avel--I and my
daughter; and you, Mr. Alfred, must be our guide. We can all three
travel together, with one or two more of our good friends." And she
nodded in such a friendly way at the company, that each imagined
himself to be the favored person who was to accompany them to Italy.
"Yes, we must go," she continued; "but not to those parts where
there are robbers. We will keep to Rome. In the public roads one is
always safe."

The daughter sighed very gently; and how much there may be in a
sigh, or attributed to it! The young man attributed a great deal of
meaning to this sigh. Those deep-blue eyes, which had been lit up this
evening in honor of him, must conceal treasures, treasures of heart
and mind, richer than all the glories of Rome; and so when he left the
party that night, he had lost it completely to the young lady. The
house of the naval officer's widow was the one most constantly visited
by Mr. Alfred, the sculptor. It was soon understood that his visits
were not intended for that lady, though they were the persons who kept
up the conversation. He came for the sake of the daughter. They called
her Kaela. Her name was really Karen Malena, and these two names had
been contracted into the one name Kaela. She was really beautiful; but
some said she was rather dull, and slept late of a morning.

"She has been accustomed to that," her mother said. "She is a
beauty, and they are always easily tired. She does sleep rather
late; but that makes her eyes so clear."

What power seemed to lie in the depths of those dark eyes! The
young man felt the truth of the proverb, "Still waters run deep:"
and his heart had sunk into their depths. He often talked of his
adventures, and the mamma was as simple and eager in her questions
as on the first evening they met. It was a pleasure to hear Alfred
describe anything. He showed them colored plates of Naples, and
spoke of excursions to Mount Vesuvius, and the eruptions of fire
from it. The naval officer's widow had never heard of them before.

"Good heavens!" she exclaimed. "So that is a burning mountain; but
is it not very dangerous to the people who live near it?"

"Whole cities have been destroyed," he replied; "for instance,
Herculaneum and Pompeii."

"Oh, the poor people! And you saw all that with your own eyes?"

"No; I did not see any of the eruptions which are represented in
those pictures; but I will show you a sketch of my own, which
represen