ncisco," Matteo said as he
stepped ashore; "but we will talk about it again tomorrow."

"We shall meet at your cousin's in the evening. Before that time, we
had better both think over whether we ought to tell anyone our
suspicions, and we can hold a council in the gondola on the way back."

Francis did think the matter over that night. He felt that the fact
told him by Giulia, that the gouvernante had herself been the means of
their staying out later than usual on the evening of the attack, added
great weight to the vague suspicions he had previously entertained; and
he determined to let the matter rest no longer, but that the next day
he would speak to Signor Polani, even at the risk of offending him by
his suspicions of a person who had been, for some years, in his
confidence. Accordingly, he went in the morning to the palazzo, but
found that Signor Polani was absent, and would not be in until two or
three o'clock in the afternoon. He did not see the girls, who, he knew,
were going out to spend the day with some friends.

At three o'clock he returned, and found that Polani had just come in.

"Why, Francisco," the merchant said when he entered, "have you
forgotten that my daughters will be out all day?"

"No, signor, I have not forgotten that, but I wish to speak to you. I
dare say you will laugh at me, but I hope you will not think me
meddlesome, or impertinent, for touching upon a subject which concerns
you nearly."

"I am sure you will not be meddlesome or impertinent, Francisco,"
Signor Polani said reassuringly, for he saw that the lad was nervous
and anxious. "Tell me what you have to say, and I can promise you
beforehand that, whether I agree with you or not in what you may have
to say, I shall be in no way vexed, for I shall know you have said it
with the best intentions."

"What I have to say, sir, concerns the Signora Castaldi, your
daughters' gouvernante. I know, sir, that you repose implicit
confidence in her; and your judgment, formed after years of intimate
knowledge, is hardly likely to be shaken by what I have to tell you. I
spoke to Matteo about it, and, as he is somewhat of my opinion, I have
decided that it is, at least, my duty to tell you all the
circumstances, and you can then form your own conclusions."

Francis then related the facts known to him. First, that the assailants
of the gondola must have had accurate information as to the hour at
which they would come along; secondly, that it