The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-10-10

man servant who had never heard English
three times in his life. Think of getting
up in the morning and not knowing how to
ask for The simplest things-fre, some hot
water, your breakfast Think of the risk,
the uncertainty, the constant bother-and
this, too. when good and cheap pensions
stretched forth their arms on every street!
But it was all settled before we got there,
and when 1 hurried off and found our friends
they were the proud proof of their own sue
cess Nothing could tempt them into a no.
tel or pension! They never had had such
good time in their livesl They took hold of
my hands and we moved in Joyful process
sion from one attraction to another. Would
| look at the carving on that door? Had
| noticed the old oak sideboard and dining
table? And that lamp in the hall was by
itself enough to live on Tt was a charming
place. Across the front were a large draw
ing room and a dining room, opening into
each other by great doors. The walls were
covered with a most beautiful design in
shaded reds. On the black and white marble
floor were lots of Persian rugs There was
plenty of pretty furniture Of the kind that
you feel you just must carry home. There
were pictures and vases and photographs
and cushions-in short everything to satisfy
the heart of woman. Across the back of
the apartment were the bedrooms. They
looked out to the south over the tops OF
blooming trees. There was a long gallery,
where one might sit in the sun, and across
the front was such another with a lovely
view of meadows and mountains.
The girls led me back to the drawing
room. They gave me tea and those unim-
aginably delicious little cakes with which
the old world consoles itself for the lack of
republican institutions. l almost wept with
homesick envy. Young women said l,
my mind is made up. 1 am going to live
in this fiat myself They looked at each
other obviously. well, we didn't mean to
leave Florence while you are here, but we
do want to go to Rome for q few weeks
If you'd like to take it," accepted raptur-
ously. They say that 1 told them that their
room was better than their company. And
then, having closed the bargain, went back
to the hotel to tell the head of the family
That good man sank into chair speechless
gazing at me with bewildered, expressive
eyes. Then he moaned out something to the
effect that he had supposed it to be impos-
sible for us to stay in Florence longer than
a week or ten days-that our route had been
arranged and definitely settled after much
consultations that he had an appointment
with a gentleman whom he was to meet in
Paris, and that he would have supposed that
his poor, sick wife, who was never out of
bed till noon, was scarcely able to engage
in housekeeping. He saw now, however
he said, that he was only a poor, coarse
grained creature, who couldn't follow the
workings of pure reason, and that If I'd
just have patience with him he'd try to
catch up. / allowed myself to be enough
impressed by his remarks to gather him and
Victor up and to hurry back to the apart
ment to tell our friends that 1 had made
a mistake. We found other guests there AS
I spoke to them heard that shameless man
talking to the girls, and this is what he
said: ''Why, of course, we want the apart
ment; there never was any question about
that" -----.---,---s-~-
1 suppose that there were some difficulties
about life in that fat but we did not notice
them. Vito, the cook, each day took more
and more money and more and more time
for the marketing Being by profession a
cook-and he was a very good one-he
could not bring his lofty soul to the business
of busting the furniture. Neither could I.
So some of our carvings took on that fine,
velvety bloom that pleases the soul of the
artist, But we had a lovely time. Poor
! Victor, who had had jaundice in Rome, and
| who was the color OF one of the old mas
| tiers, but in better drawing, after week or
| two Of baked apples, fried corn meal mush
and chicken, got as fat and rosy as a tall
| cherub. And we had always the view to
look at which was we'll worth $1OO a day
although it didn't cost us so much. Before
the time for the young women to return we
hat fo,, vl.e..o
but in Florentine fiat would be unendura-
! BILE. So, after much searching, we have
| found one to which we have transferred
| ourselves; and it is In the sitting room of
| the signora, at her pretty little desk, that
now sit looking out sometimes at the
! great dome of the Cathedral and Giottos
| tower and the villa-crowned mountains be-
| yond. We certainly have enough room.
There is the nice little bedroom with the
parlor adjoining, which we call the smoking
room; there is my own room with win
! dows to the south and east and next to 1t
! an overfurnished little drawing room, the
"saletta" Of the signora Il am she.) Then
| there is the bedroom of the signore and
adjoining it a large and charming sitting
ROOM to which our guests are sure to re-
pair after some Intellectual attempts on nv
| part to keep them the gilt chairs in my
saletta. There is the room of the Signor-
inc Vittorino, the very prettiest room in the
house. with a big comfortable writing desk
at which he sits while he studies those les
sons of which we hear so much and see so
little. His master is fine young fellow
with character as estimable as his man.
ners are charming. He is a count but he
requires his pupils to call him professor.
Besides this. he is d literary man and an
art critic. In the intervals of the lessons
he and his pupil go to the galleries to study
pictures and statuary. / mention all this
as one of the advantages of life in a Flor
entine fiat.
Another advantage. and perhaps the
browning one, is Margherita l asked the
beautiful and noble lady from whom-at a
price which seemed moderate to us but was
far too dear for cheap Florence,-we rented
the apartment, If she could not send me a
servant whom she herself would trust to
take entire charge of things and who
would be capable and good in every way.
She rolled her lovely eyes to the ceiling.
unused and said she could And so, sent
gherita. Her hair is almost red; her ewes
are dark brown; she has the light. neat
figure and quick way of moving that one
likes to see about the house; and she is
the personification of good feeling, good
sense and good humor. She is so quick to
nd hot -