“Are you not in good spirits?”
“Ah, one wants so many things to put one in good spirits!”
Mena did not answer, and after a little Cousin Alfio added:
“To-morrow I’m going to town for a load of salt.”
“Are you going for All Souls?” asked Mena.
“Heaven knows! this year my poor little nuts are all bad.”
“Cousin Alfio goes to the city to look for a wife,” said Nunziata, from the door opposite.
“Is that true?” asked Mena.
“Eh, Cousin Mena, if I had to look for one I could find girls to my mind without leaving home.”
“Look at those stars,” said Mena, after a silence. “They say they are the souls loosed from Purgatory going into Paradise.”