Edmondo De Amicis · 1886 · sea

The June story from Cuore, and the last. An emigrant ship works its way from Liverpool to Malta with two Italian children aboard who have never met: Mario, twelve, orphaned and going to distant relatives in Sicily, and Giulietta, going home to Naples. A storm comes up, and there is one place left in the last boat.

1. 1
   Liverpool

   A ship crowded with emigrants leaves the Mersey, and two Italian children find each other on deck - Mario from Palermo, whose father the workman is dead, and Giulietta from Naples, whose aunt in London has died.

2. 2
   Gibraltar

   Through the strait and into the Mediterranean, with the two of them telling each other their whole lives in a few hours - which is what De Amicis needs the reader to have before the weather turns.

3. 3
   The storm

   The grey sky becomes a hurricane, the ship starts taking water, the boats are lost one after another, and passengers and crew go to pieces - and the two children hold on to a mast expecting to drown.

4. 4
   Malta

   The last boat has one place. Mario, who has nobody in the world, gives it to Giulietta, who has a family waiting - and stays on the deck, and the ship goes down a few moments after the boat pulls clear.