packing."

Lucia ran around the house and off to the sunny slope where she had
left Beppi a few hours before. She saw the flock of goats grazing, and
called, "Beppino mio, where are you?"

No one answered her. She hurried on, believing him to have fallen
asleep.

"Beppi!" she shouted, "I have something exciting to tell you. Stop
hiding from me."

She waited, but still no answer came.

In a sudden frenzy of fear she began running aimlessly up and down the
hillside, and looking down into the tall grasses, but there was no sign
of Beppi. There were no trees or houses in sight, no place that he
could hide behind, nearer than the mountain path at the foot of the
valley.

Lucia looked about her despairingly, then she went over to the goats.
Garibaldi was not there.

"She has strayed away, and Beppi has gone after her," she said aloud in
relief, and returned to the cottage.

Nana nodded when she explained. She was busy tying up the household
treasures in sheets, and Lucia helped her.

Every few minutes she would go to the door and call, but Beppi did not