sent from the
palazzo after the shades of evening begin to fall, unless I myself am
with them; and I shall increase the number of armed retainers in the
house, by bringing some of my men on shore from a ship which arrived
last night in port. I cannot believe that even Ruggiero would have the
insolence to attempt to carry them off from the house by force; but
when one has to deal with a man like this, one cannot take too great
precautions."

"I have already ordered my son, on no account, to be out after
nightfall in the streets. In his gondola I do not mind, for unless the
gondoliers wear badges, it is impossible to tell one boat from another
after dark. Besides, as he tells me, his boat is so fast that he has no
fear whatever of being overtaken, even if recognized and chased. But I
shall not feel comfortable so long as he is here, and shall send him
back to England on the very first occasion that offers."

"I trust that no such occasion may occur just yet, Signor Hammond. I
should be sorry, indeed, for your son to be separated so soon from us.
We must talk the matter over together, and perhaps between us we may
hit on some plan by which, while he may be out of the reach of the
peril he has incurred on behalf of my family, he may yet be neither
wasting his time, nor altogether separated from us."

For the next fortnight Francis spent most of his time at the Palazzo
Polani. The merchant was evidently sincere in his invitation to him to
make his house his home; and if a day passed without the lad paying a
visit, would chide him gently for deserting them. He himself was
frequently present in the balcony, where the four young people--for
Matteo Giustiniani was generally of the party--sat and chatted
together, the gouvernante sitting austerely by, with at times a strong
expression of disapproval on her countenance at their laughter and
merriment, although--as her charges' father approved of the intimacy of
the girls with their young cousin and this English lad--she could offer
no open objections. In the afternoon, the party generally went for a
long row in a four-oared gondola, always returning home upon the
approach of evening.

To Francis this time was delightful. He had had no sister of his own;
and although he had made the acquaintance of a number of lads in
Venice, and had accompanied his father to formal entertainments at the
houses of his friends, he had never before been intimate in any of
their families. The gai