were driven to their
homes by a heavy storm without having had a view of the illustrious
foreigners.
Eleven o'clock came; and the Cooper house was the only one in the town
that still had lights burning. The rain and thunder were booming yet,
and the anxious family were still waiting, still hoping. At last there
was a knock at the door, and the family jumped to open it. Two Negro men
entered, each carrying a trunk, and proceeded upstairs toward the guest
room. Then entered the twins--the handsomest, the best dressed, the most
distinguished-looking pair of young fellows the West had ever seen. One
was a little fairer than the other, but otherwise they were exact
duplicates.

CHAPTER 6 -- Swimming in Glory
_Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even
the undertaker will be sorry._ --Pudd'nhead Wilson's
Calendar
_Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by
any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time._
--Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar

At breakfast in the morning, the twins' charm of manner and easy and
polished bearing made speedy conquest of the family's good graces. All
constraint and formality quickly disappeared, and the friendliest feeling
succeeded. Aunt Patsy called them by their Christian names almost from
the beginning. She was full of the keenest curiosity about them, and
showed it; they responded by talking about themselves, which pleased her
greatly. It presently appeared that in their early youth they had known
poverty and hardship. As the talk wandered along, the old lady watched
for the right place to drop in a question or two concerning that matter,
and when she found it, she said to the blond twin, who was now doing the
biographies in his turn while the brunette one rested:
"If it ain't asking what I ought not to ask, Mr. Angelo, how did you come
to be so friendless and in such trouble when you were little? Do you mind
telling? But don't, if you do."
"Oh, we don't mind it at all, madam; in our case it was merely
misfortune, and nobody's fault. Our parents were well to do, there in
Italy, and we were their only child. We were of the old Florentine
nobility"--Rowena's heart gave a great bound, her nostrils expanded, and
a fine light played in her eyes--"and when the war broke out, my father
was on the losing side and had to fly for his life. His estates were
confiscated, his personal property seized, and there we were, in Germany,
strangers, friendless, and in fact paupers. My br