new three or four by
sight; all were men of good family. Two of them belonged to the
council, but not to the inner Council of Ten. One, sitting at the top
of the table, was speaking; but although Francis applied his ear to the
hole he had made, he could hear but a confused murmur, and could not
catch the words. He now rose cautiously, scooped up the sand so as to
cover the hole in the wall, and swept a little down over the spot where
he had been lying, although he had no doubt that the breeze, which
would spring up before morning, would soon drift the light shifting
sand over it, and obliterate the mark of his recumbent figure. Then he
went round to the other side of the hut and bored another hole, so as
to obtain a view of the faces of those whose backs had before been
towards him.

One of these was Ruggiero Mocenigo. Another was a stranger to Francis,
and some difference in the fashion of his garments indicated that he
was not a Venetian, but, Francis thought, a Hungarian. The other three
were not nobles. One of them Francis recognized, as being a man of much
influence among the fishermen and sailors. The other two were unknown
to him.

As upwards of an hour had been spent in making the two holes and taking
observations, Francis thought it better now to make his way back to his
boat, especially as it was evident that he would gain nothing by
remaining longer. Therefore, after taking the same precautions as
before, to conceal all signs of his presence, he made his way across
the sands back to his gondola.

"Heaven be praised, you are back again!" Giuseppi said, when he heard
his low whistle, as he came down to the boat. "I have been in a fever
ever since I lost sight of you. Have you succeeded?"

"I have found out that there is certainly a plot of some sort being got
up, and I know some of those concerned in it, but I could hear nothing
that went on. Still, I have succeeded better than I expected, and I am
well satisfied with the night's work."

"I hope you won't come again, Messer Francisco. In the first place, you
may not always have the fortune to get away unseen. In the next place,
it is a dangerous matter to have to do with conspiracies, whichever
side you are on. The way to live long in Venice is to make no enemies."

"Yes, I know that, Giuseppi, and I haven't decided yet what to do in
the matter."

A quarter of an hour later, their fare returned to the boat. This time
they took a long detour, and, enter