CHAPTER III.

"What well appointed leader fronts us here?"
KING HENRY VI.


The presence of Annina was a grave embarrassment to Gino. He had his
secret wishes and limited ambition, like other men, and among the
strongest of the former, was the desire to stand well in the favor of
the wine-seller's daughter. But the artful girl, in catering to his
palate with a liquor that was scarcely less celebrated among people of
his class for its strength than its flavor, had caused a momentary
confusion in the brain of Gino, that required time to disperse. The boat
was in the Grand Canal, and far on its way to the place of its
destination, before this happy purification of the intellects of the
gondolier had been sufficiently effected. By that time, however, the
exercise of rowing, the fresh air of the evening, and the sight of so
many accustomed objects, restored his faculties to the necessary degree
of coolness and forethought. As the boat approached the end of the canal
he began to cast his eyes about him in quest of the well known felucca
of the Calabrian.

Though the glory of Venice had departed, the trade of the city was not
then at its present low ebb. The port was still crowded with vessels
from many distant havens, and the flags of most of the maritime states
of Europe were seen, at intervals, within the barrier of the Lido. The
moon was now sufficiently high to cast its soft light on the whole of