ell plaster images for him; we gathered that this
man, who lived in Portland, cast the images himself. The only English
words he had taught them were "ten cent," "twenty-five cent" and "fifty
cent"--the prices of the plaster casts.

A few days before, in spite of the bitterly cold weather, he had sent
them out with their wares and bidden them to call at every house until
they had sold their stock. Then they were to bring back the money they
had taken in. He had given a package of dry, black bread to each of them
and had told them to sleep at nights in barns.

Sales were few, and long after their bread was gone they had wandered
on, not daring to go back until they had sold all their wares. What
little money they had taken in they dared not spend for food, for fear
the _padrone_ would whip them! Their tale roused no little indignation
in the old Squire and grandmother Ruth.

What with the food and the warmth the little Italians soon grew so
sleepy that they drowsed off before our eyes. We made a couch of
blankets for them in a warm corner, and they were still soundly asleep
there when Addison and I went out to do the farm chores the next
morning.

We kept the little image peddlers with us for several days thereafter.
In fact, we were at a loss to know what to do with them, for a cold snap
had come on. With their thin clothes and worn-out shoes they were in no
condition either to go on or to go back; and, moreover, now that their
images were broken, they were in terror of their _padrone_.

One of the boys was slightly larger and stronger than the other; his
name, he managed to tell us, was Emilio Foresi. The first name of the
other was Tomaso, but I have forgotten his surname. Tomaso, I recollect,
had little gold rings in his ears. His voice was soft, and he had gentle
manners.

Under the influence of good food and a warm place to sleep both boys
brightened visibly and even grew vivacious. On the third morning we
heard Emilio singing some Neapolitan folk-song to himself. Yet they were
shy about singing to us, and it was only after considerable coaxing that
Theodora induced them to sing a few Italian songs together. Halstead had
an old violin, and we found that Tomaso could play it surprisingly well.

By carefully sorting our reserve of worn clothes and shoes we managed to
fit out the little strangers more comfortably, but the problem of what
to do with them remained. Grandmother Ruth thought that their _padrone_
m