THE MAN WHO KEPT HIS MONEY IN A BOX


By Anthony Trollope


I first saw the man who kept his money in a box in the midst of the ravine 
of the Via Mala. I interchanged a few words with him or with his wife at 
the hospice at the top of the Splugen; and I became acquainted with him in 
the courtyard of Conradi's hotel at Chiavenna. It was, however, afterwards 
at Bellaggio, on the lake of Como, that that acquaintance ripened into 
intimacy. A good many years have rolled by since then, and I believe this 
little episode in his life may be told without pain to the feelings of 
anyone.
His name was - let us for the present say that his name was Greene. How he 
learned that my name was Robinson I do not know, but I remember well that 
he addressed me by my name at Chiavenna. To go back, however, for a moment 
to the Via Mala - I had been staying for a few days at the Golden Eagle at 
Tusis - which, by-the-bye, I hold to be the best small inn in all 
Switzerland, and its hostess to be, or to have been, certainly the 
prettiest landlady - and on the day of my departure southwards I had walked 
on, into the Via Mala, so that the diligence might pick me up in the gorge. 
This pass I regard as one of the grandest spots to which my wandering steps 
have ever carried me, and though I had already lingered about it for many 
hours, I now walked thither again to take my last farewell of its dark, 
towering rocks, its narrow causeway and roaring river, trusting to my 
friend the landlady to see that my luggage was duly packed upon the 
diligence. I need hardly say that my friend did not betray her trust.
As one goes out from Switzerland towards Italy, the road through the Via 
Mala ascends somewhat steeply, and passengers by the diligence may walk 
from the inn at Tusis into the gorge, and make their way through the 
greater part of the ravine before the vehicle will overtake them. This, 
however, Mr Greene with his wife and daughter had omitted to do. When the 
diligence passed me in the defile, the horses trotting for a few yards over 
some level portion of the road, I saw a man's nose pressed close against 
the glass of the coupe window. I saw more of his nose than of any other 
part of his face, but yet I could perceive that his neck was twisted and 
his eye upturned, and that he was making a painful effort to look upwards 
to the summit of the rocks from his position inside the carriage.
There was such a roar of wind and waters at the spot that it was not 
practicable to speak to him, but I beckoned with my finger and then pointed 
to the road, indicating that he should have walked. He understood me, 
though I did not at the moment understand his answering gesture. It was 
subsequently, when I knew somewhat of his habits, that he explained to me 
that on pointing to his open mouth, he had intended to signify that he 
would be afraid of sore throat in exposing himself to the air of that damp 
and narrow passage.
I got up into the conductor's covered seat at the back of the diligence, 
and in this position encountered the drifting snow of the Splugen. I think 
it is coldest of all the passes. Near the top of the pass the diligence 
stops for a while, and it is here, if I remember, that the Austrian 
officials demand the travellers' passports. At least in those days they did 
so. These officials have now retreated behind the Quadrilatere, - soon, as 
we hope, to make a further retreat, - and the district belongs to the 
kingdom of United Italy. There is a place of refreshment or hospice here, 
into which we all went for a few moments, and I then saw that my friend 
with the weak throat was accompanied by two ladies.
'You should not have missed the Via Mala,' I said to him, as he stood 
warming his toes at the huge covered stove.
'We miss everything,' said the elder of the two ladies, who, however, was 
very much younger than the gentleman, and not very much older than her 
companion.
'I saw it beautifully, mamma,' said the younger one; whereupon mamma gave 
her head a toss, and made up her mind, as I thought, to take some little 
vengeance before long upon her step-daughter. I observed that Miss Greene 
always called her step-mother mamma on the first approach of any stranger, 
so that the nature of the connection between them might be understood. And 
I observed also that the elder lady always gave her head a toss when she 
was so addressed.
'We don't mean to enjoy ourselves till we get down to the lake of Como,' 
said Mr Greene. As I looked at him cowering over the stove, and saw how 
oppressed he was with greatcoats and warm wrappings for his throat, I quite 
agreed with him that he had not begun to enjoy himself as yet. Then we all 
got into our places again, and I saw no more of the Greenes till we were 
standing huddled together in the large courtyard of Conradi's hotel at 
Chiavenna.
Chiavenna is the first Italian town which the tourist reaches by this 
route, and I know no town in the north of Italy which is so closely 
surrounded by beautiful scenery. The traveller as he falls down to it from 
the Splugen road is bewildered by the loveliness of the valleys - that is 
to say, if he so arranges that he can see them without pressing his nose 
against the glass of a coach window. And then from the town itself there 
are walks of two, three, and four hours, which I think are unsurpassed for 
wild and sometimes startling beauties. One gets into little valleys, green 
as emeralds, and surrounded on all sides by grey broken rocks, in which 
Italian Rasselases might have lived in perfect bliss; and then again one 
comes upon distant views up the river courses, bounded far away by the 
spurs of the Alps, which are perfect - to which the fancy can add no 
additional charm. Conradi's hotel also is by no means bad; or was not in 
those days. For my part I am inclined to think that Italian hotels have 
received a worse name than they deserve; and I must profess that, looking 
merely to creature comforts, I would much sooner stay a week at the Golden 
Key at Chiavenna, than with mine host of the King's Head in the thriving 
commercial town of Muddleboro, on the borders of Yorkshire and Lancashire.
I am always rather keen about my room in travelling, and having secured a 
chamber looking out upon the mountains, had returned to the courtyard to 
collect my baggage before Mr Greene had succeeded in realising his 
position, or understanding that he had to take upon himself the duties of 
settling his family for the night in the hotel by which he was surrounded. 
When I descended he was stripping off the outermost of three great coats, 
and four waiters around him were beseeching him to tell them what 
accommodation he would require. Mr Greene was giving sundry very urgent 
instructions to the conductor respecting his boxes; but as these were given 
in English I was not surprised to find that they were not accurately 
followed. The man, however, was much too courteous to say in any language 
that he did not understand every word that was said to him. Miss Greene was 
standing apart, doing nothing. As she was only eighteen years of age, it 
was, of course, her business to do nothing; and a very pretty little girl 
she was, by no means ignorant of her own beauty, and possessed of quite 
sufficient wit to enable her to make the most of it.
Mr Greene was very leisurely in his proceedings, and the four waiters were 
almost reduced to despair.
'I want two bedrooms, a dressing-room, and some dinner,' he said at last, 
speaking very slowly and in his own vernacular. I could not in the least 
assist him by translating it into Italian, for I did not speak a word of 
the language myself, but I suggested that the man would understand French. 
The waiter, however, had understood English. Waiters do understand all 
languages with a facility that is marvellous; and this one now suggested 
that Mrs Greene should follow him upstairs. Mrs Greene, however, would not 
move till she had seen that her boxes were all right; and as Mrs Greene was 
also a pretty woman, I found myself bound to apply myself to her 
assistance.
'Oh, thank you,' said she. 'The people are so stupid that one can really do 
nothing with them. And as for Mr Greene, he is of no use at all. You see 
that box, the smaller one. I have four hundred pounds' worth of jewellery 
in that, and therefore I am obliged to look after it.'
'Indeed,' said I, rather startled at this amount of confidence on rather a 
short acquaintance. 'In that case I do not wonder at your being careful. 
But is it not rather rash, perhaps -'
'I know what you are going to say. Well, perhaps it is rash. But when you 
are going to foreign parts, what are you to do? If you have got those sort 
of things you must wear them.'
As I was not myself possessed of anything of that sort, and had no 
intention of going to any foreign court, I could not argue the matter with 
her. But I assisted her in getting together an enormous pile of luggage, 
among which there were seven large boxes covered with canvas, such as 
ladies not uncommonly carry with them when travelling. That one which she 
represented as being smaller than the others, and as holding jewellery, 
might be about a yard long by a foot and a half deep. Being ignorant in 
those matters, I should have thought it sufficient to carry all a lady's 
wardrobe for twelve months. When the boxes were collected together, she sat 
down upon the jewel-case and looked up into my face. She was a pretty 
woman, perhaps thirty years of age, with long light yellow hair, which she 
allowed to escape from her bonnet, knowing, perhaps, that it was not 
unbecoming to her when thus dishevelled. Her skin was very delicate, and 
her complexion good. Indeed, her face would have been altogether 
prepossessing had there not been a want of gentleness in her eyes. Her 
hands, too, were soft and small, and, on the whole, she may be said to have 
been possessed of a strong battery of feminine attractions. She also well 
knew how to use them.
'Whisper,' she said to me, with a peculiar but very proper aspiration on 
the h - 'Whisper,' and both by the aspiration and the use of the word I 
knew at once from what island she had come. 'Mr Greene keeps all his money 
in this box also; so I never let it go out of my sight for a moment. But 
whatever you do, don't tell him that I told you so.'
I laid my hand on my heart, and made a solemn asseveration that I would not 
divulge her secret. I need not, however, have troubled myself much on that 
head, for, as I walked upstairs, keeping my eye upon the precious trunk, Mr 
Greene addressed me.
'You are an Englishman, Mr Robinson,' said he. I acknowledged that I was.
'I am another. My wife, however, is Irish. My daughter - by a former 
marriage - is English also. You see that box there.'
'Oh, yes,' said I, 'I see it.' I began to be so fascinated by the box that 
I could not keep my eyes off it.
'I don't know whether or no it is prudent, but I keep all my money there; 
my money for travelling, I mean.'
'If I were you, then,' I answered, 'I would not say anything about it to 
anyone.'
'Oh, no, of course not,' said he; 'I should not think of mentioning it. But 
those brigands in Italy always take away what you have about your person, 
but they don't meddle with the heavy luggage.'
'Bills of exchange, or circular notes,' I suggested.
'Ah, yes; and if you can't identify yourself, or happen to have a headache, 
you can't get them changed. I asked an old friend of mine, who has been 
connected with the Bank of England for the last fifty years, and he assured 
me that there was nothing like sovereigns.'
'But you never get the value for them.'
'Well, not quite. One loses a franc, or a franc and a half. But still, 
there's the certainty, and that's the great matter. An English sovereign 
will go anywhere,' and he spoke these words with considerable triumph.
'Undoubtedly, if you consent to lose a shilling on each sovereign.'
'At any rate, I have got three hundred and fifty in that box,' he said. 'I 
have them done up in rolls of twenty-five pounds each.'
I again recommended him to keep this arrangement of his as private as 
possible - a piece of counsel which I confess seemed to me to be much 
needed - and then I went away to my own room, having first accepted an 
invitation from Mrs Greene to join their party at dinner. 'Do,' said she, 
'we have been so dull, and it will be so pleasant.'
I did not require to be much pressed to join myself to a party in which 
there was so pretty a girl as Miss Greene, and so attractive a woman as Mrs 
Greene. I therefore accepted the invitation readily, and went away to make 
my toilet. As I did so I passed the door of Mr Greene's room, and saw the 
long file of boxes being borne into the centre of it.
I spent a pleasant evening, with, however, one or two slight drawbacks. As 
to old Greene himself, he was all that was amiable; but then he was 
nervous, full of cares, and somewhat apt to be a bore. He wanted 
information on a thousand points, and did not seem to understand that a 
young man might prefer the conversation of his daughter to his own. Not 
that he showed any solicitude to prevent conversation on the part of his 
daughter. I should have been perfectly at liberty to talk to either of the 
ladies had he not wished to engross all my attention to himself. He also 
had found it dull to be alone with his wife and daughter for the last six 
weeks.
He was a small spare man, probably over fifty years of age, who gave me to 
understand that he had lived in London all his life, and had made his own 
fortune in the city. What he had done in the city to make his fortune he 
did not say. Had I come across him there I should no doubt have found him 
to be a sharp man of business, quite competent to teach me many a useful 
lesson of which I was as ignorant as an infant. Had he caught me on the 
Exchange, or at Lloyd's, or in the big room of the Bank of England, I 
should have been compelled to ask him everything. Now, in this little town 
under the Alps, he was as much lost as I should have been in Lombard 
Street, and was ready enough to look to me for information. I was by no 
means chary in giving him my counsel, and imparting to him my ideas on 
things in general in that part of the world only I should have preferred to 
be allowed to make myself civil to his daughter.
In the course of conversation it was mentioned by him that they intended to 
stay a few days at Bellaggio, which, as all the world knows, is a central 
spot on the lake of Como, and a favourite resting-place for travellers. 
There are three lakes, which all meet here, and to all of which we give the 
name of Como. They are properly called the lakes of Como, Colico and Lecco; 
and Bellaggio is the spot at which their waters join each other. I had half 
made up my mind to sleep there one night on my road into Italy, and now, on 
hearing their purpose, I declared that such was my intention.
'How very pleasant,' said Mrs Greene. 'It will be quite delightful to have 
some one to show us how to settle ourselves, for really -'
'My dear, I'm sure you can't say that you ever have much trouble.'
'And who does then, Mr Greene? I am sure Sophonisba does not do much to 
help me.'
'You won't let me,' said Sophonisba, whose name I had not before heard. Her 
papa had called her Sophy in the yard of the inn. Sophonisba Greene! 
Sophonisba Robinson did not sound so badly in my ears, and I confess that I 
had tried the names together. Her papa had mentioned to me that he had no 
other child, and had mentioned also that he had made his fortune.
And then there was a little family contest as to the amount of travelling 
labour which fell to the lot of each of the party, during which I retired 
to one of the windows of the big front room in which we were sitting. And 
how much of this labour there is incidental to a tourist's pursuits! And 
how often these little contests do arise upon a journey! Who has ever 
travelled and not known them? I had taken up such a position at the window 
as might, I thought, have removed me out of hearing; but, nevertheless, 
from time to time a word would catch my ear about that precious box. 'I 
have never taken my eyes off it since I left England,' said Mrs Greene, 
speaking quick, and with a considerable brogue superinduced by her energy. 
'Where would it have been at Basle if I had not been looking after it?' 
'Quite safe,' said Sophonisba; 'those large things always are safe.' 'Are 
they, miss? That's all you know about it. I suppose your bonnet-box was 
quite safe when I found it on the platform at - at - I forget the name of 
the place?'
'Freidrichshafen,' said Sophonisba, with almost an unnecessary amount of 
Teutonic skill in her pronunciation. 'Well, mamma, you have told me of that 
at least twenty times.' Soon after that, the ladies took them to their own 
rooms, weary with the travelling of two days and a night, and Mr Greene 
went fast asleep in the very comfortless chair in which he was seated. At 
four o'clock on the next morning we started on our journey.

Early to bed, and early to rise,
Is the way to be healthy, and wealthy, and wise.

We all know that lesson, and many of us believe in it; but if the lesson be 
true, the Italians ought to be the healthiest and wealthiest and wisest of 
all men and women. Three or four o'clock seems to them quite a natural hour 
for commencing the day's work. Why we should have started from Chiavenna at 
four o'clock in order that we might be kept waiting for the boat an hour 
and a half on the little quay at Colico, I don't know; but such was our 
destiny. There we remained an hour and a half, Mrs Greene sitting 
pertinaciously on the one important box. She had designated it as being 
smaller than the others, and, as all the seven were now ranged in a row, I 
had an opportunity of comparing them. It was something smaller - perhaps an 
inch less high, and an inch and a half shorter. She was a sharp woman, and 
observed my scrutiny. 'I always know it,' she said in a loud whisper, 'by 
this little hole in the canvas,' and she put her finger on a slight rent on 
one of the ends. 'As for Greene, if one of those Italian brigands were to 
walk off with it on his shoulders, before his eyes, he wouldn't be the 
wiser. How helpless you men are, Mr Robinson!'
'It is well for us that we have women to look after us.'
'But you have got no one to look after you; - or perhaps you have left her 
behind?'
'No, indeed. I'm all alone in the world as yet. But it's not my own fault. 
I have asked half a dozen.'
'Now, Mr Robinson!' And in this way the time passed on the quay at Colico, 
till the boat came and took us away. I should have preferred to pass my 
time in making myself agreeable to the younger lady; but the younger lady 
stood aloof, tuning up her nose, as I thought, at her mamma.
I will not attempt to describe the scenery about Colico. The little town 
itself is one of the vilest places under the sun, having no accommodation 
for travellers, and being excessively unhealthy; but there is very little 
either north or south of the Alps - and, perhaps, I may add, very little 
elsewhere - to beat the beauty of the mountains which cluster round the 
head of the lake. When we had sat upon those boxes that hour and a half we 
were taken on board the steamer, which had been lying off a little way from 
the shore, and then we commenced our journey. Of course, there was a good 
deal of exertion and care necessary in getting the packages off from the 
shore on to the boat, and I observed that anyone with half an eye in his 
head might have seen that the mental anxiety expended on that one box which 
was marked by the small hole in the canvas far exceeded that which was 
extended to all the other six boxes. 'They deserve that it should be 
stolen,' I said to myself, 'for being such fools.' And then we went down to 
breakfast in the cabin.
'I suppose it must be safe,' said Mrs Greene to me, ignoring the fact that 
the cabin waiter understood English, although she had just ordered some 
veal cutlets in that language.
'As safe as a church,' I replied, not wishing to give much apparent 
importance to the subject.
'They can't carry it off here,' said Mr Greene. But he was innocent of any 
attempt at a joke, and was looking at me with all his eyes.
'They might throw it overboard,' said Sophonisba. I at once made up my mind 
that she could not be a good-natured girl. The moment that breakfast was 
over, Mrs Greene returned again upstairs, and I found her seated on one of 
the benches near the funnel, from which she could keep her eyes fixed upon 
the box. 'When one is obliged to carry about one's jewels with one, one 
must be careful, Mr Robinson,' she said to me apologetically. But I was 
becoming tired of the box, and the funnel was hot and unpleasant, therefore 
I left her.
I had made up my mind that Sophonisba was ill-natured; but, nevertheless, 
she was pretty, and I now went through some little manoeuvres with the 
object of getting into conversation with her. This I soon did, and was 
surprised by her frankness. 'How tired you must be of mamma and her box,' 
she said to me. To this I made some answer, declaring that I was rather 
interested than otherwise in the safety of the precious trunk. 'It makes me 
sick,' said Sophonisba, 'to hear her go on in that way to a perfect 
stranger. I heard what she said about her jewellery.'
'It is natural she should be anxious,' I said, 'seeing that it contains so 
much that is valuable.'
'Why did she bring them?' said Sophonisba. 'She managed to live very well 
without jewels till papa married her, about a year since; and now she can't 
travel about for a month without lugging them with her everywhere. I should 
be so glad if some one would steal them.'
'But all Mr Greene's money is there also.'
'I don't want papa to be bothered, but I declare I wish the box might be 
lost for a day or so. She is such a fool; don't you think so, Mr Robinson?'
At this time it was just fourteen hours since I first had made their 
acquaintance in the yard of Conradi's hotel, and of those fourteen hours 
more than half had been passed in bed. I must confess that I looked upon 
Sophonisba as being almost more indiscreet than her mother-in-law. 
Nevertheless, she was not stupid, and I continued my conversation with her 
the greatest part of the way down the lake towards Bellaggio.
These steamers which run up and down the lake of Como and the Lago Maggiore 
put out their passengers at the towns on the banks of the water by means of 
small rowing-boats, and the persons who are about to disembark generally 
have their own articles ready to their hands when their turn comes for 
leaving the steamer. As we came near to Bellaggio, I looked up my own 
portmanteau, and, pointing to the beautiful wood-covered hill that stands 
at the fork of the waters, told my friend Greene that he was near his 
destination. 'I am very glad to hear it,' said he, complacently, but he did 
not at the moment busy himself about the boxes. Then the small boat ran up 
alongside the steamer, and the passengers for Como and Milan crowded up the 
side.
'We have to go in that boat,' I said to Greene.
'Nonsense!' he exclaimed.
'Oh, but we have.'
'What! put our boxes into that boat,' said Mrs Greene. 'Oh dear! Here, 
boatman! there are seven of these boxes, all in white like this,' and she 
pointed to the one that had the hole in the canvas. 'Make haste. And there 
are two bags, and my dressing case, and Mr Greene's portmanteau. Mr Greene, 
where is your portmanteau?'
The boatman whom she addressed no doubt did not understand a word of 
English, but nevertheless he knew what she meant, and, being well 
accustomed to the work, got all the luggage together in an incredibly small 
number of movements.
'If you will get down into the boat,' I said, 'I will see that the luggage 
follows you before I leave the deck.'
'I won't stir,' she said, 'till I see that box lifted down. Take care; 
you'll let it fall into the lake. I know you will.'
'I wish they would,' Sophonisba whispered into my ear.
Mr Greene said nothing, but I could see that his eyes were as anxiously 
fixed on what was going on as were those of his wife. At last, however, the 
three Greenes were in the boat, as also were all the packages. Then I 
followed them, my portmanteau having gone down before me, and we pushed off 
for Bellaggio. Up to this period most of the attendants around us had 
understood a word or two of English, but now it would be well if we could 
find some one to whose ears French would not be unfamiliar. As regarded Mr 
Greene and his wife, they, I found, must give up all conversation, as they 
knew nothing of any language but their own. Sophonisba could make herself 
understood in French, and was quite at home, as she assured me, in German. 
And then the boat was beached on the shore at Bellaggio, and we all had to 
go again to work with the object of getting ourselves lodged at the hotel 
which overlooks the water.
I had learned before that the Greenes were quite free from any trouble in 
this respect, for their rooms had been taken for them before they left 
England. Trusting to this, Mrs Greene gave herself no inconsiderable airs 
the moment her foot was on the shore, and ordered the people about as 
though she were the Lady Paramount of Bellaggio. Italians, however, are 
used to this from travellers of a certain description. They never resent 
such conduct, but simply put it down in the bill with the other articles. 
Mrs Greene's words on this occasion were innocent enough, seeing that they 
were English; but had I been that head waiter who came down to the beach 
with his nice black shiny hair, and his napkin under his arm, I should have 
thought her manner very insolent.
Indeed, as it was, I did think so, and was inclined to be angry with her. 
She was to remain for some time at Bellaggio, and therefore it behoved her, 
as she thought, to assume the character of the grand lady at once. Hitherto 
she had been willing enough to do the work but now she began to order about 
Mr Greene and Sophonisba, and, as it appeared to me, to order me about 
also. I did not quite enjoy this; so, leaving her still among her luggage 
and satellites, I walked up to the hotel to see about my own bedroom. I had 
some seltzer water, stood at the window for three or four minutes, and then 
walked up and down the room. But still the Greenes were not there. As I had 
put in at Bellaggio solely with the object of seeing something more of 
Sophonisba, it would not do for me to quarrel with them, or to allow them 
so to settle themselves in their private sitting-room that I should be 
excluded. Therefore I returned again to the road by which they must come 
up, and met the procession near the house.
Mrs Greene was leading it with great majesty, the waiter with the shiny 
hair walking by her side to point out to her the way. Then came all the 
luggage - each porter carrying a white canvas-covered box. That which was 
so valuable no doubt was carried next to Mrs Greene, so that she might at a 
moment's notice put her eye upon the well-known valuable rent. I confess 
that I did not observe the hole as the train passed by me, nor did I count 
the number of the boxes. Seven boxes, all alike, are very many; and then 
they were followed by three other men with the inferior articles - Mr 
Greene's portmanteau, the carpet-bag, etc., etc. At the tail of the line, I 
found Mr Greene, and behind him Sophonisba. 'All your fatigues will be over 
now,' I said to the gentleman, thinking it well not to be too particular in 
my attentions to his daughter. He was panting beneath a terrible greatcoat, 
having forgotten that the shores of an Italian lake are not so cold as the 
summits of the Alps, and did not answer me. 'I'm sure I hope so,' said 
Sophonisba. 'And I shall advise Papa not to go any farther unless he can 
persuade Mrs Greene to send her jewels home.' 'Sophy, my dear,' he said, 
'for Heaven's sake let us have a little peace since we are here.' From all 
which I gathered that Mr Greene had not been fortunate in his second 
matrimonial adventure. We then made our way slowly up to the hotel, having 
been altogether distanced by the porters, and when we reached the house we 
found that the different packages were already being carried away through 
the house, some this way and some that. Mrs Greene, the meanwhile, was 
talking loudly at the door of her own sitting-room.
'Mr Greene,' she said, as soon as she saw her heavily oppressed spouse - 
for the noon-day sun was up - 'Mr Greene, where are you?'
'Here, my dear,' and Mr Greene threw himself panting into the corner of a 
sofa.
'A little seltzer water and brandy,' I suggested. Mr Greene's inmost heart 
leaped at the hint, and nothing that his remonstrant wife could say would 
induce him to move until he had enjoyed the delicious draught. In the 
meantime the box with the hole in the canvas had been lost.
Yes, when we came to look into matters, to count the packages, and to find 
out where we were, the box with the hole in the canvas was not there. Or, 
at any rate, Mrs Greene said it was not there. I worked hard to look it up, 
and even went into Sophonisba's bedroom in my search. In Sophonisba's 
bedroom there was but one canvas-covered box. 'That is my own,' said she, 
'and it is all that I have, except this bag.'
'Where on earth can it be?' said I, sitting down on the trunk in question. 
At the moment I almost thought that she had been instrumental in hiding it.
'How am I to know?' she answered; and I fancied that even she was dismayed. 
'What a fool that woman is!'
'The box must be in the house,' I said.
'Do find it, for papa's sake, there's a good fellow. He will be so wretched 
without his money. I heard him say that he had only two pounds in his 
purse.'
'Oh, I can let him have money to go on with,' I answered grandly. And then 
I went off to prove that I was a good fellow, and searched throughout the 
house. Two white boxes had by order been left downstairs, as they would not 
be needed, and these two were in a large cupboard of the hall, which was 
used expressly for stowing away luggage. And then there were three in Mrs 
Greene's bedroom, which had been taken there as containing the wardrobe 
which she would require while remaining at Bellaggio. I searched every one 
of these myself to see if I could find the hole in the canvas. But the hole 
in the canvas was not there. And, let me count as I would, I could make out 
only six. Now there certainly had been seven on board the steamer, though I 
could not swear that I had seen seven put into the small boat.
'Mr Greene,' said the lady standing in the middle of her remaining 
treasures, all of which were now open, 'you are worth nothing when 
travelling. Were you not behind?' But Mr Greene's mind was full, and he did 
not answer.
'It has been stolen before your very eyes,' she continued.
'Nonsense, mamma,' said Sophonisba. 'If ever it came out of the steamer it 
certainly came into the house.'
'I saw it out of the steamer,' said Mrs Greene, 'and it certainly is not in 
the house. Mr Robinson, may I trouble you to send for the police? - At 
once, if you please, sir.'
I had been at Bellaggio twice before, but nevertheless I was ignorant of 
their system of police. And then, again, I did not know what was the 
Italian for the word.
'I will speak to the landlord,' I said.
'If you will have the goodness to send for the police at once, I will be 
obliged to you.' And as she thus reiterated her command she stamped with 
her foot upon the floor.
'There are no police at Bellaggio,' said Sophonisba.
'What on earth shall I do for money to go on with?' said Mr Greene, looking 
piteously up to the ceiling, and shaking both his hands.
And now the whole house was in an uproar, including not only the landlord, 
his wife and daughters, and all the servants, but also every other visitor 
at the hotel. Mrs Greene was not a lady who hid either her glories or her 
griefs under a bushel, and, though she spoke only in English, she soon made 
her protestations sufficiently audible. She protested loudly that she had 
been robbed, and that she had been robbed since she left the steamer. The 
box had come on shore; of that she was certain. If the landlord had any 
regard either for his own character, or for that of his house, he would 
ascertain before an hour was over where it was, and who had been the thief. 
She would give him an hour. And then she sat down; but in two minutes she 
was up again, vociferating her wrongs as loudly as ever. All this was 
filtered through me and Sophonisba to the waiter in French, and from the 
waiter to the landlord; but the lady's gestures required no translation to 
make them intelligible, and the state of her mind on the matter was, I 
believe, perfectly well understood.
Mr Greene I really did pity. His feelings of dismay seemed to be quite as 
deep, but his sorrow and solicitude were repressed into more decorum. 'What 
am I to do for money?' he said. 'I have not a shilling to go on with!' and 
he still looked up at the ceiling.
'You must send to England,' said Sophonisba.
'It will take a month,' he replied.
'Mr Robinson will let you have what you want at present,' added Sophonisba. 
Now I certainly had said so, and had meant it at the time. But my whole 
travelling store did not exceed forty or fifty pounds, with which I was 
going on to Venice, and then back to England through the Tyrol. Waiting a 
month for Mr Greene's money from England might be even more inconvenient to 
me than to him. Then it occurred to me that the wants of the Greene family 
would be numerous and expensive, and that my small stock would go but a 
little way among so many. And what also if there had been no money and no 
jewels in that accursed box! I confess that at the moment such an idea did 
strike my mind. One hears of sharpers on every side committing depredations 
by means of most singular intrigues and contrivances. Might it not be 
possible that the whole batch of Greenes belonged to this order of society. 
It was a base idea, I own, but I confess that I entertained it for a 
moment.
I retired to my own room for a while that I might think over all the 
circumstances. There certainly had been seven boxes, and one had had a hole 
in the canvas. All the seven had certainly been on board the steamer. To so 
much I felt that I might safely swear. I had not counted the seven into the 
small boat, but on leaving the larger vessel I had looked about the deck to 
see that none of the Greene trappings were forgotten. If left on the 
steamer, it had been so left through an intent on the part of some one 
there employed. It was quite possible that the contents of the box had been 
ascertained through the imprudence of Mrs Greene, and that it had been 
conveyed away so that it might be rifled at Como. As to Mrs Greene's 
assertion that all the boxes had been put into the small boat, I thought 
nothing of it. The people at Bellaggio could not have known which box to 
steal, nor had there been time to concoct a plan in carrying the boxes up 
to the hotel. I came at last to this conclusion, that the missing trunk had 
either been purloined and carried on to Como - in which case it would be 
necessary to lose no time in going after it; or that it had been put out of 
sight in some uncommonly clever way, by the Greenes themselves, as an 
excuse for borrowing as much money as they could raise and living without 
payment of their bills. With reference to the latter hypothesis, I declared 
to myself that Greene did not look like a swindler; but as to Mrs Greene - 
I confess that I did not feel so confident in regard to her.
Charity begins at home, so I proceeded to make myself comfortable in my 
room, feeling almost certain that I should not be able to leave Bellaggio 
on the following morning. I had opened my portmanteau when I first arrived, 
leaving it open on the floor as is my wont. Some people are always being 
robbed, and are always locking up everything; while others wander safe over 
the world and never lock up anything. For myself, I never turn a key 
anywhere, and no one ever purloins from me even a handkerchief. Cantabit 
vacuus -, and I am always sufficiently vacuus. Perhaps it is that I have 
not a handkerchief worth the stealing. It is your heavy-laden, suspicious, 
maladroit Greenes that the thieves attack. I now found out that the 
accommodating Boots, who already knew my ways, had taken my travelling gear 
into a dark recess which was intended to do for a dressing-room, and had 
there spread my portmanteau open upon some table or stool in the corner. It 
was a convenient arrangement, and there I left it during the whole period 
of my sojourn.
Mrs Greene had given the landlord an hour to find the box, and during that 
time the landlord, the landlady, their three daughters, and all the 
servants in the house certainly did exert themselves to the utmost. Half a 
dozen times they came to my door, but I was luxuriating in a washing-tub, 
making up for that four-o'clock start from Chiavenna. I assured them, 
however, that the box was not there, and so the search passed by. At the 
end of the hour I went back to the Greenes according to promise, having 
resolved that some one must be sent on to Como to look after the missing 
article.
There was no necessity to knock at their sitting-room door, for it was wide 
open. I walked in, and found Mrs Greene still engaged in attacking the 
landlord, while all the porters who had carried the luggage up to the house 
were standing round. Her voice was loud above the others, but, luckily for 
them all, she was speaking English. The landlord, I saw, was becoming 
sulky. He spoke in Italian, and we none of us understood him, but I 
gathered that he was declining to do anything further. The box, he was 
certain, had never come out of the steamer. The Boots stood by interpreting 
into French, and, acting as second interpreter, I put it into English.
Mr Greene, who was seated on the sofa, groaned audibly, but said nothing. 
Sophonisba, who was sitting by him, beat upon the floor with both her feet.
'Do you hear, Mr Greene?' said Mrs Greene, turning to him. 'Do you mean to 
allow that vast amount of property to be lost without an effort? Are you 
prepared to replace my jewels?'
'Her jewels!' said Sophonisba, looking up into my face. 'Papa had to pay 
the bill for every stitch she had when he married her.' These last words 
were so spoken as to be audible only by me, but her first exclamation was 
loud enough. Were they people for whom it would be worth my while to delay 
my journey, and put myself to serious inconvenience with reference to 
money?
A few minutes afterwards I found myself with Greene on the terrace before 
the house, 'What ought I to do?' said he.
'Go to Como,' said I, 'and look after your box. I will remain here and go 
on board the return steamer. It may perhaps be there.'
'But I can't speak a word of Italian,' said he.
'Take the Boots,' said I.
'But I can't speak a word of French.' And then it ended in my undertaking 
to go to Como. I swear that the thought struck me that I might as well take 
my portmanteau with me, and cut and run when I got there. The Greenes were 
nothing to me.
I did not, however, do this. I made the poor man a promise, and I kept it. 
I took merely a dressing-bag, for I knew that I must sleep at Como, and, 
thus resolving to disarrange all my plans, I started. I was in the midst of 
beautiful scenery, but I found it quite impossible to draw any enjoyment 
from it - from that or from anything around me. My whole mind was given up 
to anathemas against this odious box, as to which I had undoubtedly heavy 
cause of complaint. What was the box to me? I went to Como by the afternoon 
steamer, and spent a long dreary evening down on the steamboat quays 
searching everywhere, and searching in vain. The boat by which we had left 
Colico had gone back to Colico, but the people swore that nothing had been 
left on board it. It was just possible that such a box might have gone on 
to Milan with the luggage of other passengers.
I slept at Como, and on the following morning I went on to Milan. There was 
no trace of the box to be found in that city. I went round to every hotel 
and travelling office, but could hear nothing of it. Parties had gone to 
Venice, and Florence, and Bologna, and any of them might have taken the 
box. No one, however, remembered it, and I returned back to Como, and 
thence to Bellaggio, reaching the latter place at nine in the evening, 
disappointed, weary, and cross.
'Has Monsieur found the accursed trunk?' said the Bellaggio Boots, meeting 
me on the quay.
'In the name of the -, no. Has it not turned up here?'
'Monsieur,' said the Boots, 'we shall all be mad soon. The poor master, he 
is mad already.' And then I went up to the house.
'My jewels!' shouted Mrs Greene, rushing to me with her arms stretched out 
as soon as she heard my step in the corridor. I am sure that she would have 
embraced me had I found the box. I had not, however, earned any such 
reward. 'I can hear nothing of the box either at Como or Milan,' I said.
'Then what on earth am I to do for my money?' said Mr Greene.
I had had neither dinner nor supper, but the elder Greenes did not care for 
that. Mr Greene sat silent in despair, and Mrs Greene stormed about the 
room in her anger. 'I am afraid you are very tired,' said Sophonisba.
'I am tired, and hungry, and thirsty,' said I. I was beginning to get 
angry, and to think myself ill-used. And that idea as to a family of 
swindlers became strong again. Greene had borrowed ten napoleons from me 
before I started for Como, and I had spent above four in my fruitless 
journey to that place and Milan. I was beginning to fear that my whole 
purpose as to Venice and the Tyrol would be destroyed; and I had promised 
to meet friends at Innsbruck, who, - who were very much preferable to the 
Greenes. As events turned out, I did meet them. Had I failed in this, the 
present Mrs Robinson would not have been sitting opposite to me.
I went to my room and dressed myself, and then Sophonisba presided over the 
tea-table for me. 'What are we to do?' she asked me in a confidential 
whisper.
'Wait for money from England.'
'But they will think we are all sharpers,' she said, 'and upon my word I do 
not wonder at it from the way in which that woman goes on.' She then leaned 
forward, resting her elbow on the table and her face on her hand, and told 
me a long history of all their family discomforts. Her papa was a very good 
sort of man, only he had been made a fool of by that intriguing woman, who 
had been left without a sixpence with which to bless herself. And now they 
had nothing but quarrels and misery. Papa did not always get the worst of 
it - Papa could rouse himself sometimes; only now he was beaten down and 
cowed by the loss of his money. This whispering confidence was very nice in 
its way, seeing that Sophonisba was a pretty girl; but the whole matter 
seemed to be full of suspicion.
'If they did not want to take you in in one way, they did in another,' said 
the present Mrs Robinson, when I told the story to her at Innsbruck. I beg 
that it may be understood that at the time of my meeting the Greenes I was 
not engaged to the present Mrs Robinson, and was open to make any 
matrimonial engagement that might have been pleasing to me.
On the next morning, after breakfast, we held a council of war. I had been 
informed that Mr Greene had made a fortune, and was justified in presuming 
him to be a rich man. It seemed to me, therefore, that his course was easy. 
Let him wait at Bellaggio for more money, and when he returned home, let 
him buy Mrs Greene more jewels. A poor man always presumes that a rich man 
is indifferent about his money. But in truth a rich man never is 
indifferent about his money, and poor Greene looked very blank at my 
proposition.
'Do you mean to say that it's gone for ever?' he asked.
'I'll not leave the country without knowing more about it,' said Mrs 
Greene.
'It certainly is very odd,' said Sophonisba. Even Sophonisba seemed to 
think that I was too off-hand.
'It will be a month before I can get money, and my bill here will be 
something tremendous,' said Greene.
'I wouldn't pay them a farthing till I got my box,' said Mrs Greene.
'That's nonsense,' said Sophonisba. And so it was.
'Hold your tongue, miss!' said the step-mother.
'Indeed, I shall not hold my tongue,' said the step-daughter.
Poor Greene! He had lost more than his box within the last twelve months, 
for, as I had learned in that whispered conversation over the tea-table 
with Sophonisba, this was in reality her papa's marriage trip.
Another day was now gone, and we all went to bed. Had I not been very 
foolish I should have had myself called at five in the morning, and have 
gone away by the early boat, leaving my ten napoleons behind me. But, 
unfortunately, Sophonisba had extracted a promise from me that I would not 
do this, and thus all chance of spending a day or two in Venice was lost to 
me. Moreover, I was thoroughly fatigued, and almost glad of any excuse 
which would allow me to lie in bed on the following morning. I did lie in 
bed till nine o'clock, and then found the Greenes at breakfast.
'Let us go and look at the Serbelloni Gardens,' said I, as soon as the 
silent meal was over; 'or take a boat over to the Sommariva Villa.'
'I should like it so much,' said Sophonisba.
'We will do nothing of the kind till I have found my property,' said Mrs 
Greene. 'Mr Robinson, what arrangement did you make yesterday with the 
police at Como?'
'The police at Como?' I said. 'I did not go to the police.'
'Not go to the police? And do you mean to say that I am to be robbed of my 
jewels and no efforts made for redress? Is there no such thing as a 
constable in this wretched country? Mr Greene, I do insist upon it that you 
at once go to the nearest British consul.'
'I suppose I had better write home for money,' said he.
'And do you mean to say that you haven't written yet?' said I, probably 
with some acrimony in my voice.
'You needn't scold papa,' said Sophonisba.
'I don't know what I am to do,' said Mr Greene, and he began walking up and 
down the room; but still he did not call for pen and ink, and I began again 
to feel that he was a swindler. Was it possible that a man of business, who 
had made his fortune in London, should allow his wife to keep all her 
jewels in a box, and carry about his own money in the same?
'I don't see why you need be so very unhappy, papa,' said Sophonisba. 'Mr 
Robinson, I'm sure, will let you have whatever money you may want at 
present.' This was pleasant!
'And will Mr Robinson return me my jewels which were lost? I must say, in a 
great measure, through his carelessness,' said Mrs Greene. This was 
pleasanter!
'Upon my word, Mrs Greene, I must deny that,' said I, jumping up. 'What on 
earth could I have done more than I did do? I have been to Milan and nearly 
fagged myself to death.'
'Why didn't you bring a policeman back with you?'
'You would tell everybody on board the boat what there was in it,' said I.
'I told nobody but you,' she answered.
'I suppose you mean to imply that I've taken the box,' I rejoined. So that 
on this, the third or fourth day of our acquaintance, we did not go on 
together quite pleasantly.
But what annoyed me, perhaps, the most, was the confidence with which it 
seemed to be Mr Greene's intention to lean upon my resources. He certainly 
had not written home yet, and had taken my ten napoleons, as one friend may 
take a few shillings from another when he finds that he has left his own 
silver on his dressing-table. What could he have wanted of ten napoleons? 
He had alleged the necessity of paying the porters, but the few francs he 
had had in his pocket would have been enough for that. And now Sophonisba 
was ever and again prompt in her assurances that he need not annoy himself 
about money, because I was at his right hand. I went upstairs into my own 
room, and counting all my treasures, found that thirty-six pounds and some 
odd silver was the extent of my wealth. With that I had to go, at any rate, 
as far as Innsbruck, and from thence back to London. It was quite 
impossible that I should make myself responsible for the Greenes' bill at 
Bellaggio.
We dined early, and, after dinner, according to a promise made in the 
morning, Sophonisba ascended with me into the Serbelloni Gardens, and 
walked round the terraces on that beautiful hill which commands the view of 
the three lakes. When we started I confess that I would sooner have gone 
alone, for I was sick of the Greenes in my very soul. We had had a terrible 
day. The landlord had been sent for so often that he refused to show 
himself again. The landlady - though Italians of that class are always 
courteous - had been so driven that she snapped her fingers in Mrs Greene's 
face. The three girls would not show themselves. The waiters kept out of 
the way as much as possible, and the Boots, in confidence, abused them to 
me behind their back. 'Monsieur,' said the Boots, 'do you think there ever 
was such a box?' 'Perhaps not,' said I; and yet I knew that I had seen it.
I would, therefore, have preferred to walk without Sophonisba, but that now 
was impossible. So I determined that I would utilise the occasion by 
telling her of my present purpose. I had resolved to start on the following 
day, and it was now necessary to make my friends understand that it was not 
in my power to extend to them any further pecuniary assistance.
Sophonisba, when we were on the hill, seemed to have forgotten the box, and 
to be willing that I should forget it also. But this was impossible. When, 
therefore, she told me how sweet it was to escape from that terrible woman, 
and leaned on my arm with all the freedom of old acquaintance, I was 
obliged to cut short the pleasure of the moment.
'I hope your father has written that letter,' said I.
'He means to write it from Milan. We know you want to get on, so we purpose 
to leave here the day after tomorrow.'
'Oh!' said I, thinking of the bill immediately and remembering that Mrs 
Greene had insisted on having champagne for dinner.
'And if anything more is to be done about the nasty box, it may be done 
there,' continued Sophonisba.
'But I must go tomorrow,' said I, 'at 5 am.'
'Nonsense,' said Sophonisba. 'Go tomorrow, when I - I mean we - are going 
on the next day!'
'And I might as well explain,' said I, gently dropping the hand that was on 
my arm 'that I find - I find it will be impossible for me - to - to -'
'To what?'
'To advance Mr Greene any more money just at present.' Then Sophonisba's 
arm dropped all at once, and she exclaimed, 'Oh, Mr Robinson!'
After all, there was a certain hard good sense about Miss Greene which 
would have protected her from my evil thoughts had I known all the truth. I 
found out afterwards that she was a considerable heiress, and, in spite of 
the opinion expressed by the present Mrs Robinson when Miss Walker, I do 
not for a moment think she would have accepted me had I offered to her.
'You are quite right not to embarrass yourself,' she said, when I explained 
to her my immediate circumstances; 'but why did you make Papa an offer 
which you cannot perform? He must remain here till he hears from England. 
Had you explained it all at first, the ten napoleons would have carried us 
to Milan.' This was all true, and yet I thought it hard upon me.
It was evident to me now that Sophonisba was prepared to join her 
stepmother in thinking that I had ill-treated them, and I had not much 
doubt that I should find Mr Greene to be of the same opinion. There was 
very little more said between us during the walk, and when we reached the 
hotel at seven or half-past seven o'clock, I merely remarked that I would 
go in and wish her father and mother goodbye. 'I suppose you will drink tea 
with us,' said Sophonisba, and to this I assented.
I went into my own room, and put all my things into my portmanteau, for 
according to the custom, which is invariable in Italy when an early start 
is premeditated, the Boots was imperative in his demand that the luggage 
should be ready overnight. I then went to the Greenes' sitting-room, and 
found that the whole party was now aware of my intentions.
'So you are going to desert us,' said Mrs Greene.
'I must go on upon my journey,' I pleaded in a weak apologetic voice.
'Go on upon your journey, sir!' said Mrs Greene. 'I would not for a moment 
have you put yourself to inconvenience on our account.' And yet I had 
already lost fourteen napoleons, and given up all prospect of going to 
Venice!
'Mr Robinson is certainly right not to break his engagement with Miss 
Walker,' said Sophonisba. Now I had said not a word about an engagement 
with Miss Walker, having only mentioned incidentally that she would be one 
of the party at Innsbruck. 'But,' continued she, 'I think he should not 
have misled us.' And in this way we enjoyed our evening meal.
I was just about to shake hands with them all, previous to my final 
departure from their presence, when the Boots came into the room.
'I'll leave the portmanteau till tomorrow morning,' said he.
'All right,' said I.
'Because,' said he, 'there will be such a crowd of things in the hall. The 
big trunk I will take away now.'
'Big trunk - what big trunk?'
'The trunk with your rug over it, on which your portmanteau stood.'
I looked round at Mr, Mrs, and Miss Greene, and saw that they were all 
looking at me. I looked round at them, and as their eyes met mine I felt 
that I turned as red as fire. I immediately jumped up and rushed away to my 
own room, hearing as I went that all their steps were following me. I 
rushed to the inner recess, pulled down the portmanteau, which still 
remained in its old place, tore away my own carpet rug which covered the 
support beneath it, and there saw - a white canvas-covered box, with a hole 
in the canvas on the next side to me!
'It is my box,' said Mrs Greene, pushing me away, as she hurried up and put 
her finger within the rent.
'It certainly does look like it,' said Mr Greene, peering over his wife's 
shoulder.
'There's no doubt about the box,' said Sophonisba.
'Not the least in life,' said I, trying to assume an indifferent look.
'Mon Dieu!' said the Boots.
'Corpo di Baccho!' exclaimed the landlord, who had now joined the party.
'Oh-h-h-h-!' screamed Mrs Greene, and then she threw herself back on to my 
bed, and shrieked hysterically.
There was no doubt whatsoever about the fact. There was the lost box, and 
there it had been during all those tedious hours of unavailing search. 
While I was suffering all that fatigue in Milan, spending all my precious 
zwanzigers in driving about from one hotel to another, the box had been 
safe, standing in my own room at Bellaggio, hidden by my own rug. And now 
that it was found everybody looked at me as though it were all my fault. 
Mrs Greene's eyes, when she had done being hysterical, were terrible, and 
Sophonisba looked at me as though I were a convicted thief.
'Who put the box here?' I said, turning fiercely upon the Boots.
'I did,' said the Boots, 'by Monsieur's express order.'
'By my order?' I exclaimed.
'Certainly,' said the Boots.
'Corpo di Baccho!' said the landlord, and he also looked at me as though I 
were a thief. In the meantime the landlady and the three daughters had 
clustered round Mrs Greene, administering to her all manner of Italian 
consolation. The box, and the money, and the jewels were after all a 
reality, and much incivility can be forgiven to a lady who has really lost 
her jewels, and has really found them again.
There and then there arose a hurly-burly among us as to the manner in which 
the odious trunk found its way into my room. Had anybody been just enough 
to consider the matter coolly, it must have been quite clear that I could 
not have ordered it there. When I entered the hotel, the boxes were already 
being lugged about, and I had spoken a word to no one concerning them. That 
traitorous Boots had done it - no doubt without malice prepense; but he had 
done it; and now that the Greenes were once more known as moneyed people, 
he turned upon me and told me to my face that I had desired that box to be 
taken to my own room as part of my own luggage!
'My dear,' said Mr Greene, turning to his wife, 'you should never mention 
the contents of your luggage to anyone.'
'I never will again,' said Mrs Greene, with a mock repentant air, 'but I 
really thought -'
'One never can be sure of sharpers,' said Mr Greene.
'That's true,' said Mrs Greene.
'After all, it may have been accidental,' said Sophonisba, on hearing which 
good-natured surmise both Papa and Mamma Greene shook their suspicious 
heads.
I was resolved to say nothing then. It was all but impossible that they 
should really think that I had intended to steal their box; nor, if they 
did think so, would it have become me to vindicate myself before the 
landlord and all his servants. I stood by therefore in silence, while two 
of the men raised the trunk and joined the procession which followed it as 
it was carried out of my room into that of the legitimate owner. Everybody 
in the house was there by that time, and Mrs Greene, enjoying the triumph, 
by no means grudged them the entrance into her sitting-room. She had felt 
that she was suspected, and now she was determined that the world of 
Bellaggio should know how much she was above suspicion. The box was put 
down upon two chairs, the supporters who had borne it retiring a pace each. 
Mrs Greene then advanced proudly with the selected key, and Mr Greene stood 
by at her right shoulder, ready to receive his portion of the hidden 
treasure. Sophonisba was now indifferent, and threw herself on the sofa, 
while I walked up and down the room thoughtfully - meditating what words I 
should say when I took my last farewell of the Greenes.
But as I walked I could see what occurred. Mrs Greene opened the box, and 
displayed to view the ample folds of a huge yellow woollen dressing-gown. I 
could fancy that she would not willingly have exhibited this article of her 
toilet, had she not felt that its existence would speedily be merged in the 
presence of the glories which were to follow. This had merely been the 
padding at the top of the box. Under that lay a long papier-mache case, and 
in that were all her treasures. 'Ah, they are safe,' she said, opening the 
lid and looking upon her tawdry pearls and carbuncles.
Mr Greene, in the meantime, well knowing the passage for his hand, had 
dived down to the very bottom of the box, and seized hold of a small canvas 
bag. 'It is here,' said he, dragging it up, 'and as far as I can tell, as 
yet, the knot has not been untied.' Whereupon he sat himself down by 
Sophonisba, and employing her to assist him in holding them, began to count 
his rolls. 'They are all right,' said he; and he wiped the perspiration 
from his brow.
I had not yet made up my mind in what manner I might best utter my last 
words among them so as to maintain the dignity of my character, and now I 
was standing over against Mr Greene with my arms folded on my breast. I had 
on my face a frown of displeasure, which I am able to assume upon 
occasions, but I had not yet determined what words I would use. After all, 
perhaps, it might be as well that I should leave them without any last 
words.
'Greene, my dear,' said the lady, 'pay the gentleman his ten napoleons.'
'Oh yes, certainly'; whereupon Mr Greene undid one of the rolls and 
extracted eight sovereigns. 'I believe that will make it right, sir,' said 
he, holding them to me.
I took the gold, slipped it with an indifferent air into my waistcoat 
pocket, and then refolded my arms across my breast.
'Papa,' said Sophonisba, in a very audible whisper, 'Mr Robinson went for 
you to Como. Indeed, I believe he says he went to Milan.'
'Do not let that be mentioned,' said I.
'By all means pay him his expenses,' said Mrs Greene; 'I would not owe him 
anything for worlds.'
'He should be paid,' said Sophonisba.
'Oh, certainly,' said Mr Greene. And he at once extracted another 
sovereign, and tended it to me in the face of the assembled multitude.
This was too much! 'Mr Greene,' said I, 'I intended to be of service to you 
when I went to Milan, and you are very welcome to the benefit of my 
intentions. The expense of that journey, whatever may be its amount, is my 
own affair.' And I remained standing with my closed arms.
'We will be under no obligation to him,' said Mrs Greene; 'and I shall 
insist on his taking the money.'
'The servant will put it on his dressing-table,' said Sophonisba. And she 
handed the sovereign to the Boots, giving him instructions.
'Keep it yourself, Antonio,' I said. Whereupon the man chucked it to the 
ceiling with his thumb, caught it as it fell, and with a well-satisfied 
air, dropped it into the recesses of his pocket. The air of the Greenes was 
also well satisfied, for they felt that they had paid me in full for all my 
services.
And now, with many obsequious bows and assurances of deep respect, the 
landlord and his family withdrew from the room. 'Was there anything else 
they could do for Mrs Greene?' Mrs Greene was all affability. She had shown 
her jewels to the girls, and allowed them to express their admiration in 
pretty Italian superlatives. There was nothing else she wanted tonight. She 
was very happy and liked Bellaggio. She would stay yet a week, and would 
make herself quite happy. And, though none of them understood a word that 
the other said, each understood that things were now rose-coloured, and so 
with scrapings, bows, and grinning smiles, the landlord and all his 
myrmidons withdrew. Mr Greene was still counting his money, sovereign by 
sovereign, and I was still standing with my folded arms upon my bosom.
'I believe I may now go,' said I.
'Good night,' said Mrs Greene.
'Adieu,' said Sophonisba.
'I have the pleasure of wishing you goodbye,' said Mr Greene.
And then I walked out of the room. After all, what was the use of saying 
anything? And what could I say that would have done me any service? If they 
were capable of thinking me a thief - which they certainly did - nothing 
that I could say would remove the impression. Nor, as I thought, was it 
suitable that I should defend myself from such an imputation. What were the 
Greenes to me? So I walked slowly out of the room, and never again saw one 
of the family from that day to this.
As I stood upon the beach the next morning, while my portmanteau was being 
handed into the boat, I gave the Boots five zwanzigers. I was determined to 
show him that I did not condescend to feel anger against him.
He took the money, looked into my face, and then whispered to me, 'Why did 
you not give me a word of notice beforehand?' he said, and winked one eye. 
He was evidently a thief, and took me to be another - but what did it 
matter?
I went thence to Milan, in which city I had no heart to look at anything; 
thence to Verona, and so over the pass of the Brenner to Innsbruck. When I 
once found myself near to my dear friends the Walkers I was again a happy 
man; and I may safely declare that, though a portion of my journey was so 
troublesome and unfortunate, I look back upon that tour as the happiest and 
the luckiest epoch of my life.