"
"I shall be very careful," said Louise slowly, as she resumed her
writing.
"Well then, girls, what do you say to a stroll around the village?"
asked their uncle. "I'm told it's a proper place to buy silk stockings
and inlaid wood-work. They come assorted, I suppose."
Beth and Patsy jumped up with alacrity, but Louise pleaded that she had
several more letters to write; so the others left her and passed the
rest of the forenoon in rummaging among the quaint shops of Sorrento,
staring at the statue of Tasso, and enjoying the street scenes so
vividly opposed to those of America. It was almost their first glimpse
of foreign manners and customs. In Naples they had as yet seen nothing
but darkness and falling ashes.
CHAPTER X
THE ROAD TO AMALFI
The Hotel Victoria faces the bay of Naples. Back of it are the famous
gardens, and as you emerge from these you find yourself upon the narrow
main street of Sorrento, not far from the Square of Tasso.
As our little party entered this street they were immediately espied by
the vetturini, or cabmen, who rushed toward them with loud cries while
they waved their whips frantically to attract attention. One tall fellow
was dressed in a most imposing uniform of blue and gold, with a high hat
bearing a cockade _a la Inglese_ and shiny top boots. His long legs
enabled him to outstrip the others, and in an almost breathless voice he
begged Uncle John to choose his carriage: "the besta carrozza ina town!"
"We don't want to ride," was the answer.
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