The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-05-08

and questioning it's stones and its smoke c:oud-all that he could see. He saw the Arno. a silver thread. winding like a spake beneath the arched bridges; ne saw the Champanile de Santa Maria No vella rising in all it's dazzling wilderness
 ta the blue, and higher still. dominating
 all else. he saw the Old Palace, ancient
 witness Of popular unheavals, meriacing.
 yindictive. cruel the black teeth Of
 whose crenellated towers seemed biting into the sky.
 One day the boy coaxed his father to take him to the great city. It was TOT the Feast of the Ascension. Leone was just twelve years old. His father was accustomed to take these short journeys starting on foot early in the morning, and. though quite an old man, stepping briskIy along the road which leads down to Florence by way of San Domenica. This morning. however. he did not hurry, for he enjoyed the bracing air, the beau tiful sunshine during these early hours of spring, and the sweet perfume dis- titled from the chalices that open on the slopes when Tuscany bursts into flower. He felt himself endowed with. new vigor; though old, he was conscious that his youth had come back to him with the srringtime, and so glad was he that he sang to nlTnSelL as UlIoS cth6 hAhONcH n sheer delight in living. The boy. on the other hand, walked beside him with head bent down. All this spfendor of life seemed to stupify him. Or was 1t not rather his delight at finding his cher ished desire at last realized, at finding himself actually on the way to the dis tant city, amid this outdoor world or Joy and love. that made him bend his head and made his thoughtful face go pale? He walked on in silence. His hair, which was long and swept back over his shoui- ders, was stirred by a gentle breeze. which did not move the tufted, heavy trees and only fiuttered the lghtest leaves.
 The sweet odors which his father found So refreshing intoxicated him like strong wine. Now and then he stumbled, al- though his foot had met no obstacle, but he recovered himself quickly as he went on. for before him was the radiant vision of the dazzling city. ever growing more real and almost palpable. Soon he could see each roof and building distinctly, just as a person approaching a crowd can gradually distinguish one face from an other. Thereupon a childish dread seized him and he no longer ventured to look at the city. What if 1t should be only an idle dream or foolish fancy? he asked himself, flor if so it will surely disanpear again" Troubled at the thought, he clung to his father ana LOOK his hand, and SO the child and the old nan entered Florence at the moment when all the bells were pealing forth the glad news of the ascension of Christ.
 Convinced at last that the city was real and not a creation of his own. Leone began to look around him. Never before had he seen so many people ana SO many brilliant costumes as Haunted in the straight and narrow streets on this holiday. Moreover, never before nao he heard the hum of so many human voices. making an incessant murmur ike the buzzing of bees when they quit the hive in a swarm. wheeling all golden m the sunlight Still. the potter's son was not fascinated by these novel attractions He was far more attracted by the trou- .bled conplexity of the city than by the crowd or the rich clothes they wore Something from the mute soul Of the past became clear to him Now he un- derstood the mystic beauties of baptls- tries and domes; the heroic beauty Of the palaces. massive In masonry as fortress es and the passionate beauty of terraces and facades each like a lovely woman In splendid raiment. The atmosphere of all these living beings enveloped him, and ne tremDled as though he hao suuuehiy recognized his own life as something deeply rooted in the city which had drawn vigor and nourishment from so many sources.
 Still he was not yet satisfied. for he wanted to penetrate to the very heart of Florence. Suddenly he sprang from be- side his father and, as though frenzy had seized him, ran headlong down the Via CalzaIol as far as the Signoria square. where the Old Palace rose grim and gloomy before him amid all the beauty of the spring morning. Near by the ar-