about the island by day or by night; it seldom happening that so great
an enemy to peace and tranquillity appeared among his simple dependants,
as was the fact at this precise moment.

In the mean time, there was not quite as much tranquillity in Porto
Ferrajo as the profound silence which reigned in the place might have
induced a stranger to imagine. Tommaso Tonti was a man of influence,
within his sphere, as well, as the vice-governatore; and having parted
from Vito Viti, as has been related, he sought the little _clientelle _
of padroni and piloti, who were in the habit of listening to his
opinions as if they were oracles. The usual place of resort of this set,
after dark, was a certain house kept by a widow of the name of Benedetta
Galopo, the uses of which were plainly enough indicated by a small bush
that hung dangling from a short pole, fastened above the door. If
Benedetta knew anything of the proverb that "good wine needs no bush,"
she had not sufficient faith in the contents of her own casks to trust
to their reputation; for this bush of hers was as regularly renewed as
its withering leaves required. Indeed, it was a common remark among her
customers, that her bush was always as fresh as her face, and that the
latter was one of the most comely that was to be met with on the island;
a circumstance that aided much indifferent wine in finding a market.
Benedetta bore a reasonably good name, nevertheless, though it was
oftener felt, perhaps, than said, that she was a confirmed coquette. She
tolerated 'Maso principally on two accounts; because, if he were old and
unattractive in his own person, many of his followers were among the
smartest seamen of the port, and because he not only drank his full
proportion, but paid with punctuality. These inducements rendered the
pilot always a welcome guest at La Santa Maria degli Venti, as the house
was called, though it had no other sign than the often-renewed bush
already mentioned.