as if to make room for the next on the program.

At last Rafael took up one which was wrapped in gold-foil, and which
seemed to be both graceful and business-like, and wonderfully
accomplished. It hung balanced between two outer circles of steel, and
spun in every possible position--on the pavement, on the top of a
post, and at right angles to it--all at one spinning.

"It is my golden spinner," said the boy, in Italian. "It has travelled
among all the great cities of the world, and never failed to keep an
engagement."

The boys laughed, and Edith joined in the laughter, although she did
not know the meaning of the words.

Rafael looked up into her face and smiled. It was the opportunity
which she had hoped for. She had noticed his unusual appearance, and
that he was dressed with care.

"Speak to him, Mother," she urged, in English. "Perhaps he will tell
us where we may go to see the sights."

The boy rose and took off his cap. "I speak English, Signora," he
said. "There are truly many things to see in Venice, if you wish to
see them."

CHAPTER IV

STREETS OF VENICE

Mrs. Sprague looked from one child to the other. The girl was eager,
the boy expectant. "He is no older than you are, Edith," she said at
last. "It isn't possible that he can be a good guide. There will be
three lost, instead of two as there were yesterday, if he tries to
pilot us through these crooked lanes."

The day before, Edith had hired an Italian lad to act as a guide, when
she had wished to buy an Italian flag and could find none in the shops
near the Piazza. She had made her wish known, by signs, to one of the
young boys idling at the base of the Lion's Column. He could speak no
English, but Edith showed him a tiny American flag which she carried
in her purse.

"Viva America!" she said, waving the flag with one hand. Then she
waved the empty hand, saying, "Viva l'Italia!" and asked very loudly,
as if he might be deaf, "Where to buy?" pointing to the flag.

The boy nodded that he understood, and led the girl and her mother
across the Piazza and under the old Clock Tower, in which the clock
has been marking the hours ever since Columbus discovered America.
Beyond the tower he led them through short streets and narrow lanes to
a remote, wretched part of the city.

Although Venice is called the City of the Sea, and has hundreds of
canals, there is also a network of narrow streets and lanes threading
the islands on which the ci