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240 A CANTEB OVER THE CAMP4.GNA.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
"Well! Rome Would Be A Charming Place If...
young clergyman who has come to Rome for the benefit o £ his very weak voice ) still linger near the hole where the fox disappeared
and chirrup and whistle encouragingly , with some vague idea that , it may be induced to come out againand give them another run ;
, whilst Mr . Brown and Miss Grey still gallop on , happily unconscious that the chase is over .
Meanwhile , the dark clouds have completely overcast the sky _,, and big drops of rain begin to fall fast and faster . Cassandra tells
of agues and fatal fevers caught by exposure to the wet , till the Rev . Basil Small grows pale with terror , and implores Miss Rose
to let him conduct her " to the poor shelter yonder broken wall will It afford does , indeed " afford but iC a poor shelter " against the pitiless
rain now descending , and some of our party choose rather to face the rain and leave us , to gallop homewards . Cassandra remains ;
his lamentations would be wasted on the fast-riding set who have left us , but we , cooped up in a narrow space , are forced to hear
them . Luckily , another of our party , Captain L — , has an infectious spirit of gay good humour and cheeriness ( no amount of
rain can damp ) quite invaluable under the circumstances . "We have not sheltered very long , when a peasant—looking , I
must confess , uncommonly like the -conventional stage banditgallops up to us on his wildunbroken ponyand offers to show us
a short cut to a castellated farm , -house on the , top of a hill near us , where we may stay during the storm . The Rev . Basil and Miss
Rose look a little dubious , but Captain L- —— gladly accepts the offer for alL the partyand we follow the man as fast as we can up
, a scrambling , rocky path , and through a fine but half-ruined arch . Into a great courtyardround which runs a lofty gallery . The
house , some centuries ago , , belonged to a great Roman family , and It still retains signs of its former splendour .
Several men and boys who are lounging about the yard come forward with offers of assistanceand a pleasant-looking womanwith
a baby in her arms , begs us to , dismount and come and dry our , wet clothes at the fire she will soon kindle for us . The most suspicious
of us are disarmed by her bright frank smile and cordial speech , and we gladly leave our horses in charge of ' the men and follow
her—all except Mr . Brown and Miss Grey , ' . who prefer remaining in the covered gallery" they " feel sure it is Just going to clear "
and Miss Grey means , to overtake the rest of the party as soon as , possible— " they might be anxious about her . " We leave them
, and descend a wide , but broken flight of stairs , pass through' a long corridor , where fragments of carved ornaments and old
ireseoes are still visible—and enter what is evidently the livingroom of the family . It is a good-sized lofty apartment—but dark
and gloomy , as it is only lighted by one narrow window—with an uneven stone floor , and huge fire-place . There is a large bed _^ a 4 table
rue , a few heavy wooden seats , and little furniture beside ,
240 A Canteb Over The Camp4.Gna.
240 A CANTEB OVER THE CAMP 4 . _GNA .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Dec. 1, 1862, page 240, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01121862/page/24/
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