The clock tower, the Ducal Palace, the Campanile--they are all there,
beautiful as ever, and now as ever stands St. Mark's Church, sharing the
joy of her people as she has sympathized with them in their sorrow.
Perchance, reader, you may yourself sometime visit this city of "Beautiful
Nonsense," and, if so, may call "Chico, Chico!" and look to see if one of
the fluttering pigeons that so contentedly coo about the Square will not
come and light upon your shoulder.
Should you be so fortunate as to catch a glimpse of an aeroplane circling
in the blue sky, you may risk a guess that the aviator is Andrea, in the
government employ.
You may even learn that he wears a medal ever about his neck and that
sometimes he carries with him Chico as a mascot: sometimes, but not always,
for little Pepita is sadly lonesome when her faithful mate is long away.
Who knows but that in the future this story of a homing pigeon may have a
place with the other memories of this wonderful city, and that, five or six
hundred years from now, children may gather about some old caretaker of St.
Mark's and listen, with fascinated attention, as he tells of the service
rendered Venice by a homing pigeon in the time of the Great War?
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, CHICO: THE STORY OF A HOMING PIGEON ***
This file should be named chico10.txt or chico10.zip
Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, chico11.txt
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