Patsy had an errand at Bagnara. From the midst of a group of sad, listless looking women, who stood watching our train as if it were the one important event of the day, a tall girl in black pushed her way to the front. There must have been some signal agreed upon; how else could Patsy have found the sister of Sora Clara the moment he stepped on the platform at Bagnara? They talked together until our train started, when Patsy slipped something into the girl’s hand and sprang into the car. “Don’t report me,” he said. “I have turned over a new leaf; I don’t let my right hand know what my left hand does. I [Illustration: OLIVE GROVE NEAR PALMI. _Page 276._] [Illustration: CAPTAIN BELKNAP AND CARPENTER FAUST ON GROUND FLOOR OF HOTEL. _Page 284._] [Illustration: AMERICAN VILLAGE, MESSINA. VIEW FROM THE HOTEL. _Page 287._] reported every franc I gave away in Rome, till I caught on to what it meant. My poor Sanscrit professor had been promised substantial help. I reported the little money I gave him; after that he got nothing more. I was told never to give a single family more than fifty francs. How’s a man who has lost everything he has in the world going to start life again on ten dollars? The situation of Bagnara recalls Amalfi; there is a fine smooth beach, where the fishing boats are drawn up on the shore. The nets are spread higher up on the sand. Above the lovely scallop of shore the little town perches on the hillside. At Gioia Tauro, just before Palmi, the semicircle of golden beach in the shape of a scimitar, the beryl green water, reminded us of Tangiers. After we passed Bagnara the train went very slowly. “At this rate we shall never reach Taormina tonight,” Patsy complained. “_Pazienza, Signorino! chi va piano va sano!_” said the guard. “This is the first train that has gone through since the landslide.” This was the first we had heard of a landslide. “A mere nothing, only the rocks came trundling down from the mountains and broke the track so badly that no trains have run for the past month,” the guard explained. “Scylla!” We must have been dozing, for we all started when the guard called out the name of the station. “Look!” The tremendous rock of Scylla, with the strong castle on the top, springs from the sea like a great many-toned jewel of coral, shading from rose to yellow. The sun shone, the wind blew the surf in great green and white surges against the cliff. Further out the water was pale emerald, with sudden streaks of amethyst; everywhere on sea, shore and cloud lay shadows of sapphire. Even Patsy was dumb, moved beyond words by that glimpse. “Their Excellencies saw the castle?” chirruped the friendly guard. “The earthquake didn’t hurt it, more than to crack the outer wall a trifle. They knew how to build in those days!”