THE CITY IN THE SEA
"To-day brings the great surprise," said the Sunbonnet Babies' fatherone morning. "You remember I said we should visit a place here inItaly which you would like even better than Sorrento or Capri. We aregoing to that place to-day."
"Oh, where is it?" exclaimed both little girls. "How shall we getthere? What are we going to see?"
"You must not ask so many questions. It would not be a surprise if Ishould tell you all about it," said their father. "But we shall takethe train this morning, and before we go to bed to-night we shall bethere."
All day Molly and May were much excited thinking about the wonderfulsurprise awaiting them. Their train carried them slowly northwardthrough the lovely Italian country straight toward the high mountains.
"Must we go over those mountains, father, or can we go through them?"May asked eagerly.
"We shall do both," answered her father. "We shall go over a part ofthem and we shall go through the rest. In a moment our train willenter the first tunnel."
"Oh! Oh! We are in it now!" exclaimed Molly. "How dark it is!"
Then, almost before she knew it, they were out in the bright sunshineagain, creeping along a high bridge above a deep valley. In and out ofmany tunnels they went, and across many high bridges from which theyhad wonderful glimpses of the valleys and rivers below and of themountains towering high above them.
"Is this Switzerland, father?" Molly asked at last.
"No, indeed," answered her father. "We are crossing the ApennineMountains, which stretch down through Italy like the backbone ofa fish. But we shall soon be leaving the mountains behind us and shallsee the canals and the rice fields on the other side of them. Then youmay think you are in Japan."
And so they traveled northward, seeing many new and interestingsights, until just at sunset they came to what their father called the"Jumping-off Place."
"Close your eyes for a moment," he said. "I will tell you when to openthem."
So Molly and May closed their eyes very tightly until their fathersaid, "Now you may look."
"Oh! Oh! Where are we? Our train is running right on the water!"exclaimed May as she opened her eyes.
"Why, yes! There is water on both sides of us!" cried Molly. "There iswater all around us. It looks like the sea. O father! Is there abridge under us? Will our train sink?"
"No, our train will not sink," answered her father, laughing. "Thereis a real railroad track under us. The track is built on strongwooden posts or piles which are sunk deep down into the ground underthe water."
_"Our train is running right on the water!"_]
"How far out on the water will the train go?" May asked, in a voicejust a little frightened.
"About two miles," answered her father. "We are going to the City inthe Sea."
"Oh, I know now!" cried Molly. "We are going to Venice! We are goingto Venice, May! That is the wonderful surprise. We are almost there. Ican see some of the houses now."
A few moments later their train was pulling into a busy coveredstation and everybody was getting off, for no one goes beyond Veniceby train. A porter took their bags, and the Sunbonnet Babies thoughthe would show them where to find a carriage or a taxi to take them totheir hotel. But no, he led them to a long line of small black boatswhich were drawn up to the station platform.
"O father! Are these boats gondolas?" asked Molly excitedly. "And isthis one of the water streets you have told us about?"
"Yes," said her father, "and this man is going to take us to our hotelin his gondola. So jump in!"
When they were all seated, an old man standing on the platform gavetheir gondola a push with his long pole and they were off.
The gondolier stood in the back of his graceful boat and paddled itlightly forward with one long oar.
Out into the sunset glow of the broad canal they slipped quietly. Thesoft colors of the setting sun, caught and reflected by the shiningwater, made a picture more beautiful than they had seen in anyart gallery in Italy.
_They glided around corners and through narrow canals_]
They glided around corners and through narrow canals, until at lasttheir gondolier stopped his boat close by the marble steps of ahandsome stone building.
"This is to be our home while we stay in Venice," said the SunbonnetBabies' father.
"Oh! I wish we could stay here always," Molly said softly.
"And so do I," whispered May.
_The pigeons were as tame as little chickens_]
As the days went by, Molly and May did not change their minds. Venicewas like a fairy land to them, and the hundreds of beautiful pigeonsthat live about the Piazza of St. Mark were the cunningest ofplaymates.
Each morning the children hurried to the piazza to help give the dovestheir breakfast of corn and peas. They were as tame as littlechickens. They would coo and flutter about the Sunbonnet Babies andeat from their hands as if they had always been friends.
_Sometimes a brave little pigeon would stand on one ofthe sunbonnets_]
Sometimes an especially brave little pigeon would stand on one of thepretty sunbonnets, turning his head about very proudly to be sure thateveryone was seeing him. But the pigeon was no prouder than the littlegirl under the bonnet, who stood very still lest she frighten thepretty thing away.
There are very few dogs or cats in Venice, so the pigeons have nothingto fear. They are the pets of the whole city, and they sleep in theprettiest places near the tops of the buildings.
_The great bronze horses at the Cathedral of St. Mark_]
There are only four horses in the city, too, and they are great bronzehorses two thousand years old. They have stood above the doorway ofthe beautiful Cathedral of St. Mark, on one side of the piazza, morethan seven hundred years. Napoleon carried them off to Paris andplaced them on top of a fine arch there, where they stayed foreighteen years, but at last they were returned to Venice.
During the World War these famous horses were taken down again andhidden away in a safe place where bombs and robbers might nottouch them.
Now once more they are standing above the beautiful doorway, with thepretty pigeons flying lovingly about them.
There were many other things on the big piazza, aside from the dovesand the horses, which interested the Sunbonnet Babies. There was astrange old Clock Tower which has been standing there since the timeColumbus discovered America. Two big bronze men stand on top of thetower and strike the hours on a great bell with their heavy hammers.First one man raises his hammer and strikes the bell and then theother man strikes it, until the right hour has been struck, from oneto twenty-four o'clock, which is midnight.
It seemed strange for Molly and May to go to bed at nineteen o'clockinstead of seven, but that was what they did in Italy, for there theclock faces have twenty-four hours on them instead of twelve.
There is another tower on the piazza, too, much taller than the ClockTower. It is the Cathedral Bell Tower, and it stands nearly infront of the beautiful cathedral.
A few years ago the tower which had stood on this spot for a thousandyears fell quite suddenly, for the bricks with which its walls weremade were turning to dust. But the Venetian people soon built a newtower just like the old one on the same spot, and they expect it tostand another thousand years.
Molly and May climbed to the top of this tall tower and looked outover the wonderful city surrounded by the beautiful blue water. Theysaw the green trees of the public gardens, and the orange and bluesails of fishing boats coming slowly in, loaded with fish caught outin the deeper sea. They tried to count the many gondolas movingquietly through the busy canals, and they watched the tiny pigeonsfluttering about on the piazza below.
Around three sides of the piazza are handsome little shops, with abroad covered sidewalk in front of them. Nearly everything that isnice can be bought in these shops, from beautiful laces to deliciousice cream.
_The Sunbonnet Babies often had cherry ice cream_]
The Sunbonnet Babies often begged to sit by one
of the small tables onthe covered sidewalk and have some cherry ice cream while the bandplayed in the center of the piazza.
The Piazza of St. Mark is really a wonderful place. It is the open-airreception room for all the Venetian people, as well as for manystrangers who come to visit their city--yes, and for hundreds ofbeautiful pigeons, too.
But Molly and May loved the whole of Venice. They liked to wanderalong the busy, narrow footpaths and see how the people workedand played. They found they could walk all over the city on thesenarrow streets, for there are nearly four hundred little foot-bridgeswhich cross the many canals. Some of the bridges have steps going upon one side and down on the other.
The largest and finest bridge is called the Rialto Bridge. It has tworows of small shops on it, much like the famous bridge in Florence.
Molly and May liked to go shopping on the Rialto. They always bought abag of big red cherries, for Italian cherries are almost better thanchocolate creams.
The Gondolier's Home]