Two days later our travellers were on their way down the western coast
of Italy, threading tunnels, and snatching brief views of the
Mediterranean on one side and smiling vineyards and quaint Italian
cities on the other.

"We will not stop at Pisa," said Mr. Sumner, "but will come to visit it
some time later from Florence; but you must watch for a fine view from
the railway of its Cathedral, Leaning Tower, Baptistery, and Campo
Santo. The mountains are withdrawing from us now, and I think we shall
reach it soon."

"Oh! how like the pictures we have seen!" cried Malcom. "How fine! The
tower does lean just as much as we have thought!"

"How beautiful it all is,--the blue hills, the green plain, and the soft
yellow of the buildings!" said Bettina.

"Will you tell us something of it all, Mr. Sumner?" asked Barbara. "I
know there is something wonderful and interesting, but cannot remember
just what."

"There are many very interesting things about this old city," answered
Mr. Sumner. "First of all, the striking changes through which it has
passed. Once Pisa was on the sea, possessed a fine harbor, and in rich
commerce was a rival of Genoa and Venice. She was a proud, eager,
assertive city; of such worth that she was deemed a rich prize, and was
captured by the Romans a few centuries B.C. Now the sea has
left her and, with that, her commerce and importance in the world of
trade. She is to-day so poor that there is nothing to tempt travellers