Proveditore from the grasp of his fierce antagonist.

"Do him no hurt!" exclaimed Marcello, so soon as he was able to speak,
seeing that the guards were disposed to handle the Uzcoque somewhat
roughly; "the secret I have won is well worth the risk. The prisoner
is Dansowich, woivode of Segna."

The fetters which the pirate had snapped with such facility, were,
upon examination, found to be filed more than half through. The
instrument by which this had been effected was sought for and
discovered, and the prisoner, having been doubly manacled, was again
left to the solitude of his cell. After directing all imaginable
vigilance to be used for the safe custody of so important a captive,
the Proveditore re-entered his gondola and was conveyed back to his
palace.

CHAPTER III.

THE PIRATES.

The desperate attempt on the life of the Proveditore, and the evidence
given by him as to the identity of the prisoner, had the result that
may be supposed, and the old Uzcoque was put to the torture. But the
ingenuity of Venetian tormentors was vainly exhausted upon him; the
most unheard of sufferings failed to extort a syllable of confession
from his lips. At last, despairing of obtaining the desired
information by these means, the senate commissioned Marcello, as one
well acquainted with the localities, to make a descent on the
Dalmatian coast, and profiting by the consternation of the Uzcoqes at
the loss of their leader, to endeavour to surprise a small fort
situated at some distance from Segna, and which was the abode of
Dansowich. In the absence of the old pirate it would probably be
carelessly guarded and easily surprised; and it was hoped that
documents would be found there, proving that which the Venetians were
so anxious to establish. Another object of the expedition was to
capture, if possible, the mysterious female who had been lately seen
more than once in Venice, and who had taken so prominent a part in the
attack on the palace of the Malipieri.

Accompanied by his son, whom for various reasons he had resolved to
take with him, Marcello went on board an armed galley, and with a
favouring breeze steered for the Dalmatian coast. He had little doubt
of accomplishing the object of his expedition with ease and safety;
for a Venetian Fleet was already blockading the channel of Segna, and
the archducal city of Fiume, where several of the Uzcoque barks were
undergoing repairs. The blockade had been instituted in conseq