The Cardinal's Snuff Box
Page 34"Yes, Excellency," said the boy.
"But--but Turin--Turin is hundreds of kilometres from here,"
she said, in a kind of gasp.
"Yes, Excellency," said the boy.
"You are going to Turin--you two children--walking--like that!"
she persisted.
"Yes, Excellency."
"But--but it will take you a month."
"Pardon, noble lady," said the boy. "With your Excellency's
permission, we were told it should take fifteen days."
"Where do you come from?" she asked.
"From Bergamo, Excellency."
"When did you leave Bergamo?"
"The little girl is your sister?"
"Yes, Excellency."
"Have you a mother and father?"
"A father, Excellency. The mother is dead." Each of the
children made the Sign of the Cross; and Peter was somewhat
surprised, no doubt, to see the Duchessa do likewise. He had
yet to learn the beautiful custom of that pious Lombard land,
whereby, when the Dead are mentioned, you make the Sign of the
Cross, and, pausing reverently for a moment, say in silence the
traditional prayer of the Church: "May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the Mercy of God, rest in peace."
"And where is your father?" the Duchessa asked.
After the strike at Bergamo, he went to Turin to seek work. Now
he has found it. So he has sent for us to come to
him."
"And you two children--alone--are going to walk all the way to
Turin!" She could not get over the pitiful wonder of it.
"Yes, Excellency."
"The heart-rending little waifs," she said, in English, with
something like a sob. Then, in Italian, "But--but how do you
live by the way?"
The boy touched his shoulder-load of baskets.
"We sell these, Excellency."
"What is their price?" she asked.
"Have you sold many since you started?"
The boy looked away; and now it was his turn to hang his head,
and to let his toes work nervously in the dust.
"Haven't you sold any?" she exclaimed, drawing her conclusions.
"No, Excellency. The people would not buy," he owned, in a
dull voice, keeping his eyes down.
"Poverino," she murmured. "Where are you going to sleep
to-night?"
"In a house, Excellency," said he.
But that seemed to strike the Duchessa as somewhat vague.