hose of the Doge, so marked as to render it quite apparent
to any who wished to find it. The habits of the mariner had probably
diminished the likeness, but it was too obviously there to escape
detection. That hardened and rude appearance, the consequence of exposure,
which rendered it difficult to pronounce within ten years of his real age,
contributed a little to conceal what might be termed the latent character
of his countenance, but the features themselves were undeniably a rude
copy of the more polished lineaments of the Prince.

The case was less clear as respects Sigismund. The advantage of ruddy and
vigorous youth rendered him such a resemblance of the Doge--in the points
where it existed--as we find between the aged and those portraits which
have been painted in their younger and happier days. The bold outline was
not unlike that of the noble features of the venerable Prince, but neither
the eye, the hair, nor the complexion, had the hues of Italy.

"Thou seest," said Maso, tauntingly, when the disappointed clavier
admitted the differences in the latter particulars, "This is an
imposition that will not pass. I swear to you, as there is faith in man,
and hope for the dying Christian, that so far as any know their parentage,
I am the child of Gaetano Grimaldi, the present Doge of Genoa, and of no
other man! May the saints desert me!--the blessed Mother of God be deaf to
my prayers!--and all men hunt me with their curses, if I say aught in this
but holy truth!"

The fearful energy with which Maso uttered this solemn appeal, and a
certain sincerity that marked his manner, and perhaps we might even say
his character, in spite of the dissolute recklessness of his principles,
served greatly to weaken the growing opinion in favor of his competitor.

"And this noble youth?" asked the sorrowing Doge--"this generous and
elevated boy, whom I have already held next to my heart, with so much of a
father's joy--who and what is he?"

"Eccellenza, I wish to say nothing against the Signor Sigismondo. He is a
gallant swimmer, and a staunch support in time of need. Be he Swiss, or
Genoese, either country may be proud of him, but self-love teaches us all
to take care of our own interests before those of another. It Would be far
pleasanter to dwell in the Palazzo Grimaldi, on our warm and sunny gulf,
honored and esteemed as the heir of a noble name, than to be cutting heads
in Berne; and honest Balthazar does but follow his inst