r the sky was very blue, and often its color was reflected
in the water; the buildings were graceful and beautiful, the sun was
warm and bright, and the air was balmy.

[Illustration: A Scene in Venice.]

In this delightful city Marco Polo lived until he was seventeen years
of age. About this time, his father, who owned a large commercial house
in Constantinople, told Marco that he might go with him on a long
journey to Eastern countries. The boy was very glad to go, and set
out with his father and his uncle, who were anxious to trade and gain
more wealth in the East. This was in the year 1271.

The three Polos traveled across Persia into China, and across the
Desert of Gobi to the northwest, where they found the great ruler,
Kublai Khan. This monarch was a kind-hearted and able man. He wanted
to help his subjects to become civilized and learned, as the Europeans
were. So Kublai Khan assisted the two elder Polos in their business
of trading, and took Marco into his service.

Soon Marco learned the languages of Asia, and then he was sent by the
khan on errands of state to different parts of the country. He visited
all the great cities in China, and traveled into the interior of Asia
to places almost unknown at the present time.

At length the three Polos expressed a desire to return to Venice. The
great khan did not wish to part with them, but he at last consented;
for he found that by going they could do him a service. The service
required was their escort for a beautiful young princess who was to
be taken from Peking to Tabriz, where she was to marry the Khan of
Persia.

It was difficult to find any one trustworthy enough to take charge
of so important a person on so long and dangerous a journey. But Kublai
Khan had faith in the Polos. They had traveled more than any one else
he knew, and were cautious and brave.

So he gave them permission to return to their home, and requested them
to take the princess to Tabriz on the way. It was decided that the
journey should be made by sea, as the land route was so beset by robbers
as to be unsafe. Besides, the Polos were fine sailors.

They started from the eastern coast of China, and continued their
voyage for three years, around the peninsula of Cochin China, and
through the Indian Ocean to the Persian Gulf. Here they went ashore,
and then proceeded by land across Persia to Tabriz. They left the
princess in that city, and resumed their journey by way of the Bosporus