"Of course they were," answered May.
"Well," said her mother, "they brought us strawberry sandwiches, anyway, and no one but fairies could have known how much we wanted them."
"That is so," said Molly. "Let's call it our Fairy Tea Party. I never, never tasted such sweet strawberries!"
The drive back to the Flower City was a quiet one. Molly and May had so much to think about. But when the next morning came they were eager for the new day's experience.
"What shall we do to-day, father?" asked Molly at the breakfast table.
"Well, how would you like to go shopping on an old, old bridge which crosses the river Arno?" asked her father.
The Ponte Vecchio, where the Sunbonnet Babies went shopping
"Shopping on a bridge!" exclaimed both little girls. "What can we buy on a bridge?"
"Oh, all the pretty jewelry you want," answered their father. "It is a two-story bridge. It is called Ponte Vecchio. On each side of the lower story is a row of small shops, most of which sell jewelry—pretty neck chains and pins and rings. The second story is part of a long, covered passage connecting two famous old palaces. The passage is more than a third of a mile long. It was built for the wedding of a prince in one of the families. The palaces are now filled with beautiful paintings and sculpture. We must go to see them soon."