CHAPTER XIX
A YOUTHFUL GUIDE
As the days passed Mr. Pinckney seemed to have forgotten entirely his original intention of deserting his friends in Venice, and of bearing Miss Dolores away beyond the attentions of Harold Kirk. He was his old jolly, generous self, so that every one had the best of times in consequence of his enthusiasm and eagerness for fun. Sometimes he would take the twins off for a frolic leaving the others to follow some fancy of their own; again he would have the whole party to dinner at some pleasant outdoor restaurant, where queer Italian dishes were served. There were excursions to Murano to see the glass-works, to Burano to see the lace-makers, to Torcello, to Chioggia on a feast day, and oftener than anywhere to the Lido, a place which the younger girls adored.
There seemed to be good feeling on the part of Mr. Pinckney toward both Carter and his cousin, and there were no more frowns, though once or twice when Mr. Pinckney caught Jack looking at him speculatively, he gave her a quizzical glance in return, but he never allowed the subject they had discussed at the breakfast table to be brought up again.
At last came a day when Miss Helen and Mrs. Corner decided that they must leave Venice if they were to see anything of other places. So again they packed up in order to start for Florence. This decision of theirs was the signal for the rest to make a move and all traveled in company.
"If I only had my motor car here we could get another, and go through Italy in that way," said Carter. "What jolly good times we had in California traveling around together."
"We'll do it again some time," Miss Helen assured him. "It is too delightful a thing not to make a separate and distinct tour of. Now you have started, Carter, no doubt you will come over often."
"Maybe," he said, "though one mustn't do too much junketing, once he is settled down to the real business of life. Dad thought I had been pretty diligent in some ways, and he said I deserved a bit of a change, though if Mr. and Mrs. Roberts hadn't made up their minds to have a houseful of company this summer, I doubt if I should have left them."
"But you did want to see us, didn't you, Carter?" asked Jack who was never far away when Carter was on hand.
"Of course I did, and that is precisely why I came, though under different circumstances I might have felt that I ought to stay behind. We often can't do the things we want to, Jack, my honey, and often we must do things we don't like to."
Jack did not apply this quite as it was intended as was apparent by what followed, for she nodded to Mr. Pinckney and said: "Do you hear that, Mr. St. Nick?"
"What's that?" he asked looking up from his time-table.
Jack repeated what Carter had said, and Mr. Pinckney's jolly laugh followed. "Oh, but you are a rogue," he said. "Come over here." Jack obeyed. "Look over there," said Mr. Pinckney, "and say if I am not a devoted and long-suffering grandfather."
Jack looked to see Miss Dolores and Mr. Kirk slowly walking together, evidently absorbed in a deeply interesting conversation. They were all at the moment making a last visit to the Lido and the next day would start for Florence.
To this city Nan had looked forward with great expectancy, and though at first she was disappointed, after being possessed with the beauty of Venice, in a day or two she was quite satisfied that Florence held its own delights which were even more satisfying to her than those of Venice. Its galleries, its churches, its history, its environs opened, one after another, a series of interests which appealed to the girl strongly. She did not despise its lighter charms either, for she reveled in the gay shops along the Lungarno, and the displays of the goldsmiths on the Ponte Vecchio. The Cascine, the Boboli Gardens and the gardens of San Miniato were places for which the twins clamored to be taken often, and there was generally some one in the party to indulge them; if not Miss Helen or Mrs. Corner, then Mr. Pinckney or Carter would offer escort. So while the others prowled around picture galleries and discussed churches the twins were off on some excursion which better pleased their youthful tastes.
All this while Miss Dolores seemed unconscious of the interest her love affair was exciting. She knew very well, however, that her grandfather did not approve of it in the beginning, but feeling that she owed everything to him she had docilely accepted his decisions. She realized that it would be hard to part from Mr. Kirk, and she knew the separation might mean the giving up of her lover entirely, but whatever she felt she kept within her own heart. So it was a surprise to her when her grandfather suddenly accepted Mr. Kirk as a member of the happy party and included him in invitations and plans which she shared.
It was intended to spend Easter at Rome, but at the last moment the grown-ups decided to remain in Florence because Rome was so crowded that good rooms for so large a number of persons would be difficult to get, and because the children would enjoy Lo Scoppio del Carro quite as much as anything they might see in Rome where the Carnival had lost many of its pleasant features.
"You don't want our girls in that rabble on the Corso," said Mr. Pinckney. "We'd better stay here and see the Columbina."
So stay they did, and on the Saturday before Easter gathered with the rest of the crowd before the cathedral, their carriages joining the line of others, to watch for the great car filled with fireworks. Hundreds of country people had assembled, for this was a great occasion to them, much depending, in their superstitious minds, upon the voyage of the dove.
Jack and Jean, as interested as the Italian spectators, craned their necks to see the famous Columbina. "What does it look like?" asked Jean. "Is it a real dove?"
"No," her Aunt Helen told her, "it is only a contrivance in the shape of one."
"How does it get here?"
"It is lighted at the high altar during the Gloria and is run along a string or wire to the car."
This was not so very mysterious, but was sufficiently interesting to be looked for eagerly, and its progress to and from the altar became a more exciting thing to watch than the fireworks themselves.
At last the fireworks ceased. There was a movement in the crowd. Something else was to follow. "Oh, see the white oxen," cried Jack.
Every one looked to see the mild-eyed creatures who, with slow tread, dragged the car to the Via del Proconsolo.
The Corner party followed, their driver taking a short cut so they would be in time to see the arrival of the car, and to watch the remainder of the fireworks which were set off at the Canto de' Pazzi.
As they drove home they stopped at the flower market in the arcades of the Uffizi, and bore home their Easter flowers. "Such a lot of them and so cheap," said Mary Lee. "No wonder they call the city Florence, for what could be more flowery at this time of year?"
The carriages were dismissed at the flower market and all walked along the Lungarno to their hotel, stopping once in a while to look in the shop-windows or to interchange remarks.
"We shall go to the Boboli Garden to-morrow," announced the twins. "Mr. St. Nick is going to take us. We think it is the prettiest thing in Florence."
"What do you like best, Nan?" Jack asked.
"Oh, the galleries, the Uffizi and the Pitti, of course."
"What do you like best, Jo?" Jack continued her inquiries.
Jo confessed to a weakness for the shops on the Ponte Vecchio; Mary Lee liked the Foundling Hospital with its medallions by Della Robbia; Carter admired the cathedral. What Mr. Kirk and Miss Dolores liked best in Florence Jack did not ask. She whispered to Nan to know if she should put the question to them.
Nan glanced at the two who were standing absorbed in something of mutual interest. "I can tell you what they like," she whispered back.
"What?" again in a whisper.
"Each other," returned Nan. Jack's giggle showed that she appreciated the answer.
Easter Sunday with all the pomp and ceremony of a celebration at the cathedral. Easter Monday, a last visit to the gardens, to the shops, and they were off again, this time for Rome.
Nan and Carter sat poring over the latter's Baedeker during the journey. "Dear me, it would take a lifetime, wouldn't it, Carter?" said Nan. "How can we see it all?"
"We can't," he replied. "We shall have to begin by picking out the most important things. I say the Forum first."
"Oh, dear, yes, and then St. Peter's."
"Of course again – and – "
"St. Peter's includes the Vatican."
"Which means days of looking if we are to see all."
"We must drive out the Appian way."
"And see the Catacombs."
"Yes, that comes in with the drive. We must go up the Capitoline hill to the Museum."
"And the Pincio."
"And, oh, Carter, of all things, we have forgotten the Coliseum."
"So we have, and naturally that is one of the most important things."
"I am quite dizzy over it already. Don't let's write down any more till after we have seen these. Isn't it overpowering? London is nowhere. Paris is a mere nothing. I am perfectly wild with anticipation. It's Rome we are to see, that wonderful, wonderful city. The more I read about it the more enthusiastically bewildered I get. Hallo, Jo, what do you think of it? Do you know where we are going?"
"Don't speak to me," said Jo from the other end of the seat. "I am goose-flesh from top to toe. From this time out I expect to go about with my mouth agape and my eyes popping out. Oh, Nan, what would Frances Powers give to have this chance?"
"Poor Frances," returned Nan with a sigh.
"You always say that, and yet you are the one who has least reason to be sorry for her."
"Maybe that is just it," replied Nan. "I have so much reason to feel the other way that the pendulum has swung back. She has the worst of it."
"The girls are all home for the Easter holidays now," said Jo reflectively. "I think it will be rather good fun to go back there after all, and after this year's travel. Think what a sensation I shall make and what an authority I shall be, yet it will be rather hard to get into the traces again, and to subsist on the everlasting baked apples and baked beans."
"Our holiday has been a tremendously long one," said Nan, "for though we have done some studying, there is much of the time we have taken our mental nourishment in other ways than from books. I am glad Miss Barnes agreed that travel would count as study and that we should not lose by giving up school-books for part of the time. Who was Caracalla, Carter? I see something about the Thermæ of Caracalla here in the book."
"He was a Roman emperor of about 212 B. C."
"That's enough," cried Jo. "Anything B. C. gets beyond my assimilation. I can't digest it till I have taken a course of treatment, fish or brain food of some kind. I think while I am in Rome I must consult a physician and get him to recommend a diet that will increase my supply of gray matter."
"You certainly do talk funny, Jo Keyes," said Mary Lee. "You are always trying to make out that you haven't any brains, and yet you are always the one who rises to the occasion and who comes up smiling whatever the rest of us do. When Nan and I get completely snowed under by dates and chronological events you glibly reel them off and tell us that so-and-so was the daughter of King This-and-That, and that Emperor XYZ married Princess Tutti-Frutti. Why even that mixy up Bavarian history you had all smoothed out fine before we came away."
Jo blew Mary Lee a kiss from the tips of her fingers. "Thanks for the bouquets," she said. "Just because I know a little arithmetic you think I am smart. When it comes to real literature I am floored." She began to gather up her traps for they were approaching the station and soon their feet would be treading the streets of the Eternal City.
A few moments in the station, a swift drive to their hotel and they were established in Rome.
There was such a variety of wishes displayed the next morning that the party split up into three sections. Mr. Pinckney, Miss Dolores, Mary Lee and Mr. Kirk, as a matter of course, yearned to see St. Peter's. Nan, Carter and Jo voted for the Forum, so Miss Helen agreed to join them. This left Mrs. Corner and the twins to decide upon what they should see. Jack was divided between a desire to be of the party with Carter and to go to the Coliseum, a place upon which Jean had set her heart. At last Jean's references to the early martyrs and to the dens and chambers for the wild beasts so fired Jack's imagination that she concluded to go with her mother and Jean.
"It is too large a party anyhow," declared Miss Helen. "We shall all get along much more comfortably this way."
"Of course Mary Lee would go with Miss Dolores," remarked Nan, "and of course Jean and Jack wanted to be harrowed by a view of the spot where the early Christians were martyred. I suppose Jack will be in tears over it while Jean will be interested in seeing where they used to keep the lions and tigers, and will placidly tell Jack that it all happened so long ago that there is no use in one's feeling badly about it." This described the temperaments of the two so well that all laughed.
"Will there be a moon?" asked Nan abruptly just before they reached the car which would take them to their destination.
Miss Helen laughed. "Are you dreaming, Nan? It isn't night."
Nan laughed, too. "I was thinking of the Coliseum. The guide-book says it is best seen at moonlight, and I was wondering if we would have a chance to do that."
"I think we shall, but not till the latter part of our stay."
"As long as we get it in, that will be all right."
Arriving at the point from which the Forum could be best viewed from above, the four stood looking toward it silently, each impressed by the sight of the historic columns, the triumphal arches, the ruined temples.
"To think," murmured Miss Helen, "that it is comparatively but a short time ago that all this was buried under rubbish, that it was a spot which for a long time was practically hidden from view until the nineteenth century."
"Why was that, Miss Helen?" asked Jo.
"Because in warring against paganism the temples were destroyed, the stones were carried away to build into churches and castles, and the very name Forum was forgotten. You can read all about it in Baedeker, my dear," said Miss Helen with a smile at Jo's look of admiration at her knowledge.
"Let's read up, Nan, as soon as we get home," said Jo enthusiastically.
Their talk was at this moment broken in upon by a queer little figure which approached. A little fellow of about twelve or thirteen was taking as long strides as he was capable of toward them. He was dressed in manly attire, long trousers, sack coat and Derby hat. "Want a guide?" he asked. "I show you alla, evrasing, verra sheep."
The four looked at one another and grinned. His was such a comical appearance, for he was small for his age, and had such a serious air. Even Miss Helen smiled.
"I spika Engglis," continued the boy. He struck an attitude. "Frienda Roma, contra-manna. I coma bury Cæsar," he began.
The three younger ones of the party turned away their heads, and broke into suppressed giggles. The boy was so ridiculous with his little pompous manner.
Miss Helen bit her lip, but managed to ask, "What do you know about being a guide, a little boy like you?"
"I know alla as big manna. He sharge molto, mucha, me, no. Me, verra clever." He smote his breast with an air of assured self-importance.
"Do let's have him," whispered Nan to her aunt. "Even if he isn't any good he is so funny."
"What is your charge?" asked Miss Helen, turning to the boy.
He named a moderate enough price with all the gravity possible.
"It's worth it," murmured Carter, "just to see the little rat and his airs."
"Very well," agreed Miss Helen, "you may come with us. I don't suppose he knows a thing or will do anything right," she said to the others, "but I have my Baedeker with me, and he is funny."
The boy strode ahead, taking as mighty steps as his short legs would permit, and presently began his lecture, waving a small hand in the direction of the Temple of Saturn, and naming the buildings correctly enough. When he thought his party had exhausted the resources above he turned abruptly. "Come along," he said peremptorily, and with long strides marched ahead.
"He takes the Cook guides for his pattern," laughed Miss Helen. The boy did not hear, but with the same air of importance led his party over the ground. At the slightest word of appreciation, he would smite his breast and say, "Me verra clever." Before he had finished with them he had taken them to the Capitoline Hill, had procured them post-cards at a figure less than that usually charged, had marched them to the church of Santa Maria in Arcoeli that they might view the wonder-working bambino laden with jewels, and in his queer jargon of broken English told them many things with such an air of gravity as convulsed them. Jo once in a while managed to reach the boy in him, and his merry laugh, in strong contrast to his costume and his general manner, was the more contagious.
He had really fulfilled his promise so well, and as Carter said, was "such an amusing little rat" that the others of the party employed him later and as a matter of course Jack brought him out wonderfully, and was able to learn more from him than any one else.
At the close of the first day, each was so enthusiastic about what he or she had seen that the different parties followed the example of one another the next day, a sort of ladies' change, Jo said, though after this they divided up in various ways. Sometimes it was Mr. Pinckney who carried off all four Corners; again it would be two of these who would go in one direction and two in another. At another time the whole company of eleven would take carriages for an afternoon's drive or sightseeing, finally having supper at some out-of-door restaurant, and coming home through the lighted streets, happy though tired.
Nan had her sight of the Coliseum by moonlight, and was stirred to the depths by the grandeur and solemnity of the scene. It was an evening not to be forgotten by any of them, and it may be remarked in passing that it was a specially happy one to Miss Dolores and Mr. Kirk.
So day after day passed until one morning Mrs. Corner remarked, "If we expect to reach Naples before it is too hot, we shall have to think of getting there, for May is passing."
"Leave Rome?" exclaimed the girls.
"Don't you want to see Naples?"
"Of course, but why can't we – " began Mary Lee.
"Do what?"
"I don't know. Make time stand still, I suppose."
"Rome will remain, dear child, and you can come back some day."
"I know, and of course we have been here over two weeks now. Well, mother, I suppose we shall have to go."
"Don't say it so mournfully, my child. You will be delighted with Naples, with Sorrento, Amalfi, Capri, Pompeii."
"Oh, I know it. This earth has more in it than one can well see in a short lifetime. I can't understand how people can ever be bored."
"Like that awful Mrs. Ritchie on the steamer," said Nan; "she didn't know what places there were left to visit for she and her daughter had been everywhere. Shall you ever forget her blasé look and set smile?"
"Her name just suited her," declared Jo. "She was just rich and nothing else. I was so pleased when Miss Helen drew her out, and found that she had been only to the big cities and that she didn't know anything but shops, theatres and restaurants."
"There is no danger of this crowd ever getting bored," remarked Nan. "The trouble is we are too enthusiastic, for we like the little simple things as much as the big ones, and when we have exhausted our vocabularies over some small matter we have no words left to express what we feel for the great ones. Is go the word, mother?"
"Yes, I think it must be if we are to see anything of southern Italy before we sail for – "
"Home, home, sweet home," broke in a chorus of voices.
"And that is another thing to be enthusiastic about," said Nan at the close of the outburst. "There is the getting back and the seeing all the dear old places and the darling people."