SAINT PETER'S
THE children now entered the great building. What a glory of colour was
around them. There was a blaze of gold and purple and crimson. The
windows were set with glass of all the beautiful tints of the rainbow.
The floors were laid in small pieces of marble in exquisite patterns.
"Oh, Lucy, Lucy," whispered Tessa, "look at the walls and pillars! Gems
such as your mother wears are shining there. And how beautifully they
are carved."
Lucy's only answer was, "Look overhead, Tessa, and see the paintings.
There are the figures of the apostles. They appear as large as life,
although we are so far below them."
[Illustration: IN ST. PETER'S]
Just then her father told her to notice the pen in St. Luke's hand.
"I have been told that it is seven feet in length," he said, "yet it is
so far away it seems only as long as the one you use at home, Lucy."
Soft music was now heard pealing from the organ, and they moved slowly
along to the seats Mr. Gray had engaged for them.
"Look, look, Lucy!" whispered Tessa, a few minutes after. "He is coming,
and we can see him to-day, I am sure."
It was the Pope, of course. Two enormous fans could be seen waving at
the other end of the great building. The procession of priests and
cardinals, in their purple robes, moved slowly and grandly along. The
Pope was behind them in a chair carried on poles by twelve bearers. The
fans were kept waving on each side of the great man.
As he passed onward between the rows of soldiers in their gorgeous
uniforms, they knelt before him.
"He holds out only two fingers of his hand over the bent heads of the
people. That is all there is of the blessing, I suppose," said Arthur.
"But he smiles pleasantly, and has a kind face."
At last the procession reached the altar. The Pope stood up before the
people, and they could see he was robed in white. He chanted the
service, after which a choir of beautiful voices began to sing. The
balcony where the singers stood was richly gilded.
When the service was ended, Mr. Gray told the children to wait quietly
where they were.
"When most of the people have passed out," he said, "we will walk about
and examine this beautiful cathedral more carefully. There is a great
deal you have not seen yet."
In a few minutes the building was nearly empty, and Mr. Gray led the
way from one part of it to another. He opened the door into one of the
chapels at the side.
"Look within," he said. "This chapel is as large as an ordinary church.
Yet there are a number just like it which lead from the main part of the
cathedral. They seem tiny beside it, though."
Tessa and Beppo loved to stop at the different shrines where the figures
of Jesus and his mother, Mary, were always found. They were beautifully
carved and sparkled with rich jewels.
"Now let us visit the statue of St. Peter himself," said Mr. Gray. "Some
say it was never meant for that good man, but is really the likeness of
a heathen emperor. But nearly every one who worships here does not wish
to believe that. And so many visitors have come here to give him honour
that one toe of the statue is a good deal worn off."
"Why, what do you mean, father?" asked Lucy.
"Just what I said, my dear. It is thought to be quite proper to kiss the
toe of the statue of St. Peter. I don't know how the fashion started,
but, at any rate, I believe thousands upon thousands of people have
knelt before the statue and done that very thing. You can see the marks
of it for yourself."
After St. Peter had been duly examined, Mr. Gray proposed that a visit
should be made to the wonderful dome.
"But there are a good many stairs to climb. Do you think, wife, that you
will be able to mount them?"
"If the little girls can do it, I am sure that I can," replied Mrs.
Gray, as she turned to Tessa and Lucy. It was quite easy to see by their
smiles and nods that they were eager to try it.
"Then let us start at once," said her husband, beckoning to a guide to
show the way.
They passed through a door in the side of the church, and entered a
passage which wound round and round, yet up and still up, till they
reached a balcony around the foot of the dome. The stairway by which
they had come was so broad and rose so gradually that one could easily
mount it on horseback.
"Many a person has ridden to the top on a donkey," the guide told the
children, which amused them very much.
As they looked down from the balcony, the people in the body of the
church seemed like tiny dolls, they were so far below.
"But this is not all," said Mr. Gray. "As soon as you stop panting, we
will go higher yet."
"All ready, father," said Lucy, after a five minutes' rest. "I'm sure we
are equal to another climb now."
The next flight of stairs was very narrow. It led to another balcony
around the top of the dome.
"Do not think this is all," said Mr. Gray. "We can go higher yet, for we
have not reached the lantern."
After much puffing and gasping for breath, and the climbing of more
narrow stairs, they found themselves in a large room inside the lantern.
As they looked out of the windows in that lofty place, a wonderful view
was spread before their eyes. Below was the square, and leading out from
it were many archways with curved tops, like the one through which the
children first entered the church. The palace of the Pope was at hand,
with its wonderful library and art treasures.
Beyond, across the Tiber, lay the great city, with its palaces,
fountains, temples, and the ruins of the greatest and finest buildings
in the world; some of them two thousand years old.
"I can look far out upon the sea that Columbus first sailed," exclaimed
Arthur. "Indeed, it seems as if I could almost see Spain, where he went
to get help. You know the story of Columbus, don't you, Beppo?"
The Italian lad shook his head. No, but he wished to hear it. Would
Arthur tell him the story some day?
Arthur said he would be glad to do so, for, although Columbus was an
Italian, he felt that he belonged to America. Where would he be now, if
Columbus had not discovered the new world? Who should say?
"Look straight down at the roof of the church below us," cried Lucy.
"Did you ever hear of anything so odd? There is a little cottage! The
idea of a house built on the roof of a church! What can be the reason
for its being there?"
"It is only a room made for the workmen," said the guide. "They are busy
all the time repairing the church in one part or another."
"Now let us go home and have the Christmas dinner," said Mr. Gray, after
they had rested a few moments longer.
An hour afterward the children were gathered around the great
dining-table. But there was no Christmas turkey in the middle. There was
a dish of larks instead!
"Poor little birds," said Lucy. "It is too bad to kill tiny things like
you, that we may have something nice to eat."
"What is the bird of your country, Beppo?" asked Arthur.
"I don't know, but I think it ought to be the nightingale," the little
Italian answered. "Ah! I love to hear him, he sings so sweetly." The
boy's face lighted up as he said this. "And what is the bird of America,
Arthur?" he asked.
"The eagle has been chosen, but I think it ought to be the turkey, for
my country gave that glorious fowl to the world."
Mr. and Mrs. Gray laughed at Arthur's words, but a moment after his
father said:
"I quite agree with you, my boy. The turkey truly belongs to us, while
the eagle is not only found in many other lands, but it has been the
national emblem of several countries."
The Christmas holidays passed only too quickly, and the day before
Twelfth Night soon arrived. The shops were full of things suitable for
presents, and a great fair was held in the city, around which crowds of
Italians were busy buying their gifts. Beppo and Tessa wandered up and
down with their American friends.
They were perplexed as to what they should get for their dear ones at
home. There were many things from which to choose. They felt as though
they had quite a little fortune to spend, for Mr. Gray had given each
of them what would be equal to a dollar in our money.
They had never had so much money before, and they turned from one thing
to another before they finally decided upon a dress and a big gilt
brooch for their mother, a new hat for their father, and little red kid
shoes for Francesca.
"She never had any shoes in her life," Tessa told Lucy. "I never had any
either, till your mother gave me these."
When the peasant called at the palace to take the children home, he
brought great news.
"We have a new baby," he said. "It is a beautiful boy just a day old.
And now we must have a christening as soon as Twelfth Night is over. We
will ask the kind artist and his wife, as well as our own friends, to
come."