Inhabited Squillace lay, no
doubt, behind. I knew that it was a very small place, without any
present importance; but at all events there was an albergo, and the
mere name of albergo had a delightful sound of welcome after such a
journey. Here I would stay for the night, at all events; if the
weather cleared, I might be glad to remain for two or three days.
Certainly the rain was stopping; the wind no longer howled. Up we
went towards those ragged walls and great, vacant windows. We
reached the summit; for two minutes the horses trotted; then a
sudden halt, and my lad's face at the carriage door.
"_Ecco l'albergo, Signore_!"
I jumped out. We were at the entrance to an unpaved street of
squalid hovels, a street which the rain had converted into a muddy
river, so that, on quitting the vehicle, I stepped into running
water up to my ankles. Before me was a long low cabin, with a row of
four or five windows and no upper storey; a miserable hut of rubble
and plaster, stained with ancient dirt and, at this moment, looking
soaked with moisture.
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