Part 4

"Oh, no!" said her father. "Our boat is not sinking, but we are going to take a look at the inside of the island. The Overall Boys saw the inside of a glacier up in Switzerland, you know."

"Oh, goody!" exclaimed Molly. "See, there is a man who wants to take us in his boat. Please, can't we hurry?"

A few moments later they were being rowed straight toward a low hole in the steep shore. The hole was not more than three feet high and three feet wide above the surface of the water. It led into a narrow passage about fifteen feet long, which was just large enough for a rowboat to slip through if heads were kept very low.

"Oh, my! Where are we going?" whispered May, as she lay very still in the bottom of the boat. "This is more dangerous than going inside of a glacier. I know it is! I wish the Overall Boys were here!"

"Heads up!" called the boatman. "You are now in the beautiful Blue Grotto, the most wonderful chamber in Italy."

The next few moments no one spoke. The Sunbonnet Babies were sure they were dreaming, or that they had fallen asleep while lying in the bottom of the boat and had wakened in the land of the water nymphs.

Molly peeped gently over the edge of the boat, hoping to see a pretty nymph swimming about in the wonderful greenish-blue water. Just then a slender figure sprang from a narrow ledge at the farther side of the cave.

"Look, Molly!" whispered May. "It _is_ a nymph--a really, truly nymph! It has gone way down under the water. The water is so clear and light we can see everything in it. It looks as deep as the sky."

"See, the nymph is coming up now!" said Molly eagerly. "What a beautiful color it is! It is diving and splashing and playing, just like a real boy."

"And it is a real boy," said their father. "He is showing you the wonderful light and color in the water."

"Oh! Would I look as beautiful as that if I should swim in this water?" Molly asked eagerly.

"And would I?" cried May.

"Put your hand into the water and see," her father answered.

In a moment four little hands were splashing in the clear water. They were no longer the rosy hands of Molly and May. They looked like white marble hands, softly tinted with blue. The drops of water that fell from their fingers were like strings of lovely opals and sapphires. The children wanted to catch some of the drops to carry home, but the boat-man said they would look just like any other water drops out in the sunshine.

"But what makes them look so strange and lovely in this grotto?" asked Molly.

"Perhaps because most of the light that comes into the grotto shines through the water," said her father. "In some way the red and orange and yellow rays of the sunlight have been lost, but the blue and green and violet rays seem to be all here. So everything looks cool and blue instead of warm and rosy, as it does just outside."

"How was such a great cave ever made under this island?" asked May. "Did the Italians make it?"

"No, indeed!" answered the boatman. "The sea made it ages and ages ago. This cave used to be a resort for the Roman emperors and their friends two thousand years ago. One emperor about that time built wonderful palaces on the island, and on hot summer days he and his friends would come down into this cool grotto to swim and to rest. Since then the island has sunk a little, so the water in the grotto is higher than it used to be. But even now the walls of the cave are forty feet high and a hundred and seventy feet long. It is almost as large as a good-sized church, you see."

"But the door is only three feet high," said Molly. "What would happen if a big storm came up while we were in here?"

"We couldn't get out," said the boatman. "Boats are not allowed to come into the grotto unless the sea is perfectly quiet. When it is rough it is very dangerous to be in here. We are allowed to stay only fifteen minutes, and our time is up now."

So they tossed a shining silver piece to the little boy who had made them think he was a really, truly water nymph, and their boats slipped quickly through the narrow passage back into the bright Italian sunshine.

IN THE CITY OF ROME

"I feel as if vacation time were over," said Molly, a few days later, as she looked from their window out upon a busy street in Rome. "I should much rather play in the orange garden at Sorrento or climb over the island of Capri with Giorgio and Luisa than to see Rome."

"So should I!" said May. "I am sure there can't be any more surprises as nice as the ones we have had."

"Oh, yes, there can be!" said their father, who overheard what his Sunbonnet Babies were talking about. "There is one big surprise coming, which I believe you will think is even nicer than Sorrento or Capri."

"O father! Is it here in Rome?" asked May.

"No," answered her father. "Not the surprise I am thinking about, though there are many nice ones here. We can drive about the city a little now, and see what it looks like."

"That will be fun," said Molly. "I hope the streets will not be so noisy and dirty as they were in Naples."

They were soon driving through broad streets and narrow streets, through streets where electric cars were speeding along, through old, old streets, and through big beautiful squares. It seemed as if they passed more great stone churches and handsome fountains than they had seen in all their lives before.

Their driver stopped his carriage near one of the largest of the fountains and said they should each throw a penny into the basin of water and take a drink from it before leaving Rome. Then they would surely visit the city again, for the legend says:

Cast your obulus in Trevi's fountain, Drink and, returning home, Pray that by stream or desert, vale or mountain, All roads may lead to Rome.

"I am not sure yet that I want to come to Rome again," said Molly. "I think I will not throw my penny into the fountain until the last day I am here."

"I will show you something that will make you want to come again," said the driver. "I know what the Americans like."

He then drove them through more narrow streets, until they came to a large square with a fountain in the center of it. This fountain looked like an old Roman war vessel.

Already the Sunbonnet Babies had learned that in Italy a public square is called a _piazza_, and their driver told them that this square was the Spanish Piazza.

"It should be called the Flower Piazza!" exclaimed May. "It looks like a big flower market. May we buy some of those lovely cherry blossoms?"

"Yes, indeed! Buy all you want," said their driver. "This is only one of our flower markets. There are many others in the city."

"Why are the people waiting on those great stone steps?" asked Molly. "And why do they wear such odd, pretty clothes?"

"Those people are models for artists," answered their driver. "Many of them live in the country and come into the city every pleasant morning. They wait on these steps, hoping artists may come and ask them to pose for their pictures. They are dressed in the old Roman costumes."

"I like their costumes," said May. "I wish your people would all dress that way. How nice that little girl looks with her bright-colored apron and red coral beads. She is barefooted and bareheaded, too."

"See, she is running down the steps with a tall jar on her head. Isn't she lovely? I wonder if she will let us take her picture."

"I will ask her," said May. "Do you suppose that woman is her mother? She is knitting with long, crooked needles. Her cap looks like a white handkerchief laid over her black hair. Perhaps they think father and mother are artists who want to paint them in a picture."

"I will tell them that my little daughters are the artists," said the Sunbonnet Babies' father. "It does not take you so long to make a picture as it does most artists, so I think they will be glad to pose for you."

And they were. When the camera had been snapped, Molly and May each gave the little girl a _soldo_ and said they hoped a real artist would paint a beautiful picture of her soon.

"I should much rather see the picture you have just taken in your queer, black box," said the little Italian girl.

"Would you really like to have us send it to you when it is finished?" asked Molly.

"Oh, yes, thank you! I would take it home to _il padre_ and show him what happens when I come to the big city."

"Where do you live?? asked the Sunbonnet Babies' father.

"We live in the country, two miles beyond the city walls. We go out through St. Paul's Gate. My father has a little farm out there."

"May we drive out to see you some day?" asked the Sunbonnet Babies' father again.

"We should be proud to have you do so, sir," answered the little girl's mother politely.

"We will come next Friday afternoon, if you will be at home that day."

"And we will bring the picture we have just taken," Molly said to her smiling little friend.

"Please tell us what your name is," said May.

"My name is Maria," answered the little girl brightly.

"Why, that is the Italian name for Mary, isn't it? My name is May."

"Addio, Maria! Here are some cherry blossoms for you, and here is a bunch of kisses. Addio!"

Then they drove away, blowing kisses from the tips of their small fingers to the lovely little model standing on the Spanish Flower Steps.

Soon they came to a handsome bridge which crossed the river Tiber. Their driver said this bridge was built by the famous Emperor Hadrian in the year 136. At the end of the bridge was a great round castle, which was also built by Emperor Hadrian, as a burial tomb for himself.

Three hundred years ago ten large stone angels were placed on each side of the long bridge, and another angel was put high on top of the round castle. Since then Hadrian's Tomb is often called the Castle of the Holy Angels, and the bridge is called the Bridge of the Holy Angels.

As Molly and May drove slowly across this fine old bridge between the two rows of angels, they felt very small and very young indeed.

"I wonder if any of the bridges in America will last eighteen hundred years," Molly said thoughtfully. "And what do you suppose the boys and girls were like in those days?"

"I believe they were very much like the Roman children to-day," said her father. "And I am sure those old Roman men must have been very wise to build such fine bridges as this one. In a few moments we shall see the largest church in all the world."

"Why, I thought the largest buildings were all in America," said May.

"The largest and tallest business buildings are there," said her father, "but not the largest churches. Half a dozen of the big churches in New York City could be set down right inside the Cathedral of St. Peter's, and forty thousand people can walk about in the Cathedral and not be crowded at all."

"Oh, dear! We shall get lost in such a big place!" exclaimed May.

But when they were once inside the great cathedral, it did not seem so large as they had expected. Not until they had walked around one of the great pillars which support the high dome did they realize how very, very large the cathedral was. They had to take as many steps in walking around that one pillar as they would have taken in walking around their own home in America. And there were four of these great pillars, besides many smaller ones. On some of the pillars there were marble figures of babies as large as men, and figures of men as large as giants, while each of the many chapels along the two sides of the cathedral were the size of small churches.

"Is this great church named for St. Peter whom we read about in the Bible?" asked Molly.

"Yes," answered her father. "And he is supposed to be buried under this beautiful altar. See, there is an old bronze statue of him on the side of that pillar."

"And look! A woman is lifting up her baby to kiss the foot of the statue!" exclaimed May. "Why is she doing that, father?"

"She wants to show her honor and love for St. Peter. And she wants to teach her child to honor him, too," said her father. "One of the great bronze toes is nearly worn away, so many people have kissed it. Now are you ready to do something almost as hard as climbing a mountain?"

"Of course we are! We are ready for anything. What is it, father?"

"Follow me and you will soon find out."

Then they all passed through a small door on one side of the great church and began to go up some broad, winding stairs. They climbed up and up and up, until it seemed as if they could not climb any higher.

"Would you rather have come up these stairs on a donkey?" asked their father at last.

"Oh, dear! I don't know," said Molly, laughing. "I guess the Capri donkeys could come up here all right, but I think I'd rather be on my own feet. A donkey might get tired and lie down, or turn around and go back."

"Well, here is a resting place for us," said her father. "We have climbed as far as the base of the great dome. We can walk around the gallery now and look down into the church where we stood only a little while ago."

"How tiny the people look 'way down there! And how high the great dome still is above us!" exclaimed May.

"It is more than two hundred feet from this gallery to the top of the dome," said her father. "Shall we climb up there?"

"Yes, indeed!" said Molly, who had courage for anything.

Their father did not want the little legs to grow too tired with the long climb, so he carried his two little Sunbonnet Babies by turns up the last part of the steep, winding stairs, until they stood on a small open gallery above the great dome.

The whole city of Rome lay spread out before them like a great map. They could see the new city with its fine buildings, and the older city with its narrow streets and crowded houses, and the still older, dead city, which had lain buried many centuries and now looked very much like old Pompeii.

There was the river Tiber with its muddy water flowing lazily along between the crowded houses. And not far away was the Tomb of Hadrian and the handsome Bridge of the Holy Angels. Their father pointed out parts of the ancient stone wall which once surrounded the whole of old Rome, and St. Paul's Gate, through which Maria said they must drive in going to visit her father's farm.

Beyond the old city wall they could see miles and miles of level farms and pastures, and away in the distance rose a line of dark mountains against a blue sky. It was a big and wonderful view, but Molly and May soon became more interested in what they saw on the great, flat roof of the cathedral just below them.

"It looks like a little village down there," said May. "Is it really the roof of the cathedral?"

"It really is," answered her father. "Those men are busy repairing different parts of the cathedral and the great palace buildings. They say there are eleven hundred rooms in that palace. There are art galleries and museums and chapels in it, and it is also the home of the Pope, who is the head of the Catholic Church. We must visit the art galleries some day. There are many beautiful things in them."

"Look, father!" cried May at last. "How dark the sky is growing! It is going to rain."

"I am afraid it is," said her father. "We must leave this hilltop and hurry to our hotel."

A few moments later they were out on the beautiful piazza in front of the cathedral. It had already begun to sprinkle, but they found a carriage and driver waiting to take them wherever they wanted to go.

"I am sure it will rain hard before we can reach the hotel," said their mother. "How would you like to drive to a restaurant near by and have one of our nice tea parties?"

"Oh, we should love it!" exclaimed Molly and May. "It is hungry work to climb so high."

After a tea party of hot chocolate and bread and butter, they were rested once more. The shower had passed, and they had a wonderful time buying Roman beads and sashes and hair ribbons in the gay little shops along the busy street.

THE STORY OF THE TWINS

"Shall we visit the very oldest part of the city to-day?" asked the Sunbonnet Babies' father one morning.

"Oh, dear! I am tired of old things," said May. "I should much rather ride in the park and hear the band play, as we did yesterday."

"Don't you like to hear old stories?" asked her father.

"Why, yes! I always like stories, you know."

"Well, wouldn't you like to hear an old story about some twin boys? And while I tell the story, wouldn't you like to sit near the place where the boys were supposed to have grown up?"

"Yes, of course we should!" exclaimed Molly. "I like old things, father. You tell such interesting stories about them."

Half an hour later they were walking slowly about the old Roman Forum looking at ruins of beautiful buildings and temples which had once been the center of the busy city. In one of the narrow streets they saw some large squares and circles made in the pavement, on which the men and boys used to play their games.

They saw, too, the great open-air theater, or Colosseum, in which the old Romans held their famous sports. Sometimes the sports were very wicked and cruel. The Colosseum was built in the shape of a huge circle without a roof. It once seated eighty-seven thousand people around its high sides, leaving a large open space in the center for the games.

Then they saw beautiful great arches, built in honor of old emperors, and tall marble columns which were once a part of lovely temples. But these things were all so broken and ruined the Sunbonnet Babies soon grew tired of looking at them.

"When are you going to tell us the story, father?" asked May at last.

"Well, let us have it now," answered her father. "Let us sit down on this old stone block right where we can look at the hill over yonder. The present city of Rome is built on seven hills. Our story tells how the city was first started on that hill and how the first wall was built around it."

"Is the story really true, father?" asked May.

"People used to think it was true, but it happened such a long time ago we cannot be sure about it. Even if it is not true, it is a good story about twin brothers who were said to have lived nearly three thousand years ago. The father of the boys was supposed to have been the young god Mars, and their mother was a beautiful maiden called Sylvia.

"It was Sylvia's work to care for the sacred fire in the temple of the goddess Vesta. Such maidens were treated with great honor, but they were not allowed to marry. So the people were very angry when Sylvia said the great god Mars was her husband and the two baby boys were her own little children. As a punishment the young mother was buried alive, and her helpless babies were put into a wooden trough, which was set afloat on the river Tiber.

"Now it happened just at that time that the river overflowed its banks. But very soon the water went down, and the little trough in which the twin babies lay was left safely on high ground. Of course the babies became very hungry and probably cried loudly for their mother to come and feed them. But the poor mother could not come, though another mother did. She was a mother wolf, and she carried the hungry babies away to her lair, where she tenderly nursed and cared for them.

"Some time later a shepherd found the baby boys living in the woods with their wolf mother. He was a kind man, and he took the children home to his wife. She named the boys Romulus and Remus, and brought them up to be shepherds like her husband.

"When the twin brothers grew to be young men, trouble arose between the shepherds belonging to their mother's father, who should have been king of the country, and the shepherds of the wrongful ruler. Romulus and Remus did many brave things of which their grandfather heard, and one day he asked to have them brought before him. He then discovered that they were the twin sons of his beautiful daughter Sylvia.

"The proud young men gathered an army together at once and seized the country in the name of their grandfather, the rightful king. They then decided to build a city, but they could not agree upon a place for it. Romulus wished to build it on one of the seven low hills in that region, while Remus wished to build it on another. Finally they went to their grandfather for advice, and he told them to watch for a sign from the gods. So Romulus stood on the hill which he had chosen and Remus stood on his hill, both watching for some sign to show them the right spot on which to build their city.

"At last Remus saw six vultures flying over his head, but shortly afterward Romulus saw twelve vultures. The people took this to be a sign that the gods preferred the choice of Romulus, so they made him their king.

"Romulus began at once to build the walls of his new capital. He harnessed a heifer and a bull to a plow, and between the rising and going down of the sun he plowed a furrow in the shape of a square around the top of his hill. On this furrow he built the wall of his city.

"Remus had seen the birds first and he felt that he should be the founder of the city. One day, as he stood watching the building of the new wall, he laughed at it scornfully and leaped over it. Romulus was deeply hurt, and he killed his brother on the spot, crying, 'So may all perish who cross this wall!'

"Romulus named his city _Rome_, and he and his shepherds lived in thatch-roofed mud houses within the protection of its walls.

"The story says this was the real beginning of the wonderful city of Rome. The hill which Romulus chose was the one right over there. It is called the Palatine Hill. The old Roman emperors lived on it for many centuries. The ruins of their walls and great palaces can still be seen," said the Sunbonnet Babies' father, as he finished his story.

"I wonder if it was there that the mother wolf took care of Romulus and Remus," said Molly. "If so, I think Romulus was right in wanting to build his city on the same spot."

"Rome is now so large it covers all of the seven hills, as well as the land between them," said her father. "Our hotel is on one of the hills, and the park where we drove yesterday is on another. Who wants to drive in the park again to-day?"

"I do!" and "I do!" and "I do!" cried Molly and May and their mother.

"Please may we drive first through the Spanish Piazza and buy some more flowers?" begged May. "Perhaps we may find Maria on the big steps. If she is there, father, may we ask her to drive in the park with us?"

"Yes, indeed!" answered her father. "We may meet the king and queen in the park. They drive there nearly every day."

"Oh! oh!" exclaimed May. "Let's buy the loveliest roses we can find and toss them into the king's carriage."

TRAVEL ADVENTURES

The next few days were spent in traveling northward, sometimes by train, sometimes by automobile, and sometimes behind two small Italian horses.

Each night the Sunbonnet Babies slept in some quaint little town near a great old church or castle built hundreds of years ago.