must walk along carelessly, and not
appear to look at the carriages as if we wanted one; for if we do, they
will come driving towards us in a body. We will walk along quietly till
we come to a nice carriage and a first rate pair of horses, and then
we'll go right up to the coachman and engage him."

This the boys did. They sauntered along with a careless air, concealing
the desire they had to engage a carriage, until at last they came to one
which Rollo thought would do. The instant the boys stopped before this
carriage, the coachman jumped down from his box, and began to open the
carriage door for them, and at the same time all the other coachmen in
the line began cracking their whips, and calling out to the boys again
to come and take their carriages. Rollo paid no attention to them, but
addressed the coachman of the carriage which he had selected, and said
in French, "To Pompeii."

"_Si, signore, si, signore,_" said the coachman, which Rollo knew very
well meant "Yes, sir, yes, sir." At the same time the coachman made
eager gestures for the boys to get in.

But Rollo would not get in, but waited to make his bargain about the
price.

"_Quanto?_" said he. Quanto is the Italian word for _how much_. In
saying _Quanto_, Rollo held up the fingers of his right hand, to denote
to the coachman that he was to show him by his fingers how many
piastres.

The coachman said four, speaking in Italian, and at the same time held
up four fingers.

"No," said Rollo, "three." And Rollo held up three fingers.

The coachman seemed to hesitate a moment; but when he saw that the boys
were ready to go away and apply for another carriage unless he would
take them for the regular and proper price, he said, "_Si, signore,_"
again, and once more motioned for the boys to get in. So they got in,
and the coachman drove to the hotel door.

Mrs. Gray and Rosie were all ready, and when they came to see the
carriage which the boys had chosen for them, they were very much pleased
with it.

"I don't see but that you can manage the business, Rollo," said Mrs.
Gray, "as well as any courier or valet de place that we could have."

"How could you make him understand what you wanted, without speaking
Italian?" asked Rosie.

"I did it partly by signs," said Rollo.

The road to Pompeii, for the first few miles, was the same with the one
to Vesuvius, which they had taken the day before. It led first through
the busiest part of Naples, along by th