h and south. In some three miles we
were at the gate of the town. Taormina is practically a long, straight
street, at one end the Timeo, at the other the San Domenico. It is
simply a Sicilian village, with its Norman fountain and its crumbling
palaces, but with a history that goes back to Greece in its prime. Above
rises on a splendid height the old Castello; further inland, and higher
still, is the wild village of Mola peeping over the edge of a precipice
that overhangs the valley. Twenty miles away floats the stately cone of
Etna. It is a place of entrancing beauty, and the gem of it all is the
ancient Greek theatre. I suppose that nowhere in the world have nature
and the noblest art that ever adorned the earth combined in a more
perfect picture.

The resting-place chosen by Miss Randolph is not out of that picture,
but a part of it. For five hundred years it was a monastery. How well
those good old monks knew how to do themselves! They laid out a fairy
garden on a gracious headland above the sea, overlooking a panorama the
most beautiful in Sicily. They planted it thick with orange and lemon
trees and flowers as sweet as bloomed in Eden. Now the monks are
banished, but the garden remains, and their old home (with its lovely
cloisters, its long, dim corridors panelled with painted saints, its
tiled rooms and deep-set windows) opens hospitable doors to strangers.

Aunt Mary is delighted with the San Domenico, because a "real live
prince" is her landlord. Even the Goddess says that it makes her feel
more than ever that she is living in a fairy story. Now, if only the
fairy godmother will come along to-morrow, and waving her wand over
Brown, transform him into a worthier hero of that story, and soften the
heart of the Princess! Do you think it will be so? In any event, it has
done me good to write you this. If all goes well I'll wire. I don't
think there's much sleep for me to-night. As soon as there's a chance
that the mater can have arrived I shall go down to Santa Margherita, Sir
Evelyn Haines' place, and have it out with her.

Your somewhat distracted but faithful friend,
Jack.

MISS SYBIL BARROW TO HER SCHOOL FRIEND, MISS MINNIE HOBSON, OF
EDGBASTON, BIRMINGHAM

Santa Margherita,
Taormina, Sicily,