willing. Then you and I will work with it and enjoy it
together. It is the only way. Say yes, dear," and Barbara looked at her
sister with an almost piteous entreaty.

Bettina could say nothing for a time. Then, as if impelled by the force
of Barbara's desire, said:--

"Wait until we get home. Then, if you wish it as you do now, I will do
as papa and mamma think best; for, darling," in a somewhat quavering
voice, "I know if the money were all mine, I should feel just as you
do." And a loving kiss sealed the compact.

Meanwhile the days in Rome were passing,--lovely in nature as only
spring days in Italy can be; days filled to overflowing with delightful
and unique interest. For cities, as well as people, possess their own
characteristic individualities, and Rome is distinctively an individual
city.

From her foundation by the shepherd-kings far beyond the outermost
threshold of history, down through the six or seven centuries during
which she was engaged in conquering the nations; through the five
hundred years of her undisputed reign as proud mistress of the world; in
her sad decay and fall; and to-day in her resurrection, she is only
herself--unlike all other cities.

The fragmentary ruins of her great heathen temples arise close beside
her Christian churches,--some are even foundations for them,--while the
trappings of many have furnished the rich adornments of Christian
altars. Her mediaeval castles and palaces, crowded to overflowing with
heart-breaking traditions, look out over smiling gardens in the midst of
which stand the quiet, orderly, innocent homes of the present race of
commonplace men and women. Her vast Colosseum is only an immense quarry.
Her proud mausoleum of the Julian Caesars is an unimportant circus.

We drive or walk on the Corso, along which the Caesars triumphantly led
processions of captives; through which, centuries later, numberless
papal pageants made proud entries of the city; where the maddest
jollities of carnival seasons have raged: and we see nothing more
important than modern carriages filled with gayly dressed women, and
shops brilliant with modern jewellery and pretty colored fabrics; and we
purchase gloves, handkerchiefs, and photographs close to some spot over
which, perchance, Queen Zenobia passed laden with the golden chains that
fettered her as she graced the triumph of Emperor Aurelian; or
Cleopatra, when she came conqueror of the proud heart of Julius Caesar.

We ling