no interest in them, and would rather be at sea. Matteo tells me
that you have promised he shall make a few voyages in your ships, and
that you have told him he shall go in one of them shortly. If so, it
would be very pleasant to us both if we can sail together."

"I will arrange it so, Francisco. It would be for the benefit of my
cousin--who is a good lad, but harebrained, and without ballast--for
you to go with him. I should indeed have proposed it, but the vessel in
which I have decided he shall sail will be ready for sea in another ten
days or so, and I thought that you would prefer a longer stay in Venice
before you again set sail. If, however, it is your wish to be off again
so soon, I will arrange for you both to sail together.

"This time you will go officially as my supercargo, since you now
understand the duties. The captain of the vessel in which you will sail
is a good sailor and a brave man, but he has no aptitude for trade, and
I must have sent a supercargo with him. Your decision to go relieves me
of this, for which I am not sorry, for men who are at once good
supercargos, and honest men, are difficult to get."

The fortnight passed rapidly, and Francis enjoyed his stay at the
merchant's greatly, but he was not sorry when, at the end of ten days,
Polani told him that the lading of the vessel would begin the next day,
and that he had best go on board early and see the cargo shipped, so
that he might check off the bales and casks as they were sent on board,
and see where each description of goods was stowed away.

"I think, papa, it is too bad of you, sending Francisco away so soon,"
Maria said, when at their evening meal she learned the news of his
early departure.

"It is his own doing," her father said. "It is he who wants to go, not
I who send him. I consider that it is entirely your fault."

"Our fault!" the two girls repeated in surprise.

"Certainly. If you had made Venice sufficiently pleasant to him, he
would not wish to leave. I am too busy to see about such things, and I
left it to you to entertain him. As he is in such a hurry to get away
again, it is evident that you have not succeeded in doing so."

"Indeed, Signor Polani, your daughters have been everything that is
kind, but I have no taste for assemblies and entertainments. I feel out
of place there, amid all the gaily dressed nobles and ladies, and no
sooner do I get there, than I begin to wonder how anyone can prefer the
heated ro