Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-08-15
ANTONIO.

| an old and extremely dilapidated one and trusted to his handsome face to en- able him to capture party of foreign ladies his profits had to be divided with the owner of the gondola, and thus were painfully small The traghetto brought him ill a few francs per month, and he | picked up other small sums by serving as second oar whenever tourists could be convinced that a second oar was ncc- essary. Still, Antonio was desperately | poor, and he and his young wife were often uncomfortably hungry.
 Now, if the Madonna would only send him an Englishman, even if it were only for a single year, Antonio could easily save enough money to buy him. self beautiful gondola, besides living i'll the lap of luxury. His brother Spiro had owned an Englishman for only : h months, and already he was capital 1 ist, with his own gondola, and-fgure it to yourself-with 100 francs in the savings bank! And Spiro had done nothing to deserve this blessing, for he was notOriOusly an unbeliever and nev- CT went inside church except when he was escOrting English ladies, when, of course, hc prayed with fervor at the most conspicuous shrine, which was worth at least 10 extra soldi of buona mano, whereas Antonio was deeply religious and at least once a year gave a wax candle to tho blessed Virgin of Santa Maria ZObenigo. But patiencer said Antonio daily to himself. Some day the Madonna will grow weary and will say, Give that Antonio an Eng lishman so that I can have n little l @1 lishman will appear, and Antonio's for tune will be made"
 Of course Antonio knew of every for eigncr who came to Venice with the in tcntion of making long stay. There is no detective police i'll the world that can be compared with the Venetian gon- dolicr i'll learning the ways and purposes of tourists. To know all about the for cigner k at once his business and his capital The Englishman who comes to | Venice and determines to spend six months or year ill that enchanted city may reach this decision on a Saturday night and mention it to no living soul. Yet by the following Monday morning all the .ondoiivr> ill Venice know that there k au EngliShman to bc striven for. and they have even settled ill their own minds precisely what apartment he will probably hire. How they arrive at this knowledge it is not for me to say. There are mysteries i'll the Venice of to- day, as there were in the Venice of the ten and of the three.
 Now, it fell out that one day Antonio learned that an Englishman and his wife, young couple, who had every appearance of sweet temper and scant knowledge of the world, had arrived at the Albergo Luna and had told the DOT ter that they intended to take n house and live forever in Venice. The porter was an intimate friend of Antonio and had been promised a handsonse commis- sion tn any foreigner whom he might place i'll AntOnIO's hands. Within an hour after receiving the precious infor- nation Antonio had put on his best shirt. had said 10 ayes at lightning | speed. had promised the blessed Virgin , two half pound wax candles in case he ! should land this desirable Englishman and was back again at the Luna and waiting to waylay his prey.
 The porter presented Antonio and as serted that. as a combination of profes- sional skill and moral beauty, Antonio was simply unique Mir. Mildmay, the EngliShman in question, was pleased with Antonio's clean shirt, and Mrs. I Mildmay was captivated ny his chest. nut curls and the frank. innocent OK, precision of the young fellows face. He - was hired on the spot, with the new gondola which he professed to own. fol 90 francs per month, including hi: board He was to bring his gondola anC .1,rI r1 h , inspected that afternoon and was to be gin his duties on the following day, tht - Mildmavs having already secured al apartment in advance of their arriva ill Venice.
 The long hoped for fortune had ar '; rived at last. He is a man of excellen e heart, the paron, said Antonio to tn, d porter. He will be as wax in my hands v Already love him and the sweet pa n roma You shall have your share of him my Zuane. No one can say that I an N not a just man.
 , Antonio hurried at once from tn hotel with a note from the porter to dealer ill gondolas, certifying that tn . bearer had secured q most eligible Eng 't lishman. He had to pay a heavy pric for the hire by the month of a nearl, new gondola, but the payments were t form part of the purchase money, ant Antonio did not grudge the price. Thel
 he stopped at his house to show the ne
 gondola to his wife and tell her u
 blessed news, and then, armed with h
 baptismal certificate and an old lett
 from a notary informing him that u
 funeral expenses of his father must
 xx-pYrlI f. 1. low, he returned to the hotel
 The Mildmays were satisfied with tl , gondola and with Antonio's recomme y dations. for they could not read Italii
 handwriting. and when Antonio i 7 formed them that the notary's lett to was a certificate that he was the mo
 honest man in Venice, and that it h.
 been given him by German prin
 whom he had served 10 years. tn e. were not ill position to contradict t = assertion. Moreover, they were alrea' ! half in love with the handsome al > happy face of their gondolier and wou
 have taken him without any recomme
 dation at all sooner than have taken
 old and ulgy gondolier with the recol
 mendation of the British consul and e. resident chaplain. The next day A . tonic entered upon his duties and beg
 the joyous task of making hay whi f the sun of the Englishman shone
 him.
 The goEdoat1 in private service
 Venice does many things wholly unco
 nected with his boat He usually wa
 on his masters table. he polishes t