third person who has to be treated with caution. As we parted company,
the officer said,

"You shall hear from me to-morrow."

"Where, and how?"

"Never mind that."

The next morning the servant announced an officer; it was my man. After
we had exchanged the usual compliments, after I had thanked him for the
honour he had done me the day before, I asked him to tell me his name. He
answered me in the following manner, speaking with great fluency, but
without looking at me:

"My name is P---- C----. My father is rich, and enjoys great consideration
at the exchange; but we are not on friendly terms at present. I reside in
St. Mark's Square. The lady you saw with me was a Mdlle. O----; she is
the wife of the broker C----, and her sister married the patrician
P---- M----. But Madame C---- is at variance with her husband on my
account, as she is the cause of my quarrel with my father.

"I wear this uniform in virtue of a captaincy in the Austrian service,
but I have never served in reality. I have the contract for the supply of
oxen to the City of Venice, and I get the cattle from Styria and Hungary.
This contract gives me a net profit of ten thousand florins a year; but
an unforeseen embarrassment, which I must remedy; a fraudulent
bankruptcy, and some extraordinary expenditure, place me for the present
in monetary difficulties. Four years ago I heard a great deal about you,
and wished very much to make your acquaintance; I firmly believe that it