r zechins again, my good friend, and leave me the
cloak; I cannot possibly part with it."

At first he treated the thing as a jest, but when he saw it was
earnest, he fell in a passion at my presumption, and called me a fool;
and thus at last we came to blows. I was fortunate enough to seize the
mantle in the scuffle, and was already making off with it, when the
young man called the police to his assistance, and had both of us
carried before a court of justice. The magistrate was much astonished
at the accusation, and adjudged the cloak to my opponent. I however,
offered the young man twenty, fifty, eighty, at last a hundred,
zechins, in addition to his two hundred, if he would surrender it to
me. What my entreaties could not accomplish, my gold did. He took my
good zechins, while I went off in triumph with the mantle, obliged to
be satisfied with being taken for a madman by every one in Florence.
Nevertheless, the opinion of the people was a matter of indifference
to me, for I knew better than they, that I would still gain by the
bargain.

With impatience I awaited the night; at the same hour as the preceding
day, I proceeded to the Ponte Vecchio, the mantle under my arm. With
the last stroke of the clock, came the figure out of darkness to my
side: beyond a doubt it was the man of the night before.

"Hast thou the cloak?" I was asked.

"Yes, sir," I replied, "but it cost me a hundred zechins cash."

"I know it," rejoined he; "look, here are four hundred." He moved with
me to the broad railing of the bridge and counted out the gold pieces;
brightly they glimmered in the moonshine, their lustre delighted my
heart--ah! it did not foresee that this was to be its last joy. I put
the money in my pocket, and then wished to get a good view of the
generous stranger, but he had a mask before his face, through which
two dark eyes frightfully beamed upon me.

"I thank you, sir, for your kindness," said I to him; "what further
desire you of me? I told you before, however, that it must be nothing
evil."

"Unnecessary trouble," answered he, throwing the cloak over his
shoulders; "I needed your assistance as a physician, nevertheless not
for a living, but for a dead person."

"How can that be?" exclaimed I in amazement.

"I came with my sister from a distant land," rejoined he, at the same
time motioning me to follow him, "and took up my abode with a friend
of our family. A sudden disease carried off my sister yesterday, a