Part 12 (1/2)

In a short time they were walking back to the garden, where they parted for the night. On the way to the hotel Rico thought of the kingdom and the power. He felt convinced that he had neglected a sacred duty, and that night, in his cheerless attic room, he knelt by his bed and prayed.

Stineli meant to go in as soon as Rico left her, and tell Mrs.

Menotti of his unhappiness, hoping that she might help the boy to find some more suitable employment, since he so disliked playing for dances, but this intention was not carried out, for Silvio had been taken suddenly ill while she was gone, and was lying exhausted on his pillow, flushed and breathing heavily. The mother sat crying softly beside him. Stineli had never seen him ill before, and she stood wondering what she should do.

Mrs. Menotti soon noticed her presence and said: ”Sit down, Stineli; he is better now, and I should like to tell you about something that troubles me greatly. You are young, but I feel sure it will do me good to have you know about it.

”When Mr. Menotti and I were first married, he brought me here from Riva, where my father is still living. An old friend of my husband's lived here, but he wished to go away for a few years, because his wife had died and he found it too hard to live here without her; he wanted us to live on his place while he was away. He had a little house and a large farm of not especially good land, but since Mr. Menotti understood perfectly how to manage a farm, it was agreed between them, as intimate friends, that there was to be no rent; we were simply to keep everything in good condition so that he would find his place in order when he returned.

”A few years later the railway officials decided to build on the land, and paid much more than it was worth to get it. Mr. Menotti took the money, and being able to buy much better land, including this garden, he built this house. There was money enough to pay for it all. The land brought rich returns, and we prospered to such an extent that I was worried, for it did not belong to us. Mr. Menotti was happy over it because he had such a pleasant surprise for his friend, to whom he meant to turn it all over as soon as he returned; but he never came.

”As Silvio grew older, and I saw how weak he was, I feared that his illness might be sent as a punishment to us for living upon the profits of another's money, and I have felt the same to-night. Mr.

Menotti died four years ago. I am sure I would gladly give things over to the rightful owner, if I could, but I don't know where to find him.

The man may be sick somewhere, or in need, and it worries me beyond measure.”

”I think you have no reason to worry, since you have done the best you could,” said Stineli. ”My grandmother taught me to ask G.o.d to make things right, if it was beyond my own power.

”_I_ am worried about Rico,” Stineli continued, ”and I can do nothing for him, so I have asked G.o.d to help him, and Rico has promised that he will do his part. I feel sure that this burden can be lifted from you in the same way, if you will only ask Him to make it right in His sight. My grandmother has taught me that we are all governed in harmony by the Creator so long as we seek the divine will. It is like a great chorus in which every member sings in tune because he is governed by the harmony of music, and so I always try to put myself back where I belong, when I feel any discord. I have never been disappointed in trusting G.o.d with the results.”

”You are a wise girl, Stineli, and you have truly comforted me,” said Mrs. Menotti, as she kissed Stineli and bade her good night.

CHAPTER XX

AT HOME

A glorious day dawned upon Peschiera the next morning, and Mrs.

Menotti hurried to the garden to enjoy it more fully. She took her accustomed seat on a rustic bench near the gate and looked about her with appreciative eyes. The oleander bushes were in full bloom beside her, behind her was the hedge to screen the garden from the street, and yonder were the loaded fig trees, while near by were the grapevines, dotted with cl.u.s.ters of ripe fruit.

”I realize,” she said to herself, ”that I shall never find so pretty a home again.”

Just at this moment Rico opened the gate. He had not been able to let the beautiful morning pa.s.s without seeing his friends, as he was obliged to go to Riva a little later. He had not noticed Mrs. Menotti, and was going directly to the house when she called to him.

”I want you to sit here with me for a few moments, Rico, if you will.

What a fine day this promises to be! I have just been wondering how long I may still be here to enjoy it.”

”You alarm me, Mrs. Menotti. You are not thinking of going away?”

”I beg your pardon, Rico, for speaking so thoughtlessly; I should not have mentioned it.” She changed the subject, and presently, recalling what Stineli had told her the previous evening about Rico's trouble, she began to wonder what it could be. She had been so absorbed in her own affairs at the time that she had given it but a moment's thought.

”Won't you tell me, Rico, why you came to Lake Garda? Stineli told me last evening that you used to long to come here. Were you ever here before?”

”Yes, when I was a child, but I was taken away.”

”How did you happen to come here as a child?”

”I came into the world here.”

”You were born here? Who was your father, and why did he come here from the mountains?”

”He wasn't from the mountains; it was my mother who lived there.”