The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-11-11
ZefirinO, the GOndOIier.

Zefirino was not the largest gondolier in
Venice, nor the h~andsomest: neither was he
ever guilty of winning a prize in the san
dolo races; but he was not a bit surprised
when the very blonde signorina from
America picked him out from the crowd
of gondoliers who were humping their
boats against each other, calling one an
other pigs and such-like ~fanciful names I'M
der their breath, and shouting to the young
lady who stood. half amazed, half disgust
ed, on the hotel steps.
There are gondoliers who bear the names
Of families once mighty in the past, when
the Venitian oligarchy influenced the poll
tics of Europe and Asia. But / ask you IL
ever the Cazzabubboli were powerful any
where? No comrade ever called Zefrino
Cazzabubbolo ii Conte in jest, or SO much
as limited that he might arrive some day
at honors and fortune. Since the bathers
who go down to the Lido had been monopo-
lized by steam craft, and especially since
the sacred waters of the Grand canal had
been profaned by ugly little steamboats,
%squeaking and footing day and night in the
ears of the Mortified ghosts of the old fam
lilies, there was little TO jest about among
the gondoliers.
Famine was in their stomachs and rage
III luclT cOulSt IO WOuOCI lit ian
guidly, spent most of the day on their
backs and degenerated from the old polite
ness of their address. Fortunately for him
Zeirino was unmarried, and, therefore,, had
only a father and mother, a grandmother
and three sisters to provide for. Then he
possessed a good voice and could sing many
stanzas from Petrarch and spout Dante by
the yard, so that he was in very fair de-
mand during the tourist season, and was
often in sufficient funds to redeem the
clothes and trinkets of the family from
paw long enough to present a decent APP
pearance on festal days. what gave a final
touch of resolution to his face that morn
ing was a dream.
1t was a dream in which he had not yet
ventured far in respect TO its interpretation;
but the little he had seen was marvellous.
To be sure. on leaving his room he had
met a hunchback 0ad luck). but had he
not spoken the gobbo fair and managed to
touch his hump lightly as he passed? And
is not the bad fortune of meeting gobbi
transformed into the best of luck If you
touch their humps? So that wrinkle was
smoothed out. The dream had been long,
but certain things stood out in his memory.
AT first he thought that he, the most tenn
perate of men. was drinking a very sweet
liquid from a cup of gold and became in
toxicated thereby; that meant some great
person would love and enrich him. Then a
race apDedreQ-a very DeduIlIul race, with
blonde hair about it-smiling in a most en-
gaging way; that meant joy and happiness.
Next ne was walking along a dusty road
with the owner of that face-a young wom-
an-and he had a sword in his hand; that
was a sign Of success. To crown all, he
thought he was in one of the detested
steamboats,, but infinitely big, larger even
than the black ocean steamships that come
up the Adriatic on their trips between Con-
stantinople and London.
This meant honors gained in travel.
Judge of his delight when the first person
or whom he took any note at all that
morning Chaving been immersed in his
thoughts as he lay beside a deserted uuay
till 1t was time for the foreigners to have
finished breakfasD proved to be a beauti-
full, a young, a very blonde lady exactly
like her of his dream. Just to see a white
lady like that the first thing in the morn
ing denotes liberation from i'll luck. And
now all these portents seemed TO come
together at once.
He scented a great adventure in the air;
vas convinced that something tremendous
~ important to him would occur through
moment Git made him close his eyes, he had
a vision of that dainty gioved hand lying
on the edge of the felse holding his own
and those sweet, fine lips saying, "Zefirino,
1 am yours forever" But this thought was
too awful to entertain longer than a second.
Nor would 1t ever nave occurred 10 MN
tan lady, lecturing her daughter for desir-
ing to know foreigners and go to their par
ties and fife o clogs, inform her with as
perity that American young girls were so
abandoned as to marry whom they pleased
yes, marry a gondolier if he ~struck-Aeir
fancy. So his fault, If fault there was,
must be laid at the door of tE1t ancient
dame of the musty old Mo~ntepulcianos-
Not a word had the rose-leaf blonde ut
tered so far. She seemed TO be stupeied
by thes beauty of venice-or bored beyond
making a m~otion-and when the dark arch
of the Rialto was passed and the lovely
sign from his mute face Ze1rino was a little
angry. He stopped rowing. leaned forward
and inquired, Commander" :.
No; that did not work either. The head
in a perfect bonnet bent graciously, and one
gloved hand was raised with as much ease
as Queen Margherita herself might have
displayed. Zefrino seized his oars and set
to wondering how he could make her say
even one word. Perhaps she knew as lit
tie Italian as he did English. What was
his surprise, then. to hear her call out to
stop as they neared a broad boat full Of
vegetables and fruit which was being slow
but not impossible italian negotiate for
some oranges and p~omegranates. 1t was
out of all order SO to do. Bread and water
Of a signorina Of one OF the real old am
lilies who dared to do such a thing.
to BE5 6 70 b Medf,n1 na ts see which no @ah hner q p 6de
dess perfect. He. too. loved to look at, smell
at and eat oranges. Was she already aware
that he was no common man; that there
was a subtle communication between them;
that what was in his mind suggested itself
to hers? On catching sight Of the fruit
DOdl HIS d WdltfCQ diu III Udu
wished for some. Now the gondola was
stocked, and now-no; it couldn't be-the
sweet lips uttered ''Zefirino'' and the little
hand held out of the felse window a couple
of oranges to the gondolier.
He ran forward a few steps and knelt
on one knee to receive them, muttering
to himself blessings by all the saints, but
was too agitated to say much. Such a
glance as she gave him-such a mischiev-
Gus, bewildering glance as II she saw right
through his body and knew that his heart
was humping. The rest of the giro through
was as much a dream as that on which
his hopes were built. lie hardly came to
himself until he was lying on his back on
| the quay trying to think 1t all over.
Then, with a trembling hand, ne searched
his pockets and drew forth a tattered,
tuna" or the 'Vero Libro del Sogni." He
had been couquetting with his dream bith-
erto, perhaps selecting merely the good
signs out of all of il that he remembered
now ii was time to see coolly and in SOL
emn earnest how much was in it. Such an
adventure as this. If it meant anything,
signified that a chance to win a big prize
might be in his grasp.
To begin with, should he regard his dream
or the actual occurrences of the day as
the basis for the lucky numbers? Both.
| Could he buy as many numbers as there
were lucky signs in the dream and the
events just occurred? He ratified in his
pocket the substantial fee the white lady
had given him, and decided that at least
five might be bought. First, the dream of
sweet drink that intoxicated him. His fin
ger ran rapidly over the pages down to
B-Battere, Bere-Beranda d~olce-there it
was-Nos. Is, 6S and s..
Turning over the leaves. he came to the
wood ~cuts-rude, as If printed in the four
teenth century-and under Is he found