Bologna, 5 hours.  Next day, Florence, D. V. Next year we will walk.  Phelps came to Frankfort and we had some great times—­dinner at his hotel; & the Masons, supper at our inn—­Livy not in it.  She was merely allowed a glimpse, no more.  Of course Phelps said she was merely pretending to be ill; was never looking so well & fine.

A Paris journal has created a happy interest by inoculating one of its correspondents with cholera.  A man said yesterday he wished to God they would inoculate all of them.  Yes, the interest is quite general and strong & much hope is felt.

    Livy says I have said enough bad things, and better send all our
    loves & shut up.  Which I do—­and shut up.

They lingered at Lucerne until Mrs. Clemens was rested and better able to continue the journey, arriving at last in Florence, September 26th.  They drove out to the Villa Viviani in the afternoon and found everything in readiness for their reception, even to the dinner, which was prepared and on the table.  Clemens, in his notes, speaks of this and adds: 

It takes but a sentence to state that, but it makes an indolent person tired to think of the planning & work and trouble that lie concealed in it.

Some further memoranda made at this time have that intimate interest which gives reality and charm.  The ‘contadino’ brought up their trunks from the station, and Clemens wrote: 

The ‘contadino’ is middle-aged & like the rest of the peasants—­that is to say, brown, handsome, good-natured, courteous, & entirely independent without making any offensive show of it.  He charged too much for the trunks, I was told.  My informer explained that this was customary.

September 27.  The rest of the trunks brought up this morning.  He charged too much again, but I was told that this was also customary.  It’s all right, then.  I do not wish to violate the customs.  Hired landau, horses, & coachman.  Terms, 480 francs a month & a pourboire to the coachman, I to furnish lodging for the man & the horses, but nothing else.  The landau has seen better days & weighs 30 tons.  The horses are feeble & object to the landau; they stop & turn around every now & then & examine it with surprise & suspicion.  This causes delay.  But it entertains the people along the road.  They came out & stood around with their hands in their pockets & discussed the matter with each other.  I was told that they said that a 30-ton landau was not the thing for horses like those—­what they needed was a wheelbarrow.

His description of the house pictures it as exactly today as it did then,
for it has not changed in these twenty years, nor greatly, perhaps, in
the centuries since it was built. 
    It is a plain, square building, like a box, & is painted light
    yellow & has green window-shutters.  It stands in a commanding
    position on the artificial terrace of liberal dimensions, which is