A few days later Ragazzo came in for a big surprise. Mary
Sherwood, the shop assistant, fell ill. It was Mary whom Carlo relied on to go
regularly to the Great Exhibition to dust the Gatti's model chocolate machine,
to set out samples of their chocolate and to see that all was in order. That
morning there was no-one else to go. Signor Carlo was busy, Battista and Julian
were in the kitchen and so Carlo had insisted that Maria should go in Mary's
stead. The Signora was not pleased. Rosa said she wanted to go too and clung,
crying to her mother. When Carlo refused, she threw an angry tantrum. At last
Carlo, exasperated by so much temperament, had bundled Maria out of the house.
"My dear, Ragazzo will go with you, to carry the basket," and as the bus
clattered up, he had paid the conductor two threepenny fares to make sure there
would be no mistake about their getting there.
It was crowded in the bus. Maria was squashed between an elderly gentleman in a frock coat and a fat woman with a very large basket, whilst Ragazzo stood awkwardly by. The woman had said something to the Signora, but as Maria understood and spoke little English, she could not reply; and recognising her as a foreigner, the fat woman turned away to pass the time of day with other passengers.
The Signora looked ashamed and uncomfortable. Ragazzo knew that she hated going out alone in London. She was confused by the noise and the traffic and like him, afraid of meeting people she could not understand. She fussed and fretted. "We're so late," she whispered. We must get there before the doors open to the public." But the bus seemed to go slower and slower and was constantly held up. By the time they got to Hyde Park at nine o'clock the traffic seemed to have come to a standstill.
Some of the passengers on the open top deck climbed down,
complaining to the conductor that it was quicker to walk.
"Don't blame me,
sir. It'll be like this all week till Friday. All these people are going to the
Exhibition for just one shilling."
"A disgraceful waste of time." said the
elderly gentleman.
"Entrance fee came down at the end of the month, guvnor
and since then they've been pouring in thick and fast."
As they alighted in Knightsbridge, the people did indeed pour past them, jostling and laughing. There were groups up from the country, families with their children, elderly couples, two young curates, a band of lads larking around and some bearded gentlemen whom Maria guessed came from the continent. Once Ragazzo heard the sound of an Italian tongue and strained to see who it might be.
And then as they turned into the Kensington Road, there it was, the Great Crystal Palace, stretching as far as the eye could see, tier upon tier of glass, topped with fluttering flags and set amongst lawns and trees. Ragazzo stared and stared.
"Come along, Ragazzo." Already there were great crowds of people waiting for the doors to open. With some difficulty Maria led the way, pushing through the people to the Exhibitors' entrance. Showing her ticket, they passed through into the building. It was certainly not Maria's first visit to the Exhibition, but once again she was overwhelmed by the size and scale of the place, the sunshine streaming in through the thousands of glass panes and lighting up the great crystal fountain which stood in the very centre of the Palace, the water leaping and sparkling like the streams which poured down the mountainside in her homeland.
To Ragazzo it was like another world. He stood amazed, dwarfed by everything around him. "Come along, Ragazzo." Maria hurried towards the Moving Machinery section, past giant steam presses and cotton looms. Ragazzo followed, confused and dogged. Finally she stopped in front of a row of models - models of every size and description, set out on a long table.
Ragazzo recognised the model at once, but how grand it looked, set under a beautiful glass dome, with its label which read Gatti and Bolla. Manufacturers of French and Italian Chocolate.
Maria took off her shawl, took a duster from the basket and began to polish the glass case. Then she took off the dome and dusted the model itself, checked that it was working and reset the label before it. While she was there she could operate the model and give away the little leaflet Carlo had prepared, but secretly she hoped no-one would come and ask her about it.
Whilst she unpacked the tablets of chocolate, Ragazzo timidly
approached.
"Don't touch it, Ragazzo," Maria warned, "Here you can set out
these tablets in the front there." Then she took out a big bag of chocolate
drops and poured them into a shallow dish. "These will go quickly enough once
the crowds arrive, especially the silvered ones, Battista's speciality." Then
she added "I wonder who's on duty upstairs in the Flower section. Signor
Agostino has an exhibit there. Suppose you go up to the Gallery and find out.
Now don't look so stupid. Go straight back to the great fountain. There you'll
see the stairs opposite. Up the steps and turn right. You'll recognise the
flowers soon enough. And don't get lost!"
Ragazzo was terrified. He was already lost.
"Go on, off you
go." He turned away, walking blindly between the great machines. Already the
assistants were beginning to warm up the steam presses, wheels were slowly
turning and behind him there was a sudden hiss of steam. As he moved quickly
into the main concourse, a huge railway engine loomed over him. Above him hung
a great reflecting cage. To his left he saw a whole section full of carriages
of every kind. Desperately he looked around for the fountain. Ah, there it was,
close to a great warrior on horseback.
Timidly he made his way towards the fountain. As he walked along there were stalls set out with all kinds of goods, beautiful furs and feathers, rich cloth embossed with gold, vases, statues, and then very simple ordinary things like grates, and china and cutlery and scissors and products of all kinds from foreign countries in jars and bags and bottles. There was coffee there and cocoa beans like they had in the shop! It was only when he looked up that he saw the elephant - an enormous elephant with long white tusks, adorned with rich draperies, a great golden carriage on its back and beside it, dusky men in foreign-looking clothes; long coats and pantaloons, turbans and sashes. For a moment he thought they were all real and then he saw they were life-size models. He stood gazing at the elephant for a long time. What must it be like to ride on an elephant. For a moment he imagined himself a prince riding in a great procession. Then, remembering his task, he found the stairs and began his climb to the gallery above. As he went up, he saw to his amazement that there was a real tree towering up beside him. Above its topmost branches the arched glass roof had enclosed it within the Palace.
