of his own boat,
and Matteo, in a state of the highest excitement, jumped from his own
boat into that of Francis.

"What is the matter, Matteo? What has happened?"

"I have terrible news, Francisco. My cousins have both disappeared."

"Disappeared!" Francis repeated in astonishment "How have they
disappeared?"

"Their father has just been round to see mine. He is half mad with
grief and anger. You know they had gone to spend the day at the
Persanis?"

"Yes, yes," Francis exclaimed; "but do go on, Matteo. Tell me all about
it, quickly."

"Well, it seems that Polani, for some reason or other, thought he would
go and fetch them himself, and at five o'clock he arrived there in his
gondola, only to find that they had left two hours before. You were
right, Francisco, it was that beldam Castaldi. She went with them there
in the morning, and left them there, and was to have come in the
gondola for them at six. At three o'clock she arrived, saying that
their father had met with a serious accident, having fallen down the
steps of one of the bridges and broken his leg, and that he had sent
her to fetch them at once.

"Of course, they left with her instantly. Polani questioned the
lackeys, who had aided them to embark. They said that the gondola was
not one of his boats, but was apparently a hired gondola, with a closed
cabin. The girls had stopped in surprise as they came down the steps,
and Maria said, 'Why, this is not our gondola!'

"Castaldi replied, 'No, no; our own gondolas had both gone off to find
and bring a leech, and as your father was urgently wanting you, I
hailed the first passing boat. Make haste, dears, your father is
longing for you.'

"So they got on board at once, and the gondola rowed swiftly away. That
is all I know about it, except that the story was a lie, that their
father never sent for them, and that up to a quarter of an hour ago
they had not reached home."

Chapter 5: Finding A Clue.

"This is awful, Matteo," Francis said, when his friend had finished his
story. "What is to be done?"

"That is just the thing, Francisco. What is to be done? My cousin has
been already to the city magistrates, to tell them what has taken
place, and to request their aid in discovering where the girls have
been carried to. I believe that he is going to put up a proclamation,
announcing that he will give a thousand ducats to whomsoever will bring
information which will enable him to recover the girls.