"this is awful, matteo," francis said, when his friend had finished his story. "what is to be done?"

"that is just the thing, francisco. what is to be done? my cousin has been already to the city magistrates, to tell them what has taken place, and to request their aid in discovering where the girls have been carried to. i believe that he is going to put up a proclamation, announcing that he will give a thousand ducats to whomsoever will bring information which will enable him to recover the girls. that will set every gondolier on the canals on the alert, and some of them must surely have noticed a closed gondola rowed by two men, for at this time of year very few gondolas have their covers on. it seems to be terrible not to be able to do anything, so i came straight off to tell you."

"you had better send your gondola home, matteo. it may be wanted. we will paddle out to the lagoon and talk it over. surely there must be something to be done, if we could but think of it.

"this is terrible, indeed, matteo," he repeated, after they had sat without speaking for some minutes. "one feels quite helpless and bewildered. to think that only yesterday evening we were laughing and chatting with them, and that now they are lost, and in the power of that villain mocenigo, who you may be sure is at the bottom of it.

"by the way," he said suddenly, "do you know where he has taken up his abode?"

"i heard that he was at botonda, near chioggia, a week ago, but whether he is there still i have not the least idea."

"it seems to me that the thing to do is to find him, and keep him in sight. he will probably have them hidden away somewhere, and will not go near them for some time, for he will know that he will be suspected, and perhaps watched."

"but why should he not force maria to marry him at once?" matteo said. "you see, when he has once made her his wife he will be safe, for my cousin would be driven then to make terms with him for her sake."

"he may try that," francis said; "but he must know that maria has plenty of spirit, and may refuse to marry him, threaten her as he will. he may think that, after she has been kept confined for some time, and finds that there is no hope of escape, except by consenting to be his wife, she may give way. but in any case, it seems to me that the thing to be done is to find ruggiero, and to watch his movements."

"i have no doubt my cousin has already taken steps in that direction," matteo said, "and i feel sure that, in this case, he will receive the support of every influential man in venice, outside the mocenigo family and their connections. the carrying off of ladies, in broad daylight, will be regarded as a personal injury in every family. the last attempt was different. i do not say it was not bad enough, but it is not like decoying girls from home by a false message. no one could feel safe, if such a deed as this were not severely punished."

"let us go back again, matteo. it is no use our thinking of anything until we know what has really been done, and you are sure to be able to learn, at home, what steps have been taken."

on reaching home matteo learned that polani, accompanied by two members of the council, had already started in one of the swiftest of the state galleys for the mainland. a council had been hastily summoned, and, upon hearing polani's narrative, had dispatched two of their number, with an official of the republic, to botonda. if ruggiero was found to be still there, he was to be kept a prisoner in the house in which he was staying, under the strictest watch. if he had left, orders were to be sent, to every town in the venetian dominions on the mainland, for his arrest when discovered, and in that case he was to be sent a prisoner, strongly guarded, to venice.

other galleys had been simultaneously dispatched to the various ports, ordering a strict search of every boat arriving or leaving, and directing a minute investigation to be made as to the occupants of every boat that had arrived during the evening or night. the fact that a thousand ducats were offered, for information which would lead to the recovery of the girls, was also to be published far and wide.

the news of the abduction had spread, and the greatest indignation was excited in the city. the sailors from the port of malamocco came over in great numbers. they regarded this outrage on the family of the great merchant as almost a personal insult. stones were thrown at the windows of the palazzo mocenigo, and an attack would have been made upon it, had not the authorities sent down strong guards to protect it. persons belonging to that house, and the families connected with it, were assaulted in the streets, and all venice was in an uproar.

"there is one comfort," giuseppi said, when he heard from francis what had taken place. "just at present, mocenigo will have enough to think about his own affairs without troubling about you. i have been in a tremble ever since that day, and have dreamed bad dreams every night."

"you are more nervous for me than i am for myself, giuseppi; but i have been careful too, for although ruggiero himself was away his friends are here, and active, too, as you see by this successful attempt. but i think that at present they are likely to let matters sleep. public opinion is greatly excited over the affair, and as, if i were found with a stab in my back, it would, after what has passed, be put down to them, i think they will leave me alone."

"i do hope, father," francis said at breakfast the next morning, "that there may be no opportunity of sending me back to england, until something is heard of the polanis."

"i have somewhat changed my mind, francis, as to that matter. after what signor polani said the other day, i feel that it would be foolish for me to adhere to that plan. with his immense trade and business connections he can do almost anything for you, and such an introduction into business is so vastly better than your entering my shop in the city, that it is best, in every way, that you should stay here for the present. of course, for the time he will be able to think of nothing but his missing daughters; but at any rate, you can remain here until he has leisure to pursue the subject, and to state, further than he did the other day, what he proposes for you. my own business is a good one for a london trader, but it is nothing by the side of the transactions of the merchant princes at venice, among the very first of whom signor polani is reckoned."

francis was greatly pleased at his father's words. he had, ever since polani had spoken to him, been pondering the matter in his mind. he knew that to enter business under his protection would be one of the best openings that even venice could afford; but his father was slow to change his plans, and francis greatly feared that he would adhere to his original plan.

"i was hoping, father, that you would think favourably of what signor polani said, although, of course, i kept silence, knowing that you would do what was best for me. and now i would ask you if you will, until this matter is cleared up, excuse me from my tasks. i should learn nothing did i continue at them, for my mind would be ever running upon signor polani's daughters, and i should be altogether too restless to apply myself. it seems to me, too, that i might, as i row here and there in my gondola, obtain some clue as to their place of concealment."

"i do not see how you could do that, francis, when so many others, far better qualified than yourself, will be on the lookout. still, as i agree with you that you are not likely to apply your mind diligently to your tasks, and as, indeed, you will shortly be giving them up altogether, i grant your request."

polani returned in the evening to venice. ruggiero mocenigo had been found. he professed great indignation at the accusation brought against him, of being concerned in the abduction of the ladies, and protested furiously when he heard that, until they were found, he was to consider himself a prisoner. signor polani considered that his indignation was feigned, but he had no doubt as to the reality of his anger at finding that he was to be confined to his house under a guard.

immediately after his return, polani sent his gondola for francis. he was pacing up and down the room when the lad arrived.

"your suspicions have turned out correct, as you see, francis. would to heaven i had acted upon them at once, and then this would not have happened. it seemed to me altogether absurd, when you spoke to me, that the woman i have for years treated as a friend should thus betray me. and yet your warning made me uneasy, so much so that i set off myself to fetch them home at five o'clock, only to find that i was too late. i scarcely know why i have sent for you, francis, except that as i have found, to my cost, that you were more clear sighted in this matter than i, i want to know what you think now, and whether any plan offering even a chance of success has occurred to you. that they have been carried off by the friends of mocenigo i have no doubt whatever."

"i fear, signor," francis said, "that there is little hope of my thinking of anything that has not already occurred to you. it seems to me hardly likely that they can be in the city, although, of course, they may be confined in the house of mocenigo's agents. still, they would be sure that you would offer large rewards for their discovery, and would be more likely to take them right away. besides, i should think that it was mocenigo's intention to join them, wherever they may be, as soon as he learned that they were in the hands of his accomplices. your fortunate discovery that they had gone, so soon after they had been carried off, and your going straight to him armed with the order of the council, probably upset his calculations, for it is likely enough that his agents had not arrived at the house, and that he learned from you, for the first time, that his plans had succeeded. had you arrived two or three hours later, you might have found him gone."

"that is what i calculated, francisco. his agents had but four hours' start of me. they would, no doubt, carry the girls to the place of concealment chosen, and would then bear the news to him; whereas i, going direct in one of the state gondolas, might reach him before they did, and i feel assured that i did so.

"it was nigh midnight when i arrived, but he was still up, and i doubt not awaiting the arrival of the villains he had employed. my first step was to set a watch round the house, with the order to arrest any who might come and inquire for him. no one, however, came.

"the news, indeed, of the sudden arrival of a state galley, at that hour, had caused some excitement in the place, and his agents might well have heard of it upon their arrival. i agree with you in thinking they are not in the town, but this makes the search all the more difficult. the question is, what ought we to do next?"

"the reward that you have offered will certainly bring you news, signor, if any, save those absolutely concerned, have observed anything suspicious; but i should send to all the fishing villages, on the islets and on the mainland, to publish the news of the reward you have offered. beyond that, i do not see that anything can be done; and i, too, have thought of nothing else since matteo brought me the news of their being carried off. it will be of no use, that i can see, going among the fishermen and questioning them, because, with such a reward in view, it is certain that anyone who has anything to tell will come, of his own accord, to do so."

"i know that is the case already, francisco. the authorities have been busy all day with the matter, and a score of reports as to closed gondolas being seen have reached them; but so far nothing has come of it. many of these gondolas have been traced to their destinations, but in no case was there anything to justify suspicion. happily, as long as mocenigo is in confinement, i feel that no actual harm will happen to the girls; but the villain is as crafty as a fox, and may elude the vigilance of the officer in charge of him. i am going to the council, presently, to urge that he should be brought here as a prisoner; but from what i hear there is little chance of the request being complied with. his friends are already declaiming on the injustice of a man being treated as a criminal, when there is no shadow of proof forthcoming against him; and the disturbances last night have angered many who have no great friendship for him, but who are indignant at the attack of the populace upon the house of a noble. so you see that there is but faint chance that they would bring him hither a prisoner."

"i think, sir, that were i in your case, i should put some trusty men to watch round the house where he is confined; so that in case he should escape the vigilance of his guards they might seize upon him. everything depends, as you say, upon his being kept in durance."

"i will do so, francisco, at once. i will send to two of my officers at the port, and tell them to pick out a dozen men on whom they can rely, to proceed to botonda, and to watch closely everyone who enters or leaves the house, without at the same time making themselves conspicuous. at any rate, they will be handy there in case mocenigo's friends attempt to rescue him by force, which might be done with success, for the house he occupies stands at a short distance out of the town, and the official in charge of mocenigo has only eight men with him.

"yes, your advice is excellent, and i will follow it at once. should any other idea occur to you, pray let me know it immediately. you saved my daughters once, and although i know there is no reason why it should be so, still, i feel a sort of belief that you may, somehow, be instrumental in their again being brought back to me."

"i will do my best, sir, you may depend upon it," francis said earnestly. "were they my own sisters, i could not feel more strongly interested in their behalf."

francis spent the next week almost entirely in his gondola. starting soon after daybreak with giuseppi, he would row across to the villages on the mainland, and make inquiries of all sorts there; or would visit the little groups of fishermen's huts, built here and there on posts among the shallows. he would scan every house as he passed it, with the vague hope that a face might appear at the window, or a hand be waved for assistance. but, during all that time, he had found nothing which seemed to offer the slightest clue, nor were the inquiries set on foot by signor polani more successful. every piece of information which seemed to bear, in the slightest degree, upon the affair was investigated, but in no case was it found of the slightest utility.

one evening he was returning late, tired by the long day's work, and discouraged with his utter want of success, when, just as he had passed under the ponto maggiore, the lights on the bridge fell on the faces of the sitters in a gondola coming the other way. they were a man and a woman. the latter was closely veiled. but the night was close and oppressive, and, just at the moment when francis' eyes fell upon her, she lifted her veil for air. francis recognized her instantly. for a moment he stopped rowing, and then dipped his oar in as before. directly the other gondola passed through the bridge behind him, and his own had got beyond the circle of light, he swept it suddenly round.

giuseppi gave an exclamation of surprise.

"giuseppi, we have luck at last. did you notice that gondola we met just now? the woman sitting in it is castaldi, the woman who betrayed the signoras."

"what shall we do, messer francisco?" giuseppi, who had become almost as interested in the search as his master, asked. "there was only a single gondolier and one other man. if we take them by surprise we can master them."

"that will not do, giuseppi. the woman would refuse to speak, and though they could force her to do so in the dungeons, the girls would be sure to be removed the moment it was known she was captured. we must follow them, and see where they go to. let us get well behind them, so that we can just make them out in the distance. if they have a suspicion that they are being followed, they will land her at the first steps and slip away from us."

"they are landing now, signor," giuseppi exclaimed directly afterwards. "shall we push on and overtake them on shore?"

"it is too late, giuseppi. they are a hundred and fifty yards away, and would have mixed in the crowd, and be lost, long before we should get ashore and follow them. row on fast, but not over towards that side. if the gondola moves off, we will make straight for the steps and try to follow them, though our chance of hitting upon them in the narrow lanes and turnings is slight indeed.

"but if, as i hope, the gondola stops at the steps, most likely they will return to it in time. so we will row in to the bank a hundred yards farther up the canal and wait."

the persons who had been seen in the gondola had disappeared when they came abreast of it, and the gondolier had seated himself in the boat, with the evident intention of waiting. francis steered his gondola at a distance of a few yards from it as he shot past, but did not abate his speed, and continued to row till they were three or four hundred yards farther up the canal. then he turned the gondola, and paddled noiselessly back until he could see the outline of the boat he was watching.

an hour elapsed before any movement was visible. then francis heard the sound of footsteps, and could just make out the figures of persons descending the steps and entering the gondola. then the boat moved out into the middle of the canal, where a few boats were still passing to and fro. francis kept his gondola close by the bank, so as to be in the deep shade of the houses. the boat they were following again passed under the ponto maggiore, and for some distance followed the line of the grand canal.

"keep your eye upon it, giuseppi. it is sure to turn off one way or the other soon, and if it is too far ahead of us when it does so, then it may give us the slip altogether."

but the gondola continued its course the whole length of the canal, and then straight on until, nearly opposite saint mark's, it passed close to a larger gondola, with four rowers, coming slowly in the other direction; and it seemed to francis that the two boats paused when opposite each other, and that a few words were exchanged.

then the boat they were watching turned out straight into the lagoon. it was rather lighter here than in the canal, bordered on each side by houses, and francis did not turn the head of his gondola for a minute or two.

"it will be very difficult to keep them in sight out here without their making us out," giuseppi said.

"yes, and it is likely enough that they are only going out there in order that they may be quite sure that they are not followed, before striking off to the place they want to go to. they may possibly have made us out, and guess that we are tracking them. they would be sure to keep their eyes and ears open."

"i can only just make them out now, messer francisco, and as we shall have the buildings behind us, they will not be able to see us as well as we can see them. i think we can go now."

"we will risk it, at any rate, giuseppi. i have lost sight of them already, and it will never do to let them give us the slip."

they dipped their oars in the water, and the gondola darted out from the shore. they had not gone fifty strokes when they heard the sound of oars close at hand.

"to the right, giuseppi, hard!" francis cried as he glanced over his shoulder.

a sweep with both oars brought the gondola's head, in a moment, almost at right angles to the course that she had been pursuing; and the next sent her dancing on a new line, just as a four-oared gondola swept down upon them, missing their stern by only three or four feet. had they been less quick in turning, the iron prow would have cut right through their light boat.

giuseppi burst into a torrent of vituperation at the carelessness of the gondoliers who had so nearly run into them, but francis silenced him at once.

"row, giuseppi. it was done on purpose. it is the gondola the other spoke to."

their assailant was turning also, and in a few seconds was in pursuit. francis understood it now. the gondola they had been following had noticed them, and had informed their friends, waiting off saint mark's, of the fact. intent upon watching the receding boat, he had paid no further attention to the four-oared craft, which had made a turn, and lay waiting in readiness to run them down, should they follow in the track of the other boat.

francis soon saw that the craft behind them was a fast one, and rowed by men who were first-rate gondoliers. fast as his own boat was flying through the water, the other gained upon them steadily. he was heading now for the entrance to the grand canal, for their pursuer, in the wider sweep he had made in turning, was nearer to the piazza than they were, and cut off their flight in that direction.

"keep cool, giuseppi," he said. "they will be up to us in a minute or two. when their bow is within a yard or two of us, and i say, 'now!' sweep her head straight round towards the lagoon. we can turn quicker than they can. then let them gain upon us, and we will then turn again."

the gondola in pursuit came up hand over hand. francis kept looking over his shoulder, and when he saw its bow gliding up within a few feet of her stern he exclaimed "now!" and, with a sudden turn, the gondola again swept out seaward.

their pursuer rushed on for a length or two before she could sweep round, while a volley of imprecations and threats burst from three men who were standing up in her with drawn swords. francis and giuseppi were now rowing less strongly, and gaining breath for their next effort. when the gondola again came up to them they swept round to the left, and as their pursuers followed they headed for the grand canal.

"make for the steps of santa maria church. we will jump out there and trust to our feet."

the two lads put out all their strength now. they were some three boats' lengths ahead before their pursuers were fairly on their track. they were now rowing for life, for they knew that they could hardly succeed in doubling again, and that the gondola behind them was so well handled, that they could not gain on it at the turnings were they to venture into the narrow channels. it was a question of speed alone, and so hard did they row that the gondola in pursuit gained but slowly on them, and they were still two lengths ahead when they dashed up to the steps of the church.

simultaneously they sprang on shore, leaped up the steps, and dashed off at the top of their speed, hearing, as they did so, a crash as the gondola ran into their light craft. there was a moment's delay, as the men had to step across their boat to gain the shore, and they were fifty yards ahead before they heard the sound of their pursuers' feet on the stone steps; but they were lightly clad and shoeless, and carried nothing to impede their movements, and they had therefore little fear of being overtaken.

after racing on at the top of their speed for a few minutes, they stopped and listened. the sound of their pursuers' footsteps died away in the distance; and, after taking a few turns to put them off their track, they pursued their way at a more leisurely pace.

"they have smashed the gondola," giuseppi said with a sob, for he was very proud of the light craft.

"never mind the gondola," francis said cheerfully. "if they had smashed a hundred it would not matter."

"but the woman has got away and we have learned nothing," giuseppi said, surprised at his master's cheerfulness.

"i think we have learned something, giuseppi. i think we have learned everything. i have no doubt the girls are confined in that hut on san nicolo. i wonder i never thought of it before; but i made so sure that they would be taken somewhere close to where mocenigo was staying, that it never occurred to me that they might hide them out there. i ought to have known that that was just the thing they would do, for while the search would be keen among the islets near the land, and the villages there, no one would think of looking for them on the seaward islands.

"i have no doubt they are there now. that woman came ashore to report to his friends, and that four-oared boat which has chased us was in waiting off saint mark's, to attack any boat that might be following them.

"we will go to signor polani at once and tell him what has happened. i suppose it is about one o'clock now, but i have not noticed the hour. it was past eleven before we first met the gondola, and we must have been a good deal more than an hour lying there waiting for them."

a quarter of an hour's walking took them to the palazzo of polani. they rang twice at the bell at the land entrance, before a face appeared at the little window of the door, and asked who was there.

"i wish to see signor polani at once," francis said.

"the signor retired to rest an hour ago," the man said.

"never mind that," francis replied. "i am francis hammond, and i have important news to give him."

as soon as the servitor recognized francis' voice, he unbarred the door.

"have you news of the ladies?" he asked eagerly.

"i have news which will, i hope, lead to something," francis replied.

a moment later the voice of polani himself, who, although he had retired to his room, had not yet gone to sleep, was heard at the top of the grand stairs, inquiring who it was who had come so late; for although men had been arriving all day, with reports from the various islands and villages, he thought that no one would come at this hour unless his news were important.

francis at once answered:

"it is i, signor polani, francis hammond. i have news which i think may be of importance, although i may be mistaken. still, it is certainly news that may lead to something."

the merchant hurried down.

"what is it, francisco? what have you learned?"

"i have seen the woman castaldi, and have followed her. i do not know for certain where she was going, for we have been chased by a large gondola, and have narrowly escaped with our lives. still, i have a clue to their whereabouts."

francis then related the events of the evening.

"but why did you not run into the boat and give the alarm at once, francisco? any gondolas passing would have given their assistance, when you declared who she was, for the affair is the talk of the city. if that woman were in our power we should soon find means to make her speak."

"yes, signor; but the moment she was known to be in your power, you may be sure that they would remove your daughters from the place where they have been hiding them. i thought, therefore, the best plan would be to track them. no doubt we should have succeeded in doing so, had it not been for the attack upon us by another gondola."

"you are right, no doubt, francisco. still, it is unfortunate, for i do not see that we are now any nearer than we were before, except that we know that this woman is in the habit of coming into the city."

"i think we are nearer, sir, for i had an adventure some time ago that may afford a clue to their hiding place."

he then told the merchant how he had, one evening, taken a man out to san nicolo, and had discovered that a hut in that island was used as a meeting place by various persons, among whom was ruggiero mocenigo.

"i might have thought of the place before, signor; but, in fact, it never entered my mind. from the first, we considered it so certain that the men who carried off your daughters would take them to some hiding place where mocenigo could speedily join them, that san nicolo never entered my mind. i own that it was very stupid, for it seems now to me that the natural thing for them to do, would be to take them in the very opposite direction to that in which the search for them would be made."

the story had been frequently interrupted by exclamations of surprise by polani. at its conclusion, he laid his hand on francis' shoulder.

"my dear boy," he said, "how can i thank you! you seem to me to be born to be the preserver of my daughters. i cannot doubt that your suspicion is correct, and that they are confined in this hut at san nicolo. how fortunate that you did not denounce this conspiracy--for conspiracy no doubt it is--that you discovered, for, had you done so, some other place would have been selected for the girls' prison."

"i would not be too sanguine, sir. the girls may not be in this hut, still we may come on some clue there which may lead us to them. if not, we will search the islands on that side as closely as we have done those on the mainland."

"now, shall i send for the gondoliers and set out at once? there are ten or twelve men in the house, and it is hardly likely that they will place a guard over them of anything like this strength, as of course they will be anxious to avoid observation by the islanders."

"i do not think i would do anything tonight, sir," francis said. "the gondola that chased us will be on the alert. they cannot, of course, suspect in the slightest that we have any clue to the hiding place of your daughters. still, they might think that, if we were really pursuing the other gondola, and had recognized the woman castaldi, we might bring the news to you, and that a stir might be made. they may therefore be watching to see if anything comes of it; and if they saw a bustle and gondolas setting out taking the direction of the island, they might set off and get there first, for it is a very fast craft, and remove your daughters before we reach the hut.

"i should say wait till morning. they may be watching your house now, and if, in an hour or two, they see all is quiet, they will no doubt retire with the belief that all danger is at an end. then, in the morning, i would embark the men in two or three gondolas, but i would not start from your own steps, for no doubt your house is watched. let the men go out singly, and embark at a distance from here, and not at the same place. once out upon the lagoon, they should row quietly towards san nicolo, keeping a considerable distance apart, the men lying down in the bottom as the boats approach the island, so that if anyone is on watch he will have no suspicion.

"as i am the only one that knows the position of the hut, i will be with you in the first gondola. we will not land near the hut, but pass by, and land at the other end of the island. the other gondolas will slowly follow us, and land at the same spot. then three or four men can go along by the sea face, with orders to watch any boats hauled up upon the shore there, and stop any party making down towards them. the rest of us will walk straight to the hut, and, as it lies among sand hills, i hope we shall be able to get quite close to it before our approach is discovered."

"an excellent plan, francisco, though i am so impatient that the night will seem endless to me; but certainly your plan is the best. even if the house is watched, and you were seen to enter, if all remains perfectly quiet they will naturally suppose that the news you brought was not considered of sufficient importance to lead to any action. you will, of course, remain here till morning?"

"i cannot do that, sir, though i will return the first thing. there is, lying on my table, a paper with the particulars and names of the persons i saw meet in this hut, and a request to my father that, if i do not return in the morning, he will at once lay this before the council. i place it there every day when i go out, in order that, if i should be seized and carried off by mocenigo's people, i should have some means of forcing them to let me go.

"although i know absolutely nothing of the nature of the conspiracy, they will not know how much i am aware of, or what particulars i may have given in the document; and as i could name to them those present, and among them is the envoy of the king of hungary, now in the city, they would hardly dare harm me, when they knew that if they did so this affair would be brought before the council."

"it was an excellent precaution, francisco. why, you are as prudent and thoughtful as you are courageous!"

"it was not likely to be of much use, sir," francis said modestly. "i was very much more likely to get a stab in the back than to be carried off. still, it was just possible that mocenigo might himself like to see his vengeance carried out, and it was therefore worth my while guarding against it. but, as you see, it will be necessary for me to be back sometime before morning."

"at any rate, francisco, you had better wait here until morning breaks. your room is not likely to be entered for some hours after that; so while i am preparing for our expedition, you can go out and make your way to the grand canal, hail an early gondola, and be put down at your own steps, when, as you have told me, you can enter the house without disturbing anyone. then you can remove that paper, and return here in the gondola. we will start at seven. there will be plenty of boats about by that time, and the lagoon will be dotted by the fishermen's craft, so that our gondolas will attract no attention."

"perhaps that will be the best plan, signor; and, indeed, i should not be sorry for a few hours' sleep, for giuseppi and i have been in our boat since a very early hour in the morning, and were pretty well tired out before this last adventure began."