62 The Rat-Trap. [Jan. 



twenty pauls at farthest, which whether you take or leave with me, 

 the diiference will be slight. A farther sum of sixty crowns, indeed, was 

 entrusted to me by a nobleman of Ravenna, to lay out in masses for the 

 soul of his brother deceased, at Forli ; but these I hold only in trust — ". 



" And praised be he who laid that trust upon thee, friend !" returned 

 Pezzali. " It is but three crowns apiece — little enough among so many — 

 but nevertheless, deliver quickly ! " 



" And have you no fear of the mere temporal consequences of such 

 violence?" again demanded the legate, as the speaker drew his sword; 

 " think ye that he at whose name ye all tremble — he that governs in Ra- 

 venna — will sleep while ye deal thus within his rule ?" 



" Wlio rules in Ravenna !" returned Pezzali, with a smile, in which 

 contempt and bitter vindictiveness contended for the mastery. " Why 

 this is well ! And how should this ' violence' ever reach Ravenna, but 

 by our good courtesy — when we could chop a dotard like thee into crow's 

 meat, were there any thing to fear from such an event ? Hark in thine 

 ear, Sir priest ! — It is a secret ! — see that you tell it not, for you are 

 bound to keep council in confession. He who rules in Ravenna knows 

 all of thy condition at this instant that ever he can know ; and — if thy fate 

 is in our hands — as sure it seems to be — his doom is no less certain." 



The mention of his own name in such a place was a spell to raise the 

 devil with. The legate knew it — and used it — because his was the very 

 spirit that success ever leads on to its own destruction. But he had not 

 anticipated the reply. Was he recognised then ? — He cast his eye round 

 the chamber — 



" Why dost thou fumble so within thy cassock, knave ? what hast thou 

 there ?" said a powerful man, who, under Pezzali, seemed to hold some 

 authority among the band. 



No signal appeared. The cardinal drew forth his purse. His answer 

 mattered little — but there might be hope if it were possible only to defer 

 the coming explosion. 



" Andof tlus, thou will make thy complaint to the legate ?" — said Pez- 

 zali — " that is, an we should suffer thee to live ?" 



" How," returned Sansovino, — scarcely knowing what he said — " if I 

 pledge my oath to ye tliat I will not ?" 



" Why, if thou didst take such an oath, Sansovino would dispense 

 thee from it," said Pezzali, half laughing, " for he is a churchman, and 

 may sell perjury by patent. But, sanctified rogue as thou art, and hap- 

 py in thy mere imbecility, which makes us commune witli rather than 

 nail thee to the wall. Swear only to deposit for me, within these four 

 <Jays — marry, for a breach of faith be sm-e thy life and goods, wert thou 

 hid in the bowels of the eartli, shall answer — three hundred crowns at 

 a place which I shall appoint — thou shalt live, and have leave to-morrow 

 to seek the legate — mark, only if he well deign to hear thee !" 



" Is it not true then," said the legate, whose perplexity, if not his 

 apprehension, increased, every moment. " Is it not true then, that he 

 who asks for justice from Sansovino, may, as it is said abroad, always 

 have it at his hands ?" 



" He who demanded blood might six hours since have had it," 

 replied Pezzali ; " but, is it not written that he who strikes by the sword, 

 by the sword shall perish ? For his death — Sansovino's death — thou thy- 

 self shall give us absolution. The hand of the one lias too long already 

 pressed upon the many, this night his hour is come." 



