_The Last Lady of Mulberry_ [Illustration: Flowers for a Neapolitan of the Porto! (See page 53.)] _The Last Lady of Mulberry_ _A Story of Italian New York_ _By Henry Wilton Thomas_ _Illustrated by Emil Pollak_ _New York_ _D. Appleton and Company_ _1900_ COPYRIGHT, 1900 BY HENRY WILTON THOMAS _All rights reserved_ CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I.--A GODDESS SCORNED 1 II.--CASA DI BELLO 18 III.--A SPOT OF YELLOW PAINT 37 IV.--JUNO THE SUPERB 44 V.--THE FIRST LADY 57 VI.--CAROLINA RESOLVES TO GO COURTING 75 VII.--A FLUTTER IN THE TOMATO BANK 82 VIII.--JUNO PERFORMS A MIRACLE 94 IX.--THE PERPETUA MEETS A BEAR 102 X.--BIRTH OF THE LAST LADY 114 XI.--A RACE TO THE SWIFT 123 XII.--THE PEACE PRESERVED 143 XIII.--THE PEACE DISTURBED 153 XIV.--YELLOW BOOTS AND ORANGE BLOSSOMS 172 XV.--FAILURE OF BANCA TOMATO 186 XVI.--THE LAST LADY UNMASKED 211 XVII.--THE FALCON SAVES THE DOVE 228 XVIII.--AT THE ALTAR OF SAN PATRIZIO 238 XIX.--EVENTS WAIT UPON THE DANDELIONS 255 XX.--A HOUSE DIVIDED 268 XXI.--THE FEAST OF SPRINGTIDE 278 XXII.--CAROLINA CONSTRUCTS A DRAMA 292 XXIII.--A PARTNERSHIP IN TEN-INCH ST. PETERS 308 XXIV.--TWO TROUBLESOME WEDDING GIFTS 314 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Flowers for a Neapolitan of the Porto! _Frontispiece_ Would Genoa be the same when his Juno and Peacock should be there? 5 Bertino’s arrival at Paradise Park 20 The bear-tamer’s wife 109 “A broken leg! _Dio Santo!_” 111 It was a wild thrust 170 Bridget in _balia_ array 189 Jack Tar’s ignoble end 196 The Last Lady as Queen of the Feast 287 THE LAST LADY OF MULBERRY CHAPTER I A GODDESS SCORNED