rhaps he did," Francis said; "but he would have been a hundred miles
further north by daybreak, and it would have taken him a couple of days
to get back to where we were lying."

No hostile sail was seen during the voyage back to Venice. Francis
remained in command of the little squadron, for the captains, and many
of the superior officers, had been transferred to the galley of the
officer in command of the squadron, and Francis happened to be the only
second officer on board any of the four ships.

Great care was observed when they approached Venice, as, for aught they
knew, Doria's squadron might be blockading the port. The Genoese fleet,
however, was still cruising on the coast of Dalmatia, capturing port
after port of the Venetian possessions there.

The four vessels passed through the channel of the Lido with their
colours flying. When first observed from the watchtower of Venice, they
were supposed to form part of the squadron of Zeno, but as soon as they
cast anchor, and the news spread that they were four of Pisani's
galleys, which had been recaptured from the Genoese, the delight of the
population was immense.

The ships were speedily surrounded by a fleet of boats, containing
relatives and friends of those taken prisoners at the battle of Polo,
and the decks were crowded with persons inquiring after their friends,
or embracing with delight those whom they had, an hour before, believed
to be either dead or immured in the dungeons of Genoa.

One of the first to appear was Polani, who had early received the news
by a swift boat from one of his ships in the port, that the Pluto was
one of the vessels entering the harbour.

"What miracle is this, Francis?" he asked, as he warmly embraced his
young friend.

"Not a miracle at all, Messer Polani. The Genoese fancied that a guard
of fifty men was amply sufficient to keep a hundred and fifty Venetians
captives, and we taught them their mistake."

"It wasn't we," Matteo put in, as he shook hands with his kinsman. "We
had no more idea of escaping than we had of flying. The whole thing was
entirely the work of Francisco here."

"I might have been sure the Genoese would not keep you long,
Francisco," Polani said; "and the girls and I might have spared
ourselves the pain of fretting for you. But how did it all come about?"

"If you will take me to the Piazza in your gondola, I will tell you all
about on the way," Francis replied. "For, absurd as it seems, I am the