Part 2 (1/2)

”Willing?” she cried. ”Do you ask one who suffers with toothache if he is willing to part with the aching tooth? He is a rascal and cares nothing for me. Indeed I am willing to let you keep him. Yet--”

She hesitated. A softer expression came over her face.

”You must promise to be good to him,” she added. ”His mother was my friend. When she died she left him in my care. For her sake, you must promise to treat Tony well.”

”I shall treat him as if he were my own,” replied Guido, the Marionette Man.

CHAPTER II

TONY AND THE BALILLA

Several weeks pa.s.sed. Tony was living with Guido.

Each day the Marionette Man sent him to the hotels to beg. Each evening he had to help with the show. He set the tiny stage and dusted the theatre.

If he did not do his work properly, Guido would smile and say, ”No supper tonight for lazy people!”

This would not have mattered so much to Tony if it had not been for Tina.

But when Tony did not eat, then neither did Tina.

The small sc.r.a.ps that Guido threw to the dog were not enough to keep her alive. So Tony always divided his meals with the friend he loved.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ”I DIE OF HUNGER!”]

Today, as usual, Tony, with his dog, trudged along on his way to the hotels. Once there, he stood outside of one and waited. Two foreign ladies appeared at the door. Immediately, tears gathered in Tony's eyes.

He ran up to them eagerly.

”Ah, dear ladies, I am a poor, orphan boy!” he moaned in Italian. Then he burst into English: ”No mudder! No fadder!” he wailed.

The ladies looked at him pityingly. But just then the hotel manager came out.

”Go along!” he commanded Tony. ”You are not allowed here. Run!”

He shooed Tony as if he had been stray chickens. Tony scampered a few feet away. When the hotel manager had gone, he again began to make mournful signs to the strange ladies.

But now they only laughed and shook their heads, for they knew what a scamp he was. So Tony laughed, too, and began to sing good-naturedly. A Naples street boy is like that.

The ladies drove off in a carriage and as they pa.s.sed they threw money to the rascal. You see, n.o.body ever took the trouble to explain things to Tony. Foreigners enjoyed his pretty acting, which only spoiled him.

For several hours Tony stayed around the hotels, dodging hotel managers, and crying his way into the hearts of strangers. Then, he started toward the place he called home, walking along the broad drive that faces the Bay of Naples.

Naples is built like a giant theatre stage. The sh.o.r.e is where the plays take place. The s.h.i.+ning Bay is the vast blue audience.

Out, facing the sh.o.r.e, is the famous Castle of the Egg. Many stories are told about this historical building.

It was once the home of Lucullus, a Roman general who was very fond of eating.