"
I felt a hand within my tunic.
"Matteo is right," said a voice. "His heart beats like a hammer.
Let him lie and he will soon find his senses."
I waited for a minute or so and then I ventured to take a
stealthy peep from between my lashes. At first I could see
nothing, for I had been so long in darkness and it was but a dim
light in which I found myself. Soon, however, I made out that a
high and vaulted ceiling covered with painted gods and goddesses
was arching over my head. This was no mean den of cut-throats
into which I had been carried, but it must be the hall of some
Venetian palace. Then, without movement, very slowly and
stealthily I had a peep at the men who surrounded me. There was
the gondolier, a swart, hard-faced, murderous ruffian, and beside
him were three other men, one of them a little, twisted fellow
with an air of authority and several keys in his hand, the other
two tall young servants in a smart livery. As I listened to
their talk I saw that the small man was the steward of the house,
and that the others were under his orders.
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