olden grain, until the purple splendors of sunset had
ceased to transfigure the distant hills, and the crickets chirped louder
under the deepening gray of the sky.

In the walls of the amphitheatre at Florence is a bust in colored marble
of one of the most famous players of his day, whose battered face seems
still to preside over the game, getting now and then a smart blow from
the _Pallone_ itself, which, in its inflation, is no respecter of
persons. The honorable inscription beneath the bust, celebrating the
powers of this champion, who rejoiced in the surname of Earthquake, is
as follows:--

_"Josephus Barnius, Petiolensis, vir in jactando repercutiendoque folle
singularis, qui ob robur ingens maximamque artis peritiam, et collusores
ubique devictos, Terraemotus formidabili cognomento dictus est."_

Another favorite game of ball among the Romans is _Bocce_ or _Boccette_.
It is played between two sides, consisting of any number of persons,
each of whom has two large wooden balls of about the size of an average
American nine-pin ball. Beside these, there is a little ball called the
_lecco_. This is rolled first by one of the winning party to any
distance he pleases, and the object is to roll or pitch the _boccette_
or large balls so as to place them beside the _lecco_. Every ball of one
side nearer to the _lecco_ than any ball of the other counts one point
in the game,--the number of points depending on the agreement of the
parties. The game is played on the ground, and not upon any smooth or
prepared plane; and as the _lecco_ often runs into hollows, or poises
itself on some uneven declivity, it is sometimes a matter of no small
difficulty to play the other balls near to it. The great skill of the
game consists, however, in displacing the balls of the adverse party so
as to make the balls of the playing party count, and a clever player
will often change the whole aspect of affairs by one well-directed
throw. The balls are thrown alternately,--first by a player on one side,
and then by a player on the other. As the game advances, the interest
increases, and there is a constant variety. However good a throw is
made, it may be ruined by the next. Sometimes the ball is pitched with
great accuracy, so as to strike a close-counting ball far into the
distance, while the new ball takes its place. Sometimes the _lecco_
itself is suddenly transplanted into a new position, which entirely
reverses all the previous counting. It