Like his successful antagonist, the waterman of the mask betrayed none of the debility which usually succeeds great bodily exertion.  His knees were motionless, his hands still grasped the oar firmly, and he too kept his feet with a steadiness that showed the physical perfection of his frame.  On the other hand, both Gino and Bartolomeo sank in their respective boats as they gained the goal in succession; and so exhausted was each of these renowned gondoliers, that several moments elapsed before either had breath for speech.  It was during this momentary pause that the multitude proclaimed its sympathy with the victor by their longest and loudest shouts.  The noise had scarcely died away, however, before a herald summoned Antonio of the Lagunes, the masked waterman of the Blessed St. John of the Wilderness, and Gino the Calabrian, to the presence of the Doge, whose princely hand was to bestow the promised prizes of the regatta.

CHAPTER X.

“We shall not spend a large expense of time,
Before we reckon with your several loves,
And make us even with you.” 

          
                                                      MACBETH.

When the three gondolas reached the side of the Bucentaur, the fisherman hung back, as if he distrusted his right to intrude himself into the presence of the senate.  He was, however, commanded to ascend, and signs were made for his two companions to follow.

The nobles, clad in their attire of office, formed a long and imposing lane from the gangway to the stern, where the titular sovereign of that still more titular Republic was placed, in the centre of the high officers of state, gorgeous and grave in borrowed guise and natural qualities.

“Approach,” said the Prince, mildly, observing that the old and half-naked man that led the victors hesitated to advance.  “Thou art the conqueror, fisherman, and to thy hands must I consign the prize.”

Antonio bent his knee to the deck, and bowed his head lowly ere he obeyed.  Then taking courage, he drew nearer to the person of the Doge, where he stood with a bewildered eye and rebuked mien, waiting the further pleasure of his superiors.  The aged Prince paused for stillness to succeed the slight movements created by curiosity.  When he spoke, it was amid a perfect calm.

“It is the boast of our glorious Republic,” he said, “that the rights of none are disregarded; that the lowly receive their merited rewards as surely as the great; that St. Mark holds the balance with an even hand, and that this obscure fisherman, having deserved the honors of this regatta, will receive them with the same readiness on the part of him who bestows, as if he were the most favored follower of our own house.  Nobles and burghers of Venice, learn to prize your excellent and equable laws in this occasion, for it is most in acts of familiar and common usage that the paternal character of a government is seen, since in matters of higher moment the eyes of a world impel a compliance with its own opinions.”