‘When Tony is engaged as a guide do you always go with him?’
‘Not always, signorina, but Carlo has wished me to go to-day to look after the donkeys.’
‘And who is Carlo?’
‘He is the guide who owns them.’
Beppo looked momentarily guilty; the answer had slipped out before he thought.
‘Oh, indeed! But if Tony is a guide why doesn’t he have donkeys of his own?’
‘He used to, but one unfortunately fell into the lake and got drowned, and the other died of a sickness.’
He put forth this preposterous statement with a glance as grave and innocent as that of a little cherub.
‘Is Tony a good guide?’
‘But yes, of the best!’