r suffered the least abatement; the
mature voice occasionally heard above it struck a cheery note, by no
means one of impatience or stern command. Had I been physically capable
of any effort, I should have tried to view that educational scene. The
incident did me good, and I went on in a happier humour.

Which was not perturbed by something that fell under my eye soon
afterwards. At a shop door hung certain printed cards, bearing a notice
that "wood hay-makers," "wood binders," and "wood mowers" were "sold
here." Not in Italian this, but in plain, blunt English; and to each
announcement was added the name of an English manufacturing firm, with
an agency at Naples. I have often heard the remark that Englishmen of
business are at a disadvantage in their export trade because they pay
no heed to the special requirements of foreign countries; but such a
delightful illustration of their ineptitude had never come under my
notice. Doubtless these alluring advertisements are widely scattered
through agricultural Calabria. Who knows? they my serve as an
introduction to the study of the English tongue.

Not without cordiality was my leave-taking. The hostess confided to me
that, in the first day of my illness, she had felt sure I should die.
Everybody had thought so, she added gaily; even Dr. Sculco had shaken
his head and shrugged his shoulders; much better, was it not, to be
paying my bill? Bill more moderate, under the circumstances, no man
ever discharged; Calabrian honesty came well out of the transaction. So
I tumbled once more into the dirty, ramshackle _diligenza_, passed
along the dusty road between the barred and padlocked warehouses, and
arrived in good time at the station. No sooner had I set foot on the
platform than I felt an immense relief. Even here, it seemed to me, the
air was fresher. I lifted my eyes to the hills and seemed to feel the
breezes of Catanzaro.

The train was made up at Cotrone, and no undue haste appeared in our
departure. When we were already twenty minutes late, there stepped into
the carriage where I was sitting a good-humoured railway official, who
smiled and greeted me. I supposed he wanted my ticket, but nothing of
the kind. After looking all round the compartment with an air of
disinterested curiosity, he heaved a sigh and remarked pleasantly to
me, "_Non manca niente_"--"Nothing is amiss." Five minutes more and we
steamed away.

The railway ascended a long valley, that of the Esaro, wh