r with his
chubby fists.

Edith wished to stop and watch this curious bath, but Mrs. Sprague
hurried her along, and they soon reached a part of the city where many
people were moving toward a church. As they neared the building, the
leather curtain, which hangs at the entrance to Italian churches, was
pushed aside, and a stream of men, women and children began coming
out, each one carrying a candle.

The children had little candles, the grown people carried larger ones;
and everyone stopped to buy cakes from old women seated near the
church door.

After crossing many bridges, and passing many churches, Edith and her
mother suddenly entered the Piazza of St. Mark, which had grown so
familiar to them both that it was like walking into their own home.

"I shall not go out of sight of it again," said Mrs. Sprague, with a
sigh of great relief.

But Edith longed to explore those bewildering back lanes for more of
the strange foreign sights. "After we get home to America," she said,
"we shall see no more boys selling glasses of water at odd corners;
nor shall we see women frying cakes in the streets, and mothers
bathing their babies in the canals. If we can only find some one who
understands English, we shall have no more trouble."

Now that she had found Rafael, she urged her mother to employ him. "He
can speak both English and Italian," she said, "and can be our
interpreter."

Mrs. Sprague shook her head and was turning away, when the boy spoke,
and held her attention. "The golden spinner is the smallest of all my
tops," he said, "but it does the best work. Why not let me try?"

The lady looked at his earnest face and smiled. "Very well," she said,
"we will go through the Doge's palace with you. We can't get lost
there."

Rafael gathered his tops together and turned them over to one of the
boys. "Keep them for me, Nicolo," he said, and led the way at once to
the beautiful entrance just beyond the corner of the cathedral--the
entrance to the most magnificent of all the fine palaces in Venice.

CHAPTER V

STRINGING VENETIAN BEADS

Edith hurried along beside Rafael, and Mrs. Sprague followed slowly
into the courtyard of the palace, up the Giant's Staircase and through
great rooms, until they came out upon a balcony overlooking the square
which they had just left.

"Is it not lovely?" Rafael asked simply.

Without answering, Edith balanced her camera upon the railing of the
balcony and snapped a pictu