as the local steamer
did not start for Syracuse until midnight, the Ingleton party had the
whole day at Valetta on their hands. They very sensibly established
themselves at an hotel, ordered lunch and dinner there, then went out
into the town to take a walk along the ramparts and see what sights they
could. Valetta, with its streets of steps, its wonderfully fortified
harbors, its gay public gardens, its cathedral, and its armory of the
Knights of St. John, where are preserved hundreds of priceless suits of
armor belonging to the Crusaders, the famous silver bells that rang
peals from the churches, and the rare and beautiful pieces of Maltese
lace exhibited in the shop windows, had many attractions for strangers,
particularly those of British nationality. In the midst of such foreign
surroundings it was delightful to hear English spoken in the streets,
to see the familiar figure of a policeman, and to know that the great
warships in the harbor were part of the British Fleet, and were ready at
any time to protect our merchant vessels.

After a bewildering day's sight-seeing the girls sat in the lounge of
the hotel after dinner, trying to rest. They were very tired, and would
gladly have gone to bed, but the Syracuse mail-boat ran only once in
every twenty-four hours, and started at midnight, so their traveling
must perforce be continued without the longed for break. Cousin Clare
cheered them up with the thoughts of the coffee ordered for ten o'clock,
and of berths when they got on board the steamer.

"We might be far worse off," she assured them. "For at least we have a
comfortable hotel to rest in. I remember once having to spend most of
the night in a waiting-room at the station at Marseilles. Put your feet
up on the sofa, Lilias! Carmel, child, if you'd shut your eyes, I
believe you'd go to sleep. I vote we all try to doze for an hour, until
our coffee comes to wake us up."

It was quite a quaint experience to leave the hotel at eleven o'clock
and drive in carriages to the quay, then to get into small boats and be
rowed out to the mail-steamer. It was a glorious night, with a moon and
bright stars, the sky and the water looked a deep dark blue, and from
vessels here and there lights shone out that sent twisting, flickering
reflections into the harbor. Their steamer was some distance away, so it
was a long row out from the Customs House across the shimmering water.
The landlord of the hotel, Signor Giordano, who und