The blue, blue sky was over my head, and the waves were breaking below
on the shore. I walked through the little chapel, and I saw the Madonna
in blue and red, and the Christ carrying his cross, and the Roman
soldiers with the rod, and the Blessed Bambino with its broken face;
and then I walked down the sloping rock to the brick pathway. The olive
trees stood up on either side of the road, their black berries and
pale-green leaves stood out against the sky; and the little ice-plants
hung from the crevices in the stone wall. It seemed to me as if it must
have rained while I was asleep. I thought I had never seen the heavens
and the earth look so beautiful before. I walked down the road. The old,
old, old tiredness was gone.
Presently there came a peasant boy down the path leading his ass; she
had two large panniers fastened to her sides; and they went down the
road before me.
I had never seen him before; but I should have liked to walk by him and
to have held his hand--only, he would not have known why.
Alassio, Italy.