e fashion for our school children to learn by rote
the facts written down in their geography about all the corners of the
earth; they must know rather the children in these foreign lands,--the
sights they see, their work and play, their festivals and holidays,
their homes, their ambitions.

Such a tale is told in this little book about Italy. Rafael Valla, a
lad of fourteen, is seen first in Venice; he rows his boat on the
canals, hears the music of the band in the Square of St. Mark, goes to
the Rialto bridge for the serenade, and suddenly, through a chance
meeting with an American girl and her mother, the way is opened for
him to see Italy. He joins them in Florence, and they ride over the
Tuscan roads in an automobile, stopping to see the peasants gathering
grapes, and to visit an olive-farm. In Rome they see the ruins of the
ancient city under the direction of a guide, and they go to Naples,
and visit Pompeii and Vesuvius.

The book is full of pictures of Italian life. One sees the children
feeding the pigeons in Venice, the Easter festival in Florence, the
vintage with its merry-making in Tuscany, the Roman ruins, the
picturesque street-life in Naples with its noise and gayety, and the
silent streets of Pompeii. There are many such pen pictures of Italian
life, and the story should appeal to the imagination of the child and
awaken his interest in Italy and its people.

* * * * *

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I AN EVENING IN VENICE 1

II VIVA L'ITALIA! 6

III RAFAEL'S TRAINED TOPS 11

IV STREETS OF VENICE 16

V STRINGING VENETIAN BEADS 21

VI SUNSET FROM THE TOWER OF SAN GIORGIO 28

VII A CHAT ABOUT VERONA 36

VIII EDITH'S FLORENTINE MOSAIC 41

IX RAFAEL LEAVES VENICE 46

X GATHERING GRAPES IN TUSCANY 51

XI A MARATHON RUN TO ROME 62

XII "THE GOLDEN MILESTONE" 72

XIII A RAMBLE IN ROME 76

XIV A MORNING IN THE COLOSSEUM 85

XV MERRY NAPLES 95

XVI THE BURIED CITY 103

XVII THE MAGIC OF THE FOUNTAIN 110

* * * * *