Part 28 (1/2)

Carmela divined that the cordial was for the cook. ”And the signorina's train?” she said. ”Surely I cannot leave it on this _dirty_ floor! Will not the signorina return to the drawing-room to take her cordial? Eh--it is not for her? It is for Giorgio? A man? A _man_ to be faint like a girl? Ha, ha! it makes me laugh!”

”Go and get it,” repeated Miss Senter, taking the train over her own arm. She knew that Carmela did not like the cook. Jealousy was the one fault the hard-working little creature possessed. ”She has tried to make me dismiss Giorgio more than once,” she said to her brother, in confidence; ”but I always pretend not to see the feeling that influences her. It is only Giorgio she is jealous of; she gets on perfectly well with Luigi, and with a.s.sunta and Beppa; while for Ercole she can never do enough. She is devoted to Ercole!”

Giorgio had not taken up the slur cast upon his immaculate floor. All he said was, ”_Comme elle est mechante!_” with a shrug.

”Where is Ercole?” said Miss Senter, while she waited.

”He is dressing,” answered Giorgio. ”He makes himself beautiful for the occasion.”

Ercole was the chief gondolier--a tall, athletic young man of thirty, handsome and clever. Miss Senter had chosen Ercole to a.s.sist her with the Christmas-tree. The second gondolier, Andrea, was to be stationed at the end of the little quay or riva down below, outside of their own water-door; for here on the small ca.n.a.l were the steps used by arriving and departing gondolas, and here also floated the handsome gondola of the Consul, with its American flag. The two gondoliers also had picturesque costumes of white (woollen in winter, linen in summer), with blue collars, blue stockings, blue caps, and long fringed red sashes, the combination representing the American national colors. To-night Ercole, having to appear in the drawing-room, was making a longer stay than usual before his little mirror.

Carmela returned with the cordial-case. ”Ah, yes, our cook _is_ pale--pale as a young virgin!” she commented, as Miss Senter, unlocking the box, poured into one of the little gla.s.ses it contained a generous portion of a restorative whose every drop was costly.

Giorgio, taking off the white linen cap which covered his gray hair, made a bow, and then drank the draught with much appreciation. ”It is true that I am pale,” he remarked, slyly, in Italian. ”I might, perhaps, try some rouge?”

And then the Consuless, to avert war, hastily bore her deputy away.

Half an hour later the guests had arrived; they included all the Americans in Venice, with a sprinkling of English, Italians, and Russians. The grown people a.s.sembled in the drawing-room. And presently they heard singing. Through the anterooms came the children, entering with measured step, two and two, led by three little boys in Oriental costumes. These three boys were singing as follows:

”We three Kings of Orient are, Bearing gifts we've travelled from far, Field and fountain, moor and mountain, Following yonder star.”

Here, from the high top branch of the Christmas-tree which rose above the concealing curtain, blazed out a splendid star. And then all the procession took up the chorus, as they marched onward:

”Oh, star of wonder, Star of might, Star with royal Beauty bright!”

Ercole, who was behind the curtain, now drew it aside, and there stood the tree, blazing with fairy-lamps and glittering ornaments, while beneath it was a mound composed entirely of toys. The children behaved well; they kept their ranks and repeated their carol, as they had been told to do, ranging themselves meanwhile in a half-circle before the tree.

”We three Kings of Orient are,”

chanted the three little kings a second time, though their eyes were fixed upon a magnificent box of soldiers, with tents and flags and cannon. The carol finished, Miss Senter, with the aid of her gondolier, distributed the toys and bonbons, and the room was filled with happy glee. When Ercole had detached the last package of sweets from the sparkling branches he disappeared. His next duty was to conduct the musicians up to their cage.

Miss Senter had allowed an hour for the inspection and trial of the toys before the dancing should begin. It was none too much, and the clamor was still great as this hour drew towards its close, so great that she herself was glad that the end was near. Looking up to see whether her musicians had a.s.sembled on their shelf, she perceived some one at the drawing-room door; it was Carmela, hiding herself modestly behind the portiere, but at the same time unmistakably beckoning to her mistress as soon as she saw that she had caught her eye. Miss Senter went to the doorway.

”Will the signorina permit? A surprise of Ercole's,” whispered Carmela, eagerly, standing on tiptoe to reach her mistress's ear. ”He has dressed himself as a clown, and he _is_ of a perfection! He has bells on his cap and his elbows, and if the signorina graciously allows, he will come in to amuse the children.”

”A clown!” answered Miss Senter, hesitating. ”I don't know; he ought to have told me.”

”He has been dancing to show _me_. And oh! so beautifully, with bounds and leaps. He makes of himself also a statue,” pursued Carmela.

”But I cannot have any buffoonery here, you know,” said Miss Senter. ”It would not do.”

”Buffoonery! Surely the signorina knows that Ercole has the soul of a gentleman,” whispered Carmela, reproachfully.

And it was true that Miss Senter had always thought that her chief gondolier possessed a great deal of natural refinement.

”Will the signorina step out for a moment and look at him?” pursued the deputy, her whisper now a little dejected. ”If he is to be disappointed, poor fellow, may he at least have _that_ pleasure?”

The idea of the gondolier's disappointment touched the amiable American.

She turned her head and glanced into the drawing-room; all was going on gayly; no one had missed her. She slipped out under the portiere, and followed Carmela to a room at the side. Here stood the gondolier. He wore the usual white dress and white mask of a clown, and, as the Consuless entered, he cut a splendid caper, ringing all his bells.

”I had no idea that you were such a skilful acrobat, Ercole,” said his mistress.