through the Colonnades of Venice.

It was midnight; and still sat a stranger, solitary and sad, on the
border of the great canal. Now with a glance he measured the
battlements and proud towers of the city; and now he fixed his
melancholy eyes upon the waters with a vacant stare. At length he
spoke -

"Wretch that I am, whither shall I go? Here sit I in Venice, and
what would it avail to wander further? What will become of me? All
now slumber, save myself! the Doge rests on his couch of down; the
beggar's head presses his straw pillow; but for ME there is no bed
except the cold, damp earth! There is no gondolier so wretched but
he knows where to find work by day and shelter by night--while _I_--
while _I_--Oh! dreadful is the destiny of which I am made the
sport!"

He began to examine for the twentieth time the pockets of his
tattered garments.

"No! not one paolo, by heavens!--and I hunger almost to death."

He unsheathed his sword; he waved it in the moonshine, and sighed,
as he marked the glittering of the steel.

"No, no, my old true companion, thou and I must never part. Mine
thou shalt remain, though I starve for it. Oh, was not that a
golden time when Valeria gave thee to me, and when she threw the
belt over my shoulder, I kissed thee and Valeria? She has deserted
us for another world, but thou and I will never part in this."