Instantly he brought to in the shadow, with the instinctive caution of every one who is used to the water.

Gondolas were few in those days and belonged only to the rich, who had just begun to use them as a means of getting about quickly, much more convenient than horses or mules; for when riding a man often had to go far out of his way to reach a bridge, and there were many canals that had no bridle path at all and where the wooden houses were built straight down into the water as the stone ones are to-day.

Zorzi peered through the darkness and listened.

The occupant of the gondola might be Contarini himself, coming home.

Whoever it was tapped softly upon the door, which was instantly opened, but to Zorzi's surprise no light shone from the entrance.