ancis was wise or not, in accepting
Pisani's offer that he should act as his aide-de-camp, may be doubted;
but now that he has undertaken it, he must carry out his orders,
especially as it is now too late to make other arrangements, did he
draw back.

"If you will come into my room, Francisco, I will give you a chart of
the passages around Chioggia. You can study that, and you will then the
better understand the information you may receive, from the men you are
expecting."

Half an hour later Giuseppi arrived with the gondolier he had spoken
of, and two old fishermen, and from their explanations, and a study of
the map, Francis gained an exact idea of the localities. From his
previous expeditions he had learned where the Genoese were generally
posted, and something of the strength of the forces at the various
points.

In truth, they kept but a careless watch. Feeling convinced that the
Venetians possessed no forces capable of attacking him, and that their
surrender must now be a matter of a few days only, Doria took no
precautions. His troops were all quartered in the houses of Chioggia,
his galleys moored alongside its quays, and the utmost he did was to
post small bodies of men, with rowboats, at the entrances to the
passages from the sea, and up the lagoons, to give warning of any
sudden attempt on the part of Barberigo, with his light flotilla, to
make a dash at the galleys, and endeavour to burn them.

Having obtained all the information he could from the old fishermen,
Francis dismissed them.

"It is evident," he said to Giuseppi, "that we can hardly hope to
succeed in passing the boats at the entrance to the canal seaward, or
by going up the lagoon. The only plan that I can see is for us to land
on the island of Pelestrina, which is held by us, to carry the boat
across it, and to embark in the Malamocco channel. In this way, we
should be within their cordon of boats, and can row fearlessly either
out to the entrances, or to Chioggia itself. We are not likely to be
detected, and if we are, we must make a race of it to Pelestrina."

The gondolier agreed that the scheme was practicable, and Francis
ordered Giuseppi and him to remove the burdens, and every bit of wood
that could be dispensed with from the gondola, so as to facilitate its
transport.

Chapter 19: The Siege Of Chioggia.

Late in the afternoon, Francis embarked in his gondola, and in an hour
and a half landed at Pelestrina. He was well k