sun really shines and the sky is blue and not a dull gray, or else
where did you come by those eyes and those straight shoulders?"

Lucia looked up at the dazzling sky above her and laughed.

"And I suppose that spot is Napoli," she teased. "Well, you don't
guess as well as I do, for I was born here and I have lived here all my
life."

"'All my life,'" Roderigo mimicked. "How very long you make that
sound, Señorina, and yet you look no older than my little sister."

Lucia drew herself up to her full height and did not deign a direct
reply.

"Fourteen years is a long time, Señor," she said gravely, "when you
have many worries."

"But you are too young to have many worries," Roderigo protested; "or I
beg your pardon, perhaps you have some one up there?" he pointed to the
north, where the high peaks of the Alps were visible at no great
distance.

"No, not now," Lucia replied; "for my father was killed a year ago."

Roderigo was silent for a little, then he raised one shoulder in a
characteristic shrug.

"War," he said slowly. "We all have our turn."