Irst when the people had gathered in their places, high and low, and
already thronged the street from side to side, there was a distant
rattle of scabbards and a thunder of hoofs, and all fell back, crowding
and climbing upon one another, to let a score of cavalrymen trot
through, clearing the way for the carriages of the 'Senator' and
Municipality, which drove from end to end of the Corso with their
scarlet and yellow liveries, before any other vehicles were allowed to
pass, or any pelting with 'confetti' began. But on the instant when they
had gone by, the showers began, right, left, upwards, downwards, like
little storms of flowers and snow in the afternoon sunshine, and the
whole air was filled with the laug