Chapter 29 - Page 2

mouth. The bier was rich in gilding and
carving, another melancholy evidence of the lingering wishes and false
direction of human vanity.

Next to this characteristic equipage of the dead walked a lad, whose
brown cheek, half-naked body, and dark, roving eye, announced the
grandson of the fisherman. Venice knew when to yield gracefully, and the
boy was liberated unconditionally from the galleys, in pity, as it was
whispered, for the untimely fate of his parent. There was the aspiring
look, the dauntless spirit, and the rigid honesty of Antonio, in the
bearing of the lad; but these qualities were now smothered by a natural
grief; and, as in the case of him whose funeral escort he followed,
something obscured by the rude chances of his lot. From time to time
the bosom of the generous boy heaved, as they marched along the quay,
taking the route of the arsenal; and there were moments in which his
lips quivered, grief threatening to overcome his manhood.

Still not a tear wetted his cheek, until the body disappeared from his
view. Then nature triumphed, and straying from out the circle, he took a
seat apart and wept, as one of his years and simplicity would be apt to
weep, at finding himself a solitary wanderer in the wilderness of the
world.

Thus terminated the incident of Antonio Vecchio, the fisherman, whose
name soon ceased to be mentioned in that city of mysteries, except on
the Lagunes, where the men of his craft long vaunted his merit with the
net, and the manner in which he bore away the prize from the best oars
of Venice. His descendant lived and toiled, like others of his
condition, and we will here dismiss him, by saying, that he so far
inherited the native qualities of his ancestor, that he forbore to
appear, a few hours later, in the crowd, which curiosity and vengeance
drew into the Piazzetta.

Father Anselmo took boat to return to the canals, and when he landed at
the quay of the smaller square it was with the hope that he would now be
permitted to seek those of whose fate he was still ignorant, but in whom
he felt so deep an interest. Not so, however. The individual who had
addressed him in the cathedral was, apparently, in waiting, and knowing
the uselessness as well as the danger of remonstrance, where the state
was concerned, the Carmelite permitted himself to be conducted whither
his guide pleased. They took a devious route, but it led them to the
public prisons. Here the priest was shown into the keeper's apartment,
where he was desired to wait a summons from his companion.

Our business now leads us to the cell of Jacopo. On quitting the
presence of the Three, he had been remanded to his gloomy room, where he
passed the night like others similarly situated. With the