of a moment. + +"Buttons! Buttons! Buttons! Help me! These confounded _I_talian +wimmin! Take them away. Tell them to leave me be. Tell them I don't +know them--don't want to have them hanging round me. Tell them _I'm +your father_!" cried the Senator, his voice rising to a shout in his +distraction and alarm. + +About 970 people were around him by this time. + +"Goodness!" said Buttons; "you are in a fix. Why did you make yourself +so agreeable? and to so many? Why, it's too bad. One at a time!" + +"Buttons," said the Senator, solemnly, "is this the time for joking? +For Heaven's sake get me away." + +"Come then; you must run for it." + +He seized the Senator's right arm. The little Domino clung to the +other. Away they started. It was a full run. A shout arose. So arises +the shout in Rome along the bellowing Corso when the horses are +starting for the Carnival races. It was a long, loud shout, gathering +and growing and deepening as it rose, till it burst on high in one +grand thunder-clap of sound. + +Away the Senator went like the wind. The dense crowd parted on either +side with a rush. The Opera-house is several hundred feet in length. +Down this entire distance the Senator ran, accompanied by Buttons and +the little Domino. Crowds cheered him as he passed. Behind him the +passage-way closed up, and a long trail of screaming maskers pressed +after him. The louder they shouted the faster the Senator ran. At +length they reached the other end. + +"Do you see that box?" asked Buttons, pointing to one on the topmost +tier. + +"Yes, yes." + +"Fly! Run for your life! It's your only hope. Get in there and hide +till we go." + +The Senator vanished. Scarcely had his coat-tails disappeared through +the door when the pursuing crowd arrived there. Six thousand two +hundred and twenty-seven human beings, dressed in every variety of +costume, on finding that the runner had vanished, gave vent to their +excited feelings by a loud cheer for the interesting American who had +contributed so greatly to the evening's enjoyment. + +Unlucky Senator! Will it be believed that even in the topmost box his +pursuers followed him? It was even so. About an hour afterward +Buttons, on coming near the entrance, encountered him. His face was +pale but resolute, his dress disordered. He muttered a few words about +"durned _I_talian countesses," and hurried out. + +Buttons kept company with the little Domino. Never in his life had he +passed so agreeable an evening. He took good care to let his companion +know this. At length the crowd began to separate. The Domino would go. +Buttons would go with her. Had she a carriage? No, she walked. Then he +would walk with her. + +Buttons tried hard to get a carriage, but all were engaged. But a walk +would not be unpleasant in such company. The Domino did not complain. +She was vivacious, brilliant, delightful, bewitching. Buttons had been +trying all evening to find out who she was. In vain. + +"Who in the world is she? I must find out, so that I may see her +again." This was his one thought. + +They approached the Strada Nuova. + +"She is not one of the nobility at any rate, or she would not live +here." + +They turned up a familiar street. + +"How exceedingly jolly! She can't live far away from my lodgings." + +They entered the Strada di San Bartolomeo. + +"Hanged if she don't live on the same street!" + +A strange thought occurred. It was soon confirmed. They stopped in +front of Buttons's own lodgings. A light gleamed over the door. +Another flashed into the soul of Buttons. That face, dimpled, smiling, +bewitching; flashing, sparking eyes; little mouth with its rosy lips! + +"_Delores_!" + +"Blessed Saints and Holy Virgin! Is it possible that you never +suspected?" + +"Never. How could I when I thought you were dressed like a dragoon?" + +"And you never passed so happy an evening; and never had so +fascinating and charming a partner; and you never heard such a voice +of music as mine; and you can never forget me through all life; and +you never can hope to find any one equal to me!" said Dolores, in her +usual laughing volubility. + +"Never!" cried Buttons. + +"Oh dear! I think you must love me very much." + +And a merry peal of laughter rang up the stairs as Dolores, evading +Buttons's arm, which that young man had tried to pass about her +waist, dashed away into the darkness and out of sight. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +ADVENTURES AND MISADVENTURES.--A WET GROTTO AND A BOILING LAKE.--THE +TWO FAIR SPANIARDS, AND THE DONKEY RIDE. + + +The Grotto of Posilippo is a most remarkable place, and, in the +opinion of every intelligent traveller, is more astonishing than even +the Hoosac Tunnel, which nobody will deny except the benighted +Bostonian. + +The city of Pozzuoli is celebrated for two things; first, because St. +Paul once landed there, and no doubt hurried away as fast as he could; +and, secondly, on account of the immense number of beggars that throng +around the unhappy one who enters its streets. + +The Dodge Club contributed liberally. The Doctor gave a cork-screw; +the Senator, a bladeless knife; Dick, an old lottery ticket; Buttons, +a candle-stump; Mr. Figgs, a wild-cat banknote. After which +they all hurried away on donkeys as fast as possible. + +The donkey is in his glory here. Nowhere else does he develop such a +variety of forms--nowhere attain such an infinity of sizes--nowhere +emit so impressive a bray. It is the Bray of Naples. "It is like the +thunder of the night when the cloud bursts o'er Cona, and a thousand +ghosts shriek at once in the hollow wind." + +There is a locality in this region which the ancient named after a +certain warm region which no reined person ever permits himself to +mention in our day. Whatever it may have been when some Roman Tityrus +walked pipe in mouth along its shore, its present condition renders +its name singularly appropriate and felicitous. Here the party amused +themselves with a lunch of figs and oranges, which they gathered +indiscriminately from orchards and gardens on the road-side. + +There was the Lake Lucrine. Averno and the Elysian Fields were there. +The ruins of Caligula's Bridge dotted the surface of the sea. Yet the +charms of all these classic scenes were eclipsed in the tourists' eyes +by those of a number of pretty peasants girls who stood washing +clothes in the limpid waters of the lake. + +It was in this neighborhood that they found the Grotto of the Cumaean +Sibyl. They followed the intelligent cicerone, armed with torches, +into a gloomy tunnel. The intelligent cicerone walked before them with +the air of one who had something to show. Seven stoat peasants +followed after. The cavern was as dark as possible, and extended +apparently for an endless distance. + +After walking a distance of about two miles, according to the +Senator's calculation, they came to the centre of interest. It was a +hole in the wall of the tunnel. The Americans were given to understand +that they must enter here. + +"But how?" + +"How? Why on the broad backs of the stout peasants, who all stood +politely offering their humble services." The guide went first. +Buttons, without more ado, got on the back of the nearest Italian and +followed. Dick came next; then the Doctor. Mr. Figgs and the Senator +followed in the same dignified manner. + +They descended for some distance, and finally came to water about +three feet deep. As the roof was low, and only rose three feet above +the water, the party had some difficulty, not only in keeping their +feet out of the water, but also in breathing. At length they came to +a chamber about twelve feet square. From this they passed on to +another of the same size. Thence to another. And so on. + +Arriving at the last, Bearer No. 1 quietly deposited Buttons on a +raised stone platform, which fortunately arose about half an inch +above the water. Three other bearers did the same. Mr. Figgs looked +forlornly about him, and, being a fat man, seemed to grow somewhat +apoplectic. Dick beguiled the time by lighting his pipe. + +"So this is the Grotto of the Cumaean Sibyl, is it?" said Buttons. +"Then all I can say is that--" + +What he was going to say was lost by a loud cry which interrupted +him and startled all. It came from the other chamber. + +"The Senator!" said Dick. + +It was indeed his well-known voice. There was a splash and a groan. +Immediately afterward a man staggered into the room. He was deathly +pale, and tottered feebly under the tremendous weight of the Senator. +The latter looked as anxious as his trembling bearer. + +"Darn it! I say," he cried. "Darn it! Don't! Don't!" + +"Diavo-lo!" muttered the Italian. + +And in the next instant plump went the Senator into the water. A +scene then followed that baffles description. The Senator, rising +from his unexpected bath, foaming and sputtering, the Italian praying +for forgiveness, the loud voices of all the others shouting, calling, +and laughing. + +The end of it was that they all left as soon as possible, and the +Senator indignantly waded back through the water himself. A furious +row with the unfortunate bearer, whom the Senator refused to pay, +formed a beautifully appropriate termination to their visit to this +classic spot. The Senator was so disturbed by this misadventure that +his wrath did not subside until his trowsers were thoroughly dried. +This, however, was accomplished at last, under the warm sun, and then +he looked around him with his usual complacency. + +The next spot of interest which attracted them was the Hall of the +Subterranean Lake. In this place there is a cavern in the centre of +a hill, which is approached by a passage of some considerable length, +and in the subterranean cavern a pool of water boils and bubbles. The +usual crowd of obliging peasantry surrounded them as they entered the +vestibule of this interesting place. It was a dingy-looking chamber, +out of which two narrow subterranean passages ran. A grimy, sooty, +blackened figure stood before them with torches. + + +[Illustration: Darn it!--Don't.] + + +"Follow!" + +This was all that he condescended to say, after lighting his torches +and distributing them to his visitors. He stalked off, and stooping +down, darted into the low passage-way. The cicerone followed, then +Buttons, then Dick, then the Senator, then the Doctor, then Mr. Figgs. +The air was intensely hot, and the passage-way grew lower. Moreover, +the smoke from the torches filled the air, blinding and choking them. + +Mr. Figgs faltered. Fat, and not by any means nimble, he came to a +pause about twenty feet from the entrance, and, making a sudden turn, +darted out. The Doctor was tall and unaccustomed to bend his +perpendicular form. Half choked and panting heavily he too gave up, +and turning about rushed out after Mr. Figgs. + +The other three went on bravely. Buttons and Dick, because they had +long since made up their minds to see every thing that presented +itself, and the Senator, because when he started on an enterprise he +was incapable of turning back. + +After a time the passage went sloping steeply down. At the bottom of +the declivity was a pond of water bubbling and steaming. Down this +they ran. Now the stone was extremely slippery, and the subterranean +chamber was but faintly illuminated by the torches. And so it came to +pass that, as the Senator ran down after the others, they had barely +reached the bottom when + +_Thump_! + +At once all turned round with a start. + +Not too quickly; for there lay the Senator, on his back, sliding, in +an oblique direction, straight toward the pool. His booted feet were +already in the seething waves; his nails were dug into the slippery +soil; he was shouting for help. + +To grasp his hand, his collar, his leg--to jerk him away and place +him upright, was the work of a shorter time than is taken to tell it. + +The guide now wanted them to wait till he boiled an egg. The Senator +remonstrated, stating that he had already nearly boiled a leg. The +Senator's opposition overpowered the wishes of the others, and the +party proceeded to return. Pale, grimy with soot, panting, covered +with huge drops of perspiration, they burst into the chamber where the +others were waiting--first Buttons, then Dick, then the Senator +covered with mud and slime. + +The latter gentleman did not answer much to the eager inquiries of +his friends, but maintained a solemn silence. The two former loudly +and volubly descanted on the accumulated horrors of the subterranean +way, the narrow passage, the sulphurous air, the lake of boiling +floods. + +In this outer chamber their attention was directed to a number of +ancient relics. These are offered for sale in such abundance that +they may be considered stable articles of commerce in this country. + + +[Illustration: Thump!] + + +So skillful are the manufacturers that they can produce unlimited +supplies of the following articles, and many others too numerous +to mention: + + +Cumaean and Oscan coins; +Ditto and ditto statuettes; +Ditto and ditto rings; +Ditto and ditto bracelets; +Ditto and ditto images; +Ditto and ditto toilet articles; +Ditto and ditto vases; +Ditto and ditto flasks; +Relics of Parthenope; +Ditto of Baiae; +Ditto of Misenum; +Ditto of Paestum; +Ditto of Herculaneum; +Ditto of Pompeii; +Ditto of Capraea; +Ditto of Capua; +Ditto of Cumae-- + + +And other places too numerous to mention; all supplied to order; all +of which are eaten by rust, and warranted to be covered by the canker +and the mould of antiquity. + +The good guide earnestly pressed some interesting relics upon their +attention, but without marked success. And now, as the hour of dinner +approached, they made the best of their way to a neighboring inn, +which commanded a fine view of the bay. Emerging from the chamber the +guide followed them, offering his wares. + +"Tell me," he cried, in a sonorous voice, "oh most noble Americans! +how much will you give for this most ancient vase?" + +"Un' mezzo carlino," said Dick, + +"Un' mezzo carlino!!!" + +The man's hand, which had been uplifted to display the vase, fell +downward as he said this. His tall figure grew less and less distinct +as they went further away; but long after he was out of sight the +phantom of his reproachful face haunted their minds. + +After dinner they went out on the piazza in front of the hotel. Two +Spanish ladies were there, whose dark eyes produced an instantaneous +effect upon the impressible heart of Buttons. + +They sat side by side, leaning against the stone balustrade. They +were smoking cigarettes, and the effect produced by waving their +pretty hands as they took the cigarettes from their mouths was, to +say the least, bewildering. + +Buttons awaited his opportunity, and did not have to wait long. +Whether it was that they were willing to give the young American a +chance, or whether it was really unavoidable, can not be said, but +certainly one of the fair Spaniards found that her cigarette had +gone out. A pretty look of despair, and an equally pretty gesture of +vexation, showed at once the state of things. Upon which Buttons +stepped up, and with a bow that would have done honor to Chesterfield, +produced a box of scented allumettes, and lighting one, gravely held +it forward. The fair Spaniard smiled bewitchingly, and bending +forward without hesitation to light her cigarette, brought her rosy +lips into bewildering proximity to Buttons's hand. + +It was a trying moment. + +The amiable expression of the ladies' faces, combined with the +softly-spoken thanks of the lady whom Buttons first addressed, +encouraged him. The consequence was, that in about five minutes more +he was occupying a seat opposite them, chatting as familiarly as +though he were an old playmate. Dick looked on with admiration; the +others with envy. + +"How in the world does it happen," asked the Senator, "that Buttons +knows the lingo of every body he meets?" + + +[Illustration: A Trying Moment.] + + +"He can't help it," said Dick. "These Continental languages are all +alike; know one, and you've got the key to the others--that is with +French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese." + +"And look at him now!" cried the Senator, his eye beaming with +cordial admiration. + +"You may well look at him!" sighed Dick. "Two such pretty girls as +these won't turn up again in a hurry. Spaniards too; I always admired +them." And he walked down to the shore humming to himself something +about "the girls of Cadiz." + +The ladies informed Buttons that they were travelling with their +brother, and had been through Russia, Germany, England, France, and +were now traversing Italy; did not like the three first-mentioned +countries, but were charmed with Italy. + +Their _naivete_ was delightful. Buttons found out that the name of +one was Lucia, and the other Ida. For the life of him he did not know +which he admired most; but, on the whole, rather inclined to the one +to whom he had offered the light--Ida. + +He was equally frank, and let them know his name, his country, his +Creed. They were shocked at his creed, pleased with his country and +amused at his name, which they pronounced, "Senor Bo-to-nes." + +After about an hour their brother came. He was a small man, very +active, and full of vivacity. Instead of looking fiercely at the +stranger, he shook hands with him very cordially. Before doing this, +however, he took one short, quick survey of his entire person, from +felt hat down to his Congress boots. The consequence was that Buttons +deserted his companions, and went off with the ladies. + +Dick took the lead of the party on the return home. They viewed the +conduct of Buttons with displeasure. The Senator did not show his +usual serenity. The party were all riding on donkeys. To do this on +the minute animals which the Neapolitans furnish it is necessary to +seat one's self on the stern of the animal, and draw the legs well +up, so that they may not trail on the ground. The appearance of the +rider from behind is that of a Satyr dressed in the fashion of the +nineteenth century. Nothing can be more ridiculous than the sight +of a figure dressed in a frock-coat and beaver hat, and terminated +by the legs and tail of a donkey. + +As it was getting late the party harried. The donkeys were put on the +full gallop. First rode the guide, then the others, last of whom was +the Senator, whose great weight was a sore trial to the little donkey. + +They neared Pozzuoli, when suddenly the Senator gave his little beast +a smart whack to hasten his steps. The donkey lost all patience. With +a jump he leaped forward. Away he went, far ahead of the others. The +saddle whose girth was rather old, slipped off. The Senator held on +tightly. In vain! Just as he rounded a corner formed by a projecting +sandbank the donkey slipped. Down went the rider; down went the donkey +also--rider and beast floundering in the dusty road. + +A merry peal of ill-suppressed laughter came from the road-side as he +rolled into view. It came from a carriage. In the carriage were the +Spaniards--there, too, was Buttons. + + +[Illustration: Senator And Donkey.] + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +A DRIVE INTO THE COUNTRY.--A FIGHT WITH A VETTURINO.--THE EFFECT OF +EATING "HARD BOILED EGGS."--WHAT THEY SAW AT PAESTUM.--FIVE TEMPLES +AND ONE "MILL." + + +To hire a carriage in Naples for any length of time is by no means +an easy thing. It is necessary to hold long commune with the +proprietor, to exert all the wiles of masterly diplomacy to circumvent +cunning by cunning, to exert patience, skill, and eloquence. After a +decision has been reached, there is but one way in which you can hold +your vetturino to his bargain, and that is to bind him to it by +securing his name to a contract. Every vetturino has a printed form +all ready. If he can't write his name, he does something equally +binding and far simpler. He dips his thumb in the ink-bottle and +stamps it on the paper. If that is not his signature, what else +is it? + +"Thus," said one, "Signor Adam signed the marriage-contract with +Signora Eva." + +After incredible difficulties a contract had been drawn up and +signed by the horny thumb of a certain big vetturino, who went by the +name of "II Piccolo." It was to the effect that, for a certain +specified sum, Il Piccolo should take the party to Paestum and back +with a detour to Sorrento. + +It was a most delightful morning. All were in the best of spirits. +So they started. On for miles through interminable streets of houses +that bordered the circular shore, through crowds of sheep, droves of +cattle, dense masses of human beings, through which innumerable +caleches darted like meteors amid the stars of heaven. Here came the +oxen of Southern Italy, stately, solemn, long-horned, cream-colored; +there marched great droves of Sorrento hogs--the hog of hogs--a +strange but not ill-favored animal, thick in hide, leaden in color, +hairless as a hippopotamus. The flesh of the Sorrento hog bears the +same relation to common pork that "Lubin's Extrait" bears to the +coarse scent of a country grocery. A pork-chop from the Sorrento +animal comes to the palate with the force of a new revelation; it is +the highest possibility of pork--the apotheosis of the pig! Long lines +of macaroni-cooks doing an enormous business; armies of dealers in +anisette; crowds of water-carriers; throngs of fishermen, carrying +nets and singing merry songs--"Ecco mi!" "Ecco la!"--possible +Massaniellos every man of them, I assure you, Sir. And--enveloping +all, mingling with all, jostling all, busy with the busiest, idle +with the idlest, noisy with the noisest, jolly with the jolliest, +the fat, oily, swarthy, rosy--(etc., for further epithets see +preceding pages)--_Lazaroni_! + +Every moment produces new effects in the ever-shifting scenes of +Naples. Here is the reverse of monotony; if any thing becomes +wearisome, it is the variety. Here is the monotony of incessant +change. The whole city, with all its vast suburbs, lives on the +streets. + +The Senator wiped his fevered brow. He thought that for crowds, +noise, tumult, dash, hurry-skurry, gayety, life, laughter, joyance, +and all that incites to mirth, and all that stirs the soul, even New +York couldn't hold a candle to Naples. + +Rabelais ought to have been a Neapolitan. + +Then, as the city gradually faded into the country, the winding road +opened up before them with avenues of majestic trees--overhanging, +arching midway--forming long aisles of shade. Myrtles, that grew up +into trees, scented the air. Interminable groves of figs and oranges +spread away up the hill, intermingled with the darker foliage of the +olive or cypress. + +The mountains come lovingly down to bathe their feet in the sea. The +road winds among them. There is a deep valley around which rise lofty +hills topped with white villages or ancient towers, or dotted with +villas which peep forth from amid dense groves. As far as the eye can +reach the vineyards spread away. Not as in France or Germany, +miserable sandy fields with naked poles or stunted bushes; but +vast extents of trees, among which the vines leap in wild luxuriance, +hanging in long festoons from branch to branch, or intertwining with +the foliage. + +"I don't know how it is," said the Senator, "but I'm cussed if I feel +as if this here country was ground into the dust. If it is, it is no +bad thing to go through the mill. I don't much wonder that these +_I_talians don't emigrate. If I owned a farm in this neighborhood I'd +stand a good deal of squeezin' before I'd sell out and go anywheres +else." + +At evening they reached Salerno, a watering-place the sea-coast, and +Naples in miniature. + +There is no town in Italy without its opera-house or theatre, and +among the most vivid and most precious of scenic delights the +pantomime commends itself to the Italian bosom. Of course there was a +pantomime at Salerno. It was a mite of a house; on a rough calculation +thirty feet by twenty; a double tier of boxes; a parquette about +twelve feet square; and a stage of about two-thirds that size. + +Yet behold what the ingenuity of man can accomplish! On that stage +there were performed all the usual exhibitions of human passion, and +they even went into the production of great scenic displays, among +which a great storm in the forest was most prominent. + +Polichinello was in his glory! On this occasion the joke of the +evening was an English traveller. The ideal Englishman on the +Continent is a never-failing source of merriment. The presence of +five Americans gave additional piquancy to the show. The corpulent, +double-chinned, red-nosed Englishman, with knee-breeches, +shoe-buckles, and absurd coat, stamped, swore, frowned, doubled up +his fists, knocked down waiters, scattered gold right and left, was +arrested, was tried, was fined; but came forth unterrified from every +persecution, to rave, to storm, to fight, to lavish money as before. + +How vivid were the flashes of lightning produced by touching off some +cotton-wool soaked in alcohol! How terrific the peals of thunder +produced by the vibrations of a piece of sheet-iron! Whatever was +deficient in mechanical apparatus was readily supplied by the powerful +imagination of the Italians, who, though they had often seen all this +before, were not at all weary of looking at it, but enjoyed the +thousandth repetition as much as the first. + +Those merry Italians! + +There is an old, old game played by every vetturino. + +When our travellers had returned to the hotel, and were enjoying +themselves in general conversation, the vetturino bowed himself in. +He was a good deal exercised in his mind. With a great preamble he +came to his point. As they intended to start early in the morning, +he supposed they would not object to settle their little bill now. + +"_What_!" shouted Buttons, jumping up. "What bill? Settle a bill? +_We_ settle a bill? Are you mad?" + +"Your excellencies intend to settle the bill, of course," said the +vetturino, with much phlegm. + +"Our excellencies never dreamed of any such thing." + +"Not pay? Ha! ha! You jest, Signor." + +"Do you see this?" said Buttons, solemnly producing the contract. + +"Well?" responded Il Piccolo. + +"What is this?" + +"Our contract." + +"Do you know what it is that you have engaged to do?" + +"To take you to Paestum." + +"Yes; to Paestum and back, with a detour to Sorrento. Moreover, you +engage to supply us with three meals a day and lodgings, to all of +which we engage to pay a certain sum. What, then," cried Buttons, +elevating his voice, "in the name of all the blessed saints and +apostles, do you mean by coming to us about hotel bills?" + +"Signor," said the vetturino, meekly, "when I made that contract I +fear I was too sanguine." + +"Too sanguine!" + +"And I have changed my mind since." + +"Indeed?" + +"I find that I am a poor man." + +"Did you just find that out?" + +"And that if I carry out this it will ruin me." + +"Well?" + +"So you'll have to pay for the hotel expenses yourselves," said +Il Piccolo, with desperation. + +"I will forgive this insufferable insolence," said Buttons, +Majestically, "on condition that it never occurs again. Do you +see that?" he cried, in louder tones. + +And he unfolded the contract, which he had been holding in his hand, +and sternly pointed to the big blotch of ink that was supposed to be +II Piccolo's signature. + +"_Do you see that_!" he cried, in a voice of thunder. + +The Italian did not speak. + +"And _that_?" he cried, pointing to the signature of the witness. + +The Italian opened his month to speak, but was evidently nonplused. + +"You are in my power!" said Buttons, in a fine melodramatic tone, and +with a vivacity of gesture that was not without its effect on the +Italian. He folded the contract, replaced it in his breast-pocket, and +slapped it with fearful emphasis. Every slap seemed to go to the heart +of Il Piccolo. + + +[Illustration: Do You See That?] + + +"If you dare to try to back out of this agreement I'll have you up +before the police. I'll enforce the awful penalty that punishes the +non-performance of a solemn engagement. I'll have you arrested by +the Royal Guards in the name of His Majesty the King, and cause you +to be incarcerated in the lowest dungeons of St. Elmo. Besides, I +won't pay you for the ride thus far." + +With this last remark Buttons walked to the door, and without another +word opened it, and motioned to Il Piccolo to leave. The vetturino +departed in silence. + +On the following morning he made his appearance as pleasant as though +nothing had happened. + +The carriage rolled away from Salerno. Broad fields stretched away on +every side. Troops of villagers marched forth to their labor. As they +went on they saw women working in the fields, and men lolling on the +fences. + +"Do you call that the stuff for a free country?" cried the Senator, +whose whole soul rose up in arms against such a sight. "Air these +things men? or can such slaves as these women seem to be give birth +to any thing but slaves?" + +"Bravo!" cried Buttons. + +The Senator was too indignant to say more, and so fell into a fit of +musing. + +"Dick," said Buttons, after a long pause, "you are as pale as a ghost. +I believe you must be beginning to feel the miasma from these plains." + +"Oh no," said Dick, dolefully; "something worse." + +"What's the matter?" + +"Do you remember the eggs we had for dinner last evening?" + +"Yes." + +"That's what's the matter," said Dick, with a groan. "I can't explain; +but this, perhaps, will tell thee all I feel." + +He took from his pocket a paper and handed it to Buttons. Around the +margin were drawn etchings of countless fantastic figures, +illustrating the following lines: + + +A NIGHTMARE. + + +"_Gorgons, and hydras, and chimeras dire_." + + +BY A VICTIM. + + + Eggs! Eggs!! Eggs!!! + Hard boiled eggs for tea! + And oh! the horrible nightmare dream + They brought to luckless me! + + The hippopotamus came; + He sat upon my chest: + The hippopotamus roared "I'll spot him!" as + He trampled upon my breast. + + The big iguanodon hunched + And rooted in under me: + The big iguanodon raised by that pan o' done + Overdone eggs for tea. + + The ichthyosaurus tried + To roll me up in a ball; + While all the three were grinning at me, + And pounding me, bed and all. + + Hip! hip! hurrah! + It was a little black pig, + And a big bull-frog, and a bobtailed dog-- + All of them dancing a jig. + + And oh, the snakes! the snakes! + And the boa constrictor too! + And the cobra capello--a terrible fellow-- + Came to my horrified view. + + Snakes and horrible beasts, + Frog, pig, and dog + Hustled me, pushed me, tickled me, crushed me, + Rolled me about like a log. + + The little blue devils came on; + They rode on a needle's point; + And the big giraffe, with asthmatic laugh, + And legs all out of joint. + + Bats crawled into my ears, + Hopping about in my brain; + And grizzly bears rode up on mares, + And then rode down again. + + An antediluvian roared, + In the form of a Brahmin bull; + And a Patagonian squeezed an onion, + Filling my aching eyes full. + + The three blue bottles that sat + Upon the historical stones + Sang, "Hey diddle diddle"--two on a fiddle, + The other one on the bones. + + "Whoo! whoo! whoo! + Get up, get up, you beauty! + Here come the shaved monkeys, a-ridlng on donkeys, + Fresh from Bobberty Shooty." + + They raised me up in the air, + Bed, body, and all, + And carried me soon to the man in the moon, + At the siege of Sebastopol. + + Down, down, down, + Round, round, round, + A whirlpool hurled me out of the world, + And on, no bottom I found. + + Down, down, down, + Whirl, whirl, whirl, + And the Florentine boar was pacing the shore, + His tail all out of curl. + + He smoked my favorite pipe, + He blew a cloud of smoke, + He pulled me out with his porcine snout, + And hugging him, I awoke. + + +"Why, Dick," cried the Senator, "what precious nonsense!" + +"It was intended to be so," said Dick. + +"Well, but you might as well put on an _idee_. It must have some +meaning." + +"Not a bit of it. It has no meaning; that is, no more than a dream +or a nightmare." + +The Senator now began to discuss the nature of poetry, but was +suddenly interrupted by a shout-- + +"The Temples!" + +The country about Paestum is one of the most beautiful in the world. +Between the mountains and the sea lies a luxuriant plain, and in the +middle of it is the ruined city. The outlines of walls and remnants of +gates are there. Above all rise five ancient edifices. They strolled +carelessly around. The marble floors of a good many private houses +are yet visible, but the stupendous temples are the chief attractions +here; above all, the majestic shrine of Neptune. + +It was while standing with head thrown back, eyes and mouth opened +wide, and thoughts all taken up with a deep calculation, that the +Senator was startled by a sudden noise. + +Turning hastily he saw something that made him run with the speed of +the wind toward the place where the noise arose. Buttons and Dick were +surrounded by a crowd of fierce-looking men, who were making very +threatening demonstrations. There were at least fifteen. As the +Senator ran up from one direction, so came up Mr. Figgs and the Doctor +from another. + +"What is this?" cried the Senator, bursting in upon the crowd. + +A huge Italian was shaking his fist in Buttons's face, and stamping +and gesticulating violently. + +"These men say we must pay five piastres each to them for strolling +about their ground, and Buttons has told this big fellow that he will +give them five kicks each. There'll be some kind of a fight. They +belong to the Camorra." Dick said all this in a hurried under-tone. + +"Camorry, what's that--brigands?" + +"All the same." + +"They're not armed, anyhow." + +Just at this moment Buttons said something which seemed to sting the +Italians to the soul, for with a wild shout they rushed forward. The +Doctor drew out his revolver. Instantly Dick snatched it from him, +and rushing forward, drove back the foremost. None of them were armed. + +"Stand off!" he cried, in Italian. "The fight is between this big +fellow and my friend. If any one of you interferes I'll put a bullet +through him." + +The Italians fell back cursing. Buttons instantly divested himself of +his coat, vest, and collar. The Italian waited with a grim smile. + +At one end were the Senator, the Doctor, Mr. Figgs; at the other the +Italian ruffians. In the middle Buttons and his big antagonist. Near +them Dick with his pistol. + +The scene that followed had better be described in Dick's own words, +as he pencilled them in his memorandum-book, from time to time, +keeping a sharp lookout with his pistol also. Afterward the +description was retouched: + + +_Great mill at Paestum, between E. BUTTONS, Esq., Gentleman, and +Italian party called BEPPO_. + +_1st Round_.--Beppo defiant, no attitude at all. Buttons assumed an +elegant pose. Beppo made a succession of wild strokes without any +aim, which were parried without effort. After which Buttons landed +four blows, one on each peeper, one on the smeller, and one on the +mug. + +_First blood for Buttons_. Beppo considerably surprised. Rushed +furiously at Buttons, arms flying everywhere, struck over Buttons's +head. Buttons lightly made obeisance, and then fired a hundred-pounder +on Beppo's left auricular, which had the effect of bringing him to the +grass. _First knock down for Buttons_. + +_2nd Round_.--Foreign population quite dumbfounded. Americans amused +but not excited. One hundred to one on Buttons eagerly offered, but no +takers. Beppo jumped to his feet like a wild cat. Eyes encircled with +ebon aurioles, olfactory quite demolished. Made a rush at Buttons, +who, being a member of the Dodge Club, dodged him, and landed a +rattler on the jugular, which again sent foreign party to grass. + +_3d Round_.--Nimble to the scratch. Beppo badly mashed and raving. +Buttons unscathed and laughing; Beppo more cautious made a faint +attempt to get into Buttons. No go. Tried a little sparing, which +was summarily ended by a cannonade from Buttons directly in +his countenance. + +_4th Round_.--Foreigners wild. Yelling to their man to go in. Don't +understand a single one of the rules of the P.R. Very benighted. +Need missionaries. Evinced strong determination to go in themselves, +but where checked by attitude of referee, who threatened to blow out +brains of first man that interfered. Beppo's face magnified +considerably. Appearance not at all prepossessing. Much distressed but +furious. Made a bound at Buttons, who calmly, and without any apparent +effort, met him with a terrific upper cut, which made the Italian's +gigantic frame tremble like a ship under the stroke of a big wave. He +tottered, and swung his arms, trying to regain his balance, when +another annihilator most cleanly administered by Buttons laid him low. +A great tumult rose among the foreigners. Beppo lay panting with no +determination to come to the scratch. At the expiration of usual time, +opponent not appearing. Buttons was proclaimed victor. Beppo very much +mashed. Foreigners very greatly cowed. After waiting a short time +Buttons resumed his garments and walked off with his friends. + + +[Illustration: The Mill At Paestum.] + + +After the victory the travellers left Paestum on their return. + +The road that turns off to Sorrento is the most beautiful in the +world. It winds along the shore with innumerable turnings, climbing +hills, descending into valleys, twining around precipices. There are +scores of the prettiest villages under the sun, ivy-covered ruins, +frowning fortresses, lofty towers, and elegant villas. + +At last Sorrento smiles out from a valley which is proverbial for +beauty, where, within its shelter of hills, neither the hot blast +of midsummer nor the cold winds of winter can ever disturb its +repose. This is the valley of perpetual spring, where fruits +forever grow, and the seasons all blend together, so that the same +orchard shows trees in blossom and bearing fruit. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +ON THE WATER, WHERE BUTTONS SEES A LOST IDEA AND GIVES CHASE TO IT, +TOGETHER WITH THE HEART-SICKENING RESULTS THEREOF. + + +On the following morning Buttons and Dick went a little way out of +town, and down the steep cliff toward the shore. + +It was a classic spot. Here was no less a place than the cave of +Polyphemus, where Homer, at least, may have stood, if Ulysses didn't. +And here is the identical stone with which the giant was wont to +block up the entrance to his cavern. + +The sea rolled before. Away down to the right was Vesuvius, starting +from which the eye took in the whole wide sweep of the shore, lined +with white cities, with a background of mountains, till the land +terminated in bold promontories. + +Opposite was the Isle of Capri. + +Myriads of white sails flashed across the sea. One of these arrested +the attention of Buttons, and so absorbed him that he stared fixedly +at it for half an hour without moving. + +At length an exclamation burst from him: + +"By Jove! It is! It is!" + +"What is? What is?" + +"The Spaniards!" + +"Where?" + +"In that boat." + +"Ah!" said Dick, coolly, looking at the object pointed out by +Buttons. + +It was an English sail-boat, with a small cabin and an immense +sail. In the stern were a gentleman and two ladies. Buttons was +confident that they were the Spaniards. + + +[Illustration: The Spaniards.] + + +"Well," said Dick, "what's the use of getting so excited about +it?" + +"Why, I'm going back to Naples by water!" + +"Are you? Then I'll go too. Shall we leave the others?" + +"Certainly not, if they want to come with us." + +Upon inquiry they found that the others had a strong objection to +going by sea. Mr. Figgs preferred the ease of the carriage. The +Doctor thought the sea air injurious. The Senator had the honesty +to confess that he was afraid of seasickness. They would not listen +to persuasion, but were all resolutely bent on keeping to the +carriage. + +Buttons exhibited a feverish haste in searching after a boat. There +was but little to choose from among a crowd of odd-looking +fishing-boats that crowded the shore. However, they selected the +cleanest from among them, and soon the boat, with her broad sail +spread, was darting over the sea. + +The boat of which they went in pursuit was far away over near the +other shore, taking long tacks across the bay. Buttons headed his +boat so as to meet the other on its return tack. + +It was a magnificent scene. After exhausting every shore view of +Naples, there is nothing like taking to the water. Every thing +then appears in a new light. The far, winding cities that surround +the shore, the white villages, the purple Apennines, the rocky +isles, the frowning volcano. + +This is what makes Naples supreme in beauty. The peculiar combinations +of scenery that are found there make rivalry impossible. For if you +find elsewhere an equally beautiful bay, you will not have so liquid +an atmosphere; if you have a shore with equal beauty of outline, and +equal grace in its long sweep of towering headland and retreating +slope, you will not have so deep a purple on the distant hills. Above +all, nowhere else on earth has Nature placed in the very centre of so +divine a scene the contrasted terrors of the black volcano. + +Watching a chase is exciting; but taking part in it is much more so. +Buttons had made the most scientific arrangements. He had calculated +that at a certain point on the opposite shore the other boat would +turn on a new tack, and that if he steered to his boat to a point +about half-way over, he would meet them, without appearing to be in +pursuit. He accordingly felt so elated at the idea that he burst +forth into song. + +The other boat at length had passed well over under the shadow of +the land. It did not turn. Further and further over, and still it +did not change its course. Buttons still kept the course which he +had first chosen; but finding that he was getting far out of the way +of the other boat, he was forced to turn the head of his boat +closer to the wind, and sail slowly, watching the others. + +There was an island immediately ahead of the other boat. What was his +dismay at seeing it gracefully pass beyond the outer edge of the +island, turn behind it, and vanish. He struck the taffrail furiously +with his clenched hand. However, there was no help for it; so, +changing his course, he steered in a straight line after the other, +to where it had disappeared. + +Now that the boat was out of sight Dick did not feel himself called +on to watch. So he went forward into the bow, and made himself a snug +berth, where he laid down; and lighting his pipe, looked dreamily out +through a cloud of smoke upon the charming scene. The tossing of the +boat and the lazy flapping of the sails had a soothing influence. His +nerves owned the lulling power. His eyelids grew heavy and gently +descended. + +The wind and waves and islands and sea and sky, all mingled together +in a confused mass, came before his mind. He was sailing on clouds, +and chasing Spanish ladies through the sky. The drifting currents of +the air bore them resistlessly along in wide and never-ending curves +upward in spiral movements towards the zenith; and then off in +ever-increasing speed, with ever-widening gyrations, toward the +sunset, where the clouds grew red, and lazaroni grinned from behind-- + +A sudden bang of the huge sail struck by the wind, a wild creaking +of the boom, and a smart dash of spray over the bows and into his +face waked him from his slumber. He started up, half blinded, to +look around. Buttons sat gazing over the waters with an expression +of bitter vexation. They had passed the outer point of the island, +and had caught a swift current, a chopping sea, and a brisk breeze. +The other boat was nowhere to be seen. Buttons had already headed back +again. + +"I don't see the other boat," said Dick. Buttons without a word +pointed to the left. There she was. She had gone quietly around the +island, and had taken the channel between it and the shore. All the +time that she had been hidden she was steadily increasing the distance +between them. + +"There's no help for it," said Dick, "but to keep straight after +them." + +Buttons did not reply, but leaned back with a sweet expression of +patience. The two boats kept on in this way for a long time; but +the one in which our friends had embarked was no match at all for +the one they were pursuing. At every new tack this fact became more +painfully evident. The only hope for Buttons was to regain by his +superior nautical skill what he might lose. Those in the other boat +had but little skill in sailing. These as length became aware that +they were followed, and regarded their pursuers with earnest +attention. It did not seem to have any effect. + +"They know we are after them at last!" said Dick. + +"I wonder if they can recognize us?" + +"If they do they have sharp eyes. I'll be hanged if I can recognize +them. I don't see how you can." + +"Instinct, Dick--instinct!" said Buttons, with animation. + +"What's that flashing in their boat?" + +"That?" said Buttons. "It's a spy-glass. I didn't notice it before." + +"I've seen it for the last half-hour." + +"Then they most recognize us. How strange that they don't slacken a +little! Perhaps we are not in full view. I will sit a little more +out the shade of the sail, so that they can recognize me." + +Accordingly Buttons moved out to a more conspicuous place, and Dick +allowed himself to be more visible. Again the flashing brass was seen +in the boat, and they could plainly perceive that it was passed from +one to the other, while each took a long survey. + +"They must be able to see us if they have any kind of a glass at all." + +"I should think so," said Buttons, dolefully. + +"Are you sure they are the Spaniards?" + +"Oh! quite." + +"Then I must say they might be a little more civil, and not keep +us racing after them forever!" + +"Oh, I don't know; I suppose they wouldn't like to sail close up +to us." + +"They needn't sail up to us, but they might give us a chance to hail +them." + +"I don't think the man they have with them looks like Senor Francia." + +"Francia? Is that his name? He certainly looks larger. He is larger." + +"Look!" + +As Buttons spoke the boat ahead fell rapidly to leeward. The wind had +fallen, and a current which they had struck upon bore them away. In +the effort to escape from the current the boat headed toward Buttons, +and when the wind again arose she continued to sail toward them. As +they came nearer Buttons's face exhibited a strange variety of +expressions. + + +[Illustration: A Thousand Pardons!] + + +They met. + +In the other boat sat two English ladies and a tall gentleman, who +eyed the two young men fixedly, with a "stony British stare." + +"A thousand pardons!" said Buttons, rising and bowing. "I mistook you +for some acquaintances." + +Whereupon the others smiled in a friendly way, bowed, and said +something. A few commonplaces were interchanged, and the boats drifted +away out of hearing. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +THE SENATOR HAS SUCH A FANCY FOR SEEKING USEFUL INFORMATION!--CURIOUS +POSITION OF A WISE, AND WELL-KNOWN, AND DESERVEDLY-POPULAR LEGISLATOR, +AND UNDIGNIFIED MODE OF HIS ESCAPE. + + +It was not much after ten in the morning when Buttons and Dick +returned. On reaching the hotel they found Mr. Figgs and the Doctor, +who asked them if they had seen the Senator. To which they replied by +putting the same question to their questioners. + +He had not been seen since they had all been together last. Where was +he? + +Of course there was no anxiety felt about him, but still they all +wished to have him near at hand, as it was about time for them to +leave the town. The vetturino was already grumbling, and it required +a pretty strong remonstrance from Buttons to silence him. + +They had nothing to do but to wait patiently. Mr. Figgs and the Doctor +lounged about the sofas. Buttons and Dick strolled about the town. +Hearing strains of music as they passed the cathedral, they turned in +there to listen to the service. Why there should be service, and full +service too, they could not imagine. + +"Can it be Sunday, Dick?" said Buttons, gravely. + +"Who can tell?" exclaimed Dick, lost in wonder. + +The cathedral was a small one, with nave and transept as usual, and in +the Italian Gothic style. At the end of the nave stood the high altar, +which was now illuminated with wax-candles, while priests officiated +before it. At the right extremity of the transact was the organ-loft, +a somewhat unusual position; while at the opposite end of the transept +was a smaller door. The church was moderately filled. Probably there +were as many people there as it ever had. They knelt on the floor with +their faces toward the altar, Finding the nave somewhat crowded, +Buttons and Dick went around to the door at the end of the transept, +and entered there. A large space was empty as far as the junction with +the nave. Into this the two young men entered, very reverently, and on +coming near to the place where the other worshipers were they knelt +down in the midst of them. + +While looking before him, with his mind full of thoughts called up by +the occasion, and while the grand music of one of Mozart's masses was +filling his soul, Buttons suddenly felt his arm twitched. He turned. +It was Dick. + +Buttons was horrified. In the midst of this solemn scene the young +man was convulsed with laughter. His features were working, his lips +moving, as he tried to whisper something which his laughter prevented +him from saying, and tears were in his eyes. At last he stuck his +handkerchief in his mouth and bowed down very low, while his whole +frame shook. Some of the worshipers near by looked scandalized, +others shocked, others angry. Buttons felt vexed. At last Dick raised +his face and rolled his eyes toward the organ-loft, and instantly +bowed his head again. Buttons looked up mechanically, following the +direction of Dick's glance. The next instant he too fell forward, +tore his handkerchief out of his pocket, while his whole frame shook +with the most painful convulsion of laughter. + +And how dreadful is such a convulsion in a solemn place! In a church, +amid worshipers; perhaps especially amid worshipers of another creed, +for then one is suspected of offering deliberate insult. So it was +here. People near saw the two young men, and darted angry looks at +them. + +Now what was it that had so excited two young men, who were by no +means inclined to offer insult to any one, especially in religious +matters? + +It was this: As they looked up to the organ-loft they saw a figure +there. + +The organ projected from the wall about six feet; on the left side +was the handle worked by the man who blew it, and a space for the +choir. On the right was a small narrow space not more than about +three feet wide, and it was in this space that they saw the figure +which produced such an effect on them. + +It was the Senator. He stood there erect, bare-headed of course, +with confusion in his face and vexation and bewilderment. The sight +of him was enough--the astonishing position of the man, in such a +place at such a time. But the Senator was looking eagerly for help. +And he had seen them enter, and all his soul was in his eyes, and all +his eyes were fixed on those two. + +As Dick looked up startled and confounded at the sight, the Senator +projected his head as far forward as he dared, frowned, nodded, and +then began working his lips violently as certain deaf and dumb people +do, who converse by such movements, and can understand what words are +said by the shape of the mouth in uttering them. But the effect was +to make the Senator buck like a man who was making grimaces, to +wager, like those in Victor Hugo's "Notre Dame." As such the +apparition was so over-powering that neither Buttons nor Dick dared +to look up for some time. What made it worse, each was conscious that +the other was laughing, so that self-control was all the more +difficult. Worse still, each knew that this figure in the organ-loft +was watching them with his hungry glance, ready the moment that they +looked up to begin his grimaces once more. + +"That poor Senator!" thought Buttons; "how did he get there? Oh, how +did he get there?" + +Yet how could he be rescued? Could he be? No. He must wait till the +service should be over. + +Meanwhile the young men mustered sufficient courage to look up again, +and after a mighty struggle to gaze upon the Senator for a few +seconds at a time at least. There he stood, projecting forward his +anxious face, making faces as each one looked up. + + +[Illustration: The Senator.] + + +Now the people in the immediate vicinity of the two young men had +noticed their agitation as has already been stated, and, moreover, +they had looked up to see the cause of it. They too saw the Senator. +Others again, seeing their neighbors looking up, did the same, until +at last all in the transept were staring up at the odd-looking +stranger. + +As Buttons and Dick looked up, which they could not help doing often, +the Senator would repeat his mouthings, and nods, and becks, and +looks of entreaty. The consequence was, that the people thought the +stranger was making faces at them. Three hundred and forty-seven +honest people of Sorrento thus found themselves shamefully insulted +in their own church by a barbarous foreigner, probably an Englishman, +no doubt a heretic. The other four hundred and thirty-six who knelt +in the nave knew nothing about it. They could not see the organ-loft +at all. The priests at the high altar could not see it, so that they +were uninterrupted in their duties. The singers in the organ-loft saw +nothing, for the Senator was concealed from their view. Those +therefore who saw him were the people in the transept, who now kept +staring fixedly, and with angry eyes, at the man in the loft. + +There was no chance of getting him out of that before the service +was over, and Buttons saw that there might be a serious tumult when +the Senator came down among that wrathful crowd. Every moment made it +worse. Those in the nave saw the agitation of those in the transept, +and got some idea of the cause. + +At last the service was ended; the singers departed, the priests +retired, but the congregation remained. Seven hundred and eighty-three +human beings waiting to take vengeance on the miscreant who had +thrown ridicule on the Holy Father by making faces at the faithful +as they knelt in prayer. Already a murmur arose on every side. + +"A heretic! A heretic! A blasphemer! He has insulted us!" + +Buttons saw that a bold stroke alone could save them. He burst into +the midst of the throng followed by Dick. + +"Fly!" he cried. "Fly for your lives! _It is a madman_! Fly! Fly!" + +A loud cry of terror arose. Instantaneous conviction flashed on the +minds of all. A madman! Yes. He could be nothing else. + +A panic arose. The people recoiled from before that terrible madman. +Buttons sprang up to the loft. He seized the Senator's arm and dragged +him down. The people fled in horror. As the Senator emerged he saw +seven hundred and eighty-three good people of Sorrento scampering away +like the wind across the square in front of the cathedral. + +On reaching the hotel he told his story. He had been peering about +in search of useful information, and had entered the cathedral. +After going through every part he went up into the organ-loft. Just +then the singers came. Instead of going out like a man, he dodged +them from some absurd cause or other, with a half idea that he would +get into trouble for intruding. The longer he stayed the worse it +was for him. At last he saw Buttons and Dick enter, and tried to +make signals. + +"Well," said Buttons, "we had better leave. The Sorrentonians will be +around here soon to see the maniac. They will find out all about him, +and make us acquainted with Lynch law." + +In a quarter of an hour more they were on their way back to Naples. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +HERCULANEUM AND POMPEII, AND ALL THAT THE SIGHT OF THOSE FAMOUS PLACES +PRODUCED ON THE MINDS OF THE DODGE CLUB. + + +They had already visited Herculaneum, but the only feeling which had +been awakened by the sight of that ill-fated city was one of +unmitigated disgust. As honesty was the chief characteristic of the +whole party, they did not hesitate to express themselves with the +utmost freedom on this subject. They hoped for better things from +Pompeii. At any rate Pompeii was above ground; what might be there +would be visible. No fuss with torches. No humbugging with lanterns. +No wandering through long black passages. No mountains bringing forth +mice. + +Their expectations were encouraged as they walked up the street of +Tombs leading to the Herculaneum Gate. Tombs were all around, any +quantity, all sizes, little black vaults full of pigeon-holes. These +they narrowly examined, and when the guide wasn't looking they filled +their pockets with the ashes of the dead. + +"Strange," quoth the Senator, musingly, "that these ancient Pompey +fellers should pick out this kind of a way of getting buried. This +must be the reason why people speak of urns and ashes when they speak +of dead people." + + +[Illustration: Villa Of Diomedes.] + + +They walked through the Villa of Diomedes. They were somewhat +disappointed. From guide-books, and especially from the remarkably +well-got-up Pompeian court at Sydenham Palace, Buttons had been led to +expect something far grander. But in this, the largest house in the +city, what did he find? Mites of rooms, in fact closets, in which even +a humble modern would find himself rather crowded. There was scarcely +a decent-sized apartment in the whole establishment, as they all +indignantly declared. The cellars were more striking. A number of +earthern vessels of enormous size were in one corner. + +"What are these?" asked the Senator. + +"Wine jars." + +"What?" + +"Wine jars. They didn't use wooden casks." + +"The more fools they. Now do you mean to say that wooden casks are +not infinitely more convenient than these things that can't stand up +without they are leaned against the wall? Pho!" + +At one corner the guide stopped, and pointing down, said something. + +"What does he say?" asked the Senator. + +"He says if you want to know how the Pompeians got choked, stoop down +and smell that. Every body who comes here is expected to smell this +particular spot, or he can't say that he has seen Pompeii." + + +[Illustration: Phew!] + + +So down went the five on their knees, and up again faster than they +went down. With one universal shout of: "Phew-w-w-w-w-h-h-h!" + +It was a torrent of sulphurous vapor that they inhaled. + +"Now, I suppose," said the Senator, as soon as he could speak, +"that that there comes direct in a bee-line through a subterranean +tunnel right straight from old Vesuvius." + +"Yes, and it was this that suggested the famous scheme for +extinguishing the volcano." + +"How? What famous scheme?" + +"Why, an English stock-broker came here last year, and smelled this +place, as every one must do. An idea struck him. He started up. He ran +off without a word. He went straight to London. There he organized a +company. They propose to dig a tunnel from the sea to the interior of +the mountain. When all is ready they will let in the water. There will +be a tremendous hiss. The volcano will belch out steam for about six +weeks; but the result will be that the fires will be put out forever." + +From the Villa of Diomedes they went to the gate where the guard-house +is seen. Buttons told the story of the sentinel who died there on +duty, embellishing it with a few new features of an original +character. + +"Now that may be all very well," said the Senator, "but don't ask me +to admire that chap, or the Roman army, or the system. It was all +hollow. Why, don't you see the man was a blockhead? He hadn't sense +enough to see that when the whole place was going to the dogs, it was +no good stopping to guard it. He'd much better have cleared out and +saved his precious life for the good of his country. Do you suppose a +Yankee would act that way?" + +"I should suppose not." + +"That man, Sir, was a machine, and nothing more. A soldier must know +something else than merely obeying orders." + +By this time they had passed through the gate and stood inside. The +street opened before them for a considerable distance with houses on +each side. Including the sidewalks it might have been almost twelve +feet wide. As only the lower part of the walls of the houses was +standing, the show that they made was not imposing. There was no +splendor in the architecture or the material, for the style of the +buildings was extremely simple, and they were made with brick covered +with stucco. + +After wandering silently through the streets the Senator at length +burst forth: + +"I say it's an enormous imposition!" + +"What?" inquired Buttons, faintly. + +"Why, the whole system of Cyclopedias, Panoramas, Books of Travel, +Woodbridge's Geography, Sunday-school Books--" + +"What do you mean?" + +"I mean the descriptions they give of this place. The fellows who +write about it get into the heroics, and what with their descriptions, +and pictures, and moralizing, you believe it is a second Babylon. It +don't seem possible for any of them to tell the truth. Why, there +isn't a single decent-sized house in the place. Oh, it's small! it's +small!" + +"It certainly might be larger." + +"I know," continued the Senator, with a majestic wave of his hand--"I +know that I'm expected to find this here scene very impressive; but +I'll be hanged if I'm satisfied. Why, in the name of Heaven, when they +give us pictures of the place, can't they make things of the right +size? Why, I've seen a hundred pictures of that gate. They make it +look like a triumphant arch; and now that I'm here, durn me if I can't +touch the top of it when I stand on tiptoe." + +In all his walk the Senator found only one thing that pleased him. +This was the celebrated Pompeian institution of a shop under the +dwelling-house. + +"Whenever I see any signs of any thing like trade among these +ancients," said he, "I respect them. And what is more satisfactory +than to see a bake-shop or an eating-saloon in the lower story of +a palace?" + +Their walk was terminated by the theatre and amphitheatre. The sight +of these were more satisfactory to the Senator. + +"Didn't these fellows come it uncommon strong though in the matter +of shows?" he asked, with considerable enthusiasm. "Hey? Why, +we haven't got a single travelling circus, menagerie and all, that +could come any way near to this. After all, this town might have +looked well enough when it was all bran-new and painted up. It might +have looked so then; but, by thunder! it looks any thing but that +now. What makes me mad is to see every traveller pretend to get into +raptures about it now. Raptures be hanged! I ask you, as a sensible +man, is there any thing here equal to any town of the same population +in Massachusetts?" + + +[Illustration: A Street In Pompeii.] + + +Although the expectations which he had formed were not quite realized, +yet Buttons found much to excite interest after the first +disappointment had passed away. Dick excited the Senator's disgust +by exhibiting those, raptures which the latter had condemned. + +The Doctor went by the Guide-book altogether, and regulated his +emotions accordingly. Having seen the various places enumerated there, +he wished no more. As Buttons and Dick wished to stroll further +among the houses, the other three waited for them in the amphitheatre, +where the Senator beguiled the time by giving his "idee" of an ancient +show. + +It was the close of day before the party left. At the outer barrier an +official politely examined them. The result of the examination was +that the party was compelled to disgorge a number of highly +interesting souvenirs, consisting of lava, mosaic stones, ashes, +plaster, marble chips, pebbles, bricks, a bronze hinge, a piece of +bone, a small rag, a stick, etc. + +The official apologized with touching politeness: "It was only a +form," he said. "Yet we must do it. For look you, Signori," and +here he shrugged up his shoulders, rolled his eyes, and puffed out +his lips in a way that was possible to none but an Italian, "were it +not thus the entire city would be carried away piecemeal!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +VESUVIUS.--WONDERFUL ASCENT OF THE CONE.--WONDERFUL DESCENT INTO THE +CRATER.--AND MOST WONDERFUL DISAPPEARANCE OF MR. FIGGS, AFTER WHOM +ALL HIS FRIENDS GO, WITH THEIR LIVES IN THEIR HANDS.--GREAT SENSATION +AMONG SPECTATORS. + + +To every visitor to Naples the most prominent object is Vesuvius. The +huge form of the volcano forever stands before him. The long pennon of +smoke from its crater forever floats out triumphantly in the air. Not +in the landscape only, but in all the picture-shops. In these +establishments they really seem to deal in nothing but prints and +paintings of Vesuvius. + +It was a lovely morning when a carriage, filled with Americans, drew +up on an inn near the foot of the mountain. There were guides +without number waiting, like beasts of prey, to fall on them; and +all the horses of the country--a wonderful lot--an amazing lot--a +lean, cranky, raw-boned, ill-fed, wall-eyed, ill-natured, sneaking, +ungainly, half-foundered, half-starved lot; afflicted with all the +diseases that horse-flesh is heir to. There were no others, so but +little time was wasted. All were on an equal footing. To have a +preference was out of the question, so they amused themselves with +picking out the ugliest. + +When the horses were first brought out Mr. Figgs looked uneasy, +and made some mysterious remarks about walking. He thought such nags +were an imposition. He vowed they could go faster on foot. On foot! +The others scouted the idea. Absurd! Perhaps he wasn't used to such +beasts. Never mind. He mustn't be proud. Mr. Figgs, however, seemed +to have reasons which were strictly private, and announced his +intention of walking. But the others would not hear of such a thing. +They insisted. They forced him to mount. This Mr. Figgs at length +accomplished, though he got up on the wrong side, and nearly pulled +his horse over backward by pulling at the curb-rein, shouting all +the time, in tones of agony, "Who-a!" + +At length they all set out, and, with few interruptions, arrived at +a place half-way up the mountain called The Hermitage. Here they +rested, and leaving their horses behind, walked on over a barren +region to the foot of the cone. All around was the abomination of +desolation. Craggy rocks, huge, disjointed masses of shattered +lava-blocks, cooled off into the most grotesque shapes, mixed with +ashes, scoriae, and pumice-stones. The cone towered frowningly above +their heads. Looking up, the aspect was not enticing. A steep slope +ran up for an immense distance till it touched the smoky canopy. + +On one side it was covered with loose sand, but in other places it +was all overlaid with masses of lava fragments. The undertaking +seemed prodigious. + +The Senator looked up with a weary smile, but did not falter; the +Doctor thought they would not be able to get up to the top, and +proposed returning; the others declined; whereupon the Doctor +slowly sauntered back to the Hermitage. Mr. Figgs, whom the ride had +considerably shaken, expressed a desire to ascend but felt doubtful +about his wind. Dick assured him that he would find plenty when he +got to the top. The guides also came to his relief. Did he want to +go? Behold them. They had chairs to carry him up or straps to pull +him. Their straps were so made that they could envelop the traveller +and allow him to be pulled comfortably up. So Mr. Figgs gracefully +resigned himself to the guides, who in a short time had adjusted +their straps, and led him to the foot of the cone. + +Now for the ascent. + + +[Illustration: The Ascent Of Vesuvius.] + + +Buttons went first. Like a young chamois this youth bounded up, +leaping from rock to rock, and steering in a straight line for the +summit. Next the Senator, who mounted slowly and perseveringly, as +though he had a solemn duty to perform, and was determined to do it +thoroughly. Then came Dick. More fitful. A few steps upward: then a +rest; then a fresh start; followed by another rest. At length he sat +down about one-third of the way up and took a smoke. Behind him Mr. +Figgs toiled up, pulled by the panting guides. Three stout men in +front--two others boosting from behind. + +A long description might be given of this remarkable ascent. How Mr. +Figgs aggravated the guides almost beyond endurance by mere force of +inertia. Having committed himself to them he did it thoroughly, and +not by one single act of exertion did he lessen their labor. They +pulled, pushed, and shouted; then they rested; then they rose again +to pull, to push, to shout, and to rest as before; then they implored +him in the most moving terms to do something to help them, to put +one foot before the other, to brace himself firmly--in short, to do +any thing. + +In vain. Mr. Figgs didn't understand a word. He was unmovable. Then +they threatened to drop him and leave him half-way. The threat was +disregarded. Mr. Figgs sat on a stone while they rested and smiled +benignantly at them. At last, maddened by his impassibility, they +screamed at him and at one another with furious gesticulations, and +then tearing off the straps, they hurried up the slope, leaving him +on the middle of the mount to take care of himself. + +It might be told how the Senator toiled up slowly but surely, never +stopping till he had gained the summit; or how Buttons, who arrived +there first, spent the time in exploring the mysteries of this +elevated region; or how Dick stopped every twenty paces to rest and +smoke; how he consumed much time and much tobacco; and how he did not +gain the summit until twenty minutes after the serene face of the +Senator had confronted the terrors of the crater. + +Before these three there was a wonderful scene. Below them lay the +steep sides of the cone, a waste of hideous ruin-- + + + "Rocks, crags, and mounds confusedly hurled, + The fragments of a ruined world." + + +Before them was the crater, a vast abyss, the bottom of which was +hidden from sight by dense clouds of sulphurous smoke which forever +ascended. Far away on the other side rose the opposite wall of +abyss--black, rocky cliffs that rose precipitously upward. The side +on which they stood sloped down at a steep angle for a few hundred +feet, and then went abruptly downward. A mighty wind was blowing +and carried all the smoke away to the opposite side of the crater, +so that by getting down into the shelter of a rock they were quite +comfortable. + +The view of the country that lay beneath was superb. There lay +Naples with its suburbs, extending for miles along the shore, with +Portici, Castellamare, and the vale of Sorrento. There rose the hills +of Baiae, the rock of Ischia, and the Isle of Capri. There lay +countless vineyards, fields forever green, groves of orange and +fig-trees, clusters of palms and cypresses. Mountains ascended all +around, with many heights crowned with castles or villages. There lay +the glorious Bay of Naples, the type of perfect beauty. Hundreds of +white sails dotted the intense blue of its surface. Ships were +there at anchor, and in full sail. Over all was a sky such as is +seen only in Italy, with a depth of blue, which, when seen in +paintings, seems to the inexperienced eye like an exaggeration. + +The guides drew their attention from all this beauty to a solid fact. +This was the cooking of an egg by merely burying it in the hot sand +for a few minutes. + +Buttons now proposed to go down into the crater. The guides looked +aghast. + +"Why not?" + +"Impossible, Signor. It's death." + +"Death? Nonsense! come along and show us the way." + +"The way? There is no way. No one ever dares to go down. Where can +we go to? Do you not see that beyond that point where the rock +projects it is all a precipice?" + +"That point? Well, that is the very spot I wish to go to. Come +along." + +"Never, Signor." + +"Then I'll go." + +"Don't. For the sake of Heaven, and in the name of the most Holy +Mother, of St. Peter in chains, of all the blessed Apostles and +Martyrs, the glorious Saints and--" + +"Blessed Botheration," cried Buttons, abruptly turning his back +and preparing to descend. + +"Are you in earnest, Buttons?" asked Dick. "Are you really going +down?" + +"Certainly." + +"Oh, then I'll go too." + +Upon this the others warned, rebuked, threatened, remonstrated, +and begged. In vain. The Senator interposed the authority of years +and wisdom. But to no purpose. With much anxiety he sat on the edge +of the crater, looking for the result and expecting a tragedy. + +The slope down which they ventured was covered with loose sand. At +each step the treacherous soil slid beneath them. It was a mad and +highly reprehensible undertaking. Nevertheless down they went--further +and further. The kind heart of the Senator felt a pang at every step. +His voice sounded mournfully through the rolling smoke that burst +through a million crevices, and at times hid the adventurers from +view. But down they went. Sometimes they slid fearfully. Then they +would wait and cautiously look around. Sometimes the vapors covered +them with such dense folds that they had to cover their faces. + +"If they ain't dashed to pieces they'll be suffocated--sure!" cried +the Senator, starting up, and unable to control his feelings. "I can't +stand this," he muttered, and he too stepped down. + +The guides looked on in horror. "Your blood will be on your own +heads!" they cried. + +As the Senator descended the smoke entered his eyes, month, and +nostrils, making him cough and sneeze fearfully. The sand slid; the +heat under the surface pained his feet; every step made it worse. +However, he kept on bravely. At length he reached the spot where the +others were standing. + + +[Illustration: The Descent Of Vesuvius.] + + +At the foot of the declivity was an angular rock which jutted out +for about twelve feet. It was about six feet wide. Its sides went +down precipitously. The Senator walked painfully to where they were +standing. It was a fearful scene. All around arose the sides of +the crater, black and rocky, perpendicular on all sides, except +the small slope down which they had just descended--a vast and +gloomy circumference. But the most terrific sight lay beneath. + +The sides of the crater went sheer down to a great depth enclosing +a black abyss which in the first excitement of the scene the +startled fancy might well imagine extending to the bowels of the +earth from which there came rolling up vast clouds dense black +sulphurous which at times completely encircled them shutting out +every thing from view filling eyes nose mouth with fumes of +brimstone forcing them to hold the tails of their coats or +the skirts it's all the same over their faces so as not to be +altogether suffocated while again after a while a fierce blast +of wind driving downward would hurl the smoke away and dashing it +against the other side of the crater gather it up in dense volumes +of blackest smoke in thick clouds which rolled up the flinty cliffs +and reaching the summit bounded fiercely out into the sky to pass +on and be seen from afar as that dread pennant of Vesuvius which is +the sign and symbol of its mastery over the earth around it and the +inhabitants thereof ever changing and in all its changes watched with +awe by fearful men who read in those changes their own fate now +taking heart as they see it more tenuous in its consistency anon +shuddering as they see it gathering in denser folds and finally +awe-stricken and all overcome as they see the thick black cloud rise +proudly up to heaven in a long straight column at whose upper +termination the colossal pillar spreads itself out and shows to the +startled gaze the dread symbol of the cypress tree the herald of +earthquakes eruptions and-- + +--There--I flatter myself that in the way of description it would not +be easy to beat the above. I just throw it off as my friend Tit-marsh, +poor fellow, once said, to show what I could do if I tried. I have +decided not to put punctuation marks there, but rather to let each +reader supply them for himself. They are often in the way, +particularly to the writer, when he has to stop in the full flow +of a description and insert them-- + +But-- + +We left our friends down in the crater of Vesuvius. Of course they +hurried out as soon as they could, and mounting the treacherous steep +they soon regained the summit, where the guides had stood bawling +piteously all the time. + +Then came the descent. It was not over the lava blocks, but in +another place, which was covered with loose sliding sand. Away they +started. + +Buttons ahead, went with immense strides down the slope. At every +step the sliding sand carried him about ten feet further, so that +each step was equal to about twenty feet. It was like flying. But it +was attended by so many falls that the descent of Buttons and Dick +was accomplished as much by sliding and rolling as by walking. + +The Senator was more cautious. Having fallen once or twice, he tried +to correct this tendency by walking backward. Whenever he found +himself falling he would let himself go, and thus, on his hands and +knees, would let himself slide for a considerable distance. This plan +gave him immense satisfaction. + +"It's quite like coasting," said he, after he had reached the bottom; +"only it does come a little hard on the trowsers." + +On their arrival at the Hermitage to their surprise they saw nothing +of Mr. Figgs. The Doctor had been sleeping all the time, but the +landlord said he had not been that way. As they knew that the +neighborhood of Vesuvius was not always the safest in the world, they +all went back at once to search after him. + + +[Illustration: Where's Figgs?] + + +Arriving at the foot of the cone they went everywhere shouting his +name. There was no response. They skirted the base of the cone. They +walked up to where he had been. They saw nothing. The guides who had +thus far been with them now said they had to go. So they received +their pay and departed. + +"Of all the mean, useless, chicken-hearted dolts that ever I see," +said the Senator, "they are the wust!" + +But meanwhile there was no Figgs. They began to feel anxious. At last +Buttons, who had been up to where Mr. Figgs was left, thought he saw +traces of footsteps in the sand that was nearest. He followed these +for some time, and at last shouted to the others. The others went to +where he was. They saw an Italian with him--an ill-looking, low-browed +rascal, with villain stamped on every feature. + +"This fellow says he saw a man who answers the description of Figgs go +over in that direction," said Buttons, pointing toward the part of the +mountain which is furthest from the sea. + +"There? What for?" + +"I don't know." + +"Is there any danger?" + +"I think so--Figgs may have had to go--who knows?" + +"Well," said the Senator, "we must go after him." + +"What arms have you?" said the Doctor. "Don't show it before this +rascal." + +"I have a bowie-knife," said Buttons. + +"So have I," said Dick. + +"And I," said the Senator, "am sorry to say that I have nothing at +all." + +"Well, I suppose we must go," said the Doctor. "My revolver is +something. It is a double revolver, of peculiar shape." + +Without any other thought they at once prepared to venture into a +district that for all they knew might swarm with robbers. They had +only one thought, and that was to save Figgs. + +"Can this man lead us?" asked Dick. + +"He says he can take us along where he saw Figgs go, and perhaps we +may see some people who can tell us about him." + +"Perhaps we can," said the Senator, grimly. + +They then started off with the Italian at their head. The sun was by +this time within an hour's distance from the horizon, and they had no +time to lose. So they walked rapidly. Soon they entered among hills +and rocks of lava, where the desolation of the surrounding country +began to be modified by vegetation. It was quite difficult to keep +their reckoning, so as to know in what direction they were going, but +they kept on nevertheless. + +All of them knew that the errand was a dangerous one. All of them knew +that it would be better if they were armed. But no one said any thing +of the kind. In fact, they felt such confidence in their own pluck and +resolution that they had no doubt of success. + +At length they came to a place where trees were on each side of the +rough path. At an opening here three men stood. Buttons at once +accosted them and told his errand. They looked at the Americans +with a sinister smile. + +"Don't be afraid of us," said Buttons, quietly. "We're armed with +revolvers, but we won't hurt you. Just show us where our friend is, +for we're afraid he has lost his way." + +At this strange salutation the Italians looked puzzled. They looked +at their guns, and then at the Americans. Two or three other men +came out from the woods at the same time, and stood in their rear. +At length as many as ten men stood around them. + +"What are you staring at?" said Buttons again. "You needn't look so +frightened. Americans only use their revolvers against thieves." + +The Doctor at this, apparently by accident, took out his revolver. +Standing a little on one side, he fired at a large crow on the top +of a tree. The bird fell dead. He then fired five other shots just +by way of amusement, laughing all the time with the Senator. + +"You see," said he--"ha, ha--we're in a fix--ha, ha--and I want to +show them what a revolver is?" + +"But you're wasting all your shot." + +"Not a bit of it. See?" And saying this he drew a second chamber +from his pocket, and taking the first out of the pistol inserted +the other. He then fired another shot. All this was the work of a +few moments. He then took some cartridges and filled the spare +chamber once more. + +The Italians looked on this display in great astonishment, +exchanging significant glances, particularly when the Doctor +changed the chambers. The Americans, on the contrary, took good care +to manifest complete indifference. The Italians evidently thought +they were all armed like the Doctor. Naturally enough, too, for if +not, why should they venture here and talk so loftily to them? So +they were puzzled, and in doubt. After a time one who appeared to +be their leader stepped aside with two or three of the men, and +talked in a low voice, after which he came to Buttons and said: + +"Come, then, and we will show you." + +"Go on." + +The Captain beckoned to his men. Six of them went to the rear. +Buttons saw the manoeuvre, and burst into roars of laughter. The +Italians looked more puzzled than ever. + +"Is that to keep us from getting away?" he cried--"ha, ha, ha, +ha, ha! Well, well!" + +"He's putting a guard behind us. Laugh like fury, boys," said Buttons, +in English. + +Whereupon they all roared, the tremendous laughter of the Senator +coming in with fearful effect. + +"There's nothing to laugh at," said the man who appeared to be +Captain, very sulkily. + +"It's evident that you Italians don't understand late improvements," +said Buttons. "But come, hurry on." + +The Captain turned and walked ahead sullenly. + +"It's all very well to laugh," said the Doctor, in a cheerful tone; +"but suppose those devils behind us shoot us." + +"I think if they intended to do that the Captain would not walk in +front. No, they want to take us alive, and make us pay a heavy +ransom." + +After this the Club kept up an incessant chatter. They talked over +their situation, but could as yet decide upon nothing. It grew dark +at length. The sun went down. The usual rapid twilight came on. + +"Dick," said the Doctor, "when it gets dark enough I'll give you my +pistol, so that you may show off with it as if it were yours." + +"All right, my son," said Dick. Shortly after, when it was quite +dark, the Doctor slipped the pistol into the side-pocket of Dick's +coat. At length a light appeared before them. It was an old ruin +which stood upon an eminence. Where they were not a soul of them +could tell. Dick declared that he smelt salt water. + +The light which they saw came from the broken windows of a +dilapidated hall belonging to the building. They went up some +crumbling steps, and the Captain gave a peculiar knock at the door. +A woman opened it. A bright light streamed out. Dick paused for a +moment, and took the Doctor's pistol, from his pocket. He held it up +and pretended to arrange the chamber. Then he carelessly put it in +his pocket again. + +"You haven't bound them?" said the woman who opened the door to +the Captain. + +"Meaning us, my joy?" said Buttons, in Italian. "Not just yet, I +believe, and not for some time. But how do you all do?" + +The woman stared hard at Buttons, and then at the Captain. There +were eight or ten women here. It was a large hall, the roof still +entire, but with the plaster all gone. A bright fire burned at one +end. Torches burned around. On a stool near the fire was a familiar +form--a portly, well-fed form--with a merry face--a twinkle in his +eye--a pipe in his mouth--calmly smoking--apparently quite at home +though his feet were tied--in short, Mr. Figgs. + +"Figgs, my boy!" + +One universal shout and the Club surrounded their companion. In an +instant Buttons cut his bonds. + +"Bless you--bless you, my children!" cried Figgs. "But how the +(Principal of Evil) did you get here? These are brigands. I've just +been calculating how heavy a bill I would have to foot." + +The brigands saw the release of Figgs, and stood looking gloomily at +the singular prisoners, not quite knowing whether they were prisoners +or not, not knowing what to do. Each member of the Club took the most +comfortable seat he could find near the fire, and began talking +vehemently. Suddenly Buttons jumped up. + +"A thousand pardons--I really forgot that there were ladies present. +Will you not sit here and give us the honor of your company?" + +He made a profound bow and looked at several of them. They looked +puzzled, then pleased; then they all began to titter. + +"Signor makes himself very much at home," said one, at length. + +"And where could there be a pleasanter place? This old hall, this +jolly old fire, and this delightful company!" + +Another bow. The Captain looked very sullen still. He was evidently +in deep perplexity. + +"Come, cheer up there!" said Buttons. "We won't do you any harm; +we won't even complain to the authorities that we found our friend +here. Cheer up! Have you any thing to eat, most noble Captain?" + +The Captain turned away. + +Meanwhile Figgs had told the story of his capture. After resting +for a while on the slope he prepared to descend, but seeing sand +further away he went over toward it and descended there. Finding it +very dangerous or difficult to go down straight he made the +descent obliquely, so that when he reached the foot of the cone +he was far away from the point at which he had started to make +the ascent. Arriving there, he sat down to rest after his exertions. +Some men came toward him, but he did not think much about it. +Suddenly, before he knew what was up, he found himself a prisoner. +He had a weary march, and was just getting comfortable as they +came in. + + +[Illustration: Mr Figgs.] + + +As they sat round the fire they found it very comfortable. Like +many evenings in Italy, it was damp and quite chilly. They laughed +and talked, and appeared to be any thing but captives in a +robber's hold. The Captain had been out for some time, and at +length returned. He was now very cheerful. He came laughingly up +to the fire. + +"Well, Signori Americani, what do you think of your +accommodation?" + +"Delightful! Charming!" cried Buttons and Dick. + +"If the ladies would only deign to smile on us--" + +"Aha! You are a great man for the ladies," said the Captain. + +"Who is not?" said Buttons, sententiously. + +After a few pleasant words the Captain left again. + +"He has some scheme in his villainous head," said Buttons. + +"To drug us," said the Doctor. + +"To send for others," said Dick. + +"To wait till we sleep, and then fall on us," said Mr. Figgs. + +"Well, gentlemen," said the Senator, drawing himself up, "we're +more than a match for them. Why, what are these brigands? Is there +a man of them who isn't a poor, miserable, cowardly cuss? Not one. +If we are captured by such as these we deserve to be captives all +our lives." + + +[Illustration: The Ladies.] + + +"If we don't get off soon we'll have a good round sum to pay," said +Mr. Figgs. + +"And that I object to," said Buttons; "for I promised my Governor +solemnly that I wouldn't spend more than a certain sum in Europe, +and I won't." + +"For my part," said the Doctor, "I can't afford it." + +"And I would rather use the amount which they would ask in some +other way," said Dick. + +"That's it, boys! You're plucky. Go in! We'll fix their flints. The +American eagle is soaring, gentlemen--let him ascend to the zenith. +Go it! But mind now--don't be too hasty. Let's wait for a time to +see further developments." + +"Richard, my boy, will you occupy the time by singing a hymn?" +continued the Senator. "I see a guitar there." + +Dick quietly got up, took the guitar, and, tuning it, began to sing. +The brigands were still in a state of wonder. The women looked shy. +Most of the spectators, however, were grinning at the eccentric +Americans. Dick played and sang a great quantity of songs, all of a +comic character. + +The Italians were fond of music, of course. Dick had a good voice. +Most of his songs had choruses, and the whole Club joined in. The +Italians admired most the nigger songs. "Oh, Susannah!" was greeted +with great applause. So was "Doo-dah;" and the Italians themselves +joined energetically in the chorus. But the song that they loved best +was "Ole Virginny Shore." This they called for over and over, and as +they had quick ears they readily caught the tune; so that, finally, +when Dick, at their earnest request, sang it for the seventh time, +they whistled the air all through, and joined in with a thundering +chorus. The Captain came in at the midst of it, and listened with +great delight. After Dick had laid down his instrument he approached +the Americans. + +"Well, ole hoss," said the Senator, "won't you take an arm-chair?" + +"What is it?" said the Captain to Buttons. + +"He wants to know if your Excellency will honor him by sitting near +him." + +The Captain's eye sparkled. Evidently it met his wishes. The Americans +saw his delight. + +"I should feel honored by sitting beside the illustrious stranger," +said he. "It was what I came to ask. And will you allow the rest of +these noble gentlemen to sit here and participate in your amusement?" + +"The very thing," said Buttons, "which we have been trying to get them +to do, but they won't. Now we are as anxious as ever, but still more +anxious for the ladies." + +"Oh, the ladies!" said the Captain; "they are timid." + +Saying this he made a gesture, and five of his men came up. The whole +six then sat with the five Americans. The Senator insisted that the +Captain should sit by his side. Yet it was singular. Each one of the +men still kept his gun. No notice was taken of this, however. The +policy of the Americans was to go in for utter jollity. They sat thus: + + +The Captain. + The Senator. +Bandit Number 1. + Mr. Figgs. +Bandit Number 2. + The Doctor. +Bandit Number 3. + Dick. +Bandit Number 4. + Buttons. +Bandit Number 5. + + +Five members of the Club. Six bandits. In addition to these, four +others stood armed at the door. The women were at a distance. + +But the sequel must be left to another chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +MAGNIFICENT ATTITUDE OF THE SENATOR; BRILLIANCY OF BUTTONS; AND PLUCK +OF THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE CLUB: BY ALL OF WHICH THE GREATEST EFFECTS +ARE PRODUCED. + + +"Boys," said the Senator, assuming a gay tone, "it's evident these +rascals have planned this arrangement to attack us; but I've got a +plan by which we can turn the tables. Now laugh, all of you." A roar +of laughter arose. "I'll tell it in a minute. Whenever I stop, you +all laugh, so that they may not think that we are plotting." Another +roar of laughter. "Buttons, talk Italian as hard as you can; pretend +to translate what I am saying; make up something funny, so as to get +them laughing; but take good care to listen to what I say." + +"All right," said Buttons. + +"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!" said the others. + +Now the Senator began to divulge his plan, and Buttons began to +talk Italian, pretending to translate what the Senator said. To do +this required much quickness, and a vivid imagination, with a sense +of the ridiculous, and many other qualities too numerous to mention. +Fortunately Buttons had all these, or else the Club would not have +acted precisely as it did act; and perhaps it might not have been +able to move along in the capacity of a Club any longer, in which +case it would, of course, have had no further adventures; and then +this history would not have been written; and whether the world +would have been better off or worse is more than I can say, +I'm sure. + + +[What the Senator said.] + +"Boys, look at these devils, one on each side of us. They have +arranged some signal, and when it is given they will spring at us. +Look sharp for your lives, and be ready to do what I say. Buttons, +listen, and when you don't hear look at me, and I'll repeat it." + +[_Club_.--"Ha! hal ha! ha! ha!"] + + +[What Buttons said he said.] + +"He says, most noble Captain, and gentlemen, that he is desperately +hungry; that he can't get what he wants to eat. He generally eats +dried snakes, and the supply he brought from the Great American +desert is exhausted; he wants more, and will have it." + +[Sensation among bandits.] + + +[What the Senator said.] + +"My idea is to turn the tables on these varmints. They put themselves +in our power. What they have arranged for themselves will do for us +just as well as if we planned it all. In fact, if we had tried we +could not have adjusted the present company better." + +[_Club_.--"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!"] + + +[What Buttons said he said.] + +"He says he wouldn't have come out here to-day, but had a little +difficulty just before he joined our party. He was landing from +the American ship of war, and on stepping on shore a man trod on +his foot, whereupon he put him into the water, and held him there +till he was drowned." + +[Bandits looking more respectfully.] + + +[What the Senator said.] + +"Listen now, Buttons. We will arrange a signal, and at a certain word +we will fall on our neighbors and do with them as they propose doing +with us. But first let us arrange carefully about the signal; for +every thing depends on that." + +[_Club_--"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!"] + + +[What Buttons said he said.] + +"It makes him feel amused, he says, when he thinks how odd that +guide looked at him when he made him go down into the crater of +Vesuvius; gave him five minutes to say his prayers, and then lifted +him up in the air and pitched him down to the bottom. He thinks +he is falling still." + +[Bandits exchange glances.] + + +[What the Senator said.] + +"First, we must keep up our uproar and merriment to as great an +extent as we can, but not very long. Let it be wild, mad, boisterous, +but short. It will distract these vagabonds, and throw them off their +guard. The first thing on the programme, then, is merriment. Laugh as +loud and long as you can." + +[_Club_.--"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!"] + + +[What Buttons said he said.] + +"He doesn't know but what he'll have a little trouble about a +priest he killed last night. He was in a church, and was walking +about whistling, when a priest came up and ordered him out; +whereupon he drew his revolver, and put all six of the bullets in +the priest's head." + +[Bandits cross themselves, and look serious.] + + +[Illustration: The Bandits Captured.] + + +[What the Senator said.] + +"The next thing is, to have some singing. They seem to like our +glorious national songs. Give them some of them. Let the first one +be 'Old Virginny.'" + +[_Club_.--"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!"] + + +[What Buttons said he said.] + +"He heard that the priest was not dead. As he always makes sure +work, he intends to look in the morning, and if he's alive, he'll +cut his throat, and make all his attendants dance to the tune of +'Old Virginny.'" + + +Buttons had to work on that word "Old Virginny," for the quick ears +of the Italians had caught it. Bandits cross themselves again. + +_Captain_.--"I don't believe a word of it. It's impossible." + +Bandit No. 6.--"He looks like it, any way." + +In fact, the Senator did look like it. His hair tinged to an +unnatural hue by the sulphur of Vesuvius, his square, determined +jaw, his heavy, overhanging brow, marked him as one who was capable +of any desperate enterprise. + + +[What the Senator said.] + +"Next and last, Dick, you are to sing 'Yankee Doodle.' You know +the words about 'coming to town riding on a pony.' You know that +verse ends with an Italian word. I am particular about this, for +you might sing the wrong verse. Do you understand, all of you? If +so, wink your eyes twice." + +[The Club all winked twice. Then, as usual: +"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!"] + + +[What Buttons said he said.] + +"He says there is no danger for him, however, for foreigners are +in terror of the tune of 'Yankee Doodle.' If he were arrested by +the Government, the American Admiral would at once send ashore a +file of marines with an 'ultimatum,' a 'Columbiad,' a 'spanker +boom,' a 'Webster's Unabridged,' and a 'brachycatalectic,' to demand +his surrender at the cannon's mouth." + +[Great sensation among the bandits at the formidable arms of +American marines.] + + +[What the Senator said.] + +"Look at me. There are six. I will take two; each of you take +one--the man on your right, remember. As Dick, in singing, comes +to that word, each of you go at your man. Buttons, you hear, of +course." + +[_Club_.--"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!"] + + +[What Buttons said he said.] + +"They think in town that he is the Devil, because he has killed +seven men in duels since he came, and has never been wounded. People +don't know the great American invention, worn next the skin, which +makes the body impervious to bullets." + +[_Captain_, sneering.--"I don't believe it." + +Bandit No. 3.--"I don't know. They invented the revolver. If only I +had one."] + + +[What the Senator said.] + +"Boys, arrange to your minds what to do. Grab the gun, and put +your man down backward. I'm almost ashamed of the game, it's so +easy. Look at these boobies by me. They are like children. No +muscle. The fellows at the end won't dare to shoot for fear of +wounding their own man." + +[_Club_.--"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!"] + + +[What Buttons said he said.] + +"He's made up his mind to go and take part in the war in Lombardy. +He will raise a band of Americans, all clothed in the great shot-proof +shirt, and armed with revolvers like ours, that shoot twelve times, +and have bullets like bomb-shells, that burst inside of a man and +blow him to pieces." + +_Captain_, coldly,--"That crow didn't blow up." + +_Buttons_.--"Oh yes it did. It was dark, and you didn't notice. +Go get it to-morrow, examine it, and you will find traces of the +exploded shell." + +_Bandit No. 4_.--"Santa Maria! What lies this giant tells his friends! +and they all laugh. They don't believe him." + +_Bandit No. 3_. "Well, that revolver is enough for me; and they all +have them." + +The above conversation was all carried on very rapidly, and did not +take up much time. + +At once the Club proceeded to carry out the Senator's plan. First +they talked nonsense, and roared and laughed, and perfected their +plan, and thus passed about ten minutes. Then Buttons asked the +Italians if they wished more music. + +"Answer, gallant Captain of these Kings of the Road. Will you hear +our foreign songs?" + +"Most gladly," said the gallant Captain. "There will yet be time +before we get our supper." + +A sinister gleam in his eye as he said this about the supper did not +escape the notice of Buttons. Thereupon he handed the guitar to Dick, +and the latter began to sing once more the strains of "Ole Virginny." +The Italians showed the same delight, and joined in a roaring chorus. +Even the men by the door stood yelling or whistling as Dick sang. + +Lastly, Dick struck up the final song. The hour had come! + + +"Yankee Doodle came to town + To buy himself a pony, +Stuck a feather in his hat + And called it--_Maccaroni_!" + + +As the song began each man had quietly braced himself for one grand +effort. At the sound of the last word the effect was tremendous. + +The Senator threw his mighty arms round the Captain and the other +bandit. They were both small men, as indeed Italians are generally, +and beside his colossal frame they were like boys to a grown man. He +held them as if a vice, and grasping their hands, twisted them back +till their guns fell from their grasp. As he hurled the affrighted +ruffians to the floor, the guns crashed on the stone pavement, one +of them exploding in its fall. He then by sheer strength jerked the +Captain over on his face, and threw the other man on him face +downward. This done he sat on them, and turned to see what the others +were doing. + +Buttons had darted at No. 5 who was on his right, seized his gun and +thrown him backward. He was holding him down now while the fellow was +roaring for help. + +Dick had done about the same thing, but had not yet obtained +possession of the gun. He was holding the Doctor's pistol to the +bandit's head, and telling him in choice Italian to drop his gun, or +he would send him out of the world with twelve bullets. + +The Doctor was all right. He was calmly seated on Bandit No. 3, with +one hand holding the bandit's gun pointed toward the door, and the +other grasping the ruffian's throat in a death like clutch. The man's +face was black, and he did not move. + +Mr. Figgs had not been so successful. Being fat, he had not been +quick enough. He was holding the bandit's gun, and aiming blows at +his face. + +"Doctor," said the Senator, "your man's all right. Give it to Figgs's +man." + +The Doctor sprang up, seized Figgs's man by throat, just as he +staggered back, and brought him down. + +The whole thing had been done in an incredibly short time. The +robbers had been taken by complete surprise. In strength they were +far inferior to their assailants. Attacked as they were so +unexpectedly the success of the Americans was not very wonderful. +The uproar was tremendous. The women were most noisy. At first all +were paralyzed. Then wild shrieks rang through the hall. They yelled, +they shouted, they wrung their hands. + +The four bandits at the end of the hall stood for a moment +horror-struck. Then they raised their guns. But they dared not fire. +They might shoot their own men. Suddenly Dick, who had got the gun +which he wished, looked at the door, and seeing the guns levelled +he fired the revolver. A loud scream followed. One of the men fell. +The women rushed to take care of him. The other three ran off. + +"Doctor," said the Senator, "have you a rope? Tie that man's hands +behind him." + +The Doctor took his handkerchief, twisted it, and tied the man's +hands as neatly and as firmly as though they were in handcuffs. He +then went to Buttons, got a handkerchief from him, and tied up his +man in the same way. Then Dick's man was bound. At that moment a +bullet fired through one of the windows grazed the head of Mr. Figgs. + +"Dick," said the Senator, "go out and keep guard." + +Dick at once obeyed. The women screamed and ran as he came along. + +Then the two men whom the Senator had captured were bound. After a +while some pieces of rope and leather straps were found by Buttons. +With these all the bandits were secured more firmly. The men whom the +Senator had captured were almost lifeless from the tremendous weight +of his manly form. They made their captives squat down in one corner, +while the others possessed themselves of their guns and watched them. +The wretches looked frightened out of their wits. They were +Neapolitans and peasants, weak, feeble, nerveless. + +"It's nothing to boast of," said the Senator, contemptuously, as he +looked at the slight figures. "They're a poor lot--small, no muscle, +no spirit, no nothing." + +The poor wretches now began to whine and cry. + +"Oh, Signore," they cried, appealing to Buttons. "Spare our lives!" + +At that the whole crowd of women came moaning and screaming. + +"Back!" said Buttons. + +"Oh, Signori, for the sake of Heaven spare them, spare our husbands!" + +"Back, all of you! We won't hurt any one if you all keep quiet." + +The women went sobbing back again. The Doctor then went to look at +the wounded man by the door. The fellow was trembling and weeping. +All Italians weep easily. + +The Doctor examined him and found it was only a flesh wound. The +women were full of gratitude as the Doctor bound up his arm after +probing the wound, and lifted the man on a rude couch. From time to +time Dick would look in at the door to see how things were going on. +The field was won. + +"Well," said the Senator, "the other three have probably run for it. +They may bring others back. At any rate we had better hurry off. We +are armed now, and can be safe. But what ought we to do with these +fellows?" + +"Nothing," said Buttons. + +"Nothing?" + +"No. They probably belong to the 'Camorra,' a sort of legalized +brigandage, and if had them all put in prison they would be let +out the next day." + +"Well, I must say I'd rather not. They're a mean lot, but I don't +wish them any harm. Suppose we make them take us out to the road +within sight of the city, and then let them go?" + +"Well." + +The others all agreed to this. + +"We had better start at once then." + +"For my part," said Mr. Figgs, "I think we had much better get +some thing to eat before we go--" + +"Pooh! We can get a good dinner in Naples. We may have the whole +country around us if we wait, and though I don't care for myself, +yet I wouldn't like to see one of you fall, boys." + +So it was decided to go at once. One man still was senseless. He was +left to the care of the women after being resuscitated by the Doctor. +The Captain and four bandits were taken away. + +"Attend," said Buttons, sternly. "You must show us the nearest way +to Naples. If you deceive us you die. If you show us our way we may +perhaps let you go." + +The women all crowded around their husbands, screaming and yelling. In +Vain. Buttons told them there was no danger. At last he said-- + +"You come along too, and make them show us the way. You will then +return here with them. The sooner the better. Haste!" + +The women gladly assented to this. + +Accordingly they all started, each one of the Americans carrying a +gun in one hand, and holding the arm of a bandit with the other. +The women went ahead of their own accord, eager to put an end to +their fears by getting rid of such dangerous guests. After a walk of +about half an hour they came to the public road which ran near to +the sea. + +"I thought I smelt the sea-air," said Dick. + +They had gone by the other side of Vesuvius. + +"This is the road to Naples, Signori," said the women. + +"Ah! And you won't feel safe till you get the men away. Very well, you +may go. We can probably take care of ourselves now." + +The women poured forth a torrent of thanks and blessings. The men were +then allowed to go, and instantly vanished into the darkness. At first +it was quite dark, but after a while the moon arose and they walked +merrily along, though very hungry. + +Before they reached their hotel it was about one o'clock. Buttons and +Dick stared there. As they were all sitting over the repast which they +forced the landlord to get for them, Dick suddenly struck his hand on +the table. + +"Sold!" he cried. + +"What?" + +"They've got our handkerchiefs." + +"Handkerchiefs!" cried Mr. Figgs, ruefully, "why, I forgot to get back +my purse." + + +[Illustration: Sold.] + + +"Your purse! Well, let's go out to-morrow--" + +"Pooh! It's no matter. There were only three piastres in it. I keep my +circular bill and larger money elsewhere." + +"Well they made something of us after all. Three piastres and five +handkerchiefs." + +The Senator frowned. "I've a precious good mind to go out there +to-morrow and make them disgorge," said he. "I'll think it over." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +DOLORES ONCE MORE.--A PLEASANT CONVERSATION.--BUTTONS LEARNS MORE OF +HIS YOUNG FRIEND.--AFFECTING FAREWELL. + + +As the Club intended to leave for Rome almost immediately, the two +young men in the Strado di San Bartollo were prepared to settle with +their landlord. + +When Buttons and Dick packed up their modest valises there was a +general excitement in the house; and when they called for their little +bill it appeared, and the whole family along with it. The landlord +presented it with a neat bow. Behind him stood his wife, his left the +big dragoon. And on his right Dolores. + +Such was the position which the enemy took up. + +Buttons took up the paper and glanced at it. + +"What is this?" + +"Your bill." + +"My bill?" + +"Yes, Signore." + +"Yes," repeated Dolores, waving her little hand at Buttons. + +Something menacing appeared in the attitude and tone of Dolores. Had +she changed? Had she joined the enemy? What did all this mean? + +"What did you say you would ask for this room when I came here?" +Buttons at length asked. + +"I don't recollect naming any price," said the landlord, evasively. + +"I recollect," said Dolores, decidedly. "He didn't name any price at +all." + +"Good Heavens!" cried Buttons, aghast, and totally unprepared for this +on the part of Dolores, though nothing on the part of the landlord +could have astonished him. In the brief space of three weeks that +worthy had been in the habit of telling him on an average about four +hundred and seventy-seven downright lies per day. + +"You told me," said Buttons, with admirable calmness, "that it would +be two piastres a week." + +"Two piastres! Two for both of you! Impossible! You might as well say +I was insane." + +"Two piastres!" echoed Dolores, in indignant tones--"only think! And +for this magnificent apartment! the best in the house--elegantly +furnished, and two gentlemen! Why, what is this that he means?" + +"Et tu Brute!" sighed Buttons. + +"Signore!" said Dolores. + +"Didn't he, Dick?'" + +"He did," said Dick; "of course he did." + +"Oh, that _uomicciuolo_ will say any thing," said Dolores, +contemptuously snapping her fingers in Dick's face. + +"Why, Signore. Look you. How is it possible? Think what +accommodations! Gaze upon that bed! Gaze upon that furniture! +Contemplate that prospect of the busy street!" + +"Why, it's the most wretched room in town," cried Buttons. "I've been +ashamed to ask my friends here." + +"Ah, wretch!" cried Dolores, with flashing eyes. "You well know that +you were never so well lodged at home. This miserable! This a room to +be ashamed of! Away, American savage! And your friends, who are they? +Do you lodge with the lazaroni?" + +"You said that you would charge two piastres. I will pay no more; no, +not half a carline. How dare you send me a bill for eighteen piastres? +I will pay you six piastres for the three weeks. Your bill for +eighteen is a cheat. I throw it away. Behold!" + +And Buttons, tearing the paper into twenty fragments, scattered them +over the floor. + +"Ah!" cried Dolores, standing before him, with her arms folded, and +her face all aglow with beautiful anger; "you call it a cheat, do you? +You would like, would you not, to run off and pay nothing? That is the +custom, I suppose, in America. But you can not do that in this honest +country." + +"Signore, you may tear up fifty bills, but you must pay," said the +landlord, politely. + +"If you come to travel you should bring money enough to take you +along," said Dolores. + +"Then I would not have to take lodgings fit only for a Sorrento +beggar," said Buttons, somewhat rudely. + +"They are too good for an American beggar," rejoined Dolores, taking +a step nearer to him, and slapping her little hands together by way +of emphasis. + +"Is this the maid," thought Buttons, "that hung so tenderly on my arm +at the masquerade? the sweet girl who has charmed so many evenings +with her innocent mirth. Is this the fair young creature who--" + +"Are you going to pay, or do you think you can keep us waiting +forever?" cried the fair young creature, impatiently and sharply. + +"No more than six piastres," replied Buttons. + +"Be reasonable, Signore. Be reasonable," said the landlord, with a +conciliatory smile; "and above all, be calm--be calm. Let us have no +contention. I feel that these honorable American gentlemen have no +wish but to act justly," and he looked benignantly at his family. + +"I wish I could feel the same about these Italians," said Buttons. + +"You will soon feel that these Italians are determined to have their +due," said Dolores. + +"They shall have their due and no more." + +"Come, Buttons," said Dick, in Italian, "let us leave this old +rascal." + +"Old rascal?" hissed Dolores, rushing up toward Dick as though she +would tear his eyes out, and stamping her little foot. "Old rascal! +Ah, piccolo Di-a-vo-lo!" + +"Come," said the landlord; "I have affection for you. I wish to +satisfy you. I have always tried to satisfy and please you." + +"The ungrateful ones!" said Dolores. "Have we not all been as +friendly to them as we never were before? And now they try like +vipers to sting us." + +"Peace, Dolores," said the landlord, majestically. "Let us all be +very friendly. Come, good American gentlemen, let us have peace. What +now _will_ you pay?" + +"Stop!" cried Dolores. "Do you bargain? Why, they will try and make +you take a half a carline for the whole three weeks. I am ashamed +of you. I will not consent." + + +[Illustration: Two Piastres!] + + +"How much will you give?" said the landlord, once more, without +heeding his daughter. + +"Six piastres," said Buttons. + +"Impossible!" + +"When I came here I took good care to have it understood. You +distinctly said two piastres per week. You may find it very +convenient to forget. I find it equally convenient to remember." + +"Try--try hard, and perhaps you will remember that we offered to +take nothing. Oh yes, nothing--absolutely nothing. Couldn't think +of it," said Dolores, with a multitude of ridiculous but +extremely pretty gestures, that made the little witch charming +even in her rascality.--"Oh yes, nothing"--a shrug of the shoulders +--"we felt so honored"--spreading out her hands and bowing.--"A great +American!--a noble foreigner!"--folding her arms, and strutting up +and down.--"Too much happiness!"--here her voice assumed a tone of +most absurd sarcasm.--"We wanted to entertain them all the rest of +our lives for nothing"--a ridiculous grimace--"or perhaps your sweet +conversation has been sufficient pay--ha?" and she pointed her little +rosy taper finger at Buttons as though she would transfix him. + +Buttons sighed. "Dolores!" said he, "I always thought _you_ were my +friend. I didn't think that you would turn against me." + +"Ah, infamous one! and foolish too! Did you think that I could ever +help you to cheat my poor parents? Was this the reason why you sought +me? Dishonest one! I am only an innocent girl, but I can understand +your villainy." + +"I think you understand a great many things," said Buttons, +mournfully. + +"And to think that one would seek my friendship to save his money!" + +Buttons turned away. "Suppose I stayed here three weeks longer, how +much would you charge?" he asked the landlord. + +That worthy opened his eyes. His face brightened. + +"Three weeks longer? Ah--I--Well--Perhaps--" + +"Stop!" cried Dolores, placing her hand over her father's mouth--"not +a word. Don't you understand? He don't want to stay three minutes +longer. He wants to get you into a new bargain, and cheat you." + +"Ah!" said the landlord, with a knowing wink. "But, my child, you are +really too harsh. You must not mind her, gentlemen. She's only a +willful young girl--a spoiled child--a spoiled child." + +"Her language is a little strong," said Buttons, "but I don't mind +what she says." + +"You may deceive my poor, kind, simple, honest, unsuspecting father," +said she, "but you can't deceive me." + +"Probably not." + +"Buttons, hadn't we better go?" said Dick; "squabbling here won't +benefit us." + +"Well," said Buttons, slowly, and with a lingering look at Dolores. + +But as Dolores saw them stoop to take their valises she sprang to the +door-way. + +"They're going! They're going!" she cried. "And they will rob us. Stop +them." + +"Signore," said Buttons, "here are six piastres. I leave them on the +table. You will get no more. If you give me any trouble I will summon +you before the police for conspiracy against a traveller. You can't +cheat me. You need not try." + +So saying, he quietly placed the six piastres on the table, and +advanced toward the door. + +"Signore! Signore!" cried the landlord, and he put himself in his way. +At a sign from Dolores the big dragoon came also, and put himself +behind her. + +"You shall not go," she cried. "You shall never pass through this door +till you pay." + +"Who is going to stop us?" said Buttons. + +"My father, and this brave soldier who is armed," said Dolores, in a +voice to which she tried to give a terrific emphasis. + +"Then I beg leave to say this much," said Buttons; and he looked with +blazing eyes full in the face of the "brave soldier." "I am not a +'brave soldier,' and I am not armed; but my friend and I have paid +our bills, and we are going through that door. If you dare to lay so +much as the weight of your finger on me I'll show you how a man can +use his fists." + +Now the Continentals have a great and a wholesome dread of the English +fist, and consider the American the same flesh and blood. They believe +that "le bogues" is a necessary, part of the education of the whole +Anglo-Saxon race, careful parents among that people being intent upon +three things for their children, to wit: + +(1.) To eat _Rosbif_ and _Bifiek_, but especially the former. + +(2.) To use certain profane expressions, by which the Continental can +always tell the Anglo-Saxon. + +(3.) TO STRIKE FROM THE SHOULDER!!! + +Consequently, when Buttons, followed by Dick, advanced to the door, +the landlord and the "brave soldier" slipped aside, and actually +allowed them to pass. + +Not so Dolores. + +She tried to hound her relatives on; she stormed; she taunted them; +she called them cowards; she even went so far as to run after Buttons +and seize his valise. Whereupon that young gentleman patiently waited +without a word till she let go her hold. He then went on his way. + +Arriving at the foot of the stairway he looked back. There was the +slender form of the young girl quivering with rage. + +"Addio, Dolores!" in the most mournful of voices. + +"Scelerato!" was the response, hissed out from the prettiest of lips. + +The next morning the Dodge Club left Naples. + + +[Illustration: The Brave Soldier.] + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +DICK RELATES A FAMILY LEGEND. + + +"Dick," said the Senator, as they rolled over the road, "spin a yarn +to beguile the time." + +Dick looked modest. + +The rest added their entreaties. + +"Oh, well," said Dick, "since you're so very urgent it would be +unbecoming to refuse. A story? Well, what? I will tell you about my +maternal grandfather. + +"My maternal grandfather, then, was once out in Hong Kong, and had +saved up a little money. As the climate did not agree with him he +thought he would come home; and at length an American ship touched +there, on board of which he went, and he saw a man in the galley; so +my grandfather stepped up to him and asked him: + +"'Are you the mate?' + +"'No. I'm the man that boils the _mate_,' said the other, who was also +an Irishman. + +"So he had to go to the cabin, where he found the Captain and mate +writing out clearance papers for the custom-house. + +"'Say, captain, will you cross the sea to plow the raging main?' asked +my grandfather. + +"'Oh, the ship it is ready and the wind is fair to plow the raging +main!' said the captain. Of course my grandfather at once paid his +fare without asking credit, and the amount was three hundred and +twenty-seven dollars thirty-nine cents. + +"Well, they set sail, and after going ever so many thousand miles, +or hundred--I forget which, but it don't matter--a great storm arose, +a typhoon or simoon, perhaps both; and after slowly gathering up its +energies for the space of twenty-nine days, seven hours, and +twenty-three minutes, without counting the seconds, it burst upon +them at exactly forty-two minutes past five, on the sixth day of the +week. Need I say that day was Friday? Now my grandfather saw all the +time how it was going to end; and while the rest were praying and +shrieking he had cut the lashings of the ship's long-boat and stayed +there all the time, having put on board the nautical instruments, two +or three fish-hooks, a gross of lucifer matches, and a sauce-pan. At +last the storm struck the ship, as I have stated, and at the first +crack away went the vessel to the bottom, leaving my grandfather +floating alone on the surface of the ocean. + +"My grandfather navigated the long-boat fifty-two days, three hours, +and twenty minutes by the ship's chronometer; caught plenty of fish +with his fish-hooks; boiled sea-water in his sauce-pan, and boiled +all the salt away, making his fire in the bottom of the boat, which +is a very good place, for the fire can't burn through without touching +the water, which it can't burn; and finding plenty of fuel in the +boat, which he gradually dismantled, taking first the thole-pins, then +the seats, then the taffrail, and so on. This sort of thing, though, +could not last forever, and at last, just in the nick of time, he came +across a dead whale. + +"It was floating bottom upward, covered with barnacles of very large +size indeed; and where his fins projected there were two little coves, +one on each side. Into the one on the lee-side he ran his boat, of +which there was nothing left but the stem and stern and two side +planks. + +"My grandfather looked upon the whale as an island. It was a very +nice country to one who had been so long in a boat, though a little +monotonous. The first thing that he did was to erect the banner of his +country, of which he happened to have a copy on his +pocket-handkerchief; which he did by putting it at the end of an oar +and sticking it in the ground, or the flesh, whichever you please to +call it. He then took an observation, and proceeded to make himself a +house, which he did by whittling up the remains of the long-boat, and +had enough left to make a table, a chair, and a boot-jack. So here +he stayed, quite comfortable, for forty-three days and a half, taking +observations all the time with great accuracy; and at the end of that +time all his house was gone, for he had to cut it up for fuel to cook +his meals, and nothing was left but half of the boot-jack and the oar +which served to uphold the banner of his country. At the end of this +time a ship came up. + +"The men of the ship did not know what on earth to make of this +appearance on the water, where the American flag was flying. So they +bore straight down toward it. + +"'I see a sight across the sea, hi ho cheerly men!' remarked the +captain to the mate, in a confidential manner. + +"'Methinks it is my own countrie, hi ho cheerly men!' rejoined the +other, quietly. + +"'It rises grandly o'er the brine, hi ho cheerly men!' said the +captain. + +"'And bears aloft our own ensign, hi ho cheerly men!' said the mate. + +"As the ship came up my grandfather placed both hands to his mouth in +the shape of a speaking-trumpet, and cried out: 'Ship ahoy across the +wave, with a way-ay-ay-ay-ay! Storm along!' + +"To which the captain of the ship responded through his trumpet: 'Tis +I, my messmate bold and brave, with a way-ay-ay-ay-ay! Storm along." + +"At this my grandfather inquired; 'What vessel are you gliding on? +Pray tell to me its name.' + +"And the captain replied: 'Our bark it is a whaler bold, and Jones +the captain's name.' + +"Thereupon the captain came on board the whale, or on shore, +whichever you like--I don't know which, nor does it matter--he came, +at any rate. My grandfather shook hands with him and asked him to +sit down. But the captain declined, saying he preferred standing. + +"'Well,' said my grandfather, 'I called on you to see if you would +like to buy a whale.' + + +[Illustration: Buying A Whale.] + + +"'Wa'al, yes, I don't mind. I'm in that line myself.' + +"'What'll you give for it?' + +"'What'll you take for it?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"Twenty-five minutes were taken up in the repetition of this question, +for neither wished to commit himself. + +"'Have you had any offers for it yet?' asked Captain Jones at last. + +"'Wa'al, no; can't say that I have.' + +"'I'll give as much as any body.' + +"'How much?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"Then my grandfather, after a long deliberation, took the captain by +the arm and led him all around, showing him the country, as one may +say, enlarging upon the fine points, and doing as all good traders are +bound to do when they find themselves face to face with a customer. + +"To which the end was: + +"'Wa'al, what'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'What'll you take?' + +"'What'll you give?' + +"'Well,' said my grandfather, 'I don't know as I care about trading +after all. I think I'll wait till the whaling fleet comes along. I've +been waiting for them for some time, and they ought to be here soon.' + +"'You're not in the right track,' said Captain Jones. + +"'Yes, I am.' + +"'Excuse me.' + +"'Ex-cuse _me_,' said my grandfather. 'I took an observation just +before you came in sight, and I am in lat. 47 deg. 22' 20", long. 150 +deg. 15' 55".' + +"Captain Jones's face fell. My grandfather poked him in the ribs and +smiled. + +"'I'll tell you what I'll do, as I don't care, after all, about +waiting here. It's a little damp, and I'm subject to rheumatics. I'll +let you have the whole thing if you give me twenty-five per cent, of +the oil after it's barreled, barrels and all.' + +"The captain thought for a moment. + +"'You drive a close bargain.' + +"'Of course.' + +"'Well, it'll save a voyage, and that's something.' + +"'Something! Bless your heart! ain't that every thing?' + +"'Well, I'll agree. Come on board, and we'll make out the papers.' + +"So my grandfather went on board, and they made out the papers; and +the ship hauled up alongside of the whale, and they went to work +cutting, and slashing, and hoisting, and burning, and boiling, and +at last, after ever so long a time--I don't remember exactly how +long--the oil was all secured, and my grandfather, in a few months +afterward, when he landed at Nantucket and made inquiries, sold his +share of the oil for three thousand nine hundred and fifty-six dollars +fifty-six cents, which he at once invested in business in New Bedford, +and started off to Pennsylvania to visit his mother. The old lady +didn't know him at all, he was so changed by sun, wind, storm, +hardship, sickness, fatigue, want, exposure, and other things of that +kind. She looked coldly on him. + +"'Who are you?' + +"'Don't you know?' + +"'No.' + +"'Think.' + +"'_Have you a strawberry on your arm_?' + +"'No.' + +"'Then--you are--_you are_--YOU ARE--my own--my long--lost son!' + + +[Illustration: The Long-Lost Son.] + + +"And she caught him in her arms. + +"Here endeth the first part of my grandfather's adventures, but he +had many more, good and bad; for he was a remarkable man, though I +say it; and if any of you ever want to hear more about him, which I +doubt, all you've got to do is to say so. But perhaps it's just as +well to let the old gentleman drop, for his adventures were rather +strange; but the narration of them is not very profitable, not that +I go in for the utilitarian theory of conversation; but I think, on +the whole, that, in story-telling, fiction should be preferred to +dull facts like these, and so the next time I tell a story I will +make one up." + +The Club had listened to the story with the gravity which should be +manifested toward one who is relating family matters. At its close +the Senator prepared to speak. He cleared his throat: + +"Ahem! Gentlemen of the Club! our adventures, thus far, have not +been altogether contemptible. We have a President and a Secretary; +ought we not also to have a Recording Secretary--a Historian?" + +"Ay!" said all, very earnestly. + +"Who, then, shall it be?" + +All looked at Dick. + +"I see there is but one feeling among us all," said the Senator. +"Yes, Richard, you are the man. Your gift of language, your fancy, +your modesty, your fluency--But I spare you. From this time forth +you know your duty." + +Overcome by this honor, Dick was compelled to bow his thanks in +silence and hide his blushing face. + +"And now," said Mr. Figgs, eagerly, "I want to hear _the Higgins +Story_." + +The Doctor turned frightfully pale. Dick began to fill his pipe. +The Senator looked earnestly out of the window. Buttons looked at +the ceiling. + +"What's the matter?" said Mr. Figgs. + +"What?" asked Buttons. + +"The Higgins Story?" + +The Doctor started to his feet. His excitement was wonderful. He +clenched his fist. + +"I'll quit! I'm going back. I'll join you at Rome by another route. +I'll--" + +"No, you won't!" said Buttons; "for on a journey like this it would +be absurd to begin the Higgins Story." + +"Pooh!" said Dick, "it would require nineteen days at least to get +through the introductory part." + +"When, then, can I hear it?" asked Mr. Figgs, in perplexity. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +NIGHT ON THE ROAD.--THE CLUB ASLEEP.--THEY ENTER ROME.--THOUGHTS ON +APPROACHING AND ENTERING "THE ETERNAL CITY." + + +[Illustration: To Rome.] + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +A LETTER BY DICK, AND CRITICISMS OF HIS FRIENDS. + +They took lodgings near the Piazza di Spagna. This is the best part +of Rome to live in, which every traveller will acknowledge. Among +other advantages, it is perhaps the only clean spot in the Capital +of Christendom. + +Their lodgings were peculiar. Description is quite unnecessary. They +were not discovered without toil, and not secured without warfare. +Once in possession they had no reason to complain. True, the +conveniences of civilized life do not exist there--but who dreams of +convenience in Rome? + +On the evening of their arrival they were sitting in the Senator's +room, which was used as the general rendezvous. Dick was diligently +writing. + +"Dick," said the Senator, "what are you about?" + +"Well," said Dick, "the fact is, I just happened to remember that when +I left home the editor of the village paper wished me to write +occasionally. I promised, and he at once published the fact in +enormous capitals. I never thought of it till this evening, when I +happened to find a scrap of the last issue of his paper in my valise. +I recollected my promise, and I thought I might as well drop a line." + +"Read what you have written." + +Dick blushed and hesitated. + +"Nonsense! Go ahead, my boy!" said Buttons. + +Whereupon Dick cleared his throat and began: + + +"ROME, May 30, 1859. + +MR. EDITOR,--Rome is a subject which is neither uninteresting nor +alien to the present age." + + +"That's a fact, or you wouldn't be here writing it," remarked +Buttons. + + +"In looking over the past, our view is too often hounded by the Middle +Ages. We consider that period as the chaos of the modern world, when +it lay covered with darkness, until the Reform came and said. 'Let +there be light!" + + +"Hang it, Dick! be original or be nothing." + + +"Yet, if the life of the world began anywhere, it was in Rome. Assyria +is nothing to me. Egypt is but a spectacle!" + + +"If you only had enough funds to carry you there you'd change your +tune. But go on." + + +"But Rome arises before me as the parent of the latter time. By her +the old battles between Freedom and Despotism were fought long ago, +and the forms and principles of Liberty came forth, to pass, amid +many vicissitudes, down to a new-born day." + + +"There! I'm coming to the point now!" + +"About time, I imagine. The editor will get into despair." + + +"There is but one fitting approach to Rome. By any other road the +majesty of the Old Capital is lost in the lesser grandeur of the +Medieval City. Whoever goes there let him come up from Naples and +enter by the Jerusalem Gate." + + +"Jerusalem fiddlesticks! Why, there's no such gate!" + + +"There the very spirit of Antiquity sits enthroned to welcome the +traveller, and all the solemn Past sheds her influences over his +soul--" + + +"Excuse me; there is a Jerusalem Gate." + +"Perhaps so--in Joppa." + + +"There the Imperial City lies in the sublimity of ruin. It is the Rome +of our dreams--the ghost of a dead and buried Empire hovering over its +own neglected grave!" + + +"Dick, it's not fair to work off an old college essay as European +correspondence." + + +"Nothing may be seen but desolation. The waste Campagna stretches its +arid surface away to the Alban mountains, uninhabited, and forsaken of +man and beast. For the dust and the works and the monuments of +millions lie here, mingled in the common corruption of the tomb, and +the life of the present age shrinks away in terror. Long lines of +lofty aqueducts come slowly down from the Alban hills, but these +crumbled stones and broken arches tell a story more eloquent than +human voice. + +"The walls arise before us, but there is no city beyond. The +desolation that reigns in the Campagna has entered here. The palace +of the noble, the haunts of pleasure, the resorts of the multitude, +the garrison of the soldier, have crumbled to dust, and mingled +together in one common ruin. The soil on which we tread, which gives +birth to trees, shrubs, and wild flowers without number, is but an +assemblage of the disintegrated atoms of stones and mortar that once +arose on high in the form of palace, pyramid, or temple." + + +"Dick, I advise you to write all your letters before you see the +places you speak of. You've no idea how eloquent you can be!" + + +"Now if we pass on in this direction, we soon come to a spot which is +the centre of the world--the place where most of all we must look when +we search for the source of much that is valuable in our age. + +"It in a rude and a neglected spot. At one end rises a rock crowned +with houses; on one side are a few mean edifices, mingled with masses +of tottering ruins; on the other a hill formed altogether of crumbled +atoms of bricks, mortar, and precious marbles. In the midst are a few +rough columns blackened by time and exposure. The soil is deep, and +in places there are pits where excavations have been made. Rubbish +lies around; bits of straw, and grass, and hay, and decayed leather, +and broken bottles, and old bones. A few dirty shepherds pass along, +driving lean and miserable sheep. Further up is a cluster of +wine-carts, with still more curious horses and drivers. + +"What is this place?--what those ruins, these fallen monuments, these +hoary arches, these ivy-covered walls? What? This is-- + + + "'The field of freedom, faction, fame, and blood; + Here a proud people's passions were exhaled, + From the first hour of Empire in the bud + To that when further worlds to conquer failed; + The Forum where the immortal accents glow, + And still the eloquent air breathes, burns with Cicero!' + + +"Yet if you go up to one of those people and ask this Question, he +will answer you and tell you the only name, he knows--The Cow Market!'" + + +"Is that all?" inquired Buttons, as Dick laid down his paper. + +"That's all I've written as yet." + +Whereupon Buttons clapped his bands to express applause, and all the +others laughingly followed his example. + +"Dick," said the Senator, after a pause, "what you have written sounds +pretty. But look at the facts. Here you are writing a description of +Rome before you've seen any thing of the place at all. All that you +have put in that letter is what you have read in books of travel. I +mention this not from blame, but merely to show what a wrong principle +travellers go on. They don't notice real live facts. Now I've promised +the editor of our paper a letter. As soon as I write it I'll read it +for you. The style won't be equal to yours. But, if I write, I'll be +bound to tell something new. Sentiment," pursued the Senator, +thoughtfully, "is playing the dickens with the present age. What we +ought to look at is not old ruins or pictures, but men--men--live men. +I'd rather visit the cottage of an Italian peasant than any church in +the country. I'd rather see the working of the political constitution +of this 'ere benighted land than any painting you can show. +Horse-shoes before ancient stones, and macaroni before statues, say I! +For these little things show me all the life of the people. If I only +understood their cursed lingo," said the Senator, with a tinge of +regret, "I'd rather stand and hear them talk by the hour, particularly +the women, than listen to the pootiest music they can scare up!" + +"I tried that game," said Mr. Figgs, ruefully, "in Naples. I went into +a broker's shop to change a Napoleon. I thought I'd like to see their +financial system. I saw enough of it; for the scoundrel gave me a lot +of little bits of coin that only passed for a few cents apiece in +Naples, with difficulty at that, and won't pass here at all!" + +The Senator laughed. "Well, you shouldn't complain. You lost your +Napoleon, but gained experience. You have a new wrinkle. I gained a +new wrinkle too when I gave a half-Napoleon, by mistake, to a wretched +looking beggar, blind of one eye. I intended to give him a centime." + +"Your principle," said Buttons, "does well enough for you as a +traveller. But you don't look at all the points of the subject. The +point is to write a letter for a newspaper. Now what is the most +successful kind of letter? The readers of a family paper are +notoriously women and young men, or lads. Older men only look at the +advertisements or the news. What do women and lads care for +horse-shoes and macaroni? Of course, if one were to write about +these things in a humorous style they would take; but, as a general +thing, they prefer to read about old ruins, and statues, and cities, +and processions. But the best kind of a correspondence is that which +deals altogether in adventures. That's what takes the mind! Incidents +of travel, fights with ruffians, quarrels with landlords, shipwrecks, +robbery, odd scrapes, laughable scenes; and Dick, my boy! when you +write again be sure to fill your letter with events of this sort." + +"But suppose," suggested Dick, meekly, "that we meet with no +ruffians, and there are no adventures to relate?" + +"Then use a traveller's privilege and invent them. What was +imagination given for if not to use?" + +"It will not do--it will not do," said the Senator, decidedly. "You +must hold on to facts. Information, not amusement, should be your +aim." + +"But information is dull by itself. Amusement perhaps is useless. Now +how much better to combine the utility of solid information with the +lighter graces of amusement, fun, and fancy. Your pill, Doctor, is +hard to take, though its effects are good. Coat it with sugar and +it's easy." + +"What!" exclaimed the Doctor, suddenly starting up. "I'm not asleep! +Did you speak to me?" + +The Doctor blinked and rubbed his eyes, and wondered what the company +were laughing at. In a few minutes, however, he concluded to resume +his broken slumber in his bed. He accordingly retired; and the +company followed his example. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +ST. PETER'S!--THE TRAGIC STORY OF THE FAT MAN IN THE BALL.--HOW +ANOTHER TRAGEDY NEARLY HAPPENED.--THE WOES OF MEINHERR SCHATT. + + +Two stately fountains, a colonnade which in spite of faults possesses +unequalled majesty, a vast piazza, enclosing many acres, in whose +immense area puny man dwindles to a dwarf, and in the distance the +unapproachable glories of the greatest of earthly temples--such is the +first view of St. Peter's. + +Our party of friends entered the lordly vestibule, and lifting the +heavy mat that hung over the door-way they passed through. There came +a soft air laden with the odor of incense; and strains of music from +one of the side chapels came echoing dreamily down one of the side +aisles. A glare of sunlight flashed in on polished marbles of a +thousand colors that covered pillars, walls, and pavement. The vaulted +ceiling blazed with gold. People strolled to and fro without any +apparent object. They seemed to be promenading. In different places +some peasant women were kneeling. + +They walked up the nave. The size of the immense edifice increased +with every step. Arriving under the dome they stood looking up with +boundless astonishment. + +They walked round and round. They saw statues which were masterpieces +of genius; sculptures that glowed with immortal beauty; pictures which +had consumed a life-time as they grew up beneath the patient toil of +the mosaic worker. There were altars containing gems equal to a +king's ransom; curious pillars that came down from immemorial ages; +lamps that burn forever. + +"This," said the Senator, "is about the first place that has really +come up to my idee of foreign parts. In fact it goes clean beyond it. +I acknowledge its superiority to any thing that America can produce. +But what's the good of it all? If this Government really cared for +the good of the people it would sell out the hull concern, and devote +the proceeds to railways and factories. Then Italy would go ahead as +Providence intended." + +"My dear Sir, the people of this country would rise and annihilate +any Government that dared to touch it." + +"Shows how debased they have grown. There's no utility in all this. +There couldn't be any really good Gospel preaching here. + +"Different people require different modes of worship," said Buttons, +sententiously. + +"But it's immense," said the Senator, as they stood at the furthest +end and looked toward the entrance. "I've been calc'latin' that you +could range along this middle aisle about eighteen good-sized +Protestant churches, and eighteen more along the side aisles. You +could pile them up three tiers high. You could stow away twenty-four +more in the cross aisle. After that you could pile up twenty more in +the dome. That would make room here for one hundred and fifty-two, +good-sized Protestant churches, and room enough would be left to +stow away all their spires." + +And to show the truth of his calculation he exhibited a piece of paper +on which he had pencilled it all. + +If the interior is imposing the ascent to the roof is equally so. +There is a winding path so arranged that mules can go up carrying +loads. Up this they went and reached the roof. Six or seven acres of +territory snatched from the air spread around; statutes rose from the +edge; all around cupolas and pillars rose. In the center the huge dome +itself towered on high. There was a long low building filled with +people who lived up here. They were workmen whose duty it was to +attend to the repairs of the vast structure. Two fountains poured +forth a never-ceasing supply of water. It was difficult to conceive +that this was a roof of a building. + +Entering the base of the central cupola a stairway leads up. There is +a door which leads to the interior, where one can walk around a +gallery on the inside of the dome and look down. Further up where +the arch springs there is another. Finally at the apex of the dome +there is a third opening. Looking down through this the sensation +is terrific. + +Upon the summit of the vast dome stands an edifice of large size, +which is called the lantern, and appears insignificant in comparison +with the mighty structure beneath. Up this the stairway goes until +at length the opening into the ball is reached. + +The whole five climbed up into the ball. They found to their surprise +that it would hold twice as many more. The Senator reached up his +hand. He could not touch the top. They looked through the slits in +the side. The view was boundless; the wide Campagna, the purple +Apennines, the blue Mediterranean, appeared from different sides. + +"I feel," said the Senator, "that the conceit is taken out of me. +What is Boston State House to this; or Bunker Hill monument! I +used to see pictures of this place in Woodbridge's Geography; but +I never had a realizing sense of architecture until now." + +"This ball," said Buttons, "has its history, its associations. It +has been the scene of suffering. Once a stoutish man came up here. +The guides warned him, but to no purpose. He was a willful +Englishman. You may see, gentlemen, that the opening is narrow. How +the Englishman managed to get up does not appear; but it is certain +that when he tried to get down he found it impossible. He tried for +hours to squeeze through. No use. Hundreds of people came up to help +him. They couldn't. The whole city got into a state of wild +excitement. Some of the churches had prayers offered up for him +though he was a heretic. At the end of three days he tried again. +Fasting and anxiety had come to his relief, and he slipped through +without difficulty." + +"He must have been a London swell," said Dick. + +"I don't believe a word of it," said Mr. Figgs, looking with an +expression of horror, first at the opening, and then at his own +rotundity. Then springing forward he hurriedly began to descend. + +Happy Mr. Figgs! There was no danger for him. But in his eagerness to +get down he did not think of looking below to see if the way was +clear. And so it happened, that as he descended quickly and with +excited haste, he stepped with all his weight upon the hand of a man +who was coming up. The stranger shouted. Mr. Figgs jumped. His foot +slipped. His hand loosened, and down he fell plump to the bottom. Had +he fallen on the floor there is no doubt that he would have sustained +severe injury. Fortunately for himself he fell upon the stranger and +nearly crushed his life out. + +The stranger writhed and rolled till he had got rid of his heavy +burden. The two men simultaneously started to their feet. The +stranger was a short stout man with an unmistakable German face. He +had bright blue eyes, red hair, and a forked red beard. He stared +with all his might, stroked his forked red beard piteously, and then +ejaculated most gutturally, in tones that seemed to come from his +boots-- + +"Gh-h-h-r-r-r-r-r-acious me!" + +Mr. Figgs overwhelmed him with apologies, assured him that it was +quite unintentional, hoped that he wasn't hurt, begged his pardon; +but the stranger only panted, and still he stroked his forked red +beard, and still ejaculated-- + +"Gh-h-h-r-r-r-r-r-acious me!" + +Four heads peered through the opening above; but seeing no accident +their owners, one by one, descended, and all with much sympathy asked +the stranger if he was much hurt. But the stranger, who seemed quite +bewildered, still panted and stroked his beard, and ejaculated-- + +"Gh-h-h-r-r-r-r-r-acious me!" + +At length he seemed to recover his faculties, and discovered that he +was not hurt. Upon this he assured Mr. Figgs, in heavy guttural +English, that it was nothing. He had often been knocked down before. +If Mr. Figgs was a Frenchman, he would feel angry. But as he was an +American he was glad to make his acquaintance. He himself had once +lived in America, in Cincinnati, where he had edited a German paper. +His name was Meinherr Schatt. + +Meinherr Schatt showed no further disposition to go up; but +descended with the others down as far as the roof, when they went to +the front and stood looking down on the piazza. In the course of +conversation Meinherr Schatt informed them that he belonged to the +Duchy of Saxe Meiningen, that he had been living in Rome about two +years, and liked it about as well as any place that he had seen. + +He went every autumn to Paris to speculate on the Bourse, and +generally made enough to keep him for a year. He was acquainted with +all the artists in Rome. Would they like to be introduced to some +of them? + + +[Illustration: Gracious Me!] + + +Buttons would be most charmed. He would rather become acquainted +with artists than with any class of people. + +Meinherr Schatt lamented deeply the present state of things arising +from the war in Lombardy. A peaceful German traveller was scarcely +safe now. Little boys made faces at him in the street, and shouted +after him, "Mudedetto Tedescho!" + +Just at this moment the eye of Buttons was attracted by a carriage +that rolled away from under the front of the cathedral down the +piazza. In it were two ladies and a gentleman. Buttons stared eagerly +for a few moments, and then gave a jump. + +"What's the matter?" cried Dick. + +"It is! By Jove! It is!" + +"What? Who?" + +"I see her face! I'm off!" + +"Confound it! Whose face?" + +But Buttons gave no answer. He was off like the wind, and before the +others could recover from their surprise had vanished down the +descent. + +"What upon airth has possessed Buttons now?" asked the Senator. + +"It must be the Spanish girl," said Dick. + +"Again? Hasn't his mad chase at sea given him a lesson? Spanish +girl! What is he after? If he wants a girl, why can't he wait and +pick out a regular thorough-bred out and outer of Yankee stock? +These Spaniards are not the right sort." + +In an incredible short space of time the figure of Buttons was +seen dashing down the piazza, in the direction which the carriage +had taken. But the carriage was far ahead, and even as he left the +church it had already crossed the Ponte di S. Angelo. The others +then descended. Buttons was not seen till the end of the day. + +He then made his appearance with a dejected air. + +"What luck?" asked Dick, as he came in. + +"None at all," said Buttons, gloomily. + +"Wrong ones again?" + +"No, indeed. I'm not mistaken this time. But I couldn't catch them. +They got out of sight, and kept out too. I've been to every hotel +in the place, but couldn't find them. It's too bad." + +"Buttons," said the Senator, gravely, "I'm sorry to see a young man +like you so infatuated. Beware--Buttons--beware of wimmin! Take the +advice of an older and more experienced man. Beware of wimmin. +Whenever you see one coming--dodge! It's your only hope. If it +hadn't been for wimmin"--and the Senator seemed to speak half to +himself, while his face assumed a pensive air--"if it hadn't been +for wimmin, I'd been haranguing the Legislatoor now, instead of +wearying my bones in this benighted and enslaved country." + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +THE GLORY, GRANDEUR, BEAUTY, AND INFINITE VARIETY OF THE PINCIAN +HILL; NARRATED AND DETAILED NOT COLUMNARILY BUT EXHAUSTIVELY, +AND AFTER THE MANNER OF RABELAIS. + + +Oh, the Pincian Hill!--Does the memory of that place affect all +alike? Whether it does or not matters little to the chronicler of +this veracious history. To him it is the crown and glory of modern +Rome; the centre around which all Rome clusters. Delightful walks! +Views without a parallel! Place on earth to which no place else can +hold a candle! + +Pooh--what's the use of talking? Contemplate, O Reader, from the +Pincian Hill the following: + + +The Tiber, The Campagna, The Aqueducts, Trajan's Column, +Antonine's Pillar, The Piazza del Popolo, The Torre del Capitoglio, +The Hoar Capitoline, The Palatine, The Quirinal, The Viminal, +The Esquiline, The Caelian, The Aventine, The Vatican, The Janiculum, +St. Peter's, The Lateran, The Stands for Roast Chestnuts, The New +York _Times_, the Hurdy-gurdys, The London _Times_, The Raree-shows, +The Obelisk of Mosaic Pharaoh, The Wine-carts, Harper's Weekly, +Roman Beggars, Cardinals, Monks, Artists, Nuns, The New York +_Tribune_, French soldiers, Swiss Guards, Dutchmen, Mosaic-workers, +Plane-trees, Cypress-trees, Irishmen, Propaganda Students, Goats, +Fleas, Men from Bosting, Patent Medicines, Swells Lager, +Meerschaum-pipes, The New York _Herald_, Crosses, Rustic Seats, +Dark-eyed Maids, Babel, Terrapins, Marble Pavements, Spiders, +Dreamy Haze, Jews, Cossacks, Hens, All the Past, Rags, The +original Barrel-organ, The original Organ-grinder, Bourbon Whisky, +Civita Vecchia Olives, Hadrian's Mausoleum, _Harper's Magazine_, +The Laurel Shade, Murray's Hand-book, Cicerones, Englishmen, +Dogcarts, Youth, Hope, Beauty, Conversation Kenge, Bluebottle Flies, +Gnats, _Galignani_, Statues, Peasants, Cockneys, Gas-lamps, +Dundreary, Michiganders, Paper-collars, Pavilions, Mosaic Brooches, +Little Dogs, Small Boys, Lizards, Snakes, Golden Sunsets, Turks, +Purple Hills, Placards, Shin-plasters, Monkeys, Old Boots, +Coffee-roasters, Pale Ale, The Dust of Ages, The Ghost of Rome, +Ice Cream, Memories, Soda-Water, Harper's Guide-Book. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +HARMONY ON THE PINCIAN HILL.--MUSIC HATH CHARMS.--AMERICAN MELODIES. +--THE GLORY, THE POWER, AND THE BEAUTY OF YANKEE DOODLE, AND THE +MERCENARY SOUL OF AN ITALIAN ORGAN-GRINDER. + + +The Senator loved the Pincian Hill, for there he saw what he loved +best; more than ruins, more than churches, more than pictures and +statues, more than music. He saw man and human nature. + +He had a smile for all; of superiority for the bloated aristocrat; of +friendliness for the humble, yet perchance worthy mendicant. He longed +every day more and more to be able to talk the language of the people. + +On one occasion the Club was walking on the Pincian Hill, when +suddenly they were arrested by familiar sounds which came from some +place not very far away. It was a barrel-organ; a soft and musical +organ; but it was playing "Sweet Home." + +"A Yankee tune," said the Senator. "Let us go and patronize domestic +manufacture. That is my idee of political economy." + +Reaching the spot they saw a pale, intellectual-looking Italian +working away at his instrument. + +"It's not bad, though that there may not be the highest kind of +musical instrument." + +"No," said Buttons; "but I wonder that you, an elder of a church, +can stand here and listen to it." + +"Why, what has the church to do with a barrel-organ?" + +"Don't you believe the Bible?" + +"Of course," said the Senator, looking mystified. + +"Don't you know what it says on the subject?" + +"What the Bible says? Why no, of course not. It says nothing." + +"I beg your pardon. It says, 'The sound of the grinding is low.' See +Ecclesiastes, twelfth, fourth." + +The Senator looked mystified, but said nothing. But suddenly the +organ-grinder struck up another tune. + +"Well, I do declare," cried the Senator, delighted, "if it isn't +another domestic melody!" + +It was "Independence Day." + +"Why, it warms my heart," he said, as a flush spread over his fine +countenance. + +The organ-grinder received any quantity of _baiocchi_, which so +encouraged him that he tried another--"Old Virginny." + +"That's better yet," said the Senator. "But how on airth did this +man manage to get hold of these tunes?" + +Then came others. They were all American: "Old Folks at Home," +"Nelly Ely," "Suwannee Ribber," "Jordan," "Dan Tucker," "Jim Crow." + +The Senator was certainly most demonstrative, but all the others +were equally affected. + +Those native airs; the dashing, the reckless, the roaringly-humorous, +the obstreperously jolly--they show one part of the many-sided +American character. + +Not yet has justice been done to the nigger song. It is not a +nigger song. It is an American melody. Leaving out those which have +been stolen from Italian Operas, how many there are which are truly +American in their extravagance, their broad humor, their glorious +and uproarious jollity! The words are trash. The melodies are every +thing. + +These melodies touched the hearts of the listeners. American life +rose before them as they listened.--American life--free, boundless, +exuberant, broadly-developing, self-asserting, gaining its +characteristics from the boundless extent of its home--a continental +life of limitless variety. As mournful as the Scotch; as reckless as +the Irish; as solemnly patriotic as the English. + +"Listen!" cried the Senator, in wild excitement. + +It was "Hail Columbia." + +"The Pincian Hill," said the Senator, with deep solemnity, "is +glorified from this time forth and for evermore. It has gained a +new charm. The Voice of Freedom hath made itself heard!" + +The others, though less demonstrative, were no less delighted. Then +came another, better yet. "The Star-Spangled Banner." + +"There!" cried the Senator, "is our true national anthem--the +commemoration of national triumph; the grand upsoaring of the +victorious American Eagle as it wings its everlasting flight +through the blue empyrean away up to the eternal stars!" + +He burst into tears; the others respected his emotion. + +Then he wiped his eyes and looked ashamed of himself--quite +uselessly--for it is a mistake to suppose that tears are unmanly. +Unmanly! The manliest of men may sometimes shed tears out of his +very manhood. + +At last there arose a magic strain that produced an effect to +which the former was nothing. It was "Yankee Doodle!" + +The Senator did not speak. He could not find words. He turned +his eyes first upon one, and then another of his companions; eyes +beaming with joy and triumph--eyes that showed emotion arising +straight from a patriot's heart--eyes which seemed to say: Is there +any sound on earth or above the earth that can equal this? + + +[Illustration: Old Virginny.] + + +Yankee Doodle has never, received justice. It is a tune without +words. What are the recognized words? Nonsense unutterable--the +sneer of a British officer. But the tune!--ah that is quite +another thing! + +The tune was from the very first taken to the national heart, and +has never ceased to be cherished there. The Republic has grown to +be a very different thing from that weak beginning, but its +national air is as popular as ever. The people do not merely +love it. They glory in it. And yet apologies are sometimes made +for it. By whom? By the soulless dilettante. The people know +better:--the farmers, the mechanics, the fishermen, the +dry-goods clerks, the newsboys, the railway stokers, the butchers, +the bakers, the candlestick-makers, the tinkers, the tailors, the +soldiers, the sailors. Why? Because this music has a voice of its +own, more expressive than words; the language of the soul, which +speaks forth in certain melodies which form an utterance of +unutterable passion. + +The name was perhaps given in ridicule. It was accepted with pride. +The air is rash, reckless, gay, triumphant, noisy, boisterous, +careless, heedless, rampant, raging, roaring, rattle, brainish, +devil-may-care-ish, plague-take-the-hindmost-ish; but! solemn, +stern, hopeful, resolute, fierce, menacing, strong, cantankerous +(cantankerous is entirely an American idea), bold, daring-- + +Words fail. + +Yankee Doodle has not yet received its Doo! + +The Senator had smiled, laughed, sighed, wept, gone through many +variations of feeling. + +He had thrown _baiocchi_ till his pockets were exhausted, and then +handed forth silver. He had shaken hands with all his companions ten +times over. They themselves went not quite as far in feeling as he, +but yet to a certain extent they went in. + +And yet Americans are thought to be practical, and not ideal. Yet here +was a true American who was intoxicated--drunk! By what? By sound, +notes, harmony. By music! + +"Buttons," said he, as the music ceased and the Italian prepared to +make his bow and quit the scene, "I must make that gentleman's +acquaintance." + +Buttons walked up to the organ-grinder. + +"Be my interpreter," said the Senator. "Introduce me." + +"What's your name?" asked Buttons. + +"Maffeo Cloto." + +"From where?" + +"Urbino." + +"Were you ever in America?" + +"No, Signore." + +"What does he say?" asked the Senator, impatiently. + +"He says his name is Mr. Cloto, and he was never in America." + +"How did you get these tunes?" + +"Out of my organ," said the Italian, grinning. + +"Of course; but how did you happen to get an organ with such tunes?" + +"I bought it." + +"Oh yes; but how did you happen to buy one with these tunes?" + +"For you illustrious American Signore. You all like to hear them." + +"Do you know any thing about the tunes?" + +"Signore?" + +"Do you know what the words are?" + +"Oh no. I am an Italian." + +"I suppose you make money out of them." + +"I make more in a day with these than I could in a week with other +tunes." + +"You lay up money, I suppose." + +"Oh yes. In two years I will retire and let my younger brother play +here." + +"These tunes?" + +"Yes, Signore." + +"To Americans?" + +"Yes, Signore." + +"What is it all?" asked the Senator. + +"He says that he finds he makes money by playing American tunes to +Americans." + +"Hm," said the Senator, with some displeasure; "and he has no soul +then to see the--the beauty, the sentiment, the grandeur of his +vocation!" + +"Not a bit--he only goes in for money." + +The Senator turned away in disgust. "Yankee Doodle," he murmured, +"ought of itself to have a refining and converting influence on the +European mind; but it is too debased--yes--yes--too debased." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +HOW A BARGAIN IS MADE.--THE WILES OF THE ITALIAN TRADESMAN.--THE NAKED +SULKY BEGGAR, AND THE JOVIAL WELL-CLAD BEGGAR.--WHO IS THE KING OF +BEGGARS? + + +"What are you thinking about, Buttons?" + +"Well, Dick, to tell the truth, I have been thinking that if I do +find the Spaniards they won't have reason to be particularly proud of +me as a companion. Look at me." + +"I look, and to be frank, my dear boy, I must say that you look more +shabby-genteel than otherwise." + +"That's the result of travelling on one suit of clothes--without +considering fighting. I give up my theory." + +"Give it up, then, and come out as a butterfly." + +"Friend of my soul, the die is cast. Come forth with me and seek a +clothing-store." + +It was not difficult to find one. They entered the first one that they +saw. The polite Roman overwhelmed them with attention. + +"Show me a coat, Signore." + +Signore sprang nimbly at the shelves and brought down every coat in +his store. Buttons picked out one that suited his fancy, and tried it +on. + +"What is the price?" + +With a profusion of explanation and description the Roman informed +him: "Forty piastres." + +"I'll give you twelve," said Buttons, quietly. + +The Italian smiled, put his head on one side, drew down the corners +of his mouth, and threw up his shoulders. This is the _shrug_. The +shrug requires special attention. The shrug is a gesture used by the +Latin race for expressing a multitude of things, both objectively and +subjectively. It is a language of itself. It is, as circumstances +require, a noun, adverb, pronoun, verb, adjective, preposition, +interjection, conjunction. Yet it does not supersede the spoken +language. It comes in rather when spoken words are useless, to convey +intensity of meaning or delicacy. It is not taught, but it is learned. + +The coarser, or at least blunter, Teutonic race have not cordially +adopted this mode of human intercommunication. The advantage of the +shrug is that in one slight gesture it contains an amount of meaning +which otherwise would require many words. A good shrugger in Italy is +admired, just as a good conversationist is in England, or a good stump +orator in America. When the merchant shrugged, Buttons understood him +and said: + +"You refuse? Then I go. Behold me!" + +"Ah, Signore, how can you thus endeavor to take advantage of the +necessities of the poor?" + +"Signore, I must buy according to my ability." + +The Italian laughed long and quietly. The idea of an Englishman or +American not having much money was an exquisite piece of humor. + +"Go not, Signore. Wait a little. Let me unfold more garments. Behold +this, and this. You shall have many of my goods for twelve piastres." + + +[Illustration: The Shrug.] + + +"No, Signore; I must have this, or I will have none." + +"You are very hard, Signore. Think of my necessities. Think of the +pressure of this present war, which we poor miserable tradesmen feel +most of all." + +"Then addio, Signore; I must depart." + +They went out and walked six paces. + +"P-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-t!" (Another little idea of the Latin race. It is +a much more penetrating sound than a loud Hallo! Ladies can use it. +Children too. This would be worth importing to America.) + +"P-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-t!" + +Buttons and Dick turned. The Italian stood smiling and bowing and +beckoning. + +"Take it for twenty-four piastres." + +"No, Signore; I can only pay twelve." + +With a gesture of ruffled dignity the shopkeeper withdrew. Again they +turned away. They had scarcely gone ten paces before the shop-keeper +was after them: + +"A thousand pardons. But I have concluded to take twenty." + +"No; twelve, and no more." + +"But think, Signore; only think." + +"I do think, my friend; I do think." + +"Say eighteen." + +"No, Signore." + +"Seventeen." + +"Twelve." + +"Here. Come back with me." + +They obeyed. The Italian folded the coat neatly, tied it carefully, +stroked the parcel tenderly, and with a meek yet sad smile handed it +to Buttons. + +"There--only sixteen piastres." + +Buttons had taken out his purse. At this he hurriedly replaced it, +with an air of vexation. + +"I can only give twelve." + +"Oh, Signore, be generous. Think of my struggles, my expenses, my +family. You will not force me to lose." + +"I would scorn to force you to any thing, and therefore I will +depart." + +"Stop, Signore," cried the Italian, detaining them at the door. "I +consent. You may take it for fourteen." + +"For Heaven's sake, Buttons, take it," said Dick, whose patience was +now completely exhausted. "Take it." + +"Twelve," said Buttons. + +"Let me pay the extra two dollars, for my own peace of mind," said +Dick. + +"Nonsense, Dick. It's the principle of the thing. As a member of the +Dodge Club, too, I could not give more." + +"Thirteen, good Signore mine," said the Italian piteously. + +"My friend, I have given my word that I would pay only twelve." + +"Your word? Your pardon, but to whom?" + +"To you." + +"Oh, then, how gladly I release you from your word!" + +"Twelve, Signore, or I go." + +"I can not." + +Buttons turned away. They walked along the street, and at length +arrived at another clothier's. Just as they stepped in a hand was +laid on Buttons's shoulder, and a voice cried out-- + +"Take it! Take it, Signore!" + +"Ah! I thought so. Twelve?" + +"Twelve." + +Buttons paid the money and directed where it should be sent. He found +out afterward that the price which an Italian gentleman would pay was +about ten piastres. + +There is no greater wonder than the patient waiting of an Italian +tradesman, in pursuit of a bargain. The flexibility of the Italian +conscience and imagination under such circumstances is truly +astonishing. + +Dress makes a difference. The very expression of the face changes when +one has passed from shabbiness into elegance. After Buttons had +dressed himself in his gay attire his next thought was what to do with +his old clothes. + +"Come and let us dispose of them." + +"Dispose of them!" + +"Oh, I mean get rid of them. I saw a man crouching in a corner nearly +naked as I came up. Let us go and see if we can find him. I'd like to +try the effect." + +They went to the place where the man had been seen. He was there +still. A young man, in excellent health, brown, muscular, lithe. +He had an old coverlet around his loins--that was all. He looked up +sulkily. + +"Are you not cold?" + +"No," he blurted out, and turned away. + +"A boor," said Dick. "Don't throw away your charity on him." + +"Look here." + +The man looked up lazily. + +"Do you want some clothes?" + +No reply. + +"I've got some here, and perhaps will give them to you." + +The man scrambled to his feet. + +"Confound the fellow!" said Dick. "If he don't want them let's find +some one who does." + +"Look here," said Buttons. + +He unfolded his parcel. The fellow looked indifferently at the things. + +"Here, take this," and he offered the pantaloons. + +The Italian took them and slowly put them on. This done, he stretched +himself and yawned. + +"Take this." + +It was his vest. + +The man took the vest and put it on with equal _sang froid_. Again +he yawned and stretched himself. + +"Here's a coat." + +Buttons held it out to the Italian. The fellow took it, surveyed it +closely, felt in the pockets, and examined very critically the +stiffening of the collar. Finally he put it on. He buttoned it +closely around him, and passed his fingers through his matted hair. +Then he felt the pockets once more. After which he yawned long and +solemnly. This done, he looked earnestly at Buttons and Dick. He saw +that they had nothing more. Upon which he turned on his heel, and +without saying a word, good or bad, walked off with immense strides, +turned a corner, and was out of sight. The two philanthropists were +left staring at one another. At last they laughed. + +"That man is an original," said Dick. + +"Yes, and there is another," said Buttons. + +As he spoke he pointed to the flight of stone steps that goes up from +the Piazza di Spagna. Dick looked up. There sat The Beggar! + +ANTONIO! + +Legless, hatless, but not by any means penniless, king of Roman +beggars, with a European reputation, unequalled, in his own +profession--there sat the most scientific beggar that the world has +ever seen. + +He had watched the recent proceedings, and caught the glance of the +young men. + +As they looked up his voice came clear and sonorous through the air: + +"O most generous--0 most noble--O most illustrious youths--Draw near +--Look in pity upon the abject--Behold legless, armless, helpless, the +beggar Antonio forsaken of Heaven--For the love of the Virgin--For the +sake of the saints--In the name of humanity--Date me uno mezzo +baioccho--Sono poooocooooovero--Miseraaaaaaaaaabile-- +Desperrrraaaaaaaado!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +THE MANIFOLD LIFE OF THE CAFE NUOVO, AND HOW THEY RECEIVED THE NEWS +ABOUT MAGENTA.--EXCITEMENT.--ENTHUSIASM.--TEARS.--EMBRACES. + + +All modern Rome lives in the Cafe Nuovo. It was once a palace. Lofty +ceilings, glittering walls, marble pavements, countless tables, +luxurious couches, immense mirrors, all dazzle the eye. The hubbub is +immense, the confusion overpowering. + +The European mode of life is not bad. Lodgings in roomy apartments, +where one sleeps and attends to one's private affairs; meals +altogether at the cafe. There one invites one's friends. No delay with +dinner; no badly-cooked dishes; no stale or sour bread; no timid, +overworn wife trembling for the result of new experiments in +housekeeping. On the contrary, one has: prompt meals; exquisite food; +delicious bread; polite waiters; and happy wife, with plenty of +leisure at home to improve mind and adorn body. + +The first visit which the Club paid to the Cafe Nuovo was an eventful +one. News had just been received of the great strife at Magenta. Every +one was wild. The two _Galignani's_ had been appropriated by two +Italians, who were surrounded by forty-seven frenzied Englishmen, all +eager to get hold of the papers. The Italians obligingly tried to read +the news. The wretched mangle which they made of the language, the +impatience, the excitement, and the perplexity of the audience, +combined with the splendid self-complacency of the readers, formed a +striking scene. + +The Italians gathered in a vast crowd in one of the billiard-rooms, +where one of their number, mounted on a table, was reading with +terrific volubility, and still more terrific gesticulations, a +private letter from a friend at Milan. + +"Bravo!" cried all present. + +In pronouncing which word the Italians rolled the "r" so tumultuously +that the only audible sound was-- + +B-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-f-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-ah! Like the letter B +in a railway train. + +The best of all was to see the French. They were packed in a dense +mass at the furthest extremity of the Grand Saloon. Every one was +talking. Every one was describing to his neighbor the minute +particulars of the tremendous contest. Old soldiers, hoarse with +excitement, emulated the volubility of younger ones. A thousand arms +waved energetically in the air. Every one was too much interested in +his own description to heed his neighbor. They were all talkers, no +listeners. + +A few Germans were there, but they sat forsaken and neglected. Even +the waiters forsook them. So they smoked the cigars of sweet and +bitter fancy, occasionally conversing in thick gutturals. It was +evident that they considered the present occasion as a combined crow +of the whole Latin race over the German. So they looked on with +impassive faces. + + +[Illustration: News Of Magenta!] + + +Perhaps the most stolid of all was Meinheer Schatt, who smoked and +sipped coffee alternately, stopping after each sip to look around +with mild surprise, to stroke his forked beard, and to ejaculate-- + +"Gr-r-r-r-r-r-acious me!" + +Him the Senator saw and accosted, who, making room for the Senator, +conversed with much animation. After a time the others took seats near +them, and formed a neutral party. At this moment a small-sized +gentleman with black twinkling eyes came rushing past, and burst into +the thick of the crowd of Frenchmen. At the sight of him Buttons +leaped up, and cried: + +"There's Francia! I'll catch him now!" + +Francia shouted a few words which set the Frenchmen wild. + +"The Allies have entered Milan! A dispatch has just arrived!" + +There burst a shrill yell of triumph from the insane Frenchmen. There +was a wild rushing to and fro, and the crowd swayed backward and +forward. The Italians came pouring in from the other room. One word +was sufficient to tell them all. It was a great sight to see. On each +individual the news produced a different effect. Some stood still as +though petrified; others flung up their arms and yelled; others +cheered; others upset tables, not knowing what they were doing; +others threw themselves into one another's arms, and embraced and +kissed; others wept for joy:--these last were Milanese. + +Buttons was trying to find Francia. The rush of the excited crowd +bore him away, and his efforts were fruitless. In fact, when he +arrived at the place where that gentleman had been, he was gone. The +Germans began to look more uncomfortable than ever. At length Meinheer +Schatt proposed that they should all go in a body to the Cafe Scacchi. +So they all left. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +CHECKMATE! + + +The Cafe Scacchi, as its name implies, is devoted to chess. Germans +patronize it to a great extent. Politics do not enter into the +precincts sacred to Caissa. + +After they had been seated about an hour Buttons entered. He had not +been able to find Francia. To divert his melancholy he proposed that +Meinheer Schatt should play a game of chess with the Senator. Now, +chess was the Senator's hobby. He claimed to be the best player in +his State. With a patronizing smile he consented to play with a tyro +like Meinheer Schatt. At the end of one game Meinheer Schatt stroked +his beard and meekly said-- + +"Gr-r-r-acious me!" + +The Senator frowned and bit his lips. He was checkmated. + +Another game. Meinheer Schatt played in a calm, and some might say a +stupid, manner. + +"Gr-r-r-acious me!" + +It was a drawn game. + +Another: this was a very long game. The Senator played laboriously. +It was no use. Slowly and steadily Meinheer Schatt won the game. + +When he uttered his usual exclamation the Senator felt strongly +inclined to throw the board at his head. However, he restrained +himself, and they commenced another game. Much to delight the +Senator beat. He now began to explain to Buttons exactly why it was +that he had not beaten before. + +Another game followed. The Senator lost woefully. His defeat was in +fact disgraceful. When Meinheer Schatt said the ominous word the +Senator rose, and was so overcome with vexation he had not the +courtesy to say Good-night. + +As they passed out Meinheer Schatt was seen staring after them with +his large blue eyes, stroking his beard, and whispering to himself-- + +"Gr-r-r-acious me!" + + +[Illustration: Before And After.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +BUTTONS A MAN OF ONE IDEA.--DICK AND HIS MEASURING TAPE.--DARK EYES. +--SUSCEPTIBLE HEART.--YOUNG MAIDEN WHO LIVES OUT OF TOWN.--GRAND +COLLISION OF TWO ABSTRACTED LOVERS IN THE PUBLIC STREETS. + + +Too much blame can not be given to Buttons for his behavior at this +period. He acted as though the whole motive of his existence was to +find the Francias. To this he devoted his days, and of this he dreamed +at night. He deserted his friends. Left to themselves, without his +moral influence to keep them together and give aim to their efforts, +each one followed his own inclination. + +Mr. Figgs spent the whole of his time in the Cafe Nuovo, drawing out +plans of dinners for each successive day. The Doctor, after sleeping +till noon, lounged on the Pincian Hill till evening, when he joined +Mr. Figgs at dinner. The Senator explored every nook and corner of +Rome. At first Dick accompanied him, but gradually they diverged +from one another in different paths. The Senator visited every place +in the city, peered into dirty houses, examined pavements, +investigated fountains, stared hard at the beggars, and looked +curiously at the Swiss Guard in the Pope's Palace. He soon became +known to the lower classes, who recognized with a grin the tall +foreigner that shouted queer foreign words and made funny gestures. + +Dick lived among churches, palaces, and ruins. Tired at length of +wandering, he attached himself to some artists, in whose studios he +passed the greater part of his afternoons. He became personally +acquainted with nearly every member of the fraternity, to whom he +endeared himself by the excellence of his tobacco, and his great +capacity for listening. Your talkative people bore artists more +than any others. + +"What a lovely girl! What a look she gave!" + +Such was the thought that burst upon the soul of Dick, after a +little visit to a little church that goes by the name of Saint +Somebody _ai quattri fontani_. He had visited it simply because he +had heard that its dimensions exactly correspond with those of each +of the chief piers that support the dome of Saint Peter's. As he +wished to be accurate, he had taken a tape-line, and began stretching +it from the altar to the door. The astonished priests at first stood +paralyzed by his sacrilegious impudence, but finally, after a +consultation, they came to him and ordered him to be gone. Dick looked +up with mild wonder. They indignantly repeated the order. + +Dick was extremely sorry that he had given offense. Wouldn't they +overlook it? He was a stranger, and did not know that they would be +unwilling. However, since he had begun, he supposed they would kindly +permit him to finish. + +--"They would kindly do no such thing," remarked one of the priests, +brusquely. "Was their church a common stable or a wine-shop that he +should presume to molest them at their services? If he had no +religion, could he not have courtesy; or, if he had no faith himself, +could he not respect the faith of others?" + +Dick felt abashed. The eyes of all the worshipers were on him, and it +was while rolling up his tape that his eyes met the glance of a +beautiful Italian girl, who was kneeling opposite. The noise had +disturbed her devotions, and she had turned to see what it was. It was +a thrilling glance from deep black lustrous orbs, in which there was +a soft and melting languor which he could not resist. He went out +dazzled, and so completely bewildered that he did not think of +waiting. After he had gone a few blocks he hurried back. She had gone. +However, the impression of her face remained. + +He went so often to the little church that the priests noticed him; +but finding that he was quiet and orderly they were not offended. One +of them seemed to think that his rebuke had awakened the young +foreigner to a sense of higher things; so he one day accosted him +with much politeness. The priest delicately brought forward the claims +of religion. Dick listened meekly. At length he asked the priest if +he recollected a certain young girl with beautiful face, wonderful +eyes, and marvellous appearance that was worshiping there on the day +that he came to measure the church. + +"Yes," said the priest, coldly. + +Could he tell her name and where she lived? + +"Sir," said the priest, "I had hoped that you came here from a higher +motive. It will do you no good to know, and I therefore decline +telling you." + +Dick begged most humbly, but the priest was inexorable. At last Dick +remembered having heard that an Italian was constitutionally unable +to resist a bribe. He thought he might try. True, the priest was a +gentleman; but perhaps an Italian gentleman was different from an +English or American; so he put his hand in his pocket and blushing +violently, brought forth a gold piece of about twenty dollars value. +He held it out. The priest stared at him with a look that was +appalling. + +"If you know--" faltered Dick--"any one--of course I don't mean +yourself--far from it--but--that is--" + +"Sir," cried the priest, "who are you? Are there no bounds to your +impudence? Have you come to insult me because I am a priest, and +therefore can not revenge myself? Away!" + +The priest choked with rage. Dick walked out. Bitterly he cursed +his wretched stupidity that had led him to this. His very ears +tingled with shame as he saw the full extent of the insult that he +had offered to a priest and a gentleman. He concluded to leave Rome +at once. + +But at the very moment when he had made this desperate resolve he +saw some one coming. A sharp thrill went through his heart. + +It was SHE! She looked at him and glanced modestly away. Dick at +once walked up to her. + +"Signorina," said he, not thinking what a serious thing it was to +address an Italian maiden in the streets. But this one did not +resent it. She looked up and smiled. "What a smile!" thought Dick. + +"Signorina," he said again, and then stopped, not knowing what to +say. His voice was very tremulous, and the expression of his face +tender and beseeching. His eyes told all. + +"Signore," said the girl, with a sweet smile. The smile encouraged +Dick. + +"Ehem--I have lost my way. I--I--could you tell me how I could get +to Piazza del Popolo? I think I might find my way home from there." + +The girl's eyes beamed with a mischievous light. + +"Oh yes, most easily. You go down that street; when you pass four +side-streets you turn; to the left--the left--remember, and then you +keep on till you come to a large church with a fountain before it, +then you turn round that, and you see the obelisk of the Piazza del +Popolo." + +Her voice was the sweetest that Dick had ever heard. He listened as +he would listen to music, and did not hear a single word that he +comprehended. + +"Pardon me," said he, "but would you please to tell me again. I can +not remember all. Three streets?" + +The girl laughed and repeated it + +Dick sighed. + +"I'm a stranger here, and am afraid that I can not find my way. I left +my map at home. If I could find some one who would go with me and +show me." + +He looked earnestly at her, but she modestly made a movement to go. + +"Are you in a great hurry?" said he. + +"No, Signore," replied the girl, softly. + +"Could you--a--a--would you be willing--to--to--walk a little part +of the way with me, and--show me a very little part of the way--only +a very little?" + + +[Illustration: Away!] + + +The girl seemed half to consent, but modestly hesitated, and a faint +flush stole over her face. + +"Ah do!" said Dick. He was desperate. + +"It's my only chance," thought he. + +The girl softly assented and walked on with him. + +"I am very much obliged to you for your kindness," said Dick. "It's +very hard for a stranger to find his way in Rome." + +"But, Signore, by this time you ought to know the whole of our city." + +"What? How?" + +"Why, you have been here three weeks at least." + +"How do you know?" and the young man blushed to his eyes. He had been +telling lies, and she knew it all the time. + +"Oh, I saw you once in the church, and I have seen you with that tall +man. Is he your father?" + +"No, only a friend." + +"I saw you," and she shook her little head triumphantly, and her +eyes beamed with fun and laughter. + +"Any way," thought Dick, "she ought to understand." + +"And did you see me when I was in that little church with a measuring +line?" + +The young girl looked up at him, her large eyes reading his very soul. + +"Did I look at you? Why, I was praying." + +"You looked at me, and I have never forgotten it." + +Another glance as though to assure herself of Dick's meaning. The +next moment her eyes sank and her face flushed crimson. Dick's heart +beat so fast that he could not speak for some time. + +"Signore," said the young girl at last, "when you turn that corner +you will see the Piazza del Popolo." + +"Will you not walk as far as that corner?" said Dick. + +"Ah, Signore, I am afraid I will not have time." + +"Will I never see you again?" asked he, mournfully. + +"I do not know, Signore. You ought to know." + +A pause. Both had stopped, and Dick was looking earnestly at her, but +she was looking at the ground. + +"How can I know when I do not know even your name? Let me know that, +so that I may think about it." + +"Ah, how you try to flatter! My name is Pepita Gianti." + +"And do you live far from here?" + +"Yes. I live close by the Basilica di San Paolo fuori le mure." + +"A long distance. I was out there once." + +"I saw you." + +Dick exulted. + +"How many times have you seen me? I have only seen you once before." + +"Oh, seven or eight times." + +"And will this be the last?" said Dick, beseechingly. + +"Signore, if I wait any longer the gates will be shut." + +"Oh, then, before you go, tell me where I can find you to-morrow. If +I walk out on that road will I see you? Will you come in to-morrow? +or will you stay out there and shall I go there? Which of the houses +do you live in? or where can I find you? If you lived over on the +Alban Hills I would walk every day to find you." + +Dick spoke with ardor and impetuosity. The deep feeling which he +showed, and the mingled eagerness and delicacy which he exhibited, +seemed not offensive to his companion. She looked up timidly. + +"When to-morrow comes you will be thinking of something else--or +perhaps away on those Alban mountains. You will forget all about +me. What is the use of telling you? I ought to go now." + +"I'll never forget!" burst forth Dick. "Never--never. Believe me. +On my soul; and oh, Signorina, it is not much to ask!" + + +[Illustration: Pepita.] + + +His ardor carried him away. In the broad street he actually made a +gesture as though he would take her hand. The young girl drew back +blushing deeply. She looked at him with a reproachful glance. + +"You forget--" + +Whereupon Dick interrupted her with innumerable apologies. + +"You do not deserve forgiveness. But I will forgive you if you leave +me now. Did I not tell you that I was in a hurry?" + +"Will you not tell me where I can see you again?" + +"I suppose I will be walking out about this time to-morrow." + +"Oh, Signorina! and I will be at the gate." + +"If you don't forget." + +"Would you be angry if you saw me at the gate this evening?" + +"Yes; for friends are going out with me. Addio, Signore." + +The young girl departed, leaving Dick rooted to the spot. After a +while he went on to the Piazza del Popolo. A thousand feelings +agitated him. Joy, triumph, perfect bliss, were mingled with countless +tender recollections of the glance, the smile, the tone, and the +blushes of Pepita. He walked on with new life. So abstracted was his +mind in all kinds of delicious anticipations that he ran full against +a man who was hurrying at full speed and in equal abstraction in the +opposite direction. There was a recoil. Both fell. Both began to make +apologies. But suddenly: + +"Why, Buttons!" + +"Why, Dick!" + +"Where in the world did you come from?" + +"Where in the world did you come from?" + +"What are you after, Buttons?" + +"Did you see a carriage passing beyond that corner?" + +"No, none." + +"You must have seen it." + +"Well, I didn't." + +"Why, it must have just passed you." + +"I saw none." + +"Confound it!" + +Buttons hurriedly left, and ran all the way to the corner, round which +he passed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + +CONSEQUENCES OF BEING GALLANT IN ITALY, WHERE THERE ARE LOVERS, +HUSBANDS, BROTHERS, FATHERS, COUSINS, AND INNUMERABLE OTHER RELATIVES +AND CONNECTIONS, ALL READY WITH THE STILETTO. + + +After his meeting with Pepita, Dick found it extremely difficult to +restrain his impatience until the following evening. He was at the +gate long before the time, waiting with trembling eagerness. + +It was nearly sundown before she came; but she did come at last. Dick +watched her with strange emotions, murmuring to himself all those +peculiar epithets which are commonly used by people in his situation. +The young girl was unmistakably lovely, and her grace and beauty might +have affected a sterner heart than Dick's. + +"Now I wonder if she knows how perfectly and radiantly lovely she +is," thought he, as she looked at him and smiled. + +He joined her a little way from the gate. + +"So you do not forget." + +"_I_ forget! Before I spoke to you I thought of you without ceasing, +and now I can never forget you." + +"Do your friends know where you are?" she asked, timidly. + +"Do you think I would tell them?" + +"Are you going to stay long in Rome?" + +"I will not go away for a long time." + +"You are an American." + +"Yes." + +"America is very far away." + +"But it is easy to get there." + +"How long will you be in Rome?" + +"I don't know. A very long time." + +"Not in the summer?" + +"Yes, in the summer." + +"But the malaria. Are you not afraid of that? Will your friends stay?" + +"I do not care whether my friends do or not." + +"But you will be left alone." + +"I suppose so." + +"But what will you do for company? It will be very lonely." + +"I will think of you all day, and at evening come to the gate." + +"Oh, Signore! You jest now!" + +"How can I jest with you?" + +"You don't mean what you say." + +"Pepita!" + +Pepita blushed and looked embarrassed. Dick had called her by her +Christian name; but she did not appear to resent it. + +"You don't know who I am," she said at last. "Why do you pretend to +be so friendly?" + +"I know that you are Pepita, and I don't want to know any thing +more, except one thing, which I am afraid to ask." + +Pepita quickened her pace. + +"Do not walk so fast, Pepita," said Dick, beseechingly. "Let the walk +be as long as you can." + +"But if I walked so slowly you would never let me get home." + +"I wish I could make the walk so slow that we could spend a +life-time on the road." + +Pepita laughed. "That would be a long time." + +It was getting late. The sun was half-way below the horizon. The sky +was flaming with golden light, which glanced dreamily through the hazy +atmosphere. Every thing was toned down to soft beauty. Of course it +was the season for lovers and lovers' vows. Pepita walked a little +more slowly to oblige Dick. She uttered an occasional murmur at their +slow progress, but still did not seem eager to quicken her pace. Every +step was taken unwillingly by Dick, who wanted to prolong the happy +time. + +Pepita's voice was the sweetest in the world, and her soft Italian +sounded more musically that that language had ever sounded before. +She seemed happy, and by many little signs showed that her companion +was not indifferent to her. At length Dick ventured to offer his arm. +She rested her hand on it very gently, and Dick tremulously took it in +his. The little hand fluttered for a few minutes, and then sank to +rest. + +The sun had now set. Evening in Italy is far different from what it +is in northern latitudes. There it comes on gently and slowly, +sometimes prolonging its presence for hours, and the light will be +visible until very late. In Italy, however, it is short and abrupt. +Almost as soon as the sun disappears the thick shadows come swiftly +on and cover every thing. It was so at this time. It seemed but a +moment after sunset, and yet every thing was growing indistinct. The +clumps of trees grew black; the houses and walls of the city behind +all faded into a mass of gloom. The stars shone faintly. There was +no moon. + +"I will be very late to-night," said Pepita, timidly. + +"But are you much later than usual?" + +"Oh, very much!" + +"There is no danger, is there? But if there is you are safe. I can +protect you. Can you trust me?" + +"Yes," said Pepita, in a low voice. + +It was too dark to see the swiftly-changing color of Pepita's face as +Dick murmured some words in her ear. But her hand trembled violently +as Dick held it. She did not say a word in response. Dick stood still +for a moment and begged her to answer him. She made an effort and +whispered some indistinct syllables. Whereupon Dick called her by +every endearing name that he could think of, and--Hasty footsteps! +Exclamations! Shouts! They were surrounded! Twelve men or more-- +stout, strong fellows, magnified by the gloom. Pepita shrieked. + +"Who are you?" cried Dick. "Away, or I'll shoot you all. I'm armed." + +"Boh!" said one of the men, contemptuously. "Off!" cried Dick, as +the fellow drew near. He put himself before Pepita to protect her, +and thrust his right hand in the breast-pocket of his coat. + +"Who is that with you?" said a voice. At the sound of the voice +Pepita uttered a cry. Darting from behind Dick she rushed up to him. + +"It is Pepita, Luigi!" + +"Pepita! Sister! What do you mean by this?" said the man hoarsely. +"Why are you so late? Who is this man?" + +"An American gentleman who walked out as far as this to protect me," +said Pepita, bursting into tears. + +"An American gentleman!" said Luigi, with a bitter sneer. "He came +to protect you, did he? Well; we will show him in a few minutes +how grateful we are." + +Dick stood with folded arms awaiting the result of all this. + +"Luigi! dearest brother!" cried Pepita, with a shudder, "on my soul +--in the name of the Holy Mother--he is an honorable American +gentleman, and he came to protect me." + +"Oh! we know, and we will reward him." + +"Luigi! Luigi!" moaned Pepita, "if you hurt him I will die!" + +"Ah! Has it come to that?" said Luigi, bitterly. "A half-hour's +acquaintance, and you talk of dying. Here, Pepita; go home with +Ricardo." + +"I will not. I will not go a step unless you let him go." + +"Oh, we will let him go!" + +"Promise me you will not hurt him." + +"Pepita, go home!" cried her brother, sternly. + +"I will not unless you promise." + +"Foolish girl! Do you suppose we are going to break the laws and +get into trouble? No, no. Come, go home with Ricardo. I'm going to +the city." + +Ricardo came forward, and Pepita allowed herself to be led away. + +When she was out of sight and hearing Luigi approached Dick. Amid +the gloom Dick did not see the wrath and hate that might have been on +his face, but the tone of his voice was passionate and menacing. He +prepared for the worst. "That is my sister.--Wretch! what did you +mean?" + +"I swear--" + +"Peace! We will give you cause to remember her." + +Dick saw that words and excuses were useless. He thought his hour had +come. He resolved to die game. He hadn't a pistol. His manoeuvre of +putting his hand in his pocket was merely intended to deceive. The +Italians thought that if he had one he would have done more than +mention it. He would at least have shown it. He had stationed +himself under a tree. The men were before him. Luigi rushed at him +like a wild beast. Dick gave him a tremendous blow between his eyes +that knocked him headlong. + +"You can kill me," he shouted, "but you'll find it hard work!" + +Up jumped Luigi, full of fury; half a dozen others rushed +simultaneously at Dick. He struck out two vigorous blows, which +crashed against the faces of two of them. The next moment he was on +the ground. On the ground, but striking well-aimed blows and kicking +vigorously. He kicked one fellow completely over. The brutal Italians +struck and kicked him in return. At last a tremendous blow descended +on his head. He sank senseless. + +When he revived it was intensely dark. He was covered with painful +bruises. His head ached violently. He could see nothing. He arose +and tried to walk, but soon fell exhausted. So he crawled closer to +the trunk of the tree, and groaned there in his pain. At last he +fell into a light sleep, that was much interrupted by his suffering. + +He awoke at early twilight. He was stiff and sore, but very much +refreshed. His head did not pain so excessively. He heard the +trickling of water near, and saw a brook. There he went and washed +himself. The water revived him greatly. Fortunately his clothes were +only slightly torn. After washing the blood from his face, and +buttoning his coat over his bloodstained shirt, and brushing the +dirt from his clothes, he ventured to return to the city. + +He crawled rather than walked, often stopping to rest, and once +almost fainting from utter weakness. But at last he reached the +city, and managed to find a wine-cart, the only vehicle that he +could see, which took him to his lodgings. He reached his room +before any of the others were up, and went to bed. + + +[Illustration: An Interruption.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +DICK ON THE SICK LIST.--RAPTURE OF BUTTONS AT MAKING AN IMPORTANT +DISCOVERY. + + +Great was the surprise of all on the following morning at finding that +Dick was confined to his bed. All were very anxious, and even Buttons +showed considerable feeling. For as much as a quarter of an hour he +ceased thinking about the Spaniards. Poor Dick! What on earth was the +matter? Had he fever? No. Perhaps it was the damp night-air. He should +not have been out so late. Where was he? A confounded pity! The Doctor +felt his pulse. There was no fever. The patient was very pale, and +evidently in great pain. His complaint was a mystery. However, the +Doctor recommended perfect quiet, and hoped that a few days would +restore him. Dick said not a word about the events of the evening. He +thought it would do no good to tell them. He was in great pain. His +body was black with frightful bruises, and the depression of his mind +was as deep as the pain of his body. + +The others went out at their usual hour. + +The kind-hearted Senator remained at home all day, and sat by Dick's +bedside, sometimes talking, sometimes reading. Dick begged him not to +put himself to so much inconvenience on his account; but such language +was distasteful to the Senator. + +"My boy," he said, "I know that you would do as much for me. Besides, +it is a far greater pleasure to do any thing for you than to walk +about merely to gratify myself. Don't apologize, or tell me that I am +troubling myself. Leave me to do as I please." + +Dick's grateful look expressed more than words. + +In a few days his pain had diminished, and it was evident that he +would be out in a fortnight or so. The kind attentions of his friends +affected him greatly. They all spent more time than ever in his room, +and never came there without bringing some little trifle, such as +grapes, oranges, or other fruit. The Senator hunted all over Rome for +a book, and found Victor Hugo's works, which he bought on a venture, +and had the gratification of seeing that it was acceptable. + +All suspected something. The Doctor had contended from the first that +Dick had met with an accident. They had too much delicacy to question +him, but made many conjectures amongst themselves. The Doctor thought +that he had been among some ruins, and met with a fall. Mr. Figgs +suggested that he might have been run over. The Senator thought it was +some Italian epidemic. Buttons was incapable of thinking rationally +about any thing just then. He was the victim of a monomania: the +Spaniards! + +About a week after Dick's adventure Buttons was strolling about on +his usual quest, when he was attracted by a large crowd around the +Chiesa di Gesu. The splendid equipages of the cardinals were crowded +about the principal entrance, and from the interior sounds of music +came floating magnificently down. Buttons went in to see what was +going on. A vast crowd filled the church. Priests in gorgeous +vestments officiated at the high altar, which was all ablaze with +the light of enormous wax-candles. The gloom of the interior was +heightened by the clouds of incense that rolled on high far within +the vaulted ceiling. + + +[Illustration: Poor Dick!] + + +The Pope was there. In one of the adjoining chambers he was performing +a ceremony which sometimes takes place in this church. Guided by +instinct, Buttons pressed his way into the chamber. A number of people +filled it. Suddenly he uttered an exclamation. + +Just as His Holiness was rising to leave, Buttons saw the group that +had filled his thoughts for weeks. + +The Spaniards! No mistake this time. And he had been right all along. +All his efforts had, after all, been based on something tangible. Not +in vain had he had so many walks, runnings, chasings, searchings, +strolls, so many hopes, fears, desires, discouragements. He was +right! Joy, rapture, bliss, ecstasy, delight! There they were: _the +little Don_--THE DONNA--IDA! + +Buttons, lost for a while in the crowd, and pressed away, never lost +sight of the Spaniards. They did not see him, however, until, as +they slowly moved out, they were stopped and greeted with astonishing +eagerness. The Don shook hands cordially. The Donna--that is, the +elder sister--smiled sweetly. Ida blushed and cast down her eyes. + +Nothing could be more gratifying than this reception. Where had he +been? How long in Rome? Why had they not met before? Strange that +they had not seen him about the city. And had he really been here +three weeks? Buttons informed them that he had seen them several +times, but at a distance. He had been at all the hotels, but had +not seen their names. + +Hotels! Oh, they lived in lodgings in the Palazzo Concini, not far +from the Piazza del Popolo. And how much longer did he intend to +stay?--Oh, no particular time. His friends enjoyed themselves here +very much. He did not know exactly when they would leave. How long +would they remain?--They intended to leave for Florence on the +following week.--Ah! He was thinking of leaving for the same place +at about the same time. Whereupon the Don expressed a polite hope +that they might see one another on the journey. + +By this time the crowd had diminished. They looked on while the Pope +entered his state-coach, and with strains of music, and prancing of +horses, and array of dragoons, drove magnificently away. + +The Don turned to Buttons: Would he not accompany them to their +lodgings? They were just about returning to dinner. If he were +disengaged they should be most happy to have the honor of his +company. + +Buttons tried very hard to look as though he were not mad with +eagerness to accept the invitation, but not very successfully. The +carriage drove off rapidly. The Don and Buttons on one seat, the +ladies on the other. + +Then the face of Ida as she sat opposite! Such a face! Such a smile! +Such witchery in her expression! Such music in her laugh! + +At any rate so it seemed to Buttons, and that is all that is needed. + +On through the streets of Rome; past the post-office, round the column +of Antoninus, up the Corso, until at last they stopped in front of +an immense edifice which had once been a palace. The descendants of +the family lived in a remote corner, and their poverty compelled them +to let out all the remainder as lodgings. This is no uncommon thing +in Italy. Indeed, there are so many ruined nobles in the country that +those are fortunate who have a shelter over their heads. Buttons +remarked this to the Don, who told some stories of these fallen +nobles. He informed him that in Naples their laundress was said to be +the last scion of one of the most ancient families in the kingdom. +She was a countess in her own right, but had to work at menial labor. +Moreover, many had sunk down to the grade of peasantry, and lived in +squalor on lands which were once the estates of their ancestors. + +Buttons spent the evening there. The rooms were elegant. Books lay +around which showed a cultivated taste. The young man felt himself in +a realm of enchantment. The joy of meeting was heightened by their +unusual complaisance. During the evening he found out all about them. +They lived in Cadiz, where the Don was a merchant. This was their +first visit to Italy. + +They all had fine perceptions for the beautiful in art or nature, +and, besides, a keen sense of the ludicrous. So, when Buttons, growing +communicative, told them about Mr. Figgs's adventure in the ball of +St. Peter's, they were greatly amused. He told about the adventures +of all his friends. He told of himself: all about the chase in Naples +Bay, and his pursuit of their carriage from St. Peter's. He did not +tell them that he had done this more than once. Ida was amused; but +Buttons felt gratified at seeing a little confusion on her face, as +though she was conscious of the real cause of such a persevering +pursuit. She modestly evaded his glance, and sat at a little +distance from the others. Indeed, she said but little during the +whole evening. + +When Buttons left he felt like a spiritual being. He was not conscious +of treading on any material earth, but seemed to float along through +enchanted air over the streets into his lodgings, and so on into the +realm of dreams. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + +WHAT KIND OF A LETTER THE SENATOR WROTE FOR THE "NEW ENGLAND PATRIOT," +WHICH SHOWS A TRITE, LIBERAL, UNBIASED, PLAIN, UNVARNISHED VIEW OF +ROME. + + +"Dick," said the Senator, as he sat with him in his room, "I've been +thinking over your tone of mind, more particularly as it appears in +those letters which you write home, such as you read the other day. +It is a surprising thing to me how a young man with your usual good +sense, keenness of perception, and fine education, can allow yourself +to be so completely carried away by a mawkish sentiment. What is the +use of all these memories and fancies and hysterical emotions that +you talk about? In one place you call yourself by the absurd name of +'A Pensive Traveller.' Why not be honest? Be a sensible American, +exhibiting in your thoughts and in all your actions the effect of +democratic principles and stiff republican institutions. Now I'll +read you what I have written. I think the matter is a little nearer +the mark than your flights of fancy. But perhaps you don't care just +now about hearing it?" + +"Indeed I do; so read on," said Dick. + + +"As I have travelled considerable in Italy," said the Senator, +reading from a paper which he drew from his pocket, "with my eyes +wide open, I have some idea of the country and of the general +condition of the farming class." + + +The Senator stopped. "I forgot to say that this is for the _New +England Patriot_, published in our village, you know." + +Dick nodded. The Senator resumed: + + +"The soil is remarkably rich. Even where there are mountains they +are well wooded. So if the fields look well it is not surprising. +What is surprising is the cultivation. I saw ploughs such as Adam +might have used when forced for the first time to turn up the +ground outside the locality of Eden; harrows which were probably +invented by Numa Pompey, an old Roman that people talk about. + +"They haven't any idea of draining clear. For here is a place called +the Pontine Marsh, beautiful soil, surrounded by a settled country, +and yet they let it go to waste almost entirely. + +"The Italians are lazy. The secret of their bad farming lies in +this. For the men loll and smoke on the fences, leaving the poor +women to toil in the fields. A woman ploughing! And yet these people +want to be free. + +"They wear leather leggins, short breeches, and jackets. Many of +them wear wooden shifts. The women of the south use a queer kind of +outlandish head-dress, which if they spent less time in fixing it +would be better for their own worldly prosperity. + +"The cattle are fine: very broad in the chest, with splendid action. +I don't believe any other country can show such cattle. The pigs are +certainly the best I ever saw by a long chalk. Their chops beat all +creation. A friend of mine has made some sketches, which I will give +to the Lyceum on my return. They exhibit the Sorrento pig in +various attitudes. + + +[Illustration: Sketches By A Friend.] + + +"The horses, on the contrary, are poor affairs. I have yet to see +the first decent horse. The animals employed by travellers generally +are the lowest of their species. The shoes which the horses wear are +of a singular shape. I can't describe them in writing, but they look +more like a flat-iron than any thing else. + +"I paid a visit to Pompeii, and on coming back I saw some of the carts +of the country. They gave one a deplorable idea of the state of the +useful arts in this place. Scientific farming is out of the question. +If fine plantations are seen it's Nature does it. + +"Vineyards abound everywhere. Wine is a great staple of the country. +Yet they don't export much after all. In fact the foreign commerce +is comparatively trifling. Chestnuts and olives are raised in +immense quantities. The chestnut is as essential to the Italian as +the potato is to the Irishman. A failure in the crop is attended +with the same disastrous consequences. They dry the nuts, grind them +into a kind of flour, and make them into cakes. I tasted one and +found it abominable. Yet these people eat it with garlic, and grow +fat on it. Chestnut bread, oil instead of butter, wine instead of +tea, and you have an Italian meal. + +"It's a fine country for fruit. I found Gaeta surrounded by orange +groves. The fig is an important article in the economy of an Italian +household. + +"I have been in Rome three weeks. Many people take much interest in +this place, though quite unnecessarily. I do not think it is at all +equal to Boston. Yet I have taken great pains to examine the place. +The streets are narrow and crooked, like those of Boston. They are +extremely dirty. There are no sidewalks. The gutter is in the middle +of the street. The people empty their slops from their windows. The +pavements are bad and very slippery. The accumulation of filth about +the streets is immense. The drainage is not good. They actually use +one old drain which, they tell me, was made three thousand years ago. + +"Gas has only been recently introduced. I understand that a year or +two ago the streets were lighted by miserable contrivances, consisting +of a mean oil lamp swung from the middle of a rope stretched across +the street. + +"The shops are not worth mentioning. There are no magnificent +_Dry-goods Stores_, such as I have seen by the hundred in Boston; +no _Hardware Stores_; no palatial _Patent Medicine Edifices_; no +signs of enterprise, in fact, at all. + +"The houses are very uncomfortable. They are large, and built in the +form of a square. People live on separate flats. If it is cold they +have to grin and bear it. There are no stoves. I have suffered more +from the cold on some evenings since I have been here than ever I +did in-doors at home. I have asked for a fire, but all they could +give me was a poisonous fire of charcoal in an earthen thing like +a basket. + +"Some of their public buildings are good, but that can't make the +population comfortable. In fact, the people generally are ill-cared +for. Here are the wretched Jews, who live in a filthy quarter of +the city crowded together like pigs. + +"The people pass the most of their time in coffee-houses. They are +an idle set--have nothing in the world to do. It is still a mystery +to me how they live. + +"The fact is, there are too many soldiers and priests. Now it is +evident that these gentry, being non-producers, must be supported +directly or indirectly by the producers. This is the cause, I suppose, +of the poverty of a great part of the population. + +"Begging is reduced to a science. In this I confess the Italian beats +the American all to pieces. The American eye has not seen, nor ear +heard, the devices of an Italian beggar to get along. + +"I have seen them in great crowds waiting outside of a monastery for +their dinner, which consists of huge bowls of porridge given by the +monks. Can any thing be more ruinous to a people? + +"The only trade that I could discover after a long and patient search +was the trade in brooches and toys which are bought as curiosities by +travellers. + +"There are nothing but churches and palaces wherever you go. Some +of these palaces are queer-looking concerns. There isn't one in the +whole lot equal to some of the Fifth Avenue houses in New York in +point of real genuine style. + +"There has been too much money spent in churches, and too little +on houses. If it amounted to any thing it would not be so bad, but +the only effect has been to promote an idle fondness for music +and pictures and such like. If they tore down nine-tenths of their +churches and turned them into school-houses on the New England +system, it would not be bad for the rising generation. + +"The newspapers which they have are miserable things-wretched +little sheets, full of lies--no advertisements, no news, no nothing. +I got a friend to translate what pretended to be the latest American +news. It was a collection of murders, duels, railway accidents, and +steamboat explosions. + +"I don't see what hope there is for this unfortunate country; I don't +really. The people have gone on so long in their present course that +they are now about incorrigible. If the entire population were to +emigrate to the Western States, and mix up with the people there, +it might be possible for their descendants in the course of time to +amount to something. + +"I don't see any hope except perhaps in one plan, which would be no +doubt impossible for these lazy and dreamy Italians to carry out. +It is this: Let this poor, brokendown, bankrupt Government make an +inventory of its whole stock of jewels, gold, gems, pictures, and +statues. I understand that the nobility throughout Europe would +be willing to pay immense sums of money for these ornaments. If they +are fools enough to do so, then in Heaven's name let them have the +chance. Clear out the whole stock of rubbish, and let the hard cash +come in to replace it. That would be a good beginning, with something +tangible to start from. I am told that the ornaments of St. Peter's +Cathedral cost ever so many millions of dollars. In the name of +goodness why not sell out the stock and realize instead of issuing +those ragged notes for twenty-five cents, which circulate among +the people here at a discount of about seventy-five per cent? + +"Then let them run a railroad north to Florence and south to Naples. +It would open up a fine tract of county which is capable of growing +grain; it would tap the great olive-growing districts, and originate +a vast trade of oil, wine, and dried fruits. + +"The country around Rome is uninhabited, but not barren. It is sickly +in summer-time, but if there was a population on it who would +cultivate it property I calculate the malaria would vanish, just as +the fever and ague do from many Western districts in our country by +the same agencies. I calculate that region could be made one of the +most fertile on this round earth if occupied by an industrious class +of emigrants. + +"But there is a large space inside the walls of the city which could +be turned to the best of purposes. + +"The place which used to be the Roman Forum is exactly calculated +to be the terminus of the railroad which I have suggested. A +commodious depot could be made, and the door-way might be worked up +out of the arch of Titus, which now stands blocking up the way, and +is of no earthly use. + +"The amount of crumbling stones and old mined walls that they +leave about this quarter of the city is astonishing. It ought not +to be so. + +"What the Government ought to do after being put in funds by the +process mentioned above is this: + +"The Government ought to tear down all those unsightly heaps of +stone and erect factories and industrial schools. There is plenty +of material to do it with. For instance, take the old ruin called +the Coliseum. It is a fact, arrived at by elaborate calculation, +that the entire contents of that concern are amply sufficient +to construct no less than one hundred and fifty handsome +factories, each two hundred feet by seventy-five. + +"The factories being built, they could be devoted to the +production of the finer tissues. Silks and velvets could be produced +here. Glass-ware of all kinds could be made. There is a fine Italian +clay that makes nice cups and crocks. + +"I could also suggest the famous Roman cement as an additional +article of export. The Catacombs under the city could be put to +some direct practical use. + +"I have hastily put out these few ideas to show what a liberal +and enlightened policy might effect even in such an unpromising +place as Rome. It is not probable, however, that my scheme would +meet with favor here. The leading classes in this city are such +an incurable get of old fogies that, I verily believe, rather +than do what I have suggested, they would choose to have the +earth open beneath them and swallow them up forever--city, churches, +statues, pictures, museums, palaces, ruins and all. + +"I've got a few other ideas, some of which will work some day. +Suppose Russia should sell us her part of America. Spain sell us +Cuba, Italy give us Rome, Turkey an island or two--then what? But +I'll keep this for another letter." + + +"That's all," said the Senator. + +Dick's face was drawn up into the strangest expression. He did not +say any thing, however. The Senator calmly folded up his paper, and +with a thoughtful air took up his hat. + +"I'm going to that Coliseum again to measure a place I forgot," +said he. + +Upon which he retired, leaving Dick alone. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + +THE LONELY ONE AND HIS COMFORTER.--THE TRUE MEDICINE FOR A SICK MAN. + + +Dick was alone in his chamber. Confinement to his room was bad +enough, but what was that in comparison with the desolation of soul +that afflicted him? Pepita was always in his thoughts. The bright +moment was alone remembered, and the black sequel could not efface +her image. Yet his misadventure showed him that his chances of +seeing her again were extremely faint. But how could he give her +up? They would soon be leaving for Florence. How could he leave +never to see her again--the lovely, the sweet, the tender, the-- + +A faint knock at the door. + +"Come in," said Dick, without rising from his chair. + +A female entered. She was dressed in black. A thick veil hid her +features, but her bent figure denoted age and weariness. She slowly +closed the door. + +"Is it here where a young American lives with this name?" + +She held out a card. It was his name, his card. He had only given it +to one person in Rome, and that one was Pepita. + +"Oh!" cried Dick, rising, his whole expression changing from sadness +to eager and beseeching hope, "oh, if you know where she is--where I +may find her--" + +The female raised her form, then with a hand that trembled +excessively she slowly lifted her veil. It was a face not old and +wrinkled but young and lovely, with tearful eyes downcast, and +cheeks suffused with blushes. + +With an eager cry Dick bounded from his chair and caught her in +his arms. Not a word was spoken. He held her in a strong embrace as +though he would not let her go. At last he drew her to a seat beside +him, still holding her in his arms. + +"I could not stay away. I led you into misfortune. Oh, how you +have suffered. You are thin and wan. What a wretch am I! When you see +me no more will you forgive me?" + +"Forgive!" and Dick replied in a more emphatic way than words afford. + +"They would not let me leave the house for ten days. They told me +if I ever dared to see you again they would kill you. So I knew you +were not dead. But I did not know how they had beaten you till one +day Ricardo told me all. To think of you unarmed fighting so +gallantly. Four of them were so bruised that they have not yet +recovered. To-day Luigi went to Civita Vecchia. He told me that +if I dared to go to Rome he would send me to a convent. But I +disobeyed him. I could not rest. I had to come and see how you +were, and to--bid--adieu--" + +"Adieu! bid adieu?--never. I will not let you." + +"Ah, now you talk wildly," said Pepita, mournfully, "for you know +we must part." + +"We shall not part." + +"I will have to go home, and you can not follow me." + +"Oh, Pepita, I can not give you up. You shall be mine--now--my wife +--and come with me home--to America. And we shall never again have +to part." + +"Impossible," said Pepita, as big tear-drops fell from her eyes. +"Impossible!" + +"Why impossible?" + +"Luigi would track us to the end of the world." + +"Track us! I would like to see him try it!" cried Dick in a fury. "I +have an account to settle with him which will not be pleasant for +him to pay. Who is he to dare to stand between me and you? As to +following me--Well, I have already given him a specimen of what I +am. I would give a year of my life to have him alone for about half +an hour." + +"You wrong him," cried Pepita, earnestly. "You wrong him. You must +not talk so. He is not a bravo. He is my brother. He has been like +a father to me. He loves me dearly, and my good name is dearer to +him than life. He is so good and so noble, dear Luigi! It was his +love for me that blinded him and made him furious. He thought you +were deceiving us all, and would not listen to you." + +"But if he were so noble would he have attacked one unarmed man, +and he at the head of a dozen?" + +"I tell you," cried Pepita, "you do not know him. He was so blinded +by passion that he had no mercy. Oh, I owe every thing to him! And +I know how good and noble he is!" + +"Pepita, for your sake I will forgive him every thing." + +"I can not stay longer," said Pepita, making an effort to rise. + +"Oh, Pepita! you can not leave me forever." + +Pepita fell weeping into his arms, her slender form convulsed with +emotion. + +"You shall not." + +"I must--there is no help." + +"Why must you? Can you not fly with me? What prevents you from being +mine? Let us go and be united in the little church where I saw you +first." + +"Impossible!" moaned Pepita. + +"Why?" + +"Because I could not do you such injustice. You have your father far +away in America. You might offend him." + +"Bother my father!" cried Dick. + +Pepita looked shocked. + +"I mean--he would allow me to do any thing I liked, and glory in it, +because I did it. He would chuckle over it for a month." + +"Luigi--" + +"Pepita, do you love him better than me?" + +"No, but if I leave him so it would break his heart. He will think I +am ruined. He will declare a vendetta against you, and follow you to +the end of the world." + +"Is there no hope?" + +"No--not now." + +"Not now? And when will there be? Can it be possible that you would +give me up? Then I would not give you up! If you do not love me I +must love you." + +"Cruel!" murmured Pepita. + +"Forgive," said Dick, penitently. "Perhaps I am too sudden. If I +come back again in two or three months will you be as hardhearted +as you are now?" + +"Hard-hearted!" sighed Pepita, tearfully. "You should not reproach +me. My troubles are more than I can bear. It is no slight thing that +you ask." + +"Will waiting soften you? Will it make any difference? If I came for +you--" + +"You must not leave me so," said Pepita, reproachfully. "I will tell +you all. You will understand me better. Listen. My family is noble." + +"Noble!" cried Dick, thunderstruck. He had certainly always thought +her astonishingly lady--like for a peasant girl, but attributed this +to the superior refinement of the Italian race. + +"Yes, noble," said Pepita, proudly. "We seem now only poor peasants. +Yet once we were rich and powerful. My grandfather lost all in the +wars in the time of Napoleon, and only left his descendants an +honorable name. Alas! honor and titles are worth but little when one +is poor. My brother Luigi is the Count di Gianti." + +"And you are the Countess di Gianti." + +"Yes," said Pepita, smiling at last, and happy at the change that +showed itself in Dick. "I am the Countess Pepita di Gianti. Can you +understand now my dear Luigi's high sense of honor and the fury +that he felt when he thought that you intended an insult? Our +poverty, which we can not escape, chafes him sorely. If I were to +desert him thus suddenly it would kill him." + +"Oh, Pepita! if waiting will win you I will wait for years. Is there +any hope?" + +"When will you leave Rome?" + +"In a few days my friends leave." + +"Then do not stay behind. If you do you can not see me." + +"But if I come again in two or three months? What then? Can I see +you?" + +"Perhaps," said Pepita, timidly. + +"And you will apt refuse? No, no! You can not! How can I find you?" + +"Alas! you will by that time forget all about me." + +"Cruel Pepita! How can you say I will forget? Would I not die for +you? How can I find you?" + +"The Padre Lignori." + +"Who?" + +"Padre Lignori, at the little church. The tall priest--the one who +spoke to you." + +"But he will refuse. He hates me." + +"He is a good man. If he thinks you are honorable he will be your +friend. He is a true friend to me." + +"I will see him before I leave and tell him all." + +There were voices below. + +Pepita started. + +"They come. I must go," said she, dropping her veil. + +"Confound them!" cried Dick. + +"_Addio_!" sighed Pepita. + +Dick caught her in his arms. She tore herself away with sobs. + +She was gone. + +Dick sank back in his chair, with his eyes fixed hungrily on the door. + +"Hallo!" burst the Doctor's voice on his ears. "Who's that old girl? +Hey? Why, Dick, how pale you are! You're worse. Hang it! you'll have +a relapse if you don't look out. You must make a total change in your +diet--more stimulating drink and generous food. However, the drive to +Florence will set you all right again." + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + +OCCUPATIONS AND PEREGRINATIONS OF BUTTONS. + + +If Buttons had spent little time in his room before he now spent less. +He was exploring the ruins of Rome, the churches, the picture +galleries, and the palaces under new auspices. He knew the name of +every palace and church in the place. He acquired this knowledge by +means of superhuman application to "Murray's Hand-book" on the +evenings after leaving his companions. They were enthusiastic, +particularly the ladies. They were perfectly familiar with all the +Spanish painters and many of the Italian. Buttons felt himself far +inferior to them in real familiarity with Art, but he made amends by +brilliant criticisms of a transcendental nature. + + +[Illustration: Buttons and Murray.] + + +It was certainly a pleasant occupation for youth, sprightliness, and +beauty. To wander all day long through that central world from which +forever emanate all that is fairest and most enticing in Art, +Antiquity, and Religion; to have a soul open to the reception of all +these influences, and to have all things glorified by Almighty love; +in short, to be in love in Rome. + +Rome is an inexhaustible store-house of attractions. For the lovers +of gayety there are the drives of the Pincian Hill, or the Villa +Borghese. For the student, ruins whose very dust is eloquent. For the +artist, treasures beyond price. For the devotee, religion. How +fortunate, thought Buttons, that in addition to all this there is, +for the lovers of the beautiful, beauty! + +Day after day they visited new scenes. Upon the whole, perhaps, the +best way to see the city, when one can not spend one's life there, +is to take Murray's Hand-book, and, armed with that red necessity, +dash energetically at the work; see every thing that is mentioned; +hurry it up in the orthodox manner; then throw the book away, and go +over the ground anew, wandering easily wherever fancy leads. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + + +BUTTONS ACTS THE GOOD SAMARITAN, AND LITERALLY UNEARTHS A MOST +UNEXPECTED VICTIM OF AN ATROCIOUS ROBBERY.--GR-R-R-A-CIOUS ME! + +To these, once wandering idly down the Appian Way, the ancient tower +of Metella rose invitingly. The carriage stopped, and ascending, +they walked up to the entrance. They marvelled at the enormous blocks +of travertine of which the edifice was built, the noble simplicity of +the style, the venerable garment of ivy which hid the ravages of +time. + +The door was open, and they walked in. Buttons first; the ladies +timidly following; and the Don bringing up the rear. Suddenly a low +groan startled them. It seemed to come from the very depths of the +earth. The ladies gave a shriek, and dashing past their brother, ran +out. The Don paused. Buttons of course advanced. He never felt so +extensive in his life before. What a splendid opportunity to give +an exhibition of manly courage! So he walked on, and shouted: + +"Who's there?" + +A groan! + +Further in yet, till he came to the inner chamber. It was dark there, +the only light coming in through the passages. Through the gloom he +saw the figure of a man lying on the floor so tied that he could not +move. + +"Who are you? What's the matter?" + +"Let me loose, for God's sake!" said a voice, in thick Italian, with +a heavy German accent. "I'm a traveller. I've been robbed by brigands." + +To snatch his knife from his pocket, to cut the cords that bound the +man, to lift him to his feet, and then to start back with a cry of +astonishment, were all the work of an instant. By this time the others +had entered. + +The man was a German, unmistakably. He stood blinking and staring. +Then he stretched his several limbs and rubbed himself. Then he took +a long survey of the new-comers. Then he stroked a long, red, forked +beard, and, in tones expressive of the most profound bewilderment, +slowly ejaculated-- + +"Gr-r-r-r-acious me!" + +"Meinheer Schatt!" cried Buttons, grasping his hand. "How in the name +of wonder did you get here? What has happened to you? Who tied you up? +Were you robbed? Were you beaten? Are you hurt? But come out of this +dark hole to the sunshine." + +Meinheer Schatt walked slowly out, saying nothing to these rapid +inquiries of Buttons. The German intellect is profound, but slow; and +so Meinheer Schatt took a long time to collect his scattered ideas. +Buttons found that he was quite faint; so producing a flask from +his pocket he made him drink a little precious cordial, which revived +him greatly. After a long pull he heaved a heavy sigh, and looked +with a piteous expression at the new-comers. The kind-hearted +Spaniards insisted on taking him to their carriage. He was too weak +to walk. They would drive him. They would listen to no refusal. So +Meinheer Schatt was safely deposited in the carriage, and told his +story. + +He had come out very early in the morning to visit the Catacombs. He +chose the early part of the day so as to be back before it got hot. +Arriving at the Church of St. Sebastian he found to his disappointment +that it was not open yet. So he thought he would beguile the time by +walking about. So he strolled off to the tomb of Caecelia Metella, +which was the most striking object in view. He walked around it, and +broke off a few pieces of stone. He took also a few pieces of ivy. +These he intended to carry away as relics. At last he ventured to +enter and examine the interior. Scarce had he got inside than he +heard footsteps without. The door was blocked up by a number of +ill-looking men, who came in and caught him. + +Meinheer Schatt confessed that he was completely overcome by terror. + +However, he at last mustered sufficient strength to ask what they +wanted. + +"You are our prisoner." + +"Why? Who are you?" + +"We are the secret body-guard of His Holiness, appointed by the +Sacred Council of the Refectory," said one of the men, in a mocking +tone. + +Then Meinheer Schatt knew that they were robbers. Still he indignantly +protested he was an unoffending traveller. + +"It's false! You have been mutilating the sacred sepulchre of the +dead, and violating the sanctity of their repose!" + +And the fellow, thrusting his hands in the prisoner's pockets, +brought forth the stones and ivy. The others looked into his other +pockets, examined his hat, made him strip, shook his clothes, pried +into his boots--in short, gave him a thorough overhaul. + +They found nothing, except, as Meinheer acknowledged, with a faint +smile, a piece of the value of three half-cents American, which he +had brought as a fee to the guide through the Catacombs. It was that +bit of money that caused his bonds. It maddened them. They danced +around him in perfect fury, and asked what he meant by daring to +come out and give them so much trouble with only that bit of impure +silver about him. + +"Dog of a Tedescho! Your nation has trampled upon our liberties; but +Italy shall be avenged! Dog! scoundrel! villain! Tedescho! +Tedes-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-cho!" + +The end of it was that Meinheer Schatt was tied in a singularly +uncomfortable position and left there. He thought he had been there +about five hours. He was faint and hungry. + +They took him home. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + + +ANOTHER DISCOVERY MADE BY BUTTONS. + + +On the evening after this adventure the Don turned the conversation +into a new channel. They all grew communicative. Buttons told them +that his father was an extensive merchant and ship-owner in Boston. +His business extended over many parts of the world. He thought he +might have done something in Cadiz. + +"Your father a ship-owner in Boston! I thought you belonged to New +York," said the Don, in surprise. + +"Oh," said Buttons, "I said I came from there. The fact is, I lived +there four years at college, and will live there when I return." + +"And your father lives in Boston," said the Don, with an interest +that surprised Buttons. + +"Yes." + +"Is his name Hiram Buttons?" + +"Yes," cried Buttons, eagerly. "How do you know?" + +"My dear Sir," cried the Don, "Hiram Buttons and I are not only +old business correspondents, but I hope I can add personal friends." + +The Don rose and grasped Buttons cordially by the hand. The young man +was overcome by surprise, delight, and triumph. + +"I liked you from the first," said the Don. "You bear your character +in your face. I was happy to receive you into our society. But now I +feel a still higher pleasure, for I find you are the son of a man +for whom I assure you I entertain an infinite respect." + +The sisters were evidently delighted at the scene. As to Buttons, he +was overcome. + +Thus far he often felt delicacy about his position among them, and +fears of intruding occasionally interfered with his enjoyment. His +footing now was totally different; and the most punctilious Spaniard +could find no fault with his continued intimacy. + +"Hurrah for that abominable old office, and that horrible business to +which the old gentleman tried to bring me! It has turned out the best +thing for me. What a capital idea it was for the governor to trade +with Cadiz!" + +Such were the thoughts of Buttons as he went home. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + + +[Transcriber's Note: Transliteration of Greek.] Brekekek koax koax +koax. [TN: /end Greek.] + + +In his explorations of the nooks and corners of Rome the Senator was +compelled for some time to make his journeys alone. He sometimes felt +regret that he had not some interpreter with him on these occasions; +but on the whole he thought he was well paid for his trouble, and he +stored up in his memory an incredible number of those items which are +usually known as "useful facts." + +On one of these occasions he entered a very common cafe near one of +the gates, and as he felt hungry he determined to get his dinner. He +had long felt a desire to taste those "frogs" of which he had heard +so much, and which to his great surprise he had never yet seen. On +coming to France he of course felt confident that he would find frogs +as common as potatoes on every dinner-table. To his amazement he had +not yet seen one. + +He determined to have some now. But how could he get them? How ask +for them? + +"Pooh! easy enough!" said the Senator to himself, with a smile of +superiority. "I wish I could ask for every thing else as easily." + +So he took his seat at one of the tables, and gave a thundering rap +to summon the waiter. All the cafe had been startled by the advent of +the large foreigner. And evidently a rich man, for he was an +Englishman, as they thought. So up came the waiter with a very low +bow, and a very dirty jacket; and all the rest of the people in the +cafe looked at the Senator out of the corner of their eyes, and +stopped talking. The Senator gazed with a calm, serene face and +steady eye upon the waiter. + +"Signore?" said the waiter, interrogatively. + +"_Gunk_! _gung_!" said the Senator, solemnly, without moving a muscle. + +The waiter stared. + +"_Che vuol ella_?" he repeated, in a faint voice. + +"_Gunk_! _gung_!" said the Senator, as solemnly as before. + +"Non capisco." + +"_Gunk gung_! _gunkety gunk gung_!" + +The waiter shrugged his shoulders till they reached the upper part +of his ears. The Senator looked for a moment at him, and saw that he +did not understand him. He looked at the floor involved in deep +thought. At last he raised his eyes once more to meet those of the +waiter, which still were fixed upon him, and placing the palms of his +hands on his hips, threw back his head, and with his eyes still fixed +steadfastly upon the waiter he gave utterance to a long shrill gurgle +such as he thought the frogs might give: + +[Transcriber's Note: Transliteration of Greek.] Brekekekek koax koax, +Brekekekek koax koax. [TN: /end Greek.] + + +[Illustration: Brekekekek koax koax!] + + +(Recurrence must be made to Aristophanes, who alone of articulate +speaking men has written down the utterance of the common frog.) + +The waiter started back. All the men in the cafe jumped to their feet. + +"[Transcriber's Note: Transliteration of Greek.] Brekekekek koax koax +[TN: /end Greek.]," continued the Senator, quite patiently. The +waiter looked frightened. + +"Will you give me some or not?" cried the Senator, indignantly. + +"Signore," faltered the waiter. Then he ran for the cafe-keeper. + +The cafe-keeper came. The Senator repeated the words mentioned above, +though somewhat angrily. The keeper brought forward every customer in +the house to see if any one could understand the language. + +"It's German," said one. + +"It's English," said another. + +"Bah!" said a third. "It's Russian." + +"No," said a fourth, "it's Bohemian; for Carolo Quinto said that +Bohemian was the language of the devil." And Number Four, who was +rather an intelligent-looking man, eyed the Senator compassionately. + +"_Gunk gung, gunkety gung_!" cried the Senator, frowning, for his +patience had at last deserted him. + +The others looked at him helplessly, and some, thinking of the +devil, piously crossed themselves. Whereupon the Senator rose in +majestic wrath, and shaking his purse in the face of the cafe-keeper, +shouted: + +"You're worse than a nigger!" and stalked grandly out of the place. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + + +THE SENATOR PURSUES HIS INVESTIGATIONS.--AN INTELLIGENT ROMAN +TOUCHES A CHORD IN THE SENATOR'S HEART THAT VIBRATES.--RESULTS OF +THE VIBRATION.--A VISIT FROM THE ROMAN POLICE; AND THE GREAT RACE +DOWN THE CORSO BETWEEN THE SENATOR AND A ROMAN SPY.--GLEE OF THE +POPULACE!--HI! HI! + + +He did not ask for frogs again; but still he did not falter in his +examination into the life of the people. Still he sauntered through +the remoter corners of Rome, wandering over to the other side of the +Tiber, or through the Ghetto, or among the crooked streets at the +end of the Corso. Few have learned so much of Rome in so short a +time. + +On one occasion he was sitting in a cafe, where he had supplied his +wants in the following way: + +"Hi! coffee! coffee!" and again, "Hi! cigar! cigar!" when his eye +was attracted by a man at the next table who was reading a copy of +the London _Times_, which he had spread out very ostentatiously. +After a brief survey the Senator walked over to his table and, with +a beaming smile, said-- + +"Good-day, Sir." + +The other man looked up and returned a very friendly smile. + +"And how do you do, Sir?" + +"Very well, I thank you," said the other, with a strong Italian +accent. + +"Do you keep your health?" + +"Thank you, yes," said the other, evidently quite pleased at the +advances of the Senator. + +"Nothing gives me so much pleasure," said the Senator, "as to come +across an Italian who understands English. You, Sir, are a Roman, +I presume." + +"Sir, I am." + +The man to whom the Senator spoke was not one who would have +attracted any notice from him if it had not been for his knowledge +of English. He was a narrow-headed, mean-looking man, with very +seedy clothes, and a servile but cunning expression. + +"How do you like Rome?" he asked of the Senator. + +The Senator at once poured forth all that had been in his mind since +his arrival. He gave his opinion about the site, the architecture, +the drains, the municipal government, the beggars, and the commerce +of the place; then the soldiers, the nobles, the priests, monks, +and nuns. + +Then he criticised the Government, its form, its mode of +administration, enlarged upon its tyranny, condemned vehemently +its police system, and indeed its whole administration of every +thing, civil, political, and ecclesiastical. + +Waxing warmer with the sound of his own eloquence, he found +himself suddenly but naturally reminded of a country where all +this is reversed. So he went on to speak about Freedom, +Republicanism, the Rights of Man, and the Ballot-Box. Unable to +talk with sufficient fluency while in a sitting posture he rose +to his feet, and as he looked around, seeing that all present +were staring at him, he made up his mind to improve the occasion. +So he harangued the crowd generally, not because he thought any of +them could understand him, but it was so long since he had made a +speech that the present opportunity was irresistible. Besides, as +he afterward remarked, he felt that it was a crisis, and who could +tell but that a word spoken in season might produce some beneficial +effects. + +He shook hands very warmly with his new friend after it all was +over, and on leaving him made him promise to come and see him at his +lodgings, where he would show him statistics, etc. The Senator then +returned. + +That evening he received a visit. The Senator heard a rap at his door +and called out "Come in." Two men entered--ill-looking, or rather +malignant-looking, clothed in black. + +Dick was in his room, Buttons out, Figgs and the Doctor had not +returned from the cafe. + +"His Excellency," said he, pointing to the other, "wishes to speak +to you on official business." + +"Happy to hear it," said the Senator. + +"His Excellency is the Chief of the Police, and I am the +Interpreter." + +Whereupon the Senator shook hands with both of them again. + +"Proud to make your acquaintance," said he. "I am personally +acquainted with the Chief of the Boston _po_lice, and also of the +Chief of the New York _po_lice, and my opinion is that they can +stand more liquor than any men I ever met with. Will you liquor?" + +The interpreter did not understand. The Senator made an expressive +sign. The interpreter mentioned the request to the Chief, who shook +his head coldly. + +"This is formal," said the Interpreter-"not social." + +The Senator's face flushed. He frowned. + +"Give him my compliments then, and tell him the next time he +refuses a gentleman's offer he had better do it like a gentleman. +For my part, if I chose to be uncivil, I might say that I consider +your Roman police very small potatoes." + + +[Illustration: Got You There!] + + +The Interpreter translated this literally, and though the final +expression was not very intelligible, yet it seemed to imply +contempt. + +So the Chief of Police made his communication as sternly as possible. +Grave reports had been made about His American Excellency. The +Senator looked surprised. + +"What about?" + +That he was haranguing the people, going about secretly, plotting, +and trying to instill revolutionary sentiments into the public mind. + +"Pooh!" said the Senator. + +The Chief of Police bade him be careful. He would not be permitted +to stir up an excitable populace. This was to give him warning. + +"Pooh!" said the Senator again. + +And if he neglected this warning it would be the worse for him. And +the Chief of Police looked unutterable things. The Senator gazed at +him sternly and somewhat contemptuously for a few minutes. + +"You're no great shakes anyhow," said he. + +"Signore?" said the Interpreter. + +"Doesn't it strike you that you are talking infernal nonsense?" asked +the Senator in a slightly argumentative tone of voice, throwing one +leg over another, tilting back his chair, and folding his arms. + +"Your language is disrespectful," was the indignant reply. + +"Yours strikes me as something of the same kind, too; but more +--it is absurd." + +"What do you mean?" + +"You say I stir up the people." + +"Yes. Do you deny it?" + +"Pooh! How can a man stir up the people when he can't speak a word +of the language?" + +The Chief of Police did not reply for a moment. + +"I rather think I've got you there," said the Senator, dryly. "Hey? +old Hoss?" + +("Old Hoss" was an epithet which he used when he was in a good humor.) +He felt that he had the best of it here, and his anger was gone. He +therefore tilted his chair back farther, and placed his feet upon +the back of a chair that was in front of him. + +"There are Italians in Rome who speak English," was at length the +rejoinder. + +"I wish I could find some then," said the Senator. "It's worse than +looking for a needle in a hay-stack, they're so precious few." + +"You have met one." + +"And I can't say feel over-proud of the acquaintance," said the +Senator, in his former dry tone, looking hard at the Interpreter. + +"At the Cafe Cenacci, I mean." + +"The what? Where's that?" + +"Where you were this morning." + +"Oh ho! that's it--ah? And was my friend there one of your friends +too?" asked the Senator, as light burst in upon him. + +"He was sufficiently patriotic to give warning." + +"Oh--patriotic?--he was, was he?" said the Senator, slowly, while +his eyes showed a dangerous light. + +"Yes--patriotic. He has watched you for some time." + +"Watched me!" and the Senator frowned wrathfully. + +"Yes, all over Rome, wherever you went." + +"Watched me! dogged me! tracked me! Aha?" + +"So you are known." + +"Then the man is a spy." + +"He is a patriot." + +"Why the mean concern sat next me, attracted my attention by +reading English, and encouraged me to speak as I did. Why don't +you arrest him?" + +"He did it to test you." + +"To test me! How would he like me to test him?" + +"The Government looks on your offense with lenient eyes." + +"Ah!" + +"And content themselves this time with giving you warning." + +"Very much obliged; but tell your Government not to be alarmed. I +won't hurt them." + +Upon this the two visitors took their leave. + + +[Illustration: Walking Spanish.] + + +The Senator informed his two friends about the visit, and thought +very lightly about it; but the recollection of one thing rankled in +his mind. + +That spy! The fellow had humbugged him. He had dogged him, tracked +him, perhaps for weeks, had drawn him into conversation, asked +leading questions, and then given information. If there was any thing +on earth that the Senator loathed it was this. + +But how could such a man be punished! That was the thought. Punishment +could only come from one. The law could do nothing. But there was one +who could do something, and that one was himself. Lynch law! + + + "My fayther was from Bosting, + My uncle was Judge Lynch, + So, darn your fire and roasting, + You can not make me flinch." + + +The Senator hummed the above elegant words all that evening. + +He thought he could find the man yet. He was sure he would know him. +He would devote himself to this on the next day. The next day he +went about the city, and at length in the afternoon he came to +Pincian Hill. There was a great crowd there as usual. The Senator +placed himself in a favorable position, in which he could only be +seen from one point, and then watched with the eye of a hawk. + +He watched for about an hour. At the end of that time he saw a +face. It belonged to a man who had been leaning against a post with +his back turned toward the Senator all this time. It was _the face_! +The fellow happened to turn it far enough round to let the Senator +see him. He was evidently watching him yet. The Senator walked +rapidly toward him. The man saw him and began to move as rapidly +away. The Senator increased his pace. So did the man. The Senator +walked still faster. So did the man. The Senator took long strides. +The man took short, quick ones. It is said that the fastest +pedestrians are those who take short, quick steps. The Senator did +not gain on the other. + +By this time a vast number of idlers had been attracted by the +sight of these two men walking as if for a wager. At last the +Senator began to run. So did the man! + +The whole thing was plain. One man was chasing the other. At once +all the idlers of the Pincian Hill stopped all their avocations +and turned to look. The road winds down the Pincian Hill to the +Piazza del Popolo, and those on the upper part can look down and +see the whole extent. What a place for a race! The quick-eyed +Romans saw it all. + +"A spy! yes, a Government spy!" + +"Chased by an eccentric Englishman!" + +A loud shout burst from the Roman crowd. But a number of English +and Americans thought differently. They saw a little man chased +by a big one. Some cried "Shame!" Others, thinking it a case of +pocket-picking, cried "Stop thief!" Others cried "Go it, little +fellow! Two to one on the small chap!" + +Every body on the Pincian Hill rushed to the edge of the winding +road to look down, or to the paved walk that overlooks the Piazza. +Carriages stopped and the occupants looked down. French soldiers, +dragoons, guards, officers--all staring. + +And away went the Senator. And away ran the terrified spy. Down +the long way, and at length they came to the Piazza del Popolo. +A loud shout came from all the people. Above and on all sides they +watched the race. The spy darted down the Corso. The Senator after +him. + +The Romans in the street applauded vociferously. Hundreds of +people stopped, and then turned and ran after the Senator. All the +windows were crowded with heads. All the balconies were filled with +people. + +Down along the Corso. Past the column of Antonine. Into a street on +the left. The Senator was gaining! At last they came to a square. A +great fountain of vast waters bursts forth there. The spy ran to the +other side of the square, and just as he was darting into a side alley +the Senator's hand clutched his coat-tails! + +The Senator took the spy in that way by which one is enabled to make +any other do what is called "Walking Spanish," and propelled him +rapidly toward the reservoir of the fountain. + +The Senator raised the spy from the ground and pitched him into the +pool. + +The air was rent with acclamations and cries of delight. + +As the spy emerged, half-drowned, the crowd came forward and would +have prolonged the delightful sensation. + +Not often did they have a spy in their hands. + + + + +[Illustration: Dick Thinks It Over.] + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + + +DICK MAKES ANOTHER EFFORT, AND BEGINS TO FEEL ENCOURAGED. + + +Pepita's little visit was beneficial to Dick. It showed him that he +was not altogether cut off from her. Before that he had grown to think +of her as almost inaccessible; now she seemed to have a will, and, +what is better, a heart of her own, which would lead her to do her +share toward meeting him again. Would it not be better now to comply +with her evident desire, and leave Rome for a little while? He could +return again. But how could he tear himself away? Would, it not be far +better to remain and seek her? He could not decide. He thought of +Padre Liguori. He had grossly insulted that gentleman, and the thought +of meeting him again made him feel blank. Yet he was in some way or +other a protector of Pepita, a guardian, perhaps, and as such had +influence over her fortunes. If he could only disarm hostility from +Padre Liguori it would be undoubtedly for his benefit. Perhaps Padre +Liguori would become his friend, and try to influence Pepita's family +in his favor. So he decided on going to see Padre Liguori. + +The new turn which had been given to his feelings by Pepita's visit +had benefited him in mind and body. He was quite strong enough for a +long walk. Arriving at the church he had no difficulty in finding +Liguori. The priest advanced with a look of surprise. + +"Before mentioning the object of my visit," said Dick, bowing +courteously, "I owe you an humble apology for a gross insult. I hope +you will forgive me." + +The priest bowed. + +"After I left here I succeeded in my object," continued Dick. + +"I heard so," said Liguori, coldly. + +"And you have heard also that I met with a terrible punishment for +my presumption, or whatever else you may choose to call it." + +"I heard of that also." said the priest, sternly. "And do you complain +of it? Tell me. Was it not deserved?" + +"If their suspicions and yours had been correct, then the punishment +would have been well deserved. But you all wrong me. I entreat you to +believe me. I am no adventurer. I am honest and sincere." + +"We have only your word for this," said Liguori, coldly. + +"What will make you believe that I am sincere, then?" said Dick. +"What proof can I give?" + +"You are safe in offering to give proofs in a case where none can +be given." + +"I am frank with you. Will you not be so with me? I come to you to +try to convince you of my honesty, Padre Liguori. I love Pepita as +truly and as honorably as it is possible for man to love. It was +that feeling that so bewildered me that I was led to insult you. I +went out in the midst of danger, and would have died for her. With +these feelings I can not give her up." + +"I have heard sentiment like this often before. What is your meaning?" + +"I am rich and of good family in my own country; and I am determined +to have Pepita for my wife." + +"Your wife!" + +"Yes," said Dick, resolutely. "I am honorable and open about it. My +story is short. I love her, and wish to make her my wife." + +The expression of Liguori changed entirely. + +"Ah! this makes the whole matter different altogether. I did not know +this before. Nor did the Count. But he is excusable. A sudden passion +blinded him, and he attacked you. I will tell you"--and at each word +the priest's manner grew more friendly--"I will tell you how it is, +Signore. The Giantis were once a powerful family, and still have their +title. I consider myself as a kind of appanage to the family, for my +ancestors for several generations were their _maggiordomos_. Poverty +at last stripped them of every thing, and I, the last of the family +dependents, entered the Church. But I still preserve my respect and +love for them. You can understand how bitterly I would resent and +avenge any base act or any wrong done to them. You can understand +Luigi's vengeance also." + +"I thought as much," said Dick. "I thought you were a kind of +guardian, and so I came here to tell you frankly how it is. I love +her. I can make her rich and happy. To do so is the desire of my +heart. Why should I be turned away? Or if there be any objection, +what is it?" + +"There is no objection--none whatever, if Pepita is willing, and you +sincerely love her. I think that Luigi would give his consent." + +"Then what would prevent me from marrying her at once?" + +"At once!" + +"Certainly." + +"You show much ardor; but still an immediate marriage is impossible. +There are various reasons for this. In the first place, we love Pepita +too dearly to let her go so suddenly to some one who merely feels a +kind of impulse. We should like to know that there is some prospect +of her being happy. We have cherished her carefully thus far, and will +not let her go without having some security about her happiness." + +"Then I will wait as long as you like, or send for my friends to give +you every information you desire to have; or if you want me to give +any proofs, in any way, about any thing, I'm ready." + +"There is another thing," said Lignori, "which I hope you will take +kindly. You are young and in a foreign country. This sudden impulse +may be a whim. If you were to marry now you might bitterly repent it +before three months were over. Under such circumstances it would be +misery for you and her. If this happened in your native country you +could be betrothed and wait. There is also another reason why waiting +is absolutely necessary. It will take some time to gain her brother's +consent. Now her brother is poor, but he might have been rich. He is a +Liberal, and belongs to the National party. He hates the present +system here most bitterly. He took part in the Roman Republican +movement a few years ago, and was imprisoned after the return of the +Pope, and lost the last vestige of his property by confiscation. He +now dresses coarsely, and declines to associate with any Romans, +except a few who are members of a secret society with him. He is very +closely watched by the Government, so that he has to be quiet. But he +expects to rise to eminence and power, and even wealth, before very +long. So you see he does not look upon his sister as a mere common +every-day match. He expects to elevate her to the highest rank, where +she can find the best in the country around her. For my own part I +think this is doubtful; and if you are in earnest I should do what +I could to further your interest. But it will take some time to +persuade the Count." + +"Then, situated as I am, what can I do to gain her?" asked Dick. + +"Are your friends thinking of leaving Rome soon?" + +"Yes, pretty soon." + +"Do not leave them. Go with them. Pursue the course you originally +intended, just as though nothing had happened. If after your tour is +finished you find that your feelings are as strong as ever, and that +she is as dear to you as you say, then you may return here." + +"And you?" + +"I think all objections may be removed." + +"It will take some weeks to finish our tour." + +"Some weeks! Oh, do not return under three months at least." + +"Three months! that is very long!" + +"Not too long. The time will soon pass away. If you do not really +love her you will be glad at having escaped; if you do you will +rejoice at having proved your sincerity." + +Some further conversation passed, after which Dick, finding the +priest inflexible, ceased to persuade, and acceded to his proposal. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + + +SHOWING HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO GET A LAUNDRESS, FOR THE SENATOR +WANTED ONE, AND NOT KNOWING THE LANGUAGE GOT INTO A SCRAPE, NOT BY +HIS OWN FAULT, FOR HE WAS CAREFUL ABOUT COMMITTING HIMSELF WITH THE +LADIES; BUT PRAY, WAS IT HIS FAULT IF THE LADIES WOULD TAKE A FANCY +TO HIM? + + +Signora Mirandolina Rocca, who was the landlady of the house where +the Club were lodging, was a widow, of about forty years of age, still +fresh and blooming, with a merry dark eye, and much animation of +features. Sitting usually in the small room which they passed on the +way to their apartments, they had to stop to get their keys, or to +leave them when they went out, and Buttons and Dick frequently stopped +to have a little conversation. The rest, not being able to speak +Italian, contented themselves with smiles; the Senator particularly, +who gave the most beaming of smiles both on going and on returning. +Sometimes he even tried to talk to her in his usual adaptation of +broken English, spoken in loud tones to the benighted but fascinating +foreigner. Her attention to Dick during his sickness increased the +Senator's admiration, and he thought her one of the best, one of the +most kind-hearted and sympathetic of beings. + +One day, toward the close of their stay in Rome, the Senator was in +a fix. He had not had any washing done since he came to the city. He +had ran through all his clean linen, and came to a dead stand. Before +leaving for another place it was absolutely necessary to attend to +this. But how? Buttons was off with the Spaniards; Dick had gone out +on a drive. No one could help him, so he tried it himself. In fact, +he had never lost confidence in his powers of making himself +understood. It was still a fixed conviction of his that in cases of +necessity any intelligent man could make his wants known to +intelligent foreigners. If not, there is stupidity somewhere. Had he +not done so in Paris and in other places? + +So he rang and managed to make the servant understand that he wished +to see the landlady. The landlady had always shown a great admiration +for the manly, not to say gigantic charms of the Senator. Upon him +she bestowed her brightest smile, and the quick flush on her face +and heaving breast told that the Senator had made wild work with her +too susceptible heart. + +So now when she learned that the Senator wished to see her, she at +once imagined the cause to be any thing and every thing except the +real one. Why take that particular time, when all the rest were out? +she thought. Evidently for some tender purpose. Why send for her? Why +not come down to see her? Evidently because he did not like the +publicity of her room at the Conciergerie. + + +[Illustration: The Senator In A Bad Fix.] + + +She arrayed herself, therefore, in her brightest and her best +charms; gave an additional flourish to her dark hair that hung +wavingly and luxuriantly, and still without a trace of gray over +her forehead; looked at herself with her dark eyes in the glass to +see if she appeared to the best advantage; and finally, in some +agitation, but with great eagerness, she went to obey the summons. + +Meantime the Senator had been deliberating how to begin. He felt that +he could not show his bundle of clothes to so fair and fine a creature +as this, whose manners were so soft and whose smile so pleasant. He +would do any thing first. He would try a roundabout way of making +known his wishes, trusting to his own powers and the intelligence of +the lady for a full and complete understanding. Just as he had come +to this conclusion there was a timid knock at the door. + +"Come in," said the Senator, who began to feel a little awkward +already. + +"_Epermesso_?" said a soft sweet voice, "_se puo entrare_?" and +Signora Mirandolina Rocca advanced into the room, giving one look at +the Senator, and then casting down her eyes. + +"_Umilissia serva di Lei, Signore, mi commandi_." + +But the Senator was in a quandary. What could he do? How begin? +What gesture would be the most fitting for a beginning? + +The pause began to be embarrassing. The lady, however, as yet was +calm--calmer, in fact, than when she entered. + +So she spoke once more. + +"_Di che ha Ella bisogna, Illustris simo_?" + +The Senator was dreadfully embarrassed. The lady was so fair in his +eyes. Was this a woman who could contemplate the fact of soiled +linen? Never. + +"Ehem!" said he. + +Then he paused. + +"_Servo, devota_," said Signora Mirandolina. "_Che c'e, Signore_." + +Then looking up, she saw the face of the Senator all rosy red, +turned toward her, with a strange confusion and embarrassment in his +eye, yet it was a kind eye--a soft, kind eye. + +"_Egli e forse innamorato di me_," murmured the lady, gathering +new courage as she saw the timidity of the other. "_Che grandezza_!" +she continued, loud enough for the Senator to hear, yet speaking as +if to herself. "_Che bellezza_! _un galantuomo, certamente--e quest' +e molto piacevole_." + +She glanced at the manly figure of the Senator with a tender +admiration in her eye which she could not repress, and which was so +intelligible to the Senator that he blushed more violently than ever, +and looked helplessly around him. + +"_E innamorato di me, senza dubio_," said the Signora, "_vergogna non +vuol che si sapesse_." + +The Senator at length found voice. Advancing toward the lady he +looked at her very earnestly and as she thought very piteously--held +out both his hands, then smiled, then spread his hands apart, then +nodded and smiled again, and said-- + +"Me--me--want--ha--hum--ah! You know--me--gentleman--hum--me +--Confound the luck," he added, in profound vexation. + +"_Signore_," said Mirandolina, "_la di Lei gentelezza me confonde_." + +The Senator turned his eyes all around, everywhere, in a desperate +half-conscious search for escape from an embarrassing situation. + +"_Signore noi ci siamo sole, nessuno ci senti_," remarked the +Signora, encouragingly. + +"Me want to tell you this!" burst forth the Senator. "Clothes--you +know--washy--washy." Whereupon he elevated his eyebrows, smiled, +and brought the tips of his fingers together. + +"_Io non so che cosa vuol dir mi. Illustrissimo_," said the Signora, +in bewilderment. + +"You--you--you know. Ah? Washy? Hey? No, no," shaking his head, "not +washy, but _get_ washy." + +The landlady smiled. The Senator, encouraged by this, came a step +nearer. + +"_Che cosa? Il cuor me palpita. Io tremo_," murmured La Rocca. + +She retreated a step. Whereupon the Senator at once fell back again +in great confusion. + +"Washy, washy," he repeated, mechanically, as his mind was utterly +vague and distrait. + +"_Uassi-Uuassi_?" repeated the other, interrogatively. + +"Me--" + +"_Tu_" said she, with tender emphasis. + +"Wee mounseer," said he, with utter desperation. + +The Signora shook her head. "_Non capisco. Ma quelle, balordaggini ed +intormentimente, che sono si non segni manifesti d'amore_?" + +"I don't understand, marm, a single word of that." + +The Signora smiled. The Senator took courage again. + +"The fact is this, marm," said he, firmly; "I want to get my +clothes washed somewhere. Of course you don't do it, but you can +tell me, you know. Hm?" + +"_Non capisco_." + +"Madame," said he, feeling confident that she would understand that +word at least, and thinking, too, that it might perhaps serve as a +key to explain any other words which he might append to it. "My +clothes--I want to get them washed--laundress--washy--soap and +water--clean 'em all up--iron 'em--hang 'em out to dry. Ha?" + +While saying this he indulged in an expressive pantomine. When +alluding to his clothes he placed his hands against his chest, +when mentioning the drying of them he waved them in the air. The +landlady comprehended this. How not? When a gentleman places his +hand on his heart, what is his meaning? + +"_O sottigliezza d'amore_!" murmured she. "_Che cosa cerca_," she +continued, looking up timidly but invitingly. + +The Senator felt doubtful at this, and in fact a little frightened. +Again he placed his hands on his chest to indicate his clothes; he +struck that manly chest forcibly several times, looking at her all +the time. Then he wrung his hands. + + +[Illustration: The Senator In A Worse Fix.] + + +"_Ah, Signore_," said La Rocca, with a melting glance, "_non e d'uopo +di desperazione_." + +"Washy, washy--" + +"_Eppure, se Ella vuol sposarmi, non ce difficolta_," returned the +other, with true Italian frankness. + +"Soap and water--" + +"_Non ho il coraggio di dir di no_." + +The Senator had his arms outstretched to indicate the hanging-out +process. Still, however, feeling doubtful if he were altogether +understood, he thought he would try another form of pantomime. +Suddenly he fell down on his knees, and began to imitate the action +of a washer-woman over her tub, washing, wringing, pounding, rubbing. + +"_O gran' cielo_!" cried the Signora, her pitying heart filled with +tenderness at the sight of this noble being on his knees before her, +and, as she thought, wringing his hands in despair. "_O gran' cielo! +Egli e innamorato di me non puo dirmelo_." + +Her warm heart prompted her, and she obeyed its impulse. What else +could she do? She flung herself into his outstretched arms, as he +raised himself to hang out imaginary clothes on an invisible line. + +The Senator was thunderstruck, confounded, bewildered, shattered, +overcome, crushed, stupefied, blasted, overwhelmed, horror-stricken, +wonder-smitten, annihilated, amazed, horrified, shocked, frightened, +terrified, nonplused, wilted, awe-struck, shivered, astounded, +dumbfounded. He did not even struggle. He was paralyzed. + +"_Ah, carissimo_," said a soft and tender voice in his ear, a low, +sweet voice, "_se veramenta me me ami, saro lo tua carissima sposa_--" + +At that moment the door opened and Buttons walked in. In an instant +he darted out. The Signora hurried away. + +"_Addio, bellisima, carissima gioja_!" she sighed. + +The Senator was still paralyzed, + +After a time he went with a pale and anxious face to see Buttons. The +young man promised secrecy, and when the Senator was telling his story +tried hard to look serious and sympathetic. In vain. The thought of +that scene, and the cause of it, and the blunder that had been made +overwhelmed him. Laughter convulsed him. At last the Senator got up +indignantly and left the room. + +But what was he to do now? The thing could not be explained. How could +he get out of the house? He would have to pass her as she sat at the +door. + +He had to call on Buttons again and implore his assistance. The +difficulty was so repugnant, and the matter so very delicate, that +Buttons declared he could not take the responsibility of settling it. +It would have to be brought before the Club. + +The Club had a meeting about it, and many plans were proposed. The +stricken Senator had one plan, and that prevailed. It was to leave +Rome on the following day. For his part he had made up his mind to +leave the house at once. He would slip out as though he intended to +return, and the others could settle his bill and bring with them the +clothes that had caused all this trouble. He would meet them in the +morning outside the gate of the city. + +This resolution was adopted by all, and the Senator, leaving money to +settle for himself, went away. He passed hurriedly out of the door. He +dared not look. He heard a soft voice pronounce the word "_Gioja_!" He +fled. + +Now that one who owned the soft voice afterward changed her feelings +so much toward her "gioja" that opposite his name in her house-book +she wrote the following epithets: _Birbone, Villano, Zolicacco, +Burberone, Gaglioffo, Meschino, Briconaccio, Anemalaccio_. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + + +_ROME_.--_ANCIENT HISTORY_.--THE PREHISTORIC ERA.--CRITICAL +EXAMINATION OF NIEBUHR AND HIS SCHOOL.--THE EARLY HISTORY OF ROME +PLACED ON A RIGHT BASIS.--EXPLANATION OF HISTORY OF REPUBLIC. +--NAPOLEON'S "CAESAR."--THE IMPERIAL REGIME.--THE NORTHERN +BARBARIANS.--RISE OF THE PAPACY.--MEDIAEVAL ROME. + +_TOPOGRAPHY_.--TRUE ADJUSTMENT OF BOUNDS OF ANCIENT CITY.--ITS +PROBABLE POPULATION.--_GEOLOGY_.--EXAMINATION OF FORMATION.--TUFA +TRAVERTINE.--ROMAN CEMENT.--TERRA-COTTA. _SPECIAL CONSIDERATION OF +ROMAN CATACOMBS_.--BOSIO.--ARRINGHI.--CARDINAL WISEMAN.--RECENT +EXPLORATIONS, INVESTIGATIONS, EXAMINATIONS, EXHUMATIONS, AND +RESUSCITATIONS.--EARLY CHRISTIAN HISTORY SET ON A TRUE BASIS. +--RELICS.--MARTYRS.--REAL ORIGIN OF CATACOMBS.--TRUE AND RELIABLE +EXTENT (WITH MAPS). + +_REMARKS ON ART_.--THE RENAISSANCE.--THE EARLY PAINTERS: CIMABUE, +GIOTTO, PERUGINO, RAFAELLE SANZIO, MICHELANGELO BUONAROTTI.--THE +TRANSFIGURATION.--THE MOSES OF MICHELANGELO.--BELLINI.--SAINT +PETER'S, AND MORE PARTICULARLY THE COLONNADE.--THE LAST JUDGMENT. +--DANTE.--THE MEDIAEVAL SPIRIT.--EFFECT OF GOTHIC ART ON ITALY AND +ITALIAN TASTE.--COMPARISON, OF LOMBARD WITH SICILIAN CHURCHES.--TO +WHAT EXTENT ROME INFLUENCED THIS DEVELOPMENT.--THE FOSTERING SPIRIT +OF THE CHURCH.--ALL MODERN ART CHRISTIAN.--WHY THIS WAS A NECESSITY. +--FOLLIES OF MODERN CRITICS.--REYNOLDS AND RUSKIN.--HOW FAR POPULAR +TASTE IS WORTH ANY THING.--CONCLUDING REMARKS OF A MISCELLANEOUS +DESCRIPTION. + + +[There! as a bill of fare I flatter myself that the above ought to +take the eye. It was my intention, on the departure of the Club +from Rome, to write a chapter of a thoroughly exhaustive character, +as will be seen by the table of contents above; but afterward, +finding that the chapter had already reached the dimensions of a +good-sized book before a quarter of it was written, I thought that +if it were inserted in this work it would be considered by some as +too long; in fact, if it were admitted nothing more would ever be +heard of the Dodge Club; which would be a great pity, as the best +of their adventures did not take place until after this period; and +as this is the real character of the present work, I have finally +decided to enlarge the chapter into a book, which I will publish +after I have given to the world my "History of the Micmacs," +"Treatise on the Greek Particles," "Course of Twelve Lectures on +Modern History," new edition of the "Agamemnonian Triology" of +Aeschylus, with new readings, "Harmony of Greek Accent and Prosody," +"Exercises in Sanscrit for Beginners, on the Ollendorf System," +"The Odyssey of Homer translated into the Dublin Irish dialect," +"Dissertation on the Symbolical Nature of the Mosaic Economy," +"Elements of Logic," "Examination into the Law of Neutrals," +"Life of General George Washington," "History of Patent Medicines," +"Transactions of the 'Saco Association for the advancement of +Human Learning, particularly Natural Science' (consisting of one +article written by myself on 'The Toads of Maine')," and "Report +of the 'Kennebunkport, Maine, United Congregational Ladies' +Benevolent City Missionary and Mariners' Friend Society," which +will all be out some of these days, I don't know exactly when; +but after they come out this chapter will appear in book form. And +if any of my readers prefer to wait till they read that chapter +before reading any further, all I can say is, perhaps they'd +better not, as after all it has no necessary connection with the +fortunes of the Dodge Club.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + + +ITALIAN TRAVEL, ROADS, INNS.--A GRAND BREAKDOWN.--AN ARMY OF +BEGGARS.--SIX MEN HUNTING UP A CARRIAGE WHEEL; AND PLANS OF THE +SENATOR FOR THE GOOD OF ITALY. + + +On the following morning the Senator was picked up at the gate, +where he had waited patiently ever since the dawn of day. His seat +was secured. His friends were around him. He was safe. They rolled +on merrily all that day. And their carriage was ahead of that of +the Spaniards. They stopped at the same inns. Buttons was happy. + +The next day came. At nine o'clock A.M. on the next day there was +a singular scene: + +A vettura with the fore-wheel crushed into fragments; two horses +madly plunging; five men thrown in different directions on a soft +sand-bank; and a driver gazing upon the scene with a face of woe. + +The Senator tried most energetically to brush the dust from his +clothes with an enormous red silk handkerchief; the Doctor and Mr. +Figgs looked aghast at huge rents in their nether garments; Buttons +and Dick picked themselves up and hurried to the wreck. + +The emotions of the former may be conceived. The wheel was an utter +smash. No patching however thorough, no care however tender, could +place it on its edge again a perfect wheel. A hill rose before +them, behind which the Spaniards, hitherto their companions, had +disappeared half an hour previously, and were now rolling on over +the palin beyond that hill all ignorant of this disaster. Every +moment separated them more widely from the despairing Buttons. +Could he have metamorphosed himself into a wheel most gladly would +he have done it. He had wild thoughts of setting off on foot and +catching up to them before the next day. But, of course, further +reflection showed him that walking was out of the question. + +Dick looked on in silence. They were little more than a day's +journey from Rome. Civita Castellana lay between; yet perhaps a +wheel might not be got at Civita Castellana. In that case a +return to Rome was inevitable. What a momentous thought! Back to +Rome! Ever since he left he had felt a profound melancholy. The +feeling of homesickness was on him. He had amused himself with +keeping his eyes shut and fancying that he was moving to Rome +instead of from it. He had repented leaving the city. Better, he +thought, to have waited. He might then have seen Pepita. The +others gradually came to survey the scene. + +"Eh? Well, what's to be done now?" said Buttons, sharply, as +the driver came along. "How long are you going to wait?" + +"Signore makes no allowance for a poor man's confusion. Behold +that wheel! What is there for me to do--unhappy? May the bitter +curse of the ruined fall upon that miserable wheel!" + + +[Illustration: Travelling In Italy.] + + +"The coach has already fallen on it," said Dick. "Surely that is +enough." + +"It infuriates me to find myself overthrown here." + +"You could not wish for a better place, my Pietro." + +"What will you do?" said Buttons. "We must not waste time here. +Can we go on?" + +"How is that possible?" + +"We might get a wheel at the next town." + +"We could not find one if we hunted all through the three next +towns." + +"Curse your Italian towns!" cried Buttons, in a rage. + +"Certainly, Signore, curse them if you desire." + +"Where can we get this one repaired then?" + +"At Civita Castellana, I hope." + +"Back there! What, go back!" + +"I am not to blame," said Pietro, with resignation. + +"We must not go back. We shall not." + +"If we go forward every mile will make it worse. And how can we +move with this load and this broken wheel up that hill?" + +That was indeed a difficulty. The time that had lapsed since the +lamentable break-down had been sufficient to bring upon the scene an +inconceivable crowd. After satisfying their curiosity they betook +themselves to business. + +Ragged, dirty, evil-faced, wicked-eyed, slouching, whining, +impudent--seventeen women, twenty-nine small boys, and thirty-one men, +without counting curs and goats. + +"Signo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o! in the name of the Ever Blessed, and +for the love of Heaven." "Go to thunder." "For the love of." "We +have nothing, _nothing_, NOTHING! Do you hear?" "Of the Virgin." +"Away! Be off." "Give me." "Go to blazes!" "Me miserable." "Will +you be off?" "Infirm, blind, and." "I'll break your skull!" +"Altogether desperate." "If you torment us any more, I'll." +"Only the smallest charity." "Smash your abominable bottle-nose!" +"Oh, generous nobles!" "Don't press me, you filthy." "Illustrious +cavaliers!" "Take that! and if you say any more I'll kick you +harder." "I kneel before you, oppressed, wretched, starving. Let +these tears." "I'll make you shed more of them if you don't clear +out." "N-n-n-Sig-no-o-o-o-o!" "Away!" "Behold a wretched villager +from the far distant Ticino!" "You be hanged! Keep off!" "Oh, +Signo-o-o-o-o! Oh per l'amor di Dio! Carita! Carita-a-a-a +--solamente un mezzo baroccho--oh, Signo-o-o!--datemi." + +"Pietro! Pietro! for Heaven's sake get us out of this at once. +Anywhere--anywhere, so that we can escape from these infernal +Vagabonds." + +The result was, that Pietro turned his carriage round. By piling +the baggage well behind, and watching the fore-axle carefully, +he contrived to move the vehicle along. Behind them followed the +pertinacious beggars, filling the air with prayers, groans, sighs, +cries, tears, lamentations, appeals, wailings, and entreaties. Thus +situated they made their entry into Civita Castellana. + +Others might have felt flattered at the reception that awaited them. +They only felt annoyed. The entire city turned out. The main street +up which they passed was quite full. The side-streets showed people +hurrying up to the principal thoroughfare. They were the centre of +all eyes. Through the windows of the cafe the round eyes of the +citizens were visible on the broad stare. Even the dogs and cats had +a general turn out. + +Nor could they seek relief in the seclusion of the hotel. The anxiety +which all felt to resume their journey did not allow them to rest. +They at once explored the entire city. + +Was there a carriage-maker in the place? A half-hour's search +showed them that there was not one. The next thing then was to try +and find a wheel. About this they felt a little hopeful. Strange, +indeed, if so common a thing could not be obtained. + +Yet strange as this might be it was even so. No wheel was +forthcoming. They could not find a carriage even. There was nothing +but two ancient caleches, whose wheels were not only rickety but +utterly disproportioned to the size of the vettura, and any +quantity of bullock carts, which moved on contrivances that could +scarcely be called wheels at all. + +Three hours were consumed in the tedious search. The entire body +of the inhabitants became soon aware of the object of their desires, +and showed how truly sympathetic is the Italian nature, by +accompanying them wherever they went, and making observations that +were more sprightly than agreeable. + +At first the Club kept together, and made their search accompanied +by Pietro; but after a time the crowd became so immense that they +separated, and continued their search singly. This produced but +slight improvement. The crowd followed their example. A large +number followed the Senator: walking when he walked; stopping when +he stopped; turning when he turned; strolling when he strolled; +peering when he peered; commenting when he spoke, and making +themselves generally very agreeable and delightful. + +At every corner the tall form of the Senator might be seen as he +walked swiftly with the long procession following like a tail of a +comet; or as he stopped at times to look around in despair, when + + + "He above the rest + In shape and gesture proudly eminent + Stood like a tower. His form had not yet lost + All its original brightness;" + + +although, to tell the truth, his clothes had, and the traces of mud +and dust somewhat dimmed the former lustre of his garments. + +The appalling truth at last forced itself upon them that Civita +Castellana could not furnish them either with a new wheel or a +blacksmith who could repair the broken one. Whether the entire +mechanical force of the town had gone off to the wars or not they +did not stop to inquire. They believed that the citizens had +combined to disappoint them, in hopes that their detention might +bring in a little ready money and start it in circulation around the +community. + +It was at last seen that the only way to do the was to send Pietro +back to Rome. To delay any longer would be only a waste of time. +Slowly and sadly they took up their quarters at the hotel. Dick +decided to go back so as to hasten Pietro, who might otherwise loiter +on the way. So the dilapidated carriage had to set out on its +journey backward. + +Forced to endure the horrors of detention in one of the dullest +of Italian towns, their situation was deplorable. Mr. Figgs was +least unhappy, for he took to his bed and slept through the +entire period, with the exception of certain little intervals +which he devoted to meals. The Doctor sat quietly by an upper +window playing the devil's tattoo on the ledge with inexhaustible +patience. + +The Senator strolled through the town. He found much to interest him. +His busy brain was filled with schemes for the improvement of the +town. + +How town lots could be made valuable; how strangers could be +attracted; how manufactures could be promoted; how hotels started; +how shops supported; how trade increased; how the whole surrounding +population enriched, especially by the factories. + + +[Illustration: The Senator's Escort.] + + +"Why, among these here hills," said he, confidentially, to Buttons +--"among these very hills there is water-power and excellent +location for, say--Silk-weaving mills, Fulling ditto, Grist ditto, +Carding ditto, Sawing ditto, Plaster-crushing ditto, Planing ditto. +--Now I would locate a cotton-mill over there." + +"Where would you get your cotton?" mumbled Buttons. + +"Where?" repeated the Senator. "Grow it on the Campagna, of course." + +Buttons passed the time in a fever of impatience. + +For far ahead the Spaniards were flying further and further away, +no doubt wondering at every stage why he did not join them. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + + +TRIUMPHANT PROGRESS OF DICK.--GENDARMES FOILED.--THE DODGE CLUB +IS ATTACKED BY BRIGANDS, AND EVERY MAN OF IT COVERS HIMSELF WITH +GLORY.--SCREAM OF THE AMERICAN EAGLE! + + +It was late on the evening of the following day before Dick made +his appearance with Pietro, Another vettura had been obtained, and +with cracks of a long whip that resounded through the whole town, +summoning the citizens to the streets; with thunder of wheels over +the pavements; with prancing and snorting of horses; Pietro drove up +to the hotel. Most conspicuous in the turn-out was Dick, who was +seated in the coupe, waving his hat triumphantly in the air. + +The appearance of the carriage was the signal for three hearty +cheers, which burst involuntarily from the three Americans on the +courtyard, rousing Mr. Figgs from sleep and the inn-keeper from his +usual lethargy. One look at the horses was enough to show that there +was no chance of proceeding further that day. The poor beasts were +covered with foam, and trembled excessively. However, they all felt +infinite relief at the prospect of getting away, even though they +would have to wait till the following morning. + +Dick was dragged to the dining-room by his eager friends and fiercely +interrogated. He had not much to tell. + +The journey to Rome had been made without any difficulty, the +carriage having tumbled forward on its front axle not more than one +hundred and fifty-seven times. True, when it reached Rome it was a +perfect wreck, the framework being completely wrenched to pieces; +and the proprietor was bitterly enraged with Pietro for not leaving +the carriage at Civita Castellana, and returning on horseback for a +wheel; but Dick interceded for the poor devil of a driver, and the +proprietor kindly consented to deduct the value of the coach from his +wages piecemeal. + +Their journey back was quick but uninteresting. Dick acknowledged that +he had a faint idea of staying in Rome, but saw a friend who advised +him not to. He had taken the reins and driven for a great part of the +way, while Pietro had gone inside and slumbered the sleep of the just. + +As it was a lonely country, with few inhabitants, he had beguiled the +tedious hours of the journey by blowing patriotic airs on an enormous +trombone, purchased by him from a miscellaneous dealer in Rome. The +result had been in the highest degree pleasing to himself, though +perhaps a little surprising to others. No one, however, interfered +with him except a party of gendarmes who attempted to stop him. They +thought that he was a Garibaldino trying to rouse the country. The +trombone might have been the cause of that suspicion. + +Fortunately the gendarmes, though armed to the teeth, were not +mounted, and so it was that, when they attempted to arrest Dick, +that young man lashed his horses to fury, and, loosening the reins +at the same moment, burst through the line, and before they knew +what he was about he was away. + +They fired a volley. The echoes died away, mingled with +gendarmerian curses. The only harm done was a hole made by a +bullet through the coach. The only apparent effect was the waking +of Pietro. That worthy, suddenly roused from slumber, jumped up to +hear the last sounds of the rifles, to see the hole made by the +bullet, the fading forms of the frantic officials, and the nimble +figure of the gallant driver, who stood upright upon the seat waving +his hat over his head, while the horses dashed on at a furious gallop. + + +[Illustration: Dick In His Glory.] + + +This was all. Nothing more occurred, for Pietro drove the remainder +of the way, and Dick's trombone was tabooed. + +On the following morning the welcome departure was made. To their +inexpressible joy they found that the coach was this time a strong +one, and no ordinary event of travel could delay them. They had lost +two days, however, and that was no trifle. They now entered upon the +second stage, and passed on without difficulty. + +In fact, they didn't meet with a single incident worth mentioning +till they came to Perugia. Perugia is one of the finest places in +Italy, and really did not deserve to be overhauled so terrifically +by the Papal troops. Every body remembers that affair. At the time +when the Dodge Club arrived at this city they found the Papal party +in the middle of a reaction. They actually began to fear that they +had gone a little too far. They were making friendly overtures to +the outraged citizens. But the latter were implacable, stiff! + +What rankled most deeply was the maddening fact that these Swiss, +who were made the ministers of vengeance, were part of that accursed, +detested, hated, shunned, despised, abhorred, loathed, execrated, +contemptible, stupid, thick-headed, brutal, gross, cruel, bestial, +demoniacal, fiendish, and utterly abominable race--_I Tedeschi_ +--whose very name, when hissed from an Italian month, expresses +unutterable scorn and undying hate. + +They left Perugia at early dawn. Jogging on easily over the hills, +they were calculating the time when they would reach Florence. + +In the disturbed state of Italy at this time, resulting from war +and political excitement, and general expectation of universal +change, the country was filled with disorder, and scoundrels +infested the roads, particularly in the Papal territories. Here +the Government, finding sufficient employment for all its energies +in taking care of itself, could scarcely be expected to take care +either of its own subjects or the traveller through its dominions. +The Americans had heard several stories about brigands, but had +given themselves no trouble whatever about them. + +Now it came to pass that about five miles from Perugia they wound +round a very thickly-wooded mountain, which ascended on the left, +far above, and on the right descended quite abruptly into a gorge. +Dick was outside; the others inside. Suddenly a loud shout, and a +scream from Pietro. The carriage stopped. + +The inside passengers could see the horses rearing and plunging, +and Dick, snatching whip and reins from Pietro, lashing them with +all his might. In a moment all inside was in an uproar. + +"We are attacked!" cried Buttons. + +"The devil!" cried the Senator, who, in his sudden excitement, used +the first and only profane expression which his friends ever heard him +utter. + +Out came the Doctor's revolver. + +Bang! bang! wept two rifles outside, and a loud voice called on them +to surrender. + +"_Andate al Diavolo_!" pealed out Dick's voice as loud as a trumpet. +His blows fell fast and furiously on the horses. Maddened by pain, +the animals bounded forward for a few rods, and then swerving from +the road-side, dashed against the precipitous hill, where the coach +stuck, the horses rearing. + +Through the doors which they had flung open in order to jump out +the occupants of the carriage saw the reeling figures of armed men +overthrown and cursing. In a moment they all were out. + +Bang! and then-- + +Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-bang! went half a dozen rifles. + +Thank Heaven! not one of the Club, was struck. There were twenty +scoundrels armed to the teeth. + +The Doctor was as stiff as a rock. He aimed six times as calmly as +though he were in a pistol-gallery. Nerve told. Six explosions +roared. Six yells followed. Six men reeled. + +"I'd give ten years of my life for such a pistol!" cried Buttons. + +The Italians were staggered. Dick had a bowie-knife. The Senator +grasped a ponderous beam that he had placed on the coach in case +of another break-down. Mr. Figgs had a razor which he had grabbed +from the storehouse in the Doctor's pocket. Buttons had nothing. But +on the road lay three Italians writhing. + +"Hurrah!" cried Buttons. "Load again, Doctor. Come; let's make a +rush and get these devils on the road." + +He rushed forward. The others all at his side. The Italians stood +paralyzed at the effect of the revolver. As Buttons led the charge +they fell back a few paces. + +"Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" burst Buttons, the Senator, and Dick, as +each snatched a rifle from the prostrate bandits, and hastily tore +the cartridge-boxes from them. + +"Load up! load up! Doctor!" cried Buttons. + +"All right,"' said the Doctor, who never changed in his cool +self-possession. + +But now the Italians with curses and screams came back to the +attack. It is absolutely stupefying to think how few shots hit the +mark in the excitement of a fight. Here were a number of men firing +from a distance of hardly more than forty paces, and not one took +effect. + +The next moment the whole crowd were upon them. Buttons snatched Mr. +Figgs's razor from his grasp and used it vigorously. Dick plied his +bowie-knife. The Senator wielded a clubbed rifle on high as though +it were a wand, and dealt the blows of a giant upon the heads of his +assailants. All the Italians were physically their inferiors--small, +puny men. Mr. Figgs made a wild dash at the first man he saw and +seized his rifle. The fight was spirited. + +The rascally brigands were nearly three times as numerous, but the +Americans surpassed them in bodily strength and spirit. + +Crash--crash--fell the Senator's rifle, and down went two men. His +strength was enormous--absorbed as it had been from the granite +cliffs of the old Granite State. Two brawny fellows seized him from +behind. A thrust of his elbow laid one low. Buttons slashed the wrist +of the other. A fellow threw himself on Buttons. Dick's bowie-knife +laid open his arm and thigh. The next moment Dick went down beneath +the blows of several Italians. But Buttons rushed with his razor to +rescue Dick. Three men glared at him with uplifted weapons. Down +came the Senator's clubbed rifle like an avalanche, sweeping +their weapons over the cliff. They turned simultaneously on the +Senator, and grasped him in a threefold embrace. Buttons's razor +again drank blood. Two turned upon him. Bang! went the Doctor's +pistol, sending one of them shrieking to the ground. Bang! Once +more, and a fellow who had nearly overpowered the breathless Figgs +staggered back. Dick was writhing on the ground beneath the weight +of a dead man and a fellow who was trying to suffocate him. Buttons +was being throttled by three others who held him powerless, his +razor being broken. A crack on Mr. Figgs's head laid him low. The +Doctor stood off at a little distance hastily reloading. + +The Senator alone was free; but six fierce fellows assailed him. It +was now as in the old Homeric days, when the heroic soul, sustained +by iron nerve and mighty muscle, came out particularly strong in the +hour of conflict. + +The Senator's form towered up like one of his own granite cliffs in +the storm--as rugged, as unconquerable. His blood was up! The same +blood it was that coursed through the veins of Cromwell's grim old +"Ironsides," and afterward animated those sturdy backwoods-men who +had planted themselves in American forests, and beaten back wild +beasts and howling savages. + +Buttons, prostrate on the ground, looked up, gasping through the +smoke and dust, as he struggled with his assailants. He saw the +Senator, his hair bristling out straight, his teeth set, his eye on +fire, his whole expression sublimed by the ardor of battle. His +clothes were torn to shreds; his coat was gone, his hat nowhere, +his hands and face were covered with clots of blood and streaks +from mud, dust, smoke, and powder. + +The eye of Buttons took in all this in one glance. The next instant, +with a wide sweep of his clubbed rifle the Senator put forth all +his gigantic strength in one tremendous effort. The shock was +irresistible. Down went the six bandits as though a cannon-ball had +struck them. The Senator leaped away to relieve Dick, and seizing +his assailant by neck and heel, flung him over the cliff. Then +tearing away another from Mr. Figgs's prostrate and almost +senseless form, he rushed back upon the six men whom he had just +levelled to the earth. + +Dick sprang to the relief of Buttons, who was at his last extremity. +But the Doctor was before him, as cool as ever. He grasped one fellow +by the throat--a favorite trick of the Doctor's, in which his +anatomical knowledge came very finely into play: + +"Off!" rang the Doctor's voice. + +The fellow gasped a curse. The next instant a roar burst through the +air, and the wretch fell heavily forward, shot through the head, +while his brains were splattered over the face of Buttons. The +Doctor with a blow of his fist sent the other fellow reeling over. + +Buttons sprang up gasping. The Italians were falling back. He called +to the Senator. That man of might came up. Thank God they were all +alive! Bruised, and wounded, and panting--but alive. + +The scowling bandits drew off, leaving seven of their number on the +road _hors de combat_. Some of the retreating ones had been badly +treated, and limped and staggered. The Club proceeded to load their +rifles. + +The Doctor stepped forward. Deliberately aiming he fired his revolver +five times in rapid succession. Before he had time to load again the +bandits had darted into the woods. + +"Every one of those bullets _hit_," said the Doctor with unusual +emphasis. + +"We must get under cover at once," said Dick. "They'll be back +shortly with others!" + +"Then we must fortify our position," said the Senator, "and wait for +relief. As we were, though, it was lucky they tried a hand-to-hand +fight first. This hill shelters us on one side. There are so many +trees that they can't roll stones down, nor can they shoot us. We'll +fix a barricade in front with our baggage. We'll have to fight behind +a barricade this time; though, by the Eternal! I wish it were +hand-to-hand again, for I don't remember of ever having had such a +glorious time in all my born days!" + +The Senator passed his hand over his gory brow, and walked to the +coach. + +"Where's Pietro?" + +"Pietro! _Pietro_!" + +No answer. + +"PI-E-TRO!" + +Still no answer. + +"Pietro!" cried Dick, "if you don't come here I'll blow your--" + +"Oh! is it you, Signori?" exclaimed Pietro's voice; and that +worthy appeared among the trees a little way up the hill. He was +deadly pale, and trembled so much that he could scarcely speak. + +"Look here!" cried Buttons; "we are going to barricade ourselves." + +"Barricade!" + +"We can not carry our baggage away, and we are not going to leave +it behind. We expect to have another battle." + +Pietro's face grew livid. + +"You can stay and help us if you wish." + +Pietro's teeth chattered. + +"Or you can help us far more, by running to the nearest town and +letting the authorities know." + +"Oh, Signore, trust me! I go." + +"Make haste, then, or you may find us all murdered, and then how +will you get your fares--eh?" + +"I go--I go; I will run all the way!" + +"Won't you take a gun to defend yourself with?" + +"Oh no!" cried Pietro, with horror. "No, no!" + +In a few minutes he had vanished among the thick woods. + + +[Illustration: Pietro.] + + +After stripping the prostrate Italians the travellers found +themselves in possession of seven rifles, with cartridges, and some +other useful articles. Four of these men were stone-dead. They +pulled their bodies in front of their place of shelter. The wounded +men they drew inside, and the Doctor at once attended to them, while +the others were strengthening the barricade. + +"I don't like putting these here," said the Senator; "but it'll +likely frighten the brigands, or make them delicate about firing at +us. That's my idee." + +The horses were secured fast. Then the baggage was piled all around, +and made an excellent barricade. With this and the captured rifles +they felt themselves able to encounter a small regiment. + +"Now let them come on," cried the Senator, "just as soon as they +damn please! We'll try first the European system of barricades; and +if that don't work, then we can fall back, on the real original, +national, patriotic, independent, manly, native American, true-blue, +and altogether heroic style!" + +"What is that?" + +The Senator looked at the company, and held out his clenched fist: + +"Why, from behind a tree, in the woods, like your glorious +forefathers!" + + +[Illustration: The Barricade.] + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + + +PLEASANT MEDIATIONS ABOUT THE WONDERS OF TOBACCO; AND THREE PLEASANT +ANECDOTES BY AN ITALIAN BRIGAND. + + +A pull apiece at the brandy-flask restored strength and freshness to +the beleaguered travellers, who now, intrenched behind their +fortifications, awaited any attack which the Italians might choose to +make. + +"The _I_talians," said the Senator, "are not a powerful race. By no +means. Feeble in body--no muscle--no brawn. Above all, no real +_pluck_. Buttons, is there a word in their language that expresses +the exact idee of _pluck_?" + +"Or _game_?" + +"No." + +"Or even _spunk_?" + +"No." + +"I thought not," said the Senator, calmly. "They haven't the _idee_, +and can't have the word. Now it would require a rather considerable +crowd to demolish us at the present time." + +"How long will we have to stay here?" asked Mr. Figgs abruptly. + +"My dear Sir," said Buttons, with more sprightliness than he had +shown for many days, "be thankful you are here at all. We'll get off +at some time to-day. These fellows are watching us, and the moment +we start they'll fire on us. We would be a good mark for them in the +coach. No, we must wait a while." + +Seated upon the turf, they gave themselves up to the pleasing +influence that flows from the pipe. Is there any thing equal to it? +How did the ancients contrive to while away the time without it? Had +they known its effects how they would have cherished it! We should +now be gazing on the ruins of venerable temples, reared by adoring +votaries to the goddess Tabaca. Boys at school would have construed +passages about her. Lempriere, Smith, Anthon, Drissler, and others +would have done honor to her. Classic mythology would have been full +of her presence. Olympian Jove would have been presented to us with +this divinity as his constant attendant, and a nimbus around his +immortal brows of her making. Bacchus would have had a rival, a +superior! + +Poets would have told how TABACA went over the world girt in that but +set off the more her splendid radiance. We should have known how much +Bacchus had to do with [Transcriber's Note: Greek Transliteration] ta +bakcheia [/end Greek]; a chapter which will probably be a lost one in +the History of Civilization. But that he who smokes should drink beer +is quite indisputable. Whether the beer is to be X, XX, or XXX; or +whether the brewer's name should begin with an A, as in Alsopp, and +run through the whole alphabet, ending with V, as in Vassar, may be +fairly left to individual consideration. + +What noble poetry, what spirited odes, what eloquent words, has not +the world lost by the ignorance of the Greek and Roman touching this +plant? + +The above remarks were made by Dick on this occasion. But Buttons was +talking with the wounded Italians. + +The Doctor had bound up their wounds and Buttons had favored them +with a drop from his flask. Dick cut up some tobacco and filled a +pipe for each. After all, the Italians were not fiends. They had +attacked them not from malice, but purely from professional motives. + +Yet, had their enemies been Tedeschi, no amount of attention would +have overcome their sullen hate. But being Americans, gay, easy, +without malice, in fact kind and rather agreeable, they softened, +yielded altogether, and finally chatted familiarly with Buttons +and Dick. They were young, not worse in appearance than the majority +of men; perhaps not bad fellows in their social relations; at any +rate, rather inclined to be jolly in their present circumstances. +They were quite free in their expressions of admiration for the +bravery of their captors, and looked with awe upon the Doctor's +revolver, which was the first they had ever seen. + +In fact, the younger prisoner became quite communicative. Thus: + +"I was born in Velletri. My age is twenty-four years. I have +never shed blood except three times. The first time was in +Narni--odd place, Narni. My employer was a vine-dresser. The season +was dry; the brush caught fire, I don't know how, and in five +minutes a third of the vineyard was consumed to ashes. My employer +came cursing and raving at me, and swore he'd make me work for him +till I made good the loss. Enraged, I struck him. He seized an axe. +I drew my stiletto, and--of course I had to run away. + +"The second time was in Naples. The affair was brought about by a +woman. Signore, women are at the bottom of most crimes that men +commit. I was in love with her. A friend of mine fell in love with +her too. I informed him that if he interfered with me I would kill +him. I told her that if she encouraged him I would kill him and her +too. I suppose she was piqued. Women will get piqued sometimes. At +any rate she gave him marked encouragement. I scolded and threatened. +No use. She told me she was tired of me; that I was too tyrannical. +In fact, she dared to turn me off and take the other fellow. Maffeo +was a good fellow. I was sorry for him, but I had to keep my word. + +"The third time was only a month ago. I robbed a Frenchman, out of +pure patriotism--the French, you know, are our oppressors--and kept +what I found about him to reward me for my gallant act. The +Government, however, did not look upon it in a proper light. They +sent out a detachment to arrest me. I was caught, and by good +fortune brought to an inn. At night I was bound tightly and shut +up in the same room with the soldiers. The innkeeper's daughter, a +friend of mine, came in for something, and by mere chance dropped +a knife behind me. I got it, cut my cords, and when they were all +asleep I departed. Before going I left the knife behind; and where +now, Signore, do you think I left it?" + +"I have no idea." + +"You would never guess. You never would have thought of it yourself." + +"Where did you leave it?" + +"In the heart of the Captain." + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + + +FINAL ATTACK OF REINFORCEMENTS OF BRIGANDS.--THE DODGE CLUB DEFIES +THEM AND REPELS THEM.--HOW TO MAKE A BARRICADE.--FRATERNIZATION OF +AMERICAN EAGLE AND GALLIC COCK.--THERE'S NOTHING LIKE LEATHER. + + +"It is certainly a singular position for an American citizen to be +placed in," said the Senator. "To come from a cotton-mill to such +a regular out-and-out piece of fighting as this. Yet it seems to me +that fighting comes natural to the American blood." + +"They've been very quiet for ever so long," said Mr. Figgs; "perhaps +they've gone away." + +"I don't believe they have, for two reasons. The first is, they are +robbers, and want our money; the second, they are Italians, and want +revenge. They won't let us off so easily after the drubbing we gave +them." + +Thus Buttons, and the others rather coincided in his opinion. For +several miles further on the road ran through a dangerous place, +where men might lurk in ambush, and pick them off like so many +snipe. They rather enjoyed a good fight, but did not care about +being regularly shot down. So they waited. + +It was three in the afternoon. Fearfully hot, too, but not so bad +as it might have been. High trees sheltered them. They could +ruminate under the shade. The only difficulty was the want of +food. What can a garrison do that is ill provided with eatables? +The Doctor's little store of crackers and cheese was divided and +eaten. A basket of figs and oranges followed. Still they were +hungry. + +"Well," said Dick, "there's one thing we can do if the worst comes +to the worst." + +"What's that?" + +"Go through the forest in Indian file back to Perugia." + +"That's all very well," said the Senator, stubbornly, "but we're not +going back. No, Sir, not a step!" + +"I'm tired of this," said Buttons, impatiently. "I'll go out as +scout." + +"I'll go too," said Dick. + +"Don't go far, boys," said the Senator, in the tone of an anxious +father. + +"No, not very. That hill yonder will be a good lookout place." + +"Yes, if you are not seen yourselves." + +"We'll risk that. If we see any signs of these scoundrels, and find +that they see us, we will fire to let you know. If we remain +undiscovered we will come back quietly." + +"Very well. But I don't like to let you go off alone, my boys; it's +too much of an exposure." + +"Nonsense." + +"I have a great mind to go too." + +"No, no, you had better stay to hold our place of retreat. We'll come +back, you know." + +"Very well, then." + +The Senator sat himself down again, and Buttons and Dick vanished +among the trees. An hour passed; the three in the barricade began to +feel uneasy; the prisoners were asleep and snoring. + +"Hang it," cried the Senator, "I wish I had gone with them!" + +"Never fear," said the Doctor, "they are too nimble to be caught just +yet. If they had been caught you'd have heard a little firing." + +At that very moment the loud report of a rifle burst through the air, +followed by a second; upon which a whole volley poured out. The three +started to their feet. + +"They are found!" cried the Senator. "It's about a mile away. Be +ready." + +Mr. Figgs had two rifles by his side, and sat looking at the distance +with knitted brows. He had received some terrific bruises in the late +melee, but was prepared to fight till he died. He had said but little +through the day. He was not talkative. His courage was of a quiet +order. He felt the solemnity of the occasion. It was a little +different from sitting at the head of a Board of bank directors, or +shaving notes in a private office. At the end of about ten minutes +there was a crackling among the bushes. Buttons and Dick came tumbling +down into the road. + +"Get ready! Quick. They're here!" + +"All ready." + +"All loaded?" + +"Yes." + +"We saw them away down the road, behind a grove of trees. We +couldn't resist, and so fired at them. The whole band leaped up +raving, and saw us, and fired. They then set off up the road to +this place, thinking that we are divided. They're only a few rods +away." + +"How many are there of them?" + +"Fourteen." + +"They must have got some more. There were only ten able-bodied, +unwounded men when they left." + +"Less," said the Doctor; "my pistol--" + +"H'st!" + +At this moment they heard the noise of footsteps. A band of armed +men came in sight. Halting cautiously, they examined the barricade. +Bang! It was the Doctor's revolver. Down went one fellow, yelling. +The rest were frantic. Like fools, they made a rush at the barricade. + +Bang! a second shot, another wounded. A volley was the answer. Like +fools, the brigands fired against the barricade. No damage was done. +The barricade was too strong. + +The answer to this was a withering volley from the Americans. The +bandits reeled, staggered, fell back, shrieking, groaning, and +cursing. Two men lay dead on the road. The others took refuge in the +woods. + +For two hours an incessant fire was kept up between the bandits in +the woods and the Americans in their retreat. No damage was done on +either side. + +"Those fellows try so hard they almost deserve to lick us," said the +Senator dryly. + +Suddenly there came from afar the piercing blast of a trumpet. + +"Hark!" cried Buttons. + +Again. + +A cavalry trumpet! + +"They are horsemen!" cried Dick, who was holding his ear to the +ground; and then added: + +"[Transcriber's Note: Greek Transliteration] ippon m okupodon amphi +ktupos ouata ballei [/end Greek]." + +"Hey?" cried the Senator; "water barley?" + +Again the sound. A dead silence. All listening. + +And now the tramp of horses was plainly heard. The firing had ceased +altogether since the first blast of the trumpet. The bandits +disappeared. The horsemen drew nearer, and were evidently quite +numerous. At last they burst upon the scene, and the little garrison +greeted them with a wild hurrah. They were French dragoons, about +thirty in number. Prominent among them was Pietro, who at first +stared wildly around, and then, seeing the Americans, gave a cry +of joy. + +The travellers now came out into the road, and quick and hurried +greetings were interchanged. The commander of the troop, learning +that the bandits had just left, sent off two-thirds of his men in +pursuit, and remained with the rest behind. + +Pietro had a long story to tell of his own doings. He had +wandered through the forest till he came to Perugia. The commandant +there listened to his story, but declined sending any of his men +to the assistance of the travellers. Pietro was in despair. +Fortunately a small detachment of French cavalry had just arrived +at Perugia on their way to Rome and the captain was more merciful. +The gallant fellow at once set out, and, led by Pietro, arrived at +the place most opportunely. + +It did not take long to get the coach ready again. One horse was +found to be so badly wounded that it had to be killed. The others +were slightly hurt. The baggage and trunks were riddled with +bullets. These were once more piled up, the wounded prisoners +placed inside, and the travellers, not being able to get in all +together, took turns in walking. + +At the next town the prisoners were delivered up to the authorities. +The travellers celebrated their victory by a grand banquet, to which +they invited the French officer and the soldiers, who came on with +them to this town. Uproar prevailed. The Frenchmen were exuberant +in compliments to the gallantry of their entertainers. Toasts +followed. + +"The Emperor and President!" + +"America and France!" + +"Tricolor and stars!" + +"The two countries intertwined!" + +"A song, Dick!" cried the Senator, who always liked to hear Dick +sing. Dick looked modest. + + +[Illustration: An International Affair.] + + +"Strike up!" + +"What?" + +"The 'Scoodoo abscook!'" cried Mr Figgs. + +"No; 'The Old Cow!'" cried Buttons. + +"'The Pig by the Banks of the River!'" said the Doctor. + +"Dick, don't," said the Senator. "I'll tell you an appropriate song. +These Frenchmen believe in France. We believe in America. Each one +thinks there is nothing like Leather. Sing 'Leather,' then." + +FIGGS. BUTTONS. THE DOCTOR.} "Yes, 'Leather!'" + +"Then let it be 'Leather,'" said Dick; and he struck up the +following (which may not be obtained of any of the music publishers), +to a very peculiar tune: + + +I. + + + "Mercury! Patron of melody, + Father of Music and Lord, + Thine was the skill that invented + Music's harmonious chord. + Sweet were the sounds that arose, + Sweetly they blended together; + Thus, in the ages of old, + Music arose out of--LEATHER! + + +[_Full chorus by all the company_.] + "Then Leather! sing Leather! my lads! + Mercury! Music!! and Leather!!! + Of all the things under the sun, + Hurrah! there is nothing like _Leather_! + + +[_Extra Chorus, descriptive of a Cobbler hammering on his Lapstone_.] + "Then Rub a dub, dub! + Rub a dub, dub! + Rub a dub, dub!!! say we! + + +II. + + + "War is a wonderful science, + Mars was its patron, I'm told, + How did he used to accoutre + Armies in battles of old? + With casque, and with sling, and with shield, + With bow-string and breastplate together; + Thus, in the ages of old, + War was begun out of--LEATHER! + + +[_Chorus_.] + "Then Leather! sing Leather! my lads! + Mars and his weapons of Leather!!! + Of all the things under the sun, + Hurrah! there is nothing like _Leather_! + + +[_Extra Chorus_.] + "Then Rub a dub, dub! + Rub a dub, dub! + Rub a dub, dub!!! say we! + + +III. + + + "Love is a pleasing emotion, + All of us know it by heart; + Whence, can you tell me, arises + Love's overpowering smart? + Tipped with an adamant barb, + Gracefully tufted with feather, + Love's irresistible dart + Comes from a quiver of--LEATHER! + + +[_Chorus_.] + "Then Leather! sing Leather, my lads! + Darts! and Distraction!! and Leather!!! + Of all the things under the sun, + Hurrah! there is nothing like _Leather_! + + + + +[_Extra Chorus_.] + "Then Rub a dub, dub! + Rub a dub, dub! + Rub a dub, dub!!! say we! + + +IV. + + + "Orators wrote out their speeches, + Poets their verses recited, + Statesmen promulgated edicts, + Sages their maxims indited. + Parchment, my lads, was the article + All used to write on together; + Thus the Republic of Letters + Sprang into life out of--LEATHER! + + +[_Chorus_.] + "Then Leather! sing Leather, my lads! + Poetry! Science!! and Leather!!! + Of all the things under the sun, + Hurrah! there is nothing like _Leather_! + + +[_Extra Chorus_.] + "Then Rub a dub, dub! + Rub a dub, dub! + Rub a dub, dub!!! say we!" + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + + +FLORENCE.--DESPERATION OF BUTTONS, OF MR. FIGGS, AND OF THE DOCTOR. + + +Florence, the fair!--Certainly it is the fairest of cities. Beautiful +for situation; the joy of the whole earth! It has a beauty that grows +upon the heart. The Arno is the sweetest of rivers, its valley the +loveliest of vales; luxuriant meadows; rich vineyards; groves of +olive, of orange, and of chestnut; forests of cypress; long lines of +mulberry; the dark purple of the distant Apennines; innumerable white +villas peeping through the surrounding groves; the mysterious haze of +the sunset, which throws a softer charm over the scene; the +magnificent cattle; the fine horses; the bewitching girls, with their +broad hats of Tuscan straw; the city itself, with its gloomy old +palaces, iron-grated and massive walled, from the ancient holds of +street-fighting nobles, long since passed away, to the severe Etruscan +majesty of the Pitti Palace; behold Florence! + +It is the abode of peace, gentleness, and kindly pleasure (or at any +rate it was so when the Club was there). Every stone in its pavement +has a charm. Other cities may please; Florence alone can win enduring +love. It is one of the very few which a man can select as a permanent +home, and never repent of his decision. In fact, it is probably the +only city on earth which a stranger can live in and make for himself +a true home, so pleasant as to make desire for any other simply +impossible. + + +[Illustration: Florence From San Miniato.] + + +In Florence there is a large English population, drawn there by two +powerful attractions. The first is the beauty of the place, with +its healthy climate, its unrivalled collections of art, and its +connection with the world at large. The second is the astonishing +cheapness of living, though, alas! this is greatly changed from +former times, since Florence has become the capital of Italy. +Formerly a palace could be rented for a trifle, troops of servants +for another trifle, and the table could be furnished from day to day +with rarities and delicacies innumerable for another trifle. It is, +therefore, a paradise for the respectable poor, the needy men of +intelligence, and perhaps it may be added, for the shabby genteel. +There is a glorious congregation of dilettante, literati, savans; a +blessed brotherhood of artists and authors; here gather political +philosophers of every grade. It was all this even under the Grand +Duke of refreshing memory; hereafter it will be the same, only, +perhaps, a little more so, under the new influences which it shall +acquire and exert as the metropolis of a great kingdom. + +The Florentines are the most polished people under the sun. The +Parisians claim this proud pre-eminence, but it can not be +maintained. Amid the brilliancies of Parisian life there are +fearful memories of bloody revolutions, brutal fights, and +blood-thirsty cruelties. No such events as these mar the fair +pages of later Florentine history. In fact, the forbearance and +gentleness of the people have been perhaps to their disadvantage. +Life in Florence is joy. The sensation of living is of itself a +pleasure. Life in that delicious atmosphere becomes a higher state of +being. It is the proper home for poets and artists. Those who pretend +that there is any thing in America equal to Florence either in +climate, landscape, or atmosphere, are simply humbugs. Florence is +unique. It is the only Athens of the modern world. + + +[Illustration: Pitti Palace.] + + +The streets are cool and delightful. The great bath houses keep off +the rays of the sun. The people love to stroll away the greater part +of their happy days. They loiter around the corners or under the +porticoes gathering news and retailing the same. Hand-organs are +generally discountenanced. Happy city! + + +[Illustration: Fountain Of Neptune, Palazzo Vecchio.] + +When it is too hot in the streets there is the vast cathedral--Il +Duomo--dim, shadowy, magnificent, its gigantic dome surpassed only +by that of St. Peter's. And yet in the twilight of this sacred +interior, where there dwells so much of the mysterious gloom only +found in the Gothic cathedrals of the north, many find greater +delight than in all the dazzling splendor, the pomp, and glory, and +majesty of the Roman temple. Beside it rises the Campanile, as fair +as a dream, and in appearance almost as unsubstantial. Not far off +is the Baptistery, with its gates of bronze--an assemblage of glory +which might well suffice for one city. + + +[Illustration: The Duomo.] + + +Around the piazza that incloses these sacred buildings they sell +the best roasted chestnuts in the world. Is it any wonder that +Florence is so attractive? + + +[Illustration: The Campanile.] + + +The Dodge Club obtained furnished apartments in a fine large hotel +that looked out on the Ponte della Trinita and on the Arno. Beneath +was the principal promenade in the city. It was a highly agreeable +residence. + +No sooner had they arrived than Buttons set out in search of the +Spaniards. Three days had been lost on the road. He was half afraid +that those three days had lost him the Spaniards altogether. Three +days! It was possible that they had seen Florence in that time and +had already left. The thought of this made Buttons feel extremely +nervous. He spent the first day in looking over all the hotels in +the city. The second in searching through as many of the +lodging-houses as were likely to be chosen by the Spaniards. The +third he spent in meandering disconsolately through the cafes. Still +there were no signs of them. Upon this Buttons fell into a profound +melancholy. In fact it was a very hard case. There seemed nothing +left for him to do. How could he find them out? + + +[Illustration: Trozzi Palace.] + + +Dick noticed the disquietude of his friend, and sympathized with +him deeply. So he lent his aid and searched through the city as +industriously as possible. Yet in spite of every effort their +arduous labors were defeated. So Buttons became hopeless. + +The Senator, however, had met with friends. The American Minister +at Turin happened at that time to be in Florence. Him the Senator +recollected as an old acquaintance, and also as a tried companion +in arms through many a political campaign. The Minister received +him with the most exuberant delight. Dinner, wine, feast of reason, +flow of soul, interchange of latest news, stories of recent +adventures on both sides, laughter, compliments, speculations on +future party prospects, made the hours of an entire afternoon fly +like lightning. The American Eagle was never more convivial. + +The Minister would not let him go. He made him put up at his hotel. +He had the entree into the highest Florentine society. He would +introduce the Senator everywhere. The Senator would have an +opportunity of seeing Italian manners and customs such as was very +rarely enjoyed. The Senator was delighted at the idea. + +But Mr. Figgs and the Doctor began to show signs of weariness. The +former walked with Dick through the Boboli gardens and confided +all his soul to his young friend. What was the use of an elderly +man like him putting himself to so much trouble? He had seen enough +of Italy. He didn't want to see any more. He would much rather be safe +at home. Besides, the members of the Club were all going down the +broad road that leadeth to ruin. Buttons was infatuated about +those Spaniards. The Doctor thought that he (Dick) was involved in +some mysterious affair of a similar nature. Lastly, the Senator was +making a plunge into society. It was too much. The ride over the +Apennines to Bologna might be interesting for two young fellows +like him and Buttons, but was unfit for an elderly person. +Moreover, he didn't care about going to the seat of war. He had +seen enough of fighting. In short, he and the Doctor had made up +their minds to go back to Paris via Leghorn and Marseilles. + +Dick remonstrated, expostulated, coaxed. But Mr. Figgs was inflexible. + + +[Illustration: Buttons Melancholy.] + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +THE SENATOR ENTRAPPED.--THE WILES AND WITCHERY OF A QUEEN OF SOCIETY. +--HIS FATE DESTINED TO BE, AS HE THINKS, ITALIAN COUNTESSES. +--SENTIMENTAL CONVERSATION.--POETRY.--BEAUTY.--MOONLIGHT.--RAPTURE. +--DISTRACTION.--BLISS! + + +The blandishments of Florentine society might have led captive a +sterner soul than that of the Senator. Whether he wished it or not, +he was overcome. His friend, the Minister, took him to the houses of +the leaders of society, and introduced him as an eminent American +statesman and member of the Senate. + +Could any recommendation be equal to that? For, be it remembered, it +was the Revolutionary time. Republicanism ran high. America was +synonymous with the Promised Land. To be a statesman in America was +as great a dignity as to be prince in any empire on earth. Besides, +it was infinitely more honored, for it was popular. The eyes of the +struggling people were tamed to that country which shoved them an +example of republican freedom. + +So if the Florentines received the Senator with boundless hospitality, +it was because they admired his country, and reverenced his dignity. +They liked to consider the presence of the American Minister and +Senator as an expression of the good-will of the American Government. +They looked upon him diplomatically. All that he said was listened to +with the deepest respect, which was none the less when they did not +comprehend a word. His pithy sentences, when translated into Italian, +became the neatest epigrams in the world. His suggestions as to the +best mode of elevating and enriching the country were considered by +one set as the profoundest philosophy, and by another as the keenest +satire. They were determined to lionize him. It was a new sensation +to the Senator. He desired to prolong it. He recalled the lines of +the good Watts: + + + "My willing soul would stay + In such a frame as this." + + +He thought of Dr. Franklin in Paris, of his severe republicanism amid +the aristocratic influences around. How like his present situation +was to that of the august philosopher! + +The marked attention which the Minister paid to the Senator added +greatly to the importance of the latter. The Florentines reasoned +thus: A Minister is a great man. As a general thing his travelling +countrymen pay respect to him. What then must be the position of +that travelling fellow-countryman who receives attention instead of +paying it? What would the position of an Englishman need to be in +order to gain the attention of the British Embassador? Ducal at +least. Hence there is only one conclusion. An American Senator ranks +with an English Duke. + +Others went beyond this: Mark the massive forehead, the severe eye, +the cool, self-possessed mien of this American. The air of one +accustomed to rule. Listen to his philosophic conversation. One of +America's greatest statesmen. No doubt he has a certain prospect of +becoming President. President! It must be so; and that accounts for +the attention paid by the American Embassador. He, of course, wishes +to be continued in his office under the next administration. After +all, the Florentines were not so far out of the way. A much worse +man than the Senator might be made President. In the chapter of +accidents his name, or the name of one like him, might carry the +votes of some roaring convention. + +For two or three days the Senator was the subject of an eager +contest among all the leaders of society. At length there appeared +upon, the scene the great Victrix in a thousand contests such as +these. The others fell back discomfited, and the Senator became her +prey. + +The Countess di Nottinero was not exactly a Recamier, but she was a +remarkably brilliant woman, and the acknowledged leader of the +liberal part of Florentine society. Of course, the haughty +aristocratic party held themselves grandly aloof, and knew nothing +either of her or the society to which she belonged. + +She was generally known as _La Cica_, a nickname given by her +enemies, though what "Cica" meant no one could tell exactly. It was +a sort of contraction made up from her Christian name, Cecilia, as +some thought; others thought it was the Italian word _cica_ given +on account of some unknown incident. At any rate, as soon as she +made her appearance driving down the Lungh' Arno, with the massive +form of the Senator by her side, his fame rose up to its zenith. He +became more remarked than ever, and known among all classes as the +illustrious American to whom belonged the certainty of being next +President of the United States. + +Rumor strengthened as it grew. Reports were circulated which would +certainly have amazed the worthy Senator if he had heard them all. +It was said that he was the special Plenipotentiary Extraordinary +sent by the American Government as a mark of their deep sympathy with +the Italian movement, and that he was empowered, at the first +appearance of a new Government in Italy, to recognize it officially +as a first-class Power, and thus give it the mighty sanction of the +United States. What wonder that all eyes were turned admiringly +toward him wherever he went. But he was too modest to notice it. He +little knew that he was the chief object of interest to every house, +hotel, and cafe in the city. Yet it was a fact. + +His companions lost sight of him for some time. They heard the +conversation going on about the sayings of the great American. They +did not know at first who it was; but at length concluded that it +referred to the Minister from Turin. + +_La Cica_ did her part marvellously well. All the dilettanti, the +artists, authors, political philosophers, and _beaux esprits_ of +every grade followed the example of _La Cica_. And it is a fact that +by the mere force of character, apart from any adventitious aids of +refinement, the Senator held his own remarkably. Yet it must be +confessed that he was at times extremely puzzled. + +_La Cica_ did not speak the best English in the world; yet that +could not account for all the singular remarks which she made. +Still less could it account for the tender interest of her manner. +She had remarkably bright eyes. Why wandered those eyes so often +to his, and why did they beam with such devotion--beaming for a +moment only to fall in sweet innocent confusion? _La Cica_ had the +most fascinating manners, yet they were often perplexing to the +Senator's soul. The little offices which she required of him did +not appear in his matter-of-fact eyes as strictly prudent. The +innate gallantry which he possessed carried him bravely along +through much that was bewildering to his nerves. Yet he was often +in danger of running away in terror. + +"The Countess," he thought, "is a most remarkable fine woman; but +she does use her eyes uncommon, and I do wish she wouldn't be quite +so demonstrative." + +The good Senator had never before encountered a thorough woman of +the world, and was as ignorant as a child of the innumerable +little harmless arts by which the power of such a one is extended +and secured. At last the Senator came to this conclusion. _La Cica_ +was desperately in love with him. + +She appeared to be a widow. At least she had no husband that he had +ever seen; and therefore to the Senator's mind she must be a +spinster or a widow. From the general style in which she was +addressed he concluded that she was the latter. Now if the poor +_Cica_ was hopelessly in love, it must be stopped at once. For he +was a married man, and his good lady still lived, with a very +large family, most of the members of which had grown up. + +_La Cica_ ought to know this. She ought indeed. But let the +knowledge be given delicately, not abruptly. He confided his +little difficulty to his friend the Minister. The Minister only +laughed heartily. + +"But give me your opinion." + +The Minister held his sides, and laughed more immoderately than ever. + +"It's no laughing matter," said the Senator. "It's serious. I think +you might give an opinion." + +But the Minister declined. A broad grin wreathed his face during +all the remainder of his stay at Florence. In fact, it is said that +it has remained there ever since. + +The Senator felt indignant, but his course was taken. On the +following evening they walked on the balcony of _La Cica_'s noble +residence. She was sentimental, devoted, charming. + +The conversation of a fascinating woman does not look so well when +reported as it is when uttered. Her power is in her tone, her +glance, her manner. Who can catch the evanescent beauty of her +expression or the deep tenderness of her well-modulated voice? Who +indeed? + +"Does ze scene please you, my Senator?" + +"Very much indeed." + +"Youar countrymen haf tol me zey would like to stay here alloway." + +"It is a beautiful place." + +"Did you aiver see any thin moaire loafely?" And the Countess looked +full in his face. + +"Never," said the Senator, earnestly. The next instant he blushed. +He had been betrayed into a compliment. + +The Countess sighed. + +"Helas! my Senator, that it is not pairmitted to moartals to +sociate as zey would laike." + +"'Your Senator,'" thought the gentleman thus addressed; "how fond, +how tender--poor thing! poor thing!" + +"I wish that Italy was nearer to the States," said he. + +"How I adamiar youar style of mind, so differente from ze +Italiana. You are so strong--so nobile. Yet would Maike to see +moar of ze poetic in you." + +"I always loved poetry, marm," said the Senator, desperately. + +"Ah--good--nais--eccelente. I am plees at zat," cried the Countess, +with much animation. "You would loafe it moar eef you knew Italiano. +Your langua ees not sufficiente musicale for poatry." + +"It is not so soft a language as the _I_-talian." + +"Ah--no--not so soft. Very well. And what theenka you of ze +Italiano?" + +"The sweetest language I ever heard in all my born days." + +"Ah, now--you hev not heard much of ze Italiano, my Senator." + +"I have heard you speak often," said the Senator, naively. + +"Ah, you compliment! I sot you was aboove flattera." + +And the Countess playfully tapped his arm with her little fan. + +"What Ingelis poet do you loafe best?" + +"Poet? English poet?" said the Senator, with some surprise. +"Oh--why, marm, I think Watts is about the best of the lot!" + +"Watt? Was he a poet? I did not know zat. He who invented ze +stim-injaine? And yet if he was a poet it is natnrale zat you +loafe him best." + +"Steam-engine? Oh no! This one was a minister." + +"A meeneestaire? Ah! an abbe? I know him not. Yet I haf read mos of +all youar poets." + +"He made up hymns, marm, and psalms--for instance: 'Watts's Divine +Hymns and Spiritual Songs.'" + +"Songs? Spiritnelle? Ah, I mus at once procuaire ze works of Watt, +which was favorit poet of my Senator." + +"A lady of such intelligence as you would like the poet Watts," said +the Senator, firmly. + + +[Illustration: La Cica.] + + +"He is the best known by far of all our poets." + +"What? better zan Sakespeare, Milton, Bairon? You much surprass +me." + +"Better known and better loved than the whole lot. Why, his poetry +is known by heart through all England and America." + +"Merciful Heaven! what you tell me! ees eet possbl! An yet he is +not known here efen by name. It would plees me mooch, my Senator, +to hajre you make one quotatione. Know you Watt? Tell to me some +words of his which I may remembaire." + +"I have a shocking bad memory." + +"Bad raemora! Oh, but you remember somethin, zis mos beautful +charm nait--you haf a nobile soul--you mus be affecta by beauty--by +ze ideal. Make for a me one quotatione." + +And she rested her little hand on the Senator's arm, and looked up +imploringly in his face. + +The Senator looked foolish. He felt even more so. Here was a +beautiful woman, by act and look showing a tender interest in him. +Perplexing--but very flattering after all. So he replied: + +"You will not let me refuse you any thing." + +"Aha! you are vera willin to refuse. It is difficulty for me to +excitare youar regards. You are fill with the grands ideas. But +come--will you spik for me some from your favorit Watt?" + +"Well, if you wish it so much," said the Senator, kindly, and he +hesitated. + +"Ah--I do wis it so much!" + +"Ehem!" + +"Begin," said the Countess. "Behold me. I listen. I hear everysin, +and will remembaire it forava." + +The only thing that the Senator could think of was the verse which +had been running in his head for the last few days, its measured +rhythm keeping time with every occupation: + +"'My willing soul would stay--'" + +"Stop one moment," said the Countess. "I weesh to learn it from +you;" and she looked fondly and tenderly up, but instantly +dropped her eyes. + +"'Ma willina sol wooda sta--'" + +"In such a frame as this,'" prompted the Senator. + +"'Een socha framas zees.' Wait--'Ma willina sol wooda sta in +socha framas zees.' Ah, appropriat! but could I hope zat you were +true to zose lines, my Senator? Well?" + +"'And sit and sing herself away,'" said the Senator, in a +faltering voice, and breaking out into a cold perspiration for +fear of committing himself by such uncommonly strong language. + +"'Ansit ansin hassaf awai,'" repeated the Countess, her face +lighting up with a sweetly conscious expression. + +The Senator paused. + +"Well?" + +"I--ehem! I forget." + +"Forget? Impossible!" + +"I do really." + +"Ah now! Forget? I see by youar face--you desave. Say on." + +The Countess again gently touched his arm with both of her +little hands, and held it as though she would clasp it. + +"Have you fear? Ah, cruel!" + +The Senator turned pale, but finding refusal impossible, boldly +finished: + +"'To everlasting bliss'--there!" + +"'To affarlastin blees thar.' Stop. I repeat it all: 'My willina +sol wooda sta in socha framas zees, ansit ansin hassaf awai to +affarlastin blees thar.' Am I right?" + +"Yes," said the Senator, meekly. + +"I knew you war a poetic sola," said the Countess, confidingly. +"You air honesto--true--you can not desave. When you spik I can +beliv you. Ah, my Senator! an you can spik zis poetry!--at soch a +taime! I nefare knew befoare zat you was so impassione!--an you +air so artaful! You breeng ze confersazione to beauty--to poatry--to +ze poet Watt--so you may spik verses mos impassione! Ah! What +do you mean? Santissima madre! how I wish you spik Italiano." + +The Countess drew nearer to him, but her approach only deepened his +perplexity. + +"How that poor thing does love me!" sighed the Senator. "Law bless +it! she can't help it--can't help it nohow. She is a goner; and what +can I do? I'll have to leave Florence. Oh, why did I quit Buttons! +Oh, why--" + +The Countess was standing close beside him in a tender mood waiting +for him to break the silence. How could he? He had been uttering +words which sounded to her like love; and she--"a widow! a widow! +wretched man that I am!" + +There was a pause. The longer it lasted the more awkward the +Senator felt. What upon earth was he to do or say? What business had +he to go and quote poetry to widows? What an old fool he must be! +But the Countess was very far from feeling awkward. Assuming an +elegant attitude she looked up, her face expressing the tenderest +solicitude. + +"What ails my Senator?" + +"Why the fact is, marm--I feel sad--at leaving Florence. I must go +shortly. My wife has written summoning me home. The children are +down with the measles." + +Oh, base fabrication! Oh, false Senator! There wasn't a word of +truth in that remark. You spoke so because you wished _La Cica_ to +know that you had a wife and family. Yet it was very badly done. + +_La Cica_ changed neither her attitude nor her expression. +Evidently the existence of his wife, and the melancholy situation +of his unfortunate children, awaked no sympathy. + +"But, my Senator--did you not say you wooda seeng yousellef away +to affarlasteen belees?" + +"Oh, marm, it was a quotation--only a quotation." + +But at this critical juncture the conversation was broken up by the +arrival of a number of ladies and gentlemen. + +But could the Senator have known! + +Could he but have known how and where those words would confront him +again! + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + + +"MORERE DIAGORA, NON ENIM IN COELUM ADSCENSURUS ES."--THE APOTHEOSIS +OF THE SENATOR (NOTHING LESS--IT WAS A MOMENT IN WHICH A MAN MIGHT +WISH TO DIE--THOUGH, OF COURSE, THE SENATOR DIDN'T DIE). + + +Strolling through the streets day by day Buttons and Dick beheld +the triumph of the Senator. They gazed on it from afar, and in +amazement saw their old companion suddenly lifted up to a position +which they could not hope to gain. The companion of nobles--the +associate of _beaux esprits_--the friend of the wealthy, the great, +and the proud; what in the world was the cause of this sudden, this +unparalleled leap forward to the very highest point of honor? Who, +in the name of goodness, was that dashing woman with whom he was +always driving about? Who were those fair ladies with whom he was +forever promenading? Plainly the chief people of the land; but how +the mischief did he get among them? They were bewildered even though +the half of the truth had not begun to dawn upon their minds. They +never saw him to ask him about it, and for some time only looked +upon him from a distance. + +"Do you give it up?" asked Buttons. + +"I give it up." + +"And I too." + +"At any rate the United States might have many a worse +representative." + +"But I wonder how he can get along. How can he manage to hold his +own among these refined, over-cultivated, fastidious Florentines?" + +"Goodness knows!" + +"A common school New England education can scarcely fit a man for +intercourse with polished Italians. The granite hills of New +Hampshire have never been famous for producing men of high breeding. +That is not their specialty." + +"Besides, our good friend can not speak a single word of any +language but his own." + +"And frequently fails in that." + +"He hasn't the remotest glimmering of an idea about Art." + +"Not of the Fine Arts, but in the useful arts he is immense." + +"He looks upon Italy as he would upon a field of stumps--a place +to be cleared, broken up, brought under cultivation, and made +productive." + +"Yes, productive in cotton factories and Yankee notions." + +"What in the world can keep up his reputation among the most poetic +and least utilitarian people in the world?" + +"There's the mystery!" + +"The beauty of it is he goes as much with the English as with +the Italians. Can he keep up his vernacular among them and still +preserve the charm?" + +"Well, whatever is the secret. I glory in it. I believe in him. +He is a man. A more noble-hearted, sincere, upright, guileless +soul never lived. Besides, he knows thoroughly what he has gone +over." + +"He is as generous a soul as ever lived." + +"Yes, a stiff utilitarian in theory, but in practice an impulsive +sentimentalist." + +"He would legislate according to the most narrow and selfish +principles, but would lay down his life for his friend." + +"Think of him at Perugia!" + +"Yes; the man himself with his brave soul and invincible courage. +Didn't he fight? Methinks he did!" + +"If it hadn't been for him it is extremely probable that you and I +would now have been--well, certainly not just here." + +Talking thus, the two young men walked up toward the Palazzo +Vecchio. They noticed that the busy street through which they +passed was filled with an unusual multitude, who were all agitated +with one general and profound excitement, and were all hurrying in +one direction. The sight awakened their interest. They went on with +the stream. At every step the crowd increased. At every street new +throngs poured in to join the vast multitude. + +Confused murmurs rose into the air. Hasty words passed from mouth +to month. They were unintelligible. They could only distinguish +broken sentences--words unknown--Cavriana--Mincio--Tedeschi +--Napoleone--Spia d'ltalia. What was it all about? They could not +guess. Evidently some mighty national event had occurred, which was +of overwhelming importance. For the entire city had turned out, and +now, as they entered the great square in front of the Palazzo +Vecchio, an astonishing sight burst upon their view. A vast +multitude filled the square to overflowing. Load cries arose. Shouts +of a thousand kinds all blending together into one deafening roar, +and rising on high like the thunder of a cataract: + +"Vittoria!" "Vittoria!" "Cavriana!" "I Francesi!" "Viva l'Italia!" +"Viva Vittore Emmannele! il nostro Re!" "Viva!" "_Viva_!" "VIVA!!!" +Words like these rose all around, mingled with thousands of similar +exclamations. At length there was distinguished one word. It was +passed from man to man, more frequently uttered, gathering as it +passed, adding new volumes of meaning to its own sonorous sound, +till at last all other words were drowned in that one grand word, +which to this rejoicing multitude was the lyre of glorious victory, +the promise of endless triumphs for regenerated Italy: + +"SOLFERINO!" + + +[Illustration: Solferino!] + + +"_Solferino_!" They did not know then, as they listened, the full +meaning of that eloquent word. But on mingling with the shouting +crowd they soon learned it all: how the accursed Tedeschi had +summoned all their energy to crush forever the array of liberty; +how the Kaisar himself came from beyond the mountains to insure his +triumph; how the allied armies had rushed upon their massive columns +and beaten them back; how, hour after hour, the battle raged, till +at last the plain for many a league was covered with the wounded and +the dead: how the wrongs of ages were crowded together in the +glorious vengeance of that day of days; how Victory hovered over the +invincible banners of Italy; how the Tedeschi fled, routed, over the +river, no more to cross it as masters; how the hopes of Italy arose +immortal from that one day's terrific slaughter; how Liberty was now +forever secured, and a Kingdom of Italy under an Italian King. + +"Viva Italia!" "Viva Luigi Napoleone!" "Vira Garibaldi!" "Viva +Vittore Eramanuele Re d'Italia!" + +In great moments of popular excitement people do not talk to one +another. They rhapsodize; and the Italians more than any other +people. Hence the above. + + +[Illustration: The Senator Speaks.] + + +Buttons and Dick clambered up to the recess of a window and +contemplated the scene. There was the innumerable crowd; swaying, +embracing, laughing, weeping, shouting, cheering. High in the air +waved hundreds of banners; and the tri-color flaunted in ribbons, +from thousands of breasts, or shone in rosettes, or gleamed in +flowers. Ever and anon loud trumpet blasts arose triumphantly on +high; in the distance victorious strains came swelling up front +bands hurried there to express in thrilling music what words could +never utter; while all around the whole air rang with the thunder +of cannon that saluted the triumph of Solferino. + +"Look there! _Look_! LOOK!" cried Dick. + +He pointed to the large portico which is on the right of the +Palazzo Vecchio. Buttons looked as he was directed. + +He saw a great assemblage of ladies and gentlemen, the chief people +of the Tuscan state. From this place those announcements had been +made which had set the people wild with joy. There were beautiful +ladies whose flashed faces and suffused eyes bore witness to their +deep emotion. There were noble gentlemen whose arms still waved in +the air as they cheered for Italy. And there, high above all others, +rose a familiar figure--the massive shoulders, the calm, shrewd, +square face, the benignant glance and smile, which could belong +only to one person. + +"_The Senator_!" cried Buttons. + +Every body was looking in that direction. The impulsive crowd +having celebrated abstract ideas, were now absolutely hungering +for some tangible object upon which to expend something of the +warmth of their feelings. A few who stood near the Senator and +were impressed by his aspect, as soon as all the news had been made +known, gave expression and direction to the feeling by shouting his +name. As they shouted others took up the cry, louder, louder, and +louder still, till his name burst forth in one sublime sound from +thirty thousand lips. + +No wonder that he started at such an appeal. He turned and looked upon +the crowd. An ordinary man would have exhibited either confusion or +wonder. The Senator, being an extraordinary man, exhibited neither. +As he turned a vast roar burst from the multitude. + +"Good Heavens!" cried Buttons; "what's in the wind now? Will this be +a repetition of the scene in the Place Vendome?" + +"Hush!" + +The crowd saw before them the man whose name and fame had been the +subject of conjecture, wonder, applause, and hope for many days. +They beheld in him the Representative of a mighty nation, sent to +give them the right hand of fellowship, and welcome their country +among the great powers of the earth. In him they saw the embodiment +of America! + +"Viva!" burst through the air. "The American Embassador!" "Hurrah +for the American Embassador!" "The Plenipotentiary Extraordinary!" +"He comes to crown our triumph!" "Hurrah for America!" "Free, +generous America!" "The first nation to welcome Italy!" "Hurrah!" +"This is the time!" "He will speak!" "Silence!" "Silence!" "He rises!" +"Lo!" "He looks at us!" "Silence!" "Listen to the Most Illustrious +Plenipotentiary Extraordinary!" "_Hush_! AMERICA SPEAKS!" + +Such shouts and exclamations as these burst forth, with many others +to the same effect. The crowd in front of the portico where the +Senator stood--were almost uncontrollable in their excitement. The +Senator rose to the greatness of the occasion. Here was a chance to +Speak--to utter forth the deep sympathy of his countrymen with +every down-trodden people striving for freedom. He turned to face +them and held out his hand. At once the immense assemblage was +hushed to silence. + +The Senator took off his hat. Never before did he look as he looked +now. The grandeur of the occasion had sublimed his usually rugged +features into majesty. He looked like the incarnation of a strong, +vigorous, invincible people. + +The Senator spoke: + +"Men of Italy!" + +"In the name of the Great Republic!--I congratulate you on this +glorious victory! It is a triumph of Liberty!--of the principles of +'76!--of the immortal idees!--for which our forefathers fought and +died!--at Lexington!--at Bunker Hill!--and at a thousand other +places in the great and glorious Revolution!" + +The Senator paused. This was enough. It had been spoken in English. +The Italians did not of course understand a word, yet they +comprehended all his meaning. As he paused there burst forth a shout +of joy such as is heard only once in a life-time; shout upon shout. +The long peals of sound rose up and spread far away over the city. +The vast crowd vibrated like one man to the impulse of the common +enthusiasm. + +It was too great to last. They rushed to the carriage of _La Cica_. +They unharnessed the horses. They led the Senator to it and made him +enter. They flung their tri-colors in. They threw flowers on his lap. +They wound the flag of Italy around the carriage. A thousand marched +before it. Thousands more walked beside and behind. They drew him up +to his hotel in triumph, and the band struck up the thrilling strain +of "Yankee Doodle!" + +It would be unfair not to render justice to _La Cica_. She bore the +scene admirably. Her beaming face, and lustrous eyes, and heaving +bosom, and majestic air, showed that she appropriated to herself all +the honor thus lavished upon the Senator. It was a proud moment for +_La Cica_. + +"Dick," said Buttons, as they descended from their perch. + +"Well?" + +"How do you feel now?" + +"Obliterated. I do not exist. I was once a blot. I am expunged. There +is no such thing as Dick." + +"Who could have imagined this?" + +"And how he bore it! The Senator is a great man. But come. Don't let +us speak for an hour, for we are both unable to talk coherently." + +From patriotic motives the two young men walked behind the Senator's +carriage and cheered all the way. + +Upon arriving at their lodgings in the evening they stationed +themselves at the window and looked out upon the illuminated scene. +Dick, finding his emotions too strong to be restrained, took his +trombone and entertained a great crowd for hours with all the national +airs he knew. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. + + +THE PRIVATE OPINION OF THE DOCTOR ABOUT FOREIGN TRAVEL.--BUTTONS +STILL MEETS WITH AFFLICTIONS. + + +"The Italians, of at any rate the people of Florence, have just about +as much cuteness as you will find anywhere." + +Such was the dictum of the Senator in a conversation with his +companions after rejoining them at the hotel. They had much to ask; +he had much to tell. Never had he been more critical, more +approbative. He felt now that he thoroughly understood the Italian +question, and expressed himself in accordance with his consciousness. + +"Nothing does a feller so much good," said he, "as mixing in all +grades of society. It won't ever do to confine our observation to the +lower class. We must mingle with the upper crust, who are the leaders +of the people." + +"Unfortunately," said Buttons, "we are not all Senators, so we have +to do the best we can with our limited opportunities." + +They had been in Florence long enough, and now the general desire was +to go on. Mr. Figgs and the Doctor had greatly surprised the Senator +by informing him that they did not intend to go any further. + +And why not? + +"Well, for my own part," said Mr. Figgs, "the discomforts of travel +are altogether too great. It would not be so bad in the winter, but +think how horribly hot it is. What is my condition? That of a man +slowly suffocating. Think how fat I am. Even if I had the enthusiasm +of Dick, or the fun of Buttons, my fat would force me to leave. Can +you pretend to be a friend of mine and still urge me to go further? +And suppose we passed over into Austrian territory. Perhaps we might +be unmolested, but it is doubtful. Suppose, for the sake of argument, +that we were arrested and detained. Imagine us--imagine _me_ shut up +in a room--or worse, a cell--in the month of July in midsummer, in +the hottest part of this burning fiery furnace of a country! What +would be left of me at the end of a week, or at the end of even one +day? What? A grease spot! A grease spot! Not a bit more, by Jingo!" + + +[Illustration: A Grease Spot.] + + +After this speech, which was for him one of extraordinary length +and vigor, Mr. Figgs fell exhausted into his chair. + +"But you, Doctor," said the Senator, seeing that Mr. Figgs was +beyond the reach of persuasion--"you--what reason is there for you +to leave? You are young, strong, and certainly not fat." + +"No, thank heaven! it is not the heat, or the fear of being +suffocated in an Austrian dungeon that influences me." + +"What, is the reason?" + +"These confounded disturbances," said the Doctor languidly. + +"Disturbances?" + +"Yes. I hear that the road between this and Bologna swarms with +vagabonds. Several diligences have been robbed. I heard a story +which shows this state of things. A band of men entered the theatre +of a small town along the road while the inhabitants were witnessing +the play. At first the spectators thought it was part of the +performance. They were soon undeceived. The men drew up in line in +front of the stage and levelled their pieces. Then fastening the +doors, they sent a number of men around through the house to plunder +the whole audience. Not content with this they made the authorities +of the town pay a heavy ransom." + +"Some one has been humbugging you, Doctor," said Buttons. + +"I had it from good authority," said the Doctor, calmly. "These +fellows call themselves Revolutionists, and the peasantry sympathize +with them." + +"Well, if we meet with them there will be a little additional +excitement." + +"Yes, and the loss of our watches and money." + +"We can carry our money where they won't find it, and our bills of +exchange are all right, you know." + +"I think none of you will accuse me of want of courage. If I met +these fellows you know very well that I would go in for fighting +them. But what I do object to is the infernal bother of being stopped, +detained, or perhaps sent back. Then if any of us got wounded we +would be laid up for a month or so. That's what I object to. If I had +to do it it would be different, but I see no necessity." + +"You surely want to see Lombardy?" + +"No, I don't." + +"Not Bologna?" + +"No." + +"Ferrara?" + +"No." + +"Do you mean to say that you don't want to see Venice and Milan?" + +"Haven't the remotest desire to see either of the places. I merely +wish to get back again to Paris. It's about the best place I've +seen yet, except, of course, my native city, Philadelphia. That I +think is without an equal. However, our minds are made up. We don't +wish to change your plans--in fact, we never thought it possible. +We are going to take the steamer at Leghorn for Marseilles, and +go on to Paris." + +"Well, Doctor," said Dick, "will you do me one favor before you go?" + +"With pleasure. What is it?" + +"Sell me your pistol." + +"I can't _sell_ it," said the Doctor. "It was a present to me. But I +will be happy to lend it to you till we meet again in Paris. We will +be sure to meet there in a couple of months at the furthest." + +The Doctor took out his pistol and handed it to Dick, who thankfully +received it. + +"Oh, Buttons," said the Senator, suddenly, "I have good news for you. +I ought to have told you before." + +"Good news? what?" + +"I saw the Spaniards." + +"The Spaniards!" cried Buttons, eagerly, starting up. "Where did you +see them? When? Where are they? I have scoured the whole town." + +"I saw them at a very crowded assembly at the Countess's. There was +such a scrouging that I could not get near them. The three were +there. The little Don and his two sisters." + +"And don't you know any thing about them?" + +"Not a hooter, except something that the Countess told me. I think +she said that they were staying at the villa of a friend of hers." + +"A friend? Oh, confound it all! What shall I do?" + +"The villa is out of town." + +"That's the reason why I never could see them. Confound it all, what +shall I do?" + +"Buttons," said the Senator, gravely, "I am truly sorry to see a +young man like you so infatuated about foreign women. Do not be +offended, I mean it kindly. She may be a Jesuit in disguise; who +knows? And why will you put yourself to grief about a little +black-eyed gal that don't know a word of English? Believe me, New +England is wide, and has ten thousand better gals than ever she +began to be. If you will get in love wait till you get home and +fall in love like a Christian, a Republican, and a Man." + +But the Senator's words had no effect. Buttons sat for a few +moments lost in thought. At length he rose and quietly left the +room. It was about nine in the morning when he left. It was about +nine in the evening when he returned. He looked dusty, fatigued, +fagged, and dejected. He had a long story to tell and was quite +communicative. The substance of it was this: On leaving the hotel +he had gone at once to _La Cica_'s residence, and had requested +permission to see her. He could not till twelve. He wandered about +and called again at that hour. She was very amiable, especially +on learning that he was a friend of the Senator, after whom she +asked with deep interest. Nothing could exceed her affability. +She told him all that she knew about the Spaniards. They were +stopping at the villa of a certain friend of hers whom she named. +It was ten miles from the city. The friend had brought them to the +assembly. It was but for a moment that she had seen them. She +wished for his sake that she had learned more about them. She +trusted that he would succeed in his earnest search. She should +think that they might still be in Florence, and if he went out at +once he might see them. Was this his first visit to Florence? How +perfectly he had the Tuscan accent; and why had he not accompanied +his friend the Senator to her salon? But it would be impossible to +repeat all that _La Cica_ said. + + +[Illustration: Farewell, Figgs!] + + +Buttons went out to the villa at once; but to his extreme disgust +found that the Spaniards, had left on the preceding day for Bologna. +He drove about the country for some distance, rested his horses, +and took a long walk, after which he returned. + +Their departure for Bologna on the following morning was a settled +thing. The diligence started early. They had pity on the flesh of +Figgs and the spirit of the Doctor. So they bade them good-bye on +the evening before retiring. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. + + +A MEMORABLE DRIVE.--NIGHT.--THE BRIGANDS ONCE MORE.--GARIBALDI'S +NAME.--THE FIRE.--THE IRON BAR.--THE MAN FROM THE GRANITE STATE +AND HIS TWO BOYS. + + +"The great beauty of this pistol is a little improvement that I +have not seen before." + +And Dick proceeded to explain. + +"Here is the chamber with the six cavities loaded. Now, you see, +when you wish, you touch this spring and out pops the butt." + +"Well?" + +"Very well. Here I have another chamber with six cartridges: It's +loaded, the cartridges are covered with copper and have detonating +powder at one end. As quick as lightning I put this on, and there +you have the pistol ready to be fired again six times." + +"So you have twelve shots?" + +"Yes." + +"And cartridges to spare?" + +"The Doctor gave me all that he had, about sixty, I should think." + +"You have enough to face a whole army--" + +"Precisely--and in my coat-pocket." + +This conversation took place in the banquette of the diligence that +conveyed Dick, Buttons, and the Senator from Florence to Bologna. A +long part of the journey had been passed over. They were among the +mountains. + +"Do you expect to use that?" asked the Senator, carelessly. + +"I do." + +"You believe these stories then?" + +"Yes; don't you?" + +"Certainly." + +"So do I," said Buttons. "I could not get a pistol; but I got this +from an acquaintance." + +And he drew from his pocket an enormous bowie-knife. + +"Bowie-knives are no good," said the Senator. "Perhaps they may do +if you want to assassinate; but for nothing else. You can't defend +yourself. I never liked it. It's not American. It's not the direct +result of our free institutions." + +"What have you then?" + +"This," said the Senator. + +And he lifted up a crow-bar from the front of the coach. +Brandishing it in the air as easily as an ordinary man would swing a +walking-stick. He looked calmly at his astonished companions. + +"You see," said he, "there are several reasons why this is the best +sort of weapon for me. A short knife is no use. A sword is no good, +for I don't know the sword exercise. A gun is worthless; I would fire +it off once and then have to use it as a club. It would then be apt to +break. That would be disagreeable--especially in the middle of a +fight. A stick or club of any kind would be open to the same +objection. What, then, is the weapon for me? Look at me. I am big, +strong, and active. I have no skill. I am brute strength. So a club +is my only weapon--a club that won't break. Say iron, then. There you +have it." + +And the Senator swung the ponderous bar around in a way that showed +the wisdom of his choice. + +"You are about right," said Buttons. "I venture to say you'll do as +much mischief with that as Dick will with his pistol. Perhaps more. +As for me, I don't expect to do much. Still, if the worst comes, +I'll try to do what I can." + +"We may not have to use them," said the Senator. "Who are below?" + +"Below?" + +"In the coach?" + +"Italians." + +"Women?" + +"No, all men. Two priests, three shop-keeper-looking persons, and +a soldier." + +"Ah! Why, we ought to be comparatively safe." + +"Oh, our number is not any thing. The country is in a state of +anarchy. Miserable devils of half-starved Italians swarm along the +road, and they will try to make hay while the sun shines. I have no +doubt we will be stopped half a dozen times before we get to Bologna." + +"I should think," said the Senator, indignantly, "that if these chaps +undertake to govern the country--these republican chaps--they had +ought to govern it. What kind of a way is this to leave helpless +travellers at the mercy of cut-throats and assassins?" + +"They think," said Buttons, "that their first duty is to secure +independence, and after that they will promote order." + +"The Florentines are a fine people--a people of remarkable cuteness +and penetration; but it seems to me that they are taking things easy +as far as fighting is concerned. They don't send their soldiers to +the war, do they?" + +"Well, no, I suppose they think their army may be needed nearer home. +The Grand Duke has long arms yet; and knows how to bribe." + +By this time they were among the mountain forests where the scenery +was grander, the air cooler, the sky darker, than before. It was late +in the day, and every mile increased the wildness of the landscape and +the thickness of the gloom. Further and further, on they went till at +least they came to a winding-place where the road ended at a gully over +which there was a bridge. On the bridge was a barricade. They did not +see it until they had made a turn where the road wound, where at once +the scene burst on their view. + +The leaders reared, the postillions swore, the driver snapped his whip +furiously. The passengers in "coupe," "rotonde," and "interieure" +popped out their heads, the passengers on the "banquette" stared, +until at last, just as the postillions were dismounting to reconnoitre, +twelve figures rose up from behind the barricade, indistinct in the +gloom, and bringing their rifles to their shoulders took aim. + +The driver yelled, the postillions shouted, the passengers shrieked. +The three men in the banquette prepared for a fight. Suddenly a loud +voice was heard from behind. They looked. A number of men stood there, +and several more were leaping out from the thick woods on the right. +They were surrounded. At length one of the men came forward from +behind. + +"You are at our mercy," said he. "Whoever gives up his money may go +free. Whoever resists dies. Do you hear?" + +Meanwhile the three men in the banquette had piled some trunks +around, and prepared to resist till the last extremity. Dick was to +fire; Buttons to keep each spare butt loaded; the Senator to use his +crow-bar on the heads of any assailants. They waited in silence. +They heard the brigands rummaging through the coach below, the +prayers of the passengers, their appeals for pity, their groans at +being compelled to give up every thing. + +"The cowards don't deserve pity!" cried the Senator. "There are +enough to get up a good resistance. We'll show fight, anyhow!" + + +[Illustration: In The Coach.] + + +Scarcely had he spoke when three or four heads appeared above the +edge of the coach. + +"Haste!--your money!" said one. + +"Stop!" said Buttons. "This gentleman is the American +Plenipotentiary Extraordinary, who has just come from Florence, +and is on his way to communicate with Garibaldi." + +"Garibaldi!" cried the man, in a tone of deep respect. + +"Yes," said Buttons, who had not miscalculated the effect of that +mighty name. "If you harm us or plunder us you will have to settle +your account with Garibaldi--that's all!" + +The man was silent. Then he leaped down, and in another moment +another man came. + +"Which is the American Plenipotentiary Extraordinary?" + +"He," said Buttons, pointing to the Senator. + +"Ah! I know him. It is the same. I saw him at his reception in +Florence, and helped to pull his carriage." + +The Senator calmly eyed the brigand, who had respectfully taken +off his hat. + +"So you are going to communicate with Garibaldi at once. Go in peace! +Gentlemen every one of us fought under Garibaldi at Rome. Ten years +ago he disbanded a large number of us among these mountains. I have +the honor to inform you that ever since that time I have got my +living out of the public, especially those in the service of the +Government. You are different. I like you because you are Americans. +I like you still better because you are friends of Garibaldi. Go in +peace! When you see the General tell him Giuglio Malvi sends his +respects." + +And the man left them. In about a quarter of an hour the barricade +was removed, and the passengers resumed their seats with lighter +purses but heavier hearts. The diligence started, and once more went +thundering along the mountain road. + +"I don't believe we've seen the last of these scoundrels yet," said +Buttons. + +"Nor I," said Dick. + +A general conversation followed. It was late, and but few things +were visible along the road. About two hours passed away without any +occurrence. + +"Look!" cried Dick, suddenly. + +They looked. + +About a quarter of a mile ahead a deep red glow arose above the +forest, illumining the sky. The windings of the road prevented them +from seeing the cause of it. The driver was startled, but evidently +thought it was no more dangerous to go on than to stop. So he lashed +up his horses and set them off at a furious gallop. The rumble of the +ponderous wheels shut out all other sounds. As they advanced the +light grew more vivid. + +"I shouldn't wonder," said the Senator, "if we have another +barricade here. Be ready, boys! We won't get off so easily this time." + +The other two said not a word. On, and on. The report of a gun +suddenly roused all. The driver lashed his horses. The postillions +took the butts of their riding-whips and pelted the animals. The +road took a turn, and, passing this a strange scene burst upon their +sight. + +A wide, open space on the road-side, a collection of beams across +the road, the shadowy forms of about thirty men, and the whole scene +dimly lighted by a smouldering fire. As it blazed up a little the +smoke rolled off and they saw as overturned carriage, two horses tied +to a tree, and two men with their hands bound behind them lying on the +ground. + +A voice rang out through the stillness which for a moment followed +the sudden stoppage of the coach at the barrier. There came a wail +from the frightened passengers within--cries for mercy--piteous +entreaties. + +"Silence, fools!" roared the same voice, which seemed to be that of +the leader. + +"Wait! wait!" said the Senator to his companions. "Let me give the +word." + +A crowd of men advanced to the diligence, and as they left the +fire Buttons saw three figures left behind--two women and a man. They +did not move. But suddenly a loud shriek burst from one of the women. +At the shriek Buttons trembled. + +"The Spaniards! It is! I know the voice! My God!" + +In an instant Buttons was down on the ground and in the midst of the +crowd of brigands who surrounded the coach. + +Bang! bang! bang! It was not the guns of the brigands, but Dick's +pistol that now spoke, and its report was the signal of death to +three men who rolled upon the ground in their last agonies. As the +third report burst forth the Senator hurled himself down upon the +heads of those below. The action of Buttons had broken up all their +plans, rendered parley impossible, and left nothing for them to do +but to follow him and save him. The brigands rushed at them with a +yell of fury. + +"Death to them! Death to them all! No quarter!" + +"Help!" cried Buttons. "Passengers, we are armed! We can save +ourselves!" + +But the passengers, having already lost their money, now feared to +lose their lives. Not one responded. All about the coach the scene +became one of terrible confusion. Guns were fired, blows fell in every +direction. The darkness, but faintly illuminated by the fitful +firelight, prevented the brigands from distinguishing their enemies +very clearly--a circumstance which favored the little band of +Americans. + +The brigands fired at the coach, and tried to break open the doors. +Inside the coach the passengers, frantic with fear, sought to make +their voices heard amid the uproar. They begged for mercy; they +declared they had no money; they had already been robbed; they would +give all that was left; they would surrender if only their lives were +spared. + +"And, oh! good Americans, yield, yield, or we all die!" + +"Americans?" screamed several passionate voices. "Death to the +Americans! Death to all foreigners!" + +These bandits were unlike the last. + +Seated in the banquette Dick surveyed the scene, while himself +concealed from view. Calmly he picked out man after man and fired. +As they tried to climb up the diligence, or to force open the door, +they fell back howling. One man had the door partly broken open by +furious blows with the butt of his gun. Dick fired. The ball entered +his arm. He shrieked with rage. With his other arm he seized his gun, +and again his blows fell crashing. In another instant a ball passed +into his brain. + +"Two shots wasted on one man! Too much!" muttered Dick; and taking +aim again he fired at a fellow who was just leaping up the other side. +The wretch fell cursing. + +Again! again! again! Swiftly Dick's shots flashed around. He had now +but one left in his pistol. Hurriedly he filled the spare chamber +with six cartridges, and taking out the other he filled it and placed +it in again. He looked down. + + +[Illustration: A Free Fight.] + + +There was the Senator. More than twenty men surrounded him, firing, +swearing, striking, shrieking, rushing forward, trying to tear him +from his post. For he had planted himself against the fore-part of +the diligence, and the mighty arm whose strength had been so proved +at Perugia was now descending again with irresistible force upon the +heads of his assailants. All this was the work of but a few minutes. +Buttons could not be seen. Dick's preparations were made. For a moment +he waited for a favorable chance to get down. He could not stay up +there any longer. He must stand by the Senator. + +There stood the Senator, his giant form towering up amidst the melee, +his muscular arms wielding the enormous iron bar, his astonishing +strength increased tenfold by the excitement of the fight. He never +spoke a word. + +One after another the brigands went down before the awful descent of +that iron bar. They clung together; they yelled in fury; they threw +themselves _en masse_ against the Senator. He met them as a rock meets +a hundred waves. The remorseless iron bar fell only with redoubled +fury. They raised their clubbed muskets in the air and struck at him. +One sweep of the iron bar and the muskets were dashed out of their +hands, broken or bent, to the ground. They fired, but from their wild +excitement their aim was useless. In the darkness they struck at one +another. One by one the number of his assailants lessened--they grew +more furious but less bold. They fell back a little; but the Senator +advanced as they retired, guarding his own retreat, but still swinging +his iron bar with undiminished strength. The prostrate forms of a +dozen men lay around. Again they rushed at him. The voice of their +leader encouraged them and shamed their fears. He was a stoat, +powerful man, armed with a knife and a gun. + + +[Illustration: Don't Speak.] + + +"Cowards! kill this one! This is the one! All the rest will yield if +we kill him. Forward!" + +That moment Dick leaped to the ground. The next instant the brigands +leaped upon them. The two were lost in the crowd. Twelve reports, one +after the other, rang into the air. Dick did not fire till the muzzle +of his pistol was against his enemy's breast. The darkness, now deeper +than ever, prevented him from being distinctly seen by the furious +crowd, who thought only of the Senator. But now the fire shooting up +brightly at the sudden breath of a strong wind threw a lurid light +upon the scene. + +There stood Dick, his clothes torn, his face covered with blood, his +last charge gone. There stood the Senator, his face blackened with +smoke and dust, and red with blood, his colossal form erect, and still +the ponderous bar swung on high to fall as terribly as ever. Before +him were eight men. Dick saw it all in an instant. He screamed to the +passengers in the diligence: + +"There are only eight left! Come! Help us take them prisoners! Haste!" + +The cowards in the diligence saw how things were. They plucked up +courage, and at the call of Dick jumped out. The leader of the +brigands was before Dick with uplifted rifle. Dick flung his pistol +at his head. The brigand drew back and felled Dick senseless to the +ground. The next moment the Senator's arm descended, and, with his +head broken by the blow, the robber fell dead. + +As though the fall of Dick had given him fresh fury, the Senator +sprang after the others. Blow after blow fell. They were struck down +helplessly as they ran. At this moment the passengers, snatching up +the arms of the prostrate bandits, assaulted those who yet remained. +They fled. The Senator pursued--long enough to give each one a +parting blow hard enough to make him remember it for a month. When +he returned the passengers were gathering around the coach, with +the driver and postillions, who had thus far hidden themselves, and +were eagerly looking at the dead. + +"Off!" cried the Senator, in an awful voice--"Off; you white-livered +sneaks! Let me find my two boys!" + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + + +BAD BRUISES, BUT GOOD MUSES.--THE HONORABLE SCABS OF DICK.--A +KNOWLEDGE OF BONES. + + +The Senator searched long and anxiously among the fallen bandits +for those whom he affectionately called his "boys." Dick was first +found. He was senseless. + +The Senator carried him to the fire. He saw two ladies and a +gentleman standing there. Hurriedly he called on them and pointed +to Dick. The gentleman raised his arms. They were bound tightly. The +ladies also were secured in a similar manner. The Senator quickly cut +the cords from the gentleman, who in his turn snatched the knife and +freed the ladies, and then went to care for Dick. + +The Senator then ran back to seek for Buttons. + +The gentleman flung a quantity of dry brush on the fire, which at +once blazed up and threw a bright light over the scene. Meanwhile +the passengers were looking anxiously around as though they dreaded +a new attack. Some of them had been wounded inside the coach and +were groaning and cursing. + +The Senator searched for a long time in vain. At last at the bottom +of a heap of fallen brigands, whom the Senator had knocked over, he +found Buttons. His face and clothes were covered with blood, his +forehead was blackened as though by an explosion, his arm was +broken and hung loosely as the Senator lifted him up. For a moment +he thought that it was all over with him. + +He carried him toward the fire. The appearance of the young man +was terrible. He beckoned to one of the ladies. The lady approached. +One look at the young man and the next instant, with a heart-rending +moan, she flung herself on her knees by his side. + +"The Spaniard!" said the Senator, recognizing her for the first time. +"Ah! he'll be taken care of then." + +There was a brook near by, and he hurried there for water. There +was nothing to carry it in, so he took his beaver hat and filled +it. Returning, he dashed it vigorously in Buttons's face. A faint +sigh, a gasp, and the young man feebly opened his eyes. Intense +pain forced a groan from him. In the hasty glance that he threw +around he saw the face of Ida Francia as she bent over him bathing +his brow, her face pale as death, her hand trembling, and her eyes +filled with tears. The sight seemed to alleviate his pain. A faint +smile crossed his lips. He half raised himself toward her. + +"I've found you at last," he said, and that was all. + +At this abrupt address a burning flush passed over the face and +neck of the young girl. She bent down her head. Her tears flowed +faster than ever. + +"Don't speak," she said; "you are in too much pain." + +She was right, for the next moment Buttons fell back exhausted. + +The Senator drew a flask from his pocket and motioned to the young +girl to give some to Buttons; and then, thinking that the attention +of the Senorita would be far better than his, he hurried away to +Dick. + +So well had he been treated by the Don (whom the reader has of +course already recognized) that he was now sitting up, leaning +against the driver of the diligence, who was making amends for his +cowardice during the fight by kind attention to Dick after it was +over. + +"My dear boy, I saw you had no bones broken," said the Senator, +"and knew you were all right; so I devoted my first attention to +Buttons. How do you feel?" + +"Better," said Dick, pressing the honest hand which the Senator +held out. "Better; but how is Buttons?" + +"Recovering. But he is terribly bruised, and his arm is broken." + +"His arm broken! Poor Buttons, what'll he do?" + +"Well, my boy, I'll try what _I_ can do. I've set an arm before now. +In our region a necessary part of a good education was settin' +bones." + +Dick was wounded in several places. Leaving the Don to attend to him +the Senator took his knife and hurriedly made some splints. Then +getting his valise, he tore up two or three of his shirts. Armed +with these he returned to Buttons. The Senorita saw the preparations, +and, weeping bitterly, she retired. + +"Your arm is broken, my poor lad," said the Senator. "Will you let +me fix it for you? I can do it." + +"Can you? Oh, then, I am all right! I was afraid I would have to +wait till I got to Bologna." + +"It would be a pretty bad arm by the time you got there, I guess," +said the Senator. "But come--no time must be lost." + +His simple preparations were soon made. Buttons saw that he knew what +he was about. A few moments of excessive pain, which forced +ill-suppressed moans from the sufferer, and the work was done. + +After taking a sip from the flask both Buttons and Dick felt very +much stronger. On questioning the driver they found that Bologna +was not more than twenty miles away. The passengers were busily +engaged in removing the barricade. It was decided that an immediate +departure was absolutely necessary. At the suggestion of Dick, the +driver, postillions, and passengers armed themselves with guns of +the fallen brigands. + +The severest wound which Dick had was on his head, which had been +almost laid open by a terrific blow from the gun of the robber chief. +He had also wounds on different parts of his body. Buttons had more. +These the Senator bound up with such skill that he declared himself +ready to resume his journey. Upon this the Don insisted on taking +him into his own carriage. Buttons did not refuse. + +At length they all started, the diligence ahead, the Don following. +On the way the Don told Buttons how he had fared on the road. He had +left Florence in a hired carriage the day before the diligence had +left. He had heard nothing of the dangers of the road, and suspected +nothing. Shortly after entering the mountain district they had been +stopped and robbed of all their money. Still he kept on, thinking +that there was no further danger. To his horror they were stopped +again at the bridge, where the brigands, vexed at not getting any +money, took all their baggage and let them go. They went on +fearfully, every moment dreading some new misadventure. At length +their worst fears were realized. At the place where the fight had +occurred they were stopped and dragged from their carriage. The +brigands were savage at not getting any plunder, and swore they +would hold them prisoners till they procured a ransom, which they +fixed at three thousand piastres. This was about four in the +afternoon. They overturned the coach, kindled a fire, and waited +for the diligence. They knew the rest. + +Buttons, seated next to Ida Francia, forgot his sufferings. +Meanwhile Dick and the Senator resumed their old seats on the +banquette. After a while the Senator relapsed into a fit of musing, +and Dick fell asleep. + +Morning dawned and found them on the plain once more, only a few +miles from Bologna. Far ahead they saw the lofty Leaning Tower that +forms so conspicuous an object in the fine old city. Dick awaked, +and on looking at the Senator was shocked to see him very pale, +with an expression of pain. He hurriedly asked the cause. + +"Why the fact is, after the excitement of fightin' and slaughterin' +and seein' to you chaps was over I found that I was covered with +wounds. One of my fingers is broken. I have three bullet wounds in +my left arm, one in my right, a stab of a dirk in my right thigh, +and a terrible bruise on my left knee. I think that some fellow +must have passed a dagger through my left foot, for there is a cut +in the leather, my shoe is full of blood and it hurts dreadful. It's +my opinion that the Dodge Club will be laid up in Bologny for a +fortnight.--Hallo!" + +The Senator had heard a cry behind, and looked out. Something +startled him. Dick looked also. + +The Don's carriage was in confusion. The two Senoritas were +standing up in the carriage wringing their hands. The Don was +supporting Buttons in his arms. He had fainted a second time. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII. + + +SUFFERING AND SENTIMENT AT BOLOGNA.--MOONSHINE.--BEST BALM FOR WOUNDS. + + +They all put up at the same hotel. Buttons was carried in senseless, +and it was long before he revived. The Senator and Dick were quite +exhausted--stiff with fatigue, stiff with wounds. + +There was one thing, however, which made their present situation more +endurable. The war in Lombardy made farther progress impossible. They +could not be permitted to pass the borders into Venetia. Even if they +had been perfectly well they would have been compelled to wait there +for a time. + +The city was in a ferment. The delight which the citizens felt at +their new-found freedom was mingled with a dash of anxiety about the +result of the war. For, in spite of Solferino, it was probable that +the tide of victory would be hurled back from the Quadrilateral. +Still they kept up their spirits; and the joy of their hearts found +vent in songs, music, processions. Roman candles, _Te Deums_, +sky-rockets, volleys of cannon, masses, public meetings, patriotic +songs, speeches, tri-colors, and Italian versions of "The +Marseillaise." + +In a short time the Senator was almost as well as ever. Not so Dick. +After struggling heroically for the first day against his pain he +succumbed, and on the morning of the second was unable to leave his +bed. + +The Senator would not leave him. The kind attention which he had +once before shown in Rome was now repeated. He spent nearly all his +time in Dick's room, talking to him when he was awake, and looking +at him when asleep. Dick was touched to the heart. + + +[Illustration: Used Up.] + + +The Senator thought that, without exception, Bologna was the best +Italian city that he had seen. It had a solid look. The people +were not such everlasting fools as the Neapolitans, the Romans, +and the Florentines, who thought that the highest end of life was +to make pictures and listen to music. They devoted their energies +to an article of nourishment which was calculated to benefit the +world. He alluded to the famous _Bologna Sausage_, and he put it +to Dick seriously, whether the manufacture of a sausage which was +so eminently adapted to sustain life was not a far nobler thing +than the production of useless pictures for the pampered tastes +of a bloated aristocracy. + +Meanwhile Buttons fared differently. If he had been more afflicted +he was now more blessed. The Don seemed to think that the sufferings +of Buttons were caused by himself, or, at any rate, by the eagerness +of the young man to come to the assistance of his sisters. He felt +grateful accordingly, and spared no pain to give him assistance and +relief. He procured the best medical advice in the city. For +several days the poor fellow lay in a very dangerous condition, +hovering between life and death. His wounds were numerous and severe, +and the excitement afterward, with the fatigue of the ride, had made +his situation worse. But a strong constitution was on his side, and +he at length was able to leave his bed and his room. + +He was as pale as death, and woefully emaciated. But the society of +the ladies acted like a charm upon him; and from the moment when he +left his room his strength came back rapidly. + +He would have liked it still better if he had been able to see the +younger sister alone; but that was impossible, for the sisters were +inseparable. One evening, however, the Don offered to take them to +the cathedral to see some ceremony. Ida declined, but the other +eagerly accepted. + +So Buttons for the first time in his life found himself alone with +the maid of his heart. It was a solemn season. + +Both were much embarrassed. Buttons looked as though he had +something dreadful to tell; the Senorita as though she had +something dreadful to hear. At length Buttons began to tell the +story of his many searches, pursuits, wanderings, etc., in search of +her, and particularly his last search at Florence, in which he had +grown disheartened, and had made up his mind to follow her to Spain. +At last he came to the time when he caught up to them on the road. +He had seen them first. His heart told him that one of the ladies +was Ida. Then he had lost all control of himself, and had leaped +down to rescue her. + +The Spanish nature is an impetuous, a demonstrative, a fiery +nature. The Senorita was a Spaniard. As Buttons told all this in +passionate words, to which his ardent love gave resistless eloquence, +her whole manner showed that her heart responded. An uncontrollable +excitement filled her being; her large, lustrous eyes, bright with +the glow of the South, now beamed more luminously through her tears, +and--in short: Buttons felt encouraged--and ventured nearer--and, +almost before he knew it himself, somehow or other, his arm had got +round a slender waist! + +While the Senorita trembled--timidly drew back--and then all was +still!--except, of course, whisperings--and broken sentences--and +soft, sweet......Well, all these were brought to an abrupt close by +the return of the Don and his sister. + +As they entered the room they saw Buttons at one end, and the +Senorita at the other. The moonbeams stole in softly through the +window. + +"Why did you not call for a light?" + +"Oh, it is so pleasant in the moonshine!" + +At the end of a few weeks there came the great, the unlooked-for, +the unhoped-for news--the Peace of Villafranca! So war was over. +Moreover, the road was open. They could go wherever they wished. + +Buttons was now strong enough to travel. Dick and the Senator +were as well as ever. The news of the Peace was delightful to +the travellers. + +Not so, however, to the Bolognese. They railed at Napoleon. They +forgot all that he had done, and taunted him with what he had +neglected to do. They insulted him. They made caricatures of +him. They spread scandalous reports about him. Such is the way of +the world. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX. + + +CROSSING INTO THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY.--CONSTERNATION OF THE CUSTOM-HOUSE +OFFICERS. + + +The journey was a pleasant one. The Spaniards were an agreeable +addition to the party in the estimation of others than Buttons. +The Senator devoted himself particularly to the elder sister. Indeed, +his acquaintance with _La Cica_, as he afterward confessed, had given +him a taste for foreign ladies. He carried on little conversations +with the Senorita in broken English. The Senorita's English was +pretty, but not very idiomatic. The Senator imitated her English +remarkably well, and no doubt did it out of compliment. He also +astonished the company by speaking at the very top of a voice whose +ordinary tone was far stronger than common. + + +[Illustration: Buttons In Bliss.] + + +The journey from Bologna to Ferrara was not diversified by any +incident. Buttons was rapidly regaining his gayety and his strength. +He wore his arm in a sling, it is true, but thought it better to have +a broken arm with the Senorita than a sound one without her. It must +be confessed, however, that his happiness was visible not so much in +lively conversation as in his flushed cheek, glistening eye, and +general air of ecstasy. Moreover, Ida could not speak English much--a +conversation in that language was difficult, and they would not be +so rude to the Senator as to talk Spanish in his presence. The +consequence was that the conversation flagged, and the Senator was by +far the most talkative member of the company, and laid out all his +strength in broken English. + +Ferrara was reached at last, and they put up at a hotel which boasted +of having entertained in its day any quantity of kings, emperors, and +nobles of every European nation. It is an astonishing town. Vast +squares, all desolate; great cathedrals, empty; proud palaces, +neglected and ruinous; broad streets, grass-grown and empty; long +rows of houses, without inhabitants; it presents the spectacle of a +city dying without hope of recovery. The Senator walked through every +street in Ferrara, looked carelessly at Tasso's dungeon, and seemed to +feel relieved when they left the city. + +On arriving at the Po. which forms the boundary between this district +and Venetia, they underwent some examination from the authorities, +but crossed without accident. But on the other side they found the +Austrian officials far more particular. They asked a multiplicity of +questions, opened every trunk, scanned the passports, and detained +them long. The ladies were annoyed in a similar manner, and a number +of Roman and Neapolitan trinkets which had passed the Italian +_doganas_ were now taken from them. + +Dick had a valise, both compartments of which were strapped down +carefully. Under a cairn exterior he concealed a throbbing heart, for +in that valise was the Doctor's pistol, upon which he relied in +anticipation of future dangers. The officials opened the valise. It +was apparently a puzzle to them. They found but little clothing. On +the contrary, a very extensive assortment of articles wrapped in +paper and labelled very neatly. These they opened one by one in the +first compartment, and found the following: + + +1, Six collars; 2, a brick; 3, lump of lime; 4, pebbles; 5, plaster; +6, ashes; 7, paper; 8, another brick; 9, a chip; 10, more plaster; 11, +more ashes; 13, an ink bottle; 13, three pair stockings; 14, more +ashes; 15, more ashes; 16, a neck-tie; 17, a bit of wood; 18, vial; +19, some grass; 20, bone; 21, rag; 22, stone; 23, another stone: 24, +some more grass; 25, more pebbles; 26, more bones; 27, pot of +blacking; 28, slippers; 29, more stones; 30, more stones. + + +The officials started up with an oath apiece. Their heavy German faces +confronted Dick with wrath and indignation, and every separate hair of +their warlike mustaches stood out. However, they swallowed their rage, +and turned to the others. Dick drew a long breath of relief. The +pistol was safe. It had been taken apart and each piece wrapped in +paper and labelled. Had he carried it about with him it would have +been taken. + +The Senator thought it was better to have three battles with brigands +than one encounter with custom-house officials. He had a little store +of specimens of Italian manufactures, which were all taken from him. +One thing struck him forcibly, and that was the general superiority +of the Austrian over the Roman side. + +There was more thrift neatness, and apparent prosperity. His +sentiments on this subject were embodied in a letter home, which he +wrote from Padua on a dreary evening which they spent there before +starting for Venice: + + +"If this part of Italy is oppressed by Austria, then all I can say +is, that the pressure has squeezed an immense amount of vegetation +out of the soil. Passing from the Roman territories into the +Austrian is like going from darkness into light, or from Canada into +the United States. What kind of people are they who do better under +foreign rule than Native? In my opinion, the territories of the +Pope are worse than those of other rulers in Italy. A Spanish friend +of mine tells me that it is because the thoughts of the Pope's +subjects are set not on things below, but on things on high. He tells +me that we've got to choose between two masters--Christianity on the +one hand, and Mammon on the other. Whoever chooses the latter will be +destitute of the former. He gives as examples of this France, England, +and America, which countries, though possessed of the highest material +blessings, are yet a prey to crime, scepticism, doubt, infidelity, +heresy, false doctrine, and all manner of similar evils. Those +nations which prefer religion to worldly prosperity present a +different scene; and he points to Spain and Italy--poor in this +world's goods, but rich in faith--the only evils which afflict them +being the neighborhood of unbelieving nations." + + + + +CHAPTER L. + + +VENICE AND ITS PECULIAR GLORY.--THE DODGE CLUB COME TO GRIEF AT LAST. +--UP A TREE.--IN A NET, ETC. + + +Few sensations are so singular as that which the traveller +experiences on his first approach to Venice. The railway passes +for miles through swamps, pools, ponds, and broken mud banks, till +at length, bursting away altogether from the shore, it pushes +directly out into the sea. Away goes the train of cars over the long +viaduct, and the traveller within can scarcely understand the +situation. The firm and even roll and the thunder of the wheels tell +of solid ground beneath; but outside of the windows on either side +there is nothing but a wide expanse of sea. + +At length the city is reached. The train stops, and the passenger +steps out into the station-house. But what a station-house! and what +a city! There is the usual shouting from carriers and cabmen, but +none of that deep roar of a large city which in every other place +drones heavily into the traveller's ear. + +Going out to what he thinks is a street, the traveller finds merely +a canal. Where are the carriages, cabs, caliches, hand-carts, +barouches, pony-carriages, carryalls, wagons, hansoms, hackneys, +wheelbarrows, broughams, dog-carts, buggies? Where are the horses, +mares, dogs, pigs, ponies, oxen, cows, cats, colts, calves, and +livestock generally? + +Nowhere. There's not a wheeled carriage in the place. It may be +doubted if there is a dog. There certainly is not a cow. The people +use goats' milk. The horse is as unknown as the pterodactyl, +icthyosaurus, dodo, iguanodon, mastodon, great awk. How do they go +about? Where are the conveniences for moving to and fro? + +Then, at the platform of the station, a score or two of light +gondolas await you. The gondolier is the cabman. He waits for you, +with his hand toward you, and the true "Keb, Sir!" tone and smile. +A double-sized gondola is here called an "omnibus," and the name is +painted on the side in huge letters. And these are the substitutes +for wheeled vehicles. + + +[Illustration: Dick's Luggage.] + + +Now after entering one of these you go along smoothly and +noiselessly. The first thing one notices in Venice is the absence of +noise. As the boat goes along the only sound that is heard is the +sharp cry from the boatman as he approaches a corner. At first the +novelty interests the mind, afterward it affects the spirits. In +three days most people leave the city in a kind of panic. The +stillness is awful. A longer stay would reduce one to a state of +melancholy madness. A few poets, however, have been able to endure, +and even to love, the sepulchral stillness of the city. But to +appreciate Venice one must be strongly poetical. + +There are many things to be seen. First of all there is the city +itself, one grand curiosity, unique, with nothing on earth that +bears a distant approach to it. Its canals, gondolas, antique +monuments, Byzantine architecture, bridges, mystery: its pretty +women with black lace veils, the true glory of Venice--though +Murray says nothing about them. + +For Murray, in what was meant to be an exhaustive description of +Venice, has omitted all mention of that which makes it what it is. +Whereas if it had been Homer instead of Murray he would have rolled +out the following epithets: [Transcriber's Note: Greek +transliteration] euplokamoi, apalai, choroetheis, eukomoi, +rodopechees, erateinai, kalliplokamoi, elkechitones, kuanopides, +imeroessai, bathukolpoi, ligumolpoi: k. t. l. [/end Greek] + +The travellers visited the whole round of sights. They remained in +company and went about in the same gondola. The Senator admired what +he saw as much as any of them, though it appeared to be out of his +particular line. It was not the Cathedral of St. Mark's, however, nor +the Doge's Palace, nor the Court of the Inquisition, nor the Bridge +of Sighs, nor the Rialto, that interested him, but rather the +spectacle of all these magnificent edifices around him, with all +the massive masonry of a vast city, built up laboriously on the +uncertain sand. He admired the Venetians who had done this. To such +men, he thought, the commerce of the world might well have belonged. +In discussing the causes of the decline of Venice he summed up the +subject in a few words, and in the clearest possible manner. + +"These Venetians, when they set up shop, were in the principal street +of the world--the Mediterranean. They had the best stand in the +street. They did work up their business uncommon well now, and no +mistake. They made money hand over fist, and whatever advantage +could be given by energy, capital, and a good location, they got. +But the currents of traffic change in the world just as they do in +a city. After a while it passed in another direction. Venice was +thrown out altogether. She had no more chance than a New York shop +would have after the business that it lived on had gone into another +street. Hence," said the Senator--he always said "hence" when he was +coming to a triumphant conclusion--"hence the downfall of Venice." + +On arriving at their hotel a little circumstance occurred which made +them look at Venice from a new and startling point of view. On going +to their rooms after dinner they were followed by a file of Austrian +soldiers. They wanted to see the passports. They requested this in a +thick guttural tone, which made the Americans feel quite nervous. They +showed the passports nevertheless. + +On looking over them the Austrian soldiers arrested them. They were +informed that if they went peaceably they would be well treated, but +if they made any resistance they would all be bound. + +The Americans remonstrated. No use. A thousand conjectures were made +as to the cause of their arrest, but they were completely baffled. +Before they could arrive at any conclusion they had arrived at the +place of their destination, to which they had, of course, been taken +in a gondola. It was too dark to distinguish the place, but it looked +like a large and gloomy edifice. The soldiers took them to a room, +where they locked them all in together. It was a comfortable +apartment, with another larger one opening from it, in which were +two beds and two couches. Evidently they were not neglected. + + +[Illustration: Arrested.] + + +After waiting for half the night in a kind of fever they retired to +rest. They slept but little. They rose early, and at about seven +o'clock breakfast was brought in to them, with a guard of soldiers +following the waiters. + +After breakfast they were visited again. This time it was a legal +gentleman. They did not know who he was, but he gave them to +understand that he was a person high in authority. He questioned +them very closely as to their business in Venice, but did his +questioning in a courteous manner. After about an hour he left. + +Lunch was brought in at one o'clock. Their feelings at being treated +in this mysterious manner can be imagined. Such neglect of the rights +of man--such trifling with his time and patience--such utter disregard +of _habeas corpus_, awaked indignation which words could not express. + +Positively they were treated like dumb cattle; locked up, fed, +deprived of liberty and fresh air; no communication with friends +outside; and, worst of all, no idea in the world of the cause of their +imprisonment. They came to the conclusion that they were mistaken for +some other parties--for some _Cacciatori degli Alpi_; and Buttons +insisted that the Senator was supposed to be Garibaldi himself. In +these troublous times any idea, however absurd, might be acted upon. + +At about three in the afternoon the door was thrown open, and a file +of soldiers appeared. An officer approached and requested the +prisoners to follow. They did so. They passed along many halls, and at +length came to a large room. A long table extended nearly from one +end to another. Soldiers were arranged down the sides of the +apartment. + +At the head of the table sat an elderly man, with a stern face, +ferocious mustache, sharp eye, bushy gray eyebrows, and universal air +of Mars. His uniform showed him to be a General. By his side was +their visitor of the morning. Officials sat at the table. + +"_Silence_!" + + +[Illustration: Silence!] + + + + +CHAPTER LI. + + +THE AMERICAN EAGLE AND THE AUSTRIAN DOUBLE-HEADED DITTO. + + +At the command of the Austrian General every body became still. +Thereupon he motioned to the prisoners to stand at the bottom of +the table. They did so. The General took a long stare at the +prisoners, particularly at the Senator. They bore it steadily. +As for the Senator, he regarded the other with an expression which +would have done honor to the Austrian General's own father. + +"Who are you?" + +The General spoke in German. The legal gentleman, at his side +instantly interpreted it into English. + +"Americans." + +"Ah! dangerous characters--dangerous characters! What is your +business?" + +"Travellers." + +"Travellers? Ah! But what are your occupations in America?" + +"Our passports tell." + +"Your passports say--'Gentlemen.'" + +"Well, we _are_ gentlemen." + +The Austrian looked blank. After a while he resumed; and as he +directed his glance to the Senator the latter made all the replies, +while the Interpreter served as a medium of communication. + +"How long have you been in Italy?" + +"Two or three months." + +"You came here just about the commencement of these difficulties?" + +"Yes--the beginning of the war." + +"Where did you land?" + +"At Naples." + +"Naples? Ha! hm! Where did you go next?" + +"To Rome. We stayed there a few weeks and then went to Florence; +from Florence to Bologna, and thence through Ferrara and Padua to +Venice." + +"You went to Florence! How long ago did you leave?" + +"About a month ago." + +"A month! Ah, hm!" + +And the General exchanged glances with the legal gentleman at his +side. + +"What were you doing in Florence?" + +"Seeing the city." + +"Did you place yourselves in connection with the Revolutionists?" + +"No." + +"Did you have any thing to do with the emissaries of Garibaldi?" + +"Nothing." + +"Take care how you deny." + +"We say we know nothing at all either of the Revolutionists or +Imperialists or Garibaldians or any other party. We are merely +travellers." + +"Hm--a strong disavowment," said the General to himself. "You have +never in any way countenanced the rebels."' + +"No." + +"Think before you speak." + +"We are free Americans. Perhaps you know that the citizens of that +country say what they think and do what they like. We have gone on +that rule in Italy. What I say is, that we do not know any thing +about rebels or any political parties in the country." + +"Do you know _La Cica_?" asked the General, with the air of a man +who was putting a home-thrust, and speaking with uncommon +fierceness. + +"I do," said the Senator, mildly. + +"You know her well? You are one of her intimate friends?" + +"Am I?" + +"Are you not?" + +"I am friendly with her. She is an estimable woman, with much +feeling and penetration"--and a fond regret exhibited itself in +the face of the speaker. + +"Well, Sir, you may as well confess. We know you, Sir. We know you. +You are one of the chosen associates of that infamous Garibaldian +plotter and assassin, whose hotel is the hot-bed of conspiracy and +revolution. We know you. Do you dare to come here and deny it?" + +"I did not come here; I was brought. I do not deny that you know me, +though I haven't the pleasure of knowing you. But I do deny that I +am the associate of conspirators." + +"Are you not the American whom _La Cica_ so particularly distinguished +with her favor?" + +"I have reason to believe that she was partial to me--somewhat." + +"He confesses!" said the General. "You came from her to this place, +communicating on the way with her emissaries." + +"I communicated on the way with none but brigands among the mountains. +If they were her emissaries I wish her joy of them. My means of +communication," said the Senator, while a grim smile passed over his +face, "was an iron crow-bar, and my remarks left some deep impression +on them, I do believe." + +"Tell me now--and tell me truly," said the General after a pause, +in which he seemed trying to make out whether the Senator was joking +or not. "To whom are you sent in this city?" + +"To no one." + +"Sir! I warn you that I will not be trifled with." + +"I tell you," said the Senator, with no apparent excitement, "I tell +you that I have come here to no one. What more can I say?" + +"You must confess." + +"I have nothing to confess." + +"Sir! you have much to confess," cried the General, angrily, "and I +swear to you I will wring it out of you. Beware how you trifle with +my patience. If you wish to regain your liberty confess at once, +and you may escape your just punishment. But if you refuse, then, +by the immortal gods, I'll shut you up in a dungeon for ten years!" + +"You will do no such thing." + +"What!" roared the General. "Won't I?" + +"You will not. On the contrary, you will have to make apologies for +these insults." + +"I!--Apologies! Insults!" + +The General gnawed his mustache, and his eyes blazed in fury. + +"You have arrested us on a false charge, based on some slanderous +or stupid information of some of your infernal spies," said the +Senator. "What right have you to pry into the private affairs of +an American traveller? We have nothing to do with you." + +"You are associated with conspirators. You are charged with +treasonable correspondence with rebels. You countenanced revolution +in Florence. You openly took part with Republicans. You are a +notorious friend of _La Cica_. And you came here with the intention +of fomenting treason in Venice!" + +"Whoever told you that," replied the Senator, "told infernal lies--most +infernal lies. I am no emissary of any party. I am a private +traveller." + +"Sir, we have correspondents in Florence on whom we can rely better +than on you. They watched you." + +"Then the best thing you can do is to dismiss those correspondents +and get rogues who have half an idea." + +"Sir, I tell you that they watched you well. You had better confess +all. Your antecedents in Florence are known. You are in a position +of imminent danger. I tell you--_beware_." + +The General said this in an awful voice, which was meant to strike +terror into the soul of his captive. The Senator looked back into +his eyes with an expression of calm scorn. His form seemed to grow +larger, and his eyes dilated as he spoke: + +"Then you, General, I tell you--_beware_! Do you know who you've got +hold of?--No conspirator; no infernal Italian bandit, or Dutch-man +either; but an American citizen. Your Government has already tried +the temper of Americans on one or two remarkable occasions. Don't try +it on a third time, and don't try it on with me. Since you want to +know who I am I'll tell you. I, Sir, am an American Senator. I take +an active and prominent part in the government of that great and +glorious country. I represent a constituency of several hundred +thousand. You tell me to _beware_. I tell you--BEWARE! for, by the +Eternal! if you don't let me go, I swear to you that you'll have to +give me up at the cannon's mouth. I swear to you if you don't let +me off by evening I won't go at all till I am delivered up with +humble and ample apologies, both to us and to our country, whom +you have insulted in our persons." + +"Sir, you are bold!" + +"Bold! Send for the American Consul of this city and see if he +don't corroborate this. But you had better make haste, for if you +subject me to further disgrace it will be the worse for your +Government, and particularly for _you_, my friend. You'll have the +town battered down about your ears. Don't get another nation down +on you, and, above all, don't let that nation be the American. What +I tell you is the solemn truth, and if you don't mind it you will +know it some day to your sorrow." + +Whatever the cause may have been the company present, including even +the General, were impressed by the Senator's words. The announcement +of his dignity; the venerable title of Senator; the mention of his +"constituency," a word the more formidable from not being at all +understood--all combined to fill them with respect and even awe. + + +[Illustration: Don't Try It On With Me.] + + +So at his proposal to send for the American Consul the General +gave orders to a messenger who went off at once in search of that +functionary. + + + + +CHAPTER LII. + + +THE SENATOR STILL ENGAGED IN FACING DOWN THE AUSTRIAN.--THE AMERICAN +CONSUL.--UNEXPECTED RE-APPEARANCE OF FORGOTTEN THINGS.--COLLAPSE OF +THE COURT. + + +The American Consul soon made his appearance. Not having had any +thing to do for months, the prospect of business gave wings to his +feet. Moreover, he felt a very natural desire to help a countryman +in trouble. Upon entering the hall he cast a rapid look around, and +seemed surprised at so august a tribunal. For in the General's martial +form he saw no less a person than the Austrian Commandant. + +The Consul bowed and then looked at the prisoners. As his eye fell +upon the Senator it lighted up, and his face assumed an expression of +the most friendly interest. Evidently a recognition. The Austrian +Commandant addressed the Consul directly in German. + +"Do you know the prisoners?" + +"I know one of them." + +"He is here under a very heavy accusation. I have well-substantiated +charges by which he is implicated in treason and conspiracy. He has +been connected with Revolutionists of the worst stamp in Florence, +and there is strong proof that he has come here to communicate with +Revolutionists in this city." + +"Who accuses him of this? Are they here?" + +"No, but they have written from Florence warning me of his journey +here." + +"Does the prisoner confess?" + +"Of course not. He denies. He requested me to send for you. I +don't want to be unjust, so if you have any thing to say, say on." + +"These charges are impossible." + +"Impossible?" + +"He is altogether a different man from what you suppose. He is an +eminent member of the American Senate. Any charges made against +one like him will have to be well substantiated; and any injury +done to him will be dangerous in the highest degree. Unless you +have undeniable proofs of his guilt it will be best to free him +at once--or else--" + +"Or else what?" + +"Or else there will be very grave complications." + +The Commandant looked doubtful. The others impassive. Buttons and +Dick interested. The Senator calm. Again the Commandant turned to +the Senator, his remarks being interpreted as before. + +"How does it happen that you were so particularly intimate with +all the Revolutionists in Florence, and an habitue of _La Cica_'s +salon? that your mission was well known throughout the city? That +you publicly acknowledged the Florentine rebellion in a speech? +that the people carried you home in triumph? and that immediately +before leaving you received private instructions from _La Cica_?" + +"To your questions," said the Senator, with unabated dignity, "I +will reply in brief: _First_, I am a free and independent citizen +of the great and glorious American Republic. If I associated with +Revolutionists in Florence, I did so because I am accustomed to +choose my own society, and not to recognize any law or any master +that can forbid my doing so. I deny, however, that I was in any way +connected with plots, rebellions, or conspiracies. _Secondly_, I was +friendly with the Countess because I considered her a most remarkably +fine woman, and because she showed a disposition to be friendly with +me--a stranger in a strange land. _Thirdly_, I have no mission of +any kind whatever. I am a traveller for self-improvement. I have no +business political or commercial. So that my mission could not have +been known. If people talked about me they talked nonsense. +_Fourthly_, I confess I made a speech, but what of that? It's not +the first time, by a long chalk. I don't know what you mean by +'acknowledging.' As a private citizen I congratulated them on their +success, and would do so again. If a crowd calls on me for a speech, +I'm thar! The people of Florence dragged me home in a carriage. Well, +I don't know why they did so. I can't help it if people will take +possession of me and pull me about. _Fifthly_, and lastly, I had an +interview with the Countess, had I? Well, is it wrong for a man to +bid good-bye to a friend? I ask you, what upon earth do you mean by +such a charge as that? Do you take me for a puling infant?" + +"On that occasion," said the Commandant, "she taught you some +mysterious words which were to be repeated among the Revolutionists +here." + +"Never did any thing of the kind. That's a complete full-blown +fiction." + +"I have the very words." + +"That's impossible. You've got hold of the wrong man I see." + +"I will have them read," said the General, solemnly. + +And he beckoned to the Interpreter. Whereupon the Interpreter +gravely took out a formidable roll of papers from his breast, and +opened it. Every gesture was made as though his hand was heavy with +the weight of crushing proof. At last a paper was produced. +The Interpreter took one look at the prisoner, then glanced +triumphantly at the Consul, and said: + +"It is a mysterious language with no apparent meaning, nor have I +been able to find the key to it in any way. It is very skillfully +made, for all the usual tests of cipher writing fail in this. The +person who procured it did not get near enough till the latter part +of the interview, so that he gained no explanation whatever from the +conversation." + +"Read," said the Commandant. The Senator waited, wonderingly. The +Interpreter read: + + +"_Ma ouillina sola ouda ste ensoce fremas dis ansit ansin assalef a +oue lu affa lastinna belis_." + + +Scarcely had the first words been uttered in the Italian voice of +the reader than the Senator started as though a shot had struck him. +His face flushed. Finally a broad grin spread itself over his +countenance, and down his neck, and over his chest, and over his +form, and into his boots, till at last his whole colossal frame +shook with an earthquake of laughter. + +The Commandant stared and looked uneasy, All looked at the Senator +--all with amazement--the General, the Interpreter, the Officials, +the Guards, Buttons, Dick, and the American Consul. + +"Oh dear! Oh _de-ar_! Oh DEEE-AR!" cried the Senator, in the +intervals of his outrageous peals of laughter. "OH!" and a new peal +followed. + +What did all this mean? Was he crazy? Had misfortunes turned his +brain? + +But at last the Senator, who was always remarkable for his +self-control, recovered himself. He asked the Commandant if he might +be permitted to explain. + +"Certainly," said the Commandant, dolefully. He was afraid that +the thing would take a ridiculous turn, and nothing is so terrible +as that to an Austrian official. + +"Will you allow me to look at the paper?" asked the Senator. "I will +not injure it at all." + +The Interpreter politely carried it to him as the Commandant nodded. +The Senator beckoned to the Consul. They then walked up to the +Commandant. All four looked at the paper. + +"You see, gentlemen," said the Senator, drawing a lead pencil from +his pocket, "the Florence correspondent has been too sharp. I can +explain all this at once. I was with the Countess, and we got +talking of poetry. Now, I don't know any more about poetry than a +horse." + +"Well?" + +"Well, she insisted on my making a quotation. I had to give in. +The only one I could think of was a line or two from Watts." + +"_Watts_? Ah! I don't know him," said the Interpreter. + +"He was a minister--a parson." + +"Ah!" + +"So I said it to her, and she repeated it. These friends of yours, +General, have taken it down, but their spellin' is a little +unusual," said the Senator, with a tremendous grin that threatened +a new outburst. + +"Look. Here is the true-key which this gentleman tried so hard to +find." + +And taking his pencil the Senator wrote under the strange words +the true meaning: + + + "My willing soul would stay + In such a frame as this, + And sit and sing herself away + To everlasting bliss." + + +The Interpreter saw it all. He looked profoundly foolish. The whole +thing was clear. The Senator's innocence was plain. He turned to +explain to the Commandant. The Consul's face exhibited a variety +of expressions, over which a broad grimace finally predominated, +like sunshine over an April sky. In a few words the whole was made +plain to the Commandant. He looked annoyed, glared angrily at the +Interpreter, tossed the papers on the floor, and rose to his feet. + + +[Illustration: Watts Mis-spelled.] + + +"Give these gentlemen our apologies," said he to the Interpreter. +"In times of trouble, when States have to be held subject to +martial law, proceedings are abrupt. Their own good sense will, I +trust, enable them to appreciate the difficulty of our position. +They are at liberty." + +At liberty! No sooner were the words spoken than the prisoners +bowed and left, in company with the Consul, who eagerly shook +hands with all three--particularly the Senator, who, as they were +leaving, was heard to whisper something in which these words were +audible: + +"Wa'al, old hoss! The American eagle showed it claws, anyhow." + + + + +CHAPTER LIII. + + +A MYSTERIOUS FLIGHT.--DESPAIR OF BUTTONS.--PURSUIT.--HISTORIC GROUND, +AND HISTORIC CITIES. + + +It was about seven o'clock in the evening when they reached their +hotel. Every thing was as they had left it. Some trifles had +occurred, such as a general overhaul of the baggage, in which the +Doctor's pistol had again miraculously escaped seizure. Buttons +went immediately to call on the Spaniards, but their apartment was +closed. Supposing that they were out about the town, he returned to +his friends. + +During their memorable captivity they had eaten but little, and +now nothing was more welcome than a dinner. So they ordered the very +best that the hotel could supply, and made the American Consul stay. +Buttons did not give himself up so completely as the rest to the +hilarity of the occasion. Something was on his mind. So he took +advantage of a conversation in which the Senator was giving the +Consul an animated description of the fight with the brigands, and +the pluck of his two "boys," and stole out of the room. Whereupon the +Senator stopped and remarked-- + +"Hang these fellows that are in love!" + +"Certainly," said Dick. "They often hang themselves, or feel like +it." + +"Of course Buttons is on his usual errand." + +"Of course." + +"It seems to me that his foreign travel has become nothing but one +long chase after that gal. He is certainly most uncommon devoted." + +Scarce had these words been spoken when the door was flung open, and +Buttons made his appearance, much agitated. + +"What's the matter?" cried Dick. "The Spaniards!" "Well?" "They're +off!" "Off?" "Gone!" "Where?" "Away from Venice." "When?" "I don't +know." "Why?" "I don't know." + +"What sent them? It looks as though they were running away from +you on purpose." + +"They're off, at any rate!" cried Buttons. "I went to their room. +It was open. The servants were fixing it up. I asked why. They said +the Spaniards had left Venice early this morning. They did not know +any thing more." + +"Strange!" + +"Strange, of course. It's so sudden. Their plans were laid out for +a week in Venice." + +"Perhaps they were frightened at our adventure." + +Buttons sprung to the bell and pulled it vigorously. Then he rushed +to the door and flung it open. Five or six waiters came tumbling in. +They had all been listening at the key-hole. + +"Where's the chief waiter?" + +"Here," said that functionary, approaching. + +"Come here. You may retire," said Buttons to the others. They went +out reluctantly. + +"Now, my friend," said he, putting some piastres in the hand of the +chief waiter. "Think, and answer me right. Where are the Spaniards +--a gentleman and two ladies--who came here with us?" + +"They have left the city." + +"When?" + +"At six this morning, by the first train." + +"Why did they leave?" + +"A hint came from the Commandant." + +"From him. Ah! What about?" + +"Why--you know--your Excellencies were to waited on by a +deputation." + +"We were arrested. Well?" + +"Well, these Spaniards were friends yours." + +"Yes." + +"That connection made them suspected." + +"Diavolo!" + +"Such is the melancholy fact. There was no cause strong enough to +lead to their arrest. It would have been inconvenient. So the +Commandant sent a message, immediately after your Excellency's +lamentable arrest, to warn them--" + +"What of?" + +"That they had better leave the country at once." + +"Yes, but that didn't force them to go." + +"Ah, Signore! Do you not know what such a warning is? There is no +refusal." + +"And so they left." + +"At six by the train." + +"Where to?" + +"Signore, they had their passports made out for Milan." + +"Milan!" + +"Certainly. It was necessary for them not only to leave Venice, but +Venetia." + +"Very well. When does the next train leave?" + +"Not till to-morrow morning at six." + +"You must call us then at five, for we are going. Here, take our +passports and get them vised;" and having explained matters to the +Senator, Buttons found no need of persuasion to induce them to quit +the city, so the passports were handed over to the waiter. + +So at six the next morning they went flying over the sea, over the +lagoons, over the marshes, over the plains, away toward Lombardy. + + +[Illustration: Formalities.] + + +They had to stop for a while at Verona, waiting to comply with "some +formalities." They had time to walk about the town and see the Roman +ruins and the fortifications. Of all these much might be said, if it +were not to be found already in Guide-books, Letters of +Correspondents, Books of Travel, Gazetteers, and Illustrated +Newspapers. Our travellers saw enough of the mighty military works, +in a brief survey, to make them thoroughly comprehend the Peace of +Villafranca. In the neighborhood of Solferino they left the train to +inspect the scene of battle. Only a month had passed since the +terrific contest, and the traces remained visible on every side. The +peasants had made two trenches of enormous size. In one of these the +bodies of the Austrians had been buried, in the other those of the +French and Italians. In one place there was a vast heap of arms, which +had been gathered from off the field. There was no piece among them +which was not bent or broken. All were of the best construction and +latest pattern, but had seen their day. Shattered trees, battered +walls, crumbling houses, deep ruts in the earth, appeared on every +side to show where the battle had raged; yet already the grass, in +its swift growth, had obliterated the chief marks of the tremendous +conflict. + +At length they arrived at Milan. The city presented a most imposing +appearance. Its natural situation, its magnificent works of +architecture, its stately arches and majestic avenues presented an +appearance which was now heightened by the presence of victory. It +was as though the entire population had given themselves up to +rejoicing. The evil spirit had been cast out, and the house +thoroughly swept and garnished. The streets were filled with gay +multitudes; the avenues resounded with the thrilling strains of the +Marseillaise, repeated everywhere; every window displayed the +portrait of Napoleon, Victor Emanuel, or Garibaldi, and from every +house-top flaunted the tri-color. The heavy weight imposed by the +military rule--the iron hand, the cruelty, the bands of spies, the +innumerable soldiers sent forth by Austria--had been lifted off, and +in the first reaction of perfect liberty the whole population rushed +into the wildest demonstrations of joy and gayety. The churches were +all marked by the perpetual presence of the emblems of Holy Peace, +and Heavenly Faith, and Immortal Hope. The sublime Cathedral, from +all its marble population of sculptured saints and from all its +thousands of pinnacles, sent up one constant song. Through the +streets marched soldiers--regular, irregular, horse, foot, and +dragoons; cannon thundered at intervals through every day; +volunteer militia companies sprang up like butterflies to flash +their gay uniforms in the sun. + +It was not the season for theatres. _La Scala_ had opened for a +few nights when Napoleon and Victor Emanuel where here, but had +closed again. Not so the smaller theatres. Less dignified, they +could burst forth unrestrained. Especially the Day Theatres, places +formed somewhat on the ancient model, with open roofs. In these the +spectators can smoke. Here the performance begins at five or six +and ends at dark. All the theatres on this season, day or night alike, +burst forth into joy. The war was the universal subject. Cannon, +fighting, soldiers, gunpowder, saltpetre, sulphur, fury, explosions, +wounds, bombardments, grenadiers, artillery, drum, gun, trumpet, +blunderbuss, and thunder! Just at that time the piece which was +having the greatest run was THE VICTORY Of SOLFERINO! + +Two theatres exhibited this piece with all the pomp and circumstance +of glorious war. Another put out in a pantomime "The Battle of +Malegnano!" + +Another, "The Fight at Magenta!" But perhaps the most popular of all +was "GARIBALDI IN VARESE, _od_ I CACCIATORI DEGLI ALPI!" + + + + +CHAPTER LIV. + + +DICK MEETS AN OLD FRIEND.--THE EMOTIONAL NATURE OF THE ITALIAN. +--THE SENATOR OVERCOME AND DUMBFOUNDED. + + +The day of their arrival at Milan was distinguished by a pleasing +circumstance. Buttons found the Spaniards, and was happy. And by +another circumstance, scarcely less pleasing, Dick found an old +acquaintance. + +On this wise: + +Finding himself in Milan he suddenly called to mind an old friend +with whom he had been intimate in Boston. He had been exiled from +Italy on account of his connection with the movements of 1848. He +had fled to America, and had taken with him barely enough to live +on. For five years he had lived in Boston under the plain name of +_Hugh Airey_. Then Dick met with him, and had been attracted by the +polished manners, melancholy air, and high spirit of the +unfortunate exile. In the course of time their acquaintance ripened +into intimate friendship. Dick introduced him to all his friends, +and did all in his power to make his life pleasant. From him he had +learned Italian, and under his guidance formed a wide and deep +acquaintance with Italian literature. In 1858 Mr. Airey decided to +return to Italy and live in Turin till the return of better days. +Before leaving he confided to Dick the fact that he belonged to one +of the oldest families in Lombardy, and that he was the Count Ugo di +Gonfiloniere. The exile bade Dick and all his friends good-bye and +departed. Since then Dick had heard from him but once. The Count was +happy, and hopeful of a speedy return of better days for his country. +His hopes had been realized, as the world knows. + + +[Illustration: The Count Ugo.] + + +Dick had no difficulty in finding out where he lived, and went to +call on him. It was a magnificent palace. Throngs of servants were +around the entrance. Dick sent up his name, and was conducted by a +servant to an ante-chamber. Scarcely had he finished a hasty +survey of the apartment when hurried footsteps were heard. He turned. +The Count came rushing into the room, flushed and trembling, and +without a word threw himself into Dick's arms, embraced him, and +kissed him. It was a trying moment for Dick. Nothing is so frightful +to a man of the Anglo-Saxon race as to be hugged and kissed by a man. +However, Dick, felt deeply touched at the emotion of his friend and +his grateful remembrance of himself. + +"This is a circumstance most unexpected!" cried the Count. "Why did +you not write and tell me that you were coming, my dearest friend? I +did not know that you were in Italy. But perhaps you wished to give +me a surprise?" And then the Count asked after all the friends in +America, for whom he still evinced the tenderest attachment. + +On being questioned he related his own subsequent adventures. After +leaving America he went at once to Turin. Though proscribed in +Lombardy he was free in Piedmont. He managed to communicate +secretly with his relatives in Milan, and lived comfortably. At +length he became aware of the great movement on foot which ended +in the Italian war. He had thrown himself altogether in the good +cause, and, without being at all disheartened by his former +misfortunes, he embarked energetically in the current of events. He +was at once recognized by the Sardinian Government as a powerful +recruit, and appointed to an important military command. Finally war +was declared. The French came, the Count had taken a conspicuous part +in the events of the war, had been present at every battle, and had +been promoted for his gallant conduct. Fortunately he had not once +been wounded. On the occupation of Milan by the Allies he had +regained all his rights, titles, privileges, and estates. He was a +happy man. His ten years of exile had given him a higher capacity +for enjoyment. He looked forward to a life of honor and usefulness. +He had found joy harder to endure than grief; the reunion with all +his old friends and relations, the presence of all the familiar +scenes of his native land had all well-nigh overcome him. Yet he +assured Dick that no friend with whom he had met was more welcome to +his sight than he, and the joy that he felt at seeing him had only +been exceeded once in his life--that one time having been on the +occasion of the entrance of the Allies into Milan. + +And now that he was here, where was his luggage? Did he come without +it? There was certainly only one place in the city where he could +stop. He must remain nowhere else but here. Dick modestly excused +himself. He was scarcely prepared. He was travelling in company with +friends, and would hardly like to leave them. The Count looked +reproachfully at him. Did he hesitate about that? Why, his friends +also must come. He would have no refusal. They all must come. They +would be as welcome as himself. He would go with Dick to his hotel +in person and bring his friends there. + +In a short time the Count and Dick had driven to the hotel, where +the former pressed upon the Senator and Buttons an invitation to +his house. They were not allowed to refuse, but were taken away, +and before they fairly understood the unexpected occurrence they +were all installed in magnificent apartments in the Palazzo +Gonfaloniere. + +Buttons's acquaintance with the language, literature, manners, +and customs of Italy made him appreciate his advantages; the +friendship of the Count prevented Dick from feeling otherwise than +perfectly at home; and as for the Senator, if it had been possible +for him to feel otherwise, his experience of high life at Florence +would have enabled him to bear himself serenely here. His complete +self-possession, his unfaltering gaze, his calm countenance, were +never for a moment disturbed. + +The Count had been long enough in America to appreciate a man of +the stamp of the Senator; he therefore from the very first treated +him with marked respect, which was heightened when Dick told him of +the Senator's achievements during the past few weeks. The brilliant +society which surrounded the Count was quite different from that +which the Senator had found in Florence. The people were equally +cultivated, but more serious. They had less excitability, but more +deep feeling. Milan, indeed, had borne her burden far differently +from Florence. Both hated the foreigner; but the latter could be gay, +and smiling, and trifling even under her chains; this the former +could never be. The thoughtful, earnest, and somewhat pensive +Milanese was more to the Senator's taste than the brilliant and +giddy Florentine. These, thought he, may well be a free people. + +Moreover, the Senator visited the Grand Cathedral, and ascended to +the summit. Arriving there his thoughts were not taken up by the +innumerable statues of snow-white marble, or the countless pinnacles +of exquisite sculpture that extended all around like a sacred forest +filled with saints and angels, but rather to the scene that lay +beyond. + +There spread away a prospect which was superior in his eyes to any +thing that he had ever seen before, nor had it ever entered his +mind to conceive such a matchless scene. The wide plains of Lombardy, +green, glorious, golden with the richest and most inexhaustible +fertility; vast oceans of grain and rice, with islands of dark-green +trees that bore untold wealth of all manner of fruit; white villas, +little hamlets, close-packed villages, dotted the wide expanse, with +the larger forms of many a populous town. He looked to the north and +to the west. The plain spread away for many a league, till the purple +mountains arose as a barrier, rising up till they touched the +everlasting ice. He looked to the east and south. There the plains +stretched away to the horizon in illimitable extent. + +"What a country! All cleared too! Every acre! And the villages! Why, +there are thousands if there is one! Dear! dear! dear! How can I +have the heart to blow about New England or Boston after that there! +Buttons, why don't somebody tell about all this to the folks at +home and stop their everlasting bragging? But"--after a long +pause--"I'll do it! I'll do it!--this very night. I'll write about it +to our paper!" + + + + +CHAPTER LV. + + +IN WHICH BUTTONS WRITES A LETTER; AND IN WHICH THE CLUB LOSES AN +IMPORTANT MEMBER.--SMALL BY DEGREES AND BEAUTIFULLY LESS. + + +But all things, however pleasant, must have an end, so their +stay in Milan soon approached its termination. + +Buttons and the Senator were both quite willing to leave. The +departure of the Spaniards had taken away the charm of Milan. They +had already returned to Spain, and had urged Buttons very strongly +to accompany them. It cost him a great struggle to decline, but he +did so from certain conscientious motives, and promised to do so +after going to Paris. So there was an agonizing separation, and all +that. At his room Buttons unbosomed himself to his friends. + +"I'll begin at the beginning," said he, directing his remarks more +particularly to the Senator. + +"My father is a rich man, though you may not think I live very much +like a rich man's son. The fact is, he is dreadfully afraid that I +will turn out a spendthrift. So he gave me only a moderate sum on +which to travel on through Europe. So far I have succeeded very +well. Excuse my blushes while I make the sweet confession. The +Senorita whom we all admire will, some of these days, I trust, +exchange the musical name of Francia for the plainer one of +Buttons." + +The Senator smiled with mild and paternal approbation, and shook +Buttons by the hand. + +"It's all arranged," continued Buttons, with sweet confusion. "Now, +under the circumstances, you might think it natural that I should go +back with them to Spain." + +"I should certainly. Why don't you?" + +"For two reasons. The first is, I have barely enough tin left to +take me to Paris." + +At once both the Senator and Dick offered to make unlimited advances. +Buttons made a deprecatory gesture. + +"I know well that I could look to you for any help in any way. But +that is not the reason why I don't go to Spain. I have money enough +for my wants if I don't go there." + +"What is the real reason, then?" + +"Well, I thought that in an affair of this kind it would be just as +well to get the Governor's concurrence, and so I thought I'd drop a +line to him. I've just got the letter written, and I'll put it in +the mail this evening." + +"You have done right, my boy," said the Senator, paternally. "There +are many excellent reasons for getting your father's consent in an +affair like this." + +"I don't mind reading you what I have written," said Buttons, "if +you care about hearing it." + +"Oh, if you have no objection, we should like to hear very much," +said Dick. + +Whereupon Buttons, taking a letter from his pocket, read as follows: + + +"DEAR FATHER,--I have endeavored to follow out your instructions and +be as economical as possible. + +"During my tour through Italy, have made the acquaintance of the +senior member of the house of Francia, in Cadiz, a gentleman with +whom you are acquainted. He was travelling with his two sisters. +The younger one is very amiable. As I know you would like to see me +settled I have requested her hand in marriage. + +"As I wish to be married before my return I thought I would let you +know. Of course in allying myself to a member of so wealthy a family +I will need to do it in good style. Whatever you can send me will +therefore be quite acceptable. + +"Please reply immediately on receipt of this, addressing me at Paris +as before. + +"And very much oblige E. BUTTONS." + + +"Well," said the Senator, "that's a sensible letter. It's to the +point. I'm glad to see that you are not so foolish as most lads in +your situation. Why should not a man talk as wisely about a +partnership of this kind as of any other? I do declare that these +rhapsodies, this highblown, high-flown, sentimental twaddle is +nauseating." + +"You see, Dick," said Buttons, "I must write a letter which will +have weight with the old gentleman. He likes the terse business +style. I think that little hint about her fortune is well managed +too. That's a great deal better than boring him with the state of +my affections. Isn't it?" + +"There's nothing like adapting your style to the disposition of +the person you address," said Dick. + +"Well," said the Senator, "you propose to start to-morrow, do you?" + +"Yes," said Buttons. + +"I'm agreed then I was just beginning to get used up myself. I'm an +active man, and when I've squeezed all the juice out of a place I +want to throw it away and go to another. What do you say, Dick? You +are silent." + +"Well, to tell the truth," said Dick, "I don't care about leaving +just yet. Gonfaloniere expects me to stay longer, and he would feel +hurt if I hurried off, I am very sorry that you are both going. It +would be capital if you could only wait here a month or so." + +"A month!" cried Buttons. "I couldn't stand it another day. Will +nothing induce you to come? What can we do without you?" + +"What can I do without you?" said Dick, with some emotion. + +"Well, Dick," said the Senator, "I'm really pained. I feel something +like a sense of bereavement at the very idea. I thought, of course, +we would keep together till our feet touched the sacred soil once +more. But Heaven seems to have ordained it otherwise. I felt bad +when Figgs and the Doctor left us at Florence, but now I feel worse +by a long chalk. Can't you manage to come along nohow?" + +"No," said Dick. "I really can not. I really must stay." + +"What! must!" + +"Yes, must!" + +The Senator sighed. + + + + +CHAPTER LVI. + + +THE FAITHFUL ONE!--DARTS, DISTRACTION, LOVE'S VOWS, OVERPOWERING +SCENE AT THE MEETING OF TWO FOND ONES.--COMPLETE BREAK-DOWN OF THE +HISTORIAN. + + +About a month after the departure of the Senator and Buttons from +Milan, Dick reappeared upon the scene at Rome, in front of the +little church which had borne so prominent a part in his fortunes; +true to his love, to his hopes, to his promises, with undiminished +ardor and unabated resolution. He found the Padre Liguori there, +who at once took him to his room in a building adjoining the church. + +"Welcome!" said he, in a tone of the deepest pleasure. "Welcome! +It has been more than a passing fancy, then." + +"It is the only real purpose of my life, I assure you." + +"I must believe you," said Liguori, pressing his hand once more. + +"And now, where is Pepita?" + +"She is in Rome." + +"May I see her at once?" + +"How at once?" + +"Well, to-day." + +"No, not to-day. Her brother wishes to see you first. I must go and +let them both know that you are here. But she is well and has been +so." + +Dick looked relieved. After some conversation Liguori told Dick to +return in an hour, and he could see the Count. After waiting most +impatiently Dick came back again in an hour. On entering he found +Luigi. He was dressed as a gentleman this time. He was a strongly +knit, well-made man of about thirty, with strikingly handsome and +aristocratic features. + +"Let me make my peace with you at once," said he, with the utmost +courtesy. "You are a brave man, and must be generous. I have done +you wrongs for which I shall never forgive myself," and taking +Dick's outstretched hand, he pressed it heartily. + +"Say nothing about it, I beg," said Dick; "you were justified in +what you did, though you may have been a little hasty." + +"Had I not been blinded by passion I would have been incapable of +such a piece of cowardice. But I have had much to endure, and I +was always afraid about her." + +With the utmost frankness the two men received each other's +explanations, and the greatest cordiality arose at once. Dick +insisted on Luigi's taking dinner with him, and Luigi, laughingly +declaring that it would be a sign of peace to eat bread and salt +together, went with Dick to his hotel. + +As they entered Dick's apartments Gonfaloniere was lounging near +the window. He had accompanied Dick to Rome. He started at the +sight of Luigi. + +"God in Heaven!" he cried, bounding to his feet. + +"Ugo!" exclaimed the other. + +"Luigi!" + +And the two men, in true Italian fashion, sprang into one +another's arms. + +"And is my best friend, and oldest friend, the brother of your +betrothed?" asked Gonfaloniere of Dick. + +But Dick only nodded. He was quite mystified by all this. An +explanation, however, was soon made. The two had been educated +together, and had fought side by side in the great movements of +'48, under Garibaldi, and in Lombardy. + +For full an hour these two friends asked one another a torrent +of questions. Luigi asked Gonfaloniere about his exile in America; +whereupon the other described that exile in glowing terms--how he +landed in Boston, how Dick, then little more than a lad, became +acquainted with him, and how true a friend he had been in his +misery. The animated words of Gonfaloniere produced a striking +effect. Luigi swore eternal friendship with Dick, and finally +declared that he must come and see Pepita that very day. + +So, leaving Gonfaloniere with the promise of seeing him again, +Luigi walked with Dick out to the place where he lived. The +reason why he had not wanted him to see Pepita that day was +because he was ashamed of their lodgings. But that had passed, +and as he understood Dick better he saw there was no reason for +such shame. It was a house within a few rods of the church. + +Dick's heart throbbed violently as he entered the door after Luigi +and ascended the steps inside the court-yard. Luigi pointed to a +door and drew back. + + +[Illustration: The Door.] + + +Dick knocked. + +The door opened. + +"Pepita!" + + +*** + + +To describe such a meeting is simply out of the question. + +"I knew you would come," said she, after about one solid hour, in +which not a single intelligible word was uttered. + +"And for you! Oh, Pepita!" + +"You do not think now that I was cruel?" and a warm flush +overspread the lovely face of the young girl. + +"Cruel!" (and Dick makes her see that he positively does not think +so). + +"I could not do otherwise." + +"I love you too well to doubt it." + +"My brother hated you so. It would have been impossible. And I +could not wound his feelings." + +"He's a splendid fellow, and you were right." + +"Padre Liguori showed him what you were, and I tried to explain a +little," added Pepita, shyly. + +"Heaven bless Padre Liguori! As for you--you--" + +"Don't." + +"Well, your brother understands me at last. He knows that I love +you so well that I would die for you." + +Tears came into Pepita's eyes as the sudden recollection arose +of Dick's misadventure on the road. + + +*** + + +"Do you remember," asked Dick, softly, after about three hours +and twenty minutes--"do you remember how I once wished that I was +walking with you on a road that would go on forever?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, we're on that track now." + + +[The Historian of these adventures feels most keenly his utter +inadequacy to the requirements of this scene. Need he say that +the above description is a complete _fiasco_? Reader, your +imagination, if you please.] + + + + +CHAPTER LVII. + + +THE DODGE CLUB IN PARIS ONCE MORE.--BUTTONS'S "JOLLY GOOD HEALTH." + + +Not very long after the events alluded to in the last chapter a +brilliant dinner was given in Paris at the "Hotel de Lille et +d'Albion." On the arrival of the Senator and Buttons at Paris they +had found Mr. Figgs and the Doctor without any trouble. The meeting +was a rapturous one. The Dodge Club was again an entity, although +an important member was not there. On this occasion the one who gave +the dinner was BUTTONS! + + +[Illustration: He's A Jolly Good Fellow.] + + +All the delicacies of the season. In fact, a banquet. Mr. Figgs +shone resplendently. If a factory was the sphere of the Senator, +a supper-table was the place for Mr. Figgs. The others felt that +they had never before known fully all the depth of feeling, of +fancy, and of sentiment that lurked under that placid, smooth, and +rosy exterior. The Doctor was epigrammatic; the Senator sententious; +Buttons uproarious. + +Dick's health was drunk in bumpers with all the honors: + + + "For he's a jolly good fe-e-e-e-e-e-llow! + For he's a jolly good fe-e-e-e-e-e-llow!! + For he's a jolly good FE-E-E-E-E-E-LLOW!!! + Which nobody can deny!" + + +All this time Buttons was more joyous, more radiant, and altogether +more extravagant than usual. The others asked themselves, "Why?" +In the course of the evening it became known. Taking advantage of a +short pause in the conversation he communicated the startling fact +that he had that day received a letter from his father. + +"Shall I read it?" + +"AYE!!!" unanimously, in tones of thunder. + +Buttons opened it and read: + + +DEAR SON.--Your esteemed favor, 15th ult., I have recd. + +"I beg leave hereby to express my concurrence with your design. + +"My connection with the house of Francia has been of the most +satisfactory kind. I have no doubt that yours will be equally so. + +"I inclose you draft on Mess. Dupont Geraud, et Cie of Paris, for +$5000--say five thousand dollars--rect of which please acknowledge. +If this sum is insufficient you are at liberty to draw for what may +be required. + +"I remain, HIRAM BUTTONS." + + +Thunders of applause arose as Buttons folded the letter. + +A speech from the Senator proposed health of Buttons Senior. + +Another from the Doctor. + +Another from Mr. Figgs. + +Acknowledgment by Buttons. + +Announcement by Buttons of immediate departure for Cadiz. + +Wild cheers! Buttons's jolly good health! + + + "For he's a jolly good fe-e-e-e-e-e-llow! + For he's a jolly good fe-e-e-e-f-e-llow!! + For he's a jolly good FE-E-E-E-E-E-LLOW!!! + Which nobody can deny!" + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dodge Club, by James De Mille + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DODGE CLUB *** + +***** This file should be named 27086.txt or 27086.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/0/8/27086/ + +Produced by Marlo Dianne + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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