142 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPOET. 



fortune of having brought up in such snug quarters, 

 and agreed that we Avere all right now. If the Seraph 

 could not receive us himself, he would be sure to know 

 some family of the place which would, on his recom- 

 mendation, receive us. But after some few minutes 

 we began to think our messenger was a long time 

 away, and I determined to have a peep at what was 

 going on. I entered the garden, and saw at once that 

 the work was in no prosperous condition the letter 

 was not even yet read. The worthy merchant had 

 evidently been disturbed in the prosecution of culinary 

 duties, for a vessel of water was before him, and a 

 lettuce in his hand. He had taken a good look at 



K , who was not quite unabashed at this cold 



reception, and was now minutely inspecting the letter 

 before opening it. Like most moneyed men, he was 

 very silent and very deliberate. At last he got the 

 length of opening the letter, and slowly read it through. 

 This being achieved, it did not seem to occur to him 

 that it was necessary to say anything to us. The 

 scene was such a one as might take place at the recep- 

 tion of some poor relative by a rich London merchant. 



" Signore Seraph," said K , " our friend John 



gave us this letter to you, because he thought you 

 might like to be of some service to us during our 

 short visit." 



" What can I do for you 1 " 



" You can tell us of some house where we can put 

 up for the night." 



