post, and drive very fast.]

"I should like to go by the malle post," said Rollo; "they keep the
horses on the gallop almost all the way."

"Then again," continued Mr. George, "if we choose we can engage a
vetturino."

"Yes," said Rollo; "there are plenty of them always standing out here by
the bridge. They ask me almost, every day, when I go by, whether I want
a carriage. 'Want a carriage, sir,' they say, 'to go to Rome, to Naples,
to Venice, to Genoa?'"

Here Rollo repeated the words of the vetturini, imitating the peculiar
intonations with which they spoke, in quite a skilful manner: "To Rome!
Naples! Venice! Nice! Genoa!"

"Yes," said Mr. George, "those are the men."

"And, come to think of it," said Rollo, "I believe, after all, I would
rather go with a vetturino. We ride along so pleasantly day after day,
and go through all the towns, cracking our whip, and seeing so many
curious things all along the road side!"

"Yes," said Mr. George; "but there is one difficulty. We are only two,
and the carriages of the vetturini are usually large enough for four or
six."

"And would not they go for two?" asked Rollo.

"O, yes," said Mr. George; "they will go for two; but then the men must
have full price for their carriage and horses, and that makes it very
expensive for two."

"What do people do, then," asked Rollo, "when there are only two to go?"

"They generally find some other people that want to go," replied Mr.
George, "and make up a party, and so divide the expense."

"And can't we do that?" asked Rollo.

"We do not know any body here," said Mr. George.

Rollo did not know what to say to this, and so he was silent, and walked
along, thinking what it was best to do. Presently, after a moment's
pause, he added,--

"I mean to ask some of the vetturinos if they have not got a carriage
for two."

"_Vetturini_ is the plural of vetturino, in Italian," said Mr. George,
"and not vetturinos."

"But I am not speaking Italian," said Rollo; "I am speaking English."

"True," said Mr. George.

At this stage of the conversation Mr. George and Rollo arrived at the
end of the bridge across the Arno, which Mr. George had to pass over in
going to his gallery. This bridge is a very ancient one, and is quite a
curiosity, as it is built massively of stone, and is lined with a row of
shops on each side, so that in passing over it you would think it was a
street instead of a bridge, were it not that the shops are so s