e
cry, and soon a large multitude assembled in the Piazza, and with
menacing shouts, demanded that Pisani should be freed and appointed. So
serious did the tumult become, that the council were summoned in haste.
Pisani--so popular with the lower class that they called him their
father--was viewed with corresponding dislike and distrust by the
nobles, who were at once jealous of his fame and superiority, and were
alarmed at a popularity which could have made him, had he chosen it,
the master of the state.

It was not, therefore, until after some hours of stormy debate, that
they decided to give in to the wishes of the crowd, which was
continually growing larger and more threatening; and it was late in the
evening before the senators deputed by the council, followed by the
exulting populace, hurried to the prison to apprise Pisani that he was
free, and that the doge and senate were expecting him. Pisani heard the
message without emotion, and placidly replied that he should prefer to
pass the night where he was in reflection, and would wait on the
seignory in the morning.

At daybreak on Friday, the 19th of August, the senatorial delegates and
the people, accompanied by the other officers who had been involved in
the disgrace of Pisani, and who had now been freed, reappeared at the
gates of the prison. These were immediately opened, and Pisani
appeared, with his usual expression of cheerfulness and good humour on
his face. He was at once lifted on to the shoulders of some sailors,
and borne in triumph to the palace, amid the deafening cheers of the
populace. On the staircase he was met by the doge and senators, who
saluted him cordially. Mass was heard in the chapel, and Pisani and the
council then set to business, and were for some time closeted together.

The crowd waited outside the building, continuing to shout, and when
Pisani issued out from the palace, he was seized and carried in triumph
to his house in San Fantino. As he was passing the Campanile of Saint
Mark, his old pilot, Marino Corbaro, a remarkably able seaman, but a
perpetual grumbler against those in authority, met him, and elbowing
his way through the crowd, drew close to him, loudly shouting at the
same time:

"Now is the time, admiral, for revenging yourself, by seizing the
dictatorship of this city. Behold, all are at your service. All are
willing, at this very instant, to proclaim you prince, if you choose."

The loyalty of Pisani's nature was s