All and sundry made eager reply that the _corriere_ had long since gone; that it started, in fact, at 5 A.M., and that the only possible mode of reaching Cosenza that day was to hire a vehicle.
Experience of Italian travel made me suspicious, but it afterwards appeared that I had been told the truth.

Clearly, if I wished to proceed at once, I must open negotiations at my inn, and, after a leisurely meal, I did so.

Very soon a man presented himself who was willing to drive me over the mountains--at a charge which I saw to be absurd; the twinkle in his eye as he named the sum sufficiently enlightened me.

By the book it was no more than a journey of four hours; my driver declared that it would take from seven to eight.

After a little discussion he accepted half the original demand, and went off very cheerfully to put in his horses.
For an hour I rambled about the town's one street, very picturesque and rich in colour, with rushing fountains where women drew fair water in jugs and jars of antique beauty.