fe or in a dream. I told him that I seldom
remembered a dream, but that I had had an unusually delightful day in
real life at Selinunte. In his capacity of padrone he acknowledged the
compliment, but feared there would be no number for that in the book.
Then I asked if there was likely to be a number for having breakfast with
a coastguard as it was the first time I had done so. He mused and said
no doubt there would be a number for breakfast and another for
coastguard, but not for the combination. Could not we add the two
numbers together and bet on whatever they amounted to, if it were not
over 90? Angelo would not hear of anything of the kind; we must think of
something less complicated. It would never have occurred to him to read
for Metaphysics under M and for China under C, and combine the
information into the article that appeared in the _Eatanswill Gazette_ as
a review of a work on Chinese Metaphysics. He asked if I had not lately
had "una disgrazia qualunque." I reminded him of the theft of our fish,
but that did not satisfy him, he considered it too trivial, though he had
made enough fuss about it at the time, and 17, which in Sicily is one of
the numbers for an ordinary misfortune, was too general. It seemed a
pity I had not been involved in the fall of a balcony because that was a
very good thing to bet on and he knew it had a number, although he did
not remember it at the moment. Filippo, the hunchback, was no use
because, though it is fortunate to meet hunchbacks, and of course they
have a number, there was nothing remarkable in seeing Filippo at the
caserma--he is always there.

By this time we had reached Castelvetrano, and supper overshadowed the
lottery. Angelo cooked everything; we began with maccaroni, after which
we ate the fish and the sparrows, and wound up with the rabbit. It was
all very good, but it seemed hardly right to eat the sparrows, besides,
there was scarcely as much on one of them as there had been on one of the
artichokes at the caserma.

During supper, something--it may have been the sparrows or, perhaps, the
Madonna again--inspired me with an idea for a number that met with
Angelo's enthusiastic approval. I remembered that my birthday was near
and proposed to put my money upon the number of that day of the month.
Nothing could have been better and he recommended me to take also my age,
that would give me two numbers and I could have an ambo, I should not win
on a single