Her under-lip began to tremble, and, not to let him see her cry, she jumped up and ran out. In the courtyard she found the two children still quarrelling over the purse with the picture of the Pope. "As for stealing," the boy was saying, "you had better keep quiet about that; you, and she there--the bean-pole--you two sold some wine to-day, and kept the money!" "Oh, what a lie!" cried Grazia, falling upon him and dealing him a blow, but crying herself bitterly all the while. The courtyard was filled with the chirping of the crickets and the noise of the horses' hoofs; and the warm, starlit air was heavy with the scent of the hay. "You must not be hard on her, she is a poor orphan," said Aunt Porredda, speaking in Grazia's behalf (they were the three children of an older son of the Porrus', a well-to-do shepherd whose wife had died the year before). "And why not let her read if she wants to?" "Yes, yes, let her read by all means," said Uncle Efes Maria pompously. "Ah! if they had only allowed _me_ to read when I was young--I would have been an astronomer, as learned as a priest!" To Uncle Efes Maria an astronomer represented the height of learning and cultivation--a philosopher, as it were. "Have you seen the Pope, my son?" asked Aunt Porredda, from an association of ideas. "No." "What! You have never seen the Pope?" "Oh! what do you expect? The Pope is kept shut up in a box; if you want to see him, you've got to pay well for it." "Oh, go along!" said she. "You are an infidel," and, going out to where the children were still fighting, she made a rapid descent upon them, separated the belligerents, and sent each flying in a different direction. "On my word!" she cried, "you are just like so many cocks. The Lord have mercy on me! Here they are, the chicken-cocks! Bad children, every one of you, bad, bad children!" And the lamentations of the youngsters arose and mingled with the noises of the summer evening. FOOTNOTES: [1] Porredda, female diminutive for Porru. [2] Piedino,--little foot. CHAPTER II The next morning Giovanna was the first to awaken. Through a pane of glass set in the door came a faint, roseate, sunrise glow; and the early morning silence was broken only by the chattering of the swallows. Not yet fully aroused, her first sensations were agreeable; then, all at once it was as though a terrific clap of thunder had sounded in her ear. She remembered!