It ought to be of happy fortune, too, for the good curato recommended it, with many a devout prayer, to the Virgin, and to San Fran

cesco."

The noble appeared to lend more attention to the discourse, which, until now, on his part, had been commenced in the listless manner with which a superior encourages an indulged dependant.

"La Bella Sorrentina! Have I not reason to know the bark ?"

"Nothing more true, Signore. Her padrone has relations at Sant' Agata, as I have told your eccellenza, and his vessel has lain on the beach, near the castle, many a bleak winter."

"What brings him to Venice ?"

"That is what I would give my newest jacket of your eccellenca's colours to know, Signore. I have as little wish to inquire into other people's affairs as any one, and I very well know that discretion is the chief virtue of a gondolier. I ventured, however, a deadly

hint concerning his errand, such as ancient neighbourhood would warrant, but he was as cautious of his answers as if he were freighted with the confessions of fifty christians. Now, if your eccellenza should see fit to give me authority to question him, in your name, the deuce is in't if, between respect for his lord, and good management, we could not draw something more than a false bill of lading from him.”

"Thou wilt take thy choice of my gondolas for the regatta, Gino," observed the Duke of Sant' Agata, entering the pavilion, and throwing himself on the glossy black leathern cushions, without adverting to the suggestion of his servant.

The gondola continued its noiseless course, with the sprite-like movement peculiar to that description of boat. Gino, who, as superior over his fellow, stood perched on the little arched deck in the stern, pushed his oar with accustomed readiness and skill, now causing the light vessel to sheer to the right, and now to the

left, as it glided among the multitude of crafts, of all sizes and uses, which it met in its passage. Palace after palace had been passed, and more than one of the principal canals, which diverged towards the different spectacles, or the other places of resort frequented by his master, were left behind, without Don Camillo giving any new direction. At length the boat arrived opposite to a building, which seemed to excite more than common expectation. Giorgio worked his oar with a single hand, looking over his shoulder at Gino, and Gino permitted his blade fairly to trail on the water. Both seemed to await new orders, manifesting something like that species of instinctive sympathy with him they served, which a long practised horse is apt to shew when he draws near a gate, that is seldom passed unvisited by his driver.

The edifice which caused this hesitation in the two gondoliers, was one of those residences of Venice, which are quite as remarkable for their external riches and ornaments, as for their

singular situation amid the waters. A massive rustic basement of marble was seated as solidly in the element, as if it grew from a living rock, while story was seemingly raised on story, in the wanton observance of the most capricious rules of a meretricious architecture, until the pile reached an altitude that is little known, except in the dwellings of princes. Colonnades, medallions, and massive cornices, overhung the canal, as if the art of man had taken pride in loading the superstructure in a manner. to mock the unstable element which concealed its base. A flight of steps, on which each gentle undulation produced by the passage of the barge washed a wave, conducted to a vast vestibule, that answered many of the purposes of a court. Two or three gondolas were moored near, but the absence of their people shewed they were for the use of those who dwelt within. The boats were protected from rough collision with the passing craft, by piles driven obliquely into the bottom. Similar spars, with painted and

ornamented heads, that sometimes bore the colours and arms of the proprietor, formed a sort of little haven for the gondolas of the household, before the door of every dwelling of mark.

"Where is it the pleasure of your eccellenza to be rowed?" asked Gino, when he found his sympathetic delay had produced no order.

"To the Palazzo."

Giorgio threw a glance of surprise back at his comrade, but the obedient gondola shot by the gloomy, though rich abode, as if the little bark had suddenly obeyed an inward impulse. In a moment more, it whirled aside, and the hollow sound, caused by the plash of water between high walls, announced its entrance into a narrower canal. With shortened oars, the men still urged the boat a-head, now turning short into some new channel, now glancing beneath a low bridge, and now uttering, in the sweet shrill tones of the country and their craft, the wellknown warning to those who were darting in an