hat as they came within sight
of the church, Zorzi had slackened his pace, and that an unholy fire
had issued from his eyes, his mouth and his nostrils, while he made
strange signs in the air with his crutch, and suddenly grew to a
gigantic stature. The devils who were his companions had immediately
appeared in great numbers, and though the archers had fought against
their supernatural adversaries with the courage of heroes, they had been
struck down senseless where they stood; and when they had recovered
their sight and their other understanding, Zorzi had long since vanished
to the kingdom of darkness which was his natural abode.

Those things the officer told the Governor on the next day, and the men
solemnly swore to them, and they were all written down by the official
scribe. But the Governor raised one eyebrow a little, and the corners of
his mouth twitched strangely, though he made no remark upon what had
been said. He remembered, however, that Giovanni had advised him to send
a very strong force to arrest the lame young man, from which he argued
that Zorzi had powerful friends, and that Giovanni knew it. He then
visited the scene of the fight, and saw that there were drops of blood
on dry stones, which was not astonishing and which gave no clue whatever
to the identity of the rescuers. He pointed out quietly to his guide,
the man who had only received a ducking, that there were no signs of
fire on the pavement nor on the walls of the houses, which was a strong
argument against any theory of diabolical intervention; and this the man
was reluctantly obliged to admit. The strangest thing, however, was
that the people who lived near by seemed to have heard no noise, though
one old man, who slept badly, believed that he had heard the clatter of
wood and iron falling together, and then a splashing in the canal; and
indeed those were almost the only sounds that had disturbed the night.
The whole affair was shrouded in mystery, and the Governor, who knew
that his men were to be trusted as far as their limited intelligence
could go, resolved to refer the matter to the Council of Ten without
delay. He therefore bade the archers hold their tongues and refuse to
talk of their misadventure.

On that night Giovanni had suffered the greatest disappointment he
remembered in his whole life. He had found without much trouble the
stone that rang hollow, but it had cost him great pains to lift it, and
the sweat ran down from his f