k.

Mr. Crathie removed his office to the House itself, took upon him the
function of steward as well as factor, had the state-rooms dismantled,
and was master of the place.

Malcolm helped Stoat with the horses and did odd jobs for Mr. Crathie.
From his likeness to the old marquis, as he was still called, the
factor had a favor for him, firmly believing the said marquis to be
his father and Mrs. Stewart his mother; and hence it came that he
allowed him a key to the library.

The story of Malcom's plans and what came of them requires another
book.

THE STAGE IN ITALY.

The Italians are undoubtedly the most theatre-loving people in the
world. With them the play-house takes the place to a great extent of
drawing-room and evening lounge. Almost every Italian family of any
social position possesses a box at one of the principal theatres,
where visits are received and many a scene from the _School for
Scandal_ is enacted whilst the fair gossip-mongers flirt and sip
ices. In winter the opera is the standard amusement of the fashionable
world, while the favorite resort in summer is the _diurno_ or open air
theatre, which is in the form of an amphitheatre, the stage with its
accessories facing an unroofed enclosure, with the seats arranged in
tiers one above another, and fenced off by an iron balustrade from a
terrace which serves the purpose of a gallery. A vast covered corridor
is nearly always to be found adjacent to the _diurno_, beneath which
the audience can take refuge in case of a shower, walk between the
acts and indulge in _bebite_--cooling drinks, such as sherbets and
beer. The _abbonamento_ (or subscription) to a diurno costs from three
to ten dollars for the season of thirty or forty representations. When
a dramatic company is about to visit a city the manager first secures
his _abbonati_, for according to their number he is able to regulate
his expenses, as he counts little on chance spectators, and is sure to
have almost always to play before the same audience.

The lyric stage in Italy takes precedence of the dramatic, and in the
large cities, Milan, Venice, Genoa, Florence, Rome and Naples, the
production of a new opera is considered a national event, forming for
many days previous to its production the chief topic of conversation
in salons and _caffes_. No such enthusiasm is manifested in regard to
the first representation of a new play; and although the house may be
crowded and the author ca