Arethusa

soft felt hat, the brim turned up round the crown at the back but pulled out to a long point in front, and he carried a tough cornel stick in his right hand. He had been careful to leave in the s

or people, and did not believe that all beggars could be rich if they wou

nce, and then turned into a narrow and filthy lane that led to other lanes, and to others still beyond, all crowded with humanity, all dark and muddy, all foul with garbage, all reeking with the overpower

onies of the second stories almost touched each other. Had the buildings been higher, scarcely any light at all would hav

erywhere, children and dirt, dirt and children, all of much the same colour in those dusky lanes. Near almost every open door the slatternly mother stirred a dark mess of some sort over a little earthen pan of coals, or toasted gobbets of fat mutton on a black iron fork, or fried some wretched fish in boiling oil. The Christian women were by far the dirtiest, and their children were the least healthy and the most neglected, for many of the little creatures had not a stitch of clothing

nt by. If he thought of anything except of not setting his booted foot down on some child's sprawling leg or arm, he thanked heaven and the saints that he had been born a Venetian,

the top of the masonry all sorts of sharp bits of rusty iron and a quantity of broken crockery were set in mortar with the evident intention of discouraging any attempt to climb over, either from within or from without. The door itself was in good repair

voices chattering, and one was singing softly in a language he did not understand. He knocked again, a moment later

h female voice from within, in the

the worthy Karaboghazji,' answer

i?' enquired the v

xplained Om

ened after some rattling and creaking of locks, and Omobono started in spite of himself. She was indeed a match for him, or for any oth

s red as flame to the very roots, and it stood out almost straight from her shiny black forehead and temples; as she rather contemptuously scrutinised Omobono from head to foot the whites of her coal-black eyes gleamed in a way that was positively terrifying. She wore wide Greek trousers of blue cotton, gathered at the ankle, and a wadded coat of yellow, that hung dow

t Omobono. She had closed another door behind her before opening the outer one, for the sla

oghazji at this time of the afternoon

under his cloak, as the awful virago thrust her head forward. 'I am the clerk of Mes

black woman, with a scornfu

faltered Omobon

ip, while she slipped the other slowly up the door-post till

ing all her teeth. 'Rustan Karaboghaz

known at once that you were the mistress of the house if y

the yard behind her, 'if the stable door were in charge of a slave? If your master-' she dwelt on t

it is a commission for a friend. It is something very especial. Tha

an had listen

fter a moment's thought, '

em for the world,' protes

d Saint Bacchus. If he is not there, ask the sacristan where he i

l not take me for an importunate stranger and send me on a fool's errand. If the K

ng for a favourable answer. Again the b

i, by four toes and by five toes,' she said at last. 'He wi

obono. 'I cannot forget that. I thank you, K

e of the Bokharian merchant in marrying an African giantess. But soon his natural curiosity began to occupy itself more actively with the hidden meaning of the password given him by Rustan's wife; and, meditating on this problem, he made his way through the heart of the city, traversing many narr

ts again, where afterwards the Grand Bazaar was built, and where even in those days the Persian merchants and the jewellers, the dealers in fine carpets and Eastern merchandise, the perfumers, the Egyptian goldsmiths and the Bokharian money-changers had their homes and the headquarters of their business. Here Omobono exchanged greetings now

t from the last through which he had come, as that had been from those he had passed before. For then, as now, Constantinople was a patchwork of divers nations and languages and customs, and their quarters were like distinct towns,-some filthy, noisy and unh

w destroyed-he heartily wished that he had hired a horse and man at one of the street corners; but he forgot his weariness when his destination was reached,

h he were going in, but just as he was close to the sacristan he stopped, as if wit

ord,' he said, in

wered the sacristan indifferentl

lerk, 'whether that good man Kyrios Rustan Kara

d at the end. He now pursed out his lips and made his mouth round, too, as if he were going to whistle. Intentionally

n,' he said, at la

ing asked and obtained a password, bu

politely, and he went

ys, like a glory before the unseen high altar. Omobono glanced quickly to the right and left as he passed between the pillars, but he saw no one. Farther on, before him and under the

cloak in front and knelt upon one knee. H

victory over the Genoese. Bless Messer Carlo Zeno, O Lord, and preserve him from sudden deat

what he asked would be granted. As yet, Venice had not triumphed over those unspeakable dogs of Genoese, though the day of glory was much nearer than even the Venetians dared to hope. But so far Carlo Zeno had been preserved from sudden death in spite of his manifest tendency to break his neck for any whim; for the rest, Omobono had more than once been the means of sav

k that he was irreverent and gabbled over a prayer merely as a form; for he was very sensitive about such things, being a shy man. And partly he remained on his knees a little longer because the

still standing b

in the church,' said O

s into a circle, and to put on an air of blank stupidity, a

speaking very distinctly. 'I beg you to direct me b

y full of intelligence, his mouth expanded in a friendly smile, and his snub

he church a quarter of an hour before you came, but he is no

d towards

Omobono, 'by

t, and then the second to the right again. Before you h

Bokharian should select for his afternoon stroll such a pl

lerk in a knowing way. 'He is a devout man. When he has s

ether any one coming from within the church had heard him, for he co

is it? If I had asked you for your purse and cloak by four toes

that the reply was evidently expected of him. '

ou, friend,' retur

uld do if such a thing happened to him. He was quite sure that he should be unable to hide the fact that he knew the magic formula, for he had never been very good at deception; and if the words

e. Even now a man may live for years in Constantinople and yet be far from knowing every corner of it, and Omobono found himself in a part of the city which he had never seen. It was in ruins, and yet it

or no legs, another was devoured by hideous disease-many were mere bundles of bones in scanty rags, and stretched out filthy skeleton hands for alms as the decently dressed clerk came near. Omobono stood still for a moment when he realise

till more to think that he had but very few small coins in his wallet. The poor cr

g with an old

one there, into the wasted hands, and went on quickly, scarcely daring to glance at the faces that appeared at the low doors and ruined windows. Yet here and there he looked in, almost against his will, and he saw sights that sent a cold chill down his back, sights I have seen, too, but need not tell of. And so he went on, turning as the sacristan had instructed him, till he saw a tall, thin man in a brown cloth gown edged with cheap fox's fur, and having a tight fur cap on his head. He was talking with an old beggar woman, and his back was turned so that Omobono could only see that he had a long black bea

use, and he stood still and looked in, but he made as if he were politely waiting for Rustan to turn round. Either the old beggar woman was blind, or she thought fit not to call the Bokharian's attention to the fact that a well-dressed stranger was standing within a few feet of him. The two talked volubly in low tones and in the Bokharian language, which Omobono did not understand at all, and

shadow of coming death. The wasted body was covered with nameless rags, but the pillow was white and clean; the refined face was the colour of pure wax, and the dark hair, grey at the temples, had been carefully combed out an

l it. In their miserable tatters one could hardly have told whether the younger ones were boys or girls, but one was much older than the rest, and O

r coverings of the bed, rather than rested on them, as if it longed to be of some use, and to relieve the woman's suffering ever so little. But the clerk did not look at the delicate fingers, fo

find words to describe the glow, and warmth, and deep texture of a famous picture, and what you write will mean something to those who know the master's work; you may even conjure up a

brown hair. He could not clearly recall any of those things a few minutes later; he only knew that he had seen for once something he had heard of all his life. It was not till he dreamt of her face that night-dreaming, poor man, that she was his guardian angel come to reprove him for his curiosity-that the details all came back, and most of all that brave and tender little mouth of hers, so delicately womanly and yet

st friend, and he spoke in fluent Italian. He was a young man still, not much past t

an in the direction whence the latter had come. 'Fortunate indeed is Friday,

ccident, Kyrios Rus

on. 'But do not call me Kyrios, Ser Omobono! First, I am not Greek, and then, my honoured friend, I am no

as leading him away from the house with considerable haste. The

'but before we go on, I should like to--'

o do?' asked the latter

r the last of the smal

n that house,' he said, summoning his courage

firmly, as if to make him put the money b

t in those poor people, and I have just given enough to keep them for a week, when I shall come again. It is not wise to give too much. The other beg

nferences. That Rustan was an utter scoundrel he had never doubted since he had known him, and that his domestic life was perhaps not to his taste, Omobono guessed since he had seen the red-haired negress who was his w

eless, never doubting but that the cause of justice would miraculously give him the strength needed for the enterprise. He submitted to be hurried away, indeed, because the moment was e

ed into the open space before the church, 'pray tell me what urgent business br

e as the Venetian suspected, how was it possible that he should have left any sort of directions with his wife and the sacristan for finding him, in c

this very evening,' he said. 'From his manner, I suspect that the bu

and walked quickly, but sai

ently. 'If so, let us stop at my house and I

contemptuous answer rose to his

n only tell you that so far as I know he wishes to see you in regar

easantly than ever, a

This is a most fortunate day for buying and selling, and perha

ade a remark now and then, the clerk could hardly answer him for lack of breath. The sun had set and it was a