It was she who had, in
some unaccountable way, persuaded him out of his unlawful trade of
_barcariol toso_, and had forced his reluctant acceptance of the
overtures that were made to him from the Guild of Santa Maria Zobenigo,
where he had risen to be one of the _bancali_ or governors, his
qualities of force and daring making him useful in this age when
lawlessness was on the increase. He was beginning to feel a sense of
satisfaction, not all barbaric, in the position he had won among men who
had some views of order, and to perceive that there might be a lawful
use, almost as pleasant, for those very attributes which had rendered
him so formidable a foe outside the pale of traghetto civilization.
"_Ecco_!" he announced, with a slow, sullen emphasis which declared his
unwilling surrender, while he plied his oar with quick, wrathful
strokes. "It will take more than aves to make a saint of thee! And thou
mayst hold thy head too high, looking for better than wheaten bread! But
I'm not the man to wear a curb, nor to put up with thorns where I looked
for roses! Thou hast no right to mind what chances to me--yet thou hast
made me give up the old life.
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