CHAPTER IX.
WHAT THEY SAW AT ANACAPRI, AND HOW THEY WENT ON TO SORRENTO AND POMPEII.
WHEN the carriage stopped in the midst of the small houses at Anacapri,instantly a swarm of little boys and girls surrounded it. While thehorse was resting, the small natives stared at our friends, and gazedespecially hard and long upon Polly and Teddy, who felt quite shy anduncomfortable over the matter. They finally decided to give a few staresback again, and little bashful Polly ventured to smile, though shedidn't have anything in particular to smile about. Teddy, seeing Pollysmile, thought _he_ ought to, and in a few moments every little Italianface was on the broad grin also. Mamma and Papa had been talking withthe driver, who could speak a little broken English, but they were readyto notice the pretty brown faces of the children who stood beside thecarriage, and now decided that Anacapri could boast of the good looks ofits "small fry" with good reason. There was only one ugly-featuredlittle boy in the crowd, and he was very ugly indeed, and not only that,but his hair was red, and his eyes _very blue_, and he was so fair ofskin that his face was covered with freckles. He spoke Italian, however,like a native, and Papa wondered what sort of little red-haired nativehe might be. So he spoke to him in English, to see if the boy wouldcomprehend. To his surprise he answered with a merry smile, and then,another surprise, a little fellow beside him spoke up also in English,and explained that, though _he_ was dark in complexion, and Italian allover, yet he was _brother_ to the red-haired boy, who was _Scotch_; andthat Jim's father was a Scotchman, and when he died his mother marriedan Italian whom she met in England, and when _he_ died she was leftpoor, and through some friends in Anacapri had come there to live onlyseven months before. He told all this in good, though of course childishand broken English, for he was only nine years old. Then Jim, the littleScotchman, put in his word, and when asked how they happened--in only afew months--to speak Italian like natives, when they had lived in othercountries all their lives before, he replied, tossing his head proudly:"Oh, _that_ ain't anythin'. _We got it off the boys_ here!" Of courseall this was deeply interesting to Polly and Teddy, and they took agreat fancy to the little brothers. But presently a boy who had notspoken before, not knowing English, put his hand inside his shirt andpulled out a little brown bird. Holding it by both wee feet, he held itup, while its poor little heart was beating and its tiny wingsfluttering with fear. "_Monie!_" he said, and it was the only Englishword he cared to know--"monie!" and he pointed to the bird and then tothe sky. The little couple looked wonderingly at him, and the Scotch boyexplained that if Polly gave the boy a coin he would let the poor birdiefly away in safety. If he didn't get the coin, then he would take ithome and his family would cook it for supper.
That made our little couple indignant, and vexed also the Mamma andkind-hearted Papa. So he paid over a coin, and up, up, up into the sunnyspace above flew little birdie, and the children--_our_children--shouted with pleasure to see the poor captive free. But--whatdo you think came next? Why, that cruel boy put his hand inside hisshirt again, and out came another bird, and with it the same request for"monie." Of course, he was frowned upon, and not another coin was givenhim, for Papa found he had a "bunch of birds" hidden there to earn theirfreedom by coin-giving, at every chance offered, and as those samebirds, after being freed, would be caught again in time, the outlook wasdiscouraging, wasn't it?
And now, the horse being rested, the party turned about to go back tothe steamboat landing below, and to the small Scotchie and his Italianbrother only did Mr. Darling give a farewell gift of coin, as they droveaway and finally left the little village behind them.
When they reached Sorrento a little while after, it was late in theafternoon, and Papa said they must spend the night there and go on bycarriage to see the ruins of Pompeii the next day.
It was a delightful experience to our little European travelers whenthey saw that the steamboat did not go close up beside the landing dock,as at Capri, but that the passengers were to be taken off in small boatsand rowed ashore. They could hardly wait their turn for it, but finallythe blissful moment arrived, and the children were seated in the sternof the little boat, gliding over the blue waters. Oh! you have no ideahow very blue and clear the water there really is. It is like beautifulazure blue ribbon, satin ribbon, and you feel as if you'd like to carryhome bottles of it. But as it is the sunshine and the condition of thedepths of water and bottom of the bay all combined which produce that_color_ there--you would not be able to bottle it, would you?
Well, when the landing was reached, the children had to lift their eyesto a height on top of a steep cliff wall before they could see the hotelin which the night was to be spent.
"I never in the world, Teddy Terry, can climb up there!" said puzzledlittle Polly. But Ted thought it would be real fun to climb it, and wasquite disappointed when Papa pointed to a narrow railroad which ran up,up, up the cliff through a tunnel beginning not far from where they hadleft the boat. "It is called a '_funicular_,' or, as the Italians callit, a '_funicolare_,'" explained Papa, "and the little car we are toenter presently is drawn up to the top of the cliff by a cable, a strongwire rope, very thick and quite able to do its work safely, so youneedn't look so frightened, little goosey," to Polly, for her eyes werefull of anxious wonderment, and she took tight hold of her Father'shand.
"I'm not a bit frightened," declared Teddy, but I really think he was atiny bit afraid, for he grasped the tail of Papa's coat pretty closelyas they followed Mamma into the little car, which seemed to be standingalmost on end, and looked as though at any moment it might rollbackwards down the incline. However, they arrived in good condition atthe top before long, and were able to rest themselves and by-and-by eata good dinner in the fine hotel, which was located in the midst of awonderful garden right there on top of the cliff. Next morning theyvisited the little shops where beautiful olive-wood articles were sold,and Papa bought a fine ruler for Ted, and a dainty little clothes-brush(both of carved olive-wood) for Polly.
Then it was time to drive to Pompeii, and after a long, rather dustydrive down the mountain road, they found themselves amongst the ruins ofthat ancient city at last. Of course such little folks as Polly andTeddy couldn't take quite as much interest in the old city as grown-upvisitors were taking, but they were quick to observe everythingespecially interesting: the ruts in the paved streets worn deeply by thewheels of the chariots used in those days (something like the chariotsyou have seen, no doubt, when Barnum's big circus comes along, and alllittle folks go to see it, of course); the big flat stepping-stones inthe streets, which were placed there so that people could have a clean,dry, and raised crossing from one side to the other (very nice forrainy, muddy weather, wasn't it?); the bake ovens where loaves of breadwere baking at the very moment the flood of hot cinders and lava camethickly down upon the city and destroyed it so suddenly and so soon; theold drinking-fountains still bearing the worn impressions and dents madeby the hands which used to rest upon the fountain basins so long ago.Papa explained that according to history the city was seven hundredyears old when destroyed, and it lay over a thousand years under twentyfeet of ashes. You see, the ashes cooled, and the lava hardened, andthere was no sign of any city there till all those many years hadpassed, and then by accident, history tells us, it was discovered thatthere was a city away down under all that earth (grass had grown over itin all that long time, and it looked like meadows). Then people set towork digging, and lo and behold! uncovered so much of it that everybodyflocked to see it. So that is how Polly and Teddy at last got there, andpeople are still digging away, clearing more and more of the big cityfrom the earth over it.
Papa made it all very interesting to our little couple (and when theygot home what did Teddy do but bury away down deep in his garden, in thedeepest hole he could dig with his little spade, a whole toy village ofPolly's, and cover it up, and pound the earth and grass over it again,and by-and-by play he was "discovering Pompeii" and set to work toexcavate the little city again).
CHAPTER X.
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BACK TO NAPLES, AND "HOMEWARD BOUND."
WELL, after they had seen Pompeii, and looked at the curiosities in thelittle museum of the office and station building near by, our littlecouple felt very tired, and begged Papa to take them home.
Polly's little golden head ached, and Teddy's stocking had gotten into awrinkle on his heel, and it hurt him to walk, and they both agreed thatthey didn't care one bit if "_Vesulivus_" did cover old "Pompawy" allover with ashes and dirt. They wanted to go home and rest Polly's headand Teddy's lame heel, and so Papa and Mamma confessed to being prettytired also, and soon they were in the train, speeding rapidly towardsNaples, having had two days of "round trip excursion," and a "jolly goodtime," as the children expressed it.
I would like to tell you about all the little couple did and all theysaw while there for four happy weeks, but I must leave it all to yourlively imagination, dear little readers, and whatever beautiful timesyou imagine for the children you may be sure they had.
"I have almost kept my promise to my Mamma and tried tobe a good boy."]
Papa was obliged to return to his business at home after a month of goodtimes abroad, and so the day came when the trunks were packed again, andthe clock was being watched, and the hotel "bus" being listened for,etc., and our little couple again in haste to go on board the steamship,for, much as they had enjoyed themselves, they confided secretly to eachother the grand truth that--"After all, they liked their own gardens andplaytimes at home lots better'n European things, and that Bridgie andAnn made things taste nicer to eat than the queer cooks in Naples; and'sides all that, they hadn't seen any tree at all that was half sonice as their own apple-tree where they could sit in amongst the leavestogether, and--and--they guessed 'Merican things were nicer for littleboys and girls, _any_ way!"
Teddy had put into a snug corner of his small trunk a few little giftsfor "dear own Mamma and Papa," and a nice present for his Bridget andPolly's Ann.
And Polly had carefully stowed away in Mamma's trunk also some prettygifts for "Auntie Terry and Uncle Terry," and a present each for her Annand Teddy's Bridgie; and the things they planned to do and the goodtimes they planned to have when once more at their own pretty cottagehomes, where the _old apple-tree_ and the much-loved _gap in the fence_near it were waiting for them I can't begin to tell you.
We see them now--as they stand together with Teddy's loving arm aboutPolly, and her soft cheek pressed close to his--at the railing in thestern of the ocean liner, taking a farewell look at sunny Naples andItalian shores, and waving handkerchiefs to the men, women, and childrenin the small row-boats which were skipping about in the bay in the wakeof the steamship, while shrill Italian voices were shouting: "_Addio!addio!_"
"We've had the beautifullest time that ever could be, and we've likedbeing European travelers ever so much, haven't we, Teddy Terry?"remarked Polly at last, as the children followed Mr. Darling to theirsteamer chairs; "and I must say," she added quite proudly, "that I thinkwe've been such good children that some day maybe Papa'll take us tosome other places. Won't that be fun?"
Teddy thought it would, but he could not be so conscientiously sure ofhaving been as "good" as Polly fancied, for he had a distinctremembrance of certain occasions (of which I haven't had the heart totell my little readers) when Mamma Darling had had to scold prettyseverely, and he had been more humiliated about it than Polly, onaccount of his promise to his own Mamma. Thinking it all over now, as hesat in his chair beside Mrs. Darling on deck, he suddenly drew her headdown to him and earnestly whispered: "Say, Auntie, I have almost kept mypromise to my Mamma and tried to be a good boy, haven't I? You see, Iwouldn't like her to say I broke my word after she'd been and trustedme, you know, Auntie!"
Mrs. Darling put a tender kiss on the soft little tanned forehead, andwhispered back: "I'm going to tell Mamma Terry that her boy was thebest-behaved little traveler I ever saw, so cheer up, Teddy boy!"
It was a very happy little laddie who settled back in that big steamerchair and slipped his hand into Polly's after "Auntie" had made herwhispered speech.
And now we must say good-bye to them, as the steamship speeds on towardsAmerica's shores, and I hope this story of _more_ of the doings of ourdear little couple will have given as much pleasure as your firstaccount of them. The world is full of "Dear Little Couples," isn't it?
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Transcriber's Notes:
Page 16, "city" changed to "City" (York City)
Page 21, repeated line of text was deleted. Original read:
blew its summons for luncheon the little couple had explored the steamer, under Papa's guidance, pretty thoroughly. You know the steamer, under Papa's guidance, pretty thoroughly. You know children like to explore, and go scampering about to see all that can
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