One of them proposed that each man should contribute one-fourth of the gold he carried to reward their rescuer, a proposition which was at once accepted. Frank, however, assured them that although leading a team of mules he was well off, and in no need whatever of their kind offer. Seeing that he was in earnest, his fellow-passengers again thanked him cordially, and took their places in the coach. They were not to be balked in their gratitude, and three days later a very handsome horse, with saddle and holsters with a brace of Colt's revolvers, arrived up from Sacramento for Frank, with the best wishes of the passengers in the coach. On the same day a letter arrived saying that at a meeting of the directors of the bank it had been resolved that, as he had saved them from a loss of fifty thousand pounds by his gallantry, a sum of two thousand pounds should be placed to his credit at the bank in token of their appreciation of the great service he had rendered them. [Illustration] CHAPTER XX. A MESSAGE FROM ABROAD. "I LIKE this, grandfather. I think I like it better than anything I have seen. In the sunlight the cathedral is too dazzling and white, and the eye does not seem to find any rest; but in the moonlight it is perfectly lovely. And then the music of that Austrian band is just right from here; it is not too loud, and yet we can hear every note. Somehow, I always like better not to see the players, but just to have the benefit of the music as we do now, and to sit taking it in, and looking at that glorious cathedral, all silver and black, in the moonlight. It is glorious!" Harry murmured, "I could not have believed there was anything so lovely." "Yes, yes," Captain Bayley said absently, "the ices are good." "I am not talking of the ices, grandfather, though no doubt they are good. I am talking about the cathedral." "Are you, my boy?" Captain Bayley said, rousing himself. "Yes, there are cathedrals which beat Milan when seen in broad daylight, but in the moonlight there is no building in the world to compare with it, unless it be the Taj Mahal at Agra. Of course they differ wholly and entirely in style, and no comparison can be made between them; the only resemblance is that both are built of white marble; but of the two, I own that I prefer the Taj." "I am afraid I shall never see that," Alice Hardy said, "but I am quite content with Milan; I could stop here for a month." "A month, my dear!" Captain Bayley exclaimed, in consternation, "three days will be ample. You know we agreed to stop here till Friday, and then to go on to Como." "Well, perhaps we will let you go on Friday, but we shall have to dawdle about the lakes for some time. We can't rush through them as we have been rushing through all these grand old Italian towns. We must have a long rest there, you know." "Yes, I suppose so," the old officer said reluctantly; "but I like to be on the move."