The gondolas and barges of the people drifted back again, close about
the train of magnates from Venice.
"I Giustiniani," they shouted; "il Marconino!"
There was a movement on one of the splendid barges bearing the colors of
the Giustiniani; a little child was caught up and held for a moment
high in the air; he waved his tiny hands gleefully--it was such
beautiful play!
"It is the grandson of Messer Girolamo Magagnati, of the Stabilimenti!"
they cried from the barges of Murano, surging nearer in the waterway.
"He belongs to us--to the people!" for the story was well known, and the
people of Venice were not less proud than the nobles who ruled them.
"Viva Messer Magagnati!"
The group upon the deck parted and disclosed an old man with bowed head
and faltering movements, supported by the young Senator Giustiniani, who
gravely recognized their salute; but there was no answering smile upon
his face; and Girolamo Magagnati, who had proudly confronted the
senators in their Council Chamber when he had declined their proffer of
nobility, in this day of triumph scarcely raised his eyes.
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