"Golden Sun;" and the landlady ran joyfully to meet her, and led her up
into the upper hall. When they were there, Mrs. Menotti asked very
politely if it would inconvenience the landlady very much to allow Rico
to come over to her two or three times in the week towards evening, he
was so amusing, and entertained her little sick son so well. She would
gladly recompense the landlady in any way she might think desirable.

It flattered the landlady to have the handsomely dressed Mrs. Menotti
thus asking a favor of her; and it was quickly arranged that Rico should
go to Mrs. Menotti on every free evening that he had; and in return,
Mrs. Menotti promised to provide the orphan's clothing, which pleased
the landlady extremely; for now she had really nothing to pay out for
the little boy, and he brought her in a great deal of money. So it was
arranged to the entire satisfaction of the two women, and they took
leave of each other in very friendly terms.

In this way passed many days. Rico could soon speak Italian as if he had
always spoken it. And, in truth, he had once spoken it as his native
language, so one thing after another came back to him; and as he had a
good ear, he soon spoke exactly like an Italian born, so that all who
knew him to be a stranger wondered at him. He was very useful to the
landlady,--more so even than she had expected would be the case,--for he
was so neat and orderly: quite as much so as she herself, if not more,
for she was not very patient over her work; and when preparations were
necessary for a _fete_ or for a wedding, Rico was called upon to do it,
for he had a great deal of taste, and knew how to carry it out in
decorations. If he had any errand to do abroad he was back again in an
incredibly short time, for he never stopped to chatter by the way. If
people questioned him, he always turned on his heel and left them. This
pleased the landlady mightily when she noticed it, and it created such a