Volume II Part 73 (1/2)

In half an hour the hole was large enough--a fortunate circu it any larger without the aid of a saas afraid when I looked at the edges of the hole, for they bristled with jagged pieces of hich seeether The hole was at a height of five feet froround We placed beneath it two stools, one beside the other, and e had stepped upon thean to hs, and afterwards by the legs, I succeeded in pushi+ng hih it was dark I felt quite secure, as I knew the surroundings

As soon as ings, with the exception of the ropes, which I left behind, and placing a third stool on the two others, I clih withto the extrerasp with my hands, nor anyone to push me as I had pushed the ently and by slow degrees towards him He did so, and I endured silently the fearful torture I had to undergo, as s were torn by the splinters of wood

As soon as I got through Idoo flights of stairs I opened without difficulty the door leading into the passage whence opens the chief door to the grand staircase, and in another the door of the closet of the 'Savio alla scrittura' The chief door was locked, and I saw at once that, failing a catapult or a h The bar I still held seemed to say, ”Hic fines posuit My use is ended and you can lay me down” It was dear toas an 'ex voto' on the altar of liberty

I sat doith the utmost tranquillity, and told the monk to do the same

”My work is done,” I said, ”the rest e il ciel cura del resto, O la fortuna se non tocca a lui

”I do not knohether those eep out the palace will come here to-day, which is All Saints' Day, or tomorrow, All Souls' Day If anyone comes, I shall run out as soon as the door opens, and do you follow after e a step, and if I die of hunger so much the worse for me”

At this speech of mine he became beside himself He called me a madman, seducer, deceiver, and a liar I let him talk, and took no notice It struck six; only an hour had passed since I had e my clothes Father Balbi looked like a peasant, but he was in better condition than I, his clothes were not torn to shreds or covered with blood, his red flannel waistcoat and purple breeches were intact, while ure could only inspire pity or terror, so bloodstained and tattered was I I took off iven myself on the parapet, while the splinters in the hole in the door had torn hs I was dreadfully wounded all over es of handkerchiefs, and dressed my wounds as best I could, and then put on h Having tied upany other, and two others over it, and then stowing away sos and handkerchiefs inelse into a corner of the roo my fine cloak over the monk, and the fellow looked as if he had stolen it I must have looked like a ht in a disorderly house, though the only foil to es round uise, with my exquisite hat trimmed with Spanish lace and adorned with a white feather on my head, I opened a as ier in the palace court, who, not understanding what anyone ofthere at such an early hour, went to tell the door-keeper of the circuht before, went for his keys and came towards us I was sorry to have letthat therein chance orking for our escape, and was sitting down listening to the idle talk of the ot up and put reat bunch of keys in his handleisurely up the stairs I told the monk not to open his mouth, to keep well behindit in ot into a corner by the door, whence I could get out as soon as it was opened and run down the stairs I prayed that the ed to fell him to the earth, and I determined to do so

The door opened; and the poor man as soon as he saw me seemed turned to a stone Without an instant's delay and in dead silence, Ifast, I went by the giants' Stairs, taking no notice of Father Balbi, who kept cabling: out ”To the church! to the church!”

The church door was only about twenty paces froer sanctuaries in Venice; and no one ever took refuge in theht had deprived him of his faculties He told o to the church was the voice of religion bidding hio by yourself?” said I

”I did not, like to abandon you,” but he should rather have said, ”I did not like to lose the coht was beyond the borders of the Republic, and thitherward I began to bend my steps Already there in spirit, I ht towards the chief door of the palace, and looking at no one that ot to the canal and entered the first gondola that I ca to the boato to Fusina; be quick and, call another gondolier”

This was soon done, and while the gondola was being got off I sat down on the seat in the middle, and Balbi at the side The odd appearance of the monk, without a hat and with a fine cloak on his shoulders, with h to er and his ondoliers began to roith a will along the Giudecca Canal, by which we o to Fusina or to Mestre, which latter place was really our destination When we had traversed half the length of the canal I put my head out, and said to the wateret to Mestre?”

”But you told o to Fusina”

”You must be mad; I said Mestre”

The other boatman said that I was mistaken, and the fool of a monk, in his capacity of zealous Christian and friend of truth, took care to tell ive him a hearty kick as a punish that co for it I burst into a peal of laughter, and agreed that I o to Mestre To that they answered nothing, but a minute after the land if I liked

”Bravely spoken,” said I, ”and now for Mestre, ho!” ”We shall be there in three quarters of an hour, as the wind and tide are in our favour”

Well pleased I looked at the canal behind us, and thought it had never see our way It was a gloriouswith the first rays of the sun, and ht over the night of sorrow, the dangers I had escaped, the abode where I had been fast bound the day before, all the chances which had been in an to taste the sweets, I was so h choked with emotion, I burst into tears

My nice coondoliers, thought himself bound to offer , and the tone he took e ht I had got mad The poor monk, as I have said, was a fool, and whatever was bad about him was the result of his folly I had been under the sad necessity of turning hi to do so he had al to o to Fusina whilst I intended to go to Mestre; he said I could not have thought of that till I got on to the Grand Canal

In due course we reached Mestre There were no horses to ride post, but I found reed with one of them to take me to Trevisa in an hour and a quarter The horses were put in in three minutes, and with the idea that Father Balbi was behind me I turned round to say ”Get up,” but he was not there I told an ostler to go and look for hi hione for a necessary occasion, for we had no ti he could not find' hination I was te of humanity restrained me I made enquiries all round; everybody had seen hih Street, and so me to put my head in at theof a cafe I saw the wretchedlove to the girl Catching sight of ,” and then invitedthat I must pay, as he hadn't a penny I kept back my wrath and answered,

”I don't want any, and do you ht hold of his arm in such sort that he turned white with pain I paid the ot into our coach, but we had scarcely gone ten paces before I recognised: an inhabitant, of Mestre naood sort of man; but reported to be one of the fa up called out,