"I like that way of doing things," declared Jo. "One doesn't have to break one's neck in order to get back in time and there is a sort of excitement in the uncertainty of what you are going to get and the kind of place you will strike."
For two days they wandered about Verona, looking at the old painted houses, the palaces, the churches, and then the expectant hearts of at least three of the girls beat high as they neared Venice.
"I see a red sail," cried Mary Lee, looking from the car window.
"And there is a yellow one," announced Jean. "Oh, look, there are lots and lots of boats and more colored sails."
"Are we going in a gondola first thing?" asked Jack. "If the streets are all water we shall have to, shan't we?"
"Yes," her mother told her. "The gondolas are the cabs of Venice and will take us anywhere we want to go."
"I'm just crivering," said Jean as they stepped aboard the black craft which Mrs. Corner had selected.
"Sit down with your crivers," directed Nan. "Isn't it too delicious for anything? I foresee where all my spending money goes; hiring gondolas and just drifting up and down between these old palaces."
"But you must buy beads. You promised half a dozen girls to bring them some," Mary Lee reminded her.
"Don't talk to me of beads yet. Look at that red cloth hanging out from that balcony, Jo. Now I know we are in Venice. It looks exactly like the pictures. I am sure that church we are coming to is the Santa Maria della Salute."