`Fare thee well, Filippo. Take good care of him,
friend Diamante,' cried Lucrezia; and she stood
watching until their figures disappeared at the end
of the long white road, and then went inside to wait
patiently for their return.

The summer days passed slowly by. The cheeks
of the peaches grew soft and pink under the kiss of
the sun, the figs showed ripe and purple beneath the
green leaves, and the grapes hung in great transparent
clusters of purple and gold from the vines
that swung between the poplar-trees. Then came
the merry days of vintage, and the juice was pressed
out of the ripe grapes.

`Now he will come back,' said Lucrezia, `for he
said ``by the time the grapes are gathered I will
return.'' '

The days went slowly by, and every evening she
stood in the loggia and gazed across the hills. Then
she would point out the long white road to little
Filippino.

`Thy father will come along that road ere long,'
she said, and joy sang in her voice.

Then one evening as she watched as usual her
heart beat quickly. Surely that figure riding so