Sculco had
shaken his head and shrugged his shoulders; much better, was it not,
to be paying my bill? Bill more moderate, under the circumstances,
no man ever discharged; Calabrian honesty came well out of the
transaction. So I tumbled once more into the dirty, ramshackle
_diligenza_, passed along the dusty road between the barred and
padlocked warehouses, and arrived in good time at the station. No
sooner had I set foot on the platform than I felt an immense relief.
Even here, it seemed to me, the air was fresher. I lifted my eyes to
the hills and seemed to feel the breezes of Catanzaro.
The train was made up at Cotrone, and no undue haste appeared in our
departure. When we were already twenty minutes late, there stepped
into the carriage where I was sitting a good-humoured railway
official, who smiled and greeted me. I supposed he wanted my ticket,
but nothing of the kind. After looking all round the compartment
with an air of disinterested curiosity, he heaved a sigh and
remarked pleasantly to me, "_Non manca niente_"--"Nothing is
amiss.
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