gun. He turned his head and
watched how the man unhooked the fish and dropped it flapping into a
basket made of half-dried rushes.

"There are no whales in the canal," he observed. "There are not even
tunny fish. But what there is, it seems that you know how to catch."

"I do what I can, according to my little skill," answered the man. "It
passes the time, and then it is always something to eat with the
bread."

"Yes," Pasquale answered. "A roasted fish on bread with a little oil is
very savoury. As for passing the time, I suppose that you are looking
for a ship."

"Of course," the man replied. "If we had a ship we should not be here
fishing! It is a bad time of the year, you must know, for most of the
Venetian vessels are at sea, and we do not care to ship with any
Neapolitan captain who chances to have starved some of his crew to
death!"

"I have heard of a rich Greek merchant captain who has been in Venice
some time," observed Pasquale carelessly. "He will be looking out for a
crew before long."

"Is Captain Aristarchi going to sea at last?" asked the man who had not
spoken yet. "Or do you mean some other captain?"

"That is the name, I believe," said Pasquale. "It was an outlandish name
like that. Do you ever see him about the docks? I saw him once, a piece
of man, I tell you, with bones like a bull and a face like a bear."

"He is not often seen," answered the man who had spoken last. "That is
his ship; over there, between the 'trabacolo' and the dismasted hulk."

"I see her," returned Pasquale at once. "A thorough Greek she is, too,
by her looks, but well kept enough if she is only, waiting for a cargo,
with two or three hands on board."

The men laughed a little at Pasquale's ignorance concerning the vessel.

"She has a full crew," said one. "She is always ready for sea at any
moment, with provisions and water. No one can understand what the
captain means, nor why he is here, nor why he is willing to pay twenty
men for doing nothing."

"Does the captain live on board of her?" inquired Pasquale
indifferently.

"Not he! He is amusing himself in Venice. He has hired a house by the
month, not far from the Baker's Bridge, and there he has been living for
a long time."

"He must be very rich," observed Pasquale, who had found out what he
wished to know, but was too wise to let the conversation drop too
abruptly. "From what you say, however, he needs no more hands on his
vessel," he added.

"It is n