leaving the palace, I again passed the police-
office. The name of Pascal Ziobà had been
taken down, and this gave me to understand
that either he had heen arrested or had paid his
creditor. Being desirous of ascertaining the
fact, I entered the office, and inquired why his
name had been taken down. I was told in
reply, that the police at Padua had found him
out, arrested him, and sent, him to Venice,
where he was a prisoner in the prisons of the
Cinque. I ordered them to show me to his cell.
Pascal did not know me, but took me for one of
the prison inspectors.

"' Sir,' he said, ' it is Heaven that sent you
to me to prevent a crime. I have been thrown
into this cell for the paltry debt of fifty Venetian
livres, lent to me for the purpose of bringing
me here. Your excellency must be aware
that, once in prison, no matter for what
delinquency, a man may be knocked on the head or
poisoned without justice taking any trouble
about the matter. I do not wish to clamour
against customs sanctioned by this most
enlightened republic; but, in my case, I am the
victim of the most abominable revenge. I have
an enemy, whom it is of no purpose to name.
That man, knowing that I was hard up for
money, made me an offer of fifty livres through
a Jew. In accepting the money, I was not
aware who was the lender, and I signed an
agreement to repay it as soon as my creditor
should ask for it. Eight days had scarcely
elapsed, when I was called upon for the money.
Not being able to pay it, I concealed myself
in the outskirts of Padua. My name was
posted up at the police-office as a defaulter; I
was outlawed, so that any man might arrest
me, and, in case of resistance, kill me. The
police discovered my retreat this morning, and
here I am in a cell, where my enemy will
infallibly have me poisoned or stabbed for the
bribe of a few ducats. I leave it to your
excellency to judge whether I deserve death for
a debt of fifty livres, and whether, under the
circumstances of my case, the custom of leaving
the prisoners to the chances of the prison
ought not to be considered an abuse.'

"These words filled me with astonishment.
I discovered with horror that the most
monstrous abuses had found their way into the
discipline of the prisons. I did not express my
surprise, for it was to be presumed that a member
of the grand council ought to have been
acquainted with this corruption. I spoke words
of hope to the prisoner, and promised him to
frustrate the evil designs of his enemy. Pascal
entreated me not to lose time in giving the
necessary orders, as vengeance stood perhaps
at the threshold, only waiting my departure to
strike the blow. As an order from the Council
of Ten would have been necessary to counteract
an abuse which had become almost legalised
by custom, I took the only means at hand for
saving the young man. I paid the fifty livres
to the jailers, and the debt having thus been
settled, the prisoner was immediately liberated.
On the following day, I drew up a report on the
abuses of the prisons of the Cinque, and sent it
in to the council. The gravity of the events of
last year have doubtless prevented the supreme
council from issuing as yet a decree on the
subject.

"Two months after the adventure which I
have just related to your lordships, my valet
brought me the sum of fifty livres, accompanied
by a letter from this student, in which he
said that, whilst entertaining eternal gratitude
for my kindness, he, Pascal Ziobà, was of too
noble a race not to reimburse the sum I had
advanced him. This pride made me smile,
and I learnt hereby that the family of Ziobà
was an illustrious one. Since then, I have
lost sight of this hot-headed youth."

CHAPTER III.

THE depositions of the noble Francesco
Contarini gave quite a new direction to the
proceedings. The judges did not fail to discover
a marked contradiction between the adventure
of the office of the Cinque, and the evidence to
prove that Pascal had never had to do with
justice before. The accused refused to give
the name of his secret enemy; he pleaded a
want of memory when he was called upon to
give the name of the Jew who had advanced
him the fifty livres, and it was now evident that
Pascal concealed a part of the truth. The
police set an investigation on foot in the Ghetto*
of Venice, and a placard was posted up
threatening exile and confiscation to the
unknown individual who had advanced the money
to Pascal, if he did not immediately come
forward. That very evening, a Jew presented
himself in court. As the evidence of a Jew
could not be taken as such, according to the
terms of the law, his depositions were taken
as information, and the magistrate gave
lecture of the statements made by the usurer.
* Jewish quarter.

"Macchabæus, of Brindisi, a lender on
pawns, domiciliated at the Ghetto Nuovo,
received one day a visit from Messer Antonio
Toldo, who addressed him as follows: ' At the
University of Padua there is a young student,
named Pascal Ziobà, who is in want of fifty
livres. Send him that sum by one of your
trade; but make him give you a receipt with
the engagement to refund the money on your
first demand. Your commissioner will give
the verbal promise not to demand repayment
before the expiration of three months.
Here is the money, and I recommend you to
follow my instructions to the letter.'

"I obeyed," continued the Jew, "the orders
of Messer Antonio, to whom I could not refuse
this slight service, as we had negotiated affairs
of high importance together at the time when
the most serene government raised money on
the jewels of St. Mark. If any mishap has
resulted from my compliance, the responsibility
rests with Messer Antonio, and not with me,
who only regarded the whole affair as a simple
monetary transaction. The money was faithfully