The Italian lad shook his head. No, but he wished to hear it. Would Arthur tell him the story some day? Arthur said he would be glad to do so, for, although Columbus was an Italian, he felt that he belonged to America. Where would he be now, if Columbus had not discovered the new world? Who should say? "Look straight down at the roof of the church below us," cried Lucy. "Did you ever hear of anything so odd? There is a little cottage! The idea of a house built on the roof of a church! What can be the reason for its being there?" "It is only a room made for the workmen," said the guide. "They are busy all the time repairing the church in one part or another." "Now let us go home and have the Christmas dinner," said Mr. Gray, after they had rested a few moments longer. An hour afterward the children were gathered around the great dining-table. But there was no Christmas turkey in the middle. There was a dish of larks instead! "Poor little birds," said Lucy. "It is too bad to kill tiny things like you, that we may have something nice to eat." "What is the bird of your country, Beppo?" asked Arthur. "I don't know, but I think it ought to be the nightingale," the little Italian answered. "Ah! I love to hear him, he sings so sweetly." The boy's face lighted up as he said this. "And what is the bird of America, Arthur?" he asked. "The eagle has been chosen, but I think it ought to be the turkey, for my country gave that glorious fowl to the world." Mr. and Mrs. Gray laughed at Arthur's words, but a moment after his father said: "I quite agree with you, my boy. The turkey truly belongs to us, while the eagle is not only found in many other lands, but it has been the national emblem of several countries." The Christmas holidays passed only too quickly, and the day before Twelfth Night soon arrived. The shops were full of things suitable for presents, and a great fair was held in the city, around which crowds of Italians were busy buying their gifts. Beppo and Tessa wandered up and down with their American friends. They were perplexed as to what they should get for their dear ones at home. There were many things from which to choose. They felt as though they had quite a little fortune to spend, for Mr. Gray had given each of them what would be equal to a dollar in our money. They had never had so much money before, and they turned from one thing to another before they finally decided upon a dress and a big gilt brooch for their mother, a new hat for their father, and little red kid shoes for Francesca. "She never had any shoes in her life," Tessa told Lucy. "I never had any either, till your mother gave me these." When the peasant called at the palace to take the children home, he brought great news. "We have a new baby," he said. "It is a beautiful boy just a day old. And now we must have a christening as soon as Twelfth Night is over. We will ask the kind artist and his wife, as well as our own friends, to come." CHAPTER VI.