Max Pemberton

“ Viva, the lover of Nina. They have bored a hole in him, my friends, to let in some sense. What courage! What a man!"
Alvise heard the cries but knew nothing of their meaning. Timidly he looked up and saw that he was at the very door of the booth wherein lived Barbarino, the clown, and his merry satellites. A miracle, he said; yet no miracle to the people, gathered upon the Piazzetta to welcome him. For the people knew that the cell of Alvise, the jeweller, had been made of painted cloth. ”

“ Old Barbarino, the clown, who was busy painting a mask against the day when Carnival should come again, grunted with satisfaction.
"Ha!" he said, "it is always a good day when Frà Giovanni comes to the booth of Barbarino the clown. What lucky wind brings him here to-night, Nina mia?"
"No wind at all, but a wolf's head, father, which, if you scratch it properly, will shed diamonds in your hand." ”

“ He did not think of little Nina, or of his meeting in the garden with her, or of that merry hour upon the lagoon. The lesser facts of the day had vanished from his mind. Only the memory of the doctors of Bologna remained; the terrible four who had been sent by Venice to punish him.
With quivering hands he tore open his shirt and saw that his breast was red and slightly scarred. They had let him live after all, then—these devils of the torture-chamber—they had sewn up his wounds as they promised. Yet to what end, he asked? ”

“ Kill me and make an end, signori. You are devils to torture a man like this."
One of the doctors, he who carried the bowl, raised his hand deprecatingly.
"Hush, hush!" he exclaimed, "what folly is this? Are we not here to tell Venice of your courage? Take heart, then, and think upon the day of your marriage. You will suffer a little pain now; but to-morrow we shall sew up your wounds, and all will be well. Play the man, Signer Alvise, I beg of you."
The prisoner's head sank back upon the wooden bench. ”

“ The driven man, snarling with anger and fear, raised his clenched fist to strike the gondolier. But, before the blow fell, the other boat came up, and the captain of the police was at the jeweller's side.
"Alvise Falier," said he, "I arrest you in the name of the Serene Prince."
IV. The black gondola, driven by six oars, returned to Venice swiftly. Unlike other gondolas upon the lagoon in the month of June, it had a felze, or roof for its cabin; and this cabin shielded the prisoner from the prying eyes of the curious. He sat there dumb and paralysed with terror. ”

“ After all, Nina had powerful friends. It would never do for those friends to hear of this intrigue. Even Venice, who had become the child's patron, might be led to interfere on her behalf.
What that would mean the old man dare not contemplate. He had always been very fearful of the law and the police. He never passed the prisons without a shudder of loathing and of dread. He remembered as he threaded the narrow streets, and looked often to the right and to the left of him, that the real ruler of Venice, Frà Giovanni, went often to the convent to see the clown's daughter. ”

“ They bring me flowers every day, and fruit from Chioggia, and the little chains the goldsmiths make. You cannot understand these things."
Frà Giovanni shook his head. He was often at the convent of the Cistercian nuns since Venice had sent Nina there to be educated. When he did not come she wrote to him a long letter, full of her own progress, of her joys and sorrows.
"I can understand anything where little Nina is concerned," he said, amused at her strange naïveté and her manner of speaking; "it would not surprise me even to hear that Alvise, the jeweller, follows her, too." ”

“ Suspicion wrestled with him for a moment; but a man will be blind to many obstacles when he sets out to the pursuit of a woman, and after an instant's hesitation he entered the boat, and sat down beside her.
If he had not been in such a hurry, perchance the strange troubles of that day of days would never have overtaken him. But his haste was the haste of love, and he did not see that the boatman, who now sent the black gondola dancing across the lagoon, was Gerardo, the servant of Frà Giovanni, the same fisherman who had stumbled against him so maliciously last night. ”

“ Gerardo held his oar between his knees and began deliberately to untie the leathern purse which the jeweller thrust into his hand.
"You are a generous man, excellency, and God forbid that I should not deal honestly with you. Let us count the money now that the signorina may be witness."
Alvise raised his hands to Heaven. The delay found the boat of the police drawing very near to them. The jeweller seemed already to feel the manacles on his wrists. He was no longer conscious that the prettiest girl in Venice sat at his side. ”

“ He said that he would hang a rope of diamonds round my neck if I would answer him. When I left my father's house last night and crossed the bridge by the church of San Francesco, I thought that I saw him standing in the shadow. You cannot mistake Alvise—he has the face of a wolf and his eyes are burning coals. I saw him again as I crossed our own bridge, and then I ran. It is not good to remain with the wolves when the sun has set. To-day I laugh at myself—last night I was frightened. You will not understand that—you, who were never frightened, excellency. ”

“ There had been a leer of satisfaction on the old man's face until this time, but he leered no more when she had spoken. A sudden suspicion set his heart beating and brought blood to his cheeks. He turned his little red eyes upon her and she saw the light of fear in them. ”

“ He stretched out a trembling hand for the paper which the other held.
"Give me your bond that I may sign it," he said. "I will pay the thousand ducats in my own house this night. God be thanked that I should hear your words." ”

“ How can I go on when they wait for me at the convent door every day—Vittore Capello, and Leopardi, and Lando, the German count, and others. Oh, it is an army, excellency, and I am their general. They follow me to my father's house. ”