The Bravo

Chapter 20

"But they who blunder thus are raw beginners."

DON JUAN.

The hour had come for the revels of the Piazza, and for the movement of

the gondolas. Maskers glided along the porticoes as usual; the song and

cry were heard anew, and Venice was again absorbed in delusive gaiety.

When Jacopo issued from the prison on the quay, he mingled with the

stream of human beings that was setting towards the squares, protected

from observation by the privileged mask. While crossing the lower bridge

of the canal of St. Mark, he lingered an instant, to throw a look at the

glazed gallery he had just quitted, and then moved forward with the

crowd--the image of the artless and confiding Gelsomina uppermost in his

thoughts. As he passed slowly along the gloomy arches of the Broglio,

his eye sought the p