Mark began to lose a portion of its gaiety. The
cafes were now occupied by parties who had the means, and were in the
humor, to put their indulgences to more substantial proof than the
passing gibe or idle laugh; while those who were reluctantly compelled
to turn their thoughts from the levities of the moment to the cares of
the morrow, were departing in crowds to humble roofs and hard pillows.
There remained one of the latter class, however, who continued to occupy
a spot near the junction of the two squares, as motionless as if his
naked feet grew to the stone on which he stood. It was Antonio.
The position of the fisherman brought the whole of his muscular form and
bronzed features beneath the rays of the moon. The dark, anxious, and
stern eyes were fixed upon the mild orb, as if their owner sought to
penetrate into another world, in quest of that peace which he had never
known in this. There was suffering in the expression of the weather-worn
face; but it was the suffering of one whose native sensibilities had
been a little deadened by too much familiarity with the lot of the
feeble. To one who considered life and humanity in any other than their
familiar and vulgar aspects, he would have presented a touching picture
of a noble nature, enduring with pride, blunted by habit; while to him,
who regards the accidental dispositions of society as paramount laws, he
might have presented the image of dogged turbulence and discontent,
healthfully repressed by the hand of power.
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