lovely as before; but a
great cloud of sadness came over her, in which she was always enveloped,
whether she sat at home, or walked abroad in the places where she and
Giuseppe used to wander. The simple people respected her grief, and
always made a tender-hearted stillness when the bereft little maiden
went through the streets,--a stillness which she never noticed, for she
never noticed anything apparently. The bishop himself when he walked
abroad could not be treated with more respect.

This was all the story of the sweet Fiammetta that was confided to
me. And afterwards, as I recalled her pensive face that evening as
she kneeled at vespers, I could not say whether, after all, she was
altogether to be pitied, in the holy isolation of her grief, which I am
sure sanctified her, and, in some sort, made her life complete. For I
take it that life, even in this sunny Sorrento, is not alone a matter of
time.

ST. MARIA A CASTELLO

The Great St. Angelo and that region are supposed to be the haunts of
brigands. From those heights they spy out the land, and from thence
have, more than once, descended upon the sea-road between Castellamare
and Sorrento, and caught up English and German travelers. This elevation
commands, also, the Paestum way. We have no faith in brigands in these
days; for in all our remote and lonely explorations of this promontory
we have never met any but the most simple-hearted and good-natured
people, who were quite as much afraid of us as we were of them. But
there are not wanting stories, every day, to keep alive the imagination
of tourists.

We are waiting in the garden this sunny, enticing morning-just the day
for a tramp among the purple hills--for our friend, the long Englishman,
who promised, over night, to go with us. This excellent, good-natured
giant, whose head rubs the ceiling of any room in the house, has a wife
who is fond of him, and in great dread of the brigands. He comes down
with a sheepish air, at length, and informs us that his wife won't let
him go.

"Of course I can go, if I like," he adds. "But the fact is, I have n't
slept much all night: she kept asking me if I was going!" On the whole,
the giant don't care to go. There are things more to be feared than
brigands.

The expedition is, therefore, reduced to two unarmed persons. In the
piazza we pick up a donkey and his driver for use in case of accident;
and, mounting the driver on the donkey,--an arrangement that seems