"Alas, senor! That would spoil it all. I could not then show it to you. Forgive me and do not think me ungrateful. But my San Marco is to me the place I love. I show it to you because I love it. I have played about it and wandered in and out its doors since I was a very little child. I am proud that you should see it, senor." "As you will. To-morrow then." "Yes, senor." Another moment and Giusippe was gone. "A remarkable boy! A most remarkable boy!" ejaculated Mr. Cabot. "He knows his country's history as I fancy few others know it. Could you pass as good an examination on yours, Jean?" Jean hung her head. "I'm afraid not." "Nor I," Uncle Bob remarked, patting her curls kindly. CHAPTER IV UNCLE BOB ENLARGES HIS PARTY In accordance with his promise Giusippe came promptly the next morning and the four set out for the San Marco. It was a beautiful June day. The piazza was warm with sunshine, and as groups of tourists loitered through it the pigeons circled greedily about their feet begging food. "Why, Uncle Bob, these pigeons are exactly like the ones at home--just as pretty and just as hungry," Jean said. "Should you like to stop a moment and feed them, little girl?" "Oh, do! It will make Hannah think of Boston," begged Jean. "But we have nothing to give them," she added in dismay. "I will find you something, senorita," Giusippe declared. Darting up to an old Italian who was standing near he soon returned with a small paper cornucopia filled with grain. "The pigeons of St. Mark's are very tame. See!" He put some kernels of corn on the top of his hat, and holding more in his outstretched hands stood motionless. There was a whirr of wings, and in an instant the boy was quite hidden beneath an eager multitude of fluttering whiteness. "I never saw so many pigeons," Jean whispered. "You have many more than we do at home." "We Venetians are very fond of the birds," was Giusippe's reply. "So, too, are the tourists who come to Venice, for they never seem to be tired of having their pictures taken surrounded by flocks of pigeons." "Doesn't this make you think of Boston Common, Hannah?" asked Uncle Bob. "Yes, a little. But I should feel more as if I were in Massachusetts if there were not such a babel of foreign tongues about me." Then turning to Giusippe she demanded: "How did you come to speak English, young man?"