passed that her
wrinkled countenance did not hover round his pillow, now partially
shrouded by the ample veil, then again fully exposed and apparently
exulting in its unearthly ugliness; or else peering at him from behind
the drapery that covered the walls of his apartment. In vain did he
attempt to address the vision, or to follow it as it gradually receded
and finally melted away into distance.

It was from a dream of this description that he was one morning
awakened by his faithful gondolier Jacopo. The sun was shining
brightly through his chamber windows, and he heard an unusual degree
of noise and bustle upon the canal without.

"Up, Signor mio!" cried the gondolier joyously, and with a mixture of
respect and affectionate familiarity in his tone and manner. "Up,
Signor Antonio! You were not wont to oversleep yourself on the day of
the Bridge Fight. All Venice is hastening thither. Quick, quick! or we
shall never be able to make our way through the press of gondolas."

The words of the gondolier reminded Antonio that this was the day
appointed for the celebration of a festival, which for weeks past had
been looked forward to with the greatest impatience and interest, by
Venetians of all ranks, ages, and sexes; a festival which he himself
was in the habit of regularly attending, though on this occasion his
preoccupied thoughts and feelings had made him utterly unconscious
that it was so near at hand.

Although the ancient and bitter hatred of the Guelphs and Ghibellines
had died away, and the factions which divided northern Italy had sunk
into insignificance, nearly a century before this period, the memory
of their feuds was still kept up by their great grandchildren, and
Venice was still severed into two parties or communities, separated
from each other by the grand canal. Those who dwelt on the western or
land side of this boundary were styled the Nicolotti, after the parish
of San Nicolo; while those on the eastern or sea side took the
appellation of Castellani, from the district of Castello. Not only the
inhabitants of the city itself, but those of the suburbs and
neighbouring country, were included in these two denominations; the
people from Mestre and the continent ranging themselves under the
banners of the Nicolotti, while those from the islands were strenuous
Castellani.

The frequent and sanguinary conflicts of the Guelphs and Ghibellines
were now replaced and commemorated by a popular festival, occu