Page:De Amicis - Heart, translation Hapgood, 1922.djvu/366

338 crew, an Italian with gray hair, made his appearance on the bow, holding by the hand a little girl; and coming to a halt in front of the little Sicilian, he said:—

“Here's a travelling companion for you, Mario.” Then he went away.

The girl seated herself on the pile of cordage beside the boy. They looked at each other.

“Where are you going?” asked the Sicilian.

The girl replied: “To Malta on the way to Naples,” Then she added: “I am going to see my father and mother, who are expecting me. My name is Giulietta Faggiani.”

The boy said nothing.

After the lapse of a few minutes, he drew some bread from his pouch, and some dried fruit; the girl had some biscuits: they began to eat.

“Look sharp there!” shouted the Italian sailor, as he passed rapidly; “a lively time is at hand!”

The wind continued to increase, the steamer pitched heavily; but the two children, who did not suffer from seasickness, paid no heed to it. The little girl smiled. She was about the same age as her companion, but was considerably taller, brown of complexion, slender, somewhat sickly, and dressed very plainly. Her hair was short and curling, she wore a red kerchief over her head, and silver rings in her ears.

While they ate, they talked about themselves and their affairs. The boy had lost both father and mother. The father, an artisan, had died a few days previously in Liverpool, leaving him alone; and the Italian consul had sent him back to his country, to Palermo, where he had some distant relatives.