CHONDEOPTBEYGHAJTS. 423 



equally noisy neighbours, and with many fierce gesticu- 

 lations screamed out together, ' bruto !' ' scelerato \' ' Ne- 

 rone dei pesci !' with other conventional names of abuse 

 for a shark ia Sicily ; everybody was exclaiming, every- 

 body exulting over his destruction. 'Eccolo Beppo; 

 we have him, you see at last,' said one of the crew to a 

 nearing boatswain, just come into the market. ' Buon 

 giorno a lei ! I make you my bow, sir,' said the other, 

 gravely doffing his red worsted cap to the fish; ' we are 

 all happy to see you on shore, signor ; after this, per- 

 haps, you will not invade la camera della morte again, 

 and make a way for the thunny to slip through our fin- 

 gers — eh? No, my lads, now we really have him, and you 

 may mend your nets with something like a sense of se- 

 curity.' ' Per Bacco and St. Anthony ! will you tell me, 

 sir, where yon have put the flannel drawers you took 

 from my felucca, as they were drying on Sunday last, 

 five minutes after Giuseppe's legs were out of them?' 

 ' Cane maledetto ! (accursed hound !) where's my bro- 

 ther's hand you snapped off, as he was washing it over 

 the side of his boat, not a week ago?' ' Caro lei! did 

 you now chance to swallow Padre Giacomo's poodle, 

 which disappeared so suddenly the day before yesterday, 

 as he was swimming to shore vnth Ids master's stick?' 

 ' Risponde ! risponde V said twenty eager voices at once, 

 'Gentlemen,' said the master boatman and proprietor 

 of the canesca, ' we shall get more out of him by look- 

 ing into him, than by asking such questions as these ; 

 here, my lads,' addressing two of his men, ' wash his 

 head and gills well, and show that gentleman — ourself 



that he is not so small a canesca as he is pleased to 



imagine.' 



The clean water soon brought out the features, as the 

 blood and ooze were removed ; and though the collapsed 

 eyeballs, unsupported as in life, no longer shot mena- 

 cing glances from their cartilaginous pivots, but fell back 



