But the gorgeous display, before which even the fabled wonders of the
"Arabian Nights" were but poor affairs, did not conclude here. Following
the splendors of the marriage ceremony and the wedding-feast, came the
pageant of departure. The Grand Canal was ablaze with gorgeous colors
and decorations. The broad water-steps of the Piazza of St. Mark was
soft with carpets of tapestry, and at the foot of the stairs floated
the most beautiful boat in the world, the Bucentaur or state gondola,
of Venice. Its high, carved prow and framework were one mass of golden
decorations. White statues of the saints, carved heads of the lion of
St. Mark, the doge's cap, and the emblems of the Republic adorned
it throughout. Silken streamers of blue and scarlet floated from its
standards; and its sides were draped in velvet hangings of crimson and
royal purple. The long oars were scarlet and gold, and the rowers were
resplendent in suits of blue and silver. A great velvet-covered
throne stood on the upper deck, and at its right was a chair of state,
glistening with gold.

Down the tapestried stairway came the Doge of Venice, and, resting upon
his arm, in a white bridal dress covered with pearls, walked the girl
queen Catarina. Doge and daughter seated themselves upon their sumptuous
thrones, their glittering retinue filled the beautiful boat, the scarlet
oars dipped into the water; and then, with music playing, banners
streaming, and a grand escort of boats of every conceivable shape,
flashing in decoration and gorgeous in mingled colors, the bridal train
floated down the Grand Canal, on past the outlying islands, and between
the great fortresses to where, upon the broad Adriatic, the galleys were
waiting to take the new Queen to her island kingdom off the shores of
Greece. And there, in his queer old town of Famagusta, built with a
curious commingling of Saracen, Grecian, and Norman ideas, King Giacomo
met his bride.

So they were married, and for five happy years all went well with the
young King and Queen. Then came troubles. King Giacomo died suddenly
from a cold caught while hunting, so it was said; though some averred
that he had been poisoned, either by his half-sister Carlotta, with whom
he had contended for his throne, or by some mercenary of Venice, who
desired his realm for that voracious Republic.

But if this latter was the case, the voracious Republic of Venice was
not to find an easy prey. The young Queen Catarina procla