Bettina sometimes looked at her sister with wonder as she would sit hour
after hour poring over Mr. Sumner's books.

"I always thought _I_ loved pictures best," she thought; "but Bab cares
more for these old ones than I do."




Chapter VI.

Lucile Sherman.

_In life's small things be resolute and great
To keep thy muscle trained; Knowest thou when Fate
Thy measure takes? Or when she'll say to thee,
"I find thee worthy. Do this deed for me?_"

--LOWELL.

[Illustration: A GLIMPSE OF FLORENCE.]


The tourist who devotes a few days to Florence, or a few weeks even, can
have no conception of what it means to live in this city; to awake
morning after morning and look out upon the lines of her hills and catch
glimpses of their distant blues and purples; to be free to wander about
at will through her streets, every one of which is crowded with legend
and romance; to look upon her palaces and churches, about which cluster
so many deeds of history; to visit the homes of her immortal men--poets