"Come, we must be off, if we would be at the Lido for our lunch."

Soon they were in the steamer which chugged so merrily that Andrea forgot
all about the pictures he had seen in his interest in watching the wheels
go around and the white foam in the vessel's wake, but Maria sat in a kind
of dream until they reached the landing.

Then, in the hurry that ensued and the many distractions on the shore, the
picture of the brave little girl, for the time, faded from her mind, and
she, too, gave herself up with undisguised pleasure to the fascinations of
the Lido.

It is a strip of shore extending along the mouth of the Lagoon and forming
a bulwark of Venice against the Adriatic. It was here that the wedding
ceremony was performed in the long ago, and the view is most beautiful from
this point.

They sat on a bench in front of the Aquarium to eat their luncheon, and the
children could scarcely wait to finish, they were so eager to press their
noses against the glass and watch the funny creatures swimming in the
tanks. Maria clapped her hands and declared the best of all were the
sea-horses--"Cavalli marini," she called them.

Then, what a glorious afternoon they had on the smooth beach, hunting for
shells and digging in the sand. How Andrea laughed when his father took him
away out and let the breakers roll over him. Then Maria, holding tight to
her brother's hand, who still seemed much bigger and stronger, even if this
was her birthday, ventured far into the waves.