s broad as he was long and had a dozen pistols and knives in
his belt, his courage was not equal to his ferocious appearance. From a
business point of view, the Venetian Bravi were children in his hands;
but when they came quite near to him, one on each side, and spoke slowly
and clearly in their determined way, the tremendous Markos felt his
bravery shrink within him till it seemed to rattle like a dry pea shaken
in a steel cuirass, and the amount of money he actually advanced on the
ring was considerable; he even consented to let Gambardella seal the six
jars of Samos wine, which formed part of the loan, with the heavy brass
seal ring the Bravo wore, on which was engraved the Bear of the Ursuline
Order of Nuns, with a few words in Gothic characters. One of many things
which Trombin did not know about his companion was the story of that
ring and how Gambardella had become possessed of it.

So the transaction was duly terminated, and when Markos had at last
parted with his money and his fine old wine, his jolly face cleared once
more; for, after all, he had not lost by the bargain, though he had not
made much, and the good-will of the two most famous and dangerous
cut-throats in all the Venetian territory was worth something to a man
who always lived more or less on the outer edge of the law.

Half-an-hour later bliss descended upon the companions as they sat at
table in their favourite place, a sort of alcove or niche in the general
hall of the eating-house, whence they could see and hear all that went
on, without being too much disturbed in their enjoyment of the good
things set before them. The place was brightly lighted by several scores
of lamps fed with mingled oil, tallow, and camphor, and fastened on
large wooden rings that hung from the high ceiling. The smoke floated up
to the blackened beams, and found its way out through a small
clere-story window at one end, and the light below was clear and soft.
Thirty or forty guests were seated at tables of different sizes, and
amongst them was a fair scattering of handsome women, mostly dressed in
silks and satins of bright colours, and wearing jewels that sparkled
when they moved. The men were of all sorts: there were a few
good-looking young Venetian nobles, who had laid aside their cloaks and
outer coats, and sat in their doublets and lace collars; there were two
rich English travellers, in dark velvet, their long fair locks carefully
combed and curled in the manner