Bill More Moderate, Under The Circumstances,
No Man Ever Discharged; Calabrian Honesty Came Well Out Of The
Transaction.
So I tumbled once more into the dirty, ramshackle
diligenza, passed along the dusty road between the barred and
padlocked warehouses, and arrived in good time at the station.
No
sooner had I set foot on the platform than I felt an immense relief.
Even here, it seemed to me, the air was fresher. I lifted my eyes to
the hills and seemed to feel the breezes of Catanzaro.
The train was made up at Cotrone, and no undue haste appeared in our
departure. When we were already twenty minutes late, there stepped
into the carriage where I was sitting a good-humoured railway
official, who smiled and greeted me. I supposed he wanted my ticket,
but nothing of the kind. After looking all round the compartment
with an air of disinterested curiosity, he heaved a sigh and
remarked pleasantly to me, "Non manca niente" - "Nothing is
amiss." Five minutes more and we steamed away.
The railway ascended a long valley, that of the Esaro, where along
the deep watercourse trickled a scarce perceptible stream. On either
hand were hills of pleasant outline, tilled on the lower slopes, and
often set with olives. Here and there came a grassy slope, where
shepherds or goatherds idled amid their flocks. Above the ascent a
long tunnel, after which the line falls again towards the sea. The
landscape took a nobler beauty; mountains spread before us, tenderly
coloured by the autumn sun.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 94 of 152
Words from 24640 to 24896
of 40398
