room. But Angelucia and the
two wives of the stout gentlemen never winked; they had probably been to
confession that morning, had cleared out their old sins, and were now
ready to take in a new cargo. In a little while Roejean sent the waiter
out to a cafe, and he soon returned with coffee for the party, upon
which Caper, who had the day before bought some Havana cigars of the man
in the Twelve Apostles, in the piazza Dodici Apostoli, where there is a
government cigar-store for the sale of them, passed them around, and
they were thoroughly appreciated by the diners. The farmer-general gave
our three artists a hearty invitation to visit him, promising them all
the horses they could ride, all the wine they could drink, and all the
maccaroni they could eat. The last clause was inserted for Roejean's
benefit, who had played a noble game with the grand dish they had had
for dinner, and at which Angelucia had made great fun, assuring Roejean
he was Italian to the heart, _e piu basso_.

Then came good-by, and our artists were off--slowly, meditatively, and
extremely happy, but, so far, quite steady. They walked to the
castellated monastery of San Basilio, where in the chapel of Saint Nilus
they saw the celebrated frescoes of Domenichino, and gazed at them
tranquilly and not quite so appreciatingly as they would have done
before dinner. Then they came out from the gloom and the air heavy with
incense of the chapel to the bright light and lively scenes of the fair,
with renewed pleasure. They noticed that every one wore in the hat or in
the lappel of the coat, if men--in their hair or in their bosom, if
women, artificial roses; and presently coming to a stand where such
flowers were for sale, our trio bought half-a-dozen each, and then
turned to where the crowd was thickest and the noise greatest. Three or
four donkeys loaded with tin-ware were standing near the crowd, when one
of them, ambitious of distinction, began clambering over the tops of the
others in an insane attempt to get at some greens, temptingly displayed
before him. Rattle, bang! right and left went the tins, and in rushed
men and women with cudgels; but donkey was not to be stopped, and for
four or five minutes the whole fair seemed gathered around the scene,
cheering and laughing, with a spirit that set Caper wild with
excitement, and induced him to work his way through the crowd and
present one old woman who had finally conquered the donkey, with two
large ros