that. Naldo had said nothing against strangers who lived
nowhere; and this old man knew nobody except one person, who was not
Nofri.

"Well," conceded Monna Lisa, at last, "if I let him stay for a while and
carry things up the hill for me, thou must keep thy counsel and tell
nobody."

"No," said Tessa, "I'll only tell the bimbo."

"And then," Monna Lisa went on, in her thick undertone, "God may love us
well enough not to let Messer Naldo find out anything about it. For he
never comes here but at dark; and as he was here two days ago, it's
likely he'll never come at all till the old man's gone away again."

"Oh me! Monna," said Tessa, clasping her hands, "I wish Naldo had not
to go such a long, long way sometimes before he comes back again."

"Ah, child! the world's big, they say. There are places behind the
mountains, and if people go night and day, night and day, they get to
Rome, and see the Holy Father."

Tessa looked submissive in the presence of this mystery, and began to
rock her baby, and sing syllables of vague loving meaning, in tones that
imitated a triple chime.

The next morning she was unusually industrious in the prospect of more
dialogue, and of the pleasure she should give the poor old stranger by
showing him her baby. But before she could get ready to take
Baldassarre his breakfast, she found that Monna Lisa had been employing
him as a drawer of water. She deferred her paternosters, and hurried
down to insist that Baldassarre should sit on his straw, so that she
might come and sit by him again while he ate his breakfast. That
attitude made the new companionship all the more delightful to Tessa,
for she had been used to sitting on straw in old days along with her
goats and mules.

"I will not let Monna Lisa give you too much work to do," she said,
bringing him some steaming broth and soft bread. "I don't like much
work, and I daresay you don't. I like sitting in the sunshine and
feeding things. Monna Lisa says, work is good, but she does it all
herself, so I don't mind. She's not a cross old woman; you needn't be
afraid of her being cross. And now, you eat that, and I'll go and fetch
my baby and show it you."

Presently she came back with the small mummy-case in her arms. The
mummy looked very lively, having unusually large dark eyes, though no
more than the usual indication of a future nose.

"This is my baby," said Tessa, seating herself close to Baldassarre.
"You didn't thin