"I should
be too thankful," he added.
"Why certainly," said poppa, much gratified. "I see you spikkum
English," he added encouragingly.
"I speak--um, _si_. I have learned some--a few of them. But O very
baddili I speak them!"
"I guess that's just your modesty," said poppa kindly. "But that's not
an English paper, you know--it's published in New York."
"Ah!" he exclaimed with enthusiasm. "That will be much _much_ the more
pleasurable for me." His eyes shone with feeling. "In Italy," he added
with an impulsive gesture, "we love the American peoples beyond the
Londonian. We always remember that it was an Italian, Cristoforo
Col----"
"I know," said poppa. "Very nice of you. But what's your reason now, for
preferring Americans as a nation?"
We saw our first Italian shrug. It is more prolonged, more sentimental
than French ones. In this case it expressed the direct responsibility of
Fate.
"I think," he said, "that they are more _simpatica_--sympatheticated to
us." He seemed to be unaware of me, but his eye rested upon momma at
this point, and took her into his confidence.
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