unmarried, and all were gay. They
called themselves, and were called by others, the "seven wise men," and
in their wisdom they dominated Turin from the elevated positions of
seven attics, scattered all over the city from Borgo San Dalmazzo to
Piazza Milano.

Franco's was the most wretched of these attics, the rent being only
seven lire a month. No member of this band had any services whatsoever
performed for them, save the notary from Padua, for whom the
doorkeeper's sister carried water to his attic, and had he not been the
calm philosopher he was, the merciless teasings of his friends would
have made him regret Marga's devotion. They all cleaned their own boots.
The most skilful with his hands was Franco, and it was his lot to sew on
his friends' buttons when they did not wish to humble themselves by
applying to the lawyer and his Marga, who, nevertheless, often had her
hands full, "poor, overworked woman that I am!" The young man from Udine
had a sweetheart, a little _tota_[N] from the first booth in Piazza
Castello on the corner of Po, but he was jealous, and would not allow
her to sew on buttons for any one. The friends took their revenge by
calling her "the puppet," because she sold puppets and dolls. However,
thanks to "the puppet," he was the only member of the band whose clothes
were always in order, and whose cravat was always tied in a graceful
knot. They took their meals at a restaurant in Vanchiglia, which they
had christened "Stomach-ache Tavern," and where they had lunch and
dinner for thirty lire a month.

Their only extravagance was the _bicierin_, a mixture of coffee, milk,
and chocolate, costing only fifteen centimes. They drank this in the
morning, the Venetians at the Cafe Alfieri, the others at Cafe Florio.
All except Franco, however. He went without the _bicierin_ and the
_torcett_, a cake costing a penny that went with it, in order that he
might lay by enough for a little trip to Lugano, and a trifling present
for Maria. In the winter they walked under the porticoes of Po, the
"wise ones" in the vicinity of the University, while the more
light-minded frequented the porticoes on the San Francesco side. After
their walk they would go to a coffee-house, where the one whose turn it
was would sip a cup of coffee, while the others read the newspapers and
looted the sugar basin. Once a week, to satisfy the "knave of clubs,"
they would betake themselves to a den in Via Bertola, where the purest
and mo