Enrico was frantic with the disgrace.

He urged every power of his frame to avert the dishonor, with the desperate energy of an Italian, and then he cast himself into the bottom of the gondola, tearing his hair and weeping in agony.

His example was followed by those in the rear, though with more governed feelings, for they shot aside among the boats which lined the canal, and were lost to view.
From this open and unexpected abandonment of the struggle, the spectators got the surest evidence of its desperate character.

But as a man has little sympathy for the unfortunate when his feelings are excited by competition, the defeated were quickly forgotten.

The name of Bartolomeo was borne high upon the winds by a thousand voices, and his fellows of the Piazzetta and the Lido called upon him, aloud, to die for the honor of their craft.