"
"Name him at once, that we take measures for his security."
"'Twill be useless, Signore; he is far above the power of Venice."
"What meanest thou, fellow? None are superior to the right and the force
of the Republic that dwell within her limits. Answer without evasion, as
thou valuest thy person."
"I should prize that which is of little value, Signore, and be guilty of
a great folly as well as of a great sin, were I to deceive you to save a
body old and worthless as mine from stripes. If your excellencies are
willing to hear, you will find that I am no less willing to tell the
manner in which I got the ring."
"Speak, then, and trifle not."
"I know not, Signori, whether you are used to hearing untruths, that you
caution me so much not to deal with them; but we of the Lagunes are not
afraid to say what we have seen and done, for most of our business is
with the winds and waves, which take their orders from God himself.
There is a tradition, Signori, among us fishermen, that in times past,
one of our body brought up from the bay the ring with which the Doge is
accustomed to marry the Adriatic. A jewel of that value was of little
use to one who casts his nets daily for bread and oil, and he brought it
to the Doge, as became a fisherman into whose hands the saints had
thrown a prize to which he had no title, as it were to prove his
honesty. This act of our companion is much spoken of on the Lagunes and
at the Lido, and it is said there is a noble painting done by some of
our Venetian masters, in the halls of the palace, which tells the story
as it happened, showing the prince on his throne, and the lucky
fisherman with his naked legs rendering back to his highness that which
had been lost.
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