nd by the raven's croak of the 'vox
populi', let himself fall into the depths of despair: amid sighs and
sobs of grief, all he could say to any one who came to him was but these
words, repeated a thousand times: "Search, search; let us know how my
unhappy son has died."

Then everybody joined in the search; for, as we have said, the Duke of
Gandia was beloved by all; but nothing could be discovered from scouring
the town, except the body of the murdered man, who was recognised as
the duke's valet; of his master there was no trace whatever: it was then
thought, not without reason, that he had probably been thrown into the
Tiber, and they began to follow along its banks, beginning from the
Via della Ripetta, questioning every boatman and fisherman who might
possibly have seen, either from their houses or from their boats, what
had happened on the river banks during the two preceding nights. At
first all inquiries were in vain; but when they had gone up as high as
the Via del Fantanone, they found a man at last who said he had seen
something happen on the night of the 14th which might very possibly have
some bearing on the subject of inquiry. He was a Slav named George, who
was taking up the river a boat laden with wood to Ripetta. The following
are his own words:

"Gentlemen," he said, "last Wednesday evening, when I had set down my
load of wood on the bank, I remained in my boat, resting in the cool
night air, and watching lest other men should come and take away what I
had just unloaded, when, about two o'clock in the morning, I saw coming
out of the lane on the left of San Girolamo's Church two men on foot,
who came forward into the middle of the street, and looked so carefully
all around that they seemed to have come to find out if anybody was
going along the street. When they felt sure that it was deserted, they
went back along the same lane, whence issued presently two other men,
who used similar precautions to make sure that there was nothing
fresh; they, when they found all as they wished, gave a sign to their
companions to come and join them; next appeared one man on a dapple-grey
horse, which was carrying on the crupper the body of a dead man, his
head and arms hanging over on one side and his feet on the other. The
two fellows I had first seen exploring were holding him up by the arms
and legs. The other three at once went up to the river, while the first
two kept a watch on the street, and advancing to the pa