and Hannah, white with fright, had the girl in her arms.

"Oh, my dear child!" she wailed. "My precious lamb! Thank goodness, you
are safe. Think if you'd been drowned before you had had a chance to
see Venice at all! But you are quite safe now, honey. Don't be
frightened. Young man," and she turned to the boy, "that was a good
deed of yours. What is your name? But there--how silly to be asking him
when he can't understand a word I'm saying. I forgot no one could
understand anything in this queer, upside-down town where the streets
are water when they ought to be land."

To her utter astonishment, however, the boy answered in English, which,
although slightly broken, was perfectly intelligible.

"My name is Giusippe Cicone."

"Say it again," demanded Hannah. "Say it more slowly."

"Giusippe Cicone."

"Giusippe," echoed Hannah, "Giusippe Cicone. There! Giusippe Cicone. I
got it better that time. Giusippe Cicone. Now I have it! Well, Master
Giusippe Cicone, it was very good of you to save this little lady from
a ducking in your canal which, if I may be permitted to say so, is not
as clean as it might be. We are very much obliged to you, and here is
some money to pay you for being so quick."

The boy shook his head.

"I could not take money for saving the senorita from the water,"
protested he proudly. "I was glad to do it. I could not take pay."

"Well, I thank you very much," Jean ventured shyly.

He helped Hannah and the girl into the waiting gondola and then stood
on the steps shading his eyes with his brown hand as the gondolier made
his way to the oar.

"Perhaps you can tell us where we can find you if we should want to see
you again," called Hannah as the distance between them widened.

"Certainly. I am at Murano." He pointed across the lagoon to a distant
island.

"Murano?"

"Yes, I work there. Every one knows me at the glass works."

[Illustration: "EVERY ONE KNOWS ME AT THE GLASS WORKS"]

He waved his hand and was soon lost to sight.

"I do wonder who he is," speculated Jean, who had now quite recovered
from her fright and could smile at the memory of the episode. "And how
strange that he understood English!"

"I don't call it strange," Hannah responded. "English is the only
sensible language, and probably this boy realizes it. I think it speaks
well for his discrimination."

"Anyway, he was a gentleman not to take the money; and yet he looked
poor," reflected the girl.

"One may be a ge