ething hard like that, but just what he had in mind she could not
guess.

That night when they were out in the boat, Beppo asked Luigi if he might
try to row it home, and Luigi, being willing to loaf whenever it was
possible, said he might. Beppo did so well that night that on the next
Luigi allowed him to row as well as sing, and very soon Beppo came to
know his way about the Grand Canal better than he knew the
multiplication-table--oh, much better!

At last one night, after they had gone to bed, Beppo lay still for a
long time, until he was sure that every one else in the room was asleep.
Then he quietly woke Beppina, and the two slid from their mattresses to
the floor. Here they waited a moment, for the husks rattled a little,
and then, as no one stirred, they moved stealthily to the door, carrying
their shoes in their hands. They had slept in their clothes, for they
still wore the ones Carlotta had given them, and had not seen their own
since the day she had made them change in the van.

They almost suffocated with fright as they opened the door, for it
creaked and they feared the monkey would begin to chatter, but Carina
was tired, too, and slept as soundly as the rest. In a moment they had
quietly closed it behind them, and were feeling their way in the dark,
down the stairs and through the passage at the bottom to the canal
entrance of the house, where Mario and Luigi kept their oars. Beppo had
noted carefully when they came in just where Luigi had placed his, and,
feeling cautiously along the wall with his hands, was able to locate
them in the dark. He gave his shoes to his sister, took down the oars,
and managed to get them to the door without knocking anything over or
dropping them on the stone floor.

Followed by Beppina, who was holding on to his coat and praying to Saint
Anthony under her breath, he reached the water entrance to the house,
and stood upon the landing. Luigi's boat and Mario's gondola were both
tied to a red pole beside the entrance. Beppo put one oar down on the
step, and with the other managed to reach the pointed prow of the boat,
and draw it to the step. Then he leaped in, helped Beppina in with the
shoes, took the other oar into the boat with him, and, untying the rope
which fastened it to the pole, shot out into the stream.

There was a scraping noise as the boat swung against the landing-step,
and Beppo used the oar to push it away. There was also the rattling of
the oar