“There is more cleverness in thee, Master Stefano, than I had thought; though thy readiness with the felucca is no secret.”

“There are two things, Signor Roderigo, on which I value myself, but always, I hope, with Christian moderation.  As a mariner of the coast, in mistral or sirocco, levanter or zephyr, few can claim more practice; and for knowing an acquaintance in a carnival, I believe the father of evil himself could not be so disguised that eye of mine should not see his foot!  For anticipating a gale, or looking behind a mask, Signor Roderigo, I know not my own equal among men of small learning.”

“These faculties are great gifts in one who liveth by the sea and a critical trade.”

“Here came one Gino, a gondolier of Don Camillo Monforte, and an ancient fellow of mine, aboard the felucca, attended by a woman in mask.  He threw off the girl dexterously enough, and, as he thought, among strangers; but I knew her at a glance for the daughter of a wine-seller, who had already tasted lachryma christi of mine.  The woman was angered at the trick, but making the best of luck, we drove a bargain for the few casks which lay beneath the ballast, while Gino did his master’s business in San Marco.”

“And what that business was thou didst not learn, good Stefano?”

“How should I, Master Roderigo, when the gondolier scarce left time for greeting; but Annina—­”

“Annina!”

“The same.  Thou knowest Annina, old Tomaso’s daughter; for she danced in the very set in which I detected thy countenance!  I would not speak thus of the girl, but that I know thou art not backward to receive liquors that do not visit the custom-house, thyself.”

“For that, fear nothing.  I have sworn to thee that no secret of this nature shall pass my lips.  But this Annina is a girl of quick wit and much boldness.”

“Between ourselves, Signor Roderigo, it is not easy to tell who is in the senate’s pay here in Venice, or who is not.  I have sometimes fancied, by thy manner of starting, and the tones of thy voice, that thou wert thyself no less than the lieutenant-general of the galleys, a little disguised.”

“And this with thy knowledge of men!”

“If faith were always equal, where would be its merit?  Thou hast never been hotly chased by an infidel, Master Roderigo, or thou would’st know how the mind of man can change from hope to fear, from the big voice to the humble prayer!  I remember once, in the confusion and hurry of baffling winds and whistling shot, having always turbans before the eye, and the bastinado in mind, to have beseeched St. Stefano in some such voice as one would use to a dog, and to have bullied the men with the whine of a young kitten.  Corpo di Bacco!  One hath need of experience in these affairs, Signor Roderigo, to know even his own merits.”

“I believe thee.  But who is this Gino of whom thou hast spoken, and what has his occupation, as a gondolier, to do with one known in thy youth in Calabria?”