ot have been
at all afraid of the night air, but the country between Naples and Rome,
and indeed the country all about Rome, in every direction, is very
unhealthy. So unhealthy is it, in fact, that in certain seasons of the
year it is almost uninhabitable; and it is in all seasons considered
unsafe for strangers to pass through in the night, unless they are well
protected.

There is, in particular, one tract, called the _Pontine Marshes_, where
the road, with a sluggish canal by the side of it, runs in a straight
line and on a dead level for about twenty miles. It so happened that in
going to Rome by the diligence, it would be necessary to cross these
marshes in the night, and this was an additional reason why Mr. George
thought it better that he and Rollo should take seats inside.

The whole business of travelling by diligence in Europe is managed in a
very different way from stage coach travelling in America. You must
engage your place several days beforehand; and when you engage it you
have a printed receipt given you, specifying the particular seats which
you have taken, and also containing, on the back of it, all the rules
and regulations of the service. The different seats in the several
compartments of the coach are numbered, and the prices of them are
different. Rollo went so early to engage the passage for himself and Mr.
George that he had his choice of all the seats. He took Nos. 1 and 2 of
the _coupe_. He paid the money and took the receipt. When he got home,
he sat down by the window, while Mr. George was finishing his breakfast,
and amused himself by studying out the rules and regulations printed on
the back of his ticket. Of course they were in Italian; but Rollo found
that he could understand them very well.

"If we are not there at the time when the diligence starts, we lose our
money, uncle George," said he. "It says here that they won't pay it
back again."

"That is reasonable," said Mr. George. "It will be our fault if we are
not there."

"Or our misfortune," said Rollo; "something might happen to us."

"True," said Mr. George; "but the happening, whatever it might be, would
be _our_ misfortune, and not theirs, and so we ought to bear the loss of
it."

"If the baggage weighs more than thirty _rotolos_, we must pay extra for
it," continued Rollo. "How much is a _rotolo_, uncle George?"

"I don't know," said Mr. George, "but we have so little baggage that I
am sure we cannot exceed the allowa