the subterranean prisons known as the wells — lawrence’s vengeance — i enter into a correspondence with another prisoner, father balbi: his character — i plan with him a means of escape — how i contrived to let him have my pike i am given a scoundrelly companion: his portrait.
i was thus anxious and despairing when two of the guards brought me my bed. they went back to fetch the rest of my belongings, and for two hours i saw no one, although the door of my cell remained open. this unnatural delay engendered many thoughts, but i could not fix exactly on the reason of it. i only knew that i had everything to fear, and this knowledge made me brace up my mind so that i should be able to meet calmly all possible misfortunes.
besides the leads and the fours the state inquisitors also possess certain horrible subterranean cells beneath the ducal palace, where are sent men whom they do not wish to put to death, though they be thought worthy of it.
these subterranean prisons are precisely like tombs, but they call them “wells,” because they always contain two feet of water, which penetrates from the sea by the same grating by which light is given, this grating being only a square foot in size. if the unfortunates condemned to live in these sewers do not wish to take a bath of filthy water, they have to remain all day seated on a trestle, which serves them both for bed and cupboard. in the morning they are given a pitcher of water, some thin soup, and a ration of army bread which they have to eat immediately, or it becomes the prey of the enormous water rats who swarm in those dreadful abodes. usually the wretches condemned to the wells are imprisoned there for life, and there have been prisoners who have attained a great age. a villain who died whilst i was under the leads had passed thirty-seven years in the wells, and he was forty-four when sentenced. knowing that he deserved death, it is possible that he took his imprisonment as a favour, for there are men who fear nought save death. his name was beguelin. a frenchman by birth, he had served in the venetian army during the last war against the turks in 1716, under the command of field-marshal the count of schulenbourg, who made the grand vizier raise the siege of corfu. this beguelin was the marshal’s spy. he disguised himself as a turk, and penetrated into the mussulman quarters, but at the same time he was also in the service of the grand vizier, and being detected in this course he certainly had reason to be thankful for being allowed to die in the wells. the rest of his life must have been divided between weariness and hunger, but no doubt he often said, ‘dum vita superest, bene est’.
i have seen at spiegelberg, in moravia, prisons fearful in another way. there mercy sends the prisoners under sentence of death, and not one of them ever survives a year of imprisonment. what mercy!
during the two mortal hours of suspense, full of sombre thoughts and the most melancholy ideas, i could not help fancying that i was going to be plunged in one of these horrible dens, where the wretched inhabitants feed on idle hopes or become the prey of panic fears. the tribunal might well send him to hell who had endeavoured to escape from purgatory.
at last i heard hurried steps, and i soon saw lawrence standing before me, transformed with rage, foaming at the mouth, and blaspheming god and his saints. he began by ordering me to give him the hatchet and the tools i had used to pierce the floor, and to tell him from which of the guards i had got the tools. without moving, and quite calmly, i told him that i did not know what he was talking about. at this reply he gave orders that i should be searched, but rising with a determined air i shook my fist at the knaves, and having taken off my clothes i said to them, “do your duty, but let no one touch me.”
they searched my mattress, turned my bed inside out, felt the cushions of my arm-chair, and found nothing.
“you won’t tell me, then, where are the instruments with which you made the hole. it’s of no matter, as we shall find a way to make you speak.”
“if it be true that i have made a hole at all, i shall say that you gave me the tools, and that i have returned them to you.”
at this threat, which made his followers smile with glee, probably because he had been abusing them, he stamped his feet, tore his hair, and went out like one possessed. the guards returned and brought me all my properties, the whetstone and lamp excepted. after locking up my cell he shut the two windows which gave me a little air. i thus found myself confined in a narrow space without the possibility of receiving the least breath of air from any quarter. nevertheless, my situation did not disturb me to any great extent, as i must confess i thought i had got off cheaply. in spite of his training, lawrence had not thought of turning the armchair over; and thus, finding myself still possessor of the iron bar, i thanked providence, and thought myself still at liberty to regard the bar as means by which, sooner or later, i should make my escape.
i passed a sleepless night, as much from the heat as the change in my prospects. at day-break lawrence came and brought some insufferable wine, and some water i should not have cared to drink. all the rest was of a piece; dry salad, putrid meat, and bread harder than english biscuit. he cleaned nothing, and when i asked him to open the windows he seemed not to hear me; but a guard armed with an iron bar began to sound all over my room, against the wall, on the floor, and above all under my bed. i looked on with an unmoved expression, but it did not escape my notice that the guard did not sound the ceiling. “that way,” said i to myself, “will lead me out of this place of torments.” but for any such project to succeed i should have to depend purely on chance, for all my operations would leave visible traces. the cell was quite new, and the least scratch would have attracted the notice of my keepers.
i passed a terrible day, for the heat was like that of a furnace, and i was quite unable to make any use of the food with which i had been provided. the perspiration and the lack of nourishment made me so weak that i could neither walk nor read. next day my dinner was the same; the horrible smell of the veal the rascal brought me made me draw back from it instantly. “have you received orders,” said i, “to kill me with hunger and heat?”
he locked the door, and went out without a word. on the third day i was treated in the same manner. i asked for a pencil and paper to write to the secretary. still no answer.
in despair, i eat my soup, and then soaking my bread in a little cyprus wine i resolved to get strength to avenge myself on lawrence by plunging my pike into his throat. my rage told me that i had no other course, but i grew calmer in the night, and in the morning, when the scoundrel appeared, i contented myself with saying that i would kill him as soon as i was at liberty. he only laughed at my threat, and again went out without opening his lips.
i began to think that he was acting under orders from the secretary, to whom he must have told all. i knew not what to do. i strove between patience and despair, and felt as if i were dying for want of food. at last on the eighth day, with rage in my heart and in a voice of thunder, i bade him, under the name of “hangman,” and in the presence of the archers, give me an account of my money. he answered drily that i should have it the next day. then as he was about to go i took my bucket, and made as if i would go and empty it in the passage. foreseeing my design, he told a guard to take it, and during the disgusting operation opened a window, which he shut as soon as the affair was done, so that in spite of my remonstrances i was left in the plague-stricken atmosphere. i determined to speak to him still worse the next day; but as soon as he appeared my anger cooled, for before giving me the account of my money he presented me with a basket of lemons which m. de bragadin had sent me, also a large bottle of water, which seemed drinkable, and a nice roasted fowl; and, besides this, one of the guards opened the two windows. when he gave me the account i only looked at the sum total, and i told him to give the balance to his wife with the exception of a sequin, which i told him to give the guards who were with him. i thus made friends with these fellows, who thanked me heartily.
lawrence, who remained alone with me on purpose, spoke as follows:
“you have already told me, sir, that i myself furnished you with the tools to make that enormous hole, and i will ask no more about it; but would you kindly tell me where you got the materials to make a lamp?”
“from you.”
“well, for the moment, sir, i’m dashed, for i did not think that wit meant impudence.”
“i am not telling you any lies. you it was who with your own hands gave me all the requisites — oil, flint, and matches; the rest i had by me.”
“you are right; but can you shew me as simply that i gave you the tools to make that hole?”
“certainly, for you are the only person who has given me anything.”
“lord have mercy upon me! what do i hear? tell me, then, how i gave you a hatchet?”
“i will tell you the whole story and i will speak the truth, but only in the presence of the secretary.”
“i don’t wish to know any more, and i believe everything you say. i only ask you to say nothing about it, as i am a poor man with a family to provide for.” he went out with his head between his hands.
i congratulated myself heartily on having found a way to make the rascal afraid of me; he thought that i knew enough to hang him. i saw that his own interest would keep him from saying anything to his superiors about the matter.
i had told lawrence to bring me the works of maffei, but the expense displeased him though he did not dare to say so. he asked me what i could want with books with so many to my hand.
“i have read them all,” i said, “and want some fresh ones.”
“i will get someone who is here to lend you his books, if you will lend yours in return; thus you will save your money.”
“perhaps the books are romances, for which i do not care.”
“they are scientific works; and if you think yours is the only long head here, you are very much mistaken.”
“very good, we shall see. i will lend this book to the ‘long head,’ and do you bring me one from him.”
i had given him petau’s rationarium, and in four minutes he brought me the first volume of wolff’s works. well pleased with it i told him, much to his delight, that i would do without maffei.
less pleased with the learned reading than at the opportunity to begin a correspondence with someone who might help me in my plan of escape (which i had already sketched out in my head), i opened the book as soon as lawrence was gone, and was overjoyed to find on one of the leaves the maxim of seneca, ‘calamitosus est animus futuri anxius’, paraphrased in six elegant verses. i made another six on the spot, and this is the way in which i contrived to write them, i had let the nail of my little finger grow long to serve as an earpick; i out it to a point, and made a pen of it. i had no ink, and i was going to prick myself and write in my blood, when i bethought me that the juice of some mulberries i had by me would be an excellent substitute for ink. besides the six verses i wrote out a list of my books, and put it in the back of the same book. it must be understood that italian books are generally bound in parchment, and in such a way that when the book is opened the back becomes a kind of pocket. on the title page i wrote, ‘latet’. i was anxious to get an answer, so the next day i told lawrence that i had read the book and wanted another; and in a few minutes the second volume was in my hands.
as soon as i was alone i opened the book, and found a loose leaf with the following communication in latin:
“both of us are in the same prison, and to both of us it must be pleasant to find how the ignorance of our gaoler procures us a privilege before unknown to such a place. i, marin balbi, who write to you, am a venetian of high birth, and a regular cleric, and my companion is count andre asquin, of udine, the capital of friuli. he begs me to inform you that all the books in his possession, of which you will find a list at the back of this volume, are at your service; but we warn you that we must use all possible care to prevent our correspondence being discovered by lawrence.”
in our position there was nothing wonderful in our both pitching on the idea of sending each other the catalogues of our small libraries, or in our choosing the same hiding-place — the back of the books; all this was plain common sense; but the advice to be careful contained on the loose leaf struck me with some astonishment. it seemed next to impossible that lawrence should leave the book unopened, but if he had opened it he would have seen the leaf, and not knowing how to read he would have kept it in his pocket till he could get someone to tell him the contents, and thus all would have been strangled at its birth. this made me think that my correspondent was an arrant block- head.
after reading through the list, i wrote who i was, how i had been arrested, my ignorance as to what crime i had committed, and my hope of soon becoming free. balbi then wrote me a letter of sixteen pages, in which he gave me the history of all his misfortunes. he had been four years in prison, and the reason was that he had enjoyed the good graces of three girls, of whom he had three children, all of whom he baptized under his own name.
the first time his superior had let him off with an admonition, the second time he was threatened with punishment, and on the third and last occasion he was imprisoned. the father-superior of his convent brought him his dinner every day. he told me in his letter that both the superior and the tribunal were tyrants, since they had no lawful authority over his conscience: that being sure that the three children were his, he thought himself constrained as a man of honour not to deprive them of the advantage of bearing his name. he finished by telling me that he had found himself obliged to recognize his children to prevent slander attributing them to others, which would have injured the reputation of the three honest girls who bore them; and besides he could not stifle the voice of nature, which spoke so well on behalf of these little ones. his last words were, “there is no danger of the superior falling into the same fault, as he confines his attention to the boys.”
this letter made me know my man. eccentric, sensual, a bad logician, vicious, a fool, indiscreet, and ungrateful, all this appeared in his letter, for after telling me that he should be badly off without count asquin who was seventy years old, and had books and money, he devoted two pages to abusing him, telling me of his faults and follies. in society i should have had nothing more to do with a man of his character, but under the leads i was obliged to put everything to some use. i found in the back of the book a pencil, pens, and paper, and i was thus enabled to write at my ease.
he told me also the history of the prisoners who were under the leads, and of those who had been there since his imprisonment. he said that the guard who secretly brought him whatever he wanted was called nicolas, he also told me the names of the prisoners, and what he knew about them, and to convince me he gave me the history of the hole i had made. it seems i had been taken from my cell to make room for the patrician priuli, and that lawrence had taken two hours to repair the damage i had done, and that he had imparted the secret to the carpenter, the blacksmith, and all the guards under pain of death if they revealed it. “in another day,” the guard had said, “casanova would have escaped, and lawrence would have swung, for though he pretended great astonishment when he saw the hole, there can be no doubt that he and no other provided the tools.” “nicolas has told me,” added my correspondent, “that m. de bragadin has promised him a thousand sequins if he will aid you to make your escape but that lawrence, who knows of it, hopes to get the money without risking his neck, his plan being to obtain your liberty by means of the influence of his wife with m. diedo. none of the guards dare to speak of what happened for fear lawrence might get himself out of the difficulty, and take his revenge by having them dismissed.” he begged me to tell him all the details, and how i got the tools, and to count upon his keeping the secret.
i had no doubts as to his curiosity, but many as to his discretion, and this very request shewed him to be the most indiscreet of men. nevertheless, i concluded that i must make use of him, for he seemed to me the kind of man to assist me in my escape. i began to write an answer to him, but a sudden suspicion made me keep back what i had written. i fancied that the correspondence might be a mere artifice of lawrence’s to find out who had given me the tools, and what i had done with them. to satisfy him without compromising myself i told him that i had made the hole with a strong knife in my possession, which i had placed on the window-ledge in the passage. in less than three days this false confidence of mine made me feel secure, as lawrence did not go to the window, as he would certainly have done if the letter had been intercepted. furthermore, father balbi told me that he could understand how i might have a knife, as lawrence had told him that i had not been searched previous to my imprisonment. lawrence himself had received no orders to search me, and this circumstance might have stood him in good stead if i had succeeded in escaping, as all prisoners handed over to him by the captain of the guard were supposed to have been searched already. on the other hand, messer-grande might have said that, having seen me get out of my bed, he was sure that i had no weapons about me, and thus both of them would have got out of trouble. the monk ended by begging me to send him my knife by nicolas, on whom i might rely.
the monk’s thoughtlessness seemed to me almost incredible. i wrote and told him that i was not at all inclined to put my trust in nicolas, and that my secret was one not to be imparted in writing. however, i was amused by his letters. in one of them he told me why count asquin was kept under the leads, in spite of his helplessness, for he was enormously fat, and as he had a broken leg which had been badly set he could hardly put one foot before another. it seems that the count, not being a very wealthy man, followed the profession of a barrister at udine, and in that capacity defended the country-folk against the nobility, who wished to deprive the peasants of their vote in the assembly of the province. the claims of the farmers disturbed the public peace, and by way of bringing them to reason the nobles had recourse to the state inquisitors, who ordered the count- barrister to abandon his clients. the count replied that the municipal law authorized him to defend the constitution, and would not give in; whereon the inquisitors arrested him, law or no law, and for the last five years he had breathed the invigorating air of the leads. like myself he had fifty sous a day, but he could do what he liked with the money. the monk, who was always penniless, told me a good deal to the disadvantage of the count, whom he represented as very miserly. he informed me that in the cell on the other side of the hall there were two gentlemen of the “seven townships,” who were likewise imprisoned for disobedience, but one of them had become mad, and was in chains; in another cell, he said, there were two lawyers.
my suspicions quieted, i reasoned as follows:
i wish to regain my liberty at all hazards. my pike is an admirable instrument, but i can make no use of it as my cell is sounded all over (except the ceiling) every day. if i would escape, it is by the ceiling, therefore, that way i must go, but to do that i must make a hole through it, and that i cannot do from my side, for it would not be the work of a day. i must have someone to help me; and not having much choice i had to pick out the monk. he was thirty-eight, and though not rich in common sense i judged that the love of liberty — the first need of man — would give him sufficient courage to carry out any orders i might give. i must begin by telling him my plan in its entirety, and then i shall have to find a way to give him the bar. i had, then, two difficult problems before me.
my first step was to ask him if he wished to be free, and if he were disposed to hazard all in attempting his escape in my company. he replied that his mate and he would do anything to break their chains, but, added he, “it is of no use to break one’s head against a stone wall.” he filled four pages with the impossibilities which presented themselves to his feeble intellect, for the fellow saw no chance of success on any quarter. i replied that i did not trouble myself with general difficulties, and that in forming my plan i had only thought of special difficulties, which i would find means to overcome, and i finished by giving him my word of honour to set him free, if he would promise to carry out exactly whatever orders i might give.
he gave me his promise to do so. i told him that i had a pike twenty inches long, and with this tool he must pierce the ceiling of his cell next the wall which separated us, and he would then be above my head; his next step would be to make a hole in the ceiling of my cell and aid me to escape by it. “here your task will end and mine will begin, and i will undertake to set both you and count asquin at liberty.”
he answered that when i had got out of my cell i should be still in prison, and our position would be the same as now, as we should only be in the garrets which were secured by three strong doors.
“i know that, reverend father,” i replied, “but we are not going to escape by the doors. my plan is complete, and i will guarantee its success. all i ask of you is to carry out my directions, and to make no difficulties. do you busy yourself to find out some way of getting my bar without the knowledge of the gaoler. in the meanwhile, make him get you about forty pictures of saints, large enough to cover all the walls of your cell. lawrence will suspect nothing, and they will do to conceal the opening you are to make in the ceiling. to do this will be the work of some days, and of mornings lawrence will not see what you have done the day before, as you will have covered it up with one of the pictures. if you ask me why i do not undertake the work myself, i can only say that the gaoler suspects me, and the objection will doubtless seem to you a weighty one.”
although i had told him to think of a plan to get hold of the pike, i thought of nothing else myself, and had a happy thought which i hastened to put into execution. i told lawrence to buy me a folio bible, which had been published recently; it was the vulgate with the septuagint. i hoped to be able to put the pike in the back of the binding of this large volume, and thus to convey it to the monk, but when i saw the book i found the tool to be two inches longer.
my correspondent had written to tell me that his cell was covered with pictures, and i had communicated him my idea about the bible and the difficulty presented by its want of length. happy at being able to display his genius, he rallied me on the poverty of my imagination, telling me that i had only to send him the pike wrapped up in my fox-skin cloak.
“lawrence,” said he, “had often talked about your cloak, and count asquin would arouse no suspicion by asking to see it in order to buy one of the same kind. all you have to do is to send it folded up. lawrence would never dream of unfolding it.”
i, on the other hand, was sure that he would. in the first place, because a cloak folded up is more troublesome to carry than when it is unfolded. however, not to rebuff him and at the same time to shew him that i was the wiser, i wrote that he had only to send for the cloak. the next day lawrence asked me for it, and i gave it folded up, but without the bar, and in a quarter of an hour he brought it back to me, saying that the gentleman had admired it very much.
the monk wrote me a doleful letter, in which he confessed he had given me a piece of bad advice, adding that i was wrong to follow it. according to him the pike was lost, as lawrence had brought in the cloak all unfolded. after this, all hope was gone. i undeceived him, and begged him for the future to be a little more sparing of his advice. it was necessary to bring the matter to a head, and i determined to send him the bar under cover of my bible, taking measures to prevent the gaoler from seeing the ends of the great volume. my scheme was as follows:
i told lawrence that i wanted to celebrate st. michael’s day with a macaroni cheese; but wishing to shew my gratitude to the person who had kindly lent me his books, i should like to make him a large dish of it, and to prepare it with my own hands. lawrence told me (as had been arranged between the monk and myself) that the gentleman in question wished to read the large book which cost three sequins.
“very good,” said i, “i will send it him with the macaroni; but get me the largest dish you have, as i wish to do the thing on a grand scale.”
he promised to do what i asked him. i wrapped up the pike in paper and put it in the back of the bible, taking care that it projected an equal distance at each end. now, if i placed on the bible a great dish of macaroni full of melted butter i was quite sure that lawrence would not examine the ends. all his gaze would be concentrated upon the plate, to avoid spilling the grease on the book. i told father balbi of my plan, charging him to take care how he took the dish, and above all to take dish and bible together, and not one by one. on the day appointed lawrence came earlier than usual, carrying a saucepan full of boiling macaroni, and all the necessary ingredients for seasoning the dish. i melted a quantity of butter, and after putting the macaroni into the dish i poured the butter over it till it was full to the brim. the dish was a huge one, and was much larger than the book on which i placed it. i did all this at the door of my cell, lawrence being outside.
when all was ready i carefully took up the bible and dish, placing the back of the book next to the bearer, and told lawrence to stretch out his arms and take it, to be careful not to spill the grease over the book, and to carry the whole to its destination immediately. as i gave him this weighty load i kept my eyes fixed on his, and i saw to my joy that he did not take his gaze off the butter, which he was afraid of spilling. he said it would be better to take the dish first, and then to come back for the book; but i told him that this would spoil the present, and that both must go together. he then complained that i had put in too much butter, and said, jokingly, that if it were spilt he would not be responsible for the loss. as soon as i saw the bible in the lout’s arms i was certain of success, as he could not see the ends of the pike without twisting his head, and i saw no reason why he should divert his gaze from the plate, which he had enough to do to carry evenly. i followed him with my eyes till he disappeared into the ante-chamber of the monk’s cell, and he, blowing his nose three times, gave me the pre-arranged signal that all was right, which was confirmed by the appearance of lawrence in a few moments afterwards.
father balbi lost no time in setting about the work, and in eight days he succeeded in making a large enough opening in the ceiling, which he covered with a picture pasted to the ceiling with breadcrumbs. on the 8th of october he wrote to say that he had passed the whole night in working at the partition wall, and had only succeeded in loosening one brick. he told me the difficulty of separating the bricks joined to one another by a strong cement was enormous, but he promised to persevere, “though,” he said, “we shall only make our position worse than it is now.” i told him that i was certain of success; that he must believe in me and persevere. alas! i was certain of nothing, but i had to speak thus or to give up all. i was fain to escape from this hell on earth, where i was imprisoned by a most detestable tyranny, and i thought only of forwarding this end, with the resolve to succeed, or at all events not to stop before i came to a difficulty which was insurmountable. i had read in the great book of experience that in important schemes action is the grand requisite, and that the rest must be left to fortune. if i had entrusted father balbi with these deep mysteries of moral philosophy he would have pronounced me a madman. his work was only toilsome on the first night, for the more he worked the easier it became, and when he had finished he found he had taken out thirty-six bricks.
on the 16th of october, as i was engaged in translating an ode of horace, i heard a trampling noise above my head, and then three light blows were struck. this was the signal agreed upon to assure us that our calculations were correct. he worked till the evening, and the next day he wrote that if the roof of my cell was only two boards thick his work would be finished that day. he assured me that he was carefully making the hole round as i had charged him, and that he would not pierce the ceiling. this was a vital point, as the slightest mark would have led to discovery. “the final touch,” he said, “will only take a quarter of an hour.” i had fixed on the day after the next to escape from my cell at night-time to enter no more, for with a mate i was quite sure that i could make in two or three hours a hole in the roof of the ducal palace, and once on the outside of the roof i would trust to chance for the means of getting to the ground.
i had not yet got so far as this, for my bad luck had more than one obstacle in store for me. on the same day (it was a monday) at two o’clock in the afternoon, whilst father balbi was at work, i heard the door of the hall being opened. my blood ran cold, but i had sufficient presence of mind to knock twice-the signal of alarm — at which it had been agreed that father balbi was to make haste back to his cell and set all in order. in less than a minute afterwards lawrence opened the door, and begged my pardon for giving me a very unpleasant companion. this was a man between forty and fifty, short, thin, ugly, and badly dressed, wearing a black wig; while i was looking at him he was unbound by two guards. i had no reason to doubt that he was a knave, since lawrence told me so before his face without his displaying the slightest emotion. “the court,” i said, “can do what seems good to it.” after lawrence had brought him a bed he told him that the court allowed him ten sous a day, and then locked us up together.
overwhelmed by this disaster, i glanced at the fellow, whom his every feature proclaimed rogue. i was about to speak to him when he began by thanking me for having got him a bed. wishing to gain him over, i invited him to take his meals with me. he kissed my hand, and asked me if he would still be able to claim the ten sous which the court had allowed him. on my answering in the affirmative he fell on his knees, and drawing an enormous rosary from his pocket he cast his gaze all round the cell.
“what do you want?”
“you will pardon me, sir, but i am looking for some statue of the holy virgin, for i am a christian; if there were even a small crucifix it would be something, for i have never been in so much need of the protection of st. francis d’assisi, whose name i bear, though all unworthy.”
i could scarcely help laughing, not at his christian piety, since faith and conscience are beyond control, but at the curious turn he gave his remonstrance. i concluded he took me for a jew; and to disabuse him of this notion i made haste to give him the “hours of the holy virgin,” whose picture he kissed, and then gave me the book back, telling me in a modest voice that his father — a, galley officer — had neglected to have him taught to read. “i am,” said he, “a devotee of the holy rosary,” and he told me a host of miracles, to which i listened with the patience of an angel. when he had come to an end i asked him if he had had his dinner, and he replied that he was dying of hunger. i gave him everything i had, which he devoured rather than ate; drinking all my wine, and then becoming maudlin he began to weep, and finally to talk without rhyme or reason. i asked him how he got into trouble, and he told me the following story:
“my aim and my only aim has always been the glory of god, and of the holy republic of venice, and that its laws may be exactly obeyed. always lending an attentive ear to the plots of the wicked, whose end is to deceive, to deprive their prince of his just dues, and to conspire secretly, i have over and again unveiled their secret plans, and have not failed to report to messer-grande all i know. it is true that i am always paid, but the money has never given me so much pleasure as the thought that i have been able to serve the blessed st. mark. i have always despised those who think there is something dishonourable in the business of a spy. the word sounds ill only to the ill-affected; for a spy is a lover of the state, the scourge of the guilty, and faithful subject of his prince. when i have been put to the test, the feeling of friendship, which might count for something with other men, has never had the slightest influence over me, and still less the sentiment which is called gratitude. i have often, in order to worm out a secret, sworn to be as silent as the grave, and have never failed to reveal it. indeed, i am able to do so with full confidence, as my director who is a good jesuit has told me that i may lawfully reveal such secrets, not only because my intention was to do so, but because, when the safety of the state is at stake, there is no such thing as a binding oath. i must confess that in my zeal i have betrayed my own father, and that in me the promptings of our weak nature have been quite mortified. three weeks ago i observed that there was a kind of cabal between four or five notables of the town of isola, where i live. i knew them to be disaffected to the government on account of certain contraband articles which had been confiscated. the first chaplain — a subject of austria by birth — was in the plot. they gathered together of evenings in an inn, in a room where there was a bed; there they drank and talked, and afterwards went their ways. as i was determined to discover the conspiracy, i was brave enough to hide under the bed on a day on which i was sure i would not be seen. towards the evening my gentlemen came, and began to talk; amongst other things, they said that the town of isola was not within the jurisdiction of st. mark, but rather in the principality of trieste, as it could not possibly be considered to form part of the venetian territory. the chaplain said to the chief of the plot, a man named pietro paolo, that if he and the others would sign a document to that effect, he himself would go to the imperial ambassador, and that the empress would not only take possession of the island, but would reward them for what they had done. they all professed themselves ready to go on, and the chaplain promised to bring the document the next day, and afterwards to take it to the ambassadors.
“i determined to frustrate this detestable project, although one of the conspirators was my gossip — a spiritual relationship which gave him a greater claim on me than if he had been my own brother.
“after they were gone, i came out of my hiding-place and did not think it necessary to expose myself to danger by hiding again as i had found out sufficient for my purpose. i set out the same night in a boat, and reached here the next day before noon. i had the names of the six rebels written down, and i took the paper to the secretary of the tribunal, telling him all i had heard. he ordered me to appear, the day following, at the palace, and an agent of the government should go back with me to isola that i might point the chaplain out to him, as he had probably not yet gone to the austrian ambassador’s. ‘that done,’ said the lord secretary, ‘you will no longer meddle in the matter.’ i executed his orders, and after having shewn the chaplain to the agent, i was at leisure for my own affairs.
“after dinner my gossip called me in to shave him (for i am a barber by profession), and after i had done so he gave me a capital glass of refosco with some slices of sausages, and we ate together in all good fellowship. my love for him had still possession of my soul, so i took his hand, and, shedding some heartfelt tears, i advised him to have no more to do with the canon, and above all, not to sign the document he knew of. he protested that he was no particular friend of the chaplain’s, and swore he did not know what document i was talking about. i burst into a laugh, telling him it was only my joke, and went forth very sorry at having yielded to a sentiment of affection which had made me commit so grievous a fault. the next day i saw neither the man nor the chaplain. a week after, having paid a visit to the palace, i was promptly imprisoned, and here i am with you, my dear sir. i thank st. francis for having given me the company of a good christian, who is here for reasons of which i desire to know nothing, for i am not curious. my name is soradaci, and my wife is a legrenzi, daughter of a secretary to the council of ten, who, in spite of all prejudice to the contrary, determined to marry me. she will be in despair at not knowing what has become of me, but i hope to be here only for a few days, since the only reason of my imprisonment is that the secretary wishes to be able to examine me more conveniently.”
i shuddered to think of the monster who was with me, but feeling that the situation was a risky one, and that i should have to make use of him, i compassionated him, praised his patriotism, and predicted that he would be set at liberty in a few days. a few moments after he fell asleep, and i took the opportunity of telling the whole story to father balbi, shewing him that we should be obliged to put off our work to a more convenient season. next day i told lawrence to buy me a wooden crucifix, a statue of our lady, a portrait of st. francis, and two bottles of holy water. soradaci asked for his ten sous, and lawrence, with an air of contempt, gave him twenty. i asked lawrence to buy me four times the usual amount of garlic, wine, and salt — a diet in which my hateful companion delighted. after the gaoler was gone i deftly drew out the letter balbi had written me, and in which he drew a vivid picture of his alarm. he thought all was lost, and over and over again thanked heaven that lawrence had put soradaci in my cell, “for,” said he, “if he had come into mine, he would not have found me there, and we should possibly have shared a cell in the wells as a reward for our endeavours.”
soradaci’s tale had satisfied me that he was only imprisoned to be examined, as it seemed plain that the secretary had arrested him on suspicion of bearing false witness. i thereupon resolved to entrust him with two letters which would do me neither good nor harm if they were delivered at their addresses, but which would be beneficial to me if the traitor gave them to the secretary as a proof of his loyalty, as i had not the slightest doubt he would do.
i spent two hours in writing these two letters in pencil. next day lawrence brought me the crucifix, the two pictures, and the holy water, and having worked the rascal well up to the point, i said, “i reckon upon your friendship and your courage. here are two letters i want you to deliver when you recover your liberty. my happiness depends on your loyality, but you must hide the letters, as they were found upon you we should both of us be undone. you must swear by the crucifix and these holy pictures not to betray me.”
“i am ready, dear master, to swear to anything you like, and i owe you too much to betray you.”
this speech was followed by much weeping and lamentation. he called himself unhappy wretch at being suspected of treason towards a man for whom he would have given his life. i knew my man, but i played out the comedy. having given him a shirt and a cap, i stood up bare- headed, and then having sprinkled the cell with holy water, and plentifully bedewed him with the same liquid, i made him swear a dreadful oath, stuffed with senseless imprecations, which for that very reason were the better fitted to strike terror to his soul. after his having sworn the oath to deliver my letters to their addresses, i gave him them, and he himself proposed to sew them up at the back of his waistcoat, between the stuff and the lining, to which proceedings i assented.
i was morally sure that he would deliver my letters to the secretary in the first opportunity, so i took the utmost care that my style of writing should not discover the trick. they could only gain me the esteem of the court, and possibly its mercy. one of the letters was addressed to m. de bragadin and the other to the abbe grimani, and i told them not to be anxious about me as i was in good hopes of soon being set at liberty, that they would find when i came out that my imprisonment had done me more good than harm, as there was no one in venice who stood in need of reform more than i.
i begged m. de bragadin to be kind enough to send me a pair of fur boots for the winter, as my cell was high enough for me to stand upright and to walk up and down.
i took care that soradaci should not suspect the innocent nature of these letters, as he might then have been seized with the temptation to do an honest thing for me, and have delivered them, which was not what i was aiming at. you will see, dear reader, in the following chapter, the power of oaths over the vile soul of my odious companion, and also if i have not verified the saying ‘in vino veritas’, for in the story he told me the wretch had shewn himself in his true colours.