for the railway went right through them. So my husband got a great deal
more money than they were really worth, and bought a far better piece of
land and a garden, and built a house, all with the money; and the land
produced fully twice what the other had, and we had most abundant
harvests. I often said, 'It does not really belong to us, and we are
living in luxury from the property of another. How I wish that we knew
where he is!' But my husband quieted me, and said, 'I am keeping it all
in order for him, and when he comes it is all his; and as to the profit
that I have laid aside, he must have his share also.'

"Then Silvio was born; and when I discovered that the little fellow was
ill, I kept saying over and over to my husband, 'We are living on
property to which we have no right, and we are punished for it.' And
sometimes it was so dreadful to me that poverty would have been more
tolerable, and I would have gladly been homeless.

"My husband always tried to console me, and said, 'You will see how
pleased he will be with me when he returns.' But he did not return. My
husband died: it is now four years ago. Oh, what a life I have led since
then! always thinking how can I be free from this unlawful property
without doing any thing wrong, for it is my duty to keep it in good
condition until our friend comes; and then I feared that he might be in
misery somewhere while I am living so comfortably on his property, and
know nothing of his whereabouts."

Stineli felt sincerely how much Mrs. Menotti was to be pitied; for she
perfectly well understood her feeling, and how she was always
reproaching herself for a thing that she could not change, and she
comforted the good woman, saying,--