Long lines of senators, dressed in their robes of office, and attended by crowds of liveried followers, came from under the galleries of the palace, and descended by the Giant's Stairway into the sombre court.

Thence, the whole issued into the Piazzetta in order, and proceeded to their several stations on the canopied deck of the well known bark.

Each patrician had his allotted place, and before the rear of the cortege had yet quitted the quay, there was a long and imposing row of grave legislators seated in the established order of their precedency.

The ambassadors, the high dignitaries of the state, and the aged man who had been chosen to bear the empty honors of sovereignty, still remained on the land, waiting, with the quiet of trained docility, the moment to embark.

At this moment, a man of an embrowned visage, legs bare to the knee, and breast open to the breeze, rushed through the guards, and knelt on the stones of the quay at his feet.
"Justice!--great prince!" cried the bold stranger; "justice and mercy! Listen to one who has bled for St.Mark, and who hath his scars for his witnesses." "Justice and mercy are not always companions," calmly observed he who wore the horned bonnet, motioning to his officious attendants to let the intruder stay.
"Mighty prince! I come for the last." "Who and what art thou ?" "A fisherman of the Lagunes.