"have you heard the news, francisco? my cousins are rescued! i have been out this morning and have only just heard it, and i was on the point of starting to tell you."

"your news is old, matteo. i knew it hours ago."

"and i hear," matteo went on, "that polani found them in a hut on san nicolo. my father cannot think how he came to hear of their hiding place. he says polani would not say how he learned the news. my father supposes he heard it from some member of ruggiero's household."

francis hesitated for a moment. he had at first been on the point of telling matteo of the share he had had in the recovery of the girls; but he thought that although his friend could be trusted not to repeat the news wilfully, he might accidentally say something which would lead to the fact being known, and that as polani had strongly enjoined the necessity of keeping the secret, and had himself declined to mention, even to the council, the source from which he obtained his information, he would look upon him as a babbler, and unworthy of trust, did he find that matteo had been let into the secret.

"it does not much matter who it is polani learned the news from. the great point is, he has found his daughters safe from all injury, and i hear has brought back with him the woman who betrayed them. it is fortunate indeed that he took such prompt measures with ruggiero, and thus prevented his escaping from the mainland, and making off with the girls, as of course he intended to do."

"my father tells me," matteo said, "that a state gondola has already been dispatched to bring ruggiero a prisoner here, and that even his powerful connections will not save him from severe punishment, for public indignation is so great at the attempt, that his friends will not venture to plead on his behalf."

"and now i have my bit of news to tell you, matteo. signor polani has most generously offered me a position in his house, and i am to sail tomorrow in one of his ships for the east."

"i congratulate you, francisco, for i know, from what you have often said, that you would like this much better than going back to england. but it seems very sudden. you did not know anything about it yesterday, and now you are going to start at once. why, when can it have been settled? polani has been absent since daybreak, engaged in this matter of the girls, and has been occupied ever since with the council."

"i have seen him since he returned," francis replied; "and though it was only absolutely settled this morning, he has had several interviews with my father on the subject. i believe he and my father thought that it was better to get me away as soon as possible, as ruggiero's friends may put down the disgrace which has befallen him to my interference in his first attempt to carry off the girls."

"well, i think you are a lucky fellow anyhow, francisco, and i hope that i may be soon doing something also. i shall speak to my father about it, and ask him to get polani to let me take some voyages in his vessels, so that i may be fit to become an officer in one of the state galleys, as soon as i am of age. where are you going now?"

"i am going round to the school of arms, to say goodbye to our comrades. after that i am going to signor polani's to pay my respects to the signoras. then i shall be at home with my father till it is time to go on board. he will have left here before i return from my voyage, as he is going to wind up his affairs at once and return to england."

"well, i will accompany you to the school and to my cousin's," matteo said. "i shall miss you terribly here, and shall certainly do all i can to follow your example, and get afloat. you may have all sorts of adventures, for we shall certainly be at war with genoa before many weeks are over, and you will have to keep a sharp lookout for their war galleys. polani's ships are prizes worth taking, and you may have the chance of seeing the inside of a genoese prison before you return."

after a visit to the school of arms, the two friends were rowed to signor polani's. the merchant himself was out, but they were at once shown up to the room where the girls were sitting.

"my dear cousins," matteo said as he entered, "i am delighted to see you back safe and well. all venice is talking of your return. you are the heroines of the day. you do not know what an excitement there has been over your adventure."

"the sooner people get to talk about something else the better, matteo," maria said, "for we shall have to be prisoners all day till something else occupies their attention. we have not the least desire to be pointed at, whenever we go out, as the maidens who were carried away. if the venetians were so interested in us, they had much better have set about discovering where we were hidden away before."

"but everyone did try, i can assure you, maria. every place has been ransacked, high and low. every gondolier has been questioned and cross questioned as to his doings on that day. every fishing village has been visited. never was such a search, i do believe. but who could have thought of your being hidden away all the time at san nicolo! as for me, i have spent most of my time in a gondola, going out and staring up at every house i passed, in hopes of seeing a handkerchief waved from a casement. and so has francisco; he has been just as busy in the search as anyone, i can assure you."

"francisco is different," maria said, not observing the signs francis was making for her to be silent. "francisco has got eyes in his head, and a brain in his skull, which is more, it seems, than any of the venetians have; and had he not brought father to our hiding place, there we should have remained until ruggiero mocenigo came and carried us away."

"francisco brought your father the news!" matteo exclaimed in astonishment. "why, was it he who found you out, after all?"

"did you not know that, matteo? of course it was francisco! as i told you, he has got brains; and if it had not been for him, we should certainly never have been rescued. giulia and i owe him everything--don't we, giulia?"

"forgive me for not telling you, matteo," francis said to his astonished friend; "but signor polani, and my father, both impressed upon me so strongly that i should keep silent as to my share in the business, that i thought it better not even to mention it to you at present. it was purely the result of an accident."

"it was nothing of the sort," maria said. "it was the result of your keeping your eyes open and knowing how to put two and two together. i did not know, francisco, that it was a secret. we have not seen our father since we have returned, and i suppose he thought we should see nobody until he saw us again, and so did not tell us that we were not to mention your name in the affair; but we will be careful in future."

"but how was it, francisco?" matteo asked. "now i know so much as this, i suppose i can be told the rest. i can understand well enough why it was to be kept a secret, and why my cousin is anxious to get you out of venice at once."

francis related the manner in which he first became acquainted with the existence of the hut on the island, and the fact of its being frequented by ruggiero mocenigo; and how, on catching sight of the gouvernante in a gondola, and seeing her make out across the lagoons, the idea struck him that the girls were confined in the hut.

"it is all very simple, you see, matteo," he concluded.

"i will never say anything against learning to row a gondola in future," matteo said, "for it seems to lead to all sorts of adventures; and unless you could have rowed well, you would never have got back to tell the story. but it is certain that it is a good thing you are leaving venice for a time, for ruggiero's friends may find out the share you had in it from some of my cousin's servants. you may be sure that they will do their best to discover how he came to be informed of the hiding place, and he is quite right to send you off at once."

"what! are you going away, francisco?" the two girls exclaimed together.

"i am sailing tomorrow in one of your father's ships, signoras."

"and you are not coming back again?" maria exclaimed.

"i hope to have the pleasure of seeing you again before very long, signora. i am entering your father's service for good, and shall be backwards and forwards to venice as the ship comes and goes. my father is returning to england, and signor polani has most kindly requested me to make my home with him whenever i am in port."

"that is better," maria said. "we should have a pretty quarrel with papa if he had let you go away altogether, after what you have done for us--

"shouldn't we, giulia?"

but giulia had walked away to the window, and did not seem to hear the question.

"that will be very pleasant," maria went on; "for you will be back every two or three months, and i shall take good care that papa does not send the ship off in a hurry again. it will be almost as good as having a brother; and i look upon you almost as a brother now, francisco--and a very good brother, too. i don't think that man will molest us any more. if i thought there was any chance of it, i should ask papa to keep you for a time, because i should feel confident that you would manage to protect us somehow."

"i do not think there is the slightest chance of more trouble from him," francis said. "he is sure of a long term of imprisonment for carrying you off."

"that is the least they can do to him, i should think," maria said indignantly. "i certainly shall not feel comfortable while he is at large."

after half an hour's talk francis and his friend took their leave.

"you certainly were born with a silver spoon in your mouth," matteo said as they took their seats in the gondola, "and my cousin does well to get you out of venice at once, for i can tell you there are scores of young fellows who would feel jealous at your position with my cousins."

"nonsense!" francis said, colouring. "how can you talk so absurdly, matteo? i am only a boy, and it will be years before i could think of marriage. besides, your cousins are said to be the richest heiresses in venice; and it is not because i have been able to be of some slight service to them, that i should venture to think of either of them in that way."

"we shall see," matteo laughed. "maria is a little too old for you, i grant, but giulia will do very well; and as you have already come, as maria says, to be looked upon by them as a brother and protector, there is no saying as to how she may regard you in another two or three years."

"the thing is absurd, matteo," francis said impatiently. "do not talk such nonsense any more."

matteo lay back in his seat and whistled.

"i will say no more about it at present, francisco," he said, after a pause; "but i must own that i should be well content to stand as high in the good graces of my pretty cousins as you do."

the next morning francis spent some time with his father talking over future arrangements.

"i have no doubt that i shall see you sometimes, francis; for polani will be sure to give you an opportunity of making a trip to england, from time to time, in one of his ships trading thither. unless anything unexpected happens, your future appears assured. polani tells me he shall always regard you in the light of a son; and i have no fear of your doing anything to cause him to forfeit his good opinion of you. do not be over adventurous, for even in a merchant ship there are many perils to be met with. pirates swarm in the mediterranean, in spite of the efforts of venice to suppress them; and when war is going on, both venice and genoa send out numbers of ships whose doings savour strongly of piracy. remember that the first duty of the captain of a merchant ship is to save his vessel and cargo, and that he should not think of fighting unless he sees no other method of escape open to him.

"it is possible that, after a time, i may send one of your brothers out here, but that will depend upon what i find of their disposition when i get home; for it will be worse than useless to send a lad of a headstrong disposition out to the care of one but a few years older than himself. but this we can talk about when you come over to england, and we see what position you are occupying here.

"i fear that venice is about to enter upon a period of great difficulty and danger. there can be little doubt that genoa, padua, and hungary are leagued against her; and powerful as she is, and great as are her resources, they will be taxed to the utmost to carry her through the dangers that threaten her. however, i have faith in her future, and believe that she will weather the storm, as she has done many that have preceded it.

"venice has the rare virtue of endurance--the greatest dangers, the most disastrous defeats, fail to shake her courage, and only arouse her to greater efforts. in this respect she is in the greatest contrast to her rival, genoa, who always loses heart the moment the tide turns against her. no doubt this is due, in no slight extent, to her oligarchic form of government. the people see the nobles, who rule them, calm and self possessed, however great the danger, and remain confident and tranquil; while in genoa each misfortune is the signal for a struggle between contending factions. the occasion is seized to throw blame and contumely upon those in power, and the people give way to alternate outbursts of rage and depression.

"i do not say there are no faults in the government of venice, but taking her altogether there is no government in europe to compare with it. during the last three hundred years, the history of every other city in italy, i may say of every other nation in europe, is one long record of intestine struggle and bloodshed, while in venice there has not been a single popular tumult worthy of the name. it is to the strength, the firmness, and the moderation of her government that venice owes her advancement, the respect in which she is held among nations, as much as to the commercial industry of her people.

"she alone among nations could for years have withstood the interdict of the pope, or the misfortunes that have sometimes befallen her. she alone has never felt the foot of the invader, or bent her neck beneath a foreign yoke to preserve her existence. here, save only in matters of government, all opinions are free, strangers of all nationalities are welcome. it is a grand city and a grand people, francis, and though i shall be glad to return to england i cannot but feel regret at leaving it.

"and now, my boy, it is time to be going off to your ship. polani said she would sail at ten o'clock. it is now nine, and it will take you half an hour to get there. i am glad to hear that giuseppi is going with you. the lad is faithful and attached to you, and may be of service. your trunk has already been sent on board, so let us be going."

on arriving at the ship, which was lying in the port of malamocco, they found that she was just ready for sailing. the last bales of goods were being hoisted on board, and the sailors were preparing to loosen the sails.

the bonito was a large vessel, built for stowage rather than speed. she carried two masts with large square sails, and before the wind would probably proceed at a fair rate; but the art of sailing close hauled was then unknown, and in the event of the wind being unfavourable she would be forced either to anchor or to depend upon her oars, of which she rowed fifteen on either side. as they mounted on to the deck they were greeted by polani himself.

"i have come off to see the last of your son, messer hammond, and to make sure that my orders for his comfort have been carried out.

"captain corpadio, this is the young gentleman of whom i have spoken to you, and who is to be treated in all respects as if he were my son. you will instruct him in all matters connected with the navigation of the ship, as well as in the mercantile portion of the business, the best methods of buying and selling, the prices of goods, and the methods of payment.

"this is your cabin, francisco."

he opened the door of a roomy cabin in the poop of the ship. it was fitted up with every luxury.

"thank you very much indeed, signor polani," francis said. "the only fault is that it is too comfortable. i would as lief have roughed it as other aspirants have to do."

"there was no occasion, francisco. when there is rough work to be done, you will, i have no doubt, do it; but as you are going to be a trader, and not a sailor, there is no occasion that you should do so more than is necessary. you will learn to command a ship just as well as if you began by dipping your hands in tar. and it is well that you should learn to do this, for unless a man can sail a vessel himself, he is not well qualified to judge of the merits of men he appoints to be captains; but you must remember that you are going as a representative of my house, and must, therefore, travel in accordance with that condition.

"you will be sorry to hear that bad news has just been received from the mainland. the state galley sent to fetch ruggiero mocenigo has arrived with the news that, on the previous night, a strong party of men who are believed to have come from padua, fell upon the guard and carried off ruggiero. my sailors came up and fought stoutly, but they were overpowered, and several of them were killed; so ruggiero is again at large.

"this is a great disappointment to me. though the villain is not likely to show his face in the venetian territory again, i shall be anxious until maria is safely married, and shall lose no time in choosing a husband for her. unless i am mistaken, her liking is turned in the direction of rufino, brother of your friend matteo giustiniani, and as i like none better among the suitors for her hand, methinks that by the time you return you will find that they are betrothed.

"and now i hear the sailors are heaving the anchor, and therefore, messer hammond, it is time we took to our boats."

there was a parting embrace between francis and his father. then the merchants descended into their gondolas, and lay waiting alongside until the anchor was up, the great sails shaken out, and the bonito began to move slowly through the water towards the entrance of the port. then, with a final wave of the hand, the gondolas rowed off and francis turned to look at his surroundings. the first object that met his eye was giuseppi, who was standing near him waving his cap to his father.

"well, giuseppi, what do you think of this?"

"i don't know what to think yet, messer francisco. it all seems so big and solid one does not feel as if one was on the water. it's more like living in a house. it does not seem as if anything could move her."

"you will find the waves can move her about when we get fairly to sea, giuseppi, and the time will come when you will think our fast gondola was a steady craft in comparison. how long have you been on board?"

"i came off three hours ago, signor, with the boat that brought the furniture for your cabin. i have been putting that to rights since. a supply of the best wine has been sent off, and extra stores of all sorts, so you need not be afraid of being starved on the voyage."

"i wish he hadn't sent so much," francis said. "it makes one feel like a milksop. whose cabin is it i have got?"

"i believe that it is the cabin usually used by the supercargo, who is in charge of the goods and does the trading, but the men say the captain of this ship has been a great many years in polani's employment, and often sails without a supercargo, being able to manage the trading perfectly well by himself. but the usual cabin is only half the size of yours, and two have been thrown into one to make it light and airy."

"and where do you sleep, giuseppi?"

"i am going to sleep in the passage outside your door, messer francisco."

"oh, but i sha'n't like that!" francis said. "you ought to have a better place than that."

giuseppi laughed.

"why, messer francisco, considering that half my time i slept in the gondola, and the other half on some straw in our kitchen, i shall do capitally. of course i could sleep in the fo'castle with the crew if i liked, but i should find it hot and stifling there. i chose the place myself, and asked the captain if i could sleep there, and he has given me leave."

in an hour the bonito had passed through the malamocco channel, and was out on the broad sea. the wind was very light, and but just sufficient to keep the great sails bellied out. the sailors were all at work, coiling down ropes, washing the decks, and making everything clean and tidy.

"this is a good start, messer hammond," the captain said, coming up to him. "if this wind holds, we shall be able to make our course round the southern point of greece, and then on to candia, which is our first port. i always like a light breeze when i first go out of port, it gives time for everyone to get at home and have things shipshape before we begin to get lively."

"she does not look as if she would ever get lively," francis said, looking at the heavy vessel.

"she is lively enough in a storm, i can tell you," the captain said, laughing. "when she once begins to roll she does it in earnest, but she is a fine sea boat, and i have no fear of gales. i wish i could say as much of pirates. however, she has always been fortunate, and as we carry a stout crew she could give a good account of herself against any of the small piratical vessels that swarm among the islands, although, of course, if she fell in with two or three of them together it would be awkward."

"how many men do you carry altogether, captain?"

"just seventy. you see she rows thirty oars, and in case of need we put two men to each oar, and though she doesn't look fast she can get along at a fine rate when the oars are double banked. we have shown them our heels many a time. our orders are strict. we are never to fight if we can get away by running."

"but i suppose you have to fight sometimes?" francis asked.

"yes, i have been in some tough fights several times, though not in the bonito, which was only built last year. once in the lion we were attacked by three pirates. we were at anchor in a bay, and the wind was blowing on the shore, when they suddenly came round the headland, so there was no chance of running, and we had to fight it out. we fought for five hours before they sheered off, pretty well crippled, and one of them in flames, for we carried greek fire.

"three or four times they nearly got a footing on deck, but we managed to beat them off somehow. we lost a third of our crew. i don't think there was a man escaped without a wound. i was laid up for three months, after i got home, with a slash on the shoulder, which pretty nigh took off my left arm. however, we saved the ship and the cargo, which was a valuable one, and messer polani saw that no one was the worse for his share in the business. there's no more liberal-hearted man in the trade than he is, and whatever may be the scarcity of hands in the port, there is never any difficulty in getting a good crew together for his vessels.

"of course there are the roughs with the smooths. some years ago i was in prison for six months, with all my crew, in azoff. it was the work of those rascally genoese, who are always doing us a bad turn when they have the chance, even when we are at peace with them. they set the mind of the native khan--that is the prince of the country--against us by some lying stories that we had been engaged in smuggling goods in at another port. and suddenly, in the middle of the night, in marched his soldiers on board my ship, and two other venetian craft lying in the harbour, and took possession of them, and shut us all up in prison. there we were till messer polani got news, and sent out another ship to pay the fine demanded. that was no joke, i can tell you, for the prison was so hot and crowded, and the food so bad, that we got fever, and pretty near half of us died before our ransom came. then at constantinople the genoese stirred the people up against us once or twice, and all the sailors ashore had to fight for their lives. those genoese are always doing us mischief."

"but i suppose you do them mischief sometimes, captain. i imagine it isn't all one side."

"of course, we pay them out when we get a chance," the captain replied. "it isn't likely we are going to stand being always put upon, and not take our chance when it comes. we only want fair trade and no favour, while those rascals want it all to themselves. they know they have no chance with us when it comes to fair trading."

"you know, captain, that the genoese say just the same things about the venetians, that the venetians do about them. so i expect that there are faults on both sides."

the captain laughed.

"i suppose each want to have matters their own way, messer hammond, but i don't consider the genoese have any right to come interfering with us, to the eastward of italy. they have got france and spain to trade with, and all the western parts of italy. why don't they keep there? besides, i look upon them as landsmen. why, we can always lick them at sea in a fair fight."

"generally, captain. i admit you generally thrash them. still, you know they have sometimes got the better of you, even when the force was equal."

the captain grunted. he could not deny the fact.

"sometimes our captains don't do their duty," he said. "they put a lot of young patricians in command of the galleys, men that don't know one end of a ship from the other, and then, of course, we get the worst of it. but i maintain that, properly fought, a venetian ship is always more than a match for a genoese."

"i think she generally is, captain, and i hope it will always prove so in the future. you see, though i am english, i have lived long enough in venice to feel like a venetian."

"i have never been to england," the captain said, "though a good many venetian ships go there every year. they tell me it's an island, like venice, only a deal bigger than any we have got in the mediterranean. those who have been there say the sea is mighty stormy, and that, sailing up from spain, you get tremendous tempests sometimes, with the waves ever so much bigger than we have here, and longer and more regular, but not so trying to the ships as the short sharp gales of these seas."

"i believe that is so, captain, though i don't know anything about it myself. it is some years since i came out, and our voyage was a very calm one."

three days of quiet sailing, and the bonito rounded the headlands of the morea, and shaped her course to candia. the voyage was a very pleasant one to francis. each day the captain brought out the list of cargo, and instructed him in the prices of each description of goods, told him of the various descriptions of merchandise which they would be likely to purchase at the different ports at which they were to touch, and the prices which they would probably have to pay for them. a certain time, too, was devoted each day to the examination of the charts of the various ports and islands, the captain pointing out the marks which were to be observed on entering and leaving the harbours, the best places for anchorage, and the points where shelter could be obtained should high winds come on.

after losing sight of the morea the weather changed, clouds banked up rapidly in the southwest, and the captain ordered the great sails to be furled.

"we are going to have a serious gale," he said to francis, "which is unusual at this period of the year. i have thought, for the last two days, we were going to have a change, but i hoped to have reached candia before the gale burst upon us. i fear that this will drive us off our course."

by evening it was blowing hard, and the sea got up rapidly. the ship speedily justified the remarks of the captain on her power of rolling, and the oars, at which the men had been labouring since the sails were furled, were laid in.

"it is impossible to keep our course," the captain said, "and we must run up among the islands, and anchor under the lee of one of them. i should recommend you to get into your bed as soon as possible. you have not learned to keep your legs in a storm. i see that lad of yours is very ill already, but as you show no signs of suffering thus far, you will probably escape."

it was some time, however, before francis went below. the scene was novel to him, and he was astonished at the sight of the waves, and at the manner in which they tossed the great ship about, as if she were an eggshell. but when it became quite dark, and he could see nothing but the white crests of the waves and the foam that flew high in the air every time the bluff bows of the ship plunged down into a hollow, he took the captain's advice and retired to his cabin.

he was on deck again early. a gray mist overhung the water. the sea was of a leaden colour, crested with white heads. the waves were far higher than they had been on the previous evening, and as they came racing along behind the bonito each crest seemed as if it would rise over her stern and overwhelm her. but this apprehension was soon dispelled, as he saw how lightly the vessel rose each time. although showing but a very small breadth of sail, she was running along at a great rate, leaving a white streak of foam behind her. the captain was standing near the helm, and francis made his way to him.

"well, captain, and how are you getting on, and where are we?" he asked, cheerfully.

"we are getting on well enough, messer francisco, as you can see for yourself. the bonito is as good a sea boat as ever floated, and would not care for the wind were it twice as strong as it is. it is not the storm i am thinking about, but the islands. if we were down in the mediterranean i could turn into my cot and sleep soundly; but here it is another matter. we are somewhere up among the islands, but where, no man can say. the wind has shifted a bit two or three times during the night, and, as we are obliged to run straight before it, there is no calculating to within a few miles where we are. i have tried to edge out to the westward as much as i could, but with this wind blowing and the height of the ship out of water, we sag away to leeward so fast that nothing is gained by it.

"according to my calculation, we cannot be very far from the west coast of mitylene. if the clouds would but lift, and give us a look round for two minutes, we should know all about it, as i know the outline of every island in the aegean; and as over on this side you are always in sight of two or three of them, i should know all about it if i could get a view of the land. now, for aught we know, we may be running straight down upon some rocky coast."

the idea was not a pleasant one, and francis strained his eyes, gazing through the mist.

"what should we do if we saw land, captain?" he asked presently.

"get out the oars, row her head round, and try to work either to the right or left, whichever point of land seemed easiest to weather. of course, if it was the mainland we were being driven on there would be no use, and we should try and row into the teeth of the gale, so as to keep her off land as long as possible, in the hope of the wind dropping. when we got into shallow water we should drop our anchors, and still keep on rowing to lessen the strain upon them. if they gave, there would be an end to the bonito. but if, as i think, we are driving towards mitylene, there is a safe harbour on this side of the island, and i shall certainly run into it. it is well sheltered and landlocked."

two more hours passed, and then there was a startling transformation. the clouds broke suddenly and cleared off, as if by magic, and the sun streamed brightly out. the wind was blowing as strong as ever, but the change in the hue of sky and sea would at once have raised the spirits of the tired crew, had not a long line of land been seen stretching ahead of them at a distance of four or five miles.

"just as i thought," the captain exclaimed as he saw it. "that is mitylene, sure enough, and the entrance to the harbour i spoke of lies away there on that beam."

the oars were at once got out, the sail braced up a little, and the bonito made for the point indicated by the captain, who himself took the helm.

another half hour and they were close to land. francis could see no sign of a port, but in a few minutes the bonito rounded the end of a low island, and a passage opened before her. she passed through this and found herself in still water, in a harbour large enough to hold the fleet of venice. the anchor was speedily let drop.

"it seems almost bewildering," francis said, "the hush and quiet here after the turmoil of the storm outside. to whom does mitylene belong?"

"the genoese have a trading station and a castle at the other side of the island, but it belongs to constantinople. the other side of the island is rich and fertile, but this, as you see, is mountainous and barren. the people have not a very good reputation, and if we had been wrecked we should have been plundered, if not murdered.

"you see those two vessels lying close to the shore, near the village? they are pirates when they get a chance, you may be quite sure. in fact, these islands swarm with them. venice does all she can to keep them down, but the genoese, and the hungarians, and the rest of them, keep her so busy that she has no time to take the matter properly in hand, and make a clean sweep of them."