d nothing else, a mountebank or a
strolling minstrel, to be hired and paid for his work, and dismissed
with a cool nod, like a servant. Trombin, let us leave Venice.'

'After we have heard the oratorio on Sunday----'

'Of course! Do you think I would miss that? But there is nothing for us
to do here just now, whereas in Genoa, or Florence, or even Rome, we
should not be always idle.'

'Venice is a dull place, compared with what it used to be,' Trombin
admitted, and he raised his right forearm, turning it till he could
examine the threadbare elbow of his coat in the glare of the candles.
'Another week will do it,' he added, after a careful examination. 'I can
already perceive the direction which the split will take.'

'I never sit down, if I can help it,' said Gambardella mournfully.

'It is a strange fact,' answered Trombin thoughtfully, 'that only those
nations that wear breeches sit upon chairs; the others squat on their
heels, though they have no breeches to save. This is a most
contradictory world.'

'I never could see any sense in it myself,' returned the other. 'Shall
we go to supper?'

'It pleases you to be humorous,' Trombin observed, and they moved away
from the great choir screen.

As they passed the blazing chapel of the Sacrament, each bent his knee
and crossed himself devoutly. The young monk was still prostrate before
the altar. Trombin looked at him sharply, and the two went on towards
the open door, through which the fading twilight outside admitted
barely enough light to distinguish the great pillars and tombs.

The two shabby gentlemen left the church and strolled slowly along the
edge of the canal. In the open air it was quite light still, and the
warm afterglow of the sunset had not quite paled yet.

'Supper!' said Trombin presently, dwelling on the one word in a musical
tone, and with the deepest feeling.

'That is the worst of Venice,' answered Gambardella, gloomily pulling
his soft hat over his eyes. 'One cannot even eat here without paying.
Now in Florence or Rome the people are more simple, and when you have
made your necessary debts, and creditors talk of imprisoning you, why,
then, you need only appeal to the Venetian Ambassador for protection,
and you are perfectly safe! But here! On the word of a gentleman, it is
enough to drive a man to highway robbery!'

Trombin laughed softly.

'Supper!' he said again, as musically and feelingly as before.

'You will make me mad with your