Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-08-29

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tinued).
Alassio I thought a dear little place.
You stopped there when you were coaching,
in your honeymoon days. How little you
dreamed then that your daughter would go
tearing through on a motor. 1t has
nicer beach than any Of the rival towns we
saw. No wonder the Italians love to battle
therei Brown told me interesting stories
about the enormous, lofty brick towers OF
| AlbenZa, that seemed to nod so drowsily
over the narrow, Swallowed streets. Sa-
| vona was too much modernized to please
me, though the name had chimed allurfngly
1 In my ears, and with Pra we were treadlng
on the trailing skirts OF Genoa. Jimmy
Payne had told Aunt Mary that 1t was
nicer to stay all night In Pegh than In
| Genoa, because there were large gardens
and splendid view; but Brown said, II
| we would trust him, he would take us to
garden and a splendid view. So we did
trust him-at least 1 did And oh, dad,
| had my first experience in driving through
real enormous city traffic In Genoa! l
| would try it, and 1 succeeded beyond my
dreams. 1 have got things to a fine point
! now, so that l manipulate the cluts and
| throttle don't they sound murderousO al
| most automatically; and there's something
| quite magical In the ease with which one
can bring the car instantly down to a
| crawling walk. which wouldn't disconcert
| a tortoise, behind a string of carts, or at
| touch dart ahead of the string, and leave
| the SwifteSt horse as If he were standing
| still.
There must be comparatively few auto
| mobiles In Genoa, or else ours beat the rec
| ord for beauty; for people In the long,
| straight narrow old streets lined with pal
aces. or the wide, stately, newer streets of
| splendid shops (where they showed every
thing earth except the Genoa velvet
had always yearned to see on its native
| heath) turned to stare at us. But, oh,
| perhaps 1t was only because girl was
driving! Anyway, the girl didn't disgrace
see her daringly steer down an old sloping
| causeway into the Garden of Eden-I mean
! the garden of our hotel. Anyway, the girl
| was proud of herself when the Lightning
| Conductor said "Brava! No one could have
! done that better"
Brown was quite right about coming on
| to Genoa. 1t was a lovely hotel with quite
a tropical garden that had sort of private
| zoo of its own; jolly little beasts and birds
in cages, which Aunt Mary and 1 fed next
| morning when we'd had a delicious rest
after long day. After early breakfast
we went sightseeing; and isn't the Campo
Santo the very quaintest thing you ever
saw?
l don't think could have helped Laughing
at some of the extraordinary marble la
dies with hoop skirts and bustles. and en-
broidered granite ruff1es. and stone roses
in their bonnets. kissing the hands of angel
husbands with mutton-chop whiskers and
elastic-sided boots: or knocking at the
doors of forbidding-looking tombs, with
Death as a sort of unliveried footman saying
Not at homeD If 1t hadn't been for the
mourners coming to visit their dead. Oh
the pathos of them. with their sad, dark
eyes. their heavy black draperies and the
flowers they were bringing to tell their
loved ones that they were never forgotten
Instead of laughing l came near crying
But the two moods are often so near to-
gether that one makes mistakes in their
identity. The only fine and simple thing
In a Yllo tta fo,,, 80
Mazzini.
1 was tremendously impressed with the
harbor at Genoa. 1t seemed so proud, as if
Italy need have no shame to be represented
by 1t, In the presence of all the crowding
ships from all the ports of the world.
The morning was still young and fair
when we rushed away along the Riviera di
Levente; and even Aunt Mary was congrat-
ulating herself that we were on an auto
mobile and not a train. For while our
road side by side with the rail: and
quisite. with some jutting headland over
| which We could skim like a bird, the
wretched train had to go burrowing through
the earth like mole, all the glory and
beauty shut out in murky darkness 1
counted about fifty tunnels between Genoa
and Spezzia. When we'd escaped from the
suburbs of Genoa, and the last tall houses
| which made you afraid 1t might be their
day to fall, we came upon visions as lovely
as any we had seen in the French Riviera
Those cleaning towns set on curving bays
of sapphire will always seem like dream
towns to me, unless l go back and prove
their reality: especially Rapallo which was
the most beautiful of all. Jennie Har-
borough and her mother spent all one win
ter there. remember their telling me- and
were sorry to go at the end. They went
because 1t was rather cheap. but STAYED be-
cause 1t was more lovely than the expen-
sive places; From Rapallo, through Zoagli
to Chiavart, we were high above the sea
winding through ravine after ravine hut at
Chiavari the best of the coast was behind
us; and at Sestri, much to our disgust we
had to turn our backs on the sea- Still, it
was delicious mounting up among the foot
hills of the Apprentices by the Col di Ra
racca. and running down to Spezzia. living
like pretty. lazy woman, looking out upon
the green gulf named after it. We had
lunch In a cool, agreeable hotel to which 7
felt grateful because of it's pretty name
| the Croce di Malta. 1 did want to 90 and
see Sheileys house at Lerici. but-well, l
saw Its photograph instead: for there was
our Napier sleeping with one valve omen
Turing us on under the very shadow of the
Apprentices. One does feel wretch always
going on instead of lingering, but that
| microbe 1 told you about gives one a fever
Think OF running through Lucca! But. If
we did what we planned in the dav we
must sacrifice something, SO we sacrificed
Lucca to Pisa. The very name before onr
arrival made me child again looking
through the big stereoscope in your studv
at the Leaning Tower or at the steel en-
craving in Finden's Landscape Annual BIT
from the moment / saw 1t, like a carvine
In ivory. reclining gracefully on the bosorn
OF golden cloud, 1 forgot the stereoscona
and the Annual. In future / shall aIwopS
see 1t against that cloud of ROSY sunset
gold. 'eS sunset
never knew how beautiful marble could
De until came to Pisa and Rome sow
now mad associated Pisa with the Iaan-
ing Tower, and not with the Bantistrw
knew IT existed and, vaguely. that it was
worth seeing; but Pisa meant the T Ga n;ns
Tower to me. Now couldn't tell Won whinsS
has left the deeper impression. Tn, not
| at all the same girl that was before NM
Pisa and Rome into the gallery of INV mia
l must make myself worthy frame ror
| such pictures as l am storing I'D now
| have the feeling not only that / want RI
| read better books. hear more splendid mn
| sic, and do more noble things, but that 7
| shall know how to appreciate more clearly
| everything that is exalted or exalting
| hope you won't think me sentimental to saw
| that
We stayed all night at a real Italian ho
! tel on the Lung Arno. Brown suggested IL.
| thinking that we might enjoy an experi,
| ence thoroughly characteristic of the conn
| try through which We were flying so fast.
| Aunt Mary wasn't pleased with the idea at
| all. said 1t would be horrid, and prophesied
| unspeakable things; but, as usual. Brown
| proved to be right and she consented to adj
| NIT 1t If would promise not to punish her
| with her own stock phrase-'I told you so!'