correspondents with cholera. A man said yesterday he wished to
God they would inoculate all of them. Yes, the interest is quite
general and strong & much hope is felt.

Livy says I have said enough bad things, and better send all our
loves & shut up. Which I do--and shut up.

They lingered at Lucerne until Mrs. Clemens was rested and better able
to continue the journey, arriving at last in Florence, September
26th. They drove out to the Villa Viviani in the afternoon and found
everything in readiness for their reception, even to the dinner, which
was prepared and on the table. Clemens, in his notes, speaks of this and
adds:

It takes but a sentence to state that, but it makes an indolent person
tired to think of the planning & work and trouble that lie concealed in
it.

Some further memoranda made at this time have that intimate interest
which gives reality and charm. The 'contadino' brought up their trunks
from the station, and Clemens wrote:

The 'contadino' is middle-aged & like the rest of the peasants--that
is to say, brown, handsome, good-natured, courteous, & entirely
independent without making any offensive show of it. He charged too
much for the trunks, I was told. My informer explained that this
was customary.

September 27. The rest of the trunks brought up this morning. He
charged too much again, but I was told that this was also customary.
It's all right, then. I do not wish to violate the customs. Hired
landau, horses, & coachman. Terms, 480 francs a month & a pourboire
to the coachman, I to furnish lodging for the man & the horses, but
nothing else. The landau has seen better days & weighs 30 tons.
The horses are feeble & object to the landau; they stop & turn
around every now & then & examine it with surprise & suspicion.
This causes delay. But it entertains the people along the road.
They came out & stood around with their hands in their pockets &
discussed the matter with each other. I was told that they said
that a 30-ton landau was not the thing for horses like those--what
they needed was a wheelbarrow.

His description of the house pictures it as exactly today as it did
then, for it has not changed in these twenty years, nor greatly,
perhaps, in the centuries since it was built.

It is a plain, square building, like a box, & is painted light
yellow & has green window-shutters. It stands in a com