past ten of a night. I may want you suddenly."

Before going to sleep that night, Francis thought the matter over
seriously, and finally concluded that he would have no more to do with
it. No doubt, by crossing over to San Nicolo in the daytime, he might
be able to loosen a plank at the back of the hut, or to cut so large an
opening that he could hear, as well as see, what was going on within;
but supposing he discovered that a plot was on hand in favour of the
enemies of Venice, such as Padua or Hungary, what was he to do next? At
the best, if he denounced it, and the officers of the republic
surrounded the hut when the conspirators were gathered there, arrested
them, and found upon them, or in their houses, proofs sufficient to
condemn them, his own position would not be enviable. He would gain,
indeed, the gratitude of the republic; but as for rewards, he had no
need of them. On the other hand, he would draw upon himself the enmity
of some eight or ten important families, and all their connections and
followers, and his life would be placed in imminent danger. They would
be all the more bitter against him, inasmuch as the discovery would not
have been made by accident, but by an act of deliberate prying into
matters which concerned him in no way, he not being a citizen of the
republic.

So far his action in the matter had been a mere boyish freak; and now
that he saw it was likely to become an affair of grave importance,
involving the lives of many persons, he determined to have nothing
further to do with it.



Chapter 3: On The Grand Canal.