tation to be on the bridge
which is called Ponto Vecchio that night exactly at midnight. I was
thinking for a long time as to who it might be who had invited me there;
and not knowing a single soul in Florence, I thought perhaps I should
be secretly conducted to a patient, a thing which had already often
occurred. I therefore determined to proceed thither, but took care to
gird on the sword which my father had once presented to me. When it was
close upon midnight I set out on my journey, and soon reached the
Ponte Vecchio. I found the bridge deserted, and determined to await the
appearance of him who called me. It was a cold night; the moon shone
brightly, and I looked down upon the waves of the Arno, which sparkled
far away in the moonlight. It was now striking twelve o'clock from all
the churches of the city, when I looked up and saw a tall man standing
before me completely covered in a scarlet cloak, one end of which hid
his face.

At first I was somewhat frightened, because he had made his appearance
so suddenly; but was however myself again shortly afterwards, and said:
"If it is you who have ordered me here, say what you want?" The man
dressed in scarlet turned round and said in an undertone:

"Follow!" At this, however, I felt a little timid to go alone with this
stranger. I stood still and said: "Not so, sir, kindly first tell me
where; you might also let me see your countenance a little, in order
to convince me that you wish me no harm." The red one, however, did not
seem to pay any attention to this. "If thou art unwilling, Zaleukos,
remain," he replied, and continued his way. I grew angry. "Do you
think," I exclaimed, "a man like myself allows himself to be made a fool
of, and to have waited on this cold night for nothing?"

In three bounds I had reached him, seized him by his cloak, and cried
still louder, whilst laying hold of my sabre with my other hand. His
cloak, however, remained in my hand, and the stranger had disappeared
round the nearest corner. I became calmer by degrees. I had the cloak at
any rate, and it was this which would give me the key to this remarkable
adventure. I put it on and continued my way home. When I was at a
distance of about a hundred paces from it, some one brushed very closely
by me and whispered in the language of the Franks: "Take care, Count,
nothing can be done to-night." Before I had time, however, to turn
round, this somebody had passed, and I merely saw a shadow hover