enunciation, and some twenty boats made a furious
demonstration of pursuit. The menace, however, was sufficient; for
quicker far than the movements of the pursuers, the gondoliers of the
Republic dashed towards the shore, and leaping on one of those passages
of planks which encircle so many of the palaces of Venice, they
disappeared by an alley.

Encouraged by this success, the fishermen seized the boat as a waif, and
towed it into their own fleet, filling the air with cries of triumph.
Curiosity led a few to enter the hearse-like canopy, whence they
immediately reissued dragging forth a priest.

"Who art thou?" hoarsely demanded he who took upon himself the authority
of a leader.

"A Carmelite, and a servant of God!"

"Dost thou serve St. Mark? Hast thou been to the Canale Orfano to shrive
a wretch?"

"I am here in attendance on a young and noble lady, who has need of my
counsel and prayers. The happy and the miserable, the free and the
captive, are equally my care!"

"Ha! Thou art not above thy office? Thou wilt say the prayers for the
dead in behalf of a poor man's soul?"

"My son, I know no difference, in this respect, between the Doge and the
poorest fisherman. Still I would not willingly desert the females."

"The ladies shall receive no harm. Come into my boat, for there is need
of thy holy office."

Father Anselmo--the reader will readily anticipate that it was
he--entered the canopy, said a few words in explanation to his
trembling companions, and complied. He was rowed to the leading gondola,
and, by a sign, directed to the dead body.

"Thou see'st that corpse, father?" continued his conductor. "It is the
face of one who was an upright and pious Christian!"

"He was."

"We all knew him as the oldest and the most skilful fisherman of the
Lagunes, and one ever ready to assist an unlucky companion."

"I can believe thee!"

"Thou mayest, for the holy books are not more true than my words:
yesterday he came down this very canal in triumph, for he bore away the
honors of the regatta from the stoutest oars in Venice."

"I have heard of his success."

"They say that Jacopo, the Bravo--he who once held the best oar in the
canals--was of the party! Santa Madonna! such a man was too precious to
die!"

"It is the fate of all--rich and poor, strong and feeble, happy and
miserable, must alike come to this end."

"Not to this end, reverend Carmelite, for Antonio having given offence
to the Republic,