do with the quarrel, may be sacrificed."

This was a light in which Francis had hardly looked upon the matter
before, and he was obliged to own that even private assassination,
detestable as it was, yet caused much less suffering than feudal war.
Still, he was not disposed entirely to give in to his friend's opinion.

"That is true, Matteo; but at the same time, in a war it is fair
fighting, while a stab in the back is a cowardly business."

"It is not always fair fighting," Matteo replied. "You hear of castles
being surprised, and the people massacred without a chance of
resistance; of villages being burned, and the people butchered
unresistingly. I don't think there is so much more fairness one way
than the other. Polani knows he will have to be careful, and if he
likes he can hire bravos to put Ruggiero out of the way, just as
Ruggiero can do to remove him. There's a good deal to be said for both
sides of the question."

Francis felt this was so, and that although he had an abhorrence of the
Venetian method of settling quarrels, he saw that as far as the public
were concerned, it was really preferable to the feudal method, of both
parties calling out their retainers and going to war with each other,
especially as assassinations played no inconsiderable part in the
feudal struggles of the time.

On the Thursday night the gondola was in waiting at the agreed spot.
Francis had thought it probable that the stranger might this time ask
some questions as to where they lived and their usual place of plying
for hire, and would endeavour to find out as much as he could about