CHAPTER XIII
LAKE GARDA
Rico walked a few paces away from the station and looked about him.This large white building, the open space in front of it, the windingstreet in the distance, were all strange to him. He was positive thathe had never seen them before. He had to confess to himself, "I havenot come to the right place, after all."
He sadly followed along the path between the trees until he came to aturn in the road which brought him to a sudden standstill, for beforehim lay the sky-blue lake, the water shimmering in the sunshine.Yonder were the towering hills in the distance, with the faintoutlines of the white dwellings in the valleys. How familiar itseemed! Many a time he had stood just where he was at present. Herecognized the trees, but where was the house? Oh, there should be alittle white house near by, but it was gone! There was the street thatled to it. How well he remembered it! There were the red flowers inthe abundance he had been used to seeing. There ought to be a bridge alittle farther down. In his eagerness to see it he ran toward it, andsure enough, it was there, just as memory had pictured it.
A flood of recollections overpowered him. It was here that a lovely,loving woman had held him by the hand,--his mother. In fancy he sawher face distinctly and heard the sweet words of her lips, andunderstood anew the love revealed in her youthful eyes. Throwinghimself upon the grass, Rico wept bitterly.
The sun was setting before he dried his eyes and began to think ofwhat he should do. The golden evening glow that his memory hadcherished was on the water, the hills had taken the violet tints, andthe fragrance of the roses perfumed the air. The beauty of the placecomforted him, and he thought, "How I wish Stineli could see this!"
When Rico left the bridge, the sun had set and the light of day wasfast fading away into darkness. It seemed more like a home thananything he had known for years, and he reluctantly left the place.His first purpose was to take a closer look at the red flowers that hehad noticed in the garden. He found a path leading from the street,where he could obtain a good view of them. It seemed to Rico thatthere must be bushels of the buds among the trees, shrubs, and vines.Again he thought, "If only Stineli could see them!"
Rico could see a sturdy boy in the garden, cutting grapes from thevines. The side door of the attractive white house in front of thegarden stood wide open. The young man noticed Rico and stopped hiswhistling to say, "Come here and play a tune if you can." This wassaid in Italian, and Rico wondered at his own understanding of thewords, for he was sure that he could not _speak_ like that. After theyoung man had asked some questions and discovered that Rico could notanswer, he directed him to the house to play there.
Rico stopped at the door and played and sang Stineli's song frombeginning to end. Through the open door he noticed a lady sittingbeside a child's bed, sewing. When Rico was about to turn away, alittle pale face was raised from the pillow and he heard a voice say,"Play some more, please."
Rico played another melody and again turned to go, but the childrepeated, "Play some more."
So it happened time after time until Rico had played all the tunes heknew. When the little boy saw that Rico was really going away, hebegan to cry, begging Rico to come to him. The lady came out, offeringa coin to Rico, who had played for the child with no thought of money.Then it occurred to him again that Stineli had said that people wouldgive him something if he played for them, so he took it and put itinto his pocket.
The lady asked where Rico came from and where he was going, but hecould not answer.
"Have you parents here?" she continued, and Rico shook his head inreply, thus telling her that he could understand. Then she asked if hewere all alone, and Rico nodded. "Then where will you go?" shequestioned, and Rico shook his head with a little gesture to indicatethat he did not know.
The lady called the young man from the garden, and Rico heard herdirect him to take the child to the hotel for the night, and to tellthe landlord that the bill for lodging and supper was to be sent toher. "Perhaps the people at the hotel can understand the language hespeaks," she said. "He must have been away a long time to forget somuch. He is too young to be out alone, and I want you to tell them toshow him the way he wishes to go in the morning."
The little invalid was still crying, and the mother at last asked Ricoif he would come to see him in the morning. As soon as he saw Rico nodhis assent, the boy was satisfied.
It was about ten minutes' walk to the city proper. The young man ledRico directly to the landlady and explained his errand. In themeantime Rico noticed that the living room was filled with men whowere smoking and talking. He heard the landlady dismiss the boy with,"Very well, I will do as you say."
She looked Rico over from head to foot as she asked him where he camefrom. He answered in German that he had come down the Maloja and couldunderstand what the people said, although he could not speak in thesame way. The landlord, who understood German, told Rico that he hadbeen up to the mountains himself.
"We will talk about it later," he said, "if you will play for theguests a few moments first." They had called for music as soon as theysaw the violin.
Rico was very tired, but he obediently played and sang, beginning asusual with Stineli's song. None of the guests understood German, andthey talked and laughed during the song. As soon as he had finished,some one called for a lively tune, and Rico tried to think ofsomething they might like. He had never heard the music of the dancehalls, but he finally thought of
"Una sera In Peschiera."
The men joined Rico in the singing, much to his surprise, and theymade the strongest chorus he had ever heard. It was fine to lead somany voices, and he played through the whole number of verses.
When the song was ended, there was such a jubilee that Rico could notimagine what it meant. They surrounded him, shaking his hands andpatting his shoulders, and then asked him to drink with them.
Rico was bewildered, for he could not understand their surprise thathe, a stranger, should know their song,--the song that no one outsidetheir locality would care to learn. Moreover, he had played it withfeeling, like a loyal Peschieran; hence this hilarious gratitude andbrotherly welcome.
Rico's supper, consisting of boiled rice with chicken, was brought inand put on a corner table, and the landlady rescued him from hisembarrassment by explaining that the child must eat and rest. She ledhim to the table, remaining to serve him.
Rico was indeed hungry. It seemed as if a long time had elapsed sincehe had taken breakfast with his friend in the early morning, and hehad tasted nothing since. He had scarcely finished eating when hefound it almost impossible to keep awake. He had told them, inresponse to questions, that he had no home and that he was goingnowhere.
"That is too bad," said the husband, kindly. "Don't worry aboutanything now, for you must go to bed and get a good sleep. PerhapsMrs. Menotti, the lady that sent you here, will give you some work ifyou go to see her to-morrow morning. I have no doubt of her helpingyou, since you have no home." He did not notice that his wife wastrying to keep him from saying this.
The guests called for another song, but Rico was sent to bed, thewife taking him up to an attic storeroom that contained a quantity ofear corn and had its walls decorated with harnesses. In one corner,however, stood a bed, and Rico was soon tucked away in it and asleep.
After the guests had departed, the woman said to her husband: "I don'twant you to send the boy to Mrs. Menotti. I can make him usefulmyself. Didn't you notice how well he can play? They were all pleasedwith him, too. Mark my words that the boy will make a better playerthan any of the three that we now hire. He will learn the musiceasily, and we can soon get along by hiring only two men on dancedays, for we shall have him for nothing, and we can hire him outbesides. You would be more than foolish to let him go. I like hislooks very much, and I say that we will keep him."
"Very well; I am quite willing," the husband said amiably. He couldsee how well she had reasoned.