"
"Thou would'st not be more safe with thy confessor. Diamine! I am not a
man to gad about among the water-sellers, with a secret at the top of my
voice; but thou didst leer aside when I winked at thee dancing among the
masquers on the quay. Is it not so, Roderigo?"
"There is more cleverness in thee, Master Stefano, than I had thought;
though thy readiness with the felucca is no secret."
"There are two things, Signor Roderigo, on which I value myself, but
always, I hope, with Christian moderation. As a mariner of the coast, in
mistral or sirocco, levanter or zephyr, few can claim more practice; and
for knowing an acquaintance in a carnival, I believe the father of evil
himself could not be so disguised that eye of mine should not see his
foot! For anticipating a gale, or looking behind a mask, Signor
Roderigo, I know not my own equal among men of small learning."
"These faculties are great gifts in one who liveth by the sea and a
critical trade."
"Here came one Gino, a gondolier of Don Camillo Monforte, and an ancient
fellow of mine, aboard the felucca, attended by a woman in mask. He
threw off the girl dexterously enough, and, as he thought, among
strangers; but I knew her at a glance for the daughter of a wine-seller,
who had already tasted lachryma christi of mine. The woman was angered
at the trick, but making the best of luck, we drove a bargain for the
few casks which lay beneath the ballast, while Gino did his master's
business in San Marco.
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