.

"I could tell you many such stories," he said. "Things of this kind
often happen at sea."

"Really!" exclaimed the gondolier, who was only a boatman and regarded
real sailors with a sort of professional reverence.

"Yes," answered Pasquale. "Especially on Sundays. You must know that
when the priests are all saying mass, and the people are all praying,
the devils cannot bear it, and are driven out to sea for the day. Very
strange things happen then, I assure you. Some day I will tell you how
the boatswain of a ship I once sailed in rove the end of the devil's
tail through a link of the chain, made a Flemish knot at the end to stop
it, and let go the anchor. So the devil went to the bottom by the run.
We unshackled the chain and wore the ship to the wind, and after that we
had fair weather to the end of the voyage. It happened on a Sunday."

"Marvellous!" cried the gondolier. "I should like to hear the whole
story! But if you will allow me, I will go in and tell the Signor
Giovanni what has happened, for he does not know yet."

Pasquale grinned as he stood in the doorway.

"He has given strict orders that no one is to be admitted this morning,
as he is very busy."

"But this is a very important matter," argued the gondolier, who wished
to have the pleasure of telling the tale.

"I cannot help it," answered Pasquale. "Those are his orders, and I must
obey them. You know what his temper is, when he is not pleased."

Just then a skiff came up the canal at a great rate, so that the quick
strokes of the oar attracted the men's attention. They saw that the boat
was one of those that could be hired everywhere in Venice. The oarsman
backed water with a strong stroke and brought to at the steps before the
glass-house.

"Are you not Messer Angelo Beroviero's gondolier?" he inquired civilly.

"Yes," answered the man addressed, "I am the head gondolier, at your
service."

"Thank you," replied the boatman. "I am to tell you that Messer Angelo
has just arrived in Venice by sea, from Rimini, on board the _Santa
Lucia_, a Neapolitan galliot now at anchor in the Giudecca. He desires
you to bring his gondola at once to fetch him, and I am to bring over
his baggage in my skiff."

The gondolier uttered an exclamation of surprise, and then turned to
Pasquale.

"I go," he said. "Will you tell the Signor Giovanni that his father is
coming home?"

Pasquale grinned again. He was rarely in such a pleasant humour.

"Certainl