n by them, nursed them, and took care of them, just as
if she had been a cat, and they had been her two kittens."
"O Rollo," said Charles, "what a story! I don't believe it."
"Nor I," said Rollo. "Indeed, I don't think any body nowadays believes
it exactly. But that is really the story. You can read it in the history
of Rome. These two children, when they grew up, laid the foundations of
Rome. I don't really believe that the story is true; but if it is true,
this is the very place where the basket, with the two babies in it, must
have drifted along."
Charles gazed for a few minutes in silence on the current of turbid
water which was shooting swiftly under the bridge, and then said that it
was time for them to go.
"Yes," said Rollo; "and we will turn round and go back, for it is of no
use to go over the bridge. I am sure that we did not come over the
river when we set out from the hotel, and so we must keep on this side."
Rollo concluded, however, not to go back the same way that he came; and
so making signs to the coachman for this purpose, he turned into another
street, and as the carriage drove along, he and Charles looked out in
every direction for their hotel; but no signs of it were to be seen.
After going on for some distance, Rollo's attention was attracted by a
sign in English over a shop door as follows:--
MANUFACTURE OF ROMAN SCARFS. ENGLISH SPOKEN.
"Ah!" he exclaimed, suddenly, "that is just what I wanted to find." And
he immediately made a sign for the coachman to stop at the door.
"What is it?" asked Charles.
"It is a place where they make Roman scarfs," said Rollo, "and I want to
get one for my cousin Lucy. She told me to be sure, if I came to Rome,
to get her a Roman scarf. You can't get them in any other place."
As Rollo said this, he descended from the carriage, and Charles followed
him.
"They speak English here," said Rollo, as he went into the shop, "and so
we shall not have any difficulty."
These Roman scarfs are very pretty ornaments for the necks and shoulders
of ladies. They are made of silk, and are of various sizes, some being
large enough to form a good wide mantle, and others not much wider than
a wide ribbon. The central part of the scarf is usually of some uniform
hue, such as black, blue, green, or brown; and the ends are ornamented
with stripes of various colors, which pass across from side to side.
Rollo wished to get a small scarf, and the ground of it was
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