nd they had to encounter it boldly by plunging into
the midst of the crowd. So they landed--eight as singular figures as
ever disturbed the repose of this peaceful town of Salerno. Obed
headed the procession, dressed in a red shirt with black trowsers,
and a scarf tied round his waist, while a broad-brimmed felt hat
shaded his expansive forehead. His tall form, his broad shoulders,
his sinewy frame, made him by far the most conspicuous member of this
company, and attracted to him the chief admiration of the spectators.
Low, murmured words arose as he passed amidst them, expressive of the
profound impression which had been produced by the sight of his
magnificent physique. After him came the others in Indian file; for
the crowd was dense, and only parted sufficiently to allow of the
progress of one man at a time. The Southerner came next to Obed, then
the Heidelbergians, then the naval officers, while the clergyman and
the Cincinnati lawyer, in their picturesque pea-jackets, brought up
the rear. Even in a wide-awake American town such a company would
have attracted attention; how much more so in this sleepy, secluded,
quiet, Italian town! especially at such a time, when all men every
where were on the look-out for great enterprises.

Obed marched on with his friends till they left the wharf and were
able to walk on together more closely. The crowd followed. The
Americans took the middle of the street, and walked up into the town
through what seemed the principal thoroughfare. The crowd pressed
after them, showing no decrease whatever in their ardent curiosity,
yet without making any noisy demonstrations. They seemed like men who
were possessed by some conviction as to the character of these
strangers, and were in full sympathy with them, but were waiting to
see what they might _do_. The Americans, on their side, were more and
more surprised at every step, and could not imagine any cause
whatever for so very singular a reception. They did not even know
whether to view it as a hostile demonstration, or as a sort of
triumphant reception. They could not imagine what they had done which
might merit either the one or the other. All that was left for them
to do, therefore, they did; and that means, they accepted the
situation, and walked along intent only upon the most prosaic of
purposes--the discovery of a hotel. At length, after a few minutes'
walk, they found the object of their search in a large stucco edifice
which bore