had sent his aunt's
fly, driven by her son his cousin; and his aunt and her fly lived in
Castagneto, the village crouching at the feet of San Salvatore, and
therefore, however late the train was, the fly would not dare come home
without containing that which it had been sent to fetch.

Domenico's cousin's name was Beppo, and he presently emerged out
of the dark where Mrs. Arbuthnot and Mrs. Wilkins stood, uncertain what
to do next after the train had gone on, for they could see no porter
and they thought from the feel of it that they were standing not so
much on a platform as in the middle of the permanent way.

Beppo, who had been searching for them, emerged from the dark
with a kind of pounce and talked Italian to them vociferously. Beppo
was a most respectable young man, but he did not look as if he were,
especially not in the dark, and he had a dripping hat slouched over one
eye. They did not like the way he seized their suit-cases. He could
not be, they thought, a porter. However, they presently from out of
his streaming talk discerned the words San Salvatore, and after that
they kept on saying them to him, for it was the only Italian they knew,
as they hurried after him, unwilling to lose sight of their suit-cases,
stumbling across rails and through puddles out to where in the road a
small, high fly stood.

Its hood was up, and its horse was in an attitude of thought.
They climbed in, and the minute they were in--Mrs. Wilkins, indeed,
could hardly be called in--the horse awoke with a start from its
reverie and immediately began going home rapidly; without Beppo;
without the suit-cases.

Beppo darted after him, making the night ring with his shouts,
and caught the hanging reins just in time. He explained proudly, and
as it seemed to him with perfect clearness, that the horse always did
that, being a fine animal full of corn and blood, and cared for by him,
Beppo, as if he were his own son, and the ladies must be alarmed--he
had noticed they were clutching each other; but clear, and loud, and
profuse of words though he was, they only looked at him blankly.

He went on talking, however, while he piled the suit-cases up
round them, sure that sooner or later they must understand him,
especially as he was careful to talk very loud and illustrate
everything he said with the simplest elucidatory gestures, but they
both continued only to look at him. They both, he noticed
sympathetically, had white faces, fati