"At any rate it is always useful to be able to go fast if necessary,
and if we did want to get away, I do not think there are many
pair-oared gondolas afloat that would overtake us, though a good four
oar might do so. Giuseppi and I are so accustomed to each other's
stroke now, that though in a heavy boat we might not be a match for two
men, in a light craft like this, where weight does not count for so
much, we would not mind entering her for a race against the two best
gondoliers on the canals, in an ordinary boat."

A few evenings later, Francis was returning homewards at about half
past ten, when, in passing along a quiet canal, the boat was hailed
from the shore.

"Shall we take him, Messer Francisco?" Giuseppi asked in a low voice;
for more than once they had late in the evening taken a fare.

Francis rowed, like Giuseppi, in his shirt, and in the darkness they
were often taken for a pair-oared gondola on the lookout for a fare.
Francis had sometimes accepted the offer, because it was an amusement
to see where the passenger wished to go--to guess whether he was a
lover hastening to keep an appointment, a gambler on a visit to some
quiet locality, where high play went on unknown to the authorities, or
simply one who had by some error missed his own gondola, and was
anxious to return home. It made no difference to him which way he
rowed. It was always possible that some adventure was to be met with,
and the fare paid was a not unwelcome addition to Giuseppi's funds.

"Yes, we may as well take him," he replied to Giuseppi's question.

"You are in no hurry to get to bed, I suppose?" the man who had hailed