FOR OUR BOYS & GIRLS

Auckland Star, Volume XXVII, Issue 204, 29 August 1896, Page 3 (Supplement)

FOR OUR BOYS & GIRLS

Fidelfo, the Doge's Page,

A BOYS AND OIRLS' STORY OF

OLD VENICE.

Bt T. C. Harbaugh,

(Copyright, 1896, by the Author.)

It was the close of what bad been a true Venetian day in the heart of the fourteenth century—the 10th of April, 1355, to be1 precise—when one of the many gates of the ■ Ducal Palace opened and a boy came out; and halted on the grand staircase which overlooked the Grand Canal. Venice at the time was in the height: of glory, and in consequence of a late victory won over a foreign foe by her soldiers, the vast city was filled wibh rejoicings. The bay on the staircase told by his rich dreas that he was connected with the Doge'e household, as, indeed, he was, being a page in attendance on the Doge himself. In figure he was slender, but graceful; hiai rich chestnut locks hung to bis shapely shoulders and lay on his velvet collar as lightly as flakes of snow.

Ke wore aboab his waist a rich red sash, the ends of which were fringed with gold braid, and in the belt; itself was to be seen a little dagger, more for play than use, with its ivory hilt tipped with a pearl from the ducal treasury.

Ths boy seemed to be absorbed in the gay scene* which met his .gaze as he took in the gondolas thatswepb the bosom of the Grand Canal. He leaned against the marble sides of the staircase and watched the many boats thab swept along, singling out now and then one wboae owner he knew by eight.

The staircase led down to the water and after a while the little page moved lower where he could watch the craft from a better vantage ground.

On the very laeb step which was cast in shadow the boy page beheld the figure of a crouching boy.

The little fellow was poorly clad, his garmsnts betokening hia poverty, and Fideflo, the Doge's page, knew ab once that he belonged to the great body of fisher foik thab swarmed in nearly every quarter of the city.

' Who arb thou, boy?' asked the page, stooping and looking into the thin face of the outcast. 'I am Fidello, page to the Doge Marino and thou '

' [ urn Andrello, the child of the fisher Fauilo. I was thrown from a gondola on which I was stealing a ride awhile ago and I did not know ib was wrong to rest on the staircase of the Ducal Palace.'

1 Who Act Thou, Boy V asked the page.

1 Nob wrong in my eyes, boy, bob in those of the authorities it is sacrilege. Bub stay 1 you shall rest elsewhere. I would like to hear of the city beyond the walls of the palace, in which I am caged like a bird. Corae, let us go back. I have a room, as pretty a little place as your eyes have ever seen, and, then, I will show you the golden lion and '

•Ib ia too much—too much !' broke in Andrello. ' We poor people dare not look at the beauties of San Marco withonb expecting to feel the hand uf the law.1 ' Nonsense !' cried Fidello, laughing. • I will show you what is beyond the walls of the ducal palace, for the Doge is absenb tonight—he has gone bo the council,' Fidello dragged the half-resisting boy up the wide staircase and opened the door by which he had come out upon the steps of polished marble. First be took Andrello bo his own little apartments, which were,in fact, a miniature palace. ' You never geb tired of this, do you ?' cried Aadrello.

• Sometimes I would rather mend nets than live here,' answered Fidello.

* When you are ready to mend them 1 will teach you, and then I will come here and live among all this splendour.'

I>, was late when the two boys came back to Fidello's apartments. He went to the ducal kitchen and brought back some viands on which Andrello feasted, watched all the time by Fidello, and when the guest was through he looked wistfully at the silken couch of the little page, as if he would like to try it for a night. Interpreting the glance, Fidello proposed thah he should rest in bbc room till morning, saying that he need nob go back to the nets till then, and Andrello, throwing his jacket across the room, took possession of the bed, much to the page's amusement. Tired as the fißher boy was he soon fell asleep, and, after watching him awhile, Fidello went to his last duties for the night. He would have to attend the Doge t;f hi 3 return from the council, and while ho waited in hia chair in the grand hall he fell asleep. The Doge came back wirh disturbed countenance, and, seeing Fidello sleeping in his chair, be looked at him a momenb and then stole the pearl-hilted dagger, which he earned off without arousing its ovrner.

Falieri Marino was an old man ab this time.

Past seventy, his hair was white, bub his form was as stately aa a Doge's should be, and even had added to the gloriea of Venice, even in his old age.

But there was about him thai nighb & lock of uneasiness. Foreome time rnmoors of a conspiracy against the republic had floated about, and the fiager of suspicion had been directed against the ducal palace iteelf.

Fidello slept on, and when he awoke he wondered why the Doge had not returned, for be was not aware that the hand of his master has despoiled him of the dagger.

It was past time for the ruler of Venice to come back, and, fearing that he had neglected his duty while asleep, Fidello

sprang up and ran down the marble corridors. He listened at the door of the Doge's chamber and heard the full, sonorous breathings of a sleeping man. Filled with fear, he turned back and sought hia own room. He would enter and throw himself gently down beside Andrello; but the moment he opened the door he stopped and stared at the bed.

The couch was empty, but the fisher boy's jacket lay where he had cast it, while its owner was not to be seen.

•Where can he be?' cried Fidello. • Surely I lett him asleep in my chamber, and he does not know tho intricacies cf the dncal palace. What if the guards should find him among the shadows of the corridors ? They would make short work of Aadrello, and the nabs would never see him again.'

He fled from tho. room and pausing a moment to think which way the fisher boy might have gone, he ran off and opened a door which was always kept unlocked, as it led to the underground apartments of the palace and then to the river.

Vainly did Fidello search the winding ways of the dark palace of the Doge's. He looked everywhere for his guest, now and then stopping long enough to listen in certain corridors in which he dared not speak above a whisper, for fear of rousing the guards who watcbed that part of the Doge's stronghold. 'He can't be in the lionroom,'said the boy to himself. ' But there is no telling whither he has gone.'

He found his way to one of the strangest rooms in the great palace and opened a door which taxed all his strength.

This was tho lionroom, co-called by the statue of a lion in bronze, the fore parts of which stood at one of the walls while the rest of the animal seemed to be within the wall itself.

'Fidello had seen this monster lion a thousand times, bnt he did nob know the secret connected with ib ; and as he entered the chamber he turned toward the wall where the statue was.

All ab once a bright lighb dazzled him as he fell againsb the wall alongside the lion's head ; he heard a strange noise and the next moment to his horror saw the lion's mouth open.

As the monster was three times as large as the largest lion Fidello had ever seen at

the Ducal shows, he oould only stare in wonder at the mechanism, and his wonder was increased when he saw Andrello, the fisher boy, drop from the mouth and stand for a moment on the mosaic floor of the chamber. Andrello had stepped from the lion's head, and the moment) he touched the floor the month closed, shutting off the light which had dazzled the Doge's page.

Then he heard the footsteps of the fisher boy in the dark aa he quitted the place, and with steps as stealthy he followed him.

Andrello weab back to the boy's sleeping apartment and threw himself upon the couch which he had lefb some time before. * The boy is a spy againsb my master, the Doge,' thought the little page. 'He may be a fisher, bub he knows as much about the Ducal palace as he does about mending nets. Shall I rouse my master ? Tomorrow I will see thab Andrello no longer betrays my hospitality. He belongs to the conspirators againsb the Doge. I kaow he does.'

He slipped to the bod and lay down beside Andrello. la a shorb time he was asleep, and when he awoke the sun was brightening the walla .of the palace of Venice and Andrello was stretching himself for the day. All at once the noise of feet smote the ears of the two boys. Fidello, who had never heard such sounds at that hoar in the Ducal palace, sprang up and ran to the door.

It was burst in as he touched the knob, and half a dozen soldiers in armour and armed with swords drawn entered the room.

' Down with the Doge I' they cried, as the terrified boys fell back. ♦ Falieri is a traitor to the republic ! Death to him and his retinue!'

The swords flashed in the faces of the two boys and the foremosb soldiers rushed their blades against Fidello's bosom, when the hand of Andrello pushed them bank, and the fiaher boy planted himself betweeH the page and the weapons. 4 You shall not !' said ho, as he resolutely faced the armed men. ' I stand between you and Fidollo, You shall nob kill the boy because he is the Doge's page.'

The swords were lowered, and the men caught hold of the boys, who wera borne across the balls and thence down a flight of steps to a dungeon. 1 We will send for you when yon ara wanted,' cried the soldiers, a3 they turned away, and the next mosiant a key crated in a lock and the boys knew that they were prisoners in one of the storied dungeons of the old palace. For 0 little while they stood in the dark, and then the baud of Fidello, stealing out, fell upon the arm of bis companion. The fiaher boy drew close and put hia anna around tha page's neck, letting hia own rough face fall gently upon the silken collar. •The Doge haa been discovered,' said Andrello. 'You heard the soldiers say that he is a traitor to Venice ?' •I heard them,' said the boy page. 'I know that the air has been full of plob and

counterplot. The old Doga has enemies and he uiuai: face them.'

' He is guilty. He baa conspired against) the republic.' Fidello with a sudden impulse, poshed bis companion away. ' And you are a spy for the Doge s enemies !' he exclaimed. ' Yoa came oat of the lion's head last night. You had seen the inside of the palace before last nighfe V Andrello seemed to laugh at the end of the boy page's sentence. • Last night was noo the first time I lay on the grand staircase waiting for my master when you came down and found me. I thought ib would be a good joke to enter wibh you and act as if I had never seen the great) halls and the galleries before.' 1 But it compromised me,' exclaimed Fidello,

• So it did, but I never thought) of that at the time.'

The little page slipped from the arm that encircled his neck, and drew off. In another moment there came a pounding on the door, and as the boys listened they heard the boisterous words of the excited soldiers.

The palace was in the hands of the Doge's enemies, and as the great iron door swung back some one called, * Andrello,' and the lantern at the threshold showered its lieht upon the little prisoners. In an instant Aridrello caught Fidello's arm and dragged him toward the light, when one of the men shouted : 'We don't want the pace. We are here for you, Andrello, the faithful. 1 J • We go one together,' was the quick retort. ' Andrello Gargani will not deaeris FidelSo, whom he has betrayed.' • Bring away both, then,' said a voice at the other end of the corridor, and as the boys stepped oub they were surrounded by a lob of halberds and were marched to the greab audience chamber in bbc centre of the palace. Everywhere they saw evidences thab the Doge was a prisoner of the men he had lately ruled.

The whole palace was under guard and halberdiers stood like etatnea in every corridor.

As the door of the greab chamber was thrown open Fidello caught a glimpse of the psople assembled therein, and saw the old Doge in chains standing at the foot of the ducal throne.

All at once the voice of a man who stood or the ducal throne rang out) above the whispering going on when the boys were led into the room.

• Lead Fidello, the page, forward.'

One of the soldiers disengaged Andrallo'a arm from the boy page's waist and led Tiim toward the throne.

'What sayesb thou about; thy master's friends V asked the man on the ducal throne. ' Thou hast seen them in the palace at the dead of night. Who were they, boy ?'

Little Fidello, thus called upon to betray the Doge, turned pale and spake nob.

Ho had eeen strange thinga within the walls of the grand palace. He had eeen men enter it at) (be hour of midnight, coming in at the secret gate with a password which savoured of treason to the republic. He had seen dark shadows pass toward the Doge's private apartments, had watched the door till it opened to let them out again, and had followed them back to the underground corridors of the palace, where they had vanished among the secret water-ways.

This could have bub. one meaning in the light of the Doge's arrest for treason. After all Falieri must be a traitor to Venice; there could be but one side to all these doiags ; and little' Fidello, in the presence of the heartless enemies of the conspirator, knew that his words would doom the white haired old man whom he loved.

Yet, he despised a traitor. His father had taughb him to look upon treason as the sum total of all that was wicked and unjust. He had imbibed love of country at his mother's knse, and above all things he loved Venica, the Bride of the Adriatic, his home and his adoration.

The etern persecutors of the traitor Doge did noo give him much time for reflection.

' The boy knows, and the boy must tell, 1 rang out once more the voice of the man on the ducal steps.

Fidello cast one glance at the old man in the hands of hia bitter foss.

He saw that Falieri, the Doge, no longer looked ab him, bub bad turned his face away, as if ashamed to look him in the eye.

A man clad in armour crossed the apace before the throne and turned full upoa the boy. Fidello knew him ; he was a guard who had served the Doge, and he saw now that he had been in the watchers' pay and that he fas against bis master.

' Strip the boy of bis rank,' thundered the man on the throne. ' H,e shall nob wear the badge of fcbe Falieri if he persists in holding hia tongue.'

Little Fidello draw back with a show of shame ab fue threatened disgrace. Ko threw hia hand toward his belt and diecovered for the first time that the dagger was not there.

i As he coloured he caaghb febe old Doge's eye, and the prisoner seemed abonb to apeak ; bub ba held bis tongue. A heavy hand now fell upon the boy page's shoulder. It was the gauntlet of the man commanded to rob him of the rank of page.

Fidello recoiled with a cry, and thrust

the fellow back, while the others laughed,

'You shall not,' cried A voice, and tuab moment a form came between Fidello and tbe soldier.

It was the figure of Andrello, the fisher's son.

As the sun - browned Venetian boy straightened before tbe officer ha threw up his sleeveless arm aod waved the soldier back.

• xou shall not touch the Doge's page,' he exclaimed. •I am but Andrello, and I have served you all againab the old man yonder, but I love the boy in velvet, and you shall aoii tonch him to rob him of the ribbons his mother gave him when he entered tbe service of the republic. ' Who is that boy ?' asked tbe man on the throne, as he leaned forward and looked ab Andrello.

' Our spy, moat noble master.' * Your spy 1 lam your spy ?' answered Andrello. 'I have been in your service, and it was for you that 1 entered the grand palace. For you I left the nets, and for you I watched the Doge and his fellow conspirators. I entered the palace by the lion's head, and went when 1 cared to quib it. lam the spy of the cabal against the old man yonder, bat you shall nob touch the boy whom you would rob of the rank he bears becanae he loves the Doge.' ' Very well, then, go forth, Andrello and Fidello,' cried the same harsh voice.

The boys went up together. They saw thafa a change had taken place in the palace of the Doge. New men were on duty and Falieri's servitors were not to be seen.

They learned wbab had taken place. The conspiracy of the white-haired Doge had -been thwarted and Venice had been saved fram overthrow by Faiieri Marino and his plotters.

All ab onco the gate above the grand staircase was thrown open and two boys caught on their faces the rays of the declining sun ere it dropped into the waters of the Adriatic.

They came down the marble stairway arm in arm and parted as a gondola came np.

Fidelio was rowed home bo his mother's arms, and Androllo, tbe fisher and net mender, waved him a final adieu as the boab which carried him swept under the Bialto.

Then the little page heard it all; how the old Doge had been beheaded ; how all Venice was rejoicing over the overthrow of the princely conspirators ; and how ib was already moved that all portraits of Falieri should be veiled, as they have baen ever since his treason.

Time came when two boys, one in velvet and one in poor garments—one with long, silken hair and one with rough red locks, walked along the shores of the Adriatic and recalled their adventures in the grand palace the night of Falieri'a treason.

And Fidelio would put his soft hand into Andrello's rough palm and, forgetting that he had been a spy for the old Doge's enemies, would thank him for interfering when they would have forced him to betray hid old master.