"Oh, more than that," cried Ellen.
"No, my dear, that is enough for a general impression, which is all you would retain if you were to spend an hour here."
The five minutes, however, lengthened into ten before Ellen and Irma were ready to leave the fascinating folios in their leather bindings. They were all books of devotion, some of them music books, with the chants of the church, and all of them illustrated with tiny paintings rich in color.
"It is all very well to hurry us," said Ellen, as they walked toward the door of the Duomo, "but you spent a whole morning here, and this is my first visit, as well as Miss Derrington's."
"You have a good enough general impression," replied Richard, with a laugh; "and what more can any one expect, on a first visit?"
"Evidently," thought Irma, "Richard Sanford looks on sightseeing much as Uncle Jim does."
A little later, at the great door, Irma and her friends almost ran into Uncle Jim, behind whom walked Katie Grimston and Marion.
"Well, you must have taken the longest way round; where in the world have you been, Katie?" asked Ellen.
"Oh, we came through the town, and there were so many nice little shops there that I had to stop, as I always do," replied Katie, whose hands were full of little bundles. "Besides, none of us were in a great hurry for the cathedral. You know I have been all through it," and she glanced coquettishly at Richard. "If you wish us to go on with you now, we can as well as not," she added.