"Aye, let them come here," he said; "it will give Jacopo more time. I
doubt not the poor fellow hath struck a blow, since quitting the palace,
that the council will not forgive! The sight of gold hath been too
strong, and he hath offended those who have so long borne with him. God
forgive me, that I have had communion with such a man! but when the
heart is heavy, the pity of even a dog will warm our feelings. Few care
for me now, or the friendship of such as he could never have been
welcome."
Antonio ceased, for the gondola of the state came with a rushing noise
to the side of his own boat, where it was suddenly stopped by a backward
sweep of the oars. The water was still in ebullition, when a form passed
into the gondola of the fisherman, the larger boat shot away again to
the distance of a few hundred feet, and remained at rest.
Antonio witnessed this movement in silent curiosity; but when he saw the
gondoliers of the state lying on their oars, he glanced his eye again
furtively in the direction of Jacopo, saw that all was safe, and faced
his companion with confidence. The brightness of the moon enabled him to
distinguish the dress and aspect of a bare-footed Carmelite. The latter
seemed more confounded than his companion, by the rapidity of the
movement, and the novelty of his situation. Notwithstanding his
confusion, however, an evident look of wonder crossed his mortified
features when he first beheld the humble condition, the thin and
whitened locks, and the general air and bearing of the old man with whom
he now found himself.
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