THE PIRATES OF SEGNA. 405 



" And who does that 1 " demanded the Uzcoque. 



" Who ! Xeed you ask the question ? What do you 

 give for the shelter you receive from Austria 1 At what 

 price do you inhabit the town and castle of Segna ] " 



" At none that I am aware of," replied Dansowich 

 fiercely. " "We dwell there in virtue of our compact 

 with the emperor, as soldiers of the archduke, bound 

 to defend the post confided to us against the aggres- 

 sions of the infidel. As soldiers we have our pay, as 

 mariners we have our lawful booty." 



" Pay and booty ! " repeated the Proveditore scorn- 

 fully. " Whence comes, then, your manifest misery 

 and poverty 1 Whence comes it that you turn rob- 

 bers, if in the pay of Austria 1 Xo, Dansowich, you 

 will not deceive us by such flimsy pretexts ! Your 

 gains, lawful and unlawful, are wrested from you by 

 the archducal counsellors, in whose hands you are 

 mere puppets. 'Twas they who prompted you to tell 

 the Turks that you were in league with Venice ; that 

 the republic encouraged your misdeeds, and shared 

 the profits of your aggressions on the subjects of the 

 Porte. They it was who caused the documents to 

 be prepared, with forged seals and signatures of the 

 illustrious Signoria, which were to serve as proofs of 

 your lying assertions. Deny this, if you can." 



The beard and moustache of the old Uzcoque ap- 

 peared to curl and bristle with fury at the insulting 

 imputations of the Proveditore. For a moment he 

 seemed about to fly at his interlocutor ; his fingers 



