fairly started.
The American told with much expenditure of eloquence the story of "the
wrath of Achilles, the son of Peleus," and of the dire misfortunes
which fell upon the house of Priamus and Atreus in consequence of one
woman's fatal beauty. The girl sat listening with a rapt, far-away
expression; now and then a breeze of emotion flitted across her
features and a tear glittered in her eye and coursed slowly down over
her cheek. Cranbrook, too, as he was gradually tuned into sympathy
with his own tale, felt a strange, shuddering intoxication of
happiness. He did not perceive how the time slipped by; he began to
shiver, and saw that the sun was gone. The girl woke up with a start
as his voice ceased and looked about her with a bewildered air. They
both rose and walked together through the long, empty halls and
corridors. He noticed wonderingly that she carried a heavy bunch of
keys in her hand and locked each door after they had passed through
it. This then led to some personal explanations. He learned that her
name was Annunciata, and that she was the daughter of Antonio
Caesarelli, the gardener of the villa, who lived in the house with the
_loggias_ which he could see at the end of the steep plane tree
avenue. If he would like to pick some oranges, there were plenty of
them in the garden, and as the prince never asked for them, her father
allowed her to eat as many as she liked. Would he not come and see her
father? He was a very good and kind man. At present he was trimming
the hedge up on the terrace.

During this colloquy they had entered the garden, which seemed at
first glance a great luxuriant wilderness. On the right hand of the
gate was a huge jungle of blooming rose-bushes whose intertwisted
branches climbed the tall stuccoed wall, for the possession of which
it struggled bravely with an equally ambitious and vigorous ivy.
Enormous bearded cacti of fantastic forms spread their fat prickly
leaves out over both sides of the pavement, leaving only a narrow
aisle in the middle where locomotion was practicable. A long flight of
green and slippery stone steps led up to a lofty terrace which was
raised above the rest of the garden by a high wall, surmounted by a
low marble balustrade. Here the palms spread their fan-like crowns
against the blue sky, and the golden fruit shone among the dark leaves
of the orange-trees. A large sculptured Triton with inflated cheeks
blew a column of water high up into the air, and