him
with a sense as of home and of sweet human happiness; the friendly eyes,
turned questioningly to his, thrilled him with a yet deeper feeling. A
look came into his face which had surely never been seen there before,
but he only said, in his deep, honest voice: "You have given a new grace
to my bricks and mortar."

Then Pauline, usually so modest and so self-contained, was conscious of
a reprehensible feeling of exultation, and, by a singular association of
ideas, she found herself constrained to remember what Uncle Dan had said
to her the other evening. She glanced at him, chatting, in pleasant
good-fellowship, with the Signora, and she was glad to think that they
too were to be made happy by this beautiful and wonderful thing which
all agreed was in the air. And at this point in her meditations Pauline
became possessed of such an irresistible, and certainly most illogical
desire to give a little sob, that she rose abruptly to her feet, and
went to look at her sister's sketches.

They were nearing the end of their voyage, and, a few minutes later,
they had made the landing, and were strolling through the ancient town
in search of luncheon. They found a little inn at the edge of the water,
where they partook of omelette and native wine, served in a pretty
loggia; after which they sauntered about the place, purchasing a piece
of lace of one and another picturesque old hag, and picking up some
quaint bits of pottery in a dingy shop under the arcades. Later, having
done their duty by the sights, they chartered a big boat, propelled by
two strapping oarsmen and a couple of very splendid sails, and voyaged
peacefully down a sleepy canal, and out across a bit of quiet lagoon to
the strip of beach known as Sotto Marina. There, on the shore, they came
upon a solitary child in a red petticoat, with a small purple shawl
crossed over her funny little person. She was apparently absorbed in
watching the tiny wavelets at her feet, scarcely bestowing a glance upon
the numberless brilliant sails, scattered like a field of Roman anemones
upon the deep green of the sea.

As the strangers descended upon her, the little recluse payed them the
tribute of a fascinated stare, and they, in return, did their best to
instill into her mind the belief that they were creatures of another and
a brighter sphere. Uncle Dan presented her with a peppermint lozenge,
Mrs. Daymond held her broad, lace-trimmed parasol over the small black
head, while M