"Why don't they have streets in Venice?"
"Mother, don't you remember, the city is built on sand banks, and the sea flows between? The only streets possible are like this. Could anything be better? This motion will not fatigue you; and are not your cushions comfortable?"
"The sea, Dolly?" cried Mrs. Copley, catching the word. "You never told me that. If the sea comes in, it must be rough sometimes."
"No, mother; it is a shallow level for miles and miles, covered at high tide by a few feet of water, and at low tide bare. Venice is built on the sand banks of islands which rise above this level."
"What ever made people choose such a ridiculous place to build a city, when there was good ground enough?"
"The good ground was not safe from enemies, mother, dear. The people fled to these sand islands for safety."
"Enemies! What enemies?"
So the history had to be further gone into; in the midst of which Mrs. Copley burst out again.
"I'm so tired of this canal!—just mud banks and nothing else. How much longer is it to last?"
"We shall come to something else by and by. Have patience," said Lawrence.