【正文】 21 which on a clear day Mont Blanc and the Alps can be distinctly seen Passengers who may wish to extend the time at Paris can do so and passing down through Switzerland rejoin the steamer at Genoa From Marseilles to Genoa is a run of one night The excursionists will have an opportunity to look over this the magnificent city of palaces and visit the birthplace of Columbus twelve miles off over a beautiful road built by Napoleon I From this point excursions may be made to Milan Lakes Como and Maggiore or to Milan Verona famous for its extraordinary fortifications Padua and Venice Or if passengers desire to visit Parma famous for Correggios frescoes and Bologna they can by rail go on to Florence and r any who may prefer to go to Rome from that point the distance will be made in about thirtysix hours the route will lay along the coast of Italy close by Caprera Elba and Corsica Arrangements have been made to take on board at Leghorn a pilot for Caprera and if practicable a call will be made there to visit the home of Garibaldi long the east coast of Sicily and in sight of Mount Etna along the south coast of Italy the west and south coast of Greece in sight of ancient Crete up Athens Gulf and into the Piraeus Athens will be reached in two and a half or three days After tarrying here awhile the Bay of Salamis will be crossed and a day given to Corinth whence the voyage will be continued to Constantinople passing on the way through the Grecian Archipelago the Dardanelles the Sea of Marmora and the mouth of the Golden Horn and arriving in about fortyeight hours from Athens o its not I said Its my mother Oh Bysshe reached for the receiver Why isnt she using her signature Because she knows I dont want to talk to her She must have found out what Perditas done Your daughter Perdita he asked holding the receiver against his chest The one with the little girl No thats Viola Perditas my younger daughter The one with no sense Whats she done Shes joined the Cyclists Bysshe looked enquiringly blank but I was not in the mood to enlighten him Or in the mood to talk to Mother I know exactly what Mother will say Shell ask me why I didnt tell her and then shell demand to know what Im going to do about it and there is nothing I can do about it or I obviously would have done it already Bysshe looked bewildered Do you want me to tell her youre in court No I reached for the receiver Ill have to talk to her sooner or later I took it from him Hello Mother I said Traci Mother said dramatically Perdita has bee a Cyclist I know Why didnt you tell me I thought Perdita should tell you herself Perdita She snorted She wouldnt tell me She knows what Id have to say about it I suppose you told Karen Karens not here Shes in Iraq The only good thing about this whole debacle was that thanks to Iraqs eagerness to show it was a responsible world munity member and its previous penchant for selfdestruction my motherinlaw was in the one place on the planet where the phone service was bad enough that I could claim Id tried to call her but couldnt get through and shed have to believe me The Liberation has freed us from all sorts of indignities and scourges including Iraqs Saddams but mothersinlaw arent one of them and I was almost happy with Perdita for her excellent timing When I didnt want to kill her WhatI think Viola interrupted we should try to talk her into just going off the ammenerol for a few months instead of having the shunt removed If she es Which she wont Why not Would you I mean its like the Inquisition Her sitting here while all of us explain at her Perdita may be crazy but shes not stupid Its hardly the Inquisition Mother said She looked anxiously past me toward the door Im sure Perdita She stopped stood up and plunged off suddenly through the asparagus I turned around halfexpecting Perdita with lightup lips or a fullbody tattoo but I couldnt see through the leaves I pushed at the branches Is it Perdita Viola said leaning forward I peered around the mulberry bush Oh my God I said It was my motherinlaw wearing a black abayah and a silk yarmulke She swept toward us through a pumpkin patch robes billowing and eyes flashing Mother hurried in her wake of trampled radishes looking daggers at me I turned them on Viola Its your grandmother Karen I said accusingly You told me you didnt get through to her I didnt she said Twidge sit up straight And put your slate down There was an ominous rustling in the rose arbor as of leaves shrinking back in terror and my motherinlaw arrived Karen I said trying to sound pleased What on earth are you doing here I thought you were in Baghdad I came back as soon as I got Violas message she said glaring at everyone in turn Whos this she demanded pointing at Bysshe Violas new livein No Bysshe said looking horrified This is my law clerk Mother I said Bysshe AdamsHardy Twidge why arent you in school I am Twidge said Im remoting She held up her slate See Math I see she said turning to glower at me Its a serious enough matter to require my greatgrandchilds being pulled out of school and the hiring of legal assistance and yet you didnt deem it important enough to notify me Of course you never tell me anything Traci She swirled herself into the end chair sending leaves and sweet pea blossoms flying and decapitating the broccoli centerpiece I didnt get Violas cry for help until yesterday