At Places They Gave Way Under Her, And She Fell
Down, But Scrambled Up Again On The Next Stretch Of
Arches, like some
fond cripple pursuing a friend on crutches; when at last our train
outran them, and there was
No longer an arch to halt upon, she gave up
the vain chase and turned back within her walls, where we saw her domes
and bell-towers fading into the heaven to which they pointed.
It was a heaven of better than absolute blue, for there were soft, white
clouds in it, and the air that our Sunday breathed under it was, at the
beginning of April, as bland as that of an American May-end. The orchard
trees were in bloom - peach and plum, cherry and pear - whenever you chose
to look at them, and all nature seemed to rejoice in the cessation of
the two days' strike which had now enabled us to drive to the station
instead of walking and carrying our bags and bundles. There were so many
of these that we had taken two cabs, and at the station our drivers
attempted to rejoice with nature in an overcharge that would have
recouped them for the loss suffered in their recent leisure. But as we
were then leaving Koine, and were not yet melted with the grief of
absence, I had the courage to resist their demand. Long before we
reached Leghorn I was so Romesick that I would have paid them anything
they asked.
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