A GARDEN IN VENICE 



your grass is burnt, he swears in the teeth of the 

 north wind that it is scirocco, and the rain will 

 fall when the tide shall run to sea. If you ask 

 him to do what is easy, he says, " Si, Signor" and 

 will do it if it suits him so to do. If you ask 

 him an impossibility, or what he thinks will not 

 tornare a conto, his "Si, Monsignore" gives you a 

 grade or two of rank as compensation for not 

 doing it, and an assurance to the knowing that 

 it will not be done. 



But I was flushed with my feeble effort of self- 

 assertion and put him on shore. One had scarce 

 time to cool when I heard Federico from the poppe 

 behind, " See, Signor, ecco Eugenio, he has found 

 it." Truly there was Eugenio on the bridge of 

 the Rio della Croce directing us to turn out of 

 the Giudecca canal and follow him up the Rio. 

 We did so, rowing up the small canal to a gate 

 near by that once had had pretensions. 



As it stood, Eugenio, with an air declaring that 

 there was no whim of his Paron's, however mon- 

 strous, that Eugenio d'Este was not equal to ; and 

 at his side an enormous blue plush waistcoat* 

 16 



