Part 3

"Look, May!" exclaimed Molly. "Here are ripe oranges and green oranges and lovely white blossoms all growing on the same branch. I'm sure I never smelled anything so sweet as these orange blossoms!"

"And I'm sure I never tasted anything so good as this orange!" said May, who had made a hole in one of her biggest oranges and was eagerly sucking out the sweet juice.

"I wish I had something pretty to give the woman," said Molly. "I know what I will do! I will give her my hair ribbon. She may have a little girl at home who will like it. Mother always carries extra hair ribbons for us, you know."

So, out from under the pretty sunbonnet came a big pink bow, which was given quickly to the kind woman. Into her other hand May slipped something from her purse. A moment later Pippo's long whip cracked over the horses' heads, and they were off.

The children waved good-by to their new friend, but she was looking with happy eyes at the beautiful pink bow in one hand and at the little piece of money in the other.

While Molly and May were busy gathering oranges, their mother was opening the well-filled lunch box. The next half-hour Pippo let his horses go as slowly as they liked, while the party in the carriage ate their picnic dinner and enjoyed the lovely scenery. Of course Pippo had his share of the lunch, which he seemed to think was very fine.

By the middle of the afternoon they had reached Amalfi, the largest and probably the oldest fishing village on this rocky coast.

"We will spend the night in that old monastery on the cliff," said the Sunbonnet Babies' father.

"Very well, sir," answered Pippo. "But you will have a good many steps to climb before you get up there."

The steps were very soon found, nearly two hundred of them, and up, up, up the little party climbed.

"How did the monks ever build such a great monastery 'way up here on the mountain side?" exclaimed Molly. "It seems as if it might fall into the water any minute."

"A piece of it did fall into the water a few years ago," said a smiling Italian man who was standing near by. "I saw it with my own eyes. I was not much larger then than you little girls are now."

"Oh, tell us about it, please!" begged the Sunbonnet Babies.

"Well, it was this way," said the man. "Our government spent a great deal of money building the fine road over which you drove to-day. The road had to be cut into the side of the mountain nearly the whole distance along this rocky shore. A broad stone wall was built on the side next to the water, so that carriages would not roll off. But there are places between here and Sorrento where the mountain is so steep the road could not be built on the outside of it. It had to be cut through the inside of the mountain. One of those places is just below this old monastery. You will drive through the tunnel in the morning when you start on your journey again.

"Well," continued the little man excitedly, "probably so much cutting away of the rock weakened a part of the mountain on which the monastery was built. One day, when the sun was shining as lovely as it is now, we heard a great ripping and splitting noise. It seemed like an earthquake. But no, it was not an earthquake! It was a piece of the mountain falling into the water below, carrying a small end of the monastery with it. Oh, it was terrible! I can never, never forget it!"

"I'm sure I never could forget it, either," said Molly, who was almost crying.

"And I'm not sure that I want to drive through those dark tunnels to-morrow," said May.

"Well, let us explore the old monastery now," said their father. "Then we will have our supper. Perhaps we shall find a few monks still living here in some quiet corner."

Before they went to bed that night the Sunbonnet Babies stood a long time at their open window. A full moon hung high in the sky, making the silvery blue water of the gulf shimmer like a fairy sea. The little whitewashed houses of the village clung to the side of the dark mountain as if they feared some evil fairy might push them down into the water.

Suddenly out of the evening silence came the sound of music. Far below their window the Sunbonnet Babies could see a young singer with his mandolin. His clear, high voice gave the lovely Italian song a strange beauty on the evening air.

"Is it fairyland, or is it heaven?" Molly whispered.

"Or are we just dreaming?" asked May, as they crept into the little white beds that were waiting for them.

PIRATES

Next morning Molly and May were awake early, watching the busy boats come home after a long night of fishing out on the deep sea. They ran down the many steps to the shore, where the tired fishermen were hauling in their nets and counting their catch. The big nets were then spread out to dry. Later in the day they would be carefully mended and made ready for another night of fishing.

Their father told the children how Amalfi was once one of the most important towns in Europe. It sent its ships far away, and did more trading with distant parts of the world than was done by any other city.

But that was eight hundred years ago. Soon Amalfi was overcome by the people of Pisa, who were jealous of its power and trade. And two hundred years later a terrible storm and earthquake swept away nearly all of its fine beach and harbor, leaving only a small group of houses clinging to the steep mountain side.

So Amalfi changed from being one of the most important towns in the world to one of the least important, except for the beauty of its location.

Thousands of people from all parts of the world still go to Amalfi every year, but not to buy and sell. They go to enjoy the wonderful sunshine and water and mountains which make this part of Italy one of the loveliest spots in the world.

The Sunbonnet Babies were sorry when Pippo said they must go on with their journey. They wanted to stay and watch the women who were washing clothes in the river, and they wanted to follow a steep, narrow path which led away up the mountain side. Some women and girls were coming down this path bringing large baskets of fruit on their heads.

But Pippo told the Sunbonnet Babies that the best part of the drive was still ahead of them. And he was right.

The road took them first through a short, dark tunnel, not far below the monastery where they had spent the night. It then clung to the sides of the steepest mountains the children had ever seen. Wonderful stone bridges led across deep gorges, and dark tunnels took them inside the mountains.

On one of the bridges which crossed a great crack in the mountain side the Sunbonnet Babies begged to get out of the carriage.

"Very well," said Pippo. "You will see an interesting old fishing village in that gorge."

"What! A fishing village in that dark place, Pippo?" exclaimed May.

"Yes," said Pippo, "but only a few fishermen live there now. Their houses are really only caves in the mountain wall."

"It looks as if pirates might live there," said Molly.

"Do you suppose they will come out and steal us if we take a picture of their gorge? I am going to try it anyway."

"You need not be afraid," said Pippo. "There are no pirates here now; but once upon a time they probably did live here. The gorge was a fine place to hide in before this road was built."

It was hardly twenty miles from Amalfi to Sorrento, but it took four hours to drive there. The road finally left the shore and climbed up over the green hills that separate the Gulf of Salerno from the Bay of Naples. It led through large vineyards and through groves of orange and lemon and olive trees, until at last it reached the beautiful town of Sorrento. But Pippo did not stop his horses until he had taken his party to the prettiest and quaintest little whitewashed hotel in the town.

The nicest thing about the hotel was its garden. It seemed as if all the fruits and flowers Molly and May had ever heard of were growing in this garden.

The owner of the hotel peeped under the big sunbonnets and said, "Well! well! I think you belong in my garden. Run out and pick all the oranges and all the roses you want. Find the prettiest spot in the whole garden, and a little round table shall be set there with a tea party on it for the two sweetest little girls in Italy."

Such a wonderful time as the Sunbonnet Babies had during the rest of that sunny afternoon. They skipped along the shaded walks. They picked handfuls of lovely flowers. They filled their skirts with the ripest and biggest oranges, then they sat down on a low marble bench and sucked out the sweet juice.

The place which they chose for the tea party was 'way at the end of the garden where they could look out over the lovely Bay of Naples. As they peeped through the high iron fence they looked straight down, at least a hundred and fifty feet, to the blue water softly washing the rocky shore below.

A delicious supper for two was set on a small, round table. Then Molly served May to chicken and rice, and May served Molly to cakes and ice.

When they went to bed that night they both agreed that it had been the happiest day of the whole journey. But the next day brought new surprises of which they hadn't yet dreamed.

First they explored the lovely old town of Sorrento, and decided this was the place where they wanted to live always. Only the promise of a ride on the wonderful blue water of the bay made them willing to leave Sorrento even for a little while.

"How shall we get down to the water's edge?" Molly asked, as they stood by the iron fence looking down at the blue water so far below them.

"I will show you the way," said a brown-eyed Italian boy. "Come with me."

He then led them to a hole in the ground and down some steep, winding steps. When they reached the bottom of the steps they were in a great cave close by the water's edge. Several rowboats were lying in the cave, and two small, dark-eyed men were standing near by.

Molly was sure this was a real pirates' cave. When one of the dark-eyed men put her mother into his boat and pushed it off into the water, she burst into tears.

"O father!" she cried. "They are carrying mother off in that boat! They must not! They shall not!"

She ran toward the pirate, stamping her feet very hard and commanding him to take her mother out of his boat. She was not crying now. She was very brave. She would save her mother and all the rest of her family from the dreadful pirates.

As the small, dark man looked at her, a smile came into his brown eyes. Then he threw back his head and laughed a loud, merry laugh.

"I really am not so bad a pirate as you think I am, little girl," he said, after a moment. "I have lived five years in your America, but I wanted to come back to my sunny Italy. I like the way you take care of your mother. I believe you are brave enough to stop a big ship out there on the bay and climb aboard her, just as a real pirate might do."

"Oh, no, I am not!" said Molly. "I am sure I am not!"

"Well, let's try it," said the man. "Your father and mother are willing. I am sure you will not object, if your little sister does not."

Now, May was clinging to her father's hand, looking very frightened indeed.

"If you are really a _good_ pirate," said Molly at last, "and if you will not let anything happen to us, we will go with you. But you must take good care of my mother."

"I promise you I will," said the man. "But remember, you must be as brave as pirates and do as I tell you. I am the captain, you know."

So they obeyed their captain and got into his boat. The two men then pushed the boat out of the cave, pulling hard on the long oars.

The waves were really quite high for so small a boat to ride over. But Molly and May sat very still, wondering if they really could be as brave as pirates. They were thinking so hard they did not see a small steamer coming down the bay, until it was quite close to them. Then Molly said excitedly, "O Captain! Captain! Is that the ship that I must stop?"

"That's the ship," answered the captain. "You must stand right up here in the bow of our boat and wave your handkerchief hard. When the captain of that ship sees you, he will know you are commanding him to stop his boat."

"But will he really stop it?" asked May.

"He wouldn't dare not to stop it," answered the pirate captain. "He knows me, and when I tell him to stop, he stops."

"How exciting!" cried Molly, as she stood in the bow of the boat waving her handkerchief.

"He is doing it! He is stopping his ship!" cried May.

"Of course he is," said her captain. "Now we must row our boat close up to the big one, and you must all climb aboard her."

"Oh, we can never climb up over the side of that big ship!" exclaimed May. "See how our boat is tossing about. We shall be drowned!"

"Tut! tut! You must be as brave as your little sister," said her captain.

"I will try to be brave," said May. And, as their small boat tossed up and down on the rough water close beside the taller ship, she was very brave.

The sailors quickly opened a gate on the deck and pushed out a short gangplank. Two sailors then ran down to the end of the plank and held out their arms to catch the little pirates as they climbed aboard the ship.

Molly and May never knew just how it was done, but in some way their captain swung them from his small boat up onto the gangplank of the big boat, and the sailors held them fast. Their father and mother came up safely, too, and even their traveling bags were put onto the steamer. They were hardly aboard, however, when the ship began to move. The Sunbonnet Babies looked quickly over the deck rail to see why their pirate friends were not with them.

"They have left us!" exclaimed May. "They are rowing back to their cave again!"

Sure enough, the two men were pulling rapidly away from the big boat toward the shore. When they saw the Sunbonnet Babies waving to them, they smilingly took off their caps and called "Addio, little pirates! Be brave and have a happy time."

THE HUMPBACKED ISLAND

"Where are we going, father?" demanded Molly, as the boat which they had just come aboard sailed slowly out toward the open sea.

"And why did we climb onto this steamer 'way out here in the deep water?" asked May.

"Oh, this is part of the surprise for to-day," answered their father. "Don't you like it?"

"Of course we like it," said Molly. "I even like those pirates, though I am glad they have gone back to their cave. But please tell us where we are going, father."

"Well, we are bound for the island of Capri, away off in the distance. It is about seven miles from here."

"But why didn't this boat come to the shore and get us?" asked May again.

"Just because the water close to the shore is not deep enough for so large a boat to sail on," said her father.

"Did those men know you wanted to go on this steamer?"

"Yes," answered her father. "It is their business to bring out in their boats people who want to go to Capri."

"Then they really are not pirates at all," said Molly in a disappointed voice.

"No, I am afraid not," answered her father. "But they have helped you to play a real pirate's trick. How did you like it?"

So they talked and asked questions as they sailed on over the clear, blue water, until the sun dropped suddenly behind the rim of the humpbacked island. Then beautiful rainbow colors were poured out over the sky and the sea and the island. But soon the rose and golden tints changed to silver and violet, and the rocky old island looked like a great purple camel with a double hump on its back, kneeling in a sea of shimmering blue and lavender.

Between the humps nestled the pretty village of old Capri, surrounded by lemon groves and vineyards. High up on one of the humps clung the little village of Anacapri, and close down by the water's edge snuggled a few pink and white and blue houses waiting to welcome travelers who might come to their shore.

It would be hard to tell all that Molly and May did and all that they saw during four happy days on the island. The people of Capri seem to live out of doors, for the warm sunshine and fresh breezes make summer and winter much alike there.

Some of the streets of the little old town are no wider than American sidewalks, and most of those that lead uphill have steps in them. Long ago, when these streets were built, there were no horses and carriages on the island. People carried their heavy loads on their heads, or on the backs of faithful donkeys.

Donkeys can climb stairs almost as well as men, so they are still used a great deal on this mountainous little island, for there are only two or three roads that horses and carriages can go over.

As the Sunbonnet Babies took their first walk through the narrow streets, they met a boy and girl coming down the hill on two small donkeys. The boy sprang quickly to the ground. He lifted his cap and said in polite Italian, with much motioning of his hands, "Buon giorno, signore. Would the little girls like to ride on our donkeys?"

"Oh, thank you! Of course we should like to ride," answered Molly very quickly.

"Please may we both ride?" asked May.

"Yes, indeed!" said the little Italian girl, jumping lightly from her donkey. "We will take you over our whole island if you would like to go with us."

"Goody!" exclaimed May. "Please take us first very, very high up where we can look 'way off over the blue sea toward America."

"We will take you up the long stairs to Anacapri," said the boy. "I will get a carriage for your father and mother, and they can drive up over the fine new road."

The Sunbonnet Babies did not understand all the boy's strange words, but they understood some of them, and they each understood the others' motion language. In a few moments Molly was proudly seated on one of the small donkeys and May on the other. Giorgio and Luisa, the friendly Italian boy and girl, followed close behind them, while the children's parents rode comfortably along in a low carriage.

They had gone only a short distance, however, when the two donkeys left the smooth road and began to climb some steps cut into the steep hillside. Giorgio and Luisa gave the donkeys each a sound slap to keep them from turning back, for donkeys are lazy animals.

Before the Sunbonnet Babies really knew what was happening, their father and mother were nearly out of sight around a bend in the road, quite far below the steps up which the donkeys were climbing.

"Father! Father! Where are you going?" called May.

"We are going to the same place you are. We are going to Anacapri," her father shouted back. "Let us see who will get there first. Giorgio knows the way."

"They are going the long and easy way, while we are going the short and steep way," Giorgio said, with much motioning. "If these donkeys are not too lazy, we shall be there first," and he gave them each another quick rap on their backs with his hand.

"You should not strike your donkeys, Giorgio," Molly said. "We can make them go without your help."

"All right," said Giorgio, laughing. "You may try it, but you will never reach Anacapri."

"Oh, yes, we shall!" answered Molly. "Just watch us. Come on, May!"

Then they each pulled quickly on the short reins, but the donkeys did not stir. They patted the donkeys' necks and urged them to go on, just as they did with their ponies at home, but the donkeys only turned their heads and looked with sleepy eyes at their strange little riders. May's donkey even began to nibble the grass at the side of the path. It acted as if it had no thought of going up the hill, while Molly's donkey winked its eyes and stood very still, in spite of all her efforts to make it move.

"O Giorgio!" she cried at last. "What are we going to do? I never saw such stupid animals. We shall never reach Anacapri. Father and mother will think we are lost."

Giorgio and Luisa wanted very much to laugh at their anxious little riders, but they were too polite to do so.

"You see," Giorgio said, "our donkeys do not like strange ways. They do not like to have anyone but Luisa and me drive them. They understand what we mean, and our blows do not hurt them."

"Then please drive them now," said May. "I don't want to sit here any longer."

So Giorgio and Luisa gave the donkeys each a sound slap on their backs, which made them swing their tails and start on up the long steps. The donkeys stopped often to rest, but they were reminded each time that their young master and mistress were close behind them.

At last they reached the top of the steps, and Giorgio and Luisa drove the donkeys to a lovely garden where small tables were set under the green trees.

"What a lovely place for a tea party!" exclaimed May. "Let's have one ready for father and mother when they come."

"Yes, let's have it at this table close by the wall, where we can look down and see the lovely water. My! It must be 'most a thousand feet 'way down there! See how tiny those boats look, and what a wonderful color the water is! It looks as if an artist had painted it that way."

"Let's plan our tea party before mother gets here," said May. "What fun it will be to surprise her!"

So they asked the waiter to please bring some grape juice, with bread and butter and little cakes, enough for six people, for Giorgio and Luisa were to share the party with them.

The carriage soon drew up to the garden gate, and the Sunbonnet Babies ran to meet it, calling: "Hello! hello! See, we are here first! Our donkeys were so funny climbing up the long stairs. They almost went to sleep, but Giorgio and Luisa kept them moving. We are going to have a tea party now. Come quickly, and look over the garden wall. We never, never were so high up above the water before!"

As they were drinking their grape juice, a young Italian boy and girl ran into the garden and began to dance. Their mother made music for them on an instrument that looked like the head of a small drum, with little bells fastened all around it. She tapped the instrument sharply with her fingers and jingled the little bells.

The dancers were dressed in gay, pretty costumes. They seemed to be telling each other a happy love story by motions, glances, and graceful dancing. It was the famous tarantella dance which the people of Southern Italy love so much.

When the dancers had finished their story, Molly and May gave them each some grape juice and little cakes. Then they rode back down the hill on their two sleepy donkeys.

The next day the Sunbonnet Babies were given a wonderful boat ride all the way around the island of Capri. In many places the shore rose from the blue water very steep and high. Gay-colored jellyfish floated about, and little forests of red coral clung to the rocky wall just below the water's edge.

When they had sailed nearly around the island, their steamer stopped quite suddenly, and they were told they must all get into some small rowboats that were waiting near by.

"What is the trouble?" asked May excitedly. "Is our boat sinking? Have these men come to rescue us, father? The shore is much too steep for us to land here, isn't it?"