Arethusa

ves, a close-fitting woollen skull-cap covered his head, and he had no weapon but one good knife of which the sheath was fastened to the back of his belt, as a

landing. He almost lost his balance at the last one, and when he stepped quickly towards the boat, to save himself, h

whispered, lea

ed the astrol

few minutes Gorlias rested on his oars. Zeno had grown used to the gloom and could now see him quite distinctly. Bot

eady?' Zeno aske

the wall of the city. The money has had an excellent effect on the guard, for most of them were drunk this evening, and are asleep now. In th

s himself? I

his life to get out of the to

, the tail-block, and the two ropes? And the b

ou ordered it, and the

way,

said Gorlias, as he

swered Zen

pped the blades into the stream so gently that there was hardly a ripple, and he pulled them thro

rofoundly Andronicus was hated by all the army except his body-guard. The latter would fight, no doubt, and perhaps die to a man, for they had everything to lose, and expected no quarter; but for the next two hours most of them would be still helplessly asleep after their potations, and if they woke at all they would hardly be in a condition to defend themselves. Money had been distributed to them without knowledge of their officers, purporting to

ily upstream. Then he slackened speed, and bro

th wall; he pulled the boat alongside the pier, holding it by the gunwale, and held up his other hand to help Zeno. But the Venetian was in no need of that, and was standing beside his companion in an instant. It was only then, a whole second after the fact, that he knew he had stepped upon something oddly soft and at the same time elastic and resisting, that lay amidships in the bottom o

n adrift. To this string he bent the fishing-line. Until this was done neither of the men had made the least sound that could possibly be heard above, but now Gorlias gave a signal. It was the cry of the beautiful little owl that haunts ruined houses in Italy and the East, one soft and musical note, repeated at

ngers, and then the line after it. He let the latter run through his hand to be sure that it did not foul and k

ng line ready to check the end when it came, in case it were not already fast to the rope that was to follow it. But Gorlias had done

been, it was evident that he understood how to handle rope as well as if he had been to sea. Moreover Zeno, who was as much a sailor as a soldier, understood from the speed at which the rope was now taken up, that there was a tolerably strong p

s already rove, with the basket at one end of it. When you are aloft, yo

o answered, 'I h

a turn round a smooth stone I have found at the corner of the tower. You must come down th

all fas

as li

hispered. 'Wait

mb, while Gorlias steadied the rope, though there was hardly any need for that. The young Venetian walked up

. It was a woman's face. Zeno had stepped upon her with his whole weight when he was getting ashore, but she had made no sound. Her eyes tried to pierce the gloom, t

's movements along the rope; and though he had seen many feats in his life, he wondered at the wind and endurance of a man who could make such an ascent without once crooking his

e farthest corner of the oblong room. The tower was square, but the north side of the chamber was walled off to make a space for the head of the staircase and a narrow entry. The single door was in this partition. Zeno looked round whil

ow-sill and got in. He took his skull-cap from his head and bowed low

he said, and he laid his hand

ard touched him on the shoul

lk together

e rope. Below, Gorlias was steering the tail-block clear of

said. 'When your Majesty is free a

Zeno threw it upon the floor behind

mperor, laying one hand

keep it from running out, and t

ll be caught like rats in a trap. I have a basket at the end of this rope in which you will be quite safe fr

have risked your life in clim

d in thought. He limped slightly in his walk, and h

the rope, but a moment later the

' he said; 'I can

and stood still with t

most stupidly. 'You will not be fr

blessing for your generous courage, and my heartfelt thanks. I am

why?

true one; and many years afterwards one of Carlo Zeno's grandsons, the good old Bishop of Belluno, wrote it down as he had heard it from his grandsire's lips. Moreover

ape he will put out the child's eyes with boiling vinegar, and perhaps mut

turn of his handsome head as he spoke. Zeno could not help respect

you that we shall hold the palace before daybrea

hook his h

e said; 'the more certainly if they see

ty is resolved? You w

oncentrate his thoughts than as if in despair. 'No, I cannot,' he repeated presently. 'Save the

moment, and then spoke

you to escape. The boy may be in danger, but so are you yourself, and your life is worth more to this unhappy Empire than his. To-night, to-morrow, at any moment, your s

sk my own. I would rather die ten deaths than l

swered Zeno; 't

in till it was all out, and he sat astride t

e said, 'and let it down by the line,

e of the keeper, himself a trusted captain

oking towards Johannes, 'will you

ure was bent as he rested with one hand on the heavy table. His vo

answered. 'I am sorry. I t

window almost before the prisoner had spoken the last words.

there was an alarm within the tower, and that Zeno was getting away as fast as he could. The last written message, lowered by the yarn at dusk that evening, had been to say that the Emperor was ready, and that a r

woman at his elbow, as soon as he was sure of

nquiry answered his wo

e rope now, he is comin

rang into the boat, and threw herself at full length upon the bottom boards. Zeno was half-way down, and before s

self out when she was startled

ho-o! Watch, h

ung ashore, and were clambering up the sloping masonry towards Gorlias. The woman stood up i

th. One of the three men, active as a monkey, dodged past the astrologer, caught the knotted rope, and began climbing it. The other two fell, their feet entangled in the line-rove through the tail-bl

while the other man cl

iff, dragging the painter from the peg. The other boat was not moored at all, and both

rsuer was fresher than he, and as quick as a cat, and gained on him. If he caught him, h

l the woman could make out both figures, nearer and neare

cut the rope below him. The woman drew a sharp breath between her closed teeth.

three was out of the water, and on the

er two were drowned, and she tried to get the boat to the pier again; she had never held an oar in her life, and she was trembling now. Hi

was much the heavier of the two. Then, paddling a little, she made a little way. The man ashore seemed to be examining the body of the one who had been killed; it lay sprawling on the stones, the head smashed. The living one was not Go

oar to me,' he said, 'and

to paddle away, lest the man should jump aboard. Strangely enough the skiff seemed to answer at once to her will, as if s

there was a ledge, and he sprang forwards, struck the water without pu

k a desperate blow with it at the swimmer, and raised it again. She could not see him any more, and she knew that if she had st

ched the upper window in safety. Then the boat rocked violently two or three times, and the woman was thrown

Kokóna,' said the voi

half-fainting with exhaust

?' she mana

reached the window again, b

Gorlias had taken the oars