say that they do not always deny it; and there is, without doubt, a
certain grace and charm in a pretty _fumatrice_. I suppose it is a
habit not so pleasing in an ugly or middle-aged woman.




IV.

THROUGH BOLOGNA TO GENOA.

I.

We had intended to stay only one day at Ferrara, but just at that
time the storms predicted on the Adriatic and Mediterranean coasts, by
Mathieu de la Drome, had been raging all over Italy, and the railway
communications were broken in every direction. The magnificent work
through and under the Apennines, between Bologna and Florence, had
been washed away by the mountain torrents in a dozen places, and the
roads over the plains of the Romagna had been sapped by the flood, and
rendered useless, where not actually laid under water.

On the day of our intended departure we left the hotel, with other
travellers, gayly incredulous of the landlord's fear that no train
would start for Bologna. At the station we found a crowd of people
waiting and hoping, but there was a sickly cast of doubt in some
faces, and the labeled employés of the railway wore looks of ominous
importance. Of course the crowd did not lose its temper. It sought
information of the officials running to and fro with telegrams, in
a spirit of national sweetness, and consoled itself with saying, as