“For doing this you had a motive?”

“Holy Mother of God!  Was it not sufficient to get back my boy from the gripe of the galleys?” exclaimed Antonio, with an energy and a simplicity that are often found to be in the same character.  “I thought that if the Doge and the senate were willing to cause pictures to be painted, and honors to be given to one poor fisherman for the ring, they might be glad to reward another, by releasing a lad who can be of no great service to the Republic, but who is all to his parent.”

“Thy petition to his Highness, thy strife in the regatta, and thy search for the ring, had the same object?”

“To me, Signore, life has but one.”

There was a slight but suppressed movement among the council.

“When thy request was refused by his Highness as ill-timed—­”

“Ah! eccellenza, when one has a white head and a failing arm, he cannot stop to look for the proper moment in such a cause!” interrupted the fisherman, with a gleam of that impetuosity which forms the true base of Italian character.

“When thy request was denied, and thou hadst refused the reward of the victor, thou went among thy fellows and fed their ears with complaints of the injustice of St. Mark, and of the senate’s tyranny?”

“Signore, no.  I went away sad and heart-broken, for I had not thought the Doge and nobles would have refused a successful gondolier so light a boon.”

“And this thou didst not hesitate to proclaim among the fishermen and idlers of the Lido?”

“Eccellenza, it was not needed—­my fellows knew my unhappiness, and tongues were not wanting to tell the worst.”

“There was a tumult, with thee at its head, and sedition was uttered, with much vain-boasting of what the fleet of the Lagunes could perform against the fleet of the Republic.”

“There is little difference, Signore, between the two, except that the men of the one go in gondolas with nets, and the men of the other are in the galleys of the state.  Why should brothers seek each other’s blood?”

The movement among the judges was more manifest than ever.  They whispered together, and a paper containing a few lines rapidly written in pencil, was put into the hands of the examining secretary.

“Thou didst address thy fellows, and spoke openly of thy fancied wrongs; thou didst comment on the laws which require the services of the citizens, when the Republic is compelled to send forth a fleet against its enemies.”

“It is not easy to be silent, Signore, when the heart is full.”

“And there was a consultation among thee of coming to the palace in a body, and of asking the discharge of thy grandson from the Doge, in the name of the rabble of the Lido.”

“Signore, there were some generous enough to make the offer, but others were of advice it would be well to reflect before they took so bold a measure.”

“And thou—­what was thine own counsel on that point?”