o follow after. The crowd of boats of every kind,
gondolas, sandolos, barchettas, batteias, and the score of floating
things that only your true Venetian knows by name, became so closely
packed in the more restricted limits of the Canareggio, that it was
impossible for Pietro to get near the sea-horse on the red ground,
floating so conspicuous, yet so aggravatingly unapproachable a few rods
ahead. He did succeed, however, in forcing a passage after it, and he
made his way to the three-arched bridge which spans the Canareggio, and
under which he passed to a good point of view. Here they were obliged to
tie to a totally uninteresting gondola, with the width of the closely
packed canal between their own and the Colonel's boat. They had been
carried somewhat farther along the canal than the others, but Pietro
managed to turn his long bark about so that his _padroni_ should face
the bridge, which brought Vittorio's gondola also in their line of
vision, and there were friendly wavings of hats and parasols between the
two.

Presently the procession drew near, and crossed the bridge, banners
waving, candles flaming, priests intoning. The band struck up, and the
voices of the priests were drowned in the songs of the choristers.

The quay, on either hand, was crowded with people in gala dress, and
from every window, the whole length of the canal, bright flags and
stuffs depended, shawls and variegated quilts, table-cloths, and rugs,
whatever would take on a festal air in the sunshine. Beautiful silken
banners, too, waved from lines that spanned the canal, high above the
heads of the floating populace, their painted Saints and Madonnas shot
luminously through by the level rays of the sun.

As the procession passed on down the quay, and the high priest drew
near, bearing the Host under its embroidered canopy, the throngs on the
_fondamenta_ dropped on their knees to catch the scattered blessing,
rising again, an instant later, one group after another, which gave to
the line of figures an undulating motion, as of a long, sinuous body,
coiling and uncoiling.

The pleasure of Vittorio's passengers was not a little heightened by the
proximity of Nanni's old gondola, which lay only one boat's width
removed from their own, and was filled to overflowing with the wives and
children of his two gondolier brothers. The Signorinas were by this time
on terms of intimacy with Vittorio's family, their chief pet among the
children being the sm