After Mont Blanc, Brum's great interest was the leaning tower of Pisa.
"It is one of the wonders of the world," he said; "there are seven
altogether."
"Yes, it is a wonderful world," said Zillah; "I never thought about it
before."
And in truth Italy was beginning to touch sleeping chords. The
cypresses, the sunset on the mountains, the white towns dozing on the
hills under the magical blue sky,--all these broad manifestations of
an obvious beauty, under the spur of Brum's incessant interrogatory,
began to penetrate. Nature in unusual combinations spoke to her as its
habitual phenomena had never done. Her replies to Brum did rough
justice to Italy.
Florence recalled "Romola" to the boy. He told his mother about
Savonarola. "He was burnt!"
"What!" cried Zillah. "Burn a Christian! No wonder, then, they burnt
Jews. But why?"
"He wanted the people to be good. All good people suffer."
"Oh, nonsense, Brum! It is the bad who suffer."
Then she looked at his wasted, white face, grown thinner with the
weariness of the long journey through perpetual night, and wonder at
her own words struck her silent.