here, but there were many stairs to climb, the air was heavy, and he
hesitated. Luisa took advantage of that moment of hesitation to ask the
gardener where she might find a seat. "Just below here," said he. "On
the left, where the _Strobus_ are." Uncle Piero finally consented to go
down and visit the clump of _Strobus_.

He was tired, but he continued to look at everything, to ask questions
about everything. As they walked towards the _Strobus_ they heard in the
distance, over towards Isola Madre, the rolling of the drums of the
National Guard of Pallanza, which was drilling on the shore. "Now it is
all play," said the young man. "Not exactly play, but.... Next month we
shall go to work in earnest. We have a lesson to give to a huge beast.
There it is, over there, the monster!" The monster was the Austrian war
steamer _Radetzky_, called by the inhabitants of the Piedmontese shore,
_el Radescon_. "The ship is just entering the bay of Laveno," said the
young fellow, "coming from Luino. Come this way if you wish to see her
plainly."

Uncle Piero knew his eyes were not strong enough to see the steamer, so
he sat down on the first bench he found under the _Strobus_, which stood
just in front of a group of bamboos, and was flanked by two groups of
large azaleas. Behind the bamboos, between the great twisted trunks of
the _Strobus_, he could see the mirror of white water trembling as far
as the black line of the hills of Ispra. The sky, dark towards the
north, was clear in that quarter. Luisa and the gardener went to the
gate which bears the coat of arms, and which faces the green Isola
Madre, Pallanza, and the upper lake. Luisa looked out over the immense
expanse of leaden water, crowned by misty giants from the Sasso di Ferro
group above Laveno to the mountains of Maccagno, and to the distant
snows of the Splugen. The smoke of the _Radetzky_ was more plainly
visible than its body, and the drums of Pallanza were still rolling.
Uncle Piero called the gardener and Luisa went to lean against the
parapet beside the gate, and near the yew-tree that rises from the
terrace below. The tree shut out the view on the east. She was glad to
be alone at last, to rest her eyes and her thoughts on the grey of the
great mountains and of the great waters. Presently the gardener came
back to point out to her the yellow acacias and the white heather that
were blossoming on the lower terrace. "The _bruyeres blanches_ bring
luck," said he. Seeing