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grateful words of thanks quite repaid him for all he had foregone for her (and to a boy like Punch this was a good deal) in order to make her pleasure more enjoyable. But now a fly was procured at once to take them all for a lovely drive first, and then home.

And as

"Every road seems more lovely than the last," Ernest said as they went along. "I thought the view of the Snow Hills beautiful from the Roya Bridge, but it is better than ever now." they drove through the wide valley round and round the hills, the appearance of the country went on changing.

They saw some very pretty herds of sheep grazing, and the boys noticed now, as they had noticed several times before, how very many black sheep there were in these parts, and the sheep seemed to be very tame.

One day Miss Capel and her nephews were walking in the Borghetto Valley, when they saw a very strange sight. A young horse, it looked too old to be called a colt, was being led along by a rope, by a man who ran beside it, and on its other side was a sheep. Whenever the horse stopped the sheep stopped too, and when it ran fast so did the sheep. And the horse looked round from time to time to see where its friend was, for the sheep nestled so close to the horse, whenever it could do so, that the boys were sure the two animals were great friends. And they had also seen a lamb one day try to follow a woman into

a house, and yet at Ventimiglia and Bordighera, these poor gentle little things were carried very cruelly to their death.

Punch could not resist the fun, from time to time, of jumping out of the carriage, and clambering on to the hills for better views. Ernest had had walking enough, and preferred now to sit quietly, and compare what he and his aunt saw with what Punch shouted out to them he was seeing.

"Oh, it has been jolly," both boys said as they drove home. "Thank you so much, Aunt Violet, for all the treats you give us."

"And thank you, dear boys," she answered, "for helping me to enjoy them so much. I wonder what I should have done to-day, for instance, without these," she went on, putting up her glasses as she spoke. "I should have lost more than half the pleasure of the drive."

"That's what I thought," said Punch.

"It was certainly very thoughtful of him, Aunt Violet," Ernest added; "but I've often noticed that Punch is thoughtful."

It was very sweet of Ernest to love to hear and second his brother's praises. There seemed to be no jealousy that he was not as strong as Punch, and therefore able to do the same things also; no thought even crossed his mind, that had he been well enough he might have been as ready to go for the glasses as was his younger brother. It was his great delight to hear him praised, and to help to praise him.

CHAPTER XI.

THE CARNIVAL AT SAN REMO.

T was Christmas, and dear Christmas letters

IT

and cards from England found Ernest and Punch in the midst of warm bright sunshine.

[graphic]

It seemed very strange to the boys, but the people of Bordighera told them that what happened a month later, on the 25th of January, was far more strange, for then snow fell and rested for more than a day on the palm and olive trees. It snowed at Menton also, and at many places in the Riviera, and snow was a most strange and unwelcome visitor in the sunny South, for hither people fled for warmth from English winters.

How the umbrellas went up then-and such a variety. Almost every little child in the streets seemed to possess one, but whenever people could stop at home and not go out at all, they did so.

Punch felt really sorry for the umbrella carriers to-day, as they did look so very cold, and most of their clothing was very unfit for winter weather.

The surrounding hills looked very grand all dressed in white, and Punch was not long before he clambered up one to have a good look about him. After this, from time to time, there was a good deal of rainy, cold, weather, when Ernest and his aunt had to draw at home, and when Punch could only sometimes be out. Ernest had quite succeeded in learning to make boxes for flowers now, and the beautiful roses which at Christmas were gathered from gardens in Bordighera, and sent home to their parents and grandmother for a Christmas present, were packed in boxes of his own making.

Then February came, and with it the three days of carnival before Lent. This was the time for Punch. For two weeks he had spent hardly any money at all, so as to have plenty for masks of coloured wire, of which he bought a large variety.

Aunt Violet had promised to take the boys to San Remo for the last day of the carnival, and this she accordingly did. It had been her intention to look on at it from a balcony in the principal street. Viewing it from here, she did not think it would

be necessary for her to wear a mask herself, which it would have been had she remained in the street, for protection against the showers of coriandoli, which she knew would be thrown at people right and left. Besides their masks, Ernest and Punch had both bought coloured dominoes, with hoods that could be drawn over their heads, Punch's being very bright yellow. These they carried with them in bags to San Remo, to put on there. Punch would not have gone without buying a domino, for anything, he said; and the first time he saw himself in it in the looking-glass, he was so much pleased with his appearance that he stood upon his head.

"I must go well armed," Punch said, as he packed his treasures into his bag, “in case I get the chance of being in the thick of the fight."

The fun was to begin at 2.30, and as they arrived at San Remo at about 1 o'clock, there was plenty of time to walk leisurely to the room that they had taken.

Going along, a little scent and a few handfuls of the coriandoli were thrown at them, but Miss Capel protected herself from the missiles by keeping up her parasol, which she could do very well, as the sun was really hot that day. But when they arrived at the house in which they were to have had the room, the woman to whom it belonged was ill, and could not let them occupy it. This was a great blow to Miss Capel, but to both Punch and

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