CHAPTER XIV
A MORNING IN THE COLOSSEUM
Edith was sitting at the hotel window with her note-book open before her. "Professor Gates tells us so much," she said, "that it is all mixed up in my mind.
"But it is my dearest wish to get it straightened out," she added quickly, as she saw the troubled look on her mother's face. "What is your dearest wish?" she asked Rafael, who was reading a letter from his mother.
"I have none," he answered, "since the Signora has been so good as to bring me to this wonderful city."
"Oh, Rafael!" Edith said merrily, "you must have found an Italian blarney stone somewhere." Then she went on more seriously, "Every one always has a dearest wish. As fast as one is fulfilled, another takes its place."
He smiled. "Very well, since it must be so, I have a dearest wish," he said, "and it is to serve the king."
Edith looked at him with laughing eyes. "That is a very fine wish," she said; "but I think mine is more likely to be granted first, because Professor Gates is to take us to the Colosseum this very morning, and I shall ask him every question about this history that I can think of."
Several days had passed since their excursion to the Appian Way, but the children had found every one full to overflowing. The mornings had been spent in the art galleries and churches, and the afternoons in driving through the Campagna or the beautiful grounds of the Villa Borghese.
One whole day had been devoted to visiting St. Peter's Cathedral, which is the largest church in the whole world, and to seeing the treasures of the Vatican,—the home of the Pope.