sses.

The companions of the Signor Soranzo, however, had a more difficult
task to prepare him for the duties of the statesman, which were so very
different from those he was accustomed to perform as a man, than they
had anticipated. They were like two trained elephants of the east,
possessing themselves all the finer instincts and generous qualities of
the noble animal, but disciplined by a force quite foreign to their
natural condition into creatures of mere convention, placed one on each
side of a younger brother, fresh from the plains, and whom it was their
duty to teach new services for the trunk, new affections, and haply the
manner in which to carry with dignity the howdah of a Rajah.

With many allusions to their policy, but with no direct intimation of
their own intention, the seniors of the council continued the
conversation until the hour for the meeting in the Doge's palace drew
nigh. They then separated as privately as they had come together, in
order that no vulgar eye might penetrate the mystery of their official
character.

The most practised of the three appeared in an assembly of the
patricians, which noble and beautiful dames graced with their presence,
from which he disappeared in a manner to leave no clue to his motions.
The other visited the death-bed of a friend, where he discoursed long
and well with a friar, of the immortality of the soul and the hopes of a
Christian: when he departed, the godly man bestowing his blessing, and
the family he left being loud and eloquent in his praise.

The Signor Soranzo clung to the enjoyments of his own family circle
until the last moment. The Donna Giulietta had returned, fresher and
more lovely than ever, from the invigorating sea-breeze, and her soft
voice, with the melodious laugh of his first-born, the blooming,
ringlet-covered girl described, still rang in his ears, when his
gondolier landed him beneath the bridge of the Rialto. Here he masked,
and drawing his cloak about him, he moved with the current towards the
square of St. Mark, by means of the narrow streets. Once in the crowd
there was little danger of impertinent observation. Disguise was as
often useful to the oligarchy of Venice as it was absolutely necessary
to elude its despotism, and to render the town tolerable to the citizen.
Paolo saw swarthy, bare-legged men of the Lagunes, entering occasionally
into the cathedral. He followed, and found himself standing near the
dimly lighted altar a