is fated will
happen.'

'That is heresy, Donna Pina,' said Cucurullo gravely, for he was much
shocked to hear a fellow-servant express such a highly unorthodox
sentiment. 'It is a heresy condemned by the Fathers of the Church, and
especially by Saint Thomas.'

'He never lived my life!' objected Pina with a sharp little laugh; and
she poured out two fingers of sour white wine and drank it.

'If the Maestro had thought as you do when I was thrown overboard, I
should have drowned,' said Cucurullo quietly.

'When did that happen?' asked Pina, interested at once.

'It was on a small vessel coming from Naples to Civita Vecchia, five
years ago, after my mother died,' said Cucurullo. 'I was coming to Rome
because I hoped to get some clerk's work, having had some little
instruction, and the Maestro was one of the two or three passengers in
the cabin. He was hardly known then, being very young, and indeed he was
running away from a Neapolitan princess who was too much in love with
him. Well, at first the captain was glad to have me on board, and the
crew made much of me, believing that the hunchback would bring them luck
and a quick passage. But we had not got as far as Gaeta when a storm
came up and we were driven out to sea. It grew worse and worse for two
days and nights, and our sails were torn, and other accidents happened,
which I did not understand. Then the crew and the captain began to look
askance at me, and I heard them say among themselves that I was the
wrong kind of hunchback and had the Evil Eye; and just when it seemed as
if the weather were moderating, and the sun had shone out for half an
hour, the clouds in the south-west got as black as ink, and one could
see the white foam driving towards us below them. Then, when the captain
saw that there was no time to be lost, he ordered the men to throw me
overboard, saying that I was Jonah and Judas Iscariot in one, and that
nothing else could save the ship. They took me by my arms and feet and
swung me twice and then threw me clean over the side; but I had already
shut my eyes and was beginning to say the De profundis as well as I
could. I had hardly finished the first versicle when I struck the water,
and I was indeed crying unto the Lord out of the depths, for I cannot
swim, and my end was clearly at hand.'

'How awful!' cried Pina in a low voice.

'I never was in greater danger,' said Cucurullo gravely, 'and my mouth
was already full of salt water. But I di