s and noise?"

"La Signorina--" began Kitty.

"There! I have warned you twice. The third time I shall be angry."

"Hilda, then. But I am afraid whenever I call you that. You do not
belong to my world."

"And what makes you think that?" There was a smile behind the veil.

"I do not know, unless it is that you are at home everywhere, in the
Campo, in the hotels, in the theater or the palace. Now, I am at home
only in the theater, in places which are unreal and artificial. You are
a great actress, a great singer; and yet, as O'Mally would say, you
don't belong." Kitty had forgotten what she had started out to say.

La Signorina laughed. "Pouf! You have been reading too many novels. To
the _molo_, Pompeo."

At the _molo_, the great quay of Venice, they disembarked. The whilom
prima donna dropped fifty centesimi into Pompeo's palm, and he bowed to
the very gunwale of the boat.

"_Grazie, nobilita._"

"What does he say?" asked Kitty.

"He says, 'Thanks, nobility.' If I had given him a penny it
would have been thanks only. For a lira he would have added
_principessa_--princess. The gondolier will give you any title you
desire, if you are willing enough to pay for it. We shall return on
foot, Pompeo; this will be all for the night."

Pompeo lifted his hat again, and pushed off.

"He was very cheap," said Kitty. "Only ten cents for a ride like that!"

A ripple of laughter greeted this remark. "Pompeo can read human nature;
he knows that I am honest. What I gave him was a tip."

"Aren't you laughing at me sometimes?"

"Disabuse your mind of that fancy, _cara_. It is a long time since I
gave my affections to any one, and I do give them to you." With this she
caught Kitty by the arm, and the two went up the Piazzetta leisurely
toward the Piazza.

The Piazza San Marco, or Saint Mark, is the Mecca of those in search of
beauty; here they may lay the sacred carpet, kneel and worship. There is
none other to compare with this mighty square, with its enchanting
splendor, its haunting romance, its brilliant if pathetic history.
Light, everywhere light; scintillating, dancing, swinging light! Spars
and lances of light upon the shivering waters, red and yellow and white!
Light, the reflective radiance of jewels and happy eyes! Light, breaking
against the pink and white marbles, the columns of porphyry, malachite,
basalt, and golden mosaics! Let the would-be traveler dream of it never
so well; he will come to find his drea