rooms; and if you opened the window you were deafened by the noisy rabble of children playing in the street, and by dawdling mothers disputing from window to window across the dirty, narrow alleys.

withdrawn from the misery of meeting them in conflict; but shortly afterwards he was arrested, and sent a prisoner to Ponza, where for one whole year he was shut up in a town. He knew not how he had given offence to the government. His name was Pomerini Santomaso I much preferred our terrace low down upon From Ponza he was despatched to Capri, and the shore. Formerly the island-metropolis was there kept at large. I pitied him all the more also built upon the beach on the only little harfor being in so gorgeous a prison. What an bour which the place possesses. But the peraggravation of captivity to see his home dailypetual inroads of the Turks obliged the inhabefore him! Naples-so far, yet so distinct-se-bitants to retreat upwards to the ridge or spine parated from him by worse barriers than miles of fathomless waters, yet so clear in all its details, that perhaps his keen eye could discern the street in which his father dwelt; the ranges of white balcony, in one of which perhaps his mother might come to lean, and gaze across the Bay to that golden clasp at its outlet, the island of her son's exile! No wonder the captive man preferred to sit on the southern side, where only the wide sea-line spread, cheating his confined spirit with a glimpse of infinity. Perhaps he sent his thoughts madly over those seas to the great wild deserts of Sahara far beyond, and longed rather to run freely on its savage sands, than to live a prisoner in the torpid loveliness of Capri.

He was a gentlemanly youth to behold, cleanly, well-shaven, and well-mannered. The judge-a Corsican by birth, and not very tame of blood--had probably some sympathy with his hard case; he consorted openly with him, playing draughts with him in a certain wretched little café, or smoking amicably bad tobacco in the open air.

Every evening we used thus to find them, if Sig. Bourgeois, the judge, were not officially employed; and they greeted us with all the Italian courtesy as we passed through the old arch of the city gate, on our way to visit three ladies of our own country. These ladies had repaired to Capri on the strength of its fine air and cheap living. But they had a preference for English fare, and butcher meat;" and I have already told you how the market prospered. Moreover, to enjoy the scenery of this rugged rock, you must have tireless limbs as well as sound lungs; and one of the sisters was asthmatic, the other rheumatic, besides having greatly impaired eyesight.

Amiable, lively, and hospitable, they were ill fitted for the indolent solitude which Tiberius so much loved; and the experiment, so far as their happiness was concerned, was a failure. They had gone to a house previously engaged for them by a gentleman well known in Campania as "the King of Capri"- a whimsical invalid, who having found the place agree with his own peculiar constitution, recommended it for the most opposite complaints. He did not find the island lonely, for he possessed vineyards and land, and took all the minute interest of an hereditary proprietor in his acquisitions and his

crops.

He had chosen for his friends a house looking, not towards Naples the distinct, but Sicly the invisible. Moreover, it had small,

of rock which commands both seas, and which, when girded with ramparts and towers, proved nearly impregnable. The English and French found this in the days of Nelson, when they struggled together to possess the golden seal of the Neapolitan Bay.

But elderly maiden ladies can hardly be sen sible of these advantages; and the fortified little city was full, alas! of evil smells, bad drains, and loud quarrelling voices, from which you could not escape. I think the extreme beauty of many of the young viragos rather aggravated the annoyance; you were provoked doubly, by the charm and by its incessantly breaking before your eyes.

At length there came something to interest our countrywomen, just as they were fairly tired of Capri and its stony magnificence. One evening as they sat at work on their terrace (which commanded a fine prospect of gray roofs and red chimney-pots), they saw a fire suddenly bursting forth in a house not far off.

Now, generally speaking, in Italy we are not much afraid of fire. The thickness of the house walls, the massive stone staircases, the solid stone floors, the paucity of furniture, and largeness of the rooms; these causes combine to diminish in great measure the perils of a conflagration.

The same accident which burned to the ground Raggett's Hotel in London, only burned a set of bed-curtains and a chair in Florence. And I have more than once seen the beginning of a conflagration which in England would have spread from house to house, and from street to street, in Italy got under in an hour, leaving one scorched room as proof of its prowess.

Were it otherwise, human life would be in continual danger, for no people are more habitually careless of fire than are the Italians. They burn it on low hearths, unprotected by fender, or guard, or bar; they carry it about in earthen baskets, spilling many a red-hot cinder on their path: they stoop over it with flowing petticoats, as it smoulders in the open brazier; nay, the women keep it under their clothes as they sit, often rising up forgetfully, and upsetting the hot ashes on the floor.

Imagine the consequence in houses where wood is the predominating material !

There must have been something unusual in this Capri fire, for very soon the building was in flames: the wind blew in the direction of the English ladies' house, and their alarm was not unreasonable. They sent for the judge, Sig. Bourgeois; he was absent on business at the

other end of the island-nay, I believe he had gone over to Sorrento.

The women were shrieking on the "Maronna," as the Capriote dialect hath it: the men stood paralyzed, gazing at the torrents of flame which every moment burst out in stronger gushes. The hot breath of the devouring element came nearer and nearer to the English ladies, till they felt it on their cheeks.

The young exiled officer, Pomerini Santomaso, saw the accident. He called rapidly on his fellow-exiles. With all the sudden energy of a strong man roused, he directed how they were to act. Without hesitation, seventeen of these rushed into the flames. A woman and a child were shut up in a room so surrounded by smoke and fire that escape seemed impossible; but the exiles succeeded in rescuing them, and finally put out the fire by pulling down the whole of the woodwork, and thus depriving the flames of further fuel. If we consider the site' of this conflagration, on the top of a strong ridge, on an island that has only one well within reach (for the others are either low down on the beach, or far away at Ana-capri the inaccessible), we shall better appreciate the heroism of the banished men. There was no appliance as in cities, no fire-engines, nor even fire-buckets ranged in comely rows at the town portal, as I saw at Nuremberg: the only water to be had came from a little distance, and was carried in little heavy earthen jars.

It would have tasked too much all their energies, had not a little rain fallen towards the close of their labours, which prevented the wind from carrying the flames any further; as it was, the house, a large one, of many stories, as is common abroad, was utterly destroyed. When it was all over, and the English ladies felt safe, great was their gratitude. But one of them, whom I shall call Miss Letitia, was of that order of minds who cannot expend feeling in mere words. She was longing to act, and in her own generous heart imputed to others the same vivid emotions as she felt.

"If the king," cried she, “knew the gallant conduct of these poor men, whom he has torn from family and home, surely he would see that they are good subjects, he would grant them grace.' Aye, but who was to inform him? Officials of a despotic government are more used to informing against individuals than in favour of them. The Bourbon has many spies to tell him of his children's errors, none to bring to light their virtues. The restoration of one disgraced is not an every-day event in Campania.

These poor men, too poor to bribe, too insignificant to threaten, might have done a thousand such heroic deeds ere their jailors cared to make it known. But there was a brave-hearted woman there, with more moral courage under her cap-ribbons than exists under all the shakos and helmets of the Neapolitan army.

Rather than let such spirits pine away their lives here, I will write myself," quoth she; and

write she did.

She sent for all the names of those personally engaged at the fire; fourteen were all that she could procure. She enclosed the piece of paper containing these names, exactly as they put them into her supplica, or petition; and the whole was duly forwarded to his majesty. I can fancy Miss Letitia's anxiety when the bark pushed fairly off.

Ten days elapsed, and then came a boat full of gens d'armes, with an order to the judge of the island, that those fourteen were free. The one who had supplied the names to Miss Letitia, a fine young Calabrian, came to thank her; they were called over, he said, in rotation, to hear the good news from the judge, exactly as the names were written in Miss Letitia's list.

The judge, however, would not believe that the "Signora Inglise had anything to do with it.

Miss Letitia and her sister, with happy hearts, went down to the beach to see the embarkation of the liberated ones. O, how I would have liked to have seen the sight! but long ere that I had left the island in ill health.

The young men crowded round their benevo'lent friend, and kissed her hands repeatedly; in the warmth of their gratitude they did the same to her sister, who, if less energetic, was to the full as sympathizing. There was a woman among them, happier even than the respited prisoners. She was the mother of one; she had fallen sick, probably from long anxiety and hope deferred, and had been permitted to come over to Capri to sec him. Now she was returning with him to freedom, at least to that diluted freedom which despots bestow upon their subjects. Another of the exiles was the nephew of the famous singer, Lablache, the son of his sister.

But in the middle of this joy were some sad faces-the other three, whose names had been omitted from the pardon. Seventeen had distinguished themselves at the fire, but only fourteen had been mentioned in the list. They re

minded Miss Letitia of this.

"You furnished me with only fourteen names," she replied; "but I am willing to try once more to melt the royal heart."

And this noble woman, who never wearied in well doing, prepared herself for what is always an obnoxious task, the repetition of a request. On the beach there, in presence of all the exiles, she had the three omitted names scribbled on a dity slip of paper, the best produce of a Capriote escritoire. Then in a joyous little party, the fourteen set sail for Naples, their hearts bounding in them that they were free.

And do you really think they were, my dear readers? Alas! they had found favour in the eyes of the King, but they were still in the clutches of his vile harriers.

They landed at Naples, not to reach home and embrace rejoicing relatives--oh, no; simply to go to prison!

You see the Bourbon definition of liberty! It was a great favour to allow them to exchange the large prison of Capri, vaulted by the sky,

11th.- 2 blue on 1, 10 brown, 2 blue, 4 work. 4 brown, 2 blue on 1, x 6 times.

12th.- 2 blue on 1, 8 brown, 1 blue, 1 brown, 1 blue, 7 brown (of which the two first come over the 2 blue of last round), 2 blue on 1, X 6 times.

13th.- 2 blue on 1, 8 brown, 3 blue, 1 brown, 1 blue, 7 brown, 2 blue on 1, X 6 times. 14th.- 2 blue on 1, 10 brown, 2 blue, 10 brown, 2 blue on 1, x 6 times.

15th. 2 blue on 1, 9 brown, 1 blue, 4 brown, 1 blue, 9 brown, 2 blue on 1, x 6 times.

16th.- 2 blue on 1, 9 brown, 3 blue, 2 brown, 3 blue, 9 brown, 2 blue on 1, x 6 times.

17th.- 2 blue on 1, 11 brown, 2 blue, 2 brown, 2 blue, 11 brown, 2 blue on 1, x 6 times.

18th.- 2 blue on 1, 14 brown, 2 blue, 14 brown, 2 blue on 1, x 6 times.

19th.- 2 blue on 1, 13 brown, 3 blue, 2 brown, 3 blue, 13 brown, 2 blue on 1, x 6 times.

20th.- 2 blue on 1, 15 brown, 1 blue, 4 brown, 1 blue, 15 brown, 2 blue on 1, x 6 times.

21st. 2 blue on 1, 38 brown, 2 blue on 1, × 6 times.