Year: 1864

/ Banishment ~


: 1t may be worse, my son )" and the
Count was again the father of the child
folding to his heart, perhaps for the last


time, what was dearer to him than the hon
J or or safety of the State ss


But it was not for the fearful sympathy
only that the Count had made this midnight
visit. There remained a last hope of es


cape The arrest of Antonio might follow


in day or two Meantime the bargcs OF


the State were subject to the orders penned


by either member Of the Council


1t was arranged that a state barge should
be sent to receive Antonio upon the follow.
ing night, to convey him a captive to the
: Ducal Palace AS if to avoid obstruction
the barge should be ordered to pass by an
unfrcqueHted part of the city The spirit
Of the quarter should receive counter or
ders to permit no boat to pass the canals
In the delay and alteration Antonio should
make his way to a given place of refuge
where swift gondola (he should know it
by a crimson pennant at the bow should
await him to transport the fugitive beyond
the Lagoon.


His own prudence would command horses
upon the Padua shore, escape might be Sc
cured. Further intercourse with the Count
would be dangerous and open to suspicion;
and father and son bade adieu-it might be
forever


4 day more only in Venice, for young
patrican whose gay life that made thirty
yeors glide fast was very short There
were many he feared to leave and there
was one he dared not leave The passion,
that grew with its pains, for the fair Blanche
had ripened into a tempest of love. The
young stranger had yielded to it's sway
and there lay already that bond between
them that even Venetian honor scorned to
undo


In hurried words, but with the fever of
bis feelings spent On the letter, he wrote to
Blanche He told her of his danger, of the
hopelessness of his stay, of the punishment
threatened. He claimed that sacrifice Of
her home which she had already made for
her heart. Her oarsmen were her slaves
! The lagoon was not as wide as the distance
which day might make between them for
ever. He prayed her as she loved him, and
by the oaths already plighted upon Vene-
tian waters, to meet him on the further
shore towards Padua. He asked the old
token from the palace window opposite,
NilCH lNcH Hllli pIOlllSc III SOut
| The keen eyes even of Fra Paolo did not
detect the little crimson signal which hung
the following day from a window of the pal
ace of the ambassador but the willy priest
was not inactive. He plotted the seizure
and ruin of Antonio, and the return of his
protector Enrico. An accusation was drawn
that day from the Lyons Mouth without the
lnquisition, which carried fear into the
midst of the Council.


Let the Three beware ~ said the accu-
sation, "true men are banished from Venice
and the guilty escape. Eurico Pesaro Ian
guishes in Corfu and Antonio (f traitorous
counsels avail him) escapes to night.


Let the Council look well to the gondola
with the crimson pennant, which at mid
night passes to the Padua shore"


The mquisators wore their masks but
there was doubt and distrust concealed un-
der them.


90 If treason is among us, it should be
stayed speedily" said one.


And the rest said " Amen ~


Suspicion naturally fell upon the council
or who wore the crimson robe; the doors
were cautiously guarded orders were Civ
en- that none should pass or repass, were ii
the Doge himself, without joint order of
the three \ state barge was dispatched
to keep watch upon the Lagoon; and the
official of the lnquisition bore special
commission. The person of the offender
was of little Importance provided it could
be known through what channel he had
been warned of the secret action of the
Great Council 1t was felt that if their Sc
crecy was once gone, theirmysterious pow
orr at 10 do
ger and trembled.


The lights save one in the chamber where
Fra Paola watched) had gone out in the
Pesaro Palace The orders of the father
were faithfully observed The refuge was
gained and the gondola with the crimson
pennant with oarsmen passed quickly tow
ard the Padua shore. Antonio breathed
freely Venice was left behind; but the
signal Of the opposite palace had not been
unnoted, and Blanche would meet and cheer
the exile


Half the Lagoon was passed, and the
towers of St Mark were sinking upon the
level sea, when bright light bazed up in
their wake 1t came nearer and nearer
Antonio grew fearful


He bade the men pull Justify. Still the
strange boat drew nearer and presently |
the towers of ST Mark famed upon the
barge of the State. His oarsmen stuck
with terror


A moment more and the barge was beside |
them masked figure, bearing the sym
bols of that dreadful power, which none
might resist, and live, had entered the gon-
dola The commission he bore was such
as none must refuse to obey.


The fugitive listened to the masked fig
ure.


"To Antonio Pesare-accused Justly of
secret dealings with the ambassador of
France, forgetful ofhis oaths and his duty
to the State, and therefore condemned to
die--be it known that the only hope of es-
cape from power which has an eye and
ear in every corner of the Republic, rests
now in revealing the name of that one, be
he great or small, who has warned him of
his danger, and made known the secret re- |
solve of the State"


Antonio hesitated to refuse was death,
and perhaps torture, which might compe j
his secret On the other hand, the Count,
his father, was high in power; it seemed
scarcely, possible that harm could come
nigh to one holding place in the Great Coun-
ell itself. Blanche, too, had deserted her