NAPLES IS CLOSE AT HAND.
THE discomforts of the voyage, however, were very few; and after the
strong winds died away, and the sky got rid of the wind clouds, and
brought forth its merry sunshine again, the passengers crowded the
decks, and took their ease in their comfortable steamer chairs, reading,
writing, or just being lazy awhile, and the children played the game of
"shuffle-board," and "tag," and "hide-and-seek," and such games as
little people when they get together whether on land or shipboard, enjoy
with all their might and main. Polly and Teddy laughed as loud and as
often as the rest of the children, and bumped with the "grown-ups"
during "tag" quite as frequently, but they always said: "Excuse me!"
when they did so, and if it was a lady they ran against Teddy's cap was
off in an instant while he made his little polite apology. I regret to
say the other little ones were apt to forget that small act of
politeness; they were so fearful of being "tagged," perhaps they hadn't
time for apologies for unintentional rudeness. But after awhile, in some
way, they caught the trick from Polly and Teddy, and surely that was a
good thing, wasn't it? (I only mention this to show you that even little
people--no matter how little they are--can influence each other for good
or bad, and it is so much better to choose the "good," you know).
And now I come to the day--or rather the early morning of the day--when
the good ship steamed into the beautiful Bay of Naples with her colors
flying, her band playing, and a crowd of excited and early risers
amongst the passengers at the deck railings. Amongst them, of course,
were our little couple and Mamma and Papa, and the children were wild
with delight over the novelty of the scenes before them: the swarms of
small native boats, which hung around under the steamship's sides, at
her bow, and under her stern; the natives themselves, calling out in
their whining tones for "_Monie, monie!_" (money); the little Italian
lads who were constantly diving for the pennies some of the laughing
passengers were tossing into the water.
You would not believe they could possibly have found those pennies (they
were not "_pennies_" as _we_ call our coppers, but small coin of not
even the value of one of our pennies, and which were called
"_centesimi_") in the water; but then you must know the water in the Bay
of Naples is very blue--oh! a beautiful blue--and very transparent, and
those small imps of divers would dart head-first down below the surface,
and catch the coin in their teeth, and come up laughing, ready for more.
Our children had, during the voyage, seen porpoises jumping out of the
water, and had seen the signalling of the few passing ships, and had
thought those sights great fun. Think, then, how "all-overish with
gladness" they felt here in Naples harbor, watching these foreign
scenes, and so happy with the novelty of their position that they fairly
longed to open their rosy mouths and _whoop_ after their usual fashion
at home.
They looked ahead of them and saw the pretty city of Naples gleaming in
the shine of the early rising sun, with its terraced gardens rising one
above the other in masses of green foliage, through which the
gaily-colored roofs of houses and other buildings could be seen. It made
a charming and picturesque sight for everybody; and even those who had
seen it all many times before, perhaps, felt the same thrill of delight
as our dear little couple were feeling as they beheld it all for the
very first time.
"It makes me feel so full in here!" said Polly, to her mother, while her
blue eyes shone like stars.
[Illustration]
"Me, too!" echoed Master Teddy, placing his hand as Polly did, on his
heart, and drawing a long breath.
But we must hurry on with our story. (Don't blame _me_, children, for
hurrying, and leaving out much you would like to know, but blame the
_Publishers_, for it is all their fault, I'll tell you privately.) When,
at last, our party found themselves on the dock, and were waiting for
Papa to finish attending to the baggage, Polly saw something which made
her cry out: "Oh! look!" It was a little bower all decorated with large
yellow lemons, larger than any lemons the children had ever seen before.
The bower was coming straight towards them, and they couldn't see what
made it move. From the top of the little arch (the _inside_ of the arch,
which was just like a tiny summer-house) more big lemons were hanging,
and also some little glasses, which were hanging by handles. As the
queer thing came nearer, the children discovered that the small bower
was built upon a little hand-cart, and that a brown-faced Italian lad,
no older than Teddy, was drawing it between shafts, as though he had
been a little pony. He was so nearly hidden by vines and lemon boughs
that it was no wonder he had not at first been seen by Teddy and Polly,
whose bright eyes were seeing so much. Nestling amongst vines on the
bottom of the cart was a bright tin pail, and that was full of lemonade,
which looked very clean and nice because it had just been freshly made.
The little lemonade vendor came close to our party, and began a low,
bird-like beautiful whistle. It sounded like a flute at first, then like
a bird, then like a sweet Eolian harp, and even Mamma was delighted to
hear it. After he had finished, his black eyes twinkled, and he said in
broken English which Italian children readily pick up: "Buy limonade! ze
signorina buy limonade? vera chip" (cheap), "on'y fiva centa glass!" He
filled a glass and handed it to Polly--"_ze little mees!_"
"We're very fond of lemonade, Auntie Darling," said Teddy, casting
wistful eyes upon the cool drink.
"Well, you shall have some then," laughed Mamma, and Teddy and Polly
took their first refreshment on Italian shores. The little Beppo grinned
at them, pulled a ragged cap from a mass of black, close curling hair,
and, dropping his _centesimi_ (with which Mrs. Darling had provided
herself before leaving the steamer, at the purser's office) into his
pocket, he began a merry whistle again and moved off in search of more
custom.