casting of a leg or so; one lady had no head, but she was the boldest
of all. In this garden there were some mulberry and pomegranate trees,
several of which hung about the fountain with seats in their shade, and
for the rest there seemed to be mostly roses and oleanders, with other
shrubs of a kind that made the greatest show of blossom and cost the
least for tendance. A wide terrace stretched across the rear of the
palace, dropping to the garden path by a flight of balustraded steps,
and upon this terrace opened the long windows of Mrs. Vervain's parlor
and dining-room. Her landlord owned only the first story and the
basement of the palace, in some corner of which he cowered with his
servants, his taste for pictures and _bric-a-brac_, and his little
branch of inquiry into Venetian history, whatever it was, ready to let
himself or anything he had for hire at a moment's notice, but very
pleasant, gentle, and unobtrusive; a cheat and a liar, but of a kind
heart and sympathetic manners. Under his protection Mrs. Vervain set up
her impermanent household gods. The apartment was taken only from week
to week, and as she freely explained to the _padrone_ hovering
about with offers of service, she knew herself too well ever to unpack
anything that would not spoil by remaining packed. She made her trunks
yield all the appliances necessary for an invalid's comfort, and then
left them in a state to be strapped and transported to the station
within half a day after the desire of change or the exigencies of her
feeble health caused her going. Everything for housekeeping was
furnished with the rooms. There was a gondolier and a sort of house-
servant in the employ of the landlord, of whom Mrs. Vervain hired them,
and she caressingly dismissed the padrone at an early moment after her
arrival, with the charge to find a maid for herself and daughter. As if
she had been waiting at the next door this maid appeared promptly, and
being Venetian, and in domestic service, her name was of course Nina.
Mrs. Vervain now said to Florida that everything was perfect, and