Little Tony of Italy Part 4

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE MARIONETTE THEATRE]

After the show, as Tony was putting away the marionettes, a gentleman and a little girl came to the back of the stage. They approached Guido.

Tony heard angry talk between the two men. However, it did not interest him until he heard the girl say, "I know it is my dog! I want my dog."

Tony listened now. He heard Guido laugh nervously.

"That is absurd," said Guido. "The little lady is mistaken. Tina is my dog. She belongs to my show."

The gentleman raised his voice. "My daughter is not mistaken," he said.

"That is her dog!"

"It was stolen from us," added the little girl.

"We searched for it all over Naples but could not find it," continued her father.

"I want Niki!" pleaded the child.

"You have stolen my daughter's pet," said the gentleman. "I demand it back!"

Now Tony entered the scene. He held Tina close. The little girl put out her arms and cried, "Niki! Niki! I want my Niki!"

"Her name is Tina," said Tony. "She belongs to Guido--and me."

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BAY OF NAPLES AND VESUVIUS]

"That is not true," said the gentleman. "This Guido, your father, has stolen our dog. If he does not give it back at once, I shall call the police!"

Guido looked afraid and Tony noticed it. He must think of a way to save Tina! With a broad grin the young beggar stepped up to the little girl.

"It is true that Guido stole your dog, Niki," he said. "But this is not Niki. You see, that was a long time ago and Niki died. Ah, poor thing!"

He wiped away a false tear and stroked Tina's head fondly.

"This is our own Tina," he added.

"Oh, Papa!" wailed the poor little girl. "Niki is dead!"

But the father was not so easily deceived. "Give me the dog," he said.

"I wish to see it more closely."

Tony started to draw back with Tina, but the man s.n.a.t.c.hed her out of his arms.

"What you have told me is a lie," he declared. "This is indeed my daughter's dog. I recognize her by the peculiar marking under her chin."

He glared angrily at Tony.

"You are a lying little scamp as your father is a thief!" he said.

Then, he took his daughter's hand and the two, with Tina, departed.

Tony stood like a figure of wax. He hardly heard Guido raging beside him.

"Now what shall I do?" stormed the Marionette Man. "I must have another dog. You shall steal one for me, Tony."

As he said this, he turned to face Tony, but the boy had vanished.

Tony had run out of the theatre after Tina and her owners. Now he stood on the street, watching them as they stepped into an automobile.

As the car started, Tony sprang onto the back of it. He held fast.

This was his first automobile ride! It was not a pleasant one. It seemed to him, holding on with all his might, that it would never end. On, on, they sped. Where to, he wondered?

Tony had never been outside of Naples. But often he had read or listened to tales of other parts of his country. He knew that Italy was a fine land.

The school textbooks told him that "Italy is blessed by G.o.d. It is strong, powerful, and feared."

He loved to learn all he could about it. He was proud of being an Italian.

Now the automobile had come upon the open road. Tony could see the Bay. He could also see the great volcano, Vesuvius, which towers over Naples.

It is a fire-mountain and smoke is always coming out of its top.

In olden days people believed that a lame blacksmith lived under the ground. He kept a furnace burning to heat his irons. His name was Vulcan and from it comes the word, "volcano."

Tony had heard that this volcano, or fire-mountain, had often caused much damage. Villages had been destroyed when the giant spat fire and ashes to earth. Houses rocked and fell. Towns were buried.

But Tony was not thinking of this now. He was wishing with all his heart that the car would stop. Until it did, however, he must remain at his post. Tina was in that car! And where Tina went there went Tony!

The thoughts went racing through his head as the car raced on. The father of that little girl had called Guido a thief! Tony shuddered. He remembered the time when the old woman had called him a thief. How terrible it had made him feel!

[Ill.u.s.tration: ANNA'S HOUSE]

Thieves were bad men. Guido was a bad man. And they thought he was Tony's father! What an insult!

The car was slowing up. It stopped before a white house with trees and a garden surrounding it. The gentleman and his daughter, with Tina in her arms, got out.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CAPRI]

They went inside the house. Tony saw the front door close behind them.

He slid down from the back of the automobile. He ran to the house and crouched under a window. He could look right into a room.

He saw a sweet-faced woman greet the little girl and her father. She kissed them both. Then she noticed Tina in the child's arms.

"Why, Anna!" she exclaimed. "It is your little dog that was lost!"

The girl named Anna laughed happily. She showed pearly teeth. Her whole face lit up with joy.