The
interior was quite deserted; except that a Roman, of respectable
appearance, was making a pilgrimage at the altars, kneeling and saying a
prayer at each one.
Outside of the Coliseum, a neat-looking little boy came and begged of me;
and I gave him a baiocco, rather because he seemed to need it so little
than for any other reason. I observed that he immediately afterwards
went and spoke to a well-dressed man, and supposed that the child was
likewise begging of him. I watched the little boy, however, and saw
that, in two or three other instances, after begging of other
individuals, he still returned to this well-dressed man; the fact being,
no doubt, that the latter was fishing for baiocci through the medium of
his child,--throwing the poor little fellow out as a bait, while he
himself retained his independent respectability. He had probably come
out for a whole day's sport; for, by and by, he went between the arches
of the Coliseum, followed by the child, and taking with him what looked
like a bottle of wine, wrapped in a handkerchief.
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