wistfully, as they went
by, and he invited them to walk in. He saw at once from their appearance
that they were visitors that had just arrived in town, and though he did
not expect that they would buy any of his mosaics themselves, he thought
that there might be ladies in their party who would come and buy, if he
treated the boys politely. It was on that account that he invited them
to come in. And when they had looked about the establishment as much as
they wished, and were ready to go away, he gave them each one of his
cards, and asked them to give the cards to the ladies of their party.

"But there are no ladies of my party," said Rollo.

"Who is of your party?" asked the workman.

"Only a young gentleman," said Rollo.

"O, very well," rejoined the man, "that will do just as well. He will
certainly wish to buy mosaics, while he is in Rome, for some of the
young ladies of his acquaintance."

"I think that is very doubtful," said Rollo; "but nevertheless I will
give him the card."

So Rollo and Charles bade the mosaic man good by, and went away.

They had been so much interested in what they had seen in the mosaic
shop, and their attention, now that they had left it, was so much
occupied with looking at the display of mosaics and cameos which they
saw in the little show cases along the street, that Rollo forgot
entirely his resolve to take an observation, so as not to lose his way.
The boys walked on together until they came to a long and straight,
though not very wide street, which was so full of animation and bustle,
and was bordered, moreover, on each side by so many gay looking shops,
that Rollo said he was satisfied it must be one of the principal streets
of the town.

It was, in fact, the principal street in the town. The street is called
_the Corso_. It runs in a straight line from the Porto del Popolo, which
I have already described, into the very heart of the city. It is near
the inner end of this street that the great region of ancient ruins
begins.

Rollo and Charles began to walk along the Corso, looking at the shops as
they went on. They were obliged, however, to walk in the middle of the
street, for the sidewalks, where there were any, were so narrow and
irregular as to be of very little service. Indeed, almost all the
pedestrians walked in the middle of the street. Now and then a carriage
came along, it is true, but the people in that case opened to the right
and left, and let it go by.

Af