ROME
ABOUT four o'clock the next morning every one was awake and stirring.
There was much to be done. The vegetables and fruits must be gathered;
the donkey fed and saddled; Tessa's hair must be carefully combed and
arranged in two long braids, and the breakfast of hard bread and olives
eaten.
Tessa could not eat as much as usual to-day, she was so greatly excited.
Think of it! This was to be her first trip to the great city. Her father
and Beppo had told her so much about the wonderful sights there, and now
she was going to look at them with her own eyes. Perhaps she would see
the children of the artist. Beppo had told her of their blue eyes and
golden hair. He called them little angels.
[Illustration: "BEPPO WALKED BY HER SIDE"]
Ah! she would like to be fair like them, she thought, as she looked in
her tiny mirror. She did not dream how they would admire her own sweet
dark face and soft voice.
Now it was six o'clock and time to start. Tessa seated herself on
Pietro's back with her legs hidden by the bags of fruit. Beppo walked by
her side, while her father went ahead leading Pietro by a rope.
Although it was so early, everybody in the village seemed to be up and
doing. As she passed along, Tessa nodded good morning to the old women
knitting or braiding straw on the door-steps.
"Pietro, do be careful," she cried, as the donkey picked his way among
babies tumbling over each other in the narrow street while the older
children played about them.
Our little party passed the fountain where a group of women were doing
the family washing. Every one had a good word for Tessa, and wished her
well, for the good news of last night had travelled from house to house.
The narrow streets were paved with blocks of black lava which had once
flowed red-hot from the volcano, Vesuvius. High stone buildings that
were hundreds of years old stood on each side. Perhaps in far-away times
they had been forts or castles, but now the simple peasants lived in
them with no thought of the grand old days of their country.
For this was Italy, the land of sunny skies and the treasure-house of
the world. Look in your geography at the map of Europe and find the
oddly shaped peninsula that stretches downward between two seas. It
looks something like a man's boot, don't you think so?
Tessa doesn't know anything about the shape of her country, however. She
has never studied geography. In fact, she can't even read, for she has
been to school only six months altogether.
The good priest in the village loves the little girl. He has known Beppo
and Tessa ever since they were born. He has tried to make it possible
for these children to get learning, but many things have happened to
prevent their studying.
One winter their father had a broken leg; at another, their mother was
sick in bed for one whole year. When that trouble was over, the chestnut
crop was very poor, and every one in the family had to work hard to earn
enough to save them from starving. Something had been the matter nearly
all the time, yet they had kept cheerful and happy. A change would come
at last, if they loved the good Lord as they should. This is what
Tessa's mother had said again and again.
The little girl thought of her mother's words as she rode proudly off on
the donkey.
One of Beppo's boy friends went with them as far as the pasture-land
below the village. He was driving a flock of goats which he must tend
during the day. It was an easy life, but very tedious, and the boy
wished he could go to the city, too. He had been there once, to the
carnival. It was the grand time of his life, and he loved to tell the
story over and over to his young friends.
At first the donkey trotted along quite merrily. His feet were so sure
that Tessa had no fear of his stumbling, though the way at first was
steep and stony.
"Good Pietro," said his little rider as she patted his head.
Perhaps the praise was too much for him, for Pietro turned his head to
one side and came to a standstill. An idea seemed to have come to him.
It was time for rest and a lunch. Look at those nice tufts of grass by
the roadside. They must not be left behind. And Pietro began to nibble,
as though he had no idea of the important business of the day.
Tessa coaxed and Beppo scolded, but the donkey would not budge. It was
only when his master turned back and snapped the whip, that he changed
his mind about going forward.
This was only the first of many such stops before they drew near the
city that was once the greatest in the whole world. It well deserved the
name of Rome, or "The Famous."
"What are those large mounds we are passing?" Tessa asked her father as
she looked off over the Campagna.
"Those are tombs of men who lived ages ago in this loved country of
ours. They were very great, and did noble deeds."
"But, babbo, there is a house built on one of the mounds."
"Yes, my child, the people have not kept them honoured as they should."
"Tessa, look at that stone water-way running through the plain," said
Beppo. "They have told me in the city that a great ruler built it
thousands of years ago. Think of that, Tessa. Thousands! It cost vast
sums of money, and was made to bring the water to the city from the
distant mountains. In those days great quantities of water were used in
immense bath-houses. But see, we are passing an inn. I wish we were rich
enough to go in and have some lunch."
His father heard Beppo's words. "Don't wish for what you cannot have, my
boy," he said. "Look at that poor old man tending his flock of sheep,
and be glad you are young and gay. That is best of all."
The Italians dread old age, and many of the peasants fear death. Beppo
saw the shadow pass across his father's face, and, like a good son,
tried to make it look as cheerful as usual.
"You shall not grow old and bent like that, babbo. Tessa and I will
soon be able to let you take your ease. What do you say, sister?"
Tessa laughed, and answered, "Oh, yes, babbo, your work is nearly done
now, for we are fast growing up."
Tessa was only nine years old, but coming to the city to be a model made
her feel as though she were a young woman already. They now entered the
wonderful city filled with treasures.
It disappointed Tessa at first. The streets were narrow and crooked,
like those of her own little village. The high stone houses looked dark
and gloomy. And there were beggars here! They looked poorer and more
ragged than any people at home. Here was an old blind woman holding out
a plate in which the passers-by were asked to put a piece of money.
Tessa wished she could help her, but she was too poor herself, and the
party passed on.
"You can't tell about these places by the outside," Beppo whispered.
"Many of them are palaces, Tessa. Just wait till we come to our artist's
house. It is grand inside, and there is a court in the middle of the
building with fountains and statues and beautiful plants. And back of
the house--but I won't tell you any more. You must wait till you get
there. It is very lovely."
At last the donkey came to a standstill in front of a tall building. It
was seven stories high and was all of marble.
"You knew when to stop, little beastie," said his master. "You never
make mistakes of that kind, if you do like to nibble the grass at the
wrong time. Get down, Tessa, this is where Mr. Gray lives.
"The artist has his studio far up at the top of the building. You are to
go there this morning, but his family live on the fourth piano.
Good-bye, little ones. Be good children." The father kissed them
lovingly and went away with Pietro to sell his fruit.
Piano, as applied to a building, means floor in Italian. It is very
common in Italy to find very different kinds of people living on the
several floors, or pianos, of one building. In this old palace, which
Tessa and Beppo entered for the first time, very poor and dirty families
were huddled together on the first floor with their dogs and other pets.
Yes, even the horse of one of the families shared their home in this
fine building.
But overhead, on the second floor, there lived a prince, a real live
prince, with a dozen servants to wait on him. It did not trouble him
that poor and dirty people were below him, because the walls were high
and thick, and the floors were of marble. He did not seem to know even
that there were such people in the world.
Beppo and Tessa climbed twenty-seven marble steps before they came to
the second piano; and still they must keep going up, up, up, until they
reached the very top.
"Stop, stop," Tessa had to say more than once. "I am quite out of
breath, and then, too, I am scared just a little bit. Beppo, do I look
all right? Do you think the artist will take me?"
Then Beppo would put his arm around his sister and comfort her with
loving words. But at last the studio was reached, and the children,
flushed and excited, knocked at the door.
"My father came with us to the city to-day. He said you wished to see
us," Beppo grew bold enough to say when a pleasant-faced gentleman
opened the door. "He will call for us again to-night."
"Come in, little ones," the gentleman answered in Italian. "I am glad
you are here. This is Beppo, I believe. I have seen you before. And
here is the little sister. How do you do, my child? Make yourselves
quite at home in these easy chairs."
While he was speaking to the children he was thinking, "How beautiful
the little girl is! She will do finely. The two will make a great
picture. My own children must see them."
Then he went on talking with Tessa. He showed her some curiosities and
she soon forgot her bashfulness. But it was a long day. To be sure, the
children had a delicious lunch which a servant brought up to the studio.
The kind artist insisted they should not touch the food they had brought
with them from home.
But after all, it was very tiresome to sit quite still for half an hour
at a time. And all the while the strange gentleman's eyes were fixed on
them while his hand was busy with the brush.
"This is just a sketch to-day, children. After this, I shall need only
one of you at a time. But I like to have you come together,
nevertheless. And now your work is over for the day.
"Pretty hard not to move about freely, little one, isn't it?" he said,
as he patted Tessa on the chin. Then he rang the bell and told the
servant to call his own children up to the studio. He would not have
done this if he had not seen that his young models were unlike many of
the poor children of the city.
"They are gentle and polite, if they are peasants," he said to himself.
"My wife will be pleased, for Lucy and Arthur are lonesome and need some
playmates of their own age."
A moment afterward merry voices were heard and the Gray children came
skipping into the room.
"They are certainly angels," Tessa said to herself when she saw the
golden curls of Lucy and the fair, sweet faces of her brother and
herself. But she could not tell what they said, for they spoke in a
strange tongue.
"It is not soft like our own dear Italian," she whispered to Beppo. "It
is hard, this American language."
"They call it English, and not American," her brother answered. "I am
going to learn it sometime, myself."
The artist turned from them to his own children. He spoke in Italian.
"Lucy and Arthur are just beginning to speak your tongue, Tessa, but
they learn fast. They wish to know you and Beppo. I told them you were
coming. They would like to play with you, but as yet they cannot talk
much Italian. It is an hour yet before your father will come for you.
Would you like to go down into the garden and walk among the flowers for
a little while?"
Tessa's eyes sparkled with delight, and her heart beat quite fast when
Lucy stretched out her white hand and held fast her own brown one.
"Come, Tessa and Beppo," said Arthur, who now spoke to his young
visitors for the first time. "Come, and I will show you the garden."
The four children left the studio and ran down the great staircase. They
did not stop until they found themselves on the ground floor. Then they
passed out through a wide doorway into the courtyard.
Tessa held her breath with delight.
"Beppo, Beppo, look at that fountain," she cried. "And see the lovely
cherub with its wings spread."
Lucy understood the words and she was pleased.
"The prince owns this court," she said, "but he has told father that we
may come here and bring our friends when we like. Let us go into the
gardens beyond."
[Illustration: IN THE PALACE GARDEN]
The little Italians had hardly time to notice the statues and the
beautiful plants before they were led into the great garden.
Here were orange-trees loaded with the yellow fruit. There were beds of
flowers in bloom, although it was late in November. Beyond, were stone
walls over which delicate vines were creeping, and marble statues were
half hidden in the niches.
"There is a lizard," cried Arthur. "Don't you see him creeping along
that stone wall? He's a little fellow, but, oh, my, he's quick in his
motions."
"Listen!" said Beppo, who had forgotten his shyness now. "I will charm
him. But you must all keep still."
He gave a long, low whistle. The lizard, which had crept into a hole,
raised his head and looked toward the children in delight, as he drew
himself to the top of the wall and lay quite still.
Again Beppo whistled in the same way, and the lizard crept nearer. And
now he stretched himself at length upon the walk at Beppo's feet.
"I could keep him charmed like that all day long," said the boy. "It is
queer, isn't it? Did you ever notice a lizard's feet?"
"What do you mean? The odd way the toes swell out on the edges?" Arthur
asked.
"Yes. That is why the creature can walk across the ceiling like a fly.
But it isn't the only reason, for a sticky substance oozes out, and that
helps his feet to fasten themselves. I've seen them do it many times."
"I wonder how they make that queer noise," said Lucy.
"They smack their tongues back in their mouths, somehow," answered
Beppo. "They are ugly little things, aren't they? But mother won't let
me kill them when they get in the house, because they eat up the flies
and spiders."
The children were walking now between two rows of laurel-trees.
"How dark and glossy the leaves are," said Lucy. "I think they are
lovely. I like to get them and make wreaths. Then I take them up-stairs
and put them on father's and mother's heads. I pretend I am crowning
them as the heroes in Italy were crowned long ago." Lucy forgot her
Italian and fell into English before she had half finished. It was no
wonder that Tessa and Beppo could not understand.
Arthur saw the puzzled look in their faces and tried to explain. He was
older than his sister and could speak Italian better than she.
"Lucy means this: I suppose you know that your country was once very
great."
Beppo nodded his head. Oh, yes, and he believed it to be very great,
still.
"And Rome was the leading city in the whole wide world," Arthur went on.
"Great deeds were done by her people; great battles were fought; great
books were written; great palaces were built. Well, in the olden times,
whenever a person had done some truly great thing, he was crowned with a
wreath of laurels. Father told me this, so I know it must be true.
"But come, I am afraid your father will be waiting for you. I didn't
notice how fast the time was going."
They hurried back to the house. There, to be sure, were Pietro and his
master. It had been a fine day. The fruit was all sold for a good price,
and their father was eager to hear how the time had passed with his
children.
"Oh, babbo, babbo, they were so kind, those good Americans. And I am
very happy," said Tessa. She said this softly as she leaned over the
donkey's side to pat her father's face while they were on the way home.
"The little girl (her name is Lucy, babbo,) did not seem to notice my
bare feet and darned frock. She held my hand a long time, and I know I
shall love her."