"This comes, Signore, of the accursed art of writing, which is much pushed
and greatly abused of late. I have heard the aged watermen of the Leman
praise the good old time, when boxes and bales went and came, and no ink
touched paper between him that sent and him that carried; and yet it has
now reached the pass that a christian may not transport himself on his own
legs without calling on the scriveners for permission!"

"We lose the moments in words, when it were far better to be doing,"
returned the Signore Grimaldi. "The pass is luckily in the language of the
country, and needs but a glance to get the approval of the authorities.
Thou wilt do well to say thou canst remain the time necessary to see this
little done."

"Were your excellency to offer me the Doge's crown as a bribe, this could
not be. Our Leman winds will not wait for king or noble, bishop or priest,
and duty to those I have in the bark commands me to quit the port as soon
as possible."

"Thou art truly well charged with living freight already," said the
Genoese, regarding the deeply loaded bark with a half-distrustful eye 'I
hope thou hast not overdone thy vessel's powers in receiving so many?"

"I could gladly reduce the number a little, excellent Signore, for all
that you see piled among the boxes and tubs are no better than so many
knaves, fit only to give trouble and raise questions touching the
embarkation of those who are willing to pay better than themselves. The
noble Swiss, whom you see seated near the stern, with his daughter and
people, the worthy Melchior de Willading, gives a more liberal reward for
his passage to Vévey than all those nameless rogues together."