Aunt Jane's Nieces Abroad
So I shall rest easy until I need something out of it, and then
I'll get a locksmith to pick the lock."
"But I wish you hadn't lost the key," said the girl, thoughtfully.
"Strikes me it's good luck. Pleasant dreams, my dear. I can fancy Arthur
Weldon lying awake all night with his dreadful thirty thousand tucked
under his pillow. It's a great mistake to carry so much money with you,
Beth, for you're sure to worry about it."
The next morning when they came down to breakfast they were all amazed
at the gorgeous sunshine and the genial temperature that had followed
the dreary afternoon of their arrival. Syracuse was transformed, and
from every window of the hotel the brilliant glow of countless flowers
invited one to wander in the gardens, which are surpassed by few if any
in the known world.
The Villa Politi stood so near the edge of a monstrous quarry that it
seemed as if it might topple into the abyss at any moment. Our friends
were on historic ground, indeed, for these quarries--or latomia, as they
are called--supplied all the stone of which the five cities of ancient
Syracuse were built--cities which in our age have nearly, if not quite,
passed out of existence. The walls of the quarry are a hundred feet in
depth, and at the bottom are now acres upon acres of the most delightful
gardens, whose luxuriance is attributable to the fact that they are
shielded from the winds while the sun reaches them nearly all the day.
There are gardens on the level above, and beautiful ones, too; but these
in the deep latomia are the most fascinating.
The girls could scarcely wait to finish breakfast before rushing out to
descend the flights of iron steps that lead to the bottom of the vast
excavation. And presently they were standing on the ground below and
looking up at the vine covered cliffs that shut out all of the upper
world.
It was peaceful here, and soothing to tired nerves. Through blooming
shrubbery and along quiet paths they might wander for hours, and at
every step find something new to marvel at and to delight the senses.
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There was once an honest journeyman tailor, by name Labakan, who learned his trade with an excellent master in Alexandria. It could not be said that Labakan was unhandy with the needle; on the contrary, he could make excellent work: moreover, one would have done him injustice to have called him lazy. Nevertheless, his companions knew not what to make of him, for he would often sew for hours together so rapidly that the needle would glow in his hand, and the thread smoke, and that none could equal him.
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