alk. Now you are back I will take an hour's nap,
and I should advise you to do the same."

But Francis had no thought of sleep, and sat down at his end of the
gondola, wondering over the adventure, and considering whether or not
it would be worth while to follow it up another night. That it was a
plot of some sort he had little doubt. There were always in Venice two
parties, equally anxious perhaps for the prosperity of the republic,
but differing widely as to the means by which that prosperity would be
best achieved, and as to the alliances which would, in the long run,
prove most beneficial to her. There were also needy and desperate men
ready enough to take bribes from any who might offer them, and to
intrigue in the interest of Padua or Ferrara, Verona, Milan, or
Genoa--whichever might for the time be their paymasters.

Francis was English, but he had been long enough in Venice to feel a
pride in the island city, and to be almost as keenly interested in her
fortunes as were his companions and friends; and a certain sense of
duty, mingled with his natural love of adventure, decided him to follow
up the chance which had befallen him, and to endeavour to ascertain the
nature of the plot which was, he had little doubt, being hatched at San
Nicolo.

In a very few minutes the regular breathing of Giuseppi, who had curled
himself up in the bottom of the boat, showed that he had gone to sleep;
and he did not stir until, an hour and a half after the return of
Francis, the latter heard the fall of footsteps approaching the
gondola.

"Wake up, Giuseppi, here comes our fare!"

Francis stood up and stretched himself as the stranger came alongside,
as if he too had been fast asleep.

"Take me back to the spot where I hailed you," the fare said briefly,
as he stepped into the boat and threw himself back on the cushions, and
without a word the lads dipped their oars in the water and the gondola
glided away towards Venice.

Just as they reached the mouth of the Grand Canal, and were about to
turn into it, a six-oared gondola shot out from under the point, and a
voice called out:

"Stop, in the name of the republic, and give an account of yourselves!"

"Row on," the passenger exclaimed, starting up. "Ten ducats if you can
set me safely on shore."

Had the lads been real gondoliers, it is probable that even this
tempting offer would not have induced them to disregard the order from
the galley, for they would have run no s