and a half lire the hour," he succeeded in
getting us to understand.

"Only ten cents each. And it's fully two miles to the Cathedral!"
exclaimed my companion. "But we have a number of places to visit," he
added, "and it will be better to engage the cab by the hour. Show him
your watch and make a note of the time."

At the entrance of the Cathedral, the beggars asking alms reminded us of
the description of similar scenes at the gate of the Temple in the
Savior's time. A blind man standing by the door called loudly upon the
passers-by to have pity on him, a cripple seated on the steps with rough
crooked crutches by his side stretched out his hand for aid, and a fat
dirty woman with a tiny babe in her arms whiningly cried, "poveretta
mia! poveretta mia!"

[Illustration: I. THE ISLAND OF CAPRI.]

[Illustration: II. VILLAGE AT ITS BASE AND VILLAGE ON ITS SUMMIT.]

The regular services in the Cathedral were over when we entered, but
many people were in the building. Some were in silent adoration before
the Cross at the magnificent high altar; some were worshiping at the
foot of the Virgin, or praying at the shrines of the saints; others were
contritely kneeling at the confessional boxes with faces close to the
little grated windows, whispering deeds of misdoing to the confessor
within and awaiting the father's words of penance or of absolution. We
followed a crowd of Italians who were going into a chapel at the side
where preparations were being made for a special service. There being no
pews or sittings in the chapel, but a few plain chairs for hire, we paid
the verger two cents for the use of a chair and waited. Wooden benches
were placed in line to form an aisle and a number of women and children
knelt at the benches, each holding a large unlighted candle.

A cardinal in a red robe came down the aisle, accompanied by a surpliced
acolyte bearing a cup of oil. As the cardinal passed each kneeling
person, he dipped his thumb into the oil and then, repeating a formula,
made a sign of the cross with his thumb on the worshiper's forehead. A
priest in black cassock and a chorister in white followed the cardinal,
the priest wiping the foreheads with a piece of cotton and the chorister
taking the candles which were handed to him as offerings to the church.

The doors of the magnificently adorned Cathedral were open to rich and
poor alike; but the poor were in the majority, and among them appeared
such cases of slovenly pove