n him
up, and feed him when the neighbors are not looking on! These days will
sorely try the men: now they labor in the fields in shirts and drawers,
never thinking of putting on their pantaloons until they return to the
very gates of the town, where, at sunset, you may see them, ten or
twelve deep, thus employed before entering the city; but in the future
they will have to observe _les convenances_ and make their toilette in
the fields. This they will do with great grumbling, returning homeward,
and they will sing _rondinelle_ bearing severely on the _forestieri_ who
have ruined the good old pod-augur days when they made _vendetta_
without trouble: thus reflecting, the donkeys they ride, while their
wives walk and carry a load, will receive many virulent punches intended
for other objects.

'Signor Giacomo, dinner is served,' said the landlord, as Caper entered
the old inn.

Cool wine, roast lamb, wild pigeons, crisp salad, with a broiled
partridge; great bunches of luscious grapes, figs freshly picked, _and_
maccaroni a la Milanese. Such was our artist's dinner that day.
Patriarchally simple of a necessity; but, then, what can you expect in a
town where the British Lion has never yet growled for a bushel of raw
beef when he is fed, or swore at the landlord for not having a pint of
hay boiled in hot water (tea?) for breakfast, when he is nervous?

FIVE FAIRS AND FESTIVALS.

Do not believe, in spite of all you hear about the benighted Papal
States, that the people spend their holidays groaning and begging to
depart from this vale of tears: on the contrary, the ignorant wretches
believe in enjoying every moment of life; and, to judge by the Segnians,
who are by no means dyspeptical, they do so with all their might. They
know, if they fall sick, good Doctor Matteucci attends them carefully
and well, without any charge, for he receives a salary from the commune.
They know, if they have good health and do their work, they will be
rewarded every now and then with a holiday, in which religion is so
tempered with lottery tickets, wine drinking, fireworks, horse races,
and trading, that, shorn lambs as they are, paying to the church three
cents for every twenty-five pounds of corn they may grind, and as large
a portion of their crops for the rent of the lands they till, they still
have jolly good times at the fairs and festivals in their own and
neighboring towns.

Every town has its patron saint, and it is in honor of