"Now then! Now then!" he said, "there will be a treat to-morrow for good boys who don't cry! Be little men, don't let these women see you sobbing like babies!" He waved his hand laughingly "Who's my good boy? Let us see which of you can stop first!" "I want my mammina!" sobbed Mimmo. "I wants her too!" echoed Beppino. "Ah, già, where is the Signora?" Ferrati asked turning to Assunta. "_Ma chi lo sa_, Sor Dottore?" she answered in some confusion, busying herself about Beppino's cot. "She has gone out." "But where?" "How should I know? The Signora's affairs are not mine! Nando said she told the _fiaccheraio_ to drive to the Grand Hotel, but more than that I do not know." Ferrati knitted his brows--the Grand Hotel! She must have gone there to meet someone, for it was too expensive and fashionable a hostelry as well as too much in the public eye, for her to have chosen had she merely been seeking other lodgings than her husband's house. The children had ceased crying and were watching him intently as were also the women. He set about bandaging the little wrists where they had been cut, still in silence. When he had finished he turned to Carolina: "Keep the children quiet, you can go on with the arnica. In half an hour you can give them a bowl of milk each, or a little broth. _Addio bimbi!_" kissing them each in turn, "to-morrow Zia Virginia and I will bring you a treat if you are good." "Zio Rico!" called Mimmo as Ferrati reached the door. "Yes, caro?" "You won't let _him_ come up?" "No, caro, he shan't come to-night." "And Zio, I want my mammina." "_Cuor mio_, I am going to look for your mammina now. When I find her I shall fetch her to you." "That's right, as soon as she knows we want her she'll come, won't she, Zio?" "_Sicuro!_" answered Ferrati cheerfully--Would he be able to find her though, and would it be in time? It seemed that the two women read his thoughts for they exchanged a significant glance. Ferrati, however, had not far to go, for as he descended the stairs he met Ragna coming up, alarm and anxiety writ large on her face, though her eyes were still starry and her cheeks aflame with the joy of the afternoon. "Are they--tell me, are they--?" she gasped. "They are not badly hurt," he said soothingly. "Let me by, let me go to them!" her breath came in swift pants, her bosom heaved. He took her arm firmly. "Come now, Ragna, calm yourself. You can't go to them like this, you would excite them and do them harm; you must not!" "Ah, but you don't know how nearly I--" she exclaimed, and wrenching her arm free sped up the stairs and into the nursery where she flung herself between the cots, sobbing convulsively.