CHAPTER VI.
NAPLES IS CLOSE AT HAND.
THE discomforts of the voyage, however, were very few; and after thestrong winds died away, and the sky got rid of the wind clouds, andbrought forth its merry sunshine again, the passengers crowded thedecks, and took their ease in their comfortable steamer chairs, reading,writing, or just being lazy awhile, and the children played the game of"shuffle-board," and "tag," and "hide-and-seek," and such games aslittle people when they get together whether on land or shipboard, enjoywith all their might and main. Polly and Teddy laughed as loud and asoften as the rest of the children, and bumped with the "grown-ups"during "tag" quite as frequently, but they always said: "Excuse me!"when they did so, and if it was a lady they ran against Teddy's cap wasoff in an instant while he made his little polite apology. I regret tosay the other little ones were apt to forget that small act ofpoliteness; they were so fearful of being "tagged," perhaps they hadn'ttime for apologies for unintentional rudeness. But after awhile, in someway, they caught the trick from Polly and Teddy, and surely that was agood thing, wasn't it? (I only mention this to show you that even littlepeople--no matter how little they are--can influence each other for goodor bad, and it is so much better to choose the "good," you know).
And now I come to the day--or rather the early morning of the day--whenthe good ship steamed into the beautiful Bay of Naples with her colorsflying, her band playing, and a crowd of excited and early risersamongst the passengers at the deck railings. Amongst them, of course,were our little couple and Mamma and Papa, and the children were wildwith delight over the novelty of the scenes before them: the swarms ofsmall native boats, which hung around under the steamship's sides, ather bow, and under her stern; the natives themselves, calling out intheir whining tones for "_Monie, monie!_" (money); the little Italianlads who were constantly diving for the pennies some of the laughingpassengers were tossing into the water.
You would not believe they could possibly have found those pennies (theywere not "_pennies_" as _we_ call our coppers, but small coin of noteven the value of one of our pennies, and which were called"_centesimi_") in the water; but then you must know the water in the Bayof Naples is very blue--oh! a beautiful blue--and very transparent, andthose small imps of divers would dart head-first down below the surface,and catch the coin in their teeth, and come up laughing, ready for more.
Our children had, during the voyage, seen porpoises jumping out of thewater, and had seen the signalling of the few passing ships, and hadthought those sights great fun. Think, then, how "all-overish withgladness" they felt here in Naples harbor, watching these foreignscenes, and so happy with the novelty of their position that they fairlylonged to open their rosy mouths and _whoop_ after their usual fashionat home.
They looked ahead of them and saw the pretty city of Naples gleaming inthe shine of the early rising sun, with its terraced gardens rising oneabove the other in masses of green foliage, through which thegaily-colored roofs of houses and other buildings could be seen. It madea charming and picturesque sight for everybody; and even those who hadseen it all many times before, perhaps, felt the same thrill of delightas our dear little couple were feeling as they beheld it all for thevery first time.
"It makes me feel so full in here!" said Polly, to her mother, while herblue eyes shone like stars.
"Me, too!" echoed Master Teddy, placing his hand as Polly did, on hisheart, and drawing a long breath.
But we must hurry on with our story. (Don't blame _me_, children, forhurrying, and leaving out much you would like to know, but blame the_Publishers_, for it is all their fault, I'll tell you privately.) When,at last, our party found themselves on the dock, and were waiting forPapa to finish attending to the baggage, Polly saw something which madeher cry out: "Oh! look!" It was a little bower all decorated with largeyellow lemons, larger than any lemons the children had ever seen before.The bower was coming straight towards them, and they couldn't see whatmade it move. From the top of the little arch (the _inside_ of the arch,which was just like a tiny summer-house) more big lemons were hanging,and also some little glasses, which were hanging by handles. As thequeer thing came nearer, the children discovered that the small bowerwas built upon a little hand-cart, and that a brown-faced Italian lad,no older than Teddy, was drawing it between shafts, as though he hadbeen a little pony. He was so nearly hidden by vines and lemon boughsthat it was no wonder he had not at first been seen by Teddy and Polly,whose bright eyes were seeing so much. Nestling amongst vines on thebottom of the cart was a bright tin pail, and that was full of lemonade,which looked very clean and nice because it had just been freshly made.The little lemonade vendor came close to our party, and began a low,bird-like beautiful whistle. It sounded like a flute at first, then likea bird, then like a sweet Eolian harp, and even Mamma was delighted tohear it. After he had finished, his black eyes twinkled, and he said inbroken English which Italian children readily pick up: "Buy limonade! zesignorina buy limonade? vera chip" (cheap), "on'y fiva centa glass!" Hefilled a glass and handed it to Polly--"_ze little mees!_"
"We're very fond of lemonade, Auntie Darling," said Teddy, castingwistful eyes upon the cool drink.
"Well, you shall have some then," laughed Mamma, and Teddy and Pollytook their first refreshment on Italian shores. The little Beppo grinnedat them, pulled a ragged cap from a mass of black, close curling hair,and, dropping his _centesimi_ (with which Mrs. Darling had providedherself before leaving the steamer, at the purser's office) into hispocket, he began a merry whistle again and moved off in search of morecustom.