Mandie Collection, The: 4 Read Online Free PDF

as Mandie swung her feet out of the bed. The girl had brought a breakfast tray, and she placed it on a table nearby.
    “Sorry, I don’t understand Italian,” Mandie apologized as she smiled at the heavy-set young girl.
    “I only said, good morning, miss,” the maid translated. “Would you like me to pour out coffee?”
    “Oh, you speak English, thank goodness,” Mandie said, standing up and stretching. Celia joined her by the table. “Pour out the coffee? No, we don’t want it poured out. We’ll drink it.”
    “Then I go.” The girl smiled as she left the room.
    “Mandie, I think she meant pour it out into our cups,” Celia explained. “My mother has some friends back home who came from England, and that’s the way they say it.”
    “Well, I’m glad you understand these things,” Mandie said, laughing.
    As soon as everyone had enjoyed a light breakfast in their rooms, Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton took the young people sightseeing.
    It was a bright, clear day and warm. As they rode down the cobblestone streets of Rome in a hired carriage, the girls were overwhelmed by the huge stone buildings, the grassy parks with fountains everywhere they looked, and the crowds of people on the streets, who all seemed to be talking loudly and gesturing with their hands. Mandie and Celia, who were both country girls, had never seen such a bustling, interesting city.
    Mrs. Taft laid out their plans. “We’ll go to the catacombs first,” she said. “Then we’ll have something to eat at noon and go on to some of the ruins, or the Colosseum.”
    “Yes, let’s go to the catacombs first and get that over with,” Celia remarked, patting the mesh bag in her lap that contained her journal.
    “And write in our journals about it?” Mandie asked. She had the harness and leash on Snowball, who sat purring at her side.
    “Yes, that will be something to write about,” Celia agreed.
    At the entrance to the Catacombs of St. Sebastian, a Franciscan monk greeted them together with lots of other visitors. He wore a long, brown hooded robe, and had leather sandals on his feet. He gave a brief explanation of the tour in several different languages.
    “If you will please follow me,” he said, “we will enter the basilica here. It was built in the fourth century in honor of the Apostles Peter and Paul.” He led the way inside the rectangular building, which contained two aisles amid rows of huge columns and a nave.
    Celia held on to Mandie’s hand as they followed the others.
    “Over here,” the monk said, indicating a huge archway, “you will find the entrance to the underground catacombs.” Then he gestured toward the display cases along the walls. “Inside these cases you will see some of the precious gems of our country. These and other artifacts here were found in ruins that have only recently been uncovered.”
    Everyone crowded around the thick glass-covered displays to gaze at the arrangements of sparkling gems and artifacts of gold and silver.
    Mandie gasped. “Oh, they’re beautiful! Look at that huge ruby in the center of this piece. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
    “Neither have I,” Celia said in wonder.
    Jonathan smiled at their enthusiasm.
    Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton led the way, and Mandie held Snowball tightly as she and Celia and Jonathan descended the stairs. They soon found themselves in an underground cavern lit only by candles, and having a damp odor. The visitors were silent in reverence for the Christians buried there. The walls were rough stone, and crevices in the wall held small crypts containing the remains of the dead.
    Celia began shaking, and she grabbed on to Mandie’s hand.
    “Celia,” Mandie said, “Jonathan and I are right here with you. There is nothing to be afraid of. Dead people can’t hurt you,” she tried to reassure her friend.
    “I know,” Celia replied in a quivering voice. “I’m sorry to be such a scaredy-cat, but the very thought of people buried