THE PIRATES OF SEGNA. 381 



ber whose escape was thus impeded. His gondolier 

 lay at the bottom of the boat, stunned by a blow 

 from a stone ; he himself was bruised and wounded 

 l>y the missiles that fell in all directions. 



The tumult was at its height when suddenly a 

 sound was heard that had a truly magical effect upon 

 the rioters, for such they might now be termed. The 

 alarm-bell of St Mark's rang out its awful peal. In 

 an instant the yells of defiance were hushed ; the arm 

 that was already drawn back to deal a blow fell 

 harmless by its owner's side, the storm of missiles 

 ceased, the contending factions parted, and left the 

 combat undecided. The habit of obedience and the 

 intimation of some danger to the city, stilled in an 

 instant the rage of party feeling, and combatants and 

 spectators alike hurried away in the direction of St 

 Mark's place, the usual point of rendezvous on such 

 occasions. 



Jacopo had now recovered his senses, and Antonio's 

 gondola was one of the first which reached the square 

 in front of the cathedral. Thence the young painter 

 at once discovered the cause of the alarm. Smoke 

 and flame were issuing from some buildings on the 

 opposite island of San Giorgio Maggiore, where the 

 greater part of the merchants' warehouses were 

 situated. Thither the crowd of gondolas now 

 steered, and Antonio found himself carried along 

 with the stream. But although the fire was already 

 beginning to subside before the prompt measures 



