Then he added soberly, "The fishermen miss the old tower more than any of us, because they used to find their way into the Lido port by it." "You say so much about the Lido," said Edith. "We will go over there after we have looked at some of the pictures inside the palace, and at the dungeons, and the Bridge of Sighs," answered Rafael. Edith shuddered. "I will look at the pictures, but not at the dungeons," she said; "and I can look at the Bridge of Sighs every time I come from our hotel into the Piazza." As they stepped back into the room behind them, she repeated the names of three of the great painters whose works have helped to make Venice a treasure-city. "Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto," she said over and over again, as she looked at the pictures which Rafael pointed out to her in the long rooms. "If I find more of their paintings in other cities of Italy, it will seem like meeting old friends." Rafael smiled. "Italy is rich because of her artists," he said. "You will find their works in every city. It may not always be the paintings of those same three men, but there are others which are also famous." Then his happy face grew serious. "It makes the heart sad to think what wonderful dreams our great Italians have had," he said. "My mother says that no dream, no thought of beauty, was ever felt anywhere, that has not found expression here in Italy." As he spoke, he led the mother and daughter out of the palace and across the Piazzetta to the steps where his little boat was tied, and Edith wondered if his words were true. Before her sight-seeing in Italy was ended, she was very sure that they were. CHAPTER VI SUNSET FROM THE TOWER OF SAN GIORGIO "It is not a good plan to leave the square from the steps in front of the two great columns," Rafael explained, as he went toward the landing-place opposite the Doge's palace, where he always moored his boat. "Why is it not a good plan?" asked Edith. "Because it might later make us run into a mud-bank," he answered merrily. "Whenever any one is executed in Venice, it has to be done between those two columns, and that has made the spot most unlucky. People used to gamble there before it was the place for executions, but now, of course, no one thinks of such a thing." "I should hope not," said Mrs. Sprague, "nor anywhere else." "The only Doge that was ever beheaded, landed between those columns," continued Rafael, "and since then there are people who would not dare to use the steps, for fear it might bring them ill-luck." "I am going to get into your boat from those very steps," said Edith, walking toward them. Her mother, who was already seated in the boat, looked troubled. "He may be right, Edith," she called to her daughter. "You know that I am afraid of the water, and you promised not to take any chances if I would bring you to Italy."