the van.

"You may come out now, my little ones," she said in her most syrupy
tones. "Here we leave the van with Luigi, while we take a nice
boat-ride!" She seized them firmly by the hands, and, followed by Luigi
carrying the organ and the monkey, led them over the gang-plank on to
the boat. Once aboard, she sought an obscure corner, behind the baskets
of fruit and vegetables with which the vessel was loaded, and made the
children sit beside her, while Luigi piled around them numerous bundles
brought from the van.

At last the rumble of trucks ceased, the sailors loosed the great
hawsers which tied the boat to the dock, and in a few moments the
children, looking back to the shore, saw a widening strip of green water
between them and their native land.

CHAPTER SIX.

VENICE.

For two beautiful bright days they remained on the boat, as it made its
way up the eastern coast of Italy, and on the morning of the third,
there, rising before them out of the mists, like a dream city afloat
upon the waters, was Venice! It was so lovely, with its domes, towers,
and palaces mirrored in the still waters, and its hundreds of sails
making spots of bright colour against the blue, that for a short time
the children almost forgot their grief. As the boat entered a great
lagoon, and slowly made its way through the Canal della Giudecca to the
landing-place, Carlotta grew more than ever vigilant. The children had
hoped against hope that some way of escape might appear when they
reached the dock, but Carlotta remained at their elbows every moment,
and under her watchful eyes they could not even speak to each other,
much less to any one else.

It was evident that she meant to make them understand how impossible it
would be for them to get away from Venice, for as the boat rounded the
western side of the island upon which the city is built, she pointed out
to them the mainland, lying two miles away across the water, and the
long black railroad bridge which is the only connection between the two.

"You see how it is, my little ones," she said. "One cannot leave Venice
without a boat, a ticket on the railway, or wings! And truly, how could
any one wish to leave it? Luigi has been wretched all the time he has
been away, and never wishes to desert his beloved city again. You too
will feel the same."

The children made no reply. They were as helpless as caged birds, and
could only follow her silently, as she loaded them with bu