The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903, 1895-06-15

bobbing around their city to see what i
could see, and further they knew /
didn't know where / was or how to get
out. At one time 1 had about ten or
fifteen Of them following me along Of
fering to show me here and show me
there; and by way of advertisement
Of their powers as guide they would
perform all sorts of acrobatic feats. turn
ing handsprings, cartwheels. etc.
1 thought it wiser, however, to follow
my own nose as it had always before
led me into the harbors of safety. But
really at one time the little kids got so
thick around me that my situation was
a serious one. l couldn't trust the little
chaps / didn't know but what they
would lead me into some snare and
dump me into some dark and gloomy
canal. pegged along, getting into all
sorts Of places, crossing bridge after
bridge, following canal after canal, re-
tracing my steps in part time after time.
Finally / came up against the Arsenal.
face to face with the colossal lion OF
Penthelic marble. knew where was.
About five minutes walk along the
Riva dagli Schiavoni and | stood at the
place where entered this bewildering
labyrinth had gone around circle
perhaps mile in circumference.
Venice is in no wise cosmopolitan. 1t
is strictly sal generis. Everything there
is either a foot. afioat or on a wheel
barrow.
l know Of no place in all Europe
where The tourist will meet with so
much pleasant surprise as Venice. There
is much there beside the gondola.
Venice is one great museum of fancy.
l take it to be the most fascinating, the
most bewitching and the most enchant-
ing of any city in existence. No matter
what her praise has been, no matter
how often described, no matter how
romantic it may all appear to one who
has never been there; it is never city
of disappointment.
But let me suggest. Arrange to ar
rive there at night, when the moonlight
casts her rays upon the water. What
JOY can be keener than to step from the
cars, after long days ride through the
mountains, at the hour Of midnight, in
the stiffness, pass down the stone steps
at the station and take a seat in a
large, black gondola at the command OF
some devil-eyed Italian! The order is
obeyed in intense wonder and not with
cut strong sense of fear. Ii is all re-
markably strange and weird. Yet the
whole body is thrilled with strange de-
light. Our canoe shaped craft, with our
gondolier standing, oar in hand, at one
end. and the large, artistic PROV throw
ing hobgoblin shadow into the water
at the other end, pushes away from the
steps and silently glides through the
waters of the Grand Canal.
The night was intensely dark when l
was first initiated into the mysteries Of
Venice. Our only light was the pale
glimmer of a lamp from the top of some
pole along the way. At intervals the
lightning from distant storm would
enable us to see the outline of some old
palace and the sombre figure of the man
who had our lives in his hands. 1t
would not have surprised me at any
time to have had long stiletto plunged
into my back. Still was not trembling
with fear. l was or the lookout for
phaDtoms, ghosts and hObgoblins. The
situation was so weird, so strange, the
stiffness only broken by the almost
silent splash of the oar. that became a
mere creature of fancy. an inmate of air