Luigi was there, and though
he did not win, he more than merited success, by the manner in which he
directed his boat. Thou knowest Luigi?"
"I scarce know any in Venice, Annina; for the long illness of my mother,
and this unhappy office of my father, keep me within when others are on
the canals."
"True. Thou art not well placed to make acquaintances. But Luigi is
second to no gondolier in skill or reputation, and he is much the
merriest rogue of them all, that put foot on the Lido."
"He was foremost, then, in the grand race?"
"He should have been, but the awkwardness of his fellows, and some
unfairness in the crossing, threw him back to be second. 'Twas a sight
to behold, that of many noble watermen struggling to maintain or to get
a name on the canals. Santa Maria! I would thou could'st have seen it,
girl!"
"I should not have been glad to see a friend defeated."
"We must take fortune as it offers. But the most wonderful sight of the
day, after all, though Luigi and his fellows did so well, was to see a
poor fisherman, named Antonio, in his bare head and naked legs, a man of
seventy years, and with a boat no better than that I use to carry
liquors to the Lido, entering on the second race, and carrying off the
prize!"
"He could not have met with powerful rivals?"
"The best of Venice; though Luigi, having strived for the first, could
not enter for the second trial. 'Tis said, too," continued Annina,
looking about her with habitual caution, "that one, who may scarce be
named in Venice, had the boldness to appear in that regatta masked; and
yet the fisherman won! Thou hast heard of Jacopo?"
"The name is common.
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