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after the miracle
257
Pharo, and gained all the knowledge they could.
They measured how far it ought to be between the
rails, and Donna Micaela drew on a piece of paper
how the tracks crossed each other at the stations.
It was not difficult. They felt sure that they would
be able to get on by themselves.
That day there seemed to be no obstacles. It
was not more difficult to build a station than a
common house, they said. Besides, a couple of stations
was all that was needed. At most of the stopping
places a small hood would be sufficient.
If they only could avoid forming a company,
taking fine gentlemen into their service, and doing
such things which cost money, the railroad would no
doubt be brought about. It would not be expensive.
Ground it would probably get for nothing. The
grand gentlemen who owned the land on Etna
would surely see the benefits they would derive from
the railroad and allow it to pass free across their
ground.
They did not care to have the course laid down
beforehand. They would start at Diamante, and
proceed little by little till they reached Catania. Why,
one had only to begin and lay a little strip each
day. That was not so very difficult.
After that journey they commenced to try to
build the road alone. Don Ferrante had not left
behind a large inheritance for Donna Micaela. It
was, however, a good thing, that he had given her a
large tract of lava-covered waste ground on Etna.
Here Giovanni and Carmelo began to clear for the
new railroad.
When this work began, the railroad builders owned
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