On their heads they wore black velvet caps, flat at the top, and in shape somewhat resembling the flat Scotch bonnet.

Signor Polani and his companions were seated in chairs, facing the table.
When Francis entered the gondolier was giving evidence as to the attack upon his boat.

Several questions were asked him when he had finished, and he was then told to retire.

The usher then brought Francis forward.
"This is Messer Francisco Hammond," he said.
"Tell your story your own way," the doge said.
Francis related the story of the attack on the gondola, and the escape of the ladies in his boat.
"How came you, a foreigner and a youth, to interfere in a fray of this kind ?" one of the councillors asked.
"I did not stop to think of my being a stranger, or a youth," Francis replied quietly.

"I heard the screams of women in distress, and felt naturally bound to render them what aid I could." "Did you know who the ladies were ?" "I knew them only by sight.