ing, the villages were near together, and the
highways well travelled. Moreover, they had been hardened to much
walking by their weeks of constant practice, and were able to trot along
the road at a good rate of speed.

At noon they reached a village, and here they decided to replenish their
little hoard of money, so, making their way to the piazza, they
surrounded themselves with a crowd for whom they danced the trescone and
sang themselves hoarse. They were just gathering up the few coins that
were thrown to them, when Beppo saw a policeman approaching, and, not
wishing to take any chances, the two children instantly disappeared like
smoke down a side street, and out into the highway once more.

By supper-time they had covered ten miles, and when night overtook them,
they were in open farming country, surrounded by olive orchards,
vineyards, and cornfields. In a field beside the road they came upon a
straw-stack, and, hiding themselves on the farther side of it, they ate
the bread and ham which they had bought on the way, and then, pulling
the straw down over them for covering, slept peacefully until morning.

CHAPTER TEN.

HOME AGAIN.

The next day and the next passed in much the same way. They danced and
sang in the villages to earn their bread, and then passed out again to
the highway, where there were sign-posts to guide them, or they could
ask directions from fellow travellers. One night they passed in an
olive orchard, under a spreading tree. Another was spent under the
protection of a wayside shrine.

When he awoke in the morning, Beppo found his sister kneeling before the
shrine. She turned a beaming face upon him as he opened his eyes.

"Oh, Beppo mio," she said, "I haven't forgotten once, and this is the
ninth day! I've made my novena! I'm almost sure the blessed Saint
Anthony means to get us to Padua this very day. If he does, I think I
shall die of joy."

"What would be the good of that?" Beppo inquired, practically. Then he
added, "Anyway, I think it'll be very mean if he doesn't, after all the
praying you've done, and all my thinking too."

They ate a hasty bite of bread beside the shrine, then trudged on, and,
before the morning was over, actually found themselves passing through
the beautiful gardens which surround the city of Padua. They entered it
from the east by the Porta di' Pontecorbo, walked a short distance along
a wide street, crossed a canal, and, turning to the left, s