STORY OF ALDOBELLO BANDARINI. 107 



also flocked to him with presents in their hands, and hos- 

 pitable homes provided bed and board for all his chil- 

 dren. There was no capital wherewith to build another 

 inn, but there was worldly wit in ample store, and Aldo- 

 bello set to work at once over the rebuilding of his for- 

 tunes. 



The Duke of Ferrara was then contemplating the 

 occupation of a part of the territory of Padua called the 

 Polesino de Rovigo. To the senators of the Republic of 

 Venice an offer was made by a good citizen, who undertook 

 to aid in the protection of the commonwealth by training 

 gratuitously two hundred men belonging to the town and 

 neighbourhood of Sacco in the art of war. The citizen 

 asked only that the senate would, if it accepted his pro- 

 posal, grant two hundred harquebuses to the two hundred 

 volunteers. The rumour of war was loud, the enemy 

 was near at hand, and there were no fortresses to check 

 his progress if he made hostile advance. The offer was 

 opportune ; the proposer of it, a certain Aldobello Ban- 

 darini, had seen service as a soldier, and he had many 

 friends of mark who offered to be surety for his loyalty, 

 lauded his character, and urged his suit. He did not ask 

 pay for his services in drilling the recruits ; the cost of 

 harquebuses would be inconsiderable. The burnt-out 

 innkeeper therefore obtained the authority of the senate 

 to levy in his own neighbourhood two hundred recruits. 



