ot be done by any other means she
would carry Marcello all the way. During his illness she had often
lifted him from his bed like a little child, for he was slightly built
by nature and was worn to a shadow by the fever. Even Aurora could have
raised him, and he was a featherweight in the arms of such a creature as
Regina. But it would be another matter to carry such an awkward burden
for miles along the highroad; and besides, she would meet the
carabineers, and as she would have to go at night, they would probably
arrest her and put her in prison, and Marcello would die. She must find
some other way.

She laid his head tenderly on the pillow and left him, promising to come
back as soon as she could. For safety she had brought the dish of beans
with her, lest Nanna should follow her, and she took it with her, just
as it was; but at the foot of the outer stairs she ran along the back of
the house to the pig-sty, and emptied the mess into the trough,
carefully scraping the bowl with the spoon so that it looked as if some
one had eaten the contents. Then she went back to the kitchen.

"Has he eaten?" inquired Nanna, and Paoluccio looked up, too.

"You see," answered Regina, showing the empty bowl.

"Health to him!" answered Paoluccio. "He has a good appetite."

"Eat your own," said Nanna to the girl.

She suspected that Regina might have eaten the beans meant for Marcello,
but her doubt vanished as she saw how the hungry young thing devoured
her own portion.

"Are there any more left?" Regina asked when she had finished, for she
understood perfectly what was going on in the minds of the other two.

She looked into the earthen cooking-pot which now stood on the corner of
the hearth.

"Not even the smell of any more," answered Nanna. "There is bread."

Regina's white teeth crushed the hard brown crust as if she had not
eaten for a week. There could be no doubt but that the sick boy had
eaten the beans; and beans, especially white ones, are not good for
people who have the fever, as Nanna had justly observed.

"On Sunday he shall have a dish of liver and cabbage," she said, in a
cheerful tone. "There is much strength in liver, and cabbage is good for
the blood. I shall take it to him myself, for it will be a pleasure to
see him eat."

"The beans were soon finished," said Regina, with perfect truth.

"I told you how it would be," Paoluccio answered.

But Regina knew that the time had come to get Marcello away f