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and my friend. I am old, Jacopo, and poor; my days are passed in toil,
on the Lagunes, and my nights in gaining strength to meet the labor of
the morrow; but it hath grieved me to hear that the son of one I much
loved, and with whom I have so often shared good and evil, fair and
foul, hath taken to a life like that which men say is thine. The gold
that is the price of blood was never yet blessed to him that gave or him
that received."
The Bravo listened in silence, though his companion, who, at another
moment, and under other emotions, would have avoided him as one shrinks
from contagion, saw, on looking mournfully up into his face, that the
muscles were slightly agitated, and that a paleness crossed his cheeks,
which the light of the moon rendered ghastly.
"Thou hast suffered poverty to tempt thee into grievous sin, Jacopo; but
it is never too late to call on the saints for aid, and to lay aside the
stiletto. It is not profitable for a man to be known in Venice as thy
fellow, but the friend of thy father will not abandon one who shows a
penitent spirit. Lay aside thy stiletto, and come with me to the
Lagunes. Thou wilt find labor less burdensome than guilt, and though
thou never canst be to me like the boy they have taken, for he was
innocent as the lamb! thou wilt still be the son of an ancient comrade,
and a stricken spirit. Come with me then to the Lagunes, for poverty and
misery like mine cannot meet with more contempt, even for being thy
companion."
"What is it men say, that thou treatest me thus?" demanded Jacopo, in a
low, struggling voice.
"I would they said untruth! But few die by violence, in Venice, that thy
name is not uttered."
"And would they suffer one thus marked to go openly on the canals, or
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to be at large in the great square of San Marco?"
"We never know the reasons of the senate. Some say thy time is not yet
come, while others think thou art too powerful for judgment."
"Thou dost equal credit to the justice and the activity of the
inquisition. But should I go with thee to-night, wilt thou be more
discreet in speech among thy fellows of the Lido, and the islands?"
"When the heart hath its load, the tongue will strive to lighten it. I
would do anything to turn the child of my friend from his evil ways, but
forget my own. Thou art used to deal with the patricians, Jacopo; would
there be possibility for one, clad in this dress, and with a face
blackened by the sun, to come to speak with the Doge?"
"There is no lack of seeming justice in Venice, Antonio; the want is in
the substance. I doubt not thou would'st be heard."
"Then will I wait, here, upon the stones of the square, until he comes
forth for the pomp of to-morrow, and try to move his heart to justice.
He is old, like myself, and he hath bled, too, for the state, and what
is more he is a father."
"So is the Signor Gradenigo."
"Thou doubtest his pity--ha?"
"Thou canst but try. The Doge of Venice will hearken to a petition from
the meanest citizen. I think," added Jacopo, speaking so low as to be
scarcely audible, "he would listen even to me."
"Though I am not able to put my prayer in such speech as becometh the
ear of a great prince, he shall hear the truth from a wronged man. They
call him the chosen of the state, and such a one should gladly listen to
justice. This is a hard bed, Jacopo," continued the fisherman, seating
himself at the foot of the column of St. Theodore, "but I have slept on
colder and as hard, when there was less reason to do it--a happy night."
The bravo lingered a minute near the old man, who folded his arms on his
naked breast, which was fanned by the sea-breeze, and disposed of his
person to take his rest in the square, a practice not unusual among men
of his class; but when he found that Antonio was inclined to be alone,
he moved on, leaving the fisherman to himself.
The night was now getting to be advanced, and few of the revellers
remained in the areas of the two squares. Jacopo cast a glance around,
and noting the hour and the situation of the place, he proceeded to the
edge of the quay. The public gondoliers had left their boats moored, as
usual, at this spot, and a profound stillness reigned over the whole
bay. The water was scarce darkened by the air, which rather breathed
upon than ruffled its surface, and no sound of oar was audible amid the
forest of picturesque and classical spars, which crowded the view
between the Piazzetta and the Giudecca. The Bravo hesitated, cast
another wary glance around him, settled his mask, undid the slight
fastenings of a boat, and presently he was gliding away into the centre
of the basin.
"Who cometh?" demanded one, who seemingly stood at watch, in a felucca,
anchored a little apart from all others.
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"One expected," was the answer.
"Roderigo?"
"The same."
"Thou art late," said the mariner of Calabria, as Jacopo stepped upon
the low deck of the Bella Sorrentina. "My people have long been below,
and I have dreamt thrice of shipwreck, and twice of a heavy sirocco,
since thou hast been expected."
"Thou hast had more time to wrong the customs. Is the felucca ready for
her work?"
"As for the customs, there is little chance of gain in this greedy
city. The senators secure all profits to themselves and their friends,
while we of the barks are tied down to low freights and hard bargains. I
have sent a dozen casks of lachryma christi up the canals since the
masquers came abroad, and beyond that I have not occasion. There is
enough left for thy comfort, at need. Wilt drink?"
"I am sworn to sobriety. Is thy vessel ready, as wont, for the errand?"
"Is the senate as ready with its money? This is the fourth of my voyages
in their service; and they have only to look into their own secrets to
know the manner in which the work hath been done."
"They are content, and thou hast been well rewarded."
"Say it not. I have gained more gold by one lucky shipment of fruits
from the isles than by all their night-work. Would those who employ me
give a little especial traffic on the entrance of the felucca, there
might be advantage in the trade."
"There is nothing which St. Mark visits with a heavier punishment than
frauds on his receipts. Have a care with thy wines, or thou wilt lose
not only thy bark and thy voyage, but thy liberty!"
"This is just the ground of my complaint, Signor Roderigo. Rogue and no
rogue, is the Republic's motto. Here they are as close in justice as a
father amid his children; and there it is better that what is done
should be done at midnight. I like not the contradiction, for just as my
hopes are a little raised by what I have witnessed, perhaps a little too
near, they are all blown to the winds by such a frown as San Gennero
himself might cast upon a sinner."
"Remember thou art not in thy wide Mediterranean, but on a canal of
Venice. This language might be unsafe, were it heard by less friendly
ears."
"I thank thee for thy care, though the sight of yonder old palace is as
good a hint to the loose tongue as the sight of a gibbet on the
sea-shore to a pirate. I met an ancient fellow in the Piazzetta about
the time the masquers came in, and we had some words on this matter. By
his tally every second man in Venice is well paid for reporting what the
others say and do. 'Tis a pity, with all their seeming love of justice,
good Roderigo, that the senate should let divers knaves go at large;
men, whose very faces cause the stones to redden with anger and shame!" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]