Mary D. Brine

“ As I lay welcome kisses on baby's wee brow!
A Grandmother, I? How the bright years have flown
Since I was a child scarce to maidenhood grown!
"And now in my arms, looking up in my eyes,
With orbs that are bluer than June's sunny skies,
Behold my own grandchild! Ah, verily, youth
'On double wings flies,' Grandpa says in good truth,
"As he looks in my face where no longer the rose
In my once dimpled cheeks in its loveliness grows,
And marks the white locks mingling faster each day
With the brown that old Time is fast stealing away. ”

“ It was all very interesting and very wonderful to see the emigrants of different nationalities all gathered on the deck: some stretched out in the sun, some eating out of dishes which Polly and Teddy thought looked "very dirty and horrid"; some resting their tired heads on their hands, supporting their elbows on their knees; crowds of little bits of children, babies, and untidy-looking men and women, mingling with others who were far more respectable in appearance, but too poor to be able to pay more than the low steerage fare. ”

“ What is that stealing thro' silence and gloom,
To fill with sweet melody Grandma's lone room?
What brings that fond smile, and dispels every trace
Of sadness and tears on the dear, aged face?
Only a lullaby, gentle and low,
Which a mother, while rocking her babe to and fro,
Croons over and over, for baby alone,
Till far into dreamland his spirit hath flown.
Only the lullaby all mothers love,
Listened to daily by angels above;
The dear, quaint old song which will ever seem best
To sing to our babies and lull them to rest—
The Lullaby. ”

“ THE morning slipped away rapidly, and by the time the bugle blew its summons for luncheon the little couple had explored the steamer, under Papa's guidance, pretty thoroughly. You know children like to explore, and go scampering about to see all that can be seen, in a new place and amid strange surroundings, and Polly and Teddy made no exception to the rule, you may be sure. They had looked wonderingly down from the first-cabin deck upon the steerage deck, and had taken note of the funny and the too often sad scenes to be found in the steerage of a ship. ”

“ It was wonderful to Polly and Teddy to see such a sight, and to see, as they had seen at their meals in the hotel, those large oval lemons and the golden round oranges served to the hotel guests on the stems, with the clustering leaves adorning them. (You don't see such things as those in New York, do you?)
Well, and then there were the beautiful gardens, rising one above [34] the other in a bewildering mass of foliage of orange, lemon, and olive trees rich in fruit. ”

“ Visitors to Capri always stop at the "Blue Grotto" on the way, and when the big boat—the excursion boat—stops at that part of the cliff there are a crowd of men in little row-boats, waiting to take passengers who wish to go into the cave and show them the wonders of it, for a small coin each passenger. So of course our little couple must see it, and so must Mamma. Papa, who had seen it all once before (when he and Mamma had taken a trip alone, before Polly could remember) , did not go, for the boatman would only carry three passengers on the trip. ”

“ To the faded old cheek springs again the warm blush,
The old years are young with the spring-time's soft flush,
The dear, dim blue eyes borrow youth's ardent glow,
As fast thro' her brain old-time memories flow.
But ah! a light footstep within the lone room
Hath scattered the dream; loving eyes pierce the gloom,
A lithesome young figure at Grandma's side kneels,
A firm youthful hand into Grandma's hand steals.
"Ah, Grandma, my Grandma, the smile on your face
Is proof that some pleasure has there left its trace ”

“ But after awhile, in some way, they caught the trick [26] from Polly and Teddy, and surely that was a good thing, wasn't it? (I only mention this to show you that even little people—no matter how little they are—can influence each other for good or bad, and it is so much better to choose the "good," you know) .
And now I come to the day—or rather the early morning of the day—when the good ship steamed into the beautiful Bay of Naples with her colors flying, her band playing, and a crowd of excited and early risers amongst the passengers at the deck railings. ”

“ But they didn't seem to mind their burdens at all, and plodded along thinking their own donkey thoughts, and no doubt wondering what Teddy and Polly were laughing at them for! And then there were the little shops where fruits were sold, and over the doorways of which were hanging great branches full of oranges and lemons, just as the boughs were broken from the trees (as we in our country, you know, like to break a bough hanging full of cherries from our cherry-trees) . ”

“ And close tired eyes on the dear Father's breast."
Still softly and sweetly from out the next room
Still floating and lingering 'mid shadow and gloom—
The sound of the soft murmured "lullaby—O!"
Is heard, while the mother sings gently and low—
[Illustration: Music Sheet detail:
"Hush, my babe, lie still and slumber,
Holy angels guard thy bed."]
And Grandpa and Grandma draw nearer together,
And on Grandpa's shoulder lies Grandma's grey head,
As closely he holds to his fond aged heart
The wife from whose love he holds no thought apart. ”

“ Amongst them, of course, were our little couple and Mamma and Papa, and the children were wild with delight over the novelty of the scenes before them: the swarms of small native boats, which hung around under the steamship's sides, at her bow, and under her stern; the natives themselves, calling out in their whining tones for "Monie, monie!" (money) ; the little Italian lads who were constantly diving for the pennies some of the laughing passengers were tossing into the water. ”

“ Spotless fair, divinely bright!
Must he dwell with brutal creatures?
How could angels bear the sight?
Was there nothing but a manger,
Cursed sinners could afford,
To receive the Heavenly Stranger? ”

“ The dock was crowded with people going away and the friends who had come down to see them off, as is always the case. Teddy and Polly clung to Mamma's hands, while Papa attended to the baggage, and at last they were safely on the steamer's deck, watching the crowd below and the handkerchiefs constantly waved from dock to deck and from deck to dock. ”

“ The luncheon in the beautiful flower-decked dining-saloon was, I will add, another most interesting event for them; and though they felt a little shy at first, and afraid of the attentive stewards, and of so many strangers at a time all about them, yet I can assure you they behaved like a little prince and princess, and nobody even guessed how shy they were (though everybody near them did notice, I will say just here, what cultivated little table manners "that dear little couple" possessed) . ”

“ MANY a nice walk about the streets of Naples did our dear happy little couple take with Mamma and Papa, and into many a shop did they go, completely fascinated with the pretty goods displayed there. They longed to buy up everything they saw, and, if they had been allowed a larger portion of coin than Papa good-naturedly gave them each day, I don't know how many wonderful things they would have purchased. ”

“ IT was a very fine morning when our party of four went on board the steamship (which we will call the Funda, though that isn't the real name) bound for the sunny Italian town of Naples. The water sparkled in the sunshine, and the harbor was gay with the many kinds of ships and vessels in port. ”

“ When, at last, our party found themselves on the dock, and were waiting for Papa to finish attending to the baggage, Polly saw something which made her cry out: "Oh! look!" It was a little bower all decorated with large yellow lemons, larger than any lemons the children had ever seen before. ”

“ The rock on one side of the cave does not go to the bottom, but is only sunken a little way below the water. So the sunlight strikes down under the rock, as well as under the entrance hole, and is reflected upwards again through the water in the cave, which causes a wonderful silvery light, and a beautiful pale blue tint to the water and the roof of the cave. ”

“ When the dinner was finished Mamma and Papa took the back seat in the open little "victoria" (as the carriage was called, though it was very small and crampy in its proportions) , and the little couple, gay as larks, and wide-eyed with wonder, sat close together on the small footstool of a seat in front of the "grown-ups," and with a crack of the whip (which the horse didn't even jump at, because he is so used to it, and best of all, because the "crack" is only in the air and not against his bony sides) they all started off for "Anacapri." ”

“ Well, when the landing was reached, the children had to lift their [42] eyes to a height on top of a steep cliff wall before they could see the hotel in which the night was to be spent.
"I never in the world, Teddy Terry, can climb up there!" said puzzled little Polly. But Ted thought it would be real fun to climb it, and was quite disappointed when Papa pointed to a narrow railroad which ran up, up, up the cliff through a tunnel beginning not far from where they had left the boat. ”

“ The long-eared donkeys, which carried on either side of their short round backs such enormous and heavily loaded paniers that sometimes all you could see of the little animals were their slender legs, their long wagging ears, and their tails. ”

“ So they started off one lovely morning in the little excursion boat that takes passengers to and fro between Naples and the island of Capri and other points of interest in the bay.
I cannot take time to give all the particulars of the boat trip and its delights, but must tell you about the famous "Blue Grotto," which they reached before arriving at Capri.
The "Blue Grotto" is a cave in the rocks of one of the cliffs, and [36] when the water is smooth a row-boat can be paddled through the low opening which makes the mouth of the cave ”

“ When Polly finished her breakfast and was excused from the table, she scampered off as fast as she could down the garden till she came to the little gap in the fence of which my first book told you, you remember, and called: "Teddy! ”