laughter, and it was contagious; for the child could not resist the
merry expression of her face, and joined her in laughing, and sang
again still more queerly and louder; and all the while Rico played his
accompaniment without stopping.

And thus Mrs. Menotti's ears were greeted with laughter and song as she
drew near the house on her return, and she could not understand how they
could be so light-hearted and merry on such a momentous occasion. She
came hastily through the garden, and into the room, and sank upon the
nearest seat; for the shock and the joy, and the anticipation of what
was to follow, had overpowered her, and she needed to recover herself a
little. The sight of her agitation silenced the singers, and they gazed
at her in surprise. At last she recovered, and said,--

"Rico,"--and her voice was quite solemn,--"Rico, listen to me. Look
about you. This house, this garden, that field,--all, all that you can
see, and much that you cannot see, belongs to you: it is all yours. You
are the owner; it is your inheritance from your father; your home is
here; your name stands in the baptismal record; you are the son of
Henrico Trevillo, and he was my husband's dearest friend."

Stineli had understood the whole story at the first word, and her face
beamed with unspeakable happiness.

Rico sat as if turned to stone, and made no sound; but Silvio broke out
into shouts of delight,--it was all a play to him.

"Oh! now the house belongs to Rico, where is he going to sleep?"

"He can sleep in any room he chooses, Silvio. He can sleep in them all