The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1894-09-04
ANTONIO.

/ a gondola of his own and an English
man. He was too poor to buy gon-
dola, and though he occasionally hired
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 in 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 neo-
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 We're
only for single year, Antonio could
easily save enough money to buy him
self a beautiful gondola, besides living
i'll the lap of luxury. His brother Spiro
had owned an Englishman for only z y
months and already he was a capital
list, with his own gondola, and-fgure
it to yourself-with 400 francs in the
savings bank And Spiro had done
nothing to deserve this blessing, for he
was VIGOROUSLY an unbeliever and new
er went inside church except when he
was escorting English ladies, when, of
course, he 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 the blessed Virgin Of
Santa Maria Zobenigo. But patienceP
said Antonio daily to himself. "Some
day the Madonna will grow weary and
will say, Give that Antonio an Eng
lishman, so that l can have a little
peace and quiet And then the Eng
lishman will appear, and Antonio's for
tune will be made
OF course Antonio knew of every for
eigner who came to Venice with the in
tention of making a long stay. There
is no detective police in the world that
can be compared with the Venetian gon-
dolier in learning the ways and purposes
of tourists. To know all about the for
eigner is at once his business and his
capital. The Englishman who comes to
Venice and determines to spend six
months or a year in 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 gondoliers in Venice know that
there is an Englishman to be striven
for, and they have even settled in 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, a 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 por-
ter that they intended to take house
and live forever in Venice. The porter
was an intimate friend of Antonio and
had been promised handsome commits
sion to any foreigner whom he might
place in 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 profess
sional skill and moral beauty, Antonio
was simply unique. Mr.. Mildmay, the
Engishman in question: was pleased
with Antonio's clean shirt and Mrs.
Mildmay was captivated by his chest
nut curls and the frank, innocent ex-
preston of the young fellows face. He
was hired ON the spot, with the new
gondola which he professed to own, for
$50 francs per month. including his
board. He was to bring his gondola and
his recommendations to the hotel to be
inspected that afternoon and was to be-
gin his duties ON the following day, the
Mildmays having already secured an
apartment in advance of their arrival
in Venice.
The long hoped for fortune had ar
rived at last. HE is a man of excellent
heart, the paron, " said Antonio to the
porter. ''He will be as wax in my hands.
Already love him and the sweet pa
roma You shall have your share of him,
my Zuane. No one can say that L am
not just man. "
Antonio hurried at once from the
hotel with note from the porter TO
dealer i'll gondolas, certifying that the
bearer had secured most eligible Eng
lishman. He had to pay heavy price
for the hire by the month Of nearly
new gondola, but the payments were to
form part Of the purchase money, and
Antonio did not grudge the price. Then
he stopped at his house to show the new
gondola to his wife and tell her the
blessed news, and then, armed with his
baptismal certificate and an old letter
from notary informing him that the
funeral expenses of his father must be
paid or serious consequences would fol-
low, he returned to the hotel.
The Mildmays were satisfied with the
gondola and with Antonio's recommen-
dations, for they could not read Italian
handwriting, and when Antonio in
formed them that the notary's letter
was a certificate that he was the most
honest man in Venice, and that it had
been given him by German prince
whom he had served 10 years, they
were not iii position to contradict the
assertion Moreover, they We're already
half in love with the handsome and
happy face of their gondolier and would
have taken him without any recommen-
dation at all sooner than have taken an
old and ulgy gondolier with the recon-
incubation of the British consul and the
resident chaplain. The next day An
tonic entered upon his duties and began
the joyous task Of making hay while
the sun of the Englishman shone on