Tessa, Our Little Italian Cousin

CHAPTER VIII

THE CARNIVAL

It was now February. Tessa and Beppo had been home for several weeks. The baby was growing fast; the mother was strong again and rosy; while the extra money which the children had earned as models for Mr. Gray had made the family very comfortable.

"How would you like to go to the carnival?" the father asked.

The family were gathered around the table where the dish of polenta had just been placed. Polenta, you must know, is a kind of porridge made of corn (maize) meal. It was the only food the children would have for supper that night. But that did not seem to trouble them. They all looked happy, even before they heard the word carnival.

But this had a wonderful effect. Tessa jumped up, caught the baby out of his cradle, and began to dance about the room. Beppo seized his violin and started a lively air. Their mother began to laugh, while little Francesca looked from one to another in surprise. She could not understand what the sudden excitement was about.

When Tessa had danced herself nearly out of breath, she ran and put her arms around her father's neck.

"Oh, babbo, babbo! do you really mean it?" she cried. "I have never been to the carnival, and I have heard so much about the beautiful festival."

Then her mother spoke. She blushed like a young girl as she said to her husband:

"It would seem like old times before we were married, to go to the gay carnival together. But how shall we manage it with our family of four children?"

"I have fixed all that," her husband answered. "We are to stay with your cousin Lola in the city. She will keep us through the week for a small sum, as she says she has an extra room that she will be glad to have us use.

"So get ready, wife, and look as fine as possible in your new blue skirt and the red bodice below the white blouse. Do not forget to wear the fringed kerchief on your pretty head. It is the one I gave you when you were a gay young girl."

His wife promised to make herself look as fine as possible, as she blushed more deeply than ever.

The carnival! The carnival! Is it any wonder that Tessa and her brother slept but little that night, and that when they did, they dreamed of processions and bonbons and clowns and flower-decked wagons and all sorts of strange sights?

Their father hired a donkey from one of his neighbours for Tessa and Francesca to ride on. Pietro was to carry their mother and the baby.

When at last they were ready to start, they were a merry sight. Beppo and Tessa had gathered quantities of wild flowers to use at the carnival, so that Tessa and her mother looked as though they were in the middle of travelling gardens.

"If these give out," Beppo had told his sister, "we can go over to the Coliseum and get wallflowers and some other pretty blossoms that grow in the crevices of the walls. They must be in bloom by this time. We must throw many a bouquet to Lucy and her brother."

The city looked bright and gay as the peasant and his family drew near. The streets were filled with carriages; the sidewalks were lined with people; while the houses were decked with bright-coloured carpets, mats, and all sorts of hangings.

Merry parties had already seated themselves in the balconies, for it was one o'clock on the first day of the carnival.

What does this word "carnival" mean? you ask. It is another name for "farewell to meat," and the great festival of Italy is always held during the week before the beginning of Lent. All the days except Sunday and Friday are given up to merrymaking, which grows more and more lively until the last night.

The children go to bed and get up whenever they like. There is no scolding, no cross word; and even if the sport becomes very rough, every one takes it with good nature.

Tessa and Beppo went with the rest of the family to their cousin's home on the ground floor of a tall stone building. But they rested only a few moments.

"Take the donkeys, children, and ride off to see the sights," said their father. "Your mother and I will stay and talk with our friends awhile before we go out."

They did not need to be told twice, and were soon in the midst of a merry crowd on the Corso, as one of the principal streets of Rome is called.

"Look, look, Beppo," said Tessa. "Do see that wagon full of clowns and queerly dressed people. They are having great sport. They are pelting every one with confetti. We shall get hit if we don't take care."

"We'll get some confetti ourselves," answered Beppo. "We must not wait any longer."

The two children stopped their donkeys in front of a stand covered with tiny lime-balls. Perhaps you would call them plaster candies. They were no larger than peas, and looked nice enough to eat.

"Now for fun," said Beppo, when each had purchased a big bag of confetti.

At this moment, some boys, who were close behind, gave Pietro's tail a sudden pull and Tessa fell forward as he jumped about. Before she could get up, she felt a shower of confetti falling over her neck and shoulders.

A loud laugh went up from the bystanders. Tessa laughed, too, as she brushed the powdery balls to right and left.

A moment after, another shower came falling about her. But this time it was made of sugar almonds, which a little girl was scattering from a balcony. She must have liked Tessa's pretty face and wished to give her a treat.

There was a great scrambling for the candy. The mischievous boys who had thrown the confetti got most of it, I fear, but Tessa enjoyed it, nevertheless.

"Look at the lovely carriage ahead of us," she cried. "It is lined with white. Aren't the ladies in it pretty, Beppo? That seat in front of them is just loaded with bouquets and confetti. They are standing up now to throw better."

Beppo didn't care for this half as much as for the wagon-loads of people dressed in bright colours and wearing masks.

"Look at that man, Tessa, before he is out of sight. Yes, it must be a man, though he is dressed like a woman. See his false curls hanging down under the bonnet, and hear him talk. He keeps every one around him laughing. Let's put on our masks and then ride past Lucy's house. She won't know us if she sees us."

Beppo had made some rude masks before the children left home. After they had put them on, they felt sure no one would know them as they rode through the lively crowd.

"Look up at the second balcony," whispered Tessa, as she came up close to her brother's side. "There are Lucy and Arthur with their father and mother, in the midst of a merry party. We might have known they would be here on the Corso."

"Do you see what Arthur is doing?" replied Beppo. "He has a bouquet of flowers fastened to the end of a long string. And now he is dangling it over the rail. Just see that lady in the balcony below reaching out to get it. She thinks it is being thrown to her. How surprised she is when it comes up again out of her reach. Oh, what sport!

"But watch, Tessa. I am going to throw my prettiest bunch of flowers to Lucy. Ah! she looks like an angel to-day. She is all in white."

Beppo took a bouquet of roses and tossed them straight up into his little friend's lap. She was looking directly toward him as he threw them. She began to laugh, and, lifting them in her hands, turned to her father and said something.

"She is asking him who we are," said Beppo. "She will never guess, for she does not expect to see us at the carnival."

Tessa and her brother now moved onward, but not before they were covered with a shower of candy. It was Lucy's return for her flowers.

A little before sunset the two country children went back to their cousin's. They found their father and mother all ready to go out to see the races.

"What an odd-looking child you are, Tessa. And you, too, Beppo," said their mother. For they were fairly covered with white dust.

"Never mind," laughed Beppo. "You will look like that to-morrow, mother, if you stay outdoors long enough. I really think that hundreds of bushels of confetti have been thrown about the streets to-day. We have received our share of them, without doubt."

"Come, come, not a moment to lose now," said the father, "or we shall be too late to see the sport."

The good-natured cousin said she would look after the baby, while Francesca rode off down the street on her father's shoulder. The donkeys had been put in the stable for their night's rest.

The party soon reached the Corso, which had been cleared of carriages. Both sides were lined by an ever-growing crowd.

Just at sunset a gun was fired. Instantly a number of beautiful horses were freed. They wore fine trappings and were without riders or drivers. Down the Corso they raced from one end to the other. It seemed as though they passed by like lightning.

"Good, good," shouted Beppo, as the first horse reached the goal. This one was the winner of the race, of course.

"We can see this sport every night of the carnival," his father told him, as they walked slowly homeward, looking at the sights on the way.

Early the next morning Tessa and Beppo started off on their donkeys once more. They did not wish to lose a moment of the day's fun. They had many a mock battle with the children whom they met, but the fighting was all good-natured, and the only weapons used were handfuls of confetti.

In the afternoon they found themselves near Arthur and Lucy, who were in an open carriage. They did not have their masks on, so their friends spied them out very quickly. They were very glad to see each other, but the crowd was so great they did not have a chance to say much.

"Tessa," whispered Lucy, "father has something to ask your parents. He was going to write to them if he did not see them before the end of the carnival. Be sure to tell them. It is about you."

That was all she had a chance to say before the driver started up the horses and she had passed on. Tessa wondered what it could be about, but her mind was soon busy with the gay sights, and she forgot all about it till she reached home.

The last night of the carnival was the gayest time of all. As soon as it was dark, Tessa went with her father and mother and Beppo out into the streets. Every one carried a torch and tried to keep it lighted. At the same time he must try to put out as many other torches as possible.

How the lights danced up and down the streets! What a puffing and blowing there was all the time. Tessa no sooner got her torch lighted than some one came up from behind and put it out. Then she would cry, "Senza moccolo, senza moccolo." That means, "Without light, without light."

After a while, Beppo fastened his torch to the end of a long pole. He thought he was safe at last. But, no! a moment afterward some one came along with a pole longer than his own and dashed it down. The fun was all the greater for such little things as this.

The city looked wonderfully pretty with the lights dancing about the windows and balconies and streets.

After an hour or two the crowds began to thin out. Every one was tired. Tessa and Beppo turned homeward with their father and mother, calling out:

"The carnival is dead. The carnival is dead."

Soon afterward they tumbled into bed, half asleep, still repeating the words they heard echoing through the streets:

"The carnival is dead!"

CHAPTER IX

THE BURIED CITY

"We should like to take your little daughter with us on a journey," said Mr. Gray to Tessa's father.

The two men were standing in the doorway of the artist's home on the Monday after the carnival. Tessa had not forgotten to tell her father that Mr. Gray wished to see him.

"We shall be gone only a few days. We are going to take a short trip to Naples," the artist went on. "But Lucy wishes Tessa's company very much, and I think your little girl would enjoy it. What do you say?"

The peasant was greatly pleased. His face beamed, as he replied:

"You are a good friend to us, Mr. Gray. We can never forget it. What shall we do when you go back to America?"

"That time will not come for two years yet. In the meanwhile, talk with your wife. If she is willing, bring Tessa here Tuesday morning. We shall leave on the afternoon of that day."

You can imagine how excited our little Italian cousin was, when she found herself riding on a train for the first time. The cars were much smaller than we use here in America. It would have seemed odd to you to have the conductor (or the guard, as he is called in Europe) lock the doors when the train is about to start.

"We are prisoners," laughed Lucy. "We can't get out now, even if we should wish to do so ever so much."

She was now able to chatter in Italian almost as fast as in her own English tongue.

"That is because of her acquaintance with Tessa and her brother," Mr. Gray told his wife. "Those children surprise me by the good Italian they speak, when they have had so little schooling. Although their parents are peasants, they are gentle people in their nature. And that is more than learning, after all."

The children were delighted with Naples. The city rests on the shore of what some people consider the most beautiful bay in the world. Everything about it looked clean and orderly, although a few years ago it was a very filthy city.

No one seemed in a hurry. Even the beggars, who came to meet the children with hands stretched out for alms, looked lazy and happy.

There were beautiful gardens to walk in, and fine buildings to visit, besides rowing and sailing on the blue waters of the bay. There was plenty to see, but best of all was the morning the children spent in the museum, where there was a large collection of curiosities.

"They all came from the buried city," Mr. Gray explained.

"Think of it, children! These beautiful ornaments, vases, and bronzes, were hidden under the ashes for eighteen hundred years. One day it was discovered by some workman that he was digging into the ruins of a building. Others came to help him, and by and by they found a city beneath the ashes and soil which had formed above it."

"You are going to take us to see the city before we go back to Rome, aren't you, father?" asked Arthur.

"Certainly; I would not have you miss the sight for a good deal. But does Tessa know its name?"

"O yes, it is Pompeii. I have heard much about it," the little Italian answered. "It is another of the wonderful sights in my country of which I am so proud."

The children passed slowly from one part of the museum to another. They examined the almonds, dates, and figs, which had been preserved so long. Some of them looked quite natural. There was a lady's toilet set that interested the girls very much.

There were blackened loaves of bread and cake from the baker's oven; there were beautiful lamps and golden jewelry, – all these things made for people suddenly overtaken by death nearly two thousand years ago!

It was hard to leave the museum.

"But there are other things to see yet, and we cannot spend too much time in one place," Mr. Gray told them as they walked homeward.

They stopped to buy some luscious yellow oranges and some ornaments of coral and lava at stands by the side of the street.

That very evening ponies were brought to the hotel door, and the party started out to climb the side of Vesuvius.

"I shouldn't think the people of Naples would feel safe to live so near a volcano," said Lucy. "Now that it is active again, it must make them think of the way Pompeii was destroyed. And Pompeii is several miles away, isn't it, father?"

"Yes, there was no more thought of danger at that time than we feel to-night. Perhaps not so much," he added, as he looked toward his wife.

She was a little pale and was feeling more timid than she liked to say. Up above them, even now, they could see the sky lighted up by the red flame. It looked as though a city must be on fire. The path wound in a roundabout way, but was always rising and was in some places very steep and rocky.

"See that red stream of lava pouring down the side of the mountain," said Arthur.

It was not so far away but that the children could see men at work beside it. They were scooping the lava up into vessels. It would be taken down to Naples and made into jewelry and ornaments to be sold to visitors in the city.

After two miles or more of hard climbing, they reached the side of the crater.

"Don't go too near. Oh, do be careful, children," cried Mrs. Gray. She was trembling as she looked at the red-hot stones flying upward in the midst of the cinders and flames.

"Listen, do listen, mother. It is grand!" said Lucy, as they could now hear the roaring and grumbling, the pounding and hammering under ground. It was as though some terrible being was an angry prisoner in the volcano and was trying to free himself.

Tessa clung to Mrs. Gray's skirt at first. She was frightened, too, and it was no wonder. But after a few moments both she and her kind friend had got over their fright and had begun to enjoy the strange sight.

When at last Mrs. Gray said it was time to go, they all felt sorry.

The drive down the mountain was quite easy. When they reached the hotel the children went straight to bed to dream of the pleasure to-morrow, – for they were to visit the buried city, Pompeii.

The next day was bright and clear. Although every one felt a little tired after the excitement of the night before, they were all ready for the day's trip.

It was a strange place, this city with no one living in it. There were streets all laid out and the walls of houses standing. The roofs were gone, however.

Mr. Gray explained to the children that the city was buried under the terrible shower of ashes which settled down over it. The roofs had been burnt or broken down by the weight above them. After a while, soil formed above the ashes, grass began to grow, and the rest of the world forgot about the city, once so beautiful, with its stately palaces and grand buildings.

Most of the people had time to flee before their homes were destroyed. But some of them stayed too long. Their skeletons were found when the city was unearthed.

The children went into a cellar where there were marks on the walls. The guide told them that these showed where people were pressed against them. They must have fled to that place for safety, but it had been of no use. They stood here prisoners until kind death freed them from their suffering.

They saw many marble ornaments. There were ducks and geese, rabbits and lambs, made long ago.

"All this makes me feel queer, Lucy," whispered Tessa. "I will be glad to get back to a live city again." Lucy felt so, too. It was interesting, of course, but it was very strange.

After the visit to Pompeii, Mr. Gray told the children that his vacation was over and they must all go back to Rome.

"But we will not return by train," he said. "We will take a sailing vessel, as I think you will enjoy a trip on the water."

They did enjoy it greatly. The only trouble was that it seemed too short.

"When June comes it will be quite hot in Rome, you know," Lucy said to Tessa. The two girls were in the bow of the boat, looking over the edge into the water below.

"We are going then on a journey to the north of Italy, and you are to come, too, Tessa. Father says so. We will visit Venice and sail in boats through its streets. It seems as though I could hardly wait for the time to come. Just think of a great city built on little islands, and when you go to the door of your house you find yourself on the water's edge. It must be lovely."

"Tessa," she went on, putting her arm around the little Italian's waist, "father says that he is going to manage next winter so that you shall stay with us and we can have lessons together with my governess."

Tessa bent forward and kissed both of Lucy's hands. She was so happy she could not speak.