able progress as a print-seller in London; and who
afterwards succeeded in achieving a considerable fortune and reputation.

Bianconi made his preparations for leaving home. A little festive
entertainment was given at a little inn in Como, at which the whole
family were present. It was a sad thing for Bianconi's mother to take
leave of her boy, wild though he was. On the occasion of this parting
ceremony, she fainted outright, at which the young fellow thought that
things were assuming a rather serious aspect. As he finally left the
family home at Tregolo, the last words his mother said to him were
these--words which he never forgot: "When you remember me, think of me
as waiting at this window, watching for your return."

Besides Charles Bianconi, Faroni took three other boys under his
charge. One was the son of a small village innkeeper, another the son
of a tailor, and the third the son of a flax-dealer. This party, under
charge of the Padre, ascended the Alps by the Val San Giacomo road.
From the summit of the pass they saw the plains of Lombardy stretching
away in the blue distance. They soon crossed the Swiss frontier, and
then Bianconi found himself finally separated from home. He now felt,
that without further help from friends or relatives, he had his own way
to make in the world.

The party of travellers duly reached England; but Faroni, without
stopping in London, took them over to Ireland at once. They reached
Dublin in the summer of 1802, and lodged in Temple Bar, near Essex
Bridge. It was some little time before Faroni could send out the boys
to sell pictures. First he had the leaden frames to cast; then they
had to be trimmed and coloured; and then the pictures--mostly of sacred
subjects, or of public characters--had to be mounted. The flowers;
which were of wax, had also to be prepared and finished, ready for sale
to the passers-by.

When Bianconi went into the streets of Dublin to sell his mounted
prints, he could not speak a word of English. He could only say, "Buy,
buy!" Everybody spoke to him an unknown tongue. When asked the price,
he could only indicate by his fingers the number of pence he wanted for
his goods. At length he learned a little English,--at least sufficient
"for the road;" and then he was sent into the country to sell his
merchandize. He was despatched every Monday morning with about forty
shillings' worth of stock, and ordered to return home on Saturdays, or
as muc