The story was written out of a full heart, with the hope that it might
foster the love and appreciation of birds, and that the boy's sacrifice of
his precious homing pigeon to his country at a time of peril might carry an
ethical appeal to every young reader.
THE AUTHOR
CONTENTS
I. OLD PAOLO
II. ANDREA'S WISH
III. MARIA'S BIRTHDAY
IV. CHICO
V. THE MEANEST CAT IN VENICE
VI. TRAINING
VII. DANGER AHEAD!
VIII. A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE
IX. "COO-OO, COO-OO-OO. RUK-AT-A-COO"
X. A GALA DAY
XI. A LITTLE JOURNEY IN THE WORLD
XII. THE BLUE ROSETTE
XIII. AND ALL FOR ITALY!
XIV. EVVIVA VENEZIA! EVVIVA ITALIA!
XV. THE HERO OF THE SQUARE
[Illustration: CHICO]
CHAPTER I
OLD PAOLO
Some years before the Great War, there lived in a little house on one of
the side canals of Venice, an honest workman and his family. Giovanni
Minetti, for such was his name, was employed in a certain glass factory in
Murano, while, in all Venice, there was no one with fingers more deft in
the making of beautiful lace than Luisa, his wife.
At the time of our story, Andrea, the elder child, was nearly eight, and
his little sister, Maria, two years younger.
Consigning the children to the care of her uncle (old Paolo, the caretaker
of St. Mark's), Luisa would go each morning to the lace factory, returning
just in time to prepare the simple dinner, at eventide.
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