I
allowed these rascals to seize me, and I was led from the room,
the gondolier walking at my side with a long naked knife in his
hand. I could see in his brutal eyes the satisfaction which it
would give him if he could find some excuse for plunging it into
my body.
They are wonderful places, these great Venetian houses, palaces,
and fortresses, and prisons all in one. I was led along a
passage and down a bare stone stair until we came to a short
corridor from which three doors opened. Through one of these I
was thrust and the spring lock closed behind me. The only light
came dimly through a small grating which opened on the passage.
Peering and feeling, I carefully examined the chamber in which I
had been placed. I understood from what I had heard that I
should soon have to leave it again in order to appear before this
tribunal, but still it is not my nature to throw away any
possible chances.
The stone floor of the cell was so damp and the walls for some
feet high were so slimy and foul that it was evident they were
beneath the level of the water.
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