relieving them of a wearisome and regretted engage-
mentj without incurring the possibilities of a breach of
promise ? So I am sometimes tempted to think, as I
lie awake at night and hear the lorn, lugubrious sounds
of the Sampogna, accompanied by a band of friends
of the bridegroom elect, who yell from time to time
a V'agnerian caricature of discords — and wonder what
can be the ert'ect of these night-ravens on the fair one
whom they would fascinate.
The other day when we were riding — a party of us — over the mountains to Saracenesco, some four miles off, an incident occurred that for some moments caused me no little anxiety. I need hardly sa}* that it was a fesla, and on the road, about half-way, we came upon a figure lying on its face, the coat off, and the head between the arms. Only the trousers caught my eye, and I could have sworn that they were those of my Eng- lish friend in Rome. They were of a modern pattern quite too unmistakably English, both in texture and cut, and so individual a cachet had they, that, for a minute or two, I could not but believe that it was my poor English friend lying thus ignobly on the road in a state of hopeless inebriation. One of the party, that was dismounted, very kindly stirred him up with his foot, and finally, finding this had not the slightest effect, nonchalantly turned him over, with the same member, on his back, when I was surprised, but much relieved, to recognise the dull, half-conscious features of Gigi Mor- ganti. He had been keeping the feast with too much fervour, and was sleeping it off. The next day, meet- ing him here, I not unnaturally asked for an explanation of the trousers phenomenon, and my sense for the re- cognition of well-cut clothes was much flattered by his telling me that these rcaUi/ lictd been Ihe properiij of mij friend, who had presented them to him on the hitter's departure from Rome. Reckless extravagance and uncaleulating generosity ! What could have induced thee, O my friend ! to give such gracefully cut garments to this unlettered hind, who could not appreciate their flowing lines and distinguished pattern as thou and I do ? What but the joyful thought that the legs that were to wear them would be those that should shortly l)ear the Sciiiipogiia, for at least three months, from thy too enduring ears?
Much might be written of our visit to Saracenesco. of the journey there over the rough mountain passes, steep and savage and rock-strewn, and of om- hospitable reception there by some of the Roman models, now c/ie.z eii.r, and anxious to make a return to those who had employed them in the capital. I might speak of the expectant crowd who mobbed us on our arrival, and who, seeing two Englishmen among the number, called out for '.?o/rf/ . as naturally as a cockcrows at the approach of dawn. How they followed us into the house of one of the models, whom we had cap- tured to perform the part of host, trying to crowd upstairs after us mitil resolutely ejected ; when they remained l)elow. a picturesque crowd, content to catch sight from time to time of an Englishman's form, which to them meant the incorporation of inconceiv- able wealth — gathered clouds of soldi, which at any moment may break in pleasant copper showers on their persistent shoulders, drawn down by their eloquent e3'es and fascinating address. Of the omelette that was made, supervised by the epicure of our party, while all helped in pounding the peppercorns, break- ing or beating the eggs, or cutting up the ham, with which it was flavoured ; — how we ordered that only models should be admitted to see us, and how on their appearance we commanded them to return to their houses, and to have the common decency to bring- back with them at least a flask of their best wine; — how one brought a salad, another a loaf of new bread, while a third managed to send us some walnuts ; and how we were all as merry and careless as crickets, liitoijtiiil, and sharing the food, while the bolder of the party embraced the buxom wife and blithe sister-in- law of our entertainer frankly on the cheeks, to the huge delight of their honest husbands ; and how, at the end, two of the men persisted in walking back to Anticoli with us, to guide us over the wild, uncertain paths in the dark, mysterious glories of the summer night, showing us where to lead our mules so as to avoid breaking our necks, and recounting naive stories of nights when they had been out in the black winter-time, and, fearing the precipices, had crawled on their hands and knees over the jagged boulders to some distant light ; how these accom- jianied us to the very house, supped with us, and slept with resonant snores on the floor of the udoiie. Ah, pleasant ! pleasant ! are these harmless esca l)ades, these cheaply bought but dearly retained joys of the ungilded. Here among these peasant mountain- folk one is face to face with brave and kindly Nature — sweet, wholesome Mother Earth, and no wretched clouds of Cockney conventionality hide from us her joyous, steadfast smile. Like the odorous, violet-laden breezes from the dewy hills at moniing are these reminiscences — fragrant and grateful to those that must dwell in bitter, soul-narrowing cities, manning and cleansing to the dust-choked heart as a draught of clear mountain water.
But as I look from the window, and the sun is low and already summoning 'the clouds in thousand liveries dight' to attend to swell the magnificence of his royal departure — while now in the valley the girls and women are returning from their work in the fields, carrying their hoes on their heads,[1] it seems that this too should have ending. And so, as the sun sinks lower, and the evening-time arrives, we will bid you good night, Anticoli ! in your humble simplicity, thankful if we have awakened some spark of sym-
- ↑ The girls carry everything on their heads here. If you give one of them your paint-box, or send her for a packet of tobacco, she will promptly carry either the one or the other in this manner.
