Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-04-08

thought of the vaunted secret police OF
Venice. They were, he said, lot oil
| stupid fools, very pompous and very stately,
| trying to hide their Ignorance and inca
pacity under very high-soundiDg phrases ;
but the meanest London detective was
worth the whole lot of them. As to the
secret council, he did not believe it existed
at all or, if it did, it was 10 better than
the rest.
All, Sir John, if you needs must speak
so irreverently of the Serenissima why did
you not use your own language? Why did
you express your rash thoughts IN Italian !?
! Did YOU not know that the walls have
ears, and that every stone OF Venice Is
spy?
| His friends. astonished at this sudden
outburst, attributed it at first to those last
| glasses of vino santo they had been drink
ing together but knowing full well the
! lea Gus care the Serenissima had for its
rep ,tation, they instinctively shrank from
| him as dangerous man. Awaiting them
! elv.s of favorable opportunities, they
{ lisa lpeared round dark corners, down side
alleys, and very soon Sir John found him
| self alone.
Alone At least so he thou h5; but a
! silent figure had been following HIM for
some time, and was now eagerly and silent
" DIGGING him. So carefully it walked,
so noiselessly it stepped, that fer long
| time Sir John did not notice this unwel,
come shadow, and even when he did, he
attached no importance to it. Bat at last
he began to feel some doubts about this
follower Nothing could be guessed from
his appearance. Completely wrapped up in
Iariy niNal- ord xuifn da no ghlOTnu
aud concealing the upper part of his face,
the man would not have been recognized
by his own brother. 1t was only the
peculiar way in which he followed, and the
ability with which he availe1 himself Of
every nook and corner, that implied a
danger.
Fearless still, but somewhat annoyed,
Sir John pursued his way through the
maze of alleys that led from the Piazza to
his temporary home. Determined to try
to throw off his masked companion, he
quickened his step; but at the next turn.
ing a glance back showed that it was no
use. Having by this time reached the
Ponte San Moise-one of the innumerable
bridges that cross the minor canals OF
Venice-he stopped on its steps to see
what his shadow would do. Astonished
at first by this new 1use, the man hest
tated second, but second only, and
then disappeared in the shadow of the
church. Oar hero vainly strained his eyes
in trying to find cut whether he had really
gore. or whether he was only hiding be-
hind the columns and watching. He GER
tainly began to feel an intense interest in
this new chase, in which he seemed to be
the game hunted down. Then, convinced
that he had seen the last of his silent
friend, he decided on continuing his way
home, and was just going to move when a
cloak was thrown over his head and chest,
completely gagging him, whilst several
strong arms entwined themselves around
his body and effectually pinioned him.
Before he could recover his senses, a voice
viii -pered in Italian in his ear : You are
a prisoner of the Serenissima resistance
is of no use.
Even after these words, the import of
which he dimly guessed, Sir John would
have tried to strike one blow at least for
his life or for his liberty but the cloak in
which he had been wrapped up was SO ar
tistically and so securely fastened that he
could not move a muscle nor utter cry.
There was no help for it, and he doggedly
awaited his fate. The voices around him
seemed to hold short conference, and
then they lifted him from the ground, and
carrying him a short distance, deposited
him in what he felt to be gondola. The
journey was not long, though to him it
seemed an age, and very soon the rocking
motion ceased. They evidently had
reached their destination. a few seconds
more and he was landed in the same uncer-
emonious manner.
Alter depriving him OF his sword and
securing his hands, his captors released
him from the folds of the mantle in which
he had been almost choked. He found
himself in a very small passage. dimly
lighted and intensely damp. The low
ceiling, the strong stone walls. the massive
iron doors that lined it, reminded him at
once of all he had heard and read about
the state prisons of Venice, and his heart
sank within him. Without, however,
giving him much time for reflection, or
a:king him any questions, his captors
opened one of the cells, thrust him In, and
bolted the door. Left alone in the almost
absolute darkness, our friend CROPPED about
as well as his tied hands would allow him
until he found a stone bench, on which he
dropped, completely unnamed by the
novelty and horror of his position.
He had heard of prisoners being kept in
these state prisons for months, even for
years, without light, with just enough of
the coarsest food to keep them alive and
without the shadow of Judgment. Others
had been tried and executed within these
dark walls, and their friends outside had
never known their fate Was he, too. 90.
ing to disappear without struggle from
this world ? Was his body going to be
dropped into the Canal grandef" Or
was he to linger in his cell until his youth,
his strength, and, perhaps, his mind were
gone, to be released only a wreck of his
former self, as a warning to Others? There
were many in Venice, poor shattered be.
ings, heart broken, half -crazed, Stunned
by every body, who had once been the lead
ers of fashion, of science, of politics, until
an anonymous note dropped into the
Lions mouth had caused their arrest, and
their trialless detention in the under.
grouud-or rather, underwater-prisons Of
the Serenissima.
But then, who could have denounced
him Who could have an interest in de.
stroying him in this cowardly fashion ? All
the people he knew were above suspicion
! and yet even the Serenissma would not
have sarrested an Enelishman, Kings
messenger without good reason. In that
dreadful silence, broken only by the quiet
FLASHING of the water on the stone walls
in which he was imprisoned, his memory
was particularly vivid, and recalled to his
mind all the incidents of his stay. Atlast
he remembered those few hot, foolish
words he had used that very night; they,
and they alone, could be the cause of bis
present condition. This, however, brought
no relief; it aggravated only his fears and
his dependency, since he we'll knew what
awful punishments were inflicted on those
who, to use the Venetian phrase, " bias.
phemed the Government.
Having settled the cause of his arrest, he
gradually fell into dull. drowsy state of
half.unconsciousness staring blindly in the
darkness, Listening vacantly in the vain
hope of catching some sound, however