t for nine francs apiece all round."

"But there are two boys," said Mr. George. "Don't you charge any thing
extra for boys?"

"No, sir," said Vittorio, smiling. He thought at first that Mr. George
was going to ask for some abatement on account of a portion of the party
being young. "No, sir; we don't charge any thing extra for them."

"You _would_ charge extra for them, I think," said Mr. George, "if you
only knew how much they can eat."

Vittorio smiled and said that if the party would pay nine francs apiece
all round, he should be satisfied, without asking for any thing extra on
account of the boys.

The third item of expense in an Italian journey consists of the _buono
manos_. In Italy, and indeed generally in Europe, though especially in
Italy, nobody, in rendering you a service, is satisfied with receiving
merely what you agreed to pay for the service. Every one expects
something over at the end, as a token of your satisfaction with him. If
you employ a guide in a town to show you about to the places and things
that are curious there, under an agreement that he is to have a dollar a
day, he is not satisfied at night if you pay him merely a dollar. He
expects twenty cents or a quarter of a dollar over, as a _buono mano_,
as it is called. This is the understanding on which the bargain is made.

In the same manner, when you pay your bill at the hotel, the waiter
expects you to give him a _buono mano_. If any body renders the
vetturino a service along the road, it is the vetturino who pays them,
because it is in the agreement that he is to pay the way expenses; but
then, after getting their pay from him, and also his _buono mano_, they
generally come to the carriage and ask for another _buono mano_ from the
party of travellers. Some travellers get vexed and out of patience with
this system, and always give, if they give at all, with scowling looks
and moody mutterings. Others, seeing how poor all the people are, and
how hard it is for them to get their living, are very willing to pay,
especially as it is generally only a few cents in each case that is
required. Still, unless the traveller understands the system, and
prepares himself beforehand with a stock of small change, the _buono
mano_ business gives him a good deal of trouble. If he does so provide
himself, and if he falls into the custom good naturedly, as one of the
established usages of the country, which is moreover not without its
advantages, it become