there was only the grandmother with
the paralyzed legs, and Ferruccio, a lad of thirteen. It was a small
house of but one story, situated on the highway, at a gunshot's distance
from a village not far from Forli, a town of Romagna; and there was near
it only an uninhabited house, ruined two months previously by fire, on
which the sign of an inn was still to be seen. Behind the tiny house was
a small garden surrounded by a hedge, upon which a rustic gate opened;
the door of the shop, which also served as the house door, opened on the
highway. All around spread the solitary campagna, vast cultivated
fields, planted with mulberry-trees.

It was nearly midnight; it was raining and blowing. Ferruccio and his
grandmother, who was still up, were in the dining-room, between which
and the garden there was a small, closet-like room, encumbered with old
furniture. Ferruccio had only returned home at eleven o'clock, after an
absence of many hours, and his grandmother had watched for him with eyes
wide open, filled with anxiety, nailed to the large arm-chair, upon
which she was accustomed to pass the entire day, and often the whole
night as well, since a difficulty of breathing did not allow her to lie
down in bed.

It was raining, and the wind beat the rain against the window-panes: the
night was very dark. Ferruccio had returned weary, muddy, with his
jacket torn, and the livid mark of a stone on his forehead. He had
engaged in a stone fight with his comrades; they had come to blows, as
usual; and in addition he had gambled, and lost all his soldi, and left
his cap in a ditch.

Although the kitchen was illuminated only by a small oil lamp, placed on
the corner of the table, near the arm-chair, his poor grandmother had
instantly perceived the wretched condition of her grandson, and had
partly divined, partly brought him to confess, his misdeeds.

She loved this boy with all her soul. When she had learned all, she
began to cry.

"Ah, no!" she said, after a long silence, "you have no heart for your
poor grandmother. You have no feeling, to take advantage in this manner
of the absence of your father and mother, to cause me sorrow. You have
left me alone the whole day long. You had not the slightest compassion.
Take care, Ferruccio! You are entering on an evil path which will lead
you to a sad end. I have seen others begin like you, and come to a bad
end. If you begin by running away from home, by getting into brawls with
the oth