"I am no stranger to the habit thy Venetian nobles have of coming to
that low colonnade at this hour, but I never before heard of their
preferring the waters of the Giudecca for their baths."

"Were even the doge to throw himself out of a gondola, he must sink or
swim, like a meaner Christian."

"Acqua dell' Adriatico! Was the young duca going to the Redentore, too,
to say his prayers?"

"He was coming back after having; but what matters it in what canal a
young noble sighs away the night! We happened to be near when the
Ancona-man performed his feat; while Giorgio and I were boiling with
rage at the awkwardness of the stranger, my master, who never had much
taste or knowledge in gondolas, went into the water to save the young
lady from sharing the fate of her uncle."

"Diavolo! This is the first syllable thou hast uttered concerning any
young lady, or of the death of her uncle!"

"Thou wert thinking of thy Tunis-man, and hast forgotten. I must have
told thee how near the beautiful signora was to sharing the fate of the
gondola, and how the loss of the Roman marchese weighs, in addition, on
the soul of the padrone."

"Santo Padre! That a Christian should die the death of a hunted dog by
the carelessness of a gondolier!"

"It may have been lucky for the Ancona-man that it so fell out; for they