"Where are we going, father?" demanded Molly, as the boat which they
had just come aboard sailed slowly out toward the open sea.
"And why did we climb onto this steamer 'way out here in the deep
water?" asked May.
"Oh, this is part of the surprise for to-day," answered their father.
"Don't you like it?"
"Of course we like it," said Molly. "I even like those pirates, though
I am glad they have gone back to their cave. But please tell us where
we are going, father."
"Well, we are bound for the island of Capri, away off in the distance.
It is about seven miles from here."
"But why didn't this boat come to the shore and get us?" asked May
again.
"Just because the water close to the shore is not deep enough for so
large a boat to sail on," said her father.
"Did those men know you wanted to go on this steamer?"
"Yes," answered her father. "It is their business to bring out in
their boats people who want to go to Capri."
"Then they really are not pirates at all," said Molly in a
disappointed voice.
"No, I am afraid not," answered her father. "But they have helped you
to play a real pirate's trick. How did you like it?"
So they talked and asked questions as they sailed on over the clear,
blue water, until the sun dropped suddenly behind the rim of the
humpbacked island. Then beautiful rainbow colors were poured out over
the sky and the sea and the island. But soon the rose and golden tints
changed to silver and violet, and the rocky old island looked like a
great purple camel with a double hump on its back, kneeling in a sea
of shimmering blue and lavender.
Between the humps nestled the pretty village of old Capri,
surrounded by lemon groves and vineyards. High up on one of the humps
clung the little village of Anacapri, and close down by the water's
edge snuggled a few pink and white and blue houses waiting to welcome
travelers who might come to their shore.
It would be hard to tell all that Molly and May did and all that they
saw during four happy days on the island. The people of Capri seem to
live out of doors, for the warm sunshine and fresh breezes make summer
and winter much alike there.
Some of the streets of the little old town are no wider than American
sidewalks, and most of those that lead uphill have steps in them. Long
ago, when these streets were built, there were no horses and carriages
on the island. People carried their heavy loads on their heads, or on
the backs of faithful donkeys.
Donkeys can climb stairs almost as well as men, so they are still used
a great deal on this mountainous little island, for there are only two
or three roads that horses and carriages can go over.
[Illustration: _"Would the little girls like to ride on our
donkeys?"_]
As the Sunbonnet Babies took their first walk through the narrow
streets, they met a boy and girl coming down the hill on two small
donkeys. The boy sprang quickly to the ground. He lifted his cap and
said in polite Italian, with much motioning of his hands, "Buon
giorno, signore. Would the little girls like to ride on our donkeys?"
"Oh, thank you! Of course we should like to ride," answered Molly very
quickly.
"Please may we both ride?" asked May.
"Yes, indeed!" said the little Italian girl, jumping lightly from her
donkey. "We will take you over our whole island if you would like to
go with us."
"Goody!" exclaimed May. "Please take us first very, very high up where
we can look 'way off over the blue sea toward America."
"We will take you up the long stairs to Anacapri," said the boy. "I
will get a carriage for your father and mother, and they can drive up
over the fine new road."
The Sunbonnet Babies did not understand all the boy's strange words,
but they understood some of them, and they each understood the others'
motion language. In a few moments Molly was proudly seated on one of
the small donkeys and May on the other. Giorgio and Luisa, the
friendly Italian boy and girl, followed close behind them, while the
children's parents rode comfortably along in a low carriage.
They had gone only a short distance, however, when the two donkeys
left the smooth road and began to climb some steps cut into the steep
hillside. Giorgio and Luisa gave the donkeys each a sound slap to
keep them from turning back, for donkeys are lazy animals.
[Illustration: _The donkeys began to climb some steps cut in the
hillside_]
Before the Sunbonnet Babies really knew what was happening, their
father and mother were nearly out of sight around a bend in the road,
quite far below the steps up which the donkeys were climbing.
"Father! Father! Where are you going?" called May.
"We are going to the same place you are. We are going to Anacapri,"
her father shouted back. "Let us see who will get there first.
Giorgio knows the way."
"They are going the long and easy way, while we are going the short
and steep way," Giorgio said, with much motioning. "If these donkeys
are not too lazy, we shall be there first," and he gave them each
another quick rap on their backs with his hand.
"You should not strike your donkeys, Giorgio," Molly said. "We can
make them go without your help."
"All right," said Giorgio, laughing. "You may try it, but you will
never reach Anacapri."
"Oh, yes, we shall!" answered Molly. "Just watch us. Come on, May!"
Then they each pulled quickly on the short reins, but the donkeys did
not stir. They patted the donkeys' necks and urged them to go on, just
as they did with their ponies at home, but the donkeys only turned
their heads and looked with sleepy eyes at their strange little
riders. May's donkey even began to nibble the grass at the side of the
path. It acted as if it had no thought of going up the hill, while
Molly's donkey winked its eyes and stood very still, in spite of
all her efforts to make it move.
[Illustration: _May's donkey began to nibble the grass at the side of
the path_]
"O Giorgio!" she cried at last. "What are we going to do? I never saw
such stupid animals. We shall never reach Anacapri. Father and mother
will think we are lost."
Giorgio and Luisa wanted very much to laugh at their anxious little
riders, but they were too polite to do so.
"You see," Giorgio said, "our donkeys do not like strange ways. They
do not like to have anyone but Luisa and me drive them. They
understand what we mean, and our blows do not hurt them."
"Then please drive them now," said May. "I don't want to sit here any
longer."
So Giorgio and Luisa gave the donkeys each a sound slap on their
backs, which made them swing their tails and start on up the long
steps. The donkeys stopped often to rest, but they were reminded each
time that their young master and mistress were close behind them.
At last they reached the top of the steps, and Giorgio and Luisa drove
the donkeys to a lovely garden where small tables were set under the
green trees.
"What a lovely place for a tea party!" exclaimed May. "Let's have one
ready for father and mother when they come."
"Yes, let's have it at this table close by the wall, where we can look
down and see the lovely water. My! It must be 'most a thousand feet
'way down there! See how tiny those boats look, and what a wonderful
color the water is! It looks as if an artist had painted it that way."
[Illustration: _"What a lovely place for a tea party!"_]
"Let's plan our tea party before mother gets here," said May. "What
fun it will be to surprise her!"
So they asked the waiter to please bring some grape juice, with bread
and butter and little cakes, enough for six people, for Giorgio and
Luisa were to share the party with them.
The carriage soon drew up to the garden gate, and the Sunbonnet Babies
ran to meet it, calling: "Hello! hello! See, we are here first! Our
donkeys were so funny climbing up the long stairs. They almost
went to sleep, but Giorgio and Luisa kept them moving. We are going to
have a tea party now. Come quickly, and look over the garden wall. We
never, never were so high up above the water before!"
[Illustration: _A young Italian boy and girl began to dance_]
As they were drinking their grape juice, a young Italian boy and girl
ran into the garden and began to dance. Their mother made music for
them on an instrument that looked like the head of a small drum, with
little bells fastened all around it. She tapped the instrument
sharply with her fingers and jingled the little bells.
The dancers were dressed in gay, pretty costumes. They seemed to be
telling each other a happy love story by motions, glances, and
graceful dancing. It was the famous tarantella dance which the people
of Southern Italy love so much.
When the dancers had finished their story, Molly and May gave them
each some grape juice and little cakes. Then they rode back down the
hill on their two sleepy donkeys.
The next day the Sunbonnet Babies were given a wonderful boat ride all
the way around the island of Capri. In many places the shore rose from
the blue water very steep and high. Gay-colored jellyfish floated
about, and little forests of red coral clung to the rocky wall just
below the water's edge.
When they had sailed nearly around the island, their steamer stopped
quite suddenly, and they were told they must all get into some small
rowboats that were waiting near by.
"What is the trouble?" asked May excitedly. "Is our boat sinking?
Have these men come to rescue us, father? The shore is much too steep
for us to land here, isn't it?"
[Illustration: "_There is a man who wants to take us in his boat_"]
"Oh, no!" said her father. "Our boat is not sinking, but we are going
to take a look at the inside of the island. The Overall Boys saw the
inside of a glacier up in Switzerland, you know."
"Oh, goody!" exclaimed Molly. "See, there is a man who wants to take
us in his boat. Please, can't we hurry?"
[Illustration: _They had to keep their heads low to slip through the
opening_]
A few moments later they were being rowed straight toward a low hole
in the steep shore. The hole was not more than three feet high and
three feet wide above the surface of the water. It led into a narrow
passage about fifteen feet long, which was just large enough for a
rowboat to slip through if heads were kept very low.
"Oh, my! Where are we going?" whispered May, as she lay very still in
the bottom of the boat. "This is more dangerous than going inside
of a glacier. I know it is! I wish the Overall Boys were here!"
"Heads up!" called the boatman. "You are now in the beautiful Blue
Grotto, the most wonderful chamber in Italy."
The next few moments no one spoke. The Sunbonnet Babies were sure they
were dreaming, or that they had fallen asleep while lying in the
bottom of the boat and had wakened in the land of the water nymphs.
Molly peeped gently over the edge of the boat, hoping to see a pretty
nymph swimming about in the wonderful greenish-blue water. Just then a
slender figure sprang from a narrow ledge at the farther side of the
cave.
"Look, Molly!" whispered May. "It _is_ a nymph--a really, truly nymph!
It has gone way down under the water. The water is so clear and light
we can see everything in it. It looks as deep as the sky."
"See, the nymph is coming up now!" said Molly eagerly. "What a
beautiful color it is! It is diving and splashing and playing, just
like a real boy."
[Illustration: "_Look! It is a nymph!_"]
"And it is a real boy," said their father. "He is showing you the
wonderful light and color in the water."
"Oh! Would I look as beautiful as that if I should swim in this
water?" Molly asked eagerly.
"And would I?" cried May.
"Put your hand into the water and see," her father answered.
In a moment four little hands were splashing in the clear water. They
were no longer the rosy hands of Molly and May. They looked like
white marble hands, softly tinted with blue. The drops of water that
fell from their fingers were like strings of lovely opals and
sapphires. The children wanted to catch some of the drops to carry
home, but the boat-man said they would look just like any other water
drops out in the sunshine.
[Illustration: _The drops of water were like strings of lovely opals_]
"But what makes them look so strange and lovely in this grotto?" asked
Molly.
"Perhaps because most of the light that comes into the grotto
shines through the water," said her father. "In some way the red and
orange and yellow rays of the sunlight have been lost, but the blue
and green and violet rays seem to be all here. So everything looks
cool and blue instead of warm and rosy, as it does just outside."
"How was such a great cave ever made under this island?" asked May.
"Did the Italians make it?"
"No, indeed!" answered the boatman. "The sea made it ages and ages
ago. This cave used to be a resort for the Roman emperors and their
friends two thousand years ago. One emperor about that time built
wonderful palaces on the island, and on hot summer days he and his
friends would come down into this cool grotto to swim and to rest.
Since then the island has sunk a little, so the water in the grotto is
higher than it used to be. But even now the walls of the cave are
forty feet high and a hundred and seventy feet long. It is almost as
large as a good-sized church, you see."
"But the door is only three feet high," said Molly. "What would happen
if a big storm came up while we were in here?"
"We couldn't get out," said the boatman. "Boats are not allowed to
come into the grotto unless the sea is perfectly quiet. When it is
rough it is very dangerous to be in here. We are allowed to stay only
fifteen minutes, and our time is up now."
So they tossed a shining silver piece to the little boy who had made
them think he was a really, truly water nymph, and their boats slipped
quickly through the narrow passage back into the bright Italian
sunshine.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: In the City of Rome]
[Illustration]