Polly and Her Friends Abroad Part 29

CHAPTER XIII-UNEXPECTED VICISSITUDES OF TRAVEL

The visit in Naples extended itself into a week, as the girls needed to replenish their wardrobes after the earthquake, and Mr. Alexander thought it best to have a new spring for the car ordered to replace the one that had received such a strain in the ditch.

A new schedule had been studied, and the route outlined a few weeks before, was revised. Mr. Fabian said it would be best to go to Brindisi and from there cross the Ionian Sea and visit Athens, as long as they were so near. Then, from Athens, they could go to Pompeii and other famous places, and finally take a steamer back to Genoa.

"I'll have to crate the cars, then, and s.h.i.+p them across country to wait for us at Genoa," said Mr. Alexander.

"Let the men at the garage attend to it for you. We will be away about a week, or so, and by that time the cars will have been delivered at Genoa," said Dodo.

"I should think it would save time and costs to send a chauffeur with each car, to leave them with a garage at Genoa," suggested Mr. Fabian, so his idea was acted upon.

Everything was packed and the ladies were in the cars ready to start, when Mr. Fabian turned to look for Mr. Alexander. He was not there.

"Did anyone see him during the last ten minutes?" asked he.

"No, he carried my suit-case downstairs fifteen minutes ago, but he did not come back," said Mrs. Alexander.

Mr. Fabian went to the hotel office again, and inquired of the clerk whether he had seen Mr. Alexander.

He had not been seen, nor had he left any message at the desk. "Well, then, I'll have him paged, as we are ready to start," said Mr. Fabian.

But the boys came back without any news of the missing man. Everyone got out of the cars again and started in different directions in search of their necessary "chauffeur." By-standers were asked but no information was gained of the man they all were seeking.

"Dear me, if that isn't just like Ebeneezer!" complained Mrs. Alexander, powdering her nose while she awaited results.

"I don't see anything else to do, except to carry our luggage back to the hotel and postpone our trip until tomorrow," said Mr. Fabian.

"Don't worry, Pa'll come along soon and wonder why we worried over his delay. He's sure to give a splendid reason for this absence," said Dodo.

A few moments after she had spoken, little Mr. Alexander was seen running at top speed along the street. His hat was in his hand and he was mopping his perspiring brow with a large silk handkerchief.

"Eben, what made you leave us? Didn't you _know_ we were ready to start?" complained his wife, the moment she saw him.

"Yeh, but I couldn't help it, Maggie. Just as I got your duds to the car, I stepped on a little dog. He yelped so I had to see what ailed him, and that's how I saw the child what owned the animal.

"If the little shaver hadn't yelled as hard as the dog, I wouldn't have gone wid him. But I had to quiet the boy, and the dog limped so I had to carry that. The boy lived a long way down a side street, and then through an alley. But when I got to his home, the dog could jump about and bark, so he is all right again."

"Good gracious, Pa, did you waste all this time on carrying a mongrel home?" laughed Dodo.

"Um, not all the time!" admitted Mr. Alexander. "When I saw that boy's home and his sick mother in bed, I hunted up a woman in the house and made her go out for some things to eat. It seems they ain't had any money and so went hungry until she could work. I told the woman-but I reckon she didn't understand me-that she could thank the dog for the food and help she got from me. Then I had to hurry back here."

The tourists were on the vessel before Mrs. Alexander stopped nagging her spouse and allowed him to enjoy the sail across the Ionian Sea. It was a beautiful trip for the others in the party; they saw the blue sky reflected in the bluer water, inhaled the perfume of thousands of flowers blossoming riotously on the land and wafted by the balmy breezes across the Sea, and they wondered if it were really true that but a few days before, they were rus.h.i.+ng frantically from an earthquake in Rome!

The present peace and calm were so different an experience-almost as if they were in another world.

The first sight of Athens, from the sea, was very impressive to the girls; they could see, upon the prominences that seemed to embrace the ancient city, the wonderful historic ruins so carefully preserved there.

Mr. Fabian pointed out the Acropolis, the Temple of Hephaestus, the Propylaea, the Temple of Athena Nike, the Parthenon, and other noted architectural antiquities.

Several days were spent in Athens, visiting its vast wealth of past ages, then Mr. Fabian arranged to proceed, with his friends, to Pompeii, with its lure of restored ruins that had been buried for centuries.

From the scenes of Pompeii, they visited the Island of Ischia and its wilderness of vineyards; then they went on to Capri with its incomparable riot of color and natural beauties.

"I don't see anything to keep us down here more than a day, or so, do you-all?" asked Mrs. Alexander, bored to distraction without the excitement of cities, or the speeding in her car.

"Oh Ma! we never saw anything so wonderful as these places, so don't rush us away the moment we get here," cried Dodo.

"But, Dodo, what is there here to see but a lot of wild greens, and poor people dressed in shawls and petticoats?" complained Mrs. Alexander.

"I ain't saying a word, Ma, even if I can't see all the fine things the others seem to enjoy," remarked Mr. Alexander. "But it _must_ be here, somewhere, so I'm hunting for it with might and main."

His wife merely turned up her educated nose at his words, but refused to answer his earnest request for further time in which to find the hidden secret of his friends' pleasure.

Having seen all that was possible of the beautiful Islands of olden times, the tourists boarded a steamer and sailed past Messina and Corsica, up through the Gulf of Genoa, to the City of Genoa where the two cars were awaiting them.

"My! I never was so glad to see a car in all my life!" sighed Mrs.

Alexander, eagerly examining her roadster to see if it was in good condition for the continuation of the tour.

"From Genoa we can travel along the Coast of the Mediterranean and enjoy the drive to the utmost, for we still have plenty of time to complete our tour back to Paris, and meet Ashby when he plans to be there," said Mr. Fabian, as they got into the two autos and prepared to start.

The touring car led the way, Mrs. Alexander following, with Mrs. Fabian seated beside her. Perhaps that lady might not have felt quite so fearless with the chauffeur, if Mr. Fabian had not said that the road was splendid and that there were no dangerous places for Mrs. Alexander to run into.

They went through Savona, San Remo, and stopped at Monte Carlo to visit the place and see the famous gambling house.

"Ebeneezer, don't you go to that wicked house to play!" exclaimed Mrs.

Alexander, after they had refreshed themselves at the hotel and were ready to walk about and see Monte Carlo.

"I woulden' _think_ of doing such a thing, Maggie, with all these young girls to set an example for," returned the little man, with a serious tone.

"I don't want to go in there, at all," declared Polly.

"It won't hurt anyone to see it, Polly; they say it is one of the most gorgeous places in the world. The decorations and architecture are marvellous," added Eleanor.

"Well, but don't let us go near the gaming-tables," Polly said, grudgingly.

"Oh, no, not one on us would think of such a thing!" said Mr. Alexander, but he watched an opportunity to make sure that a roll of money he carried in his pocket, was still there.

They had done the outside of the place, admiring the beautiful parks and the buildings, and then they thought they would have a peep inside, at the halls and various rooms of the famous house.

"Where's Ebeneezer?" suddenly asked Mrs. Alexander, as she trailed the others into the Grand Reception Room.

"Why-he was here but a moment ago!" replied Mr. Fabian, glancing around for the missing man.

"Didn't I tell you what a care he was? I always have to keep him on a leash when I want him to go, somewhere, with me. This is the same trick he played on us at Brindisi-and almost made us miss the boat,"

complained the lady.

"He didn't make _us_ miss it, Ma, but he 'most missed it himself,"

laughed Dodo.

"But he did a fine deed for a poor human, which goes to exonerate him for being so late. Maybe he is helping someone, now," remarked Mrs.