adversity, for I could not but see that the poor
fellow was far from happy, and not in very
robust health. His face was sallow and thin,
his eyes were terribly sunken, and his temples
were getting bald, while there was a nervous
twitching about his mouth that told of anything
but content.

All this time the fierce white light of the mid-day
sun was pouring down its force upon the
bleached stones of the pavement, and the heat
was extreme. I was glad to step aside into the
shadow of a cool caffè, with a gay red and white
awning before it, where a drowsy waiter was
fanning away the flies with a green bunch of
twigs, and where two or three of the foreigners
who chanced to be in Rome at that unfashionable
season, were languidly smoking cigars or sipping
iced sorbetti and lemonade. It was, indeed, not
only the hour of a summer's day when, according
to the Italian proverb, mad dogs and Englishmen
have a monopoly of the thoroughfares,
but it was August, the most unhealthy part of
the year in the Roman States. Crooke, who, as
I gathered from his hints, had remained at Rome,
summer and winter, for three years, smilingly
asked me how I ventured to the Eternal City at
that dreaded season of sickly heats.

"My leave is not a long one," said I, laughing.
"School begins again on the 18th of next
month, and I must be at my post when the bell
rings for early prayers."

"School?" said Crooke, with a puzzled look.

"Even so," said I, reddening a little, I am
afraid, "but I don't mean that I have gone
back to the status pupillaris. Only I have just
been appointed third master at St. Winnipeg's,
and must enter on my duties at the end of the
midsummer vacation. Not a bad post, and quite
as good as my deserts entitled me to expect,
though it is not what I used to dream of when
we were lads at college, and I fear I shall never
be an Arnold. At any rate, I must make haste
if I am to ' do' Rome and Naples."

"Ah," said my former friend, " so you are
going to Naples."

Lightly as I had mentioned my appointment
to the office of third classical master
on the ancient and stately foundation of St.
Winnipeg's, the post was anything but a
matter of indifference to me. It had cost me
much trouble and anxiety, and the kind help
of friends, to secure my election, and I thought
myself a very lucky curate to obtain it.
Fortunately I had a good degree; I had kept
up my classical lore when more brilliant scholars
had permitted theirs to rust like a useless
sword, and if I could but teach as well as
learn, and win the confidence and respect of the
boys, I trusted not to prove unworthy of the
favour of the governors of that fine old school.
For the rest, there was a tolerable house, and
an income large enough, as Emma and I
thought, to marry upon. Emma's parents
thought so too; but it had been made a condition
of our engagement that I should wait
until I had had at least a couple of terms'
experience of the practical duties before me.

I had been appointed just at the commencement
of the vacation, and had decided on
taking that rare opportunity for a short but
rapid continental tour. My time was brief, and
my purse but moderately replenished, so I was
obliged, though with a sigh, to forego ambitious
visions of Greece and Egypt, but it was a great
treat to me, after a peep at Paris and the Rhine
and Switzerland, to cross the Alps and visit
that Italy that I had so often pictured to myself,
but which I only knew from books. And
now I had seen Milan, Venice, Florence, and,
more interesting still, to one who travelled with
Eustace's volumes in his portmanteau, the old
Etrurian cities, and had recently reached Rome.
But already my time was waning, there was
much to see, and brief space remained to
explore the wonders of Rome, Pompeii, PÅ“stum,
and Herculaneum, and I must not miss the
Liverpool packet that left Naples in the first
week of September, unless I would be a truant
on the 18th of the month. Should I fail to be
present at the somewhat ceremonial opening of
the new term, Dr. Swishington, the august
head-master, were he so disposed, could
"suspend" me from my duties, and the
governors had full powers to cancel my appointment,
without official inquiry, or the prospect
of legal proceedings. On this account—not
that I had the slightest reason to apprehend
any hostile feeling towards myself on the part
of my future superior, to whom I was personally
a stranger—I was naturally a little nervous.
But I consoled myself by remembering the
admirable punctuality, on the whole, which modern
steam-packets display in the performance of
their service, and by the prospect of a swift and
easy summer voyage in that favourite and
powerful vessel the Volcano. All that was
necessary was, that I should not permit any
circumstances to interfere with my embarking on
the proper day. So, not to lose the golden
hours of this rare holiday on classic soil, a
chance that might not occur again until my
limbs should stiffen and my hair grow grey, I
was eager to make the best use of my time.
And it was vexatious to find that the dull
professional ciceroni, to whom time was of no
value, except as represented by the piastre
earned by a day of plodding beside Murray-
consulting tourists, could not distinguish the
chaff from the corn.

In this strait, Crooke proved a valuable ally.
He had spoken no more than truth when he
said that he knew Rome thoroughly. And he
assured me that he had ample leisure (his
duties, whatever they were, did not seem
very onerous), and that it would be a pleasure
to him to guide me to the cream of that
inexhaustible treasure of antiquities which Rome
contains.

"Dismiss your laquais de place, and accept
me as a volunteer in the same capacity," said
Crooke, with great good humour. " Depend
upon it I'll not let grass grow under your feet.
You shall 'do' the seven-hilled city in less time
than ever did even a Yankee excursionist, come