d, there have been
nothing but blossoms,--masses of blossoms,--oleander, peach, and almond.

When the train reaches Mestre and the cool salt air fans his cheek, he
can no longer keep his seat, so eager is he to catch the first glimpse
of his beloved city,--now a string of pearls on the bosom of the lagoon.

Luigi has the painter's hand before his feet can touch the platform.

"Good news, Signore!" he laughs, patting my shoulder. "She is free!"

"Loretta!"

"Yes,--she and Vittorio are back in their garden. Borodini told the
whole story to the good Queen Mother when she came at Easter, and the
king pardoned her."

"Pardoned her! And Francesco dead!"

"Dead! No such good luck, Signore,--that brute of a crab-fisher got
well!"

A COAT OF RED LEAD

I

My offices are on the top floor of a high building overlooking the East
River and the harbor beyond--not one of those skyscrapers punctured
with windows all of the same size, looking from a distance like huge
waffles set up on end--note the water-line of New York the next time
you cross the ferry and see if you don't find the waffles--but an
old-fashioned sort of a high building of twenty years ago--old as the
Pyramids now, with a friendly janitor who comes to me when I send for
him instead of my going to his "Office" when he sends for me; friendly
elevator boys who poke their heads from out their iron cages and wait
five seconds until I reach them, and an obliging landlord who lets me
use his telephone.

Mawkum, my chief draftsman--when you have only one it is best to label
him "Chief" to your clients; they think the others are off building
bridges for foreign governments, or lunching at Delmonico's with
railroad presidents--my chief draftsman, I say, occupies the room
opening into mine. His outlook is a brick wall decorated with windows,
behind which can be seen various clerks poring over huge ledgers, a
section of the roof topped with a chimney, and in the blue perspective
the square, squat tower of the Produce Exchange in which hangs a clock.
Both of these connecting rooms open on the same corridor, a convenient
arrangement when clients wish to escape without being seen, or for the
concealing of bidders who are getting plans and specifications for the
same tenders, especially when two of them happen to turn up at the same
moment.

Mawkum manages this, and with such adroitness that I have often seen
clients, under the impression that the drafting-room