Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-05-11

CITY, ne knew that while Italy might
be cursed with poverty she had her
blessing in fine clear skies. And al
ways. swinging down the great roads
he saw in fancy the ghosts of armies,
crusaders. mercenaries, feudal com
paniess crossbowmen and knights in
mail
1t amused him to see the buxom
women tagging the train at cross
lngs. And the little stations, where
everybody rushed out to buy drink
OF bottled water! Suddenly the sta
tlon-master struck bell, the conduc-
tor footed horn, and the engines
shrlll whistle shrieked, and off they
flew again. No newsboy to bother one
with stale gum, rank cigars, ancient
caramels and soiled novels; nothing
but solid comfort. And oh! the flash
ing streams which rushed under
bridges or plunged alongside. Merri-
hew's hand ached to hold a rod and
whip the green pools where the fallen
olive leaves floated and swan like sill
yer minnows. Half a dozen times he
woke Hillard to draw his attention to
these streams. But Hillard disillusion-
ed him. Rarely were there any fish,
nor were these waters drinkable, pas
sing as they did over immense beds
of lime.
There was change of cars at Rome
and wait of two hours. Hillard led
the way to popular cafe in the Piaz-
"a dele Ternne, near the station. Here
they lunched substantially. In that
hour or so Merrihew saw fore>varied
uniforms than he had seen in all his
past life; perambulating parrekeets
which glittered, smoked cigarettes or
black cigars with straws in them. and
drank coffee out of tumblers. He read
lily imagined that he was surrounded
by enough dukes and princes and
counts to run dozen kingdoms, with
few left over for the benefit of the
American market. He was making no
mistakes now; he could distinguish a
general from a hotel concierge with
out the least difficulty.
And still Americans, everywhere
Americans; rich Americans and poor
Americans, loud and quiet Ameri-
cans; Americans who had taste and
and some who had neither:
well-dressed and over-dressed. obtru-
slve and unobtrusive, parvenu and
aristocrat. Once Merrihew saw fine
Old gentleman wearing the Honor Lee
glon ribbon in his buttonhole, and his
heart grew warm and proud. Here was
an order which was not to be purchas-
ed like the Order of Leopold and the
French Legion of Honor. To win this
simple order man must prove his
courage under fire, must be the au-
thor of an heroic exploit on the battle
field And, besides, there was this adj
vantage; to servants in Europe a slip
of ribbon in the lapel signifies an or
der, nobility of one sort or another,
and as a consequence they treat the
wearer with studied civility.
Il wish l had remembered" sighed
Merrihew, after gazing at the old gen
tleman.
Remembered what
Why, I've got whole raft Of med
ais l Won at college. I could wear
them quite handily over here"
Buy an order Any pawnshop will
have few for sale. You could wear
it in Switzerland or France, and no.
body would be any the wiser"
But I'm serious
so am l."
Merrihew frightened, reached into
avest pocket, and to Hillard's horror
produced monocle, which he gravely
into his eye.
where the
"Sh! If you make me laugh I'll drop
it,"
Merrihew stared about calmly and
coldly, as he had seen some English
men do A waiter. seeing the sun flash
on the circle of crystal, hurried over
firmly believing he had been hello
+.
'Niente," said Merrihew, waving
him aside. you see?" he whispered to
who was rather amused at
this tomfoolery. Brings EN- without
a word. Hanged if don't wear it the
rest of this trip. There's a certain e
-eclaw about the
demmed thing
"Wear it, by all means. You'll be as
as a comic weekly. But if you
ever drop it. I'll step on it accident
ally"
Il can keep it in my eye all right"
said Merrihew, "as long as | don't
laugh. Now, while there's time, let us
see some of the sights the Golden
House of Nero, for instance, and the
Forum, the Colosseum. St Peters and
the Vatican; just passing glance at
a few things, as it were" Merrihew as
he spoke kept sober countenance
1t deceived Hillard, who eyed him
with unfeigned wonder, marveling that
any rational mind should think of such
a thing, much less propose it.
why not run up to Venice and
back?" he inquired sarcastically.
is it as far as that" innocently.
well We'll make it just st. Peters
and the Vatican
Impossible. In the hour we have
left we can see nothing, positively
nothing. And even now we had better
start for the station to get compart-
men before the rush. st. Peters and
the Vatican! You talk like an Eng
lishman who wanted to run over to
San Francisco and back to PhiIadel-
phia in the morning"
A grin now spread over Merrihew's
face. Hillard scratched his chin re-
flectively.
"I'll pay for the luncheon myself"
he said